MISSION MOONLARK, kotlc

46

"Are we dead?" Chloe wondered, waving her hand around in the pitch darkness. "Keefe! I thought you said you knew how to defuse the stupid bomb!"

"Quiet," Biana snapped, pushing Chloe's flailing hands away. "We're not dead- yet. Someone's here."

"Turn the lights on!" Keefe shouted. "Who the-?"

His voice cut off abruptly, replaced with a muffled scream and silence.

"Keefe?" Sophie asked, trying to feel around. No windows, no doors, no lights. She might as well have been closing her eyes. "KEEFE? What the heck just happened?"

The lights turned on, blinding Sophie with the fluorescent color. When her vision finally cleared, she gasped. A cloaked figure stood on the other end of the room, pressing Keefe against the wall above the ground. A knife pressed a centimeter away from his neck.

"LET HIM GO!" Sophie screamed, her voice cracking in panic. She tried to lunge for him, but Fitz held her back, which was frustrating but probably saved her life.

"You little traitor," the figure seethed, pressing the knife closer. "I always knew there was something wrong with you. Your mom never listened- in denial, I suppose. She hardly wanted to believe her precious little son could ever be anything but Neverseen straight to the heart. I always guessed those idiots at the Black Swan had found a way to turn you against us."

The figure turned towards the others, his expression hidden under the hood of his cloak. "Which one of these little friends switched you over, huh? Got you to betray us?"

Keefe said nothing. In fact, he looked surprisingly calm for someone millimeters away from death.

The figure pointed at Fitz with his knife. "This one?" He studied Keefe's blank expression, then shrugged. "I guess not. And this one-" he gestured towards Dex "-maybe not your type, eh?"

He lit up, turning towards Biana. "This one's a pretty one- looks like she could be this one's twin." He glanced at Chloe, which seemed to make Biana upset. Still, Keefe's expression didn't falter. "Neither? Really? Hmm, I thought they were alright."

"What about her?" The figure pointed at Sophie, leaning towards her as if studying her closely. Keefe's wince gave him away, and though it wasn't a complete facial seizure, it was enough.

"Ahh, so this is the lucky girl. What's your name, kid?"

"DON'T TOUCH HER!" Keefe screamed.

Sophie shrank away from him, backing herself straight into a corner. The figure spun his knife like a cartoon character in a cheesy Nickelodeon TV show, though it didn't seem funny in the moment.  Sophie wanted to scream, but her voice felt caught in her throat. And the bomb.... it could go off any second now. Then they would all  be dead.

"Looks like you'll be my warm up before I kill your little boyfriend," the figure sneered, flashing the white Neverseen eye on the shoulder of his cloak.

Fitz cleared his throat. "He's not her boyf-" 

"Not important," Biana interjected.

"Say goodbye, little moonlark. I guess it's your time to- AGH!"

The Neverseen member crumpled to the ground, the knife clattering on the cold tile. Keefe stood above him, holding up a pencil.

"No one touches Foster," Keefe said brightly. "Guess you get to learn that the hard way."

He rushed over to Sophie and swept her into a tight hug. "Are you okay?"

Sophie nodded, but she was staring at the pencil in his hand. "You just saved my life.... with a pencil?"

Keefe shrugged. "Pressure point in the back of his neck. Creep up on him and jab him, he'll be out for a couple hours at least."

"Wow. I never knew school items could be such lethal weapons," Chloe pondered, mulling over the idea.

"Uh, guys?" Dex waved his hand between them. "Sweet moment and all, but this thing's about to blow. I'm guessing you have thirty seconds tops to shut it down, or it won't matter if Creepy-Cloaked-Guy killed Sophie or not. We're all dead."

Keefe cursed under his breath. He squeezed Sophie's hand and hurried over to the side of the bomb.

"They all look the same!" Keefe said, frustrated. "How am I supposed to know which wire to cut-"

"Unless... you chop them all," Chloe offered.

"That's dumb," Biana argued. "Why would you cut them all? Then it's guaranteed that it'll explode. Right?"

"Screw it," Fitz decided for them. "It's already on its way to exploding. If we cut them all, maybe something different will happen."

"It's the dumbest thing I've ever heard," Dex said slowly. "Let's do it."