Keeper of the Lost Cities: Elysian

Chapter 11

"Are you alright, Foster?" Keefe whispered, jerking Sophie out of her trance.

It took her a moment for her to realize where she was and what she was doing. She was sitting against the same tree she had slept under the previous night and she had apparently been staring into space.

The storm was gone, leaving stars visible up in the beautiful, majestic sky. But Sophie didn't acknowledge their beauty at all.

Fitz, Marella, Flori, and Maruca were sound asleep.

She saw Sandor scanning their surroundings a few feet away from the other tree. He had insisted on staying up to be vigilant in case there were dangers in the night.

Despite Sophie and Flori's protests, the stubborn bodyguard refused to rest.

Keefe was sitting on his sleeping bag with his legs crossed, looking at her with a concerned gaze.

Sophie blinked a few times and realized he was still waiting for her answer. "Oh... I'm fine."

Keefe didn't look the slightest bit convinced. "You're a dreadful liar. When are you going to trust me?"

Sophie looked away guiltily. "I do trust you. I'm just tired, that's all."

"Then why aren't you going to sleep?" Keefe asked.

What he said was a Very Good Point and made Sophie clamp her lips shut and continue staring into space.

"Please, Foster, just tell me," Keefe begged. "You've been acting weird from dinner. You barely touched your food, and you didn't participate in our game. What's wrong?"

Elysian had brought a delicious vegetable soup, baked bread, and something that looked like gravy to the table on which they had eaten breakfast, and everyone quickly devoured the scrumptious food. 

After that, Elysian conjured a large pie for dessert. The sweet berries and sweet cream had melted in everyone's mouths and laughter filled the air. 

After, they had fun playing a human board game called "Scrabble" which Elysian had acquired from her experiences in the human world. The object of the game was to rearrange letter tiles to form words and score points. It was very dusty, but they had plenty of fun. 

Except for Sophie. 

Keefe was right. Sophie had barely touched her food and was so distant that she lost the game by over a hundred points. It was Keefe who ended up winning due to his extremely advanced vocabulary.

Before going to sleep, everyone chatted and talked together. 

Sophie knew a "Nothing" wouldn't sell it. She tried, "I was just... distracted."

"By what?" Keefe persisted.

"I-I don't know."

Sophie was exhausted. But she couldn't sleep.

She wanted to sleep, but...

There was a strange feeling inside her. A feeling of apprehension.

It was something in her mind that whispered, What if something's not okay?

"I'm sensing a lot of worry from you," Keefe whispered. "What is it?"

"I don't know." It couldn't have been more accurate.

Was it something about the breeze rustling the tree's leaves and soft grass? Or the way the six unmapped stars glinted down upon her? Or the way the night seemed to have thousands of eyes, watching her every move?