Empath of the Forbidden Cities

Chapter 12

(A/N sorry this chapter is short.)

"Come with me."

Keefe was silent as he followed Thelia, before they came into a room he had never been in before. Inside it was dark, and there were a bunch of CCTVs lining the walls, all showing different parts of London.

"What is this place?" He turned to Thelia as he asked. "This is our surveillance room." She explained. "It's where we monitor all of London. But there's been a bit of a problem recently." Keefe motioned for her to continue.

"We've spotted Neverseen members on camera before, but for some reason in the past few weeks, they've stopped showing up." She turned to him. "What am I supposed to do about that?" Keefe asked. "Well..." She paused.

"We need a reason for them to come out. We need bait." Keefe sucked in a breath as soon as he realized what she was suggesting. He wasn't sure if he was ready to face his- their  mother again. He had only escaped a few weeks ago.

But what if something bad happened because he didn't? He wouldn't be able to live the guilt, both figuratively and literally. He couldn't shy away from this. This would protect his new friends. His new family.

"What do I have to do?" Thelia smiled.

-

The plan was pretty simple. Place Keefe in a human hotel, under the assumption that he'd either spot Neverseen members or they would come to him. If it was the latter, Keefe would use the panic switch Thelia gave him. In case he lost it, he also had several hidden trackers on him. And if he needed to return to base for whatever reason, the code for his arrival was 'gruel omelets'. Thelia had insisted upon that being the pass phrase.

It was time to see what the Neverseen were up to.

-

"Alright, this is the room." Thelia announced as she unlocked the door. Thelia had bought Keefe one of the suites on the upper floors. He had tried to decline, but his sister was apparently just as stubborn as he was.

Keefe took a glance around the room, or rooms for that matter. "Why do humans use flowers to decorate everything?" Thelia simply shrugged. Something seemed a bit off about her. She wasn't commenting as much as usual.

"Hey," He put and hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"

To his surprise, Thelia whirled around and hugged him.

"Please come back safe." Oh. Keefe wasn't expecting that. It had only just hit him that he was probably going to be in danger. He hugged her back tightly, then whispered into her ear, "I promise I will."

Thelia stepped back, and he could see hints of her earlier demeanor returning.

"Well, you're still not going to get rid of me. We'll come visit next week if you never hit the panic switch, and also give you some updates on Facet if we can." Keefe nodded and chuckled a little bit at her mothering over him. It turned it bit more sullen when he realized that no one had ever done that for him.

Thelia gave him one more quick hug, then stepped out the door.

-

The week was almost over. And Keefe hadn't found anything. He always knew that was a possibility, but he still wished there was something he could tell Thelia when she came. And now he couldn't sleep. Awesome. Wow.

He was contemplating what to do with his time when he heard a knock from the door. Maybe he imagined it? Or maybe Thelia came a day early? He heard another knock, and he started walking to the door. He swung it open.

Suffice it to say he was surprised to see Foster staring back up at him.

Before he could say anything she barreled him with a tackle-hug.