I Know Now━ 𝐊𝐎𝐓𝐋𝐂

Chapter Twelve

  "Tell us what the Black Swan is planning next," Lady Gisela said. "Or else we shoot him."

Sophie looked over at Keefe, laying huddled on the ground. He looked scared. Weak. Not at all how he usually is. Those sedatives must have been really getting to him.

"I don't know anything," Sophie said honestly. Since their last fight with the Neverseen, the Black Swan hadn't really made any plans. Except for opening Kenric's cache. But the Neverseen didn't need to know that.

"I don't believe you," Lady Gisela said. She clicked another button on her remote thing, and Ruy nodded on the other side of the glass. He pointed the melder at Keefe, but from a distance so it wouldn't hurt him too much. But it would still hurt. Sophie had to help Keefe.

She reached out with her mind, until she could feel Keefe's frightened, anxious thoughts. 'Keefe,' she said. His eyes widened and his mind flooded with relief. 'Thank goodness you're okay,' he thought. 'Keefe, they're going to hurt you. And make me watch it. To torture not only you, but me too. They're trying to get me to tell the Black Swans secrets... and if I don't tell them, they'll hurt you. I'll figure out a way to help you. I need you to hold on for me, okay? Don't die.' She told Keefe.

'I won't die, Foster. I promise.' Keefe thought. Sophie pulled her mind back right as Ruy pulled the trigger of the melder. Keefe writhed in pain, and lay paralyzed on the floor. His teeth were gritted. Sophie looked away. She couldn't bear to see him like this.

Suddenly, she heard a crisp, accented voice fill her mind. It was Fitz! He had found her! At least, he had found her mind. But that meant he could track her! 'Sophie,' Fitz said.

 'Fitz!' She responded. 'We're in a Neverseen hideout. They kidnapped Keefe and I.' 

Fitz said, 'You're okay. Good. I need to track your thoughts. The Black Swan is on their way. We're going to rescue you. But we need a distraction. You need to inflict on them.'

'Okay, I'll inflict on them. Hurry, got it? They're torturing Keefe. They could permanently injure him,' Sophie worried. 

'We're coming. We'll hurry,' Fitz reassured her. 'Just... hang on, okay?'

'Okay.'

Sophie looked up at Lady Gisela when she noticed that she had asked a question. "What did you just say? Sorry, I don't like listening to people who torture my friends," Sophie said spitefully.

Lady Gisela sighed and rolled her eyes. "I said, are you ready to talk now? And if you don't, we shoot him. And hopefully, your friends will turn up soon, so maybe we'll have more leverage then. And if your leader comes, then we're in luck."

Sophie's eyes widened at the mention of her friends and Mr. Forkle possibly being hurt along with her and Keefe. Still, she had to keep calm, and get out of here.

"I don't think I am ready to talk," Sophie responded, glaring at Lady Gisela while she thought of everything she had done to her and her friends. Kidnapped them. Hurt them. Nearly killed them. And how she was threatening to hurt them again. She gathered all the hate, all the fury, until it was a swirling inferno in her mind. Then she cast it out in one huge beam of emotion. It hit Lady Gisela square in the face and she toppled to the ground. Sophie sent extra boosts of strength to her arms and legs and she ripped out of her restraints. It was a good thing no one else was in the room and Ruy couldn't see her.

She crouched in front of Lady Gisela's lifeless lump and she grabbed the little remote thingy from her hand. Sophie stood up and started to press random buttons until the wall tiles opened. She looked outside, making sure no one was there. But she saw three guards. The only thing she could really do to take them down was inflict again, but she didn't have that much energy.

She ducked back inside the room and grabbed Lady Gisela's melder. She searched for more weapons and found a couple goblin throwing stars, a knife, and a small vial of a weird purple liquid. She took all of them, determining that she could take the liquid to the Black Swan and see what it was.

She poked her head out of the room and around the corner, then brought out the melder and quickly shot the three guards. She had been working on her aim with the Black Swan.

She stepped completely out of the white room and pressed the button to close the door. Lady Gisela was trapped in there, for now.

Sophie ran to the next doorway, happy to find a button on the outside of the door, so she didn't have to find a new button on the remote to open this door. She pressed the button on the wall, then ducked around the corner so Ruy would be confused as to why it opened. When she saw him step out of the room, she shot him in the back. He crumpled to the ground.

Sophie rushed into the room. "Keefe!" She said. He didn't move. He was unconscious. "Keefe! Come on, you have to get up! We have to go!" she said, shaking his shoulders. She groaned, realizing she would have to carry him. The only problem was that he was bigger than her, and she probably couldn't lift him. So she rallied her concentration and he floated off the ground using telekinesis.

She ran out the door, Keefe floating after her. Unfortunately, she ran right into a room filled with ogres, Neverseen goblins, dwarves, and more Neverseen members.

This was a problem. She couldn't defend herself against so many people alone. Keefe hadn't woken up yet. And she'd never inflicted on so many people before. What was she going to do?