KOTLC Book 9 (After Unlocked)

Four - Sophie

It had been five days since Keefe left.

Five days since Sophie burned down the Neverseen storehouse, and had to face the consequences.

Five days since her life changed.

After the meeting of sorts at Elwin's house, they had returned home and called over Mr. Forkle, along with all twelve Councilors, the Collective, and the rest of Sophie's friends. To her dismay, everyone else had agreed that they should wait to take action in the whole Keefe situation. The Neverseen would probably be planning something extravagant and twisted once they found out about the storehouse, and the Black Swan couldn't risk taking their attention off of preparing.

Sophie had resolved that she should be the one to tell her friends about Keefe leaving. So before informing the other adults, she hailed Dex, Biana, Fitz, Linh, Tam, Stina, Wylie, Marella, and Maruca. The last four Sophie had been hesitant to invite to the personal conversation, but thought it was probably best if she didn't have to say it twice, and so it wouldn't come off like she was neglecting them.

Dex had asked her questions, and tried not to show how upset he was.

Biana had sobbed.

Fitz had reacted, well, exactly as expected. Sophie would have to replace the broken desk lamp.

Linh had cried too, but silently, and Tam comforted her. Sophie seemed to be the only one who noticed how Tam's eyes shone with unshed tears as well.

Wylie and Maruca didn't know Keefe as well as the rest of them, but the two cousins were downcast and sympathetic.

Marella had chewed her lip, deep in thought. At last she shook her head and said, "You two almost had it Sophie, you were so close to realizing," 

"What?" Sophie asked blankly. What was Marella talking about? (It's killing me to write this)

So since then, Sophie had been trying to live life as normally as possible. But every time she was feeling dejected, she was reminded of how there was no Keefe to cheer her up with some stupid joke. When the mood sank in a room, Sophie remembered how Keefe brought a light atmosphere wherever he went. She missed the way he was so easy to talk to, how she could tell him anything. The way he looked at her like she was the only one in the world when she talked. 

Sophie would give anything to have her friend back.

When Keefe left for the Neverseen, Sophie had always known in the back of her mind that he wasn't gone for good. But now, it felt real. Life without him would take some getting used to, and Sophie knew she wouldn't like it. How was she supposed to live without seeing his icy eyes ever again―and his smirking, flirtatious, mischievous, reckless demeanor? Or the traits that no one else saw but her; the scared, broken boy underneath all the sarcasm and flair? Or how compassionate and selfless he could be?

The past few days, Sophie had spent a lot of time in her own head. 

Now, she sat at a Foxfire lunch table, halfheartedly formulating a rescue plan for her favorite Empath. 

Dex elbowed her softly, and Sophie looked up from the green sludge on her tray that she had been absently poking with a fork. "Sophie lives!" he exclaimed triumphantly. Her other friends at the table looked up and gave her and Dex an odd look, then went back to whatever conversation they were in. Sophie had long since tuned them out. She looked back to see Biana waving her arms around, acting something out, and Fitz rolling his eyes, the others looking on excitedly. Sophie had no clue what they were doing, but it brought a smile to her face.

 "Sophie! I think I figured out a way to locate Keefe," Dex whispered to her excitedly. Sophie's eyes widened and she immediately gave her cousin her full attention. The group had tried a few tactics already, but to no avail. Numerous times she had tried transmitting to Keefe, but he just wouldn't answer. Well, except that one time―but Sophie preferred not to think about that. She wondered if he missed her.

"Remember the time I hacked the security cameras in London to find that human he delivered the letter to?" Dex brought her out of her thoughts once more. He snapped his fingers as he recalled the man's name. "Ethan Benedict Wright II,"

Sophie realized what he was talking about. "You think you could find Keefe by looking through the security feeds from the entire planet?" 

Dex shrugged. "It might take a while, but we have a much clearer picture of Keefe than we did of Mr. Wright, obviously," 

"Okay. Let's do it," Sophie told him impulsively; Dex looked surprised that she had agreed without any further questions. She supposed that just showed how desperate she was at that point.

Actually, Sophie did have one more question. And it was kind of important.

"Did Mr. Forkle approve of this?" At her friend's slightly guilty look, she went on: "Dex, you didn't tell him?" She grinned.

"I didn't think he would like the idea, when we should be 'focusing on the Neverseen's coming attack'," He made air quotes with his fingers. Sophie nodded in agreement―the wrinkled Black Swan leader didn't exactly approve of spontaneity.

"Alright, it's a plan. Can we meet up at Havenfield after school today?" 

"Yeah." Dex responded, looking delighted. 

Lunch ended a few minutes later, and Sophie could barely contain herself getting through the rest her classes. It was the first time in the last five days that she had felt confident, the first time it didn't feel like they were shooting in the dark. Even though the Neverseen were probably about to attack, and Keefe was gone, and Sophie still didn't really know how to act around Fitz, and -

The list could go on and on, but for now, Sophie's heart beat a steady rhythm of hope.

A/N: Kind of a filler chap here (what? oh yes I just said chap😅😆), but I'm sorta proud of it. And we all know that Dex the Cinnamon Roll deserves more page time, so I kind of had to put him in :D

Question: Do you like shorter chapters uploaded more often, or longer chapters that you might have to wait like a week for?

I hope you enjoyed this update! Have a nice day/night/evening/whatever it is for you rn lol :)

Word count: 1,002
Updated 7/29/21