Sentry of the Arcane: Engulfed

Chapter Thirty-Three: Sophie

When I see the hints of a teal ribbon, my heart threatens to pound out of my chest. More than anything, at that moment, I wanted to take that memory and shove it deep down within the eternal darkness of our minds, never to be seen again. Yet still, the memory plays itself out, and Fitz stares at it in a different way- almost as if he's seeing it for the first time.

Even though he's a huge part of this.

It starts off with the telekinesis lesson- merely Fitz, Mr. Wallace, and me talking about the ability. Then comes the teal ribbon, controlled by Fitz and accidentally tying me to the ceiling light in Donovan's room. I take in a deep breath, watching as my vision sways back and forth with the light. Fear rushes through my veins when Fitz opens his eyes in the memory, discovering my midair-suspended self. We watch as there's the silent conversation between us two as Mr. Wallace rushes out for assistance.

And then I fall.

However, before we can see the male Percipient catch me, I see a chance to escape and do so. Almost as if warmth wraps itself around the darkness of Fitz's head, I pull myself away from him, effectively severing the connection. As the blackness fades away from me, the male Percipient tries to yell my name. "Where are you going?!" he screams, now blind in the darkness. I watch from above as he runs around, searching for me.

Part of me wants to make the connection again, to finish the memory, and see what he has to say or do about it. But a larger and more afraid part of me rips away too quickly for the other part to take over. I hear his painful scream before the darkness leaves me, and I'm in the real world.

... I'm sorry.

...

When I open my eyes again, Laurel's shaking me roughly, so much so that my head hits the ground a few times. "Laurel- stop- shaking- me," I manage to choke out, my head now starting to hurt. The female Altruistic notices my conscious self and immediately stops, accidentally dropping me onto the ground. Groaning, I sit myself up to stare at Benen and Laurel, "What's happening?"

"Mr. Wallace knocked," Laurel breathes out in a hurry, not waiting for me to react. "And we stayed as silent as we could, and we couldn't tell if he had left or not- we didn't hear his footsteps. But then, Fitz started screaming, and we thought that Mr. Wallace would kick the door in, or use his mind powers, or just hurt one of us."

I glance over at Fitz, who's still unconscious and with a towel around his mouth. "He started screaming your name," Benen explains. "We didn't know how to stop it, so we had to tie something around him to keep him quiet. We were sure that he heard us, and you couldn't do anything because you were in his head. Laurel and I held onto both of you before she turned invisible, but we don't know if it worked. But we would've been screwed if she didn't do that." He looks at her gratefully, and Laurel blushes, grinning back.

My head now spinning from the whole memory thing and now hearing the Altruistics, I try to stand up, almost falling down all over again. Laurel rushes to keep me steady, which I gratefully accept. I then turn my head towards my door, which is clearly broken. Instead of being locked, it swings back and forth freely, barely hanging on. "He broke in, didn't he?" I ask, sighing.

Benen shakes his head, causing me to raise an eyebrow, "Actually, he asked Audrey and Donovan to break it down, which is why your door is so damaged." I snort at the last part. "But Mr. Wallace let us be because of how we all turned invisible, so thank God for that," Benen adds, letting out a breath he was holding.

Laurel, on the other head, furrows her eyebrows. "But Audrey saw us," she points out, much to Benen's shock. "She saw us right before we turned invisible, being the first to break down the door. But she closed the door again to make it seem as if no one broke in yet. Then Donovan broke it to the state that it's in now, and we weren't discovered."

Before either of them can say anymore, I let go of Laurel and rush out the door, trying to reach the elevator as fast as I can. Pressing the door for Level 7, I slowly slide down onto the ground from exhaustion, going down with the elevator itself. The thoughts that run through my head only drain me more, but I have to see Audrey. I find myself gasping for air, my lungs somehow too tired as well.

The moment of relaxation ends much too early, and the doors open again. Black spotting my vision again, I grab onto the elevator banisters and hoist myself up, on the verge of passing out. I somehow manage to trip over my own feet and crash into the wall in front of me. Before I can fall down again, I push myself off of the wall and stagger to Audrey's door, thankful for the fact that her room is closer to the elevators. Feebly knocking, I manage to say, "It's me... open the door" when my eyes start to involuntarily close. I lean against the door, trying to prop myself up while I wait for the female Sovereign, which wouldn't be for much longer.

I'm about to collapse when Audrey opens the door, gasping when I'm unable to stand anymore and fall in. Fortuantely, she manages to catch me in her arms. Without asking, she slams the door shut and drags me over to her bed and gently lays me down. After going back to properly lock her door, the female Sovereign sits on her bed, next to me. "No need to thank me," Audrey whispers sincerely, placing a hand gingerly over mine. She remains smiling as my eyelids close, my tense body finally relaxing.

Finally, a safe room.

...

When I wake up again, Audrey's still sitting next to me. I rise up, thanking her for letting me inside her room and protecting us from Mr. Wallace. "He's going crazy," Audrey spits out, looking away. "He's becoming way too interested in Jacob and in what happened to us the first time..." Her voice trails away as she looks away from me, suddenly ashamed. "And I actually tried to help him, thinking that I was important."

"Audrey-" I begin, but she stops me.

"When I look back, this side of him has always been there," the female Sovereign continues, still not looking at me. "And then my mind either decides to ignore it or to go with it. I can't do much- honestly, I can barely do anything. In some sick, twisted way-" She takes a deep breath, steadying her voice, "Mr. Wallace made me stop doubting myself. He made me think, 'There's a spot for you. There's a job for you. There's a meaning to you.' " The female Sovereign then looks at me, her eyes holding a level of emotional delicacy that I've never seen in her before. "Is there a meaning to me?"

The bluntness of the question takes me aback. I then shake my head and take one of Audrey's hands within mine. "There's a meaning to all of us," I begin, looking at her. "We all have different meanings that we don't understand properly until the right moment. Others help and stick with us along the way, but we-" I point to the two of us. "We are the ones who really figure out the meaning of us being here. Because of you guys, I know that I'm supposed to lock up people like Jacob. You guys stick with me and help me out when I need someone to be there." I smile at her, "In fact, if it weren't for you, who knows what Mr. Wallace would've done with us up there?" As the room falls into silence, I glance over at the female Sovereign, wondering what she's thinking.

Audrey squeezes my hand, smiling gratefully. However, her rare smile drops as soon as it appeared. "I'm scared," she whispers, looking around suspiciously for the middle-aged man. "I'm scared that this time, it's going to be him who hurts us. First it was Jacob. Then it was Fitton. And now, I feel like it'll be him." She takes in a quivering breath, "Who will be next?"

"It's us," I say, shocking her. "But we're not going to be hurt. We're going to hurt them."

"Who?"

"Everyone."