Reborn from the Ash
1.5 - Ordinary World, Ordinary People
With her bags all packed and settled in the foyer of the Sanchez Mansion and her outfit and makeup perfected, Kiara descended the grand staircase for what she was hoping to be the last time as she prepared to make her exit.
Antonio, his personal servant, Ivailo, and Lyric were waiting to send her off in the foyer. Ivailo stood with perfect posture next to Antonio, his typical emotionless expression on his face, while Lyric was standing near the luggage. Jacqueline apparently couldn’t bear to see her precious daughter leave, and had shut herself in her wing of the house with Jinelle, locking the doors so her daughter couldn’t say goodbye and “twist the knife in the gaping wound she’d made in her heart”.
Kiara, however, was making sure to ignore her mother’s dramatics, as she was rather confident that news of her plight had reached her ears intentionally.
“Kiara,” Antonio said commandingly.
Instinctively, Kiara turned to look at him. She immediately mentally berated herself for doing so.
He gestured to Ivailo, who reached inside his suit to produce a set of keys and a crisp white envelope, which he then passed to Antonio.
“Here, I have a set of keys to your new house, as well as an envelope of cash. I trust that you’ll be able to learn how to spend your money sparingly.”
“Father, I wanted to look for a house indep-“
Antonio shook his head, and pressed both items into Kiara’s hands.
“Lyric will act as your chauffeur, and drive you and your luggage to your place. Once she departs, you’ll be on your own. This is what you asked for. Understood?”
Lyric saluted Kiara from where she was standing, then got busy carrying her bags out to the car.
Kiara didn’t know how to react. This… it wasn’t what she’d pictured. It wasn’t the glorious escape from the fairy tale tower she’d been in her entire life. She was getting to leave, but…
Antonio stretched out his arms. “Give your father a hug goodbye. For both your mother and myself.”
Kiara stepped forward and gave him a very awkward hug. He stepped back first, a smile of satisfaction on his face.
“Kiara? Good luck.”
Without another word, he turned on a dime and headed upstairs without so much as a glance back.
Kiara looked down at the spotless floor, shaken.
“Do you really think you’re free?” A voice said.
Kiara whirled around. Ivailo. Antonio’s ever present and stoic manservant, practically his dark shadow.
“What do you mean?” She demanded.
Ivailo gave a tight lipped smile. “You’ll see.”
Kiara frowned. What was he getting at? Ivailo was the servant she knew the least, his work ethic was impeccable, so Antonio always kept him busy. Their interactions had long been few and far between. She had no chance of reading him.
“Lyric should be finished with your luggage by now.”
Eager to leave both the house and this strange interaction with Ivailo behind, Kiara prepared to set foot outside the house without supervision for the first time ever. As she reached the front door, Ivailo stepped forward and opened it for her.
“Remember this, Kiara,” he said in a voice just above a whisper. “Once a Sanchez, always a Sanchez. I trust I’ll see you again in due time.”
Kiara stepped outside, and Ivailo shut the door behind her with a nod farewell.
Blinking due to both the sudden sunlight and Ivailo’s words, Kiara was startled when Lyric spoke.
“Cars ready. Want to give the place one last look over? Or, I’m guessing it’s more likely you just want to get out of here as fast as you can. What are you thinking?”
Kiara took a deep breath. “Let’s get out of here. The sooner I leave, the better.”
“You got it, boss.”
Kiara waved as Lyric drove off, both having worked to set her up with some smaller suitcases for the time being. Lyric was going to come back around later with bigger and harder to move items once she dealt with an urgent matter for Antonio that cropped up.
Now, she finally took a moment to step back and truly take in the house Antonio had provided her, which was wrapped in the rays of the rising sun. It was a small, two story building on the outskirts of downtown Windenburg that looked like it had been built centuries ago. It looked a little rundown, and was definitely smaller than what she was used to, but she was determined to make whatever she could get work. After all, it was more than likely that Antonio had wrest control of choosing a house from her in order to make her experience terrible and convince her to go back.
Walking forward onto the small path that led up to the front door, Kiara fumbled with the keys as she pulled them out of her purse. She had an even harder time getting the door unlocked- she could probably count the times she’d had to work with a key prior to this moment on one hand. Her servants had always opened doors for her.
The door opened with a loud creak, and Kiara stepped forth into an empty house. She flicked the light switch next to the front door, and a sickly looking yellow light flickered to life, illuminating the space as best as it could.
This… this was definitely going to take some work.
Kiara stepped back outside to start moving the boxes of her stuff from the side of the road to the house, and was startled by a man rummaging through one of them.
“Hey! That’s mine!” She shouted, marching forward.
The man didn’t budge.
Kiara reached into her purse and pulled out pepper spray as she walked faster.
This time, the man ran off, clutching something fabric. Some item of clothing, Kiara assumed. She decided to let him go.
Taking a deep breath, Kiara began to rapidly move all of her stuff into her house, keeping a close eye on whoever was passing by throughout the process.
Once everything was complete, Kiara looked down towards the water, her eyes passing the two buildings between her house and the river. They were… her neighbors. Getting to know your neighbors was customary, correct? She also really needed a friend, an ally in this very new world she’d just arrived in. Steeling herself, Kiara locked her front door, shoved the key deep into her purse, then walked the short distance down the road.
“Do you understand what I’m asking, Jarrel?” Antonio asked from behind his office desk.
Lyric, who was sat before him, nodded. “Keep an eye on Kiara. Report back anything threatening.”
“Good girl. Kiara is too oblivious to the dangers of the actual world to be left alone, I cannot risk losing her. There’s no time left to sire a new heir.”
“If I may ask, sir, what about right at this moment? What if something was happening right now?”
Antonio smiled. “Ivailo has that covered. The two of you will be switching off. Evidently, you’ll be the main person keeping watch, as your main responsibility is Kiara regardless of how she tries to distance herself from this family, but when you’re otherwise occupied, Ivailo will handle it. You two can check with each other to make sure there’s no discrepancies between your reports as well.”
“…understood, sir.”
The two buildings just down the road from Kiara appeared to be businesses. One was evidently a hairdressing salon and looked to be the more historical of the two buildings, featuring a basic front door and windows that looked nearly as old as Kiara’s house, the difference being that they were well maintained. The other was an older building that had clearly been modernized, featuring a rounded wall of windows that looked into a sleek looking front office. It was hard to judge what exactly the purpose of the business was, however. The two buildings each had an upper floor that Kiara assumed were dedicated to living quarters for the business owners.
Curious about the business she couldn’t identify, Kiara walked across the small plaza between the two and peered in through the glass doorway. There was no one behind the front desk, and the lights were off. Regardless, Kiara knocked. There was no response.
Sighing to herself, Kiara turned away.
“Are you looking for something, miss?” A warm sounding voice asked from across the plaza.
Kiara turned around and saw a lightly tanned, middle aged woman with brown hair and deep laugh lines around her mouth standing at the door to the hairdresser’s.
“Um, hello. I’m Kiara,” She said, walking over. “I, uh, just moved into the house up the road, and just wanted to drop by.”
A huge smile crossed the woman’s face. “Well now! I’m very pleased to hear someone’s finally going to be looking over that old place, it’s certainly seen better days. I’m Libby. Libby Honeycutt. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Libby offered her hand, and when Kiara took it, she was surprised by her rather enthusiastic shake.
“Seeing that you’re one of us in the neighborhood, let me introduce you to the rest of us,” Libby went on. “Us neighborhood girls meet up and exchange stories every now and then, in fact, that’s where I was headed just now. Come along!”
Without waiting for a response from Kiara, Libby gestured for Kiara to follow her down the narrow alleyway between the two buildings. Kiara slowly followed after her, and was pleased to see the alleyway opening up to a rather pleasant looking sitting area that overlooked the water. String lights hung from posts and the trees around it, shielding the area slightly from the road.
Seated at the tables were two women. One was a very smartly dressed woman with dark skin, her black hair elegantly styled. She was immediately struck by the tall and dramatic updo of the other woman seated at the table. She was dressed somewhat witchy, and her eyes were oddly piercing.
“Girls, this here is Kiara. She just moved into the house just up the road,” Libby said, gesturing to Kiara as she entered the area. “Kiara, the witchy one here is Fatima Mansouri, and the more normally dressed one is Houda Choukri.”
“Normally dressed? I’m not sure wether or not I should take offense from that, Libby,” Houda said as she got up and offered Kiara her hand.
Kiara shook it.
“A pleasure,” she said. “I own the business right here, next to Libby’s. Career counseling. You need any advice, come to me.”
“W-Will do,” Kiara stammered.
Houda sat back down and offered Kiara a curt smile.
Fatima chose to remain seated rather than rising to shake Kiara’s hand. “What brings you to the area, Kiara? I’m surprised someone of such… stature would choose a home that’s been a bit of an eyesore for as long as most of us can remember.”
“Fatima…” Houda sighed.
Libby turned to Kiara, eyes big. “Ignoring Fatima’s crass phrasing, that’s such an excellent question! When I first saw you, I thought, what brings a fancy girl like that to these parts? I was convinced that you had to be lost.”
“That’s… a bit of a long story.”
“Join us,” Houda said, tapping the empty spot on the bench next to her. “Tell us all about it. I must admit, the way you’re dressed has raised many questions for me, I’m intrigued.”
“The way I’m…” Kiara looked over her outfit. The fancy skirt. The heels. The jewelry. The high end designer bag Jacqueline had gifted her… The… tiara. Okay, she could see how that one was unusual. She’d never thought about it before, but… did people out in the real world dress differently?
“I’m surprised you weren’t mugged just walking here,” Fatima sighed.
Libby walked around the table to sit next to Fatima, then looked up at Kiara expectantly. Kiara awkwardly slid into the picnic bench, smoothed out her skirt, then started talking. She was hopeful that these women could be her first friends outside of her parent’s carefully kept circle.