KotLC Unlocked

Chapter 15- Sophie's POV

The wait for the Neverseen to get back to them was just as agonizing as the wait for Mr. Forkle to come by and help. Though the amount of time definitely was not as long, the wait was absolutely terrorizing. Every hour brought an idea of a new horror. Keefe being tortured, tied up, hurt... killed. Sophie tried to keep her mind off of it. When she was kidnapped, she had been burned and starved for most of the time. But Keefe's mom was with the group, so that hopefully have him an advantage, where he wouldn't be hurt as badly as she and Dex had.

She brought herself to the present, thinking of their plan. Previously, her, Dex, Biana, Sandor and Mr. Forkle had gone to one of the Neverseen's recently abandoned hideouts, hoping that they would see their message. It was short and simple. It read "We have a cache. If you want it we'll meet here at 12 am tomorrow. Get back as soon as possible. We are not asking for anything in return. This is simply almost like a peace offering"

They had a fake cache, and were hoping to distract them long enough for the next part of this plan. That was when Biana, Tam and Sophie would go in and try to seek Keefe out. Tam knew the Neverseen hideouts, and there weren't many in use. He told him that there were 3 that they should definitely try. But Tam had been noticeably absent recently, so that part would probably have to change.   They would be the ones sent in, because Biana could vanish, Sophie could enhance her and Tam could cover himself in the shadows.

Sophie ran this over a few times, but she was still a bit nervous to execute it. The Neverseen had written back. It simply said the phrase, "Okay." It wasn't signed off by anybody, so after this, all they had to do was wait. And wait. And wait some more until 11 pm came and they would leave.

Grady and Edaline had surprisingly agreed to this whole plan, and they were letting Sophie go that night. She was sort of surprised, but she promised to stay safe, and try her hardest to stay out of trouble.

The day felt very slow moving, and Sophie worries for most of it, but every new hour came closer and closer to 11, and she was kind of dreading it. After eating dinner, she tried taking a quick nap. That lasted for about 10 minutes, so she spent the next four hours worrying again.

Finally 11 came, and Sophie went out to see Mr. Forkle, Dex, who had the fake cache, Biana, Tam, Linh and Fitz. Fitz, Dex, Linh and Mr. Forkle were going to go to the fake hideout and give over the cache. It was actually packed with a fake secret, with a password, all thanks to Dex. Since he was a technopath he was able to do it pretty easily.

She looked over all of her friends, but stopped at Tam. He had a black Neverseen cloak on.

"What's that for?" she asked him.

"Oh the cloak? I figured since we're going to their hideout, I could just wear it in case if my shadows fail. You and Biana will be fine though, because your enhancing in still pretty strong, right?" She nodded.

"I have it from when I left them- if that's what you're wondering," he added.

Sophie felt reassured with this information, and watched as the others light leaped away. She then grabbed Tam and Biana's hands, ran foward, and teleported. They were in the void.

"Can I just check your memories of what the first place looks like?" she asked Tam.

"Uh- yeah sure hang on," he replied.

She pressed her fingers to his forehead, carefully looking, and then spotting the image.

She concentrated once more, and teleported to the front of this place. It was darker than Havenfield was, and it looked much more like a human mansion.

Sophie grabbed Biana's hand, and they both disappeared. Tam shrouded himself in the shadows, hiding from sight. The three walked up the stairs, careful to not make any noise. Sophie had them both talk in her head, as it was much easier.

So... where should we check first? Sophie asked.

Just follow me. He responded.

They all held hands and walked, because none of them could see the other. For a hideout that wasn't abandoned, this place seemed pretty abandoned. It was almost like a human haunted house. The walls were painted a harsh grey, and many of the lights were out. (A/N I have never been to a haunted house so this description is probably off 😂) A few of them were even flickering.

They searched the rest of the house pretty quickly, because Sophie could just feel around with her mind. Ultimately, there was nothing. Mr. Forkle still hadn't transmitted to her about the cache, and she hoped they were alright.

They went back outside, Sophie needing to take a quick break. Though she was strong, enhancing wore her out quite a bit. After a few minutes she was fine again, and they teleported to the next location. This place looked a lot more elven, but it looked like the sun was just setting. Sophie had never noticed time zone differences in the elven world, so she was kind of thrown off.

They did the same routine as last time, but this time the place was quite clean, and looked pretty normal. (For elven standards at least) Something was off, though. Sophie did feel someone's mind this time, but she couldn't find anyone. It felt like they were being watched, and stared at with each step.

She turned around, bringing Biana and Tam with her, and there she was. Lady Gisela was standing over them, and Tam was no longer at Sophie's side. He was standing right at Gisela's. Biana and Sophie tried to stay invisible, but it didn't work. The two glimmered into sight.

"You brought The Moonlark and the little Vacker?" asked Gisela.

"Where is Keefe?!" Biana yelled.

"Oh I wasn't talking to you... the question was for our lovely shade here!" she mockingly answered.

"You? You're still with them?" Sophie said, miserably failing at keeping her voice calm.

Tam just looked away.

"Your little friends gave us the cache. But unfortunately they got away. But look here! I caught the moonlark!" Gisela shouted.

Sophie was about to inflict, right as Gisela fell over. Biana was behind her, holding a melder.

"How did you do that?" Sophie wondered.

"No time! She'll be up in a few minutes we have to get out of here," she said.

Biana grabbed Tam's hand, but he jerked away.

"Go," he said.

"What about Linh? We can't leave you here!" Sophie shouted at him.

"LEAVE HER OUT OF THIS," he angrily shouted.

With one last trying to be angry look, Sophie grabbed Biana's hand, ran and teleported back to Havenfield. The two girl collapsed into the grass, still holding on to each other, trying not to cry.

Linh was the first to spot her. They all ran over, the fake cache no where to be seen.

"Where's my brother?" she asked.

Sophie looked at Biana, then back to Linh.

"He... he still works for the Neverseen."

A/N Thank you so much for all of the reads on this story! I appreciate it so much. And sorry for the evil cliffhanger, once again haha.