Team Foster-Keefe United✔

Part One

Keefe's POV:

I pet Silvany's mane as I wait for Sophie to come back. The wrinkly dude, Mr. Forkle, pops out of the ground with a sad face.

Something's up.

"Where's Sophie?" I demand, looking around his swollen body. Foster wasn't a Vanisher, unless it was another ability that the wrinkly dude unlocked. . .

Freckle's frown deepened. "In order to heal Miss Foster's mind, I had to give her a full ounce of limbinium," He sighed out, a pudgy hand rubbing at his face.

Wait just a minute. Wasn't Foster allergic to limbinium? My mind flashed back to when Dex gave her a calming potion that had limbinium in it. I shuddered at the memory, remembering how close she came to dying.

The Forklenator nodded at me, obviously reading my thoughts. Creepy.

"I gave her a choice. To go on with her life, always carrying a remedy for the fading after lightleaping, or risk taking the ounce, and hoping that the human medicine neutralizes the allergic reaction. I think you know what she chose, and what happened after, Keefe," Mr. Forkle rasped, his eyes gaining a glossy sheen.

I knew it wasn't the time, but I had to suppress a few chuckles. In order to heal Foster, he had to kill her with an allergic reaction? The irony was pretty funny, until reality slapped me in the face.

"You're lying!" I hissed, anger flushing my cheeks and tears welling up in my eyes.

Mr. Forkle sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I'm sorry, Keefe. Go home."

I couldn't wrap my head around it. Could Foster really be. . . gone?

"No! Not without her!" I shout, scowling up at the swollen figure. I put my hand on his forearm, scanning every one of his emotions to see if he was lying.

He wasn't.

"She's gone, Keefe," Forkle whispers, shoulders hunched in a defeated position.

No, no. . . Not Sophie. Not now. I knew I shouldn't have let her go without me! She was my responsibility and I blew it! God damn it!

Forkle put his hands under my armpits and lifted me up onto Silvany's back. As soon as the protective barrier on the cave was let down, a net shot out, trapping me and Silvany under it. Silvany snorted, rearing her hind legs in panic, almost throwing me off. Forkle stomped a few times and dwarves came out of the ground, fighting the group that had launched the attack. I calmed Silvany down enough for Forkle to free us from the net.

"Retreat!" A voice I knew perfectly yelled and lightleaped away with some white stone. Just as quickly, all of them were gone; not before I could clearly see a white eye on the shoulder sleeve of one of them.

Creepy.

Who are they? How did they know this location? Well, I knew one person.

Resentment bubbled up in me, my gut tightening and twisting. My father was apart of the group. I heard his voice, loud and clear.

My mind kept replaying the scene as Silvany flew across the ocean to Havenfield. I turn around to see how Foster was doing and did a double take. Whatever held me together shattered and tears sprung up into my eyes.

Sophie was gone. Dead. And it was my fault.

It was all my fault.

~

I watched everyone's reactions in guilt. This time, it was real. Sophie wasn't going to turn up at the base of the Four Seasons Tree. Sofie wasn't going to pull out all her eyelashes, worrying about an upcoming test. Sofie wasn't here, as she should be.

I expected Fitz to start yelling, but he just turned away from everyone so no one would see him cry. Biana openly sobbed. Her beautiful face twisted into something unrecognizable. Both Vacker were also feeling guilty since they blamed Sophie for breaking Alden's mind and ignored her when she was trying to help. They made their bed.

My bitter thoughts caught me off guard. Now wasn't the time to be bitter or angry at them.

Dex's lips were trembling, his whole body shaking as he fought off tears of his own. He moved to a spot in the corner and stayed there, looking off into the distance with glazed eyes.

Edaline was sobbing into Grady's chest, her wails full of pain and heartbreak. Grady was rubbing her back, soft tears flowing down his face as he soothed his wife.

This was all my fault. If only it was me instead of her, the sunshine in our lives. All I was, was a broken comedian, and no one needed a broken comedian.