Keeper of The Lost Cities AU: If worlds collided

~4~

"Amy?" Sophie dropped to the ground and put her sister's head on her lap. "I'm so sorry, I..." She didn't know how to finish the sentence. How did she do this? Amy didn't respond, and Sophie's eyes started to cloud, this time with tears, and started hyperventilating. What were her parents going to think of this when they came home to find her daughter crumbled on the ground? They already thought Sophie was strange, but this would bring it to a whole new level. "Amy, please." She begged, hoping her sister would wake up and start teasing her. Amy didn't move, and Sophie could only hear the faintest of thoughts radiating off her.

"What have you kids done?" a voice called out, and Sophie cringed. Leave it to her nosy neighbor to be the one who comes to assist her.

Wait.

He couldn't see Amy like this! But before Sophie could tell him exactly where he could take his business, Mr. Forkle walked into their yard, filled the air with the stench of feet, and immediately looked at Amy. She could hear his curiosity and panic filled thoughts hammering in her head. "Give her to me," he ordered her.

Sophie glared at him through her blurry eyes. "No!" She protested, pulling Amy closer to her chest. "Stay away and go rearrange your stupid gnomes are something. Leave us alone!"

Mr. Forkle didn't budge. "Sophie," he replied gently. "Just calm down and-"

"I said to GO AWAY!" Sophie interrupted, tired of this conversation. She should be more respectful of the old man, after all, he was the one who called the ambulance when she cracked her head on the sidewalk. But right now, she couldn't think to be polite, with her sister unconscious on the ground and her new strange power. Why did some new talent come every time someone got hurt?

Mr. Forkle reached for Amy, but Sophie grabbed his hands and tried to swat them away. Instead, he tightened his grip on them and Sophie gasped. She felt another burst of energy, this time through her fingertips, as it jolted out between her and her neighbor. And then, there was a voice in her mind. Calm, it told her.

Sophie numbed, and suddenly she didn't feel the fright she had only moments ago. Things weren't so bad, really. Her sister wasn't even dead. Why was she so upset? Sophie tried to control her thoughts, to push the voice out, when she realized what was happening. "You," She rasped weakly, fighting off the strange urge to fall asleep. "You're... a Telepath..." Mr. Forkle hid a small smile, but then looked over at Amy. She still wasn't awake, and her skin was taking on a greenish tint.

"We need to get you two to safety. Help me carry your sister." Sophie started at that. "No! We can't she can't-" Go to sleep, the voice in her head, Mr. Forkle, commanded. And she couldn't fight it off, only watched as he picked her and Amy up as she drifted off to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The searing feeling of dying ended. She could breathe again. There was no crushing weight on her, no pain in her lungs, her heart was beating. There were voices calling to her. Distant. She was safe here, in the little hiding place of her mind. She didn't want to go back out there, to the bright and terrifying world. But something pulled her to do so. She floated away from the darkness, up, up, up, into the light. It was excruciating, and she was blinded for a second and had to blink a couple of times. Worried and grief-stricken thoughts pummeled her mind the second the hazy darkness was gone. There was a throbbing pain in her head, and her whole body was sore, but she was alive.

And she couldn't remember what caused her to end up there in the first place.

"Sophie?" A deep voice called out. "Blink twice if you can hear me."

Sophie blinked and heard a gush of relieved sighs as her vision cleared. She could see the doctors, who were leaving to give the family some space. She could also see her mom and dad, and they looked to be trying very hard to be happy but still wanted to cry. And a little way past them...

"No!" She struggled to get out of bed, shocked about how much energy it took her just to say that one simple word. "Amy! why is she- what happened..."

"Breathe, Sophie," Emma rushed over and held her daughter's hand. "You both got into a little problem. You need to rest."

"She's just sedated. She'll be okay." Mr. Forkle added, making Sophie realize that he was there too.

"Why are you here?" She glared at him, and only then did she realize there was another person next to him. It was a lady, with dark skin and radiant blue eyes. She had jewels of every color in her hair, much to Sophie's confusion. She assumed that the lady was a niece or daughter of Mr. Forkle's.

"He rescued you, Sophie," her dad replied softly when Forkle could only stutter. "You and Amy might not be al- if he and his friend didn't find you, we don't know what would have happened."

"I should be going," Mr. Forkle said when a thick silence drew over the room.

Sophie's parents nodded. "Thank you so much for rescuing them," Emma said. Forkle nodded, and gave the lady a look, who followed him out the door. He gazed back at Sophie and Amy one more time before taking off to go do who knows what.

Probably to rearrange the gnomes, Sophie thought sourly. She couldn't even stand up!

"I'm going to go speak to the doctors." Will announced, and he walked out of the room, slowly closing the door.

Sophie's mom sighed and sat on the hospital bed next to her, all her worried thoughts unspoken. But eventually she asked, "What happened back there, sweetie? What did you and your sister get into to make all... all of this happen?"

Sophie opened her mouth to tell her, but nothing came out. She could feel the memory in the back of her mind but couldn't reach it. Instead, it triggered a giant headache, as if the one she had already wasn't excruciating enough. "I can't think right now," Sophie groaned and flopped back on the pillow gently. And then she fell asleep.