The Realization (A SoKeefe/Keephie story)

Chapter 13 - Sophie

No, no no no! She cried. Flames whipped around her, encircling her in their never-ending inferno. Images flashed past. A ripped tunic. A cut that went down to the bone. And then a splitting headache. Her mind was going to burst open. Evil cackling echoed inside of her. She was the darkness and the darkness was her. Everything was a blur. Until one face floated up in her memory... Keefe. The memory was like a stone dropped into a river. The ripples spread. The monster inside of her growled, licking its lips. No! Keefe, go! She called. But it was too late. The darkness reared up, and blood spilled out everywhere. His mouth opened. And he said two words, and two words only.

"Wake up!"

"Huh?" Sophie tried to say as she jolted awake, but since she was gagged, it came out as more of an "Mmrf?"

She sighed in relief. It was just a dream. Just a dream. Right now, she would be back at Havenfield, and Edaline would be in her room, calling her to wake up. And how did the blanket get in her mouth while she was asleep to gag her?

Then Sophie looked around her. She screamed in her gag. Dark, gray walls pressed in on her. Something was on her head, a circlet of sorts. She tried to reach out her mind to see if she could detect any thoughts around her. There were none. All that was there was a deafening silence.

"Ahem," Sophie's eyes slid over to where the noise was coming from. And there, standing tall and imposing, was Lady Gisela.

She smiled cruelly. "So our little moonlark has finally woken up."

Sophie gritted her teeth and was about to reply, but realized that she was gagged. Gisela watched her amusedly as Sophie tried to spit out the gag, rub it on the floor, and anything she could do to get it off.

Then she had an idea. It must be an ability blocker if I couldn't hear Lady Gisela's thoughts, she thought. But could skills be used?

She tried whisking the gag away with her telekinesis, and it worked! She glared back at her captor.

"I'm not your little moonlark." She spat out and tried to throw the gag at Keefe's mother. But her telekinesis was shaky and it flopped to the ground within getting two feet of Gisela.

Lady Gisela's eyes were cold and unforgiving as she stepped forward ever so slightly. "Now, you and I are going to have a talk," She emphasized, sneering. She looked around her, and three cloaked figures emerged out of the shadows and went through the heavy iron door at the end of the hallway.

"I realize we haven't always been the best of friends—" Gisela began.

"That's an understatement," Sophie said, cutting her off and glowering at her. "You've tried to kill me and my friends... how many times now?"

She sighed. "I knew you wouldn't understand. It's all for my son. You would do anything for him, no?" When Sophie didn't respond, she plowed on. "One day you'll see. And one day you'll join us and begin to realize that we're the good guys. We're going to be the ones to change the world one day. And you can rule with us."

Sophie snorted. "When are you guys going to realize that I'm not going to join the Neverseen? If you were really going to negotiate and get me on your side, why would you kidnap me and take me hostage? And even if you didn't do that, do you think I've forgotten all the times you've tried to kill me and my friends?"

Lady Gisela stood up to her full height, looking down at Sophie. "That's your fatal flaw. Your friends. That's going to be the thorn in your heart that we're going to have to cut out. Yes, that's what we'll have to do." She began pacing back and forth, her long black caps swishing around her.

"Excuse me?" Sophie asked. "You are most definitely not going to do that. M-my friends are going to come here and save me." She hated that she sounded so uncertain.

"No. We're going to save you. Don't you realize, Sophie? You're in the right place. Exactly where you should be."

Sophie jerked back as if somebody had punched her. "No, I'm not. Anyway, you said all this stuff about Keefe's legacy, but I don't see him anywhere. He's not going to come here." For more reasons than one, she thought, cringing slightly at remembering what the expression on his face had looked like when she had run away from him.

Lady Gisela seemed to know what she was saying. "Teenage drama," She muttered under her breath. Then she straightened up. "I don't need to bring Keefe here. He'll come here because of you. He saw us just before we left. I made sure of that."

Sophie's eyes widened in horror. "So I'm a hostage? And Keefe..." She trailed off, thoroughly distressed, as she thought of Keefe seeing her in his mother's arms, sedated and powerless. And knowing that he knew that he was too late to save her. Tears trailed down her face.

"This conversation is over," Lady Gisela said abruptly. She winced slightly when she saw Sophie crying, but then snapped back to her rigid demeanor. "And don't even think about escaping. This force field," she snapped her fingers at one of the figures and a forcefield appeared in front of her, "Is going to be here twenty-four-seven."