Some minor violence. Maybe trigger warning?
He saw Edaline and Grady leave Havenfield. Keefe wouldn't have minded if Edaline stayed, but was internally grateful that Grady had left.
He didn't need another round of "That Boy"s circling him while he talked to Foster. And he really needed to talk to her. She had been acting strange in the Healing Center, like she was forcing herself to be, well, herself.
Keefe needed to make sure she was okay. In the good old fashioned Hunkyhair way.
As Keefe approached the door, he heard a scream.
A very Foster-like scream.
His insides plummeted. Why was it always when he turned up, everything went wrong?
He ran inside, leaped upstairs, and flung her door open.
Keefe felt his jaw drop.
Whatever he had been expecting, it was not this.
Sophie, trying to scramble away with a dagger in her leg from Fitz in a Neverseen cloak.
Keefe must be dreaming.
He smacked himself. It hurt.
Nope, definitely not dreaming.
Which meant he had to stop this, and figure out what was going on.
He made towards Fitz, ready to have some words with him, but Fitz said coolly, "Don't even think about it."
Keefe froze. His brain was working quickly. He needed to do this the smart way.
Fitz laughed, dragging Sophie further behind him.
"What are you doing?" Keefe chocked out.
"Well," Fitz said, smiling, "I've decided to join the winning side."
"But, why?" Keefe said, the only thought occurring to him was to stall.
Fitz's features turned with anger.
"Why? WHY? I lost everything. My legacy. Gone. Sophie. Taken. My reputation. Lost. All. Because. OF YOU!!"
Suddenly, Fitz lunged for him, tackling Keefe to the ground. Everything was a blur. As Keefe fought to push Fitz off of him and keep him from punching him in the face, he heard Foster's shouts.
Keefe felt someone push Fitz off. It was Foster.
"Foster, a-are you-" Keefe stammered reaching over to her, but she closed her eyes, shook her head and started breathing rapidly.
Keefe yanked the dagger out of her leg. More blood gushed out onto the floor, staining it in a dark red.
"So," Fitz said, staggering backward and looking at Keefe and Sophie with menace, "So, if you want Sophie to come out of this alive, you'll be coming with me and her too."
"You wouldn't hurt Sophie," Keefe said, his voice low as he looked straight into the teal eyes he thought he knew.
Fitz laughed softly.
"Oh, I know. But I have friends who would."
Keefe felt the threat take a hold of him.
But....
"Let Foster go, and I'll, I'll come with you," Keefe said heavily, not looking at Sophie.
"Keefe, no!" Sophie gasped, clinging onto his arm.
Fitz grinned.
"I'm afraid that wasn't an option," he replied.
Keefe gritted his teeth.
"Well you'll have to make it one."
Fitz raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, really?"
Fitz picked up the dagger and carefully traced it against Sophie's neck, leaving a thin trail of scarlet behind. Her beautiful brown eyes were twisted in pain, but she tried not to show it. Keefe couldn't take it anymore.
"Stop!" Keefe gasped, "Fine, fine."
Fitz smiled, but Keefe felt a small twinge of guilt radiating off of him. Almost too quickly it snapped back into a murderous crave for blood.
He took both Sophie and Keefe's hands and light leaped away.
***
The air was foul. Keefe coughed slightly.
He didn't see much of what was happening, only that he and Foster were shoved into a room, with the door slamming shut behind them. The light was dim, but Keefe saw enough of Foster, staggering into the room, breathing quickly and rapidly, and shakily falling down into a sitting position, turned away from Keefe.
"Hey," Keefe whispered, sitting down beside her, and pulling back a strand of Sophie's hair gently.
She looked at him.
Blood seeped from her neck in an ugly way.
Keefe hated that he caused that.
Sophie winced as he touched it softly, and he pulled away.
"Sorry," she mumbled.
"No, it's fine, Foster. You've been through a lot."
Silence.
Keefe cleared his throat.
"I'm sorry. It's my fault we're here in the first place."
Sophie didn't say anything, but Keefe caught a small tear clinging to her eyelash.
She was crying about Fitz. Her emotions didn't lie. They were an awful mix of hurt, betrayal, confusion, and broken fragments.
Keefe pieced it together enough to know what she felt.
Sophie felt like she didn't know who she was. Like that the person she'd known her whole life had turned on her, making her feel..... blank. Empty.
Keefe took a deep breath for him to realize a truth he had been trying to push away.
Even before he had joined the Neverseen, Fitz had left Sophie wandering. He'd left her searching for something that didn't exist. He'd left her walking in circles. And he'd left her wondering if there could be anything more.
That wasn't the part that bothered Keefe.
The part that he wanted to deny with all his heart;
Was that he'd done the exact same thing.
Updated: 12/15/23
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,"...
