The Mysterious Benedict Society Meets the Mysterious Miss F

Chapter 7

As Fitz briefly gave them a small explanation, Sophie's eyes were scanning the perimeter for Neverseen symbols. There were many dark capes, such as royal blue and violet purple, but Sophie spotted a black cape contrasting among the others. "There," Sophie said, pointing at the figure. The group ran off towards the cloaked elf. Sophie was positive they could out-best the elf; whoever it was, they were greatly outnumbered. She just hoped they didn't have reinforcements.

"Shouldn't we have talked about this before we run after an enemy?" Fitz huffed, trailing through the crowd right by Sophie. "See what the others think?"
"It's too late now," Sophie replied as they raced through the maze of elves. She checked to make sure Sticky, Reynie, and Kate were keeping up. And to no surprise, Kate was already ahead of them. The two boys were at the same pace as the cognates.

Sophie looked in alarm at the humans. Reynie's facial hair had completely disappeared and the long, black hair on his head was getting shorter and lighter by the second. Kate's hair was certainly blonde again and only her human clothes remained disguised. Sticky's appearance was the most alarming- not only were his eyes shifting to brown but when he tripped and face- palmed on the streets of Atlantis, Sophie knew he'd need a pair of glasses. Unfortunately, the gang didn't have any on them.

Reynie and Fitz quickly helped Sticky to his feet and resumed the chase. The black cloaked figure was getting further and further away and Sophie realized in a panic what she had to do.

Teleporting was one of the many special, distinct things about Sophie, along with her brown eyes, impenetrable mind, and many, many different abilities. She had to jump off a cliff- or a roof, to teleport. But a couple weeks ago, she'd been able to teleport without that frightening feature when she saved her friend Keefe from his evil mother. Of course, that had been a life-threatening-situation and Sophie didn't know what this chase counted as.... But she closed her eyes (not a very safe thing to do on a busy street) and concentrated on where she wanted to go. Her mind swirled to the alley she'd seen the figure close in on and, grabbing Fitz and reaching ahead for Kate's hand, she teleported them to the location.

Sophie mentally sighed in relief when she realized Reynie and Sticky were with them. She had taken a wild guess that Fitz and Reynie were still guiding Sticky. "Wha-" Fitz clamped his other hand around Reynie's mouth and nodded to the figure several feet ahead of them. They quickly hid behind an aqua blue dumpster. In different conditions, Sophie would've questioned the taste of Atlantis. Instead, being extremely careful not to make a sound, she listened intently to the cloaked figure.

"What are you doing?" Kate's whisper was barely audible but still Fitz shushed her.

"She's listening. And so am I."

"He's not saying anything."

"His thoughts are." Fitz hissed. "We'll tell you afterwards." The three members of the society looked curious and unsatisfied, but they sat quietly.

Telepathically reading the figure's mind, Sophie saw odd images. A tall girl with muted brown hair was cowering in an antique store. Wispy, black figures crowded around her. Constance? Sophie thought. Antique store.... What antique store? The scene was blurry, as if the internet connection was bad. Sophie squinted but knew it was no use. However, something was nagging her. She dug deeper into the thoughts and tried to pry away the scene. She sensed a second veil, another wave of thoughts underneath it. The figure was definitely hiding something. Sophie pried but the veil was stuck, like someone had glued it together. After only a few seconds, she yanked the thoughts away. Underneath were.... WHAM!

Something struck her on the head and she jerked away from the mental world. It felt like a slap and her face stung. Dark blobs floated around her. Her brown, golden flecked eyes sweeped the room for a shade but she found none. Instead she found Sticky next to her, shaking her as if she'd fallen asleep. Fitz was using levitation and telekinesis to attempt an attack against the Neverseen member but it didn't seem to work, meanwhile Reynie seemed to be messing with something on the opposite side of the alley. Some society they are, Sophie thought in annoyance. Then she almost slapped herself for thinking that, especially when she realized it was Kate who was actually holding the Neverseen off.

Kate's disguise was completely gone and she'd somehow had the time to pull her long, sun colored hair into a ponytail while taunting the Neverseen with a cutting knife. Another thing that caught Sophie's eye was the bright red bucket Kate was carrying around her waist. She seemed to be pulling out the most random things to chuck at the Neverseen- an apple, a wrench, ect. Finally, she pulled out a grappling hook and smiled as if she knew a secret the Neverseen did not. Quick as a flash, Kate swung herself to the wall with the hook and, while Fitz occupied the cloaked figure, barreled straight at the enemy. She hit her mark and the figure was blown backwards, grunting in pain.
His hood was blown off his back and Sophie searched him for a symbol of an eye. But alas, the man had no such symbol, just a plain black cloak. He had short, cropped brown hair and blue-green eyes. A few lines edged around his face, perhaps scars, Sophie thought.

"Who are you?" Fitz demanded. The man did not reply nor blink. His face was expressionless as if his mind was somewhere else.

"He's nobody." Reynie said, holding out his fist. Inside, there was a small electronic device with multiple long wires. "He's fake... not real. That's what I was checking out over there. When Fitz slammed him against the wall with telekinesis, this device came out. I deactivated it and it's a tracker. The real bad guys could be here any minute. In other words,..."

"It's a distraction." Sophie finished. "And an odd one, too. The Neverseen have tracked us before, but nothing this... obvious."

Sticky grabbed the device and began to rewire it. After a few minutes of twists and turns, he sighed in relief. "Okay, so now, assuming the Neverseen buys this, we're currently leaving Atlantis and heading... um... elsewhere?"

"Wow." Sophie needed to introduce Sticky to Dex. But now was not the time. "It'll at least slow us down. At least we know where Constance is."
"But we don't." Reynie insisted, "That was a recording. A screen replaying. Constance's disguise would've worn off by now anyway and, well... Constance would definitely not be trembling in front of enemies. She's too stubborn and defiant so..."
"So they wanted us to find this..." Fitz gestured at the machine, not really knowing what to call it, "So I bet the Neverseen haven't actually found Constance but they know she's here somewhere. They were buying themselves time and trying to preoccupy us."

"It's a trap." Reynie said, stating the obvious. "One that we walked- er ran right into."

"So we don't know where she is, but at least we know Constnace isn't with the Neverseen, right?" Kate asked, taking up the upbeat attitude.

"Right." Sticky agreed, "And we should retrace our steps back to the candy shop and find clues there." Everyone agreed and they turned back to head to Sayla's Sweetshop. I hope Constance is okay, Sophie thought with worry as they backtracked their steps. I guess we'll find out soon.