Sentry of the Arcane: Befall

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Sophie

 I wake up again in the middle of night, which isn't much of a surprise at this point. I go and turn on the room lights. My eyes first stray to my desk before the still open connecting door. Sighing, I walk into Fitz's room. Usually, I would use the excess light that's coming my room to take a few moment to check if he somehow managed to come back or if he left us any clues.

That's when I see that Fitz's bed has someone in it.

Instead of a smile breaking out on my face, dread fills into my stomach. How did he get in here without me hearing anything? I ask myself. The connecting door was open the entire time ever since he went to that hideout. I frown as I try to sneak towards Fitz's lights as quietly as I can, careful to not accidentally hit something.

When my fingers brush against the male Percipient's light switch, I tighten my grip on the switch. I let out a deep breath and think, Is it really him? Maybe my eyes are deceiving me... But maybe they aren't. Sighing in exasperation, I hesitantly flick the light switch upwards, instantaneously illuminating Fitz's room.

After taking a few deep breaths to mentally and emotionally prepare myself for what I may or may not see, I slowly turn around. Keeping my eyes closed for some reason, I take a hesitant step forward. I continue doing this until my knees are touching the edge of Fitz's bed. I tense up when my legs actually touch the wood, making me realize all over again what may happen.

Before I can stall myself anymore, I open my eyes. My eyes immediately travel to the face before my eyes widen considerably.

"No..." I find myself whispering as I take a step back. "What is he doing here..?" With every second that ticks past, I can feel my face losing its color more and more. I take in a shaky breath, "Where's Fitz and Donovan?"

Then I rush out of Fitz's room before I can scream.

...

"When did you find him?" Caroline asks me once we, including Laurel and Audrey, returned to Fitz's room. Once the three of them saw Mr. Wallace unconscious in the male Percipient's bed, Audrey began cursing and looked like she wanted to throw something, Laurel screamed, and Caroline paled like I did.

"I woke up and decided to search Fitz's room again," I say. "It's become normal for me to wake up at random times in the night and search."

Sympathy in her blue eyes, the chemist then asks, "Did you hear him come in?"

I shake my head. "When I woke up, he was already sleeping in Fitz's bed," I say truthfully.

Audrey suddenly growls loudly, her expression alone enough to injure Mr. Wallace. "Why the absolute heck is he here?!" she shouts. "We don't need him right now!"

"But when he wakes up, we could ask him where he was," Laurel counters innocently.

"You have no idea who Wallace is then," Audrey scoffs, rolling her eyes at the female Altruistic's naivety. The Sovereign then resumes her glaring at the middle-aged man.

Caroline ignores their bickering. Instead, she announces out loud, "I think that we should get him down to the lab, but I didn't bring a stretcher with me when I ran out of there."

"I can use my telekinesis," I offer. "I can levitate him."

Slightly astonished, Caroline nods. The three of them watch me silently as I begin levitating Mr. Wallace few feet in the air. The chemist then opens the door for me as I bring Mr. Wallace out into the hallway. Once the five of us are outside, Caroline closes the door and we make our way to the elevators.

After we step out and onto the ground floor, Caroline takes the lead, showing us the way to the laboratory. She almost slams the metal doors open before letting us in. "Could you place him on the metal table?" she asks politely, pointing to same table that she and Steven treated Fitz on. I nod silently, hovering Mr. Wallace closer to where he's supposed to go.