No longer the Moonlark.....

Chapter 7

"Miss Foster?" Sandor asked, barging into Sophie's bedroom. "I heard you screaming, are you okay?" he asked, snapping to turn on the lights. Sophie hid under the covers, "Just a nightmare," she said, mumbling from the covers. "Do you need anything?" Sandor asked, but Sophie just shook her head. Sandor finally left her in her room, alone. Where people could be hiding, ready to take her away. 

She finally chose to get up to go to her desk, (sleep was not an option unless she took sedatives) and grabbed her notebook. She wished she could project it, but that was not an option anymore, so she began to write. She wrote everything that happened in the past couple of months. Once done, she grabbed her phone and Airpods and began playing her "Late Nights" playlist. It was bright outside when she finished the playlist, so she dressed and walked downstairs. 

"Morning, Sophie." Grady said as she sat next to him on the table, frowning when he saw the dark circles under Sophie's eyes, "No luck sleeping?" he asked. Sophie shook her head, "Nightmares, then I didn't want to sleep after that." "Maybe some slumberberry tea would help," Edaline said, placing a bowl of mush that tasted like cereal. Sophie shook her head again, she never wanted to take another sedative, not after what the Neverseen did. "You can't just not sleep forever," Edaline said, placing juice in front of her next to the bowl. "Oh I can perfectly function without sleep," Sophie said, giving the everything's okay smile. "Just wait to see Elwin's reaction to that." Grady said, grabbing a glass from the cupboard, "But you do need to sleep, Sophie." he added. "The nightmares are to hard for me to sleep," Sophie whispered, closing her eyes to block out the voices of Gethen and Fintain in her head. When Grady and Edaline admitted defeat, they went out to the pastures, and Sophie returned to her room.

Putting back her airpods in and playing her "Forget" playlist on max, she didn't realize Edaline came in. "Elwin's here," Edaline said, making her jump. Sophie took off her airpods and put her phone back in it's drawer and walked downstairs. 

"Let's see how you're doing today," Elwin said, as he flashed orbs around her arms mostly. He frowned when he saw the dark circles under her eyes, "No luck sleeping?" he asked, and Sophie shook her head, "Too many nightmares," she mumbled. Sandor nodded in the corner. "And I'm guessing you don't want to take any sedatives," he asked, and Sophie shook her head again. Elwin dropped the topic after that, but then went straight to something she did not want to talk about. "I think I have something to help with the scars on your arms," he said, grabbing a balm from his satchel. "If this doesn't work I'll make something else," he added, placing it on her arms. After a few minutes, he took it off with a towel. And the scars were still there, more noticeable than before. Sophie had no response. Elwin bit his lip, muttering something under his breath about how he thought it would work. "It's okay," Sophie whispered, "Don't worry about it." Elwin shook his head, "I'm not giving up that easily, and when I think of something better, I'll try again." Sophie agreed, and once he left, she went upstairs to hail Keefe. 

"Wanna come over?" she asked as soon as his face appeared on the screen. "Hello to you too, Foster." Keefe smirked, "And sure, I'll be there in 10." then he disappeared. She then grabbed her AirPods again and continued her "Forget " playlist, which she didn't realize Keefe had come in. "Hey Foster," he said, sitting on the bed with her, "You okay?" he asked. She wanted to tell him she was fine and that everything was great. But inside, she was scared, tired, and just worried. So, she finally chose to tell him the truth, "Yea everything's great!" Nope. Nevermind, she couldn't. He frowned, "You can't lie to the Empath, Foster." She knew that, but she wished she could. "I just wish this had never happened," Sophie said, looking at her arms, then playing with her hair. "Me too, Foster." he said, then everything felt somewhat safe again. 

That night, she asked Edaline for Slumberberry tea, but she didn't take it. She even made Sandor check the room twice. After they left, she put her airpods in and played her, "No sleep" playlist. And everything was calm, until a voice said, "Hello again," and then it was dark.