Keeper Of The Lost Cities: Reborn

Chapter Seven

I'm very pleased to see that you've made a full recovery, and so quickly, too."

She was sitting in one of the chairs, dressed in a hospital worker's outfit. He wondered how she was able to get her hands on one of those.

"I was honestly was a little worried when you passed out after your transformation-"

"You mean when you almost killed me?" Keefe asked, cutting her off.

She replied with, "The only way it would have harmed you at all is if you didn't embrace the change."

Keefe glared at her, and turned around so he wasn't facing her anymore.

"I'm assuming your new ability is working just as it should, given you ran away to the Forbidden Cities. I'm not surprised, you seem to have a habit of running away when things get tough." Lady Gisela rolled her eyes. "We've got to work on that."

Keefe didn't let himself respond, no matter how much he wanted to. He needed her to keep talking. He hoped that his mother would let something slip, anything that would reveal what she had in store for him. If not, he hoped she would at least bug him enough to trigger his ability.

Even though the process was extremely painful while the word formed in his mind, he would endure it in a heartbeat if it meant he could use it on his mother.

"Keefe? Are you even listening to me?"

He didn't turn around.

She sighed, walked over to his hospital bed, and pushed him back over to face her.

Keefe stared into her cold eyes, no trace of the love his friends' parents had to be found. No hint of it in her emotions, either. Just pride, triumph, and as always, frustration and annoyance.

  He thought about his friends, wishing he had a family as perfect as them. Tam and Linh didn't have good parents either, but they would be better than Mommy Dearest. Heck, anyone would be better than her.

"Keefe, I need you to pay attention. We can't stay here for very long, so here's how this is going to work. You can either be good and come with me out of the building so we can lightleap, and no one gets hurt. Or you can choose the hard way, and suffer the consequences."

Keefe continued staring at his mother, and let all his anger, rage, and hatred for her flood to his head. All of the the awful things she let his dad say to him, all the times she hurt his friends, and destroyed his future. He'd never be able to graduate from Foxfire because of her, never be trusted with anything because of her, and now he was stuck with this new ability, all because of her.

  All of the hurtful words and neglect, all the times she'd used him, manipulated him into ruining his life or putting his friends in danger. All of the times she tried to kill him, all of the times she tried to kill Sophie.

  All of the hatred and rage at his mother built up until he felt a burning sensation in the back of his throat, and his head started pounding. It felt like a thousand needles were stabbing into him every time he took a breath, and every part of him felt itchy. It was awful, but he knew it was almost over. Once he said the word, all the pain would go away, and his mother wouldn't be a problem anymore. So when the word finally formed, he summoned up all the authority in his voice and shouted, "LEAVE!"

It went quiet, and for a short moment Keefe thought he was finally free from her.

But then he heard her start to laugh.

All of his hope was resting on his new ability, and now that it didn't work, his only chance against her was gone.

He felt a tear falling down his face.

"Do you really think I would be dumb enough to let you use it on me?" Lady Gisela said after she stopped laughing.

  Keefe didn't answer, instead he stared into the empty space behind his mother, feeling all of his hope crashing down like boulders, crushing everything below. He finally realized what he'd gotten himself into, and mentally cursed at his own foolishness.

  He squeezed his eyes shut, wishing, hoping, needing it to be just a dream. That he would wake up, and live his life, without everything that had gone on in the past couple of months. But he knew it would never happen. Deep down, he knew that he would never be free from his mother, she would always be one step ahead of him, watching, waiting, for the right moment to strike.

Lady Gisela strode away from him, and over to the table where his backpack was. She picked it up, and dumped the contents out. There wasn't much in there, only some clothes, a little bit of food, a couple of bottles of Youth, Mrs. Stinkbottom, a sketchbook, and some art supplies.

She took one look at the pile of stuff, and sighed. "Look at this mess! You planned to run away for who knows how long, and you only pack a couple changes of clothes, art stuff, and whatever this is." She rolled her eyes as she pointed at Mrs.Stinkbottom, "Honestly Keefe, you need to do better. No wonder Cassius hates living with you. You're a walking disaster."

Keefe blinked hard, tears welling up into his eyes. He already knew how little his parents loved him, but it still hurt.

  It always hurt.

She found his imparter buried under one of his shirts, and held it up. "Looks like you have a shred of common sense after all, good to know. Anyways, you won't be needing this."

Keefe saw her let it drop to the ground, and watched as his mother crushed it with her heel, destroying his only chance of getting help.

  Keefe?

  Keefe jumped as Sophie's voice filled his mind.

  Keefe, I know you can hear me.

  His spirits lifted as he heard her soft voice, and was about to respond when his mother stalked over to him.

  "Keefe, what happened?" She questioned as she leaned in closer, and searched his face, as if it would tell her what was going on. "Is someone transmitting to you?"

  His silence must have given it away, because she swore under her breath, and dug something out of her pocket.

  Before he knew what was going on, something sharp jabbed his shoulder, and his mind started to get foggy.

Keefe, I know your mom is in the room with you, and here's our chance to get you out of there, and take her out in the process. But I need your help, okay?

Keefe felt his consciousness slipping away, but he gathered up all of the remaining strength he had, and was able to transmit a weak response.

It's too late. She already has me.

It was barely more than a whisper, but as long as Sophie heard it, it would be ok. As long as she knew what happened, he would be fine.

And with that reassurance, the last of his consciousness slipped away.

Released: November 19, 2021
Word count: 1214