Becoming the Future

Chapter 40

Sophie grabbed the two notes and the charm and then walked slowly down the stairs. She heard laughing. She smiled at it.

But then, she heard a scream. She ran down the rest of the stairs and then she saw Fitz crying on the front door step. Her family was tryibg to comfort him. She didn't see Lizzy anywhere.

"Fitz?! Where's Lizzy?" Sophie asked. He looked up at her, still crying. She looked into his teal eyes and she knew that something was wrong. And it had to do with Lizzy.

"She's gone." He said in a whisper. And then he covered his eyes with his hands and kept crying. He didn't say anything.

Sophie stopped walking and her legs collapsed beneath her.

"Oh, Sophie. I'm so sorry. I wish I could do something to help." Edaline said quietly. Something clicked inside Sophie's head.

"I think you can. First, can you call Sandor for me? And, Dad?" He stood up. "Can you call the Council and ask them to start looking for her?" He nodded. Fitz came alive, glad that Sophie was taking charge. "I'll get some of my Emissary friends so we can start looking right away." He said.

"Foster, what we going to do?" Keefe asked.

"Why did you call me Foster? My laat name is Vacker." He shrugged.

"Ok. Anyways, to answer your question, I'll talk to Biana. Della and Alden, you can watch Logan." She turned to her grandparents. "I'm sorry you got caught up in this," she said. "You can leave if you want." They shook their heads no. "We will help in anyway we can. How about we call some of our friends and ask them to look? I know some of them are Emissaries." Paula said. Before she could argue with them, they leaped away.

"What are you going to do?" Keefe asked. "What am I going to do?"

"You will be coming with Biana and I. We'll need your help." She looked at Keefe and Biana. They were the only ones left. "Everyone else is doing what they're supposed to do. Now let's go to my old room."

They ran up there, Sophie slower than them because she was still pregnant, and everyone stopped in the doorway. They sucked in a breath and then sat on Sophie's bed. "Ok, Foster. What's the plan?"

"I'm not here to talk about the plan, I'm here to talk about some notes."

She pulled out the two notes.

Keefe grabbed them from her and read the first one out loud. " You will always be mine. Signed, S.A."

He looked confused. But Biana didn't. "Let me see that." She said. She read it in her head and then smiled. "Sophie, it looks like you have a secret admirer." Sophie blushed.

"How do you know?" She asked. "I know because S.A. is obviously Secret Admirer. The words on the note give it away." That made sense. "Biana, where did Dex, Marella and Dex's parents go?" She asked. Biana just shrugged. "I think they left early."

"Ok."

"Ok. Let's just read the other note." Keefe said. "There are still dangers out there. Watch out. Signed, B.S."

"That one I know." Sophie said. "It's from the black swan. Warning us about something." She started crying. "Foster, it's ok." Keefe said, hugging her. Biana glared at him. "Well, I guess this is what they were warning us about." Biana said.

"Well, since we figured this out, what are we going to do?" Keefe asked. "Wait. First, I need to show you something else." She grabbed the box from her pocket and pulled thw charm out of it. "It says, 'Always there,' on the back." She said.

"What could this mean?!" Biana asked, annoyed. They heard a knock on the door. "If I could say something," a soft, high pitched voice, said. "Sandor!" Sophie said, getting up and hugging him. "I missed you, too, Miss Foster. Or should I say, Mrs.Vacker?" He asked, winking. She scrunched up he nose. "That sounds old." She said. "Alright. I'll stick with Miss Foster."

She nodded. "What were you going to say?" She asked. "Well, I was going to say that you should write a note to the Black Swan. And that I think that's what the words on the charm mean. The Black Swan will always be there if you need them."

"Ok. What do you think we should write?" She asked.

"Get me a piece of paper and a pencil. I'll write it." She did that and he sat at her desk. She was surprised the chair didn't break.

When he was done writing, he handle the paper to her. It said, in big sloppy letters,

My charge's daughter was taken.

It's not mistaken, she was taken.

Can you help?

I'm sure you want to, and I'll let you.

Come as soon as possible.

-Sandor

Sophie laughed. Her friends looked at her strangely. Sandor blushed. "He's a poet and he didn't know it," she said laughing. "Actually, I did know it," Sandor replied,"You just didn't."

She shrugged and said,"Whatever. But I'm sure this will work. Can you bring it to the caves?" Sandor nodded and her friends waited. They all thought about Lizzy, especially Sophie.

They could be doing anything to her. Just as she was about to cry, Sandor came barging in. "The note was placed where they could see it. I even stood there for a couple of minutes to see if they would respond right away."

"Thank you, Sandor." Sophie said. She was about to say something else but they heard a knock on the door. It was Dex.

"Dex? What are you doing here?" Sophie asked, confused.

"I heard about Lizzy," he said quietly. "And I was coming to comfort you, when someone in a black cloak freaked me out. They sneaked up on me. Oh, and they gave me this letter."

He handed it to Sophie and she read it immediatley.

We'll help right away. We hope to find her in a few days, but if not, wait patiently.

-B.S.

They were going to help.

A/N Wow. That felt long. Comment if you are doing the contest. Only one person has so far. By the way, the prize is me using your cover.

And thanks again for all of the reads, votes and comments. They are what keep me writing this story. And sorry for keeping you waiting for the other stories.