SECRETS: Chapter Twelve

Instructions

OMG I FINALLY FINISHED WHOOOO I HOPE YOU GUYS LUV IT!!!!!!!!! -------------------------------------------------------------------------SECRETS: Chapter Twelve "No, no, no, no!" Keefe cried as his knees buckled. Sophie caught him before he could fall face-first into the soil beneath them. She tried to open her mouth but no words came out. What should she say? What could she say?! Tears streamed down Keefe's pale skin-- tears usually hidden by jokes and laughs-- but Sophie knew he couldn't do that- this was his father. Keefe looked up at Elwin hopefully. Elwin looked away, shaken. "I-I don't know, Keefe. The burns-- I can't fix them. I-I'm sorry," "No . . ." Keefe cried, crying into Sophie's shoulder. Hot tears rolled down Sophie's cheeks. Lord Cassius was Keefe's only parent after his mom, but now . . . Sophie held on to Keefe tighter and they sank into the warm soil beneath them. Sophie didn't know how long they were like that until Keefe broke them apart. "I-I'm sorry," he mumbled. "It's fine, Keefe." Sophie said, only then realizing how close they had been, her cheeks erupting red. Keefe turned around to face Elwin who was still standing there, checking Lord Cassius. "There's hope . . . right?" Sophie's stomach clenched. By now, Lord Cassius didn't look one bit like him anymore. He didn't even look . . . human. Half of his face was charred, and his right leg and left arm didn't even seem to be attached anymore. Elwin's silence answered Keefe's question. A fresh tear rolled onto Keefe's already wet face. His matted hair hiding his eyes. He grabbed his father's hands and cried into it until Lord Cassius's barely breathing body whispered, "I . . . love you, Keefe. I always have, I know you have potential but I was too harsh on you. But at least I can say . . . g-g-goodbye," His body went limp, and another fresh surge of tears clouded Keefe's face. "He loved me . . . he really did," * * * "Give him some space," Eliwin said holding back Sophie as Keefe light-leaped away with Ro. "He'll come back when he's ready. Wait." And waiting was what Sophie did for two weeks. She had only seen Keefe once, at his father's funeral. Keefe looked sunken and much more miserable and before Sophie could get to him Keefe disappeared into the sparkly light that engulfed him. Lord Cassius's tree was . . . something. It resembled him, with straight pale branches and neat orderly ice blue flowers, every petal sharpened to perfection. Sophie waited . . . more and more. She wasn't sure what she was waiting for. Then again, there was a lot of things she was waiting for. Keefe. The Neverseen. A win against the Neverseen. Keefe. Something to fill the empty hollow in her heart. Keefe. And she waited. For 31 days. She'd counted. And none of the things she wanted came. She couldn't wait anymore. She couldn't wait for Keefe to come to her, it was time for her to go to him. She climbed up the staircase to the Leapmaster. Then she realized that she didn't know where Keefe was. Fear rose through her. What if Keefe wasn't even in the Lost Cities anymore? What if he run away? No no no no. She clumsily climbed back down to her bedroom and collapsed on her bed. She knew she was overreacting and Keefe was probably safe in bed somewhere. She flipped her Imparter and said the words she hadn't in a long time. "Show me Keefe Sencen." The Imparter rung. And rung. And rung. And rung. Sophie was going to give up when the last ring sounded and a voice that made her insides melt said, "Hey, Foster." "KEEFE!" she said, covering her mouth after she realized she had shouted his name. "Whoa, slow down there." Keefe said flashing his infamous smirk. "I thought you left again! Where are you!!" she asked, talking too fast. "I'm at Elwin's." he said, turning his Imparter around to a ceiling glittering with a thousand stars. "Oh," she said, embarrassed at her outburst. Keefe laughed. "Why? Miss me?" Sophie couldn't hide her flushed cheeks, "Yeah." she whispered just enough for him to hear. "Me too, Foster. Me too."