Keeper of The Lost Cities AU: If worlds collided

~3~

"YOU'RE CRAZY!" Sophie screamed at the figures.

They wouldn't leave her alone. They were always there. Always watching. With evil intent. Fire was everywhere. "This is the right way, Miss Foster," The voices responded in a ghostly manner. She couldn't tell if it was a boy or girl, for all she knew, it was all of them speaking at once. "Your legacy is waiting for you."

"NO!" Sophie ran away, into the darkness, far, far away. But they caught up to her lightning fast. One of them turned invisible and tried to capture her. Turned invisible!

"Stay away from me!" She demanded the figures, wishing she could see their faces.

"You don't belong with them, you belong with us," The voices continued, to Sophie's horror. "This has always been our endgame. Big things are coming. You will not be prepared. Either join us now or face the hard choices."

"I don't believe you!" Sophie snapped back and started running even faster. The landscape was moving so fast that she couldn't tell where she was going.

"Embrace the change," The voices echoed. All around her. Smothering her. Sophie could barely see. All she could make out were the eyes staring at her. Teal eyes, ice blue eyes, periwinkle blue eyes, silvery blue eyes. And they all announced at the same time, "We're coming for you..." Sophie's own brown eyes watered, and her breaths became more and more labored-

"Sophie?" A voice called out from the bottom of the stairs of her house. "Are you ready? It's almost time to go!" Nine-year-old Sophie Foster rubbed her eyes and looked around. She was safe. There weren't any creepy figures in weird cloaks chasing her. Sophie took a deep breath. Although it wasn't real, the nightmare most felt real, like a warning to the future. If only she knew what it meant...

Her dad came bustling into her room. His green eyes met hers. "You're not even dressed yet? We're supposed to be leaving for London in an hour!"

Sophie panicked when she looked at her alarm clock, which read 9:00 am. "Sorry!" She tumbled out of her covers, waking up Marty and sending him sprawling to the floor. He hissed at her, and exited the room, nose up in the air and tail up like a rod. Her father analyzed her, and Sophie could hear his concerns. Hear them. She just wished she knew why. After all, she's been hearing the voices inside everyone's heads since she was five years old. At the same time, she cracked her head open and was sent to the hospital's emergency room, and she would never forget the pain of hearing thoughts for the first time. Does everyone who happens to break their heads on the concrete become a... become a Telepath too? It was too bad she couldn't ask anyone; they wouldn't understand.

No one in the world would understand.

Before Sophie could figure out a way to respond to her dad without freaking him out; she heard all his crazy theories dancing around, her mom burst into the room. "Good morning, Sophie," she greeted her daughter before turning to Will. "The flight has been delayed ten hours. Apparently, there's a small fire of sorts set at London's airport, and they're cautioning anyone traveling near."

Sophie's father sighed. After all, who would want to burn the world to toast? He turned to her. "I guess you aren't late then. Still, you should pack before we leave later."

Sophie nodded and her parents exited her bedroom. Her mom peeped her head back in. "Since we have some time, we're going to the store to grab a few essentials we were missing for the trip. Look after your sister." Emma Foster smiled at her daughter and went back out. Sophie heard the Lemon Mobile grumble to life as her parents left her with the monsters, one somewhere in the house and one haunting her subconscious.

She tried to focus as she put her clothing into her petite little suitcase, and Ella of course, but her mind couldn't stay from that nightmare she had. Who were those people? Was it just her imagination, or was it an omen? Something fizzled in the back of her mind, but it was too fizzy, too far away, for her to make out. Before she could try to concentrate on the memory, her sister burst into the room, holding an orange slip. Sophie immediately covered her ears to block out her childish thoughts. Not that it worked.

Amy frowned at her. "What are you always covering your ears for? It's so annoying, and I haven't even started talking yet!"

Sophie cringed, and slowly released her hands from her ears, and got bombarded with angry thoughts. Little sisters. "Sorry," Sophie apologized, trying to keep sincere and not as sarcastic as she would have preferred to be. "Is that your report card?" She gestured to the slip in Amy's hands.

Amy's scowl vanished and her face lit up as she nodded and held it up proudly. "Read it, read it!" She shoved it in her face. Sophie took it, gave her sister a warning look, and opened the report card. "I haven't even gotten any F's this time!" Amy announced proudly. And honestly, that was a surprise. Amy's grades have always been below average, and this time it consisted of mainly D's and C's, with one B.

"That's... great," Sophie struggled to be nice. "Good job."

Again, Amy's facial expression changed, and she yanked her report card out of her older sister's hands. "Why do you always have to be so rude? Not all of us have straight hundreds, you know!"

Sophie was shocked. What a brat! Of course, it was true that she was way ahead of her class. Just last year, her teacher recommended her to skip grades, and surprisingly, her parents listened. Now she was taking high school classes, and the teenagers in the school were not happy about it. The simple thought of being a super smart little girl was enough to make her shudder from all the attention she receives.

Sophie cringed from all the thoughts Amy was shooting her way. "That's not- I wasn't... I don't have time for this." Sophie walked around her sister and out of her room, almost tripping on Marty. She gave him a brief, apologetic pat, and started to head to the door. She needed some fresh air. The only problem was that Amy started following her.

"Seriously," Amy ranted on, much to Sophie's irritation, "What kind of freak is nine-years old and taking high school classes?"

"Amy!" She finally snapped back, "Be quiet or I'm going to tell Mom when she comes home!"

This didn't have the effect on her little sister as Sophie had hoped. "Oh, scary," Amy scoffed. "Run to Mom because she and Dad are the only people you talk to, you don't even have any friends!"

Sophie felt the urge to cry, which she definitely wasn't going to do in front of her bratty sister, and the desire and to punch her square in the face, which she would get killed for. After all, as much as Sophie knows her parents try and care for her, they don't understand her like they do Amy. They know that she's weird, that she doesn't fit in, that she's not normal.

Another downfall of hearing everyone's thoughts.

Sophie knew that Amy was right too. She didn't have any friends, because who would want to be friends with a know-it-all too smart for her own good? All she ever wanted was to fit in, but it seems she is the exact opposite. Meanwhile, Amy is basically living the perfect life, with her green eyes, very low below average grades, and her popularity. One of the stars of kindergarten. Sophie was in the process of taking deep breaths when Amy had to say one more thing.

"I bet that you don't even have headaches, and that you play it up so everyone would care about you, since otherwise, you're basically a ghost."

And that's when Sophie lost it. She couldn't explain exactly what happened, but it felt different. She felt different. She felt alive. Her vision clouded and she couldn't see anything except pure red. Sophie shoved the bubbling energy out of her mind in a flashing lightning bolt of emotions. Only when she heard a shriek did her senses come back to her.

"SOPHIE, PLEASE STOP!" Amy screamed. Sophie panicked, and her vision cleared. She was able to see again but was terrified of what she saw. Her little sister, writhing on the floor, cringing and just barely conscious. Sophie looked around her, wanting to find who did this to her sister and show them pain, when her memories flooded back. The red. The lightning. The screams.

She did this.

She hurt her sister.