Team Foster-Keefe (A Sokeefe Story) #KOTLC #AfterUnlocked

Chapter 2

Sophie climbed the steps upstairs, Grady and Edaline slowly trailing behind her. When they all got to the top step, they didn't follow Sophie to her room. Instead they stood back, nervous and timid. But before Sophie went to her room, Edaline leaned in and tucked a strand of Sophie's blond her behind her ear. "Goodnight, sweetie. We love you." Grady leaned in as well, gathering them in a family hug. A few moments later, they let go and Sophie went to her room.

Sophie was really exhausted at this point, kicking off her shoes and sitting down on the edge of her bed. She looked to her right, where she saw Iggy in his cage. "Hey, who put you there?" she said, before gasping, looking straight at Iggy's fur. It was covered in blue, green, and magenta, making Iggy look like a mermaid. But then there were black tiger stripes all over him, giving him a twisted vibe. Sophie giggled, wondering if Dex had done it. He was always sneaking over and giving Iggy some of his prank elixirs, changing his fur and giving him wacky hairstyles. But it couldn't have been Dex, he hadn't come over until a while after Sophie returned to Havenfield from Solreef. 

Sophie scratched her head, picking up Iggy's cage and setting it back to it's usual spot on her shelf. She stood back, tilting her head once more at Iggy. She let out a sigh, and her eyes shifted towards the once plain spot of wall, which was now covered in two paintings. Keefe's paintings. He had given her the paintings for graduating level three at Foxfire, and they beat all her other gifts. She ran her hand over the painting of her with all her friends, her fingers lingering on Keefe's face for a few seconds. She took the painting off it's hook, and flipped it over where she saw the word Keefe had wrote in the Black Swan's rune. Family. She wanted to remind him at that very moment that they were family, and they weren't going to separated. She made up her mind to go straight to Splendor Plains, Elwin's residence, the next morning. That was where Keefe was staying while he was figuring things out. He wanted her to stay away, since he wasn't sure of what he was capable of with the new "powers" his mother had given him back in Loamnore, and he didn't want to hurt her after he discovered he could control what people felt with the tone of his voice. Sophie let out a breath, and walked back to her bed, where she noticed a letter underneath where Iggy's cage was on her bed. 

Gingerly, Sophie picked it up, all the possibilities racing through her head. She slipped the parchment from the envelope and began to read.

(This letter was the actual letter Keefe wrote Sophie at the end of Unlocked!)

"To The Mysterious Miss F!

Ugh- I'm already regretting starting this letter that way. But I don't have any extra paper, and crossing it out would look worse, so....... I guess we'll just have to add it to my list of mistakes. And I know you're going to think that everything I'm about to say should also be on that long list of Keefe fails. But I swear- that's NOT what this is. I'm not trying to fix everything or save everyone this time. I'm just trying to make sure I don't hurt anyone.

I can't tell you more than that without putting you in danger, so just........ trust me when I say that the powers my mom gave me are super bad.

There seriously aren't strong enough words to explain how horrible they are. AND I CAN'T control them- just like I can't stop my mom from forcing me to use them.

So..... this is the only way. I don't want to do it. But I have to.

And I'm not going to ask you not to hate me. In fact, it might be better if you do, because I need you to PROMISE that you won't try to find me. My mom will be waiting for you to track me down- and since I know how stubborn you are, I want to make sure you understand who you'd be putting in danger.

I'm going to be hiding the same way the Black Swan hid you. That's why you have to stay away.

Well, there are lots of reasons. So again, please, just........ trust me, okay? And since this is the last time I'll ever talk to you, I just...... I want to say that I'm really going to miss you. You mean a lot to me, Foster. More than you'll ever know.

Please be careful. Please be happy. And PLEASE forget all about me.

It'll be better for everyone that way.

You'll see.

Love,

Keefe"