what happened after unlocked

chapter thirty-four ~ familiarity

Sophie wasn't expecting to have a visitor the next day.

After Lord Cassius had finally apologized to his son, they were all seeing a lot more of him and Ro - but hardly anyone else other than her and her friends' parents had visited recently.

So it was sort of strange to see Aurora Emberstone's kind, beaming face.

"Hello!" Aurora said joyfully at them all. "I heard about what happened and Elwin explained where you were, so I thought I'd drop by for a few hours. Is that okay? I mean, if that's not okay, I can -"

"It's fantastic!" Linh smiled at the girl. "You're a Level Eight, aren't you?"

Aurora's eyes brightened and she nodded. "I just graduated from Foxfire. I love your hair, by the way."

Linh's cheeks went red. "Are you going to join the Nobility?"

Aurora thought about it for a second before she nodded again. "Yes, I've wanted to be a part of the community designed to change other elves' lives since I learnt about its purpose and main functions."

"Wow," Biana said, standing up to join the somewhat awkward girl. "Are your parents in the Nobility? We might've met them before."

Sophie noticed that Biana had suddenly altered her voice so it was an octave lower, and crisper, so she sounded more proper and regal. She smirked at her friend.

Aurora hesitated. "Um . . . no, my parents never really wanted to be a part of it. They liked the wilderness more."

"Do they know Grady and Edaline?" Sophie asked her. "My parents deal with lots of interesting animals and train them to be vegetarians so they can eventually go the the Sanctuary."

Aurora did a double take. "Wait . . . your parents are Grady and Edaline?"

"Yes," Sophie frowned. "Is there . . . a problem with that?"

Sophie knew how people had judged her adoptive parents after their daughter, Jolie, died and they never really left Havenfield for a while, so she was hoping that Aurora didn't have that prejudice against them.

"Oh, no, not at all!" Aurora said with a breathy laugh. "I just know them, that's all. And I sort of thought . . . actually, never mind."

"Okay. . ." Sophie's brow furrowed as she tried to gauge Aurora's expression. Something about what she said didn't seem entirely truthful.

"So, um . . . " Aurora fought for words, but she eventually decided to drag Sophie into the next room, apologizing profusely after Sophie rubbed the spot. Aurora's grip was surprisingly strong.

"Sophie," Aurora whispered, "There's something important that I need to tell you."

Sophie cocked her head to one side. "Sure?"

"Okay, don't ask me what my ability is when I tell you, but I have some vital information and I need you to promise to stay as undercover as you possibly can once I tell you."

"What is your ability?" Sophie wondered aloud.

Aurora hit her with a cold, steely gaze that completely shocked Sophie. "I told you not to ask me."

"Sorry," Sophie peeped. She was genuinely afraid of this girl now.

"Someone is following you. Someone who could be potentially dangerous. You thought they were dead . . . but there're not, and they know someone you're close to. And they're the one who is reporting information to the Council."

"What?" Sophie gasped. "I'm confused . . . I have a stalker, and -"

"Not necessarily," Aurora said. "They're not a stalker, but someone whose mind was changed after everyone left them behind . . . they were turned insane and chose the wrong side to begin with, making even worse choices as time grew on."

"But how do you even know this stuff?" Sophie asked her. "And do you know the name of this person?"

"They're an elf," Aurora said. "But that's all I know."

Aurora swiftly left the room in a whirl of strawberry-blonde hair, and joined the others in the room next door. She'd left Sophie with so many unanswered questions, but the most important one of all was . . . who was stalking her?

"Can I come in?" Fitz's voice said. 

Sophie glanced up and nodded, completely forgetting what awkwardness there had been between them, because her mind was too consumed with doubtful thoughts. Fitz took a tentative step forward and looked at her nervously from afar.

"I'm sorry," he blurted. "Like, really, really sorry. I should probably stab myself, I was that horrible . . . Sophie, if there's anything I can do to fix this, please tell me and I swear I'll do whatever you want."

Sophie smiled at him. "It's okay, Fitz."

"Really?" Fitz asked hopefully, but his adorable smile quickly changed to a frown. "Wait, but what about, you know, you running off . . ."

"I forgive you," Sophie said, "And anyway, you shouldn't be sorry. I was the one who ran off . . . and wow, I'm a horrible kisser."

She winced as her mind flashed to what them kissing must have looked like. 

"You're actually really good," Fitz said, immediately clamping a hand over his mouth and blushing. "But that's not what this is about -"

"Fitz, I . . ." Sophie struggled to find the right words to explain what she needed to tell him, "I don't . . . I don't think I have feelings for you anymore."

Fitz took his hand away and all the blood rushing to his face vanished. "Really?"

Sophie nodded uncomfortably.

Fitz looked at the floor. "I understand. I guess it was always inevitable. But . . . how did you know you didn't like me anymore?"

Sophie gulped. "It just, sorta, didn't feel right, I guess."

"Does that mean you've finally figured out who you really like?" Fitz asked her, looking up. "Don't worry, I totally support you in this. We all knew it was coming some time soon anyway."

Sophie's eyes roved to Fitz's hopeful eyes. She could tell he really did want to hear it, even if it was somewhat sad for him, but she honestly didn't know how to answer his question.

"I . . . I don't know," she admitted. "But what about you?"

"I think I've come to the same conclusion as you," Fitz said, face turning red again. 

"And who . . . "

"If I tell you, will you promise not to judge me?" Fitz asked her.

Sophie nodded sincerely.

"It's . . . um . . . Dex."

Sophie brought her hands to her mouth and felt tears in her eyes. This was the most adorable thing she'd ever heard . . . but then she remembered Dex and Jensi's relationship.

"Oh no . . . you're not mad, are you?"

"Of course not!" Sophie said. "But I just realized that, well, Dex is with someone else."

"Oh."

Fitz's sigh was the most heartbreaking thing Sophie had ever heard, so Sophie was determined to divert the conversation to something else. 

"Hey, Fitz," Sophie said cheerfully, "You know Aurora? Well, I'm sure she knows some cool tips and tricks on surviving Level Eight next year."

Fitz raised an eyebrow.

"I'm serious!" Sophie protested. "Look, I'm really sorry, Fitz. I guess it's just going to take a while for us to find our true soulmates."

Fitz took a deep breath. "Thank you, Sophie."

"For what?"

"For being such a decent human being that sometimes I wonder if you're real, or just an angel sent from heaven."

Sophie's grin could have lit up the entire universe.

WC: 1202 words