Trust Me - a Sophitz story

Part 8

Dedicated to for super supportive comments and being the first to vote for Part 7. This is the last chapter I have pre-written, but I'm working on more. So I may not be able to update in the next few days. Sorry. I want to catch up on some fo my other stories too! But anyway, on to the story! 

Chapter 8:

"Sophie, Fitz, Bianca, Dex! Breakfast! Or should I say lunch? You slept half the day away!" Dela's tall, graceful form appeared out of nowhere in the doorway.

"No matter how much I see that, I'm never gonna get used to Vanishers," Sophie declared. Smiling, Fitz took her hand and steered her towards the huge, elegant dining room, where a huge array of food was laid out. "Dela, everything looks amazing!"

"Thank you dear, but I didn't do any of the cooking."

As another tray of pastries appeared, Sophie peeked her head into the kitchen. "Mom?"

"Morning, Sweetheart! Grady and I thought we would come up to say hi, but we needed to talk to Dela and Alden anyway."

"Why? What happened??" As she spoke, a slight tinge of panic rose at the edges of her voice.

"Nothing, really. We can talk more after you eat something and change."

"Okay?" Sophie looked uncertainly at her friends, but they were all hungry, so they quickly attacked the mountains of food. Within minutes, the tray of mallowmelt was reduced to crumbs, the custard bursts were nothing more than a memory, and the dozens of other gooey treats were demolished. "Mom, why bother making all this for? I mean, it was amazing," here Sophie paused while her friends shouted their agreement, "But it kinda feels like you're preparing us for bad news."

"Dela, are we ready?"

"I'll go get Grady and Alden," she responded, before blinking away.

"What's happening, Aunt Dela?" Dex piped up, which triggered another avalanche of questions from all four young elves.

"Wait," Sophie said suddenly, throwing a hand up, and nearly hitting Fitz in the face. "Sorry, Fitz. Where's Grizel and Sandor? And your new bodyguards, Mom?"

"We... we'll explain everything, I promise.

Less than 20 minutes later , everyone was assembled in the dining room. Dex, Bianca, Alden, and Dela sat on one side of the table, Sophie, Fitz, Grady and Edaline on the other side, Bronte was there representing the council, and 'Granite' was at the other head of the table as the representative for the Black Swan. Whatever this news was, it was big.

"Last time Bronte, my dad, you and I were at this table, you dropped him, remember?"

Sophie was proud of herself for not flinching when his deep accented voice filled her head. "True." She transmitted back. "It feels like so long ago."

"It was long ago," Fitz thought, and they both laughed (mentally, of course) as the image of their younger faces swam to the forefront of Sophie's photographic mind.

"I look so scared."

"Sophie, you looked beautiful then, and you look beautiful now. I look like I'm about six, though."

"If I could mentally roll my eyes, I would."

"Mr. Vacker! Miss. Foster! Are you ready to join the conversation?" Bronte's sharp voice cut through their mental connection, reminding them both that they were not alone.

"Well, it seems their Cognate practices are coming along nicely," Granite interrupted.

"ANYWAY," Alden interrupted them both, "There's no reason to worry but,"

"Alden, there is plenty of reason to worry," Grady added.

"Why don't I explain it?" Edaline asked in a strong, yet quiet voice. "That way we may actually get done by sundown!" Everyone then looked at the windows, where it was high noon outside. As everyone at the table nodded in agreement, Edaline continued. "As everyone knows, or everyone should know, the Neverseen captured Sophie's human parents, or the humans she believed were her parents. Her human sister escaped. When Sophie, Fitz, and Keefe,"

"That Boy. Always That Boy."

"Grady! As I was saying, the three of them, Grizel and Sandor went to the Forbidden Cities, to the relocated house of the family that used to be the Fosters. Are they now the Freemans?" When Sophie, Bronte, and Alden nodded, Edaline continued. "They arrived and there had obviously been a struggle. There was no sign of the parents. Sophie fled the scene, Fitz followed her, and Sandor leaped with Fitz to meet Sophie back at Havenfield. But that left a goblin, an elf, and a very confused human. Grizel hailed Alden, who, in turn, called Bronte."

"Yes. It was, still is, a difficult situation. In the past, if humans have discovered something, we wash them. Wipe their memories, and problem solved," Bronte added. "But in this case, we had no idea if she held vital clues."

"Which is where we came in," Granite interjected. Smiling at the mildly annoyed Bronte, he said, "Sorry for interrupting. But I may as well continue. While the Black Swan is still reeling from the loss of..." he paused briefly, then finished, "Mr. Forkle, the organization is still in working order. Mostly. So when Bronte was contacted by Alden, we got involved. We took 'Natalie Freeman', also known as Amy Foster, to another safe house, much like the one where we hid Prentice."

Sophie, who had been listening silently, looked up in horror. She had nearly forgotten the event that had triggered all the Keefe drama. Knowing what she was thinking, Fitz asked quickly, "She's okay? She's safe, right?"

"Yes, she's safe. For now." Bronte's words felt heavy, like one long, drawn out sigh.

"Keefe insisted on going with us to settle her in, and his claim that his empathic abilities would be helpful proved true. However, late last night, or possibly very very early this morning, he went missing." That was Alden, his face crinkled with worry. "We were able to track his registry pendant as far as Havenfield. It appears he visited Calla's tree. But after that, he's off the grid."

"That Boy, always causing trouble."

"Grady!" Edaline once again interrupted her husband, before adding, "He left a note, under Calla's tree. But we haven't opened it."

"Why not?" Sophie asked. Her face was red, and she was trembling against Fitz, but she appeared to be holding it together. Ish.

"It's addressed... to you, Miss. Foster," Bronte filled in when Edaline looked away. Silently, Alden reached into a pocket in his cape and removed a surprisingly thick envelope, which he slid across the table to Sophie. When she made no move to take it, Fitz leaned forward and grabbed the envelope.

"Can I open it?" he asked softly of Sophie, and, when she nodded, he slit it open with more force than necessary. He reached inside, and pulled out four smaller envelopes, marked, 'Foster', 'Fitz', 'Bianca', and 'Dex'.