UNLOCKED, kotlc

Chapter 11

Sophie was pretty sure she'd never run that fast, which was saying a lot, considering that in the course of two weeks, Keefe had almost died, Biana said she knew how to save him, and then Keefe woke up and manifested as a Shade.

Thinking of this just made her life seem very crazy.

As she raced outside, fumbling with her Havenfield crystal, her mind spun with so many ideas that could've happened.  Had the Foxfire standoff been a diversion to attack her parents? Did they take them?

The situation was eerily familiar. Sophie remembered when her human parents had been taken by the Neverseen for Human Experiments, and all the days she spent dreading having to wake up and face a world where her parents that had loved her for so many years weren't there. Thankfully, Grady and Edaline had been patient and understanding- which just freaked out Sophie more, knowing they might not be there.

As they ran, Keefe fanned the air, swatting away her overwhelmed emotions. 

"Foster, I'm sure they're okay," Keefe reasoned.  "No need to wave all those worries toward me." He slipped her hand into hers and warm cool breezes floated into her mind, blowing away the hotheaded mess of thoughts.

"Tiergan didn't make it sound like they were okay," Sophie argued.  "That cliff won't be high enough- can you levitate us just a little higher?"

Keefe studied her for a moment, and then seemed to be struck by realization as he lifted him, Sophie, Fitz, Dex, and Biana into the air.  Sophie caught him open his mouth to speak, before she cracked open the sky and they plummeted into the void.

————-———-

Tiergan and Alden were pacing in the fields, their worried expressions not helping the nerves boiling in Sophie's stomach. She was dimly aware of Keefe blowing soft green breezes into her mind as she dashed over to the two Telepaths.

"What happened?" Sophie demanded, trying to sound calm and probably failing.

"They're just- gone.  Not a trace.  They were with the crowd when everyone rushed out of Foxfire, but in the midst of the aftermath we realized they weren't there.  We figured they leaped to Havenfield- but then we thought that wasn't like them to head home before checking on you.  We checked over here anyway and there's no sign of them," Alden said.

"The Neverseen took them didn't they," Sophie said darkly.  "That's why they rushed away so quickly.  They took them and they didn't want anyone to realize they did."

"We aren't completely sure of that," Fitz pointed out.  "Gisela's main goal right now is for Keefe to fulfill his legacy.  When Gethen and Vespera saw Keefe manifest, they probably just fled because their job was done."

"Their plans are never that 2D. There's always some hidden layer that nobody anticipates.  That's their whole thing.  We all think we know what they're doing but it's all planned out.  Any victories we think we've won is just because they let us,"   Sophie said.  She tried to stop herself.

She wasn't being fair.

It wasn't their fault they'd been taken.  And they were just trying to make her feel better.  And besides, Keefe was going through just as much as Sophie was, and had been for years. And she was sitting here pouting and feeling sorry for herself.

And if she was going to say anything that might make her sound unappreciative, maybe she should just not be there to say it all.

And without thinking twice, she dashed toward the cliffs of Havenfield and teleported to the first place her mind thought of.