Keeper of the Lost Cities: Unlocked: A Fan-fiction

Chapter Sixteen - Keefe/Sophie

Keefe was pretty surprised that Ro had hadn't killed him on the spot, but he was sure a painful death was still to come. Now, he was at the doorstep of Foster's house, and wondering just what crazy things had happened in his absence. How long had he been out? And why hadn't he asked that earlier?

"Hey, Foster –"

He was cut off by Sophie shaking her head tightly as she opened the door at Havenfield. She didn't give him an explanation, but Keefe assumed it had to do with Grady and his overprotective daddy-ness.

The lights were dim in the house, except in the kitchen, where Grady and Edaline were sitting at the table, reading and drinking some sort of beverage.

"Sophie!" Edaline cried when she saw her. When her eyes fell on Keefe, standing next to Sophie, she yelped. "Keefe!"

Keefe grinned. "I'm back!"

"Hi, Mom," Sophie smiled. "No one told you Keefe was awake?"

"No, they did, I just wasn't expecting him to be off bedrest so soon. How did you convince Elwin of that?"

Sophie shrugged. "Elwin said he was perfectly healthy." Keefe could see she didn't believe it, though.

"I'm fine, Foster," Keefe said. He really hoped Sophie wouldn't worry about him. Other than a few bruises that actually weren't that bad, he really was fine. And though she nodded, the worry in her eyes didn't fade.

"Ahh. It's That Boy again," Grady said darkly, standing and walking toward Keefe menacingly.

"Hi," Keefe said weakly.

Grady leaned in close with squinted eyes, but just as he opened his mouth opened to speak, Sophie grabbed Keefe's hand and yanked him toward the stairs. (A/N: I'm not sure of the placement of all the locations so just ignore it if it's wrong)

"Um, we've got to go," Sophie said with a false chuckle. "I've got to tell Keefe about.... everything."

Glancing over his shoulder as he was pulled up the stairs, Keefe saw Grady scowling and Edaline grinning.

"Welcome back, Keefe!" Edaline called as Sophie and Keefe disappeared up the stairs.

"That was... intense," Keefe said, blowing out a breath. If the looks of the parents had power, he and Sophie would already be married, but he'd also be dead.

"Yeah," Sophie said, blowing out a breath almost at the same time he did. "Sorry about them."

"It's cool, Foster. Your parents are great." Especially compared to his.

As if she could sense what he was thinking, Sophie tightened her grip on his hand, which she was still holding. He knew she would never read his thoughts without permission, but he was glad, all the same, that it was dark around them. Keefe Sencen wasn't supposed to blush. Unfortunately, Keefe Sencen didn't seem to be in control just then.

Foster dropped his hand, and Keefe was momentarily distracted by the loss of contact. But then they were at her room, and they entered, Sandor and Ro close behind. (A/N: I'm fairly sure none of you will, but please don't take this the dirty way. That's not what it's meant like. I just couldn't think of anywhere else for them to talk. K? K. ;))

When they were settled, Keefe's heartbeat picked up speed. What was Foster going to tell him? Surely nothing too drastic could have happened in the short time he'd been out, right? They would have told him already if something bad had happened. Right?

Sophie looked way too nervous to be delivering a simple line like, "So, I got a haircut, and Linh got a new mer-cat this week." And it was not helping his nerves. Not for the first time in his life, he was glad Sophie wasn't an Empath.

What could possibly be going on?

***

How in the world was she going to tell him what was going on? The events of the week were so crazy, and he had just woken up from a coma. How would he take it? Certainly not well...

Sophie's heart beat faster, but luckily Keefe looked too nervous himself to notice her emotions. She hoped that was the case, anyways.

The simple fact was, there was no easy way to tell him everything. So the best thing she could do would be to give it to him all at once, then help him through the harder truths.

"Keefe, to begin with, you probably want to know that you've been out for a little over a week. During that time, a lot's happened. I'm... I'm just going to give it to you all at once, okay?" she asked. He nodded. Her stomach twisted, and she crossed her fingers that it wouldn't be too much.

"So, I found a new way to teleport, and Mr. Forkle is actually an ancient, and also Wylie's great-uncle, and Vespera's been experimenting on humans for thousands of years with Stellarlune, whatever that is."

Keefe's jaw fell open, but Sophie still had the two hardest things to process coming.

"There's more. Keefe, I'm a charger. I brought you back to life with the power when you died. Yeah, died." Sophie's throat got stuck on the words, even though Keefe was alive and whole in front of her.

Keefe's mouth dropped farther open.

"There's one last thing, Keefe, and it's probably going to be the hardest to process." Sophie took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Glimmer is your sister."

There was silence. Sophie's large room suddenly felt stifling, and as she waited for Keefe to say something, she was strongly reminded of a short time before when they had been in practically the same position, only at Keefe's house. But this time, Keefe didn't speak, and Sophie didn't open her eyes.

"Miss Foster –" she heard Sandor start, but Ro cut him off.

"Um, I hate to interrupt this cute Blondie worrying moment, but you may want to open those little brown eyes of yours and check on your boy."

Sophie's slowly opened one eye, then another. Keefe was staring at her in blank shock, his ice-blue eyes almost clouded over.

"Um, Keefe? You okay?" Sophie asked. When he didn't respond, she waved a hand in front of his face. With deepening dread, she tentatively mussed his hair. Still no response.

Either the world was at an end, he was dead again, or there was something going on that Sophie couldn't see, because Keefe didn't just let his hair be mussed. He was still breathing (though raggedly and slowly), and the world wasn't exactly collapsing at the moment, so Sophie was betting on the latter.

What could possibly be going on?

Hmm, not much to say but MWAHAHAHA! I LOVE BEING THE AUTHOR I'M SO EVIL WITH THESE CLIFFHANGERS HEEHEEHEE!

Word count: 1208

I recently published one new (original) story that I think is pretty good so far, called "Wishes From A Star", and I'm also hosting my first writing competition, though it's not very formal. It's in the second chapter of my "Poems, Thoughts, and Rants" book. Go check them both out!

Thanks, guys, for reading this and sticking with me even though I make a lot of mistakes. Plot holes, character holes, mistakes about detail... you name it.

So thank you again! Please vote and comment.