The Diary of Fitz Vacker

6. The Father

Sophie waved at my father. It wasn't the proper curtsy, but it worked. Sort of. At least my dad wasn't like Lord Cassius, who would have had a conniption if Sophie waved at him instead of curtsying. I zoned out for a while, until my dad asked me about how pretty Sophie's eyes were. Huh. I mean, I obviously realized they were brown, but I guess I never thought they were pretty. Not that they weren't pretty. Never mind.  I said they were pretty, and she turned redder than me. At least I wasn't the only one. Anyways, we told my dad about the creepy guy who may have tried to kidnap Sophie. I glanced up from my feet, and found my dad's soft eyes suddenly hard and almost icy blue. Whoa, like Lord Cassius. Whelp, now I'll never get this cross of my dad and Keefe's dad out of my head. Great. Anyways, I met his eyes, and although I already knew what he was going to say he transmitted anyways, saying " Don't let her worry about that. You don't need to worry about this. There's no reason to worry, but-" I finish for him "You'll still look into it, I know." I transmit again "Do you think it's the Neverseen?" I don't even know what that is, I heard Alvar mention it once, talking to somebody on his imparter. I assumed it was my dad, but he shakes his head at me as if he dosen't know what that is or I shouldn't know what that is. Maybe both. He turns back to Sophie, as if nothing had happened. My dad's actually good at that, going from Lost Cities World War 1 to Oh my god look it's a cute little puppy in a matter of seconds. They discuss the kidnapper for a few more minutes, before Sophie finally concludes it may have been a human after all. Then, my father brings up the telepathy. Finally. He didn't believe me when I said there was no way to get into her mind, and just told me I wasn't skilled enough to get into her head. Yet. He emphasized that yet, making me even more aware of how great he thinks I'll turn out. I know he wishes I'll be a Councillor, or at least an emmisary, like him. This way, I'll carry on the Vacker legacy and be sure to make my already impressive family proud. Anyways, my dad reached for Sophie's temples, and with an "Um" she stepped back with her hands in front of her. I almost snorted out loud. My father would have killed me, but I could not believe this girl was not only raised by humans in 12 years, but the Council and my father wanted her to learn everything about this world by  the end of the day. Even the brightest people at Foxfire wouldn't be able to accomplish that much. At least my dad thinks she's brighter than them. She glanced at me after my father explained what he was going to do and asked permission, and I nodded, trying not to laugh. She looked like she was going to be sick, and my father was so excited, I'm surprised he didn't pee himself right then and there. "Well", my father says "You are indeed a fascinating girl." I immediately feel the triumph rising in me, and I can hear it in my voice when I answer "Couldn't hear her either, could you?" Everything else goes away for a few minutes before my father critiques once again "I specifically told you not to let her leap again without a nexus." I try to protest, telling him that I forgot, and that we had to leave in a rush because Sophie saw the creepy guy, etc. He didn't buy it though, and had me hand over the nexus. It was my old one, but what she didn't know never hurt her.  My father put the nexus on her wrist, twisting it into place before it clicked. He explained to her how it worked, and then lectured how I should have never let her leap without one. She pointed out I didn't have one and pointed at my wrist. I smirked and responded "I got mine off early. My concentration is strong enough for three people- which is why we're fine. Sophie's not even a little bit faded, and you know it." My father made sure to check me right back into place, responding with "Only fools overestimate their skills, Son. You've never had to watch someone fade away. Perhaps if you had, you would be more cautious." I look at my feet, and that's when I remember everything. My head starts to hurt, as it does whenever I think of that day.  I'm back to when I was a little kid, and I hear the front door open as my mother comes in, her voice hoarse and eyes red. "I can't believe Cyrah's gone. And her son. Oh, her son...." My father comes in, his voice sad and hoarse "Della, it was awful, I can't believe how horrible that was for the poor Endals. Cyrah was a smart lady, why would she ever let her consciousness split? Elwin gave me a concoction to make me feel less guilty." And then my mom's sob filled voice "The poor boy, we can't take him, not with you being the one who performed the memory break, maybe Edaline or Grady. Or what about the Sencens? Although it may be too soon for Grady and Edaline to have child around again, and I'm afraid the Sencens may not be fit for their own son, talk about a new one. Oh the boy.." Then my fathers voice once more "Let me wash my face, and then I'll head over to Havenfield to speak with Grady and Edaline about Wylie." I was afraid my father would catch me listening when he came upstairs, so I ran upstairs headed to my room, when I heard my brother sounding angry in his own room. Being a little kid, being nosy was necessary, so I listened, just for a little bit. I didn't hear much, and I still don't understand it, but this is what he said. From Alvar: "Gethen, I can't believe you did that. This crosses a line, you said you would only speak to her, not whatever mess you've gotten yourself into here." And then the other voice, I guess Gethen: "Relax Alvar, they'll never figure out it was me." I then heard footsteps coming towards me, so I ran to my room. But I guess Gethen was a friend of my brothers', and I'll be willing to bet that whatever it was had to do with one of Alvar's 3 girlfriends finding out about the other 2 and Gethen getting involved. My brothers' pretty private though, so I guess we'll never know.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Uh so this is my attempt at making up for taking forever to post haha. Anyways, I hope you like the lil plot twist at the end.  ty for reading tho and I love reading your suggestions in the comments!