Finding Keefe (Sokeefe)

Bittersweet

Time had felt like it slowed to a halt.

Sophie dropped the spoon.

Her stomach flipped, and she began to feel nauseous, regretting eating what little she had.

Her thoughts were racing.

They had found him?

So was he back?

Or was that just her hopes?

Is he safe?

Was he even safe in the first place?

Had something bad happened?

"Remember. Breathe Miss Foster."
Magnate Leto commanded.

She didn't even realize about the lack of air, until he had reminded her.

Her vision had gone blurry.

Her chest was tight with tension.

She gasped for air, not sure when the last time she had even taken a breath was.

The ground seemed to be rocking back in forth. Or maybe that was her.

A quick glance down at her hands seemed to confirm that theory.

She was violently shaking.

Edaline's strong grip held her back, preventing her from flailing.

The first words to escape her lips were,
"It can't be that easy."

Which was stupid.

Her first words should have been,'Where?' or, When?' or, How?'...or more importantly, 'How do we get him back?'

But some part deep in her knew that this could never be this easy.

"It wasn't."
Magnate Leto assured her.

When she still didn't buy into it he tried to reassure her.
"I assure you, Miss. Foster, that this was no easy feat to accomplish."

Sophie could feel the numbness coming back to bite.

A tiny laugh pooled out of her, not one of humor, but one of manic.

Magnate Leto frowned, confused etched into his features.

The laugh had slipped because it was obvious that whatever resolution they think they had found wasn't true.

Keefe was gone forever.

And nothing would change that.

Edaline cradled her hand, begging her to calm down.

Sophie's eyes were widened, but she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings.

She was rather focused on her thoughts.

Her ears rang with voices of confusion, worry, and concern.

But she wasn't listening.

The world was spinning, spinning, spinning.

Or maybe that was her head.

She was losing touch with reality.

"Sophie."
A sharp voice drew her out of her daze.

She inhaled softly, trying not to focus on the lack of air in her lungs, and turned to face Magnate Leto.

Her gaze met his, and his piercing blue eyes seemed to be very...disorientated.

Something about them had a flare of knowledge in them.

As if he was biting his tongue at the moment, trying to prevent whatever he wasn't telling from erupting too early.

But Sophie didn't let it go unnoticed.

Her eyes turned sharp with determination, and she pulled herself back together, forcing herself to focus and calm down.

"What do you know?"
She demanded.

He hesitated for a minute.
"I think you may be misunderstanding what I said."

He paused for a minute before continuing cautiously.

"We locat-ed. We no longer know where he is."

So why did we get her so worked up over this?

That just made her angrier.

Why did people always have to lead her on to a dead end?

She could feel her blood boiling.

She took a calming breath.

She had to ease herself before her outburst.

But that surprisingly easy...

Her feelings were less intense than normal...

Was that because....?

No. She couldn't let herself think that again.

She had to force away the numbness. Even if that meant anger was her only solution.

But first answers.

She wanted to pelt him with questions.

But only one rolled off her tongue.

"How did you do it?"
She wrung her hands, preventing herself from tearing at anything or throwing anything in case the answer wasn't particularly desirable.

"The map at Watchward Heath."
He explained simply.

"So how did you lose him?"
She demanded, her voice a little louder than she meant.

But Magnate Leto didn't look offended or taken aback.

Instead he looked a little uncertain.

"We...don't know."
He was very quiet, it was as if he believed the louder his voice was the realer things would get.

"It's possible he could have found a way past our security... but that is not what it looked like."
He took a steadying breath, most likely weighing the options and consequences about what he was going to say next.

"He looked alarmed."

Sophie gasped, any anger fading away.

She knew it was a stupid question, but she squeaked it out anyway.
"Is he safe?"
It was her turn to whisper now.

He glanced at everyone in the room very quickly as to ask for their assurance. Everyone gave him a very minuscule nod, but Sophie still caught it. The nerves in her stomach were building up.

Magnate Leto must've decided sugarcoating wasn't a good idea so he plain out said.

"We believe Mr. Sencen is in dire danger."

~ Sorry guys for not many updates! I have stricter phone rules and a busy schedule, but I'm trying to work as much as I can when I get the time! Enjoy and thanks for reading!
Lots of love,
Your author 💕 ~