Agent Moonlark

Chapter Eight

Sophie

Sophie hurried back to her bedroom. She would have preferred opening the diary in Calla's old room, but she hadn't brought a flashlight. There were no lightbulbs in Calla's room, for Calla had hated artificial light. That's why the skylights were so big in that room. The room was practically underground, but somehow, Calla had managed to make her room so that when you were inside, you felt like you were having a picnic at the park on a warm summer day.

Once inside her room, Sophie switched the lamp on. Warm yellow light illuminated her dark room. Dust particles floated in the air.

She could not wait any longer. She opened the diary to the first page. There were crumbled petals squished between the pages, their fragrance wafting up her nose. She breathed it in deeply, her eyes closed. Then she opened her eyes and braced herself for what she was about to see.

Gently, she removed the petals and put them on her bed. Finally, she was ready to read what was in it.

Sophie stared at the first page for a full minute. This was not in English. This was not in any language Sophie could read, and she could read over a hundred languages. She could recognize over one thousand. The runes on the page were strange. Sophie tried for hours to decipher them. She vividly remembered the "Deciphering Codes" class she had taken last year. She used every technique she knew. But still, she couldn't figure out what this was saying.

Light was filtering through her curtains by the time Sophie decided to give up because of the pounding headache she was getting from trying to decode the mysterious language. She hid the diary in a hole in her mattress, and went up to her window. She wouldn't be able to fall asleep again. Not after this. She threw open the drapes. Pink clouds danced across the orange sky. Birds chirped in their tall trees. A few people were already in the streets at 6 in the morning, hustling to their next location.

Sophie stayed like that for an hour before Vertina interrupted her thinking.

"Eeeek!," Vertina screeched.

"What?," Sophie stiffened and turned around, instantly alert. "Intruder?"

"No," Vertina wailed. "Worse!"

"Did the Neverseen do something? What happened?"

Vertina pointed a trembling finger at Sophie. "You look like you pulled an all-nighter! You look horrible!" Vertina started cursing in French. She practically fainted on Sophie's bed.

Sophie rolled her eyes. "I'm fine, thanks. You're lucky that I was dared to actually listen to what you think of my outfit. Well, actually, I technically don't, I just have to wear something Biana would wear."

Vertina fanned her face, hyperventilating. She closed her eyes slowly, and took a few deep breaths. "Everything will be ok," she assured herself. "We can still fix Sophie." She dragged a hand down her face. "Oh, who am I kidding?! Sophie, SIT! This instant! This is an emergency!"

And that was pretty much the rest of Sophie's morning. Vertina spent a looooong time pampering her. Gosh, Vertina was worse than Biana when it came to things like this. Vertina finally left, not completely satisfied with how Sophie looked. But Sophie thought it was enough. She wore a red halter dress that was similar to something she had seen Biana wear once. Her hair was twisted into a fancy bun, and Vertina had applied more make-up than usual on to Sophie's face. As soon as Sophie was sure that Vertina was gone, she wiped off her make-up with a tissue. Well, she kept on the foundation covering the dark circles under her eyes. She took her hair out of the bun. Unfortunately, her hair was now curly (A/N: I have nothing against that. It's just that Sophie doesn't like doing things like curling her hair.) Her locks of hair fell in golden curls. Sophie groaned inwardly.

"Sophieeeeee!" Biana burst into the room, tugging Tam inside. Sophie's vision focused on their clasped hands.

"Sophie!," Biana repeated. "I have good news. Linh and Dex are back already!"

Sophie choked on air. "What? Already?!"

"Yeah, they found this guy...they said he has soooo much potential. He's practically a spy already!"

Sophie smiled. "That's great! Tam, you'll get to see Linh!" Sophie did not expect the wary look on his face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Tam said. "It's just weird that Dex and Linh were so quick. Strange. Shouldn't they wait to trust him, first?"

Biana shrugged. "I trust their judgment."

"I guess." Tam plunged his hands into his hoodie pockets. Sophie couldn't help but think Tam was right. However, if Dex and Linh said the new recruit was good, then he probably was.

"Come on, now!," Biana exclaimed. She pulled Tam outside by the hand, and beckoned to Sophie to follow her. Sophie followed Biana to the meeting room.

Only Agent Granite and Agent Forkle were there. They wore their cloaks. They always did that when they first met a recruit. Sophie was the only one that Agent Forkle had revealed himself to the moment he met her. In fact, in the Black Swan, only the Vackers, the Dizznees, the Ruewens, Physic, Sophie, Tam, Dex, Linh, Fitz, and Biana knew who the Collective really were.

"Why was their mission so quick?," Tam questioned. Agent Granite answered for Agent Forkle.

"We may be a bit desperate at the moment. With Alessandro Basile...the Neverseen slipped right under our noses. And everyone in the agency has so much to contribute. The new recruit looks like he has lots."

"For Granite's sake, Tam," Biana giggled, "stop being so suspicious."

Tam leaned against the wall, shadows obscuring him. "We can't just let anyone into the Black Swan. Sophie and Fitz knew Linh and me for months before they even revealed that they were spies."

"Look," Agent Forkle said. "We looked into his records. We know practically everything about him. There's nothing remotely off. The guy has a bad relationship with his parents, from what we've seen. He 's had a bad life. Lay off him."

Tam sunk deeper into the darkness, but said no more. That was when Fitz came in. He was still sulking. Well, now it was worse because Alessandro was sick. He had a scowl on his face, and his jaw was clenched.

"Why am I here?," he asked no one in particular.

"The new recruit," Agent Forkle sighed. "And frankly, Mr. Vacker, your sister is right. Your current behavior is childish. We have told you multiple times that we are doing our best. We certainly are doing better than the government."

Fitz gave no answer. He glared at the ground.

"We're here!," a melodic voice sang. Linh skipped into the room, and immediately hugged her brother. Dex came in after her, his dimples showing. Finally, the new spy came into view. Sophie's eyes locked with his. Her breath caught in her throat as she recognized him.

No. It couldn't be. This wasn't possible. He couldn't be here. No. No. NO.

The new recruit was Keefe Sencen.

I'm sorry I didn't update yesterday! So I made up with it for doing 4 chapters instead of 2 today!!!! Please don't be mad!