after unlocked: a sokeefe fanfic

Chapter 1-Sophie

Sophie wished that life would be easier.

Wished she hadn't destroyed the Neverseen's warehouse. Maybe had ignored Glimmer's taunting. What she really wanted, though, was to get some sleep.

Weirdly enough, when she entered her room, she realized Iggy was now a mix of several colors, with black tiger stripes, but Grady hadn't mentioned anything about Dex coming over.

But when she went to scratch her imp and say goodnight, any thought of sleep left her.
That was when she saw the note.

To the Mysterious Miss F!
Ugh—I'm already regretting starting this letter that way. But I don't have any extra paper, and crossing it out would look worse, so... I guess we'll just have to add it to my list of mistakes.

And I know you're going to think that everything I'm about to say should also be on that long list of Keefe Fails. But I swear—that's NOT what this is. I'm not trying to fix everything or save everyone this time. I'm just trying to make sure I don't hurt anyone.

I can't tell you more than that without putting you in danger, so just... trust me when I say that the powers my mom gave me are super bad. There seriously aren't strong enough words to explain how horrible they are. And I CAN'T control them—just like I can't stop my mom from forcing me to use them.

So... this is the only way. I don't want to do it.

But I have to.

And I'm not going to ask you not to hate me. In fact, it might be better if you do, because I need you to PROMISE that you won't try to find me. My mom will be waiting for you to track me down-and since I know how stubborn you are, I want you to make sure you understand who you'd be putting in danger.

I'm going to be hiding the same way the Black Swan hid you.

That's why you have to stay away. Well, there are a lot of reasons. So again, please, just... trust me, okay?

And since this is the last time I'll ever talk to you, I just... I want to say that I'm really going to miss you. You mean a lot to me, Foster. More than you'll ever know.

Please be careful. Please be happy. And PLEASE forget all about me.

It'll be better for everyone that way. You'll see.

Love,

Keefe

At first, it didn't register. He left. How could he leave? Why would he leave?

Sophie couldn't breathe. Couldn't see the writing, the smudge marks left by his fingers.
Then she thought, "He can't actually be gone. It's Keefe. He doesn't leave."

But that was the problem. It was Keefe. And for that reason, she knew it was true. He did leave. He had left before. He always left when things got hard.

Then everything melted into fear. "The last time I'll ever talk to you." What if she never saw him again? Never got to see his smile or hear his voice?

What if he messed up, and... got killed?

It was her fault.

She was the one who caused it. She was the one who dragged all of them into it. If it wasn't for her, none of her friends would've joined the Black Swan. Keefe wouldn't have had to deal with the extra powers, Keefe wouldn't have had to run way—twice.

It was her fault.

The only other time it hurt that bad was when he joined the Neverseen. When he had asked him not to hate her. But he didn't ask this time. He wanted her to. So that she wouldn't look for him.

Dimly, she was aware of Grady entering her room and sitting down next to her.

"He's really gone," she whispered.

He sighed. "I'm sorry, Kiddo."

"He told you?"

A moment of silence, then, "Yeah."

She stared at the wall, but it was becoming blurry. She hated tears. Hated worrying. Hated the Neverseen.

But she didn't hate Keefe.

Wouldn't hate Keefe.

Couldn't hate Keefe.

"He blames himself for everything"

"Yeah," Sophie said. "He really does."

"A lot like you,"

Sophie looked sharply at Grady. "And?"

He sighed. "I'm just saying. If you were in his shoes, what would you do?"

"I was in his shoes," Sophie argued. "Enhancing, remember?"

"That's not the same, Kiddo. Keefe has an ability that hasn't even been discovered. And it's dangerous."

She had to agree. Enhancing had been, well, weird. But Keefe's was in uncharted territory.

She sighed, realizing that she probably would've done exactly what he did. But it wasn't right. He needed help, and he wouldn't have left her alone, just like she wasn't going to leave him alone.

"Did you get a look at his crystal?"

Grady shook his head. "He didn't tell me where he was going."

Sophie looked back down at her hands, which still held the paper with Keefe's scrawled handwriting. "There's nothing in here that really mentions it."

Grady was silent. Sophie looked back at him; his expression held sadness.

"When people don't want to be found, they usually aren't found, Sophie," he said gently.

How could she forget him? He was Keefe Sencen. He was one of her best friends. Her friends were her family. She couldn't abandon her family.

She took a deep breath. "I'm finding him. I swear to you, that I will find him. Even if he doesn't want to be found. Because he'd do the same for me."

Grady sighed but smiled. "You and him have been spending way too much time together. When did you become so stubborn?"

"Like you said, too much time around Keefe."

Grady chuckled. "I'm proud of you, Kiddo." He kissed her forehead. "Get some sleep. You have a big day tomorrow."

Yeah. She did. She was going to take the fight to the Neverseen, and she was going to find Keefe.

She was going to make him understand why.

Why she couldn't hate him.

A/N: so... hi! If you're reading this, thank you so much! I'm Elise. Uh, I just started writing this, and the reason is because the ending of Unlocked killed me. This chapter isn't the best, but hopefully, they get better. I wasn't really sure how to write Sophie reacting to the letter, and I might change it later on, but for now, oh well. Later on, you may notice little things that don't really line up with the books. If you do, please tell me! I'd like this book to be slightly accurate, if possible, lol. Again, thank you so much for reading!

Uploaded: 11-24-2020