Torment-A KOTLC Fanfic

Chapter 8

Hey guys! I know I havent posted every day lately, but I'll try to be more consistent. Summer break is soon where I live, so I'm not sure if that will improve or make the schedule worse. I guess we'll just go with the flow and see what happens. Enjoy!
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Doing the best with what? Then it hit her. Literally hit her. A wave of black sand flooded her’s and Fitz's counciness. Sophie tried to block Fitz from the pain but she was getting battered in the process.

 A whisper of an apologie flew across Tam's mind, but was muffled by the sand. The shadow flux. Sophie recognized it anywhere, but she was not sure why it was attacking them. She tried to transmit something, tried to climb above the sand, but instead, she just sunk.

Down.

Down.

Down.

Her only focus was keeping Fitz safe. Sophie felt her mind drift away, and she would have let it. If it was not for a single thread of light, a lifeline that led her back to safety. She followed it, gasping and shuddering when she was sucked back into her body.
   
"It's okay." A crisp, accented voice comforted. Sophie felt strong arms holding her close and the voice clicked. Fitz. She tried to open her eyes, but they refused to cooperate. Fitz exhaled shakily and regret coated his words. "Sophie, you have to take this. Elwin says it will help." His voice hitched at the end of the last sentence, and a cool vial was pressed against her lips. Warily she drank the vial's contents, her heart plummeted when she recognized the sticky sweet taste.

Please, Sophie transmitted while fighting the drug. No.

Once every last drop was gone the arms that held her grew tighter and a clang signaled something hitting the floor. "Please don't hate me." Was the last thing she heard before the sedative dragged her into the dreamless oblivion.
  
  A lullaby was playing in Sophie's head, but it was not one her human mother knew. It didn't have words per-say, just a melody of notes, but they were so soothing. Sophie felt something warm surrounding her hand, and she pulled her mind away from the sedatives and back to reality. Barely faster than the speed of a tortoise she opened her eyes, the light of the room burning her corneas. Almost instantly she snapped them shut again. There was too much sensory overload for Sophie's brain to register, and she shot up faster than a bullet. Or tried too at least. Something pinned her shoulders as soon as her body tensed. She tried to fight against whatever was holding her down, but it held steadfast.
   
"Relax." A familiar voice called, with a slight commanding tone. "You're safe. Everything will be okay, just relax." Her shallow breaths slowly grew deeper and whatever pinned her down relaxed, very slightly. She forced her eyes open again to see a boy with beautiful teal eyes leaning over her, his arm pressed against her shoulders. Once their eyes met Fitz released her and took a step back giving a smile of relief that was drenched in sadness. ”You're gonna have to be still for a little bit, ok? It'll take a second for the sedatives to get completely out of your system.”
   
"What happened?" She asked, though it sounded more like a frog croaking. "All I remember is the Shadow Flux attacking." Fitz sunk back into a chair that was next to the cot Sophie was laying in and gently grabbed her hand again. She turned her head sideways on the pillow to look at him as he spoke.
   
"I'm honestly not sure. All I know is something in Tam's mind attacked us and then you fell. I was still connected to your conscience and felt you falling so I tried to pull you back up. Once you were back Elwin made me..." Fitz's voice trailed off and he looked away. " He made me give you a sedative. Sophie, I am so sorry, I know you despise sedatives but..." Sophie squeezed his hand.
   
" It's okay" She responded. "I get it. I mean: I should be thanking you." She smiled, a real smile, and it seemed to lift some of the gloom from his perfect eyes. Livvy made her way into the bed-lined room a few minutes later, a smile of glee appearing when she saw Sophie awake.
   
"Hey, Sophie." She said. " Welcome back." Soon her swishy dress had followed her to the end of Sophie's cot.
  
  "Hi." It was the only thing Sophie could think to say, and her voice sounded so terribly rough she had regretted even saying the simple word. Livvy let out a small laugh, and pulled a Bottle of Youth out of her back pocket.
   
"Here." She chuckled, handing Sophie the vial. She popped the cap and guzzled it down in one go, grateful for the relief. " How do you feel?" Sophie began to pull herself upright oh-so-slowly learning from her last attempt.
   
"Fine." She replied, realizing there were two people unaccounted for. "Where is Linh? And Elwin?"  Livvy sighed and scooted aside, revealing Linh sitting in a chair identical to Fitz's. Except this one was placed next to her brother's cot.
  
  "Once I told her that you went down and Tam, uh, did what he did, I asked her to leave. But she refused and has sat there since. Elwin has been in his office trying to figure out what is going on with Tam, sadly so far he hasn't had any luck." She shot a sad glance in the direction of the twins, then snapped her attention back to Sophie. "You are welcome to try to stand if you would like: Your leg sort of popped out of place when you fell. It might hurt for a while before you shift it back to the correct spot." She explained when Sophie's expression turned to confusion. "So, just go slowly and lean on something." Sophie nodded and shifted her body so that her legs were hanging off the edge of the cot. Fitz moved to her right side and they grabbed each other's hand. Sophie leaned on Fitz as she pushed herself up and onto her feet. Once her head had cleared (she stood a little bit faster then she should have) their hands released one another and Sophie slowly stumbled her way over to Linh. Linh sat with her head hanging down, and a hand loosely surrounding the scared hand of her twin. Not knowing what to say Sophie just put a hand on her friend's shoulder. Linh turned at the gesture, a smile edging across her face. She quickly rose to her feet and wrapped Sophie up in a hug.
   
"Thanks." She said. Surprise shot through Sophie and she leaned out of the hug.
  
  "Thanks? All I did was go into your brother's mind and-" Linh held up her hand to stop Sophie from talking.

"You proved he still has enough of himself left to save." She said, her smile making its way to her eyes. "I needed that." Sophie offered a weak smile, not knowing how to react to that.
   
"So. Are we ready to go?" Fitz asked from somewhere behind them to no one in particular. So Livvy came over and triple checked Sophie for any damage that may have happened when she collapsed. Once they got the all clear Sophie and Fitz dragged Linh out of the room. They stood outside in the now afternoon sun, making Sophie wonder how long she was out, Fitz held up his home crystal and the three joined hands. After one more glimpse around, Sophie pulled her friends into the light and back to Everglen.