Relive

The Journal

"Whoa," Sophie took the book from her hands  "This is Brant's?"

Biana rolled her eyes  "The cover has his name on it, so yes?"

Keefe laughed. "I can not believe he had his name custom engraved on a journal. A journal to keep his secrets. That just has to be a villain thing." He made himself comfy on the bed as if Sophie was about to read him a lovely bedtime story involving sweet dreams and jumping sheep.

Sophie ran her fingers lightly over the cover, tracing the inscription. Biana had been correct, it was definitely his. The journal was a faded red, the cover worn and used. She could tell a few pages had been ripped out based on how the covers awkwardly indented in.

"Biana, this is incredible," Sophie began to open the book when Keefe yanked it out of her hands.

"Wait! We don't know if it's cursed. Haven't you read Harry Potter? Remember Tom Riddle's diary?" Keefe tightened his grip on the book. He raised it above his head, ready to move if either of them went for it.

"Keefe... we're elves? We can't enchant things?" Sophie jumped for the journal. Keefe moved it to the other side quickly. Neither of them had seen the shadow of the tall goblin standing over him. With one quick movement, Sandor had knocked Keefe off his feet onto the carpet. Sophie without hesitation took the book back.

"That's enough, Mr. Sencen. Don't touch things that you shouldn't." And with that, he left the room to resume his post.

Sophie peeled the cover back and flipped through a few pages. Most of the ink had been burned away. She stopped when she saw Jolie's name. There was an entry written before their engagement.

She's so... beautiful. She's perfect, I never thought I could find anyone like her. She's everything, she's my spark. I love her... I love Jolie. I want to be hers forever.

"Well, isn't that... romantic? He even writes like a serial killer." Keefe broke through the silence. He looked uncomfortable at the thought of anyone ever feeling that way. Sophie reached over and squeezed his hand.

"We are too early." Sophie frown and ran through the pages, scanning for Jolie's name again. All she could find were unsent love letters until...

Jolie is a member of the black swan.

The entry was short. Nothing was written after for a few weeks. Sophie could feel his disappointment in her involvement. The next entry went downhill. She needed something she could incriminate him with.

They want me to kill her. They want me to burn her. She doesn't believe in what we do. She doesn't realize the change we will make. We will fix everything. The world will thank us. Her organization is growing too powerful. Too big. It needs to be stopped.

"Do you think the 'we' are the Neverseen?" Biana asked. No one answered. They already knew who 'we' was.

The next entry was a plea. 

Please... I don't want to hurt her. She doesn't deserve this.

"We need proof of him actually.... you know..." Sophie frowned, the journal hadn't given them anything solid. 

"Wait," Keefe reached over and peeled apart two pages that hand become stuck together. "There..."

I did it, she's gone. I took the house down too. This feels... liberating. I want more. So many things deserve to be burned- disposed of. I could rid the world of the poisoned elves. 

"That's it. This is it. This is proof." Keefe tried to keep his voice down but his excitement was very apparent. "We could put Brant away- We can stop so many things!"

"Why would he write that down?" Biana questioned, almost as if she doubted the entry was from him.

"Have you seen the guy? He is crazy. He probably keeps a log of everything." Keefe tried to reason.

Sophie's heart was racing so fast she felt as if she was choking. She did not expect to actually find proof to change the timeline. Proof that can stop a terrible part of her future. But just like the excitement had come, it vanished.

"Guys," Sophie spoke up over a chattering Keefe and Biana. "We need to find Mr. Forkle. Now. We can not risk waiting for something to come to us first."

"Remember there are TWO Forkles. We have double the chances." Biana reminded them. Keefe's expression clearly showed that this was a thought that had not occurred to him.

Keefe grabbed one of Sophie's messenger bags and took the journal softly out of her hands, securing it in the sack. "But we do not know how to get to Mr. Forkle. We have no idea where their hideouts are."

A searing pain burst through Sophie's head as images of Mr. Forkle, a desk, Black Swan members, a hideout among other things intruded their way into her mind.

"I think I know someone who does."