Chapter 21: Stupefied

Chapter 21: Chapter 21: Stupefied

A short while later both Erik and Kai walked in. Kai was grinning as Erik reached out to pat his shoulder. Penelope was waiting to see if either one wanted to accompany her to the storage unit.

Erik and Aunt Mary exchanged looks while Kai volunteered to drive. Penelope wasn’t sure what to make of their silent communication. She chose to ignore it, she understood that they would tell her once they were ready.

When they arrived to their storage unit, Penelope noticed half of the inventory was gone. ’Killian must have came earlier’ Penelope thought. She was quite relieved at this.

"Woah, just how much did you buy?" Kai asked as he whistled. He was over the moon looking at the inventory. She walked past him and stored everything in my space. She found the look on Kai’s face hilarious.

"Penny, do you think we will get superpowers?" Kai asked suddenly. Seeing her store everything away made him fee a wave of envy. He hoped to be one of the few who developed powers. Only this way could he help keep his family safe.

"I’m sure you will." She said as she placed a big box in the middle of the storage unit. She made sure to leave a note on top of the box. She knew Silent would send his scouts to check the unit once they left.

"Who are you leaving a love note to?" Kai, ever so charming, said as he winked.

"Not a love note, just a message. I had a special kind of affinity with the dealer. He said I reminded him of his wife and gifted me a box. I’ve yet to see what he gave me. Let’s hurry to the ranch. I want to see the animals before we go home" Penelope said. Luckily the storage was just an hour away from the ranch.

Upon arrival at their ranch, Kai and Penny granted the staff two days off. Telling everyone that they would stay with the animals and the rest of the family was coming. Everyone cheered, thinking of them as benevolent bosses.

Once everyone left, Penelope turned to Kai and said "Let me show you a magic trick". She started storing away all the animals they had purchased and the seeds as well. Kai was stupefied. He was sure that space didn’t work this way. Living things shouldn’t be able to be stored away.

Penelope laughed at him and said "Don’t worry, they are all fine. Let’s get home. We have an important conversation pending."

"Penny, is your space mutated?" Kai asked.

"Something like that, let’s go." She grabbed his arm and dragged him to the vehicle.

"Something like that? What do you mean? Is it mutated or not?" Kai felt a headache coming. His Penny loved being vague with him lately.

"Well, it’s not exactly mutated. Let’s head to the big super market tomorrow evening." Penelope changed the subject. She didn’t want to waste her tell explaining herself over and over again. She would tell him everything once they got home.

When they got home, they could hear screaming and pleading. Both of them looked at each other and decided to stay out of it. They walked towards their bedrooms. out of sight, out of mind. They would just wait until Erik and Aunt Mary were available.

Erik’s P.O.V.

"How could you do this to me!" Ruben said as he yelled in pain.

I could see the confusion in his eyes. He had yet to realize that we knew. We knew what he did.

I saw as mom stabbed a pencil into his knee. Brutal.

Mom always hid this side of her in front of Penny and Kai. She only wanted them to remember the kind version. But I knew better. I was taught better.

Being born in our family, we had to be different from others. The three of us were forced to go into strict military training at a young age. Although we never joined the military, it was for our own survival. Kai may act immature, but he is much more than he leads on. Penny may be a ray of sunshine, but she’s deadly thanks to mom’s teachings. My teacher was her Penny’s mother, Eliza Azar.

Mom always said her and Aunt Eliza were closer than sisters. Aunt Eliza had saved her life when they were children. Eliza’s father became mom’s godfather. Although Aunt Eliza’s family was one of the biggest mob families, she was honest. She taught mom how to survive. Mom and Aunt Eliza ruled the underworld for a bit. However, Mom and Aunt decided to leave that world behind when they met their respected partners. Aunt fell in love with a military man. He was a great husband and father. My parents were devasted when they learned of Uncle and Aunt’s death. Mom decided to bring Penny home with us. She knew Aunty didn’t want Penny to grow up like that.

"Ahhhhhh, you b*tch! I’m going to kill you!" Ruben screamed, distracting me from my thoughts. He was wriggling like the worm that he was. His fingers were missing. Mom really did a number on him. I’d hate to be in the receiving end, like him.

"Why’d you do it, Ruben. If you tell me, maybe I’ll let live a bit longer" Mom said in a cold voice.

"Do what? You crazy bitch! What the fuck did I do for you to torture me!" Ruben was starting to irritate me. I want nothing more than to put a bullet through his head and go upstairs with my siblings.

"Mom, their here" I reminded her subtlety.

"Tell me, why did you orchestrate his death! Were we not good to you? Why did you betray us!" Mom yelled at him. She was shaking in anger. She lost her composure. The last time I saw her this way was after dad’s death.

Ruben stared in disbelief. I could see that everything was starting to make sense to him. Then, as if possessed by a demon, he started laughing.