Sophie Foster had been missing for a week.
An entire week.
The Lost Cities had missing person cases before, but not one's where someone was so upset. Because Keefe Sencen had lost his mind.
When he found out, he locked himself in his room for three days. When he came out, he didn't talk to anyone. He just light leaped to Havenfield, cried in Edaline's arms, went up to Sophie's room, and sat on her bed, clinging to Ella. He came over every day until Grady kicked him out.
Once a week had passed, he knocked on Havenfield's door, and thankfully, it was Edaline who opened it.
"Hey, Keefe."
He didn't respond as Edaline pulled him into a hug. The poor boy shook with sobs as Edaline rubbed slow circles on his back.
It was like her funeral all over again.
Surprisingly, Edaline was calm. But Grady was also losing his mind. Except, he was at the council yelling at them to find his daughter.
"Do you want some water?" Edaline asked once the tears had run dry.
Keefe nodded, not trusting his voice. Edaline handed him an ice cold glass of water and they sat down at the kitchen table.
"How was your week?" Edaline asked, grabbing one of Keefe's hands.
"It was okay," he replied, thankful for no crack in his voice.
Edaline nodded and gave a kind of forced smile.
"Want me to go get Ella?" she asked.
"No. I need to find her. I can't stop mourning because she isn't dead. She's out there somewhere with the damn Neverseen. And I will find her." the blonde empath decided.
"Can we come along?" a voice said behind them.
Keefe turned and found Grady and Sandor standing behind him.
"No, this is something I need to do. I figured out where they took her."
Grady nodded again and had to hold back Sandor before he charged at Keefe.
"Well, when do you want to go?" Edaline asked.
"Now."
Grady nodded and went into the kitchen. Five minutes later, he came back to the table with a backpack in his hand. Inside was food and water and some clothes.
Keefe didn't ask where he got them as he gave Edaline and Grady one last hug before heading off.
He light leaped with his pathfinder to a forest. The forest was lush and beautiful, but twenty feet away from him was a wooden shack.
The boy crept up to it and heard whimpering.
"Sophie?" he tenderly asked.
"Keefe?" she asked back.
"Sophie! Okay, is anyone in there with you?"
"No, but hurry. Gisela'll come back soon."
Keefe then burst through the wooden door and found the small, helpless girl curled up int he corner. Her hair was ratty and she had major bags under her eyes. Her skin was pale and her eyes were droopy. The poor girl also looked like she hadn't slept or eaten anything in days. And her nose was bloody, like it had been broken.
The boy picked her up bridal style, ran outside, held up his pathfinder, and they glittered away to Havenfield.
The two landed under the Panakes tree and Sophie ate a few of the petals. She also downed the bottle of Youth from Keefe's backpack before falling asleep in his arms.
Keefe then yelled out for Sandor and the goblin came running over. He took Sophie out of Keefe's arms and ran back to the house. Keefe followed and once Edaline and Grady saw Sophie, they all went to the Healing Center, in dire need of Elwin's help.
Elwin kicked out Edaline, Grady, and Sandor, but Keefe couldn't bare to leave the telepath.
He stayed by her side while she was getting checked and when she woke up, the first thing was grab Keefe's hand. He took off her gloves and sent soft, blue breezes. When she received them, her mouth broke into a small smile and she she whispered, "Thank you, Keefe."
"Of course, Foster," he whispered back, squeezing her hand a bit with tears welling up in his eyes.
Sophie then took and exilir for her nose and was then forced to lay down. But she wouldn't budge unless Keefe was to sleep in a cot next to hers.
Keefe pushed one next to hers and they climbed onto their cots, their faces close to each other's.
The blood around Sophie's face had been cleaned up, but it was slowing healing. It would take a few painful days in the Healing Center, and she was going to make sure Keefe would be with her every minute of it.
"Thank you, Keefe," she said, grabbing his hand and bringing their clasped hands up to their chests.
"I had to get you back, Foster. You mean the world to me."
Sophie smiled and closed her eyes. She squeezed their hands and moved closer to him. He wrapped an arm around her waist and the two cuddled up. They ended up falling asleep in eachother's arms, peacefully and soundly.
