A/N: DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE READ KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES: UNLOCKED!!! All characters belong to Shannon Messenger. Also, this only focuses on what happens with Keefe, not anything with the caches,Sophie's change of thinking, or Glimmer (I totally forgot those parts until I re-read the series). :((
But I hope you like it and let me know what you think!!!
As I flopped on my bed and reached to grab Iggy from her cage, I found a piece of paper sticking out from under the barred box. It was a... note? Who could it be? I was careful to open the note without wrinkling it. The note was filled with a sea of words but two caught my eye. "Keefe" and "fail". Oh no. What has he done now? But nothing could prepare me for what I was about to read next. As I read through the letter, I felt my face beginning to get wet. All my insides went numb and I couldn't breath. And then, I couldn't hold it in any longer. Tears started streaming down my face like a never ending waterfall and I clutched the note as if it was the only thing that mattered in the universe. I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed feeling like I was going to drown in my own tears. But then the real realization hit me. Keefe was running away. Forever. He didn't even say goodbye. He just left. The rush of anger punched me in the gut. How could Keefe do this? He doesn't care about anyone. Not even me. My teeth grinded, the fury boiling inside of me and coming up towards my throat. I felt like screaming. I felt like yelling at the top of my lungs. Instead I had to settle for screeching into a nearby pillow. Edaline dashed into my room, but instead of trying to reassure me, a different voice came out. Lady Gisela's voice.
You are never going to find him.
We've looked everywhere.
The guilt will break you.
You will never get through this.
You will NEVER find Keefe.
I woke up gasping with sweat dripping down my back. It's just a dream. But there was so much truth to it. About a year ago Keefe's mom, Lady Gisela, gave Keefe terrible powers against his will. He was able to command people to do whatever he wanted just by the tone of his voice. He also manifested as a Polyglot, which means he can understand any language and can mimic people perfectly. Many of us, including the Councillors, thought that Lady Gisela, Keefe's mom who joined the Neverseen, merged his ability as an Empath with Polyglot. After Keefe accidentally numbed all our friends from feeling anything, he was afraid to talk and refused to do so. He was offered the chance to live with Elwin until they could get the ability under control; and he took it. And then suddenly, one day Keefe had run off. We don't know why. Ro, Keefe's former bodyguard/ogre princess, might have had some information, but she left for Ravagog, the ogre capital, and we haven't seen her in over a year. When my friends and I went to pry some information out of her, she banished us from Ravagog. What we did know was from the letter he left me before he ran off. A letter that said.... I can't. I can't do this. The memory was too painful. Tears poked out of my eyes and I blinked to shove them down. Well, after I got the news that he had run away, I went to search for him. I looked everywhere. Even the Forbidden Cities. Even after my friends also did a thorough search, I couldn't find him. A memory flashed to the front of my mind.
"Grady, Keefe ran away," I said through sobs.
"What?!" Grady exclaimed. "How many times does That Boy have to break your heart? When he gets his butt back here he's gonna get it bad. And when I mean bad, I mean bad. Like beat himself up, bad." But Grady's eyes kept shifting. Back and forth. Back and forth. As if he was... hiding something. Something about Keefe.
"Dad, what aren't you telling me?" I asked, trying to calm myself. If Grady was hiding something, I had to know.
"What do you mean Sophie? I'm not hiding anything. Do you really not trust your dad?" Grady asked.
"No, it's not that. Please. If you know something please tell me. Keefe is one of my best friends. Help me. I can't just sit around in my room thinking about him and feeling sorry for myself. I have to do something. Please Grady. Let me help," I begged him.
Grady shook his head. "You're right. I do know something. But I also know you Sophie. I know you care about all your friends but sometimes you have to put your safety first. Keefe's right about one thing. You can't go look for him; you're going to get hurt." Grady argued
My eyes widened. Why wouldn't Grady want me to find Keefe? It's gotta be big if he's willing to hide this from me."Dad, please. I don't think I could live with myself if I... if I never found Keefe," I said with big beady eyes.
Grady pursed his lips and sighed a few seconds later. "Okay fine. I saw Keefe right before he left. We had a little chat. I tried to convince him to stay and not make a fool out of himself. But he was determined. I could see that all he really wanted to do is not hurt anyone. So... I let him go. It's his decision. And if he feels that's right, then I trust his choice. But I did notice one thing. He used a blue leaping crystal when he left."
I gasped, "That means he's in... The Forbidden Cities." It all made sense. I couldn't believe I didn't catch it earlier. In his letter he specifically said "I'll be hiding where the Black Swan hid you." Everything clicked. For the first time that day, there was hope.
Bzzzzz Bzzzzz. I got pulled back into reality by a sound and a vibration that I could feel even if I was standing across the room. It's my... Imparter? And it's flashing red? I took it off my side table to see what was wrong and who was hailing me.
Katie Smith.
Who was that? I looked below.
Also known as Amy Foster.
A/N: 1027 words. Please feel free to give feedback! I hope you've enjoyed so far!!!
-FandomFangirl
