Always & Forever

Chapter 4

          Fire, fire everywhere and I can't breathe. It feels like a sharp knife cutting through me every time the fire touches me. I can't move, my hands and feet are tied up. Then there he is, Brant.

          "Thought you could hide from me? You can run but you can't hide," He says, laughing as he watches the fire consume me.

          Then everything goes black and I'm at the Peace Summit. The ground rumbling, windows shattering, people screaming, and the Neverseen coming towards me. I run as fast as I can but they always catch up.

          "This is the end, Sophie," They say in unison.

          "NO!!!" I scream.

          I wake up screaming. I'm shaking when I get wrapped in a hug. I can't help it, I start to cry.

          "Hey, you're okay. You're safe." A voice tells me.

          But I'm to paralyzed to answer. I can't move, can't breathe, can't think.

          "Foster, you're scaring me. Tell me what happened. I want to help." Keefe pulls out of the hug and makes me look at him.

          But I don't see anything but the flames, don't hear anything but the screams. I don't feel anything but the rumbling of the building. Just then a blue breeze goes through my body and I pull myself back to reality. Once I get feeling back I fall forward, Keefe catches me.

          "Foster, it's okay, I got you," Keefe says pulling me into another hug. "What happened?"

          "It was just a nightmare, nothing to worry about," I reply, hiding my face in his shoulder.

          "Are you sure it's nothing to worry about? I felt some pretty strong fear coming from you when you were asleep. Then when you woke up, it was as if you were still dreaming. You scared me. Never do that again." Keefe tightens his grip on me.

          "I'm sorry, I just, couldn't feel anything. It felt like I was paralyzed. I couldn't see anything but fire." I was shaking now, trying to hold back tears.

          "Well, you're safe. There's no fire anywhere near us. I've got you." Keefe picks me up and starts to carry me up some steps.

          "Keefe? Where are we?" I ask, realizing that this isn't the Healing Center.

          "We're at Havenfield. Elwin released me yesterday and I told him that I would take you home. But before I made it upstairs, your parents told me to put you on the couch. They told me I could stay until you woke up, so you would wake up alone." Keefe places me on my bed. Pulling the covers up to my chin.

          "I'm not going to fall back asleep, you know that, right?" I say trying to get up, but Keefe gently pushes me back down.

          "I know. You're just staying here until you calm down." He starts to walk out of the room.

          "Keefe?" 

          "Yeah Foster?"

          "Don't leave me," I say.

          "Never," He replies, laying down next to me.

          I curl up next to him. Putting my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. I do end up falling asleep, dreaming of all of their happy memories...

          Mine and Keefe's first meeting happens when Keefe, laying on a bench, states that I must be lost. I analyze him and notices that Keefe is, "watching me with curious, ice-blue eyes."