"Foster?," Keefe called, looking up at Havenfield. He had seen Grady and Edaline leap away as he arrived, which he was slightly thankful for.
He needed to talk to Foster alone.
"Foster?," he called again, stepping inside, but the house was as quiet as a rock. Weird. He walked the familiar path to Foster's room. Her door was closed.
"Foster, you know you can't leave me hanging like that when I-," Keefe broke off as he opened the door.
There was nobody there. Keefe stepped inside and looked around. There was her bed, neat and simple. Her closet, also neat and simple. A big and spacious room, but Foster wasn't there.
"Sophie," Keefe said, stepping in further.
He walked around, trying to find her, wondering where she could be, until it hit him. Foster would have come out by now if she knew he had come to see her.
Crunch.
Keefe looked down. He had stepped on a crumpled piece of paper. He bent over to pick it up.
Keefe,
I know you'll see this, and I'm going to make it quick. I have to leave.
I'm too dangerous. For you. For my parents. For the Neverseen. For anyone.
Fixing me would only make it worse. It doesn't matter if I die, it only matters if you live.
I'm sorry,
Sophie
A single tear fell and landed on the name Sophie, and the ink slowly spread, leaving the paper slightly wet.
Keefe felt like he had just fallen. He had fallen and never reached the ground. Foster had left no hints, no reasons, no nothing. Just a simple farewell, and an apology. An apology she didn't need to give.
When Keefe had run away, some tiny, selfish part of him wanted to be found. To be cried over. To be sent back home. Where Foster was.
But this.....
This was different. She covered up her disappearance, probably going somewhere far from here that he would never guess. Hiding herself until she died.
If she wasn't already.
Keefe took a step back and shook his head, the letter crumbled in his fist. She couldn't be dead. He would find her before that. No matter what happened to him. No matter if he searched and searched, and never found her. At least he would die trying.
"So, what are you doing here?," a voice came from a corner.
Keefe spun around. It was Vertina, the mirror Foster had told him about.
Suddenly, with a leap of hope, Keefe dashed over to her. Vertina must have seen where Foster went, or new where she was going.
"Vertina!," he gasped, skidding to a halt in front of the mirror.
"Where is Foster? Where did she go?,"
Vertina looked at him with something more that criticism. It was almost like pity.
"I- can't tell you," she said simply.
Keefe's heart thudded to the ground. His spirits sank.
"What do you mean? You have to tell me!"
Keefe hadn't realized he shouted the last bit, but Vertina flinched.
"She said not to tell anyone without the password," she said, quietly.
"WHY?," Keefe yelled, tears streaming down his face as he crumpled to the ground.
"Why?," his voice shook.
"She said only if it was an emergency," Vertina explained.
"NO!," Keefe practically screamed.
"This IS an emergency. Foster's missing! We- I. Have to- have to f-find her," Keefe sobbed.
"I can't live without her," he whispered, "I- I need her."
Keefe buried his face in his hands, sobbing uncontrollably. Vertina looked at him coldly.
"Y'know what, boy?," she said, "I think your being selfish."
Keefe looked up, tears still cascading like waterfalls.
"You're convinced you need her to survive. Well, sorry kid, you DON'T."
Keefe watched Vertina, speechless.
"You need to live life, with or without the people you care about. She went away for a reason. The same reason every time. She is trying to protect you. That is her last, dying sacrifice.
And by the way your acting, she is dying in vain."
Keefe sat still, listening, slightly hurt.
"Don't let it, kid. Live your life the way she'd want you to. Stop moping and crying because of one person. Be the man you ought to be. Then, her life could be sacrificed for the thing she intended it to be, and not be wasted. So, are you going to bawl your eyes out at me? Or are you going to stand up and fight and find that password?," Vertina finished, glaring.
Keefe stood up shakily, and nodded.
"Your right," he said softly as he turned to leave.
"I need to stop acting like a coward, because this time I'm not giving up."
Keefe wasn't going to look back anymore, because he needed to be strong. This was the way to help Foster. He wasn't going to break. He wasn't going to fall down and cry like some helpless little boy.
He was Keefe Sencen, and he decided right then and there that he was going to stick to that promise he made a while ago, and fight for it.
(This section in bold is an excerpt from Shannon Messenger's Keefe's Short Story in Nightfall- last paragraph)
From that point on, he only had one goal: to be whatever Sophie needed.
Not the hero.
Not the one taking charge of everything.
Just a guy ready to listen and help and be there for her.
A friend.
Until she was ready for more.
Keefe shut the door, and walked away from Havenfield, determined to find her, no matter what it cost.
Until she was ready for more.
---
A/N: Wow, even that was a little heartbreaking to me :(. That PAINED me as much as you to write about Vertina's conversation with Keefe. Btw, that quote at the end starting at "From that point on..." is Shannon Messenger's quote of Keefe's from Keefe's Short Story. All credits on that to her!
Also question of the day.... if you want:
What is your fav Kotlc book?
Mine has to be either Unlocked or Nightfall.
And again, Happy Reading!
-will0w-tree
YOU ARE READING
Petals of Gold (A Sokeefe Fanfic)
Fanfiction"this is the last time," sophie knew it in her heart. it was the last time she'd make anymore mistakes, hurt other people. she couldn't fall for anything like that again. but how long could she resist until she fell apart? "this is the last time,"...
