Agent Moonlark

Chapter Seven

Sophie

She spent the night tossing and turning. Her nightmares were of caramel hair and grey eyes. Calla. Calla, for the first time, haunted Sophie's nightmares. Even after her death, she didn't appear in Sophie's nightmares. This was the first time. Between nightmares, Sophie would wake up, gasping for a few minutes, before going back to sleep. And each time, Calla was there. She was saying something to Sophie. Her lips were moving, and she was gesturing with her hands. But Sophie couldn't hear her. Try as she might, Sophie couldn't figure out what Calla was telling her.

"Calla," she screamed, thrashing.

Finally, Sophie woke up, sobbing, and decided she couldn't take it anymore. Her head in her hands, she paced her room. She felt like this nightmare had been important. What could Calla have been saying?

Her first instinct was to go to Grady and Edaline, but something made her hesitate. They were probably asleep.

She tiptoed out of her room. She knew Alluveterre like the back of her hand, thanks to her training. She didn't need light to be able to find her way through the dark passageways.

Sophie didn't know where she was going. All she knew was that she had to go somewhere.

Sophie closed her eyes, and tuned out all of her thoughts. She was meditating, in a way. Except she was moving. Not even thinking about where she was going, she let her feet lead the way. Somehow, her subconscious made sure that she didn't crash into walls.

Her eyes flew open when she started walking down a staircase. A smile crept up her face. She sat on the banister, and slid down. Memories of gliding down that same banister when she was little resurfaced.

Down two floors she went, her eyes glittering in the dark. When she got to the bottom, her breath caught in her throat. She recognized this place. She knew the door in front of her all too well. Calla's bedroom. She pushed open the door, and winced at the creak it gave.

"I miss you," Sophie whispered. And although she meant it to Calla, Keefe flashed into her mind.

The bedroom smelled so much like....Calla. Like damp earth and spring flowers. Sophie had always felt like she was outside when she had been with Calla.

Petals were strewn everywhere. On the curtains. On the floor. Guilt flooded through Sophie.

Flashback

"Sophie," Agent Forkle said gently.

Sophie was instantly alert. He never called her Sophie. It was either Ms. Foster or Agent Moonlark. "What happened,?" she asked, dreading the answer.

"There was nothing we could do," Agent Forkle whispered. "She was already too far in..." His voice trailed off.

"Who?!," Sophie demanded. She was scared. Terribly scared of the answer.

"You have to understand," he pleaded, "it was her decision. We wanted her to back out, but she was too stubborn." Sophie barely noticed the tears dampening his cheeks. Something was wrong. It wasn't just that the Neverseen had beat them at their game again. It was something more. Agent Forkle rarely expressed this much emotion. Sophie had never seen him cry before.

"Who is it?!," eight-year-old Sophie screeched. She didn't want to know, yet she needed to.

Agent Forkle put a hand on her shoulder. "Calla."

Sophie felt her world crumble away at that one word. That one answer. Calla had been the most like her mother. Aunt Calla. That had been what Sophie had called her the day she left to gather information. It had been the day Sophie called her Aunt Calla. And now, it was also the day Sophie saw Calla for the last time.