UNLOCKED, kotlc

Chapter 27

The fact that Glimmer was un-handcuffed and not surrounded by a team of towering goblin bodyguards made Sophie really frustrated.  She tried not to show it, digging her fingernails against the sheets of her cot and eyeing Glimmer as she walked into the room.

She still insisted on wearing her Neverseen cloak, the thick leather covering her body and the hood shadowing her features.  A wisp of dark hair came loose, and she hurriedly tucked it back inside.  She walked with brisk tiny steps and gave off a generally nervous demeanor.

Meanwhile, Mr. Forkle looked equally apprehensive. His ruckleberries had been hastily usen, as he was less bloated and wrinkly than usual.  Sophie tried not to stare at him.  

Elwin must've sensed the tension in the room because he cleared his throat nervously, scurried into his alchemy lab, and slammed the door shut.  Glimmer, for all her nervous energy, took a seat on the cot, leaving Sophie's first conversation with Mr. Forkle.  Glimmer, Sophie noticed, had her feet propped up on a few pillows and leaned against the back wall as if she was going to enjoy this conversation.

"Tell me about Adela," Sophie demanded.

"I never meant for you to find out," Mr. Forkle said quietly.

"Obviously.  So you knew about her, then?"

"Of course I knew about my own sister," Mr. Forkle said defensively, but the annoyance quickly left his voice.  "Its... complicated.  So you noticed her eyes were brown, then?"

"Yeah.  And they changed color- depending on her emotions?"

"A side effect."

"Of what?" Sophie pushed.  She was beginning to become very irritated of his vague responses.

"You were never our first attempt at Project Moonlark, Ms. Foster.  At first, Adela was part of the Black Swan.  Nobody wanted to donate their child to a life threatening cause so we tested it on our own sister.  It didn't work out.... as you can probably see.  We used shadowflux for both of you.  For you it made you stronger.  For my sister...."

"It made her evil," Sophie finished, feeling just as hollow as her voice felt.

"Yes.  If I had to guess why they made you take the shadowflux, they were trying to trigger part of that evil inside of you. We all have it.  You're probably more trigger prone than the rest of us though.  Were they asking to recruit you?"

"Yes," Sophie admitted.  "But I told them I would never do it."

"I'm glad of that.  She never created the Neverseen to be evil.  She was just mad at us for messing with her genes.  We never told her that she had shadowlfux inside of her for fear that she would become what she is now.  It started out with just a few friends that used to play practical pranks on us.  Her, and two friends.  They died mysteriously.  But she lived.  She found out about the shadow inside of her and turned against us.  Her eyes, we learned, settle back to their blue color when she remembers what she used to be.  But when her eyes are brown it is proof of her experiment."

Mr. Forkle looked properly choked up.  He guzzled down a bottle of youth, sat down on a cot, and gestured to Glimmer.  "Your turn."

Glimmer didn't look up.  Her voice sounded airy but choked up at the same time as she announced, "I'm not a traitor."

"It sure looked like that," Sophie pointed out.

"I was set up!  I got an anonymous hail from 'Tam' saying that he needed help in Atlantis.  I followed all the directions but when I got there, Gethen was there and he almost killed me.  I managed to shake him off, but he told me I had to follow his orders or he'd kill you guys.  So I had to follow up on my part of the deal."

"Tam hailed you?" Sophie asked skeptically.

"Someone claiming to be Tam,"  Glimmer corrected.  "I fell for it.  I swear, it wasn't my fault."

"How can we trust you?" Sophie asked.

Glimmer pulled of her hood, shaking her dark hair out of her face.  She had medium length black hair pulled into a sloppy ponytail.  Her features were crisp and her eyes were a blue color that put the morning sky to shame.

Sophie recognized her dark hair and teal tinted eyes before anyone else did because they were the ones she always saw in her dreams.

"You see it, don't you?"  Glimmer asked, her voice gravely.  "My mom's Luzia Vacker."