𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐈 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 + sokeefe and horror

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟓: secrets unearthed

𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐟𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐚. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭'𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲.

---

That night, as Keefe slept, he had a terrible dream.

Of course, he'd had bad dreams before, but this was just downright terrifying. He woke up in a puddle of cold sweat, shaking uncontrollably. Keefe inhaled the cool air, trying to calm himself down, but his heart still pounded as fast as a race-car. Yet another thing Sophie had told him about.

Oh god, Sophie.

The dream came rushing back and in an all-too-familiar sense of panic, Keefe's vision dissolved and he was thrust back into the dreamworld. 

Sophie was in a dark room, tied to a metal chair with a thick sack over her head. She wasn't moving. 

"She's just been... SLEEPING." A voice behind Keefe said.

He whirled around to find 2 people. One of them was a tall man in a long, dark cloak. His face was hidden. The other one, however, wasn't wearing a hood, revealing a small girl who looked barely 12, with long black ringlets and huge dark eyes. She was glaring at Sophie, as though she held a personal grudge against her.

"What's so wrong with that?" 

"It's weird." The first voice said, which Keefe identified as the man. "Lunar said her friends would've come for her by now."

"They're being careful." The girl said. "There's nothing wrong with that."

"I guess. But still, Lunar was super paranoid at first, and now she just... doesn't care. There's a rumor that she's just gone."

The girl didn't speak, but she narrowed her eyes ever so slightly. The guy, apparently not noticing, continued to talk.

"I think we'd be better if we had other rulers. I know three solid people who would be so much better than that weirdo. I mean, it's only because of Ember's last orders that Lunar's even in charge of this operation. But we could have so many better leaders."

"Oh?" The girl asked, finally speaking. "Do you think you'd be a better leader?"

"I mean, better than LUNAR." The guy scoffed, rolling his eyes.

Suddenly, the girl made an odd gesture - like drawing a circle in midair. The guy instantly collapsed onto his knees. He made a strangled sound.

"Erica, what are you doing?" He croaked.

"Showing the crowd what we do to traitors who backtalk our leaders." The girl, who must've been Erica, said cooly.

A holographic image of a crowd of people - all presumably part of whatever organization these people were in - appeared on the wall opposite to them.

"Some of you have been told rumors that Lunar is not fit for this job." Erica said calmly. "I have quite a demonstration for these traitors. This is what will happen to you."

Erica closed her eyes and lifted her hands up. Slowly, her body - inch by inch - began to crawl up in midair, until she was hovering a foot from the floor. Her hair was floating around her head as though she was underwater. When she opened her eyes again, they were solid white. 

She spun in midair, and flicked her hand toward the man. Blood began streaming from his eyes and ears.

Keefe almost puked. He spun around and covered his ears and eyes. There were screams of pain, and pleas to stop, and the iron smell of blood filled through the air. Finally, there was a loud BANG, and everything went silent.

Keefe cautiously turned around, his whole body shaking. 

The man's body was gone, but thick splotches of blood still stained the arena. Sophie began twitching. Erica cried out in surprise and made a motion as if to punch Sophie. Instead, inches before it hit her face, she stopped moving and Sophie went still again, her head lolling to one side.

Finally, Erica, regaining her calm smile, turned to the crowd. "That's what we do to traitors. Thanks for watching."

She made an odd gesture again, and the image disappeared.

The second the crowd was gone, Erica collapsed on the floor, her whole body shaking. When she stood up again, Keefe noticed something extremely strange. A blue symbol, like a moon, directly on her shoulder blade. Then she turned towards Sophie.

"Eat up, freak." Erica muttered, and a can of mushy green and brown foam appeared in her hand. She conjured a spoon, and then she slowly fed it to Sophie, who shuddered as every bite went down her throat. Finally, she conjured a small purple leaf, which she shoved down Sophie's throat.

That was her biggest reaction - Sophie screamed, and began writhing around, but as suddenly as it started, it stopped.

Suddenly, the dream scene began dissolving. Keefe lunged towards Sophie, desperate to see her one last time, but it was already gone.

Keefe was on the hard floor, thick arches of pain sparking through his arms and legs.

"Whoa, you good?" A voice asked above him.

Keefe bounded upright and almost punched Ro, thinking about Erica's voice. 

Thank god for her quick reflexes, because Ro darted out of the way just in time. Keefe swung at empty air.

"Jeez, what was that for?" Ro complained. "I haven't done anything mean in at least a day!"

Keefe curled up into a ball, his whole body shaking again.

"Oh no. Another dream?" Ro asked, wrinkling her nose. "Did you wet yourself?"

Keefe went neon red, and checked his pants. Nothing. He exhaled a sigh of relief, then turned to Ro. 

"When did Elwin say they'd stop?" Keefe asked quietly.

"He didn't know." Ro said with a sad smile. "What was this one about?"

"I saw her. She was being held captive, and there was this girl - this girl who - who -" Keefe stopped talking, feeling the dream world swirling around his head again.

It had been happening since he woke up from the coma. He'd have a strange dream, and then, the second he thought about it, he'd have another one like that. They were almost like premonitions of the future, because whatever he saw happened. Which was currently not his favorite thing.

Ro sighed, and gave Keefe an awkward hug. He froze - because Ro had never, ever shown any signs of affection. Small shards of worry, annoyance, and pain rose from Ro's heart towards Keefe's brain. He looked down.

"I'm just... going to go back to bed." He mumbled as Ro pulled away.

"Goodnight, Hunkyhair." Ro said sadly as he curled back under his covers.

How was he supposed to sleep... or even live... if Foster was gone? And even more importantly, what could he do to get her back?