Sentry of the Arcane: Befall

Chapter Forty-One: Sophie

Once it's actually morning, I pull myself out of bed and slowly walk over to the shower. After taking a cold shower to wake myself up, I dry myself off and change into a red tunic with some black jeans. When I slip on my brown ankle boots, I remember last night and frown. What if Mr. Wallace still had his amnesia? I think to myself as I walk down the hallway towards the elevator. Caroline didn't specify how long his amnesia would last.

When I reach the ground floor, I realize that neither Laurel nor Audrey is awake. I quickly go into the conference room to grab a small yogurt parfait and some bottled mango juice. Before leaving, I quickly reach for a spoon and a napkin.

I don't eat any of my breakfast until I reach the doors of the laboratory. After knocking a few times, I manage to open my mango juice and take a few sips. And of course, when Mr. Wallace opens the door instead of Caroline, I choke of my beverage and almost do a spit take. Once I swallow, I choke out, "Why are you up? Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"I feel perfectly fine, Sophie," he says, his nonchalance surprising me. "Caroline actually said that I would be able to leave if I was able to."

I raise an eyebrow. "If you say so," I mutter under my breath before stepping aside for him to walk out. When he's far enough, I walk inside and kick the metal door shut. I then see a small, metal table near me and set my parfait and juice down. And almost on cue, Caroline decides to enter the room.

"Did he leave already?" Caroline asks, looking at the closed doors. Walking over to me, she comment, "I know that I said that he could go, but I didn't think that he'd leave so quickly."

I frown. "Why was he able to leave?" I inquire. "He wasn't able to remember where he was the past few days, even though we already know."

"Well, his amnesia should've lasted for a month," the chemist begins, making my eyes widen. "I was able to make it so that his amnesia would affect some past memories, but not all."

"So it basically made him forget where he was for the past few days?" I ask. "But then we won't get an answer on where he was..!"

Caroline shakes her head. "I was able to choose which memories I would able to make him forget," she admits. "And I made sure to not choose that memory.

I glare at the ground, and then at the ceiling. "He knows, but he won't tell us," I murmur. I suddenly look up at the chemist again. "Wait... how were you able to erase some memories? Is there a-" I then stop myself when one possibility enters my mind. When I see the soft smile forming on Caroline's face, my eyes widen even more. "You also have...?"

The chemist nods. "Definitely not as powerful as the two of you," she begins. "But I'm powerful enough. Have you ever wondered why you could never sense my thoughts whenever you tried to track someone's thoughts?"

I furrow my eyebrows in thought. And when I realize that she's right, I also remember something else. "You're not the only one who's able to do that, right? Block your thoughts from people?"

Caroline nods, but more hesitantly this time. "Why do you ask?"

"Fitz told me that before he, Donovan, and Benen found Susan dead, Fitz tried to track her thoughts," I explain, remembering that training session with the six of us. "He managed to track someone else's thought instead- a man's."

"Do you remember what he said?"

I nod, "He said, 'God, that took longer than it should've... Someone's listening to me."

The chemist frowns. "That certainly sounds suspicious, but do you know who it was?"

"I think it was Fitton," I say. "Fitz does as well. There's actually a photo where Fitton's in a shadowy corner, watching us." I shudder as I remember seeing his face in the shadows.

"That's when you fainted, right?" Caroline asks. "And that's when Fitz read those inscriptions and found Fitton within that photo?"

"Exactly," I confirm. "I think that Fitz was temporarily able to get into the mind of Fitton to read the thoughts he was thinking at the time, but Fitton must've been able to sense him in his mind. So he blocked Fitz from reading his thoughts."

Caroline ponders about my words. "That makes sense," she says. "But that also means that Fitton killed his wife. And his wife's best friend." She furrows her eyebrows at this.

I raise an eyebrow at the chemist. "Jacob brutally murdered his brother and sister-in-law," I point out. "I'm not surprised that Fitton would do something like this." When Caroline nods, I add, "Basically Fitton seems like the murderer because of these personal connections and how he was hiding at the scene of t

he crime. And on a deeper level, he's most likely the murderer because of what he was thinking before Susan was found."

I look up to see Caroline scribbling my theory down on a notepad. Once she finishes, she looks up at me. "I should show Steven this when he gets back," she says quietly, most likely to herself. But I still hear it.

"Wait- shouldn't Steven be back by now?" I ask, making Caroline tense up at my question. I look at the closed metal doors. "Or did you need a lot of things?"

Caroline doesn't give me a verbal answer. Instead, she scribbles a few more things onto the notepad. When I raise an eyebrow at her, she smiles sheepishly. "I just jotted down that Fitton only left after he attacked Fitz and lost," she explains. "But I'm wondering when he got here, that's all."

My eyes widen when I try to find an explanation to no avail. "I don't think that he could've been here too long," I ponder out loud. "Susan was killed here, while Arien was killed in another state."

"Was there anything worth noting during Susan's stay?" the chemist asks me.

"Well, yes," I say, feeling like I'm in an interrogation room. "Susan couldn't stop glaring at Mr. Wallace. Like she had a history with him." Saying those words out loud only makes me more wary of the middle-aged man.

Caroline's eyes widen before she writes that down. "Just at him?" she asks. "Are you sure?"

I nod. "Maybe you could call him back?" I ask. "Like you need to check up on him?"

The chemist hakes her head, "Too suspicious. He gives off a vibe that he knows more than he'll let on," she points out.

Sighing, I cup my face with my hands. "What are we going to do?" I ask, not liking how hopeless I'm sounding. But honestly, there doesn't seen to be much to do.

"We'll just have to wait until Steven comes back," Caroline says, shrugging slightly.

I frown at her. "Why would we-" I pause mid-sentence. "Caroline, where did Steven actually go?" I ask instead, making the chemist aware of her unintentional slip-up.

"I- well," Caroline stammers, paling slightly. After a moment of silence passes between us, the chemist sighs. "I can't tell you... yet. You'll just have to wait, Sophie."

"How long exactly?" I ask, my heart sinking slightly at the fact that she wouldn't tell me directly.

The chemist, for some reason, looks at her watch instead of answering me. Smiling slightly, Caroline says to my relief, "Not much more. If my calculations were correct, then they should be here now."

"They?" I question, raising an eyebrow. I feel hope beginning to rise up, but I force my expression to stay neutral. And when Caroline smiles at me, I let a hopeful smile graze my face- the first smile that I've had in awhile.