Board Thread:Short Stories and Fanfictions/@comment-75.25.52.26-20190727210155/@comment-43311054-20190817213931

Chapter 3

After Keefe left, Sophie ignored all of Fitz’s calls on her Imparter and blocked the transmissions in her head. She needed to think. She needed to talk to someone. So she called upon the one person who she thought could help her.

When Dex arrived at Havenfield, he had a box in his hands and a smile on his face. Sophie immediately felt better knowing that she’d always have her best friend to talk to. She was very happy that everything had worked out after the crush cuffs incident. She ran over to hug him as he held out the box in his hands.

He laughed when Sophie came running, saying, “Couldn’t wait to see what I brought, huh?” He opened the box and inside was a helpful serving of mallowmelt and butterblasts.

Sophie smiled and said, “Thank you so much, Dex. Not just for the mallowmelt, but for coming. I really needed someone to talk to about this.”

Dex nodded and they walked together to Sophie’s room. Dex set the box down on Sophie’s nightstand and looked at the teal heart necklace on the floor. He winced when he noticed the uneven way it was opened.

He said, “Sophie, you realize that you actually used enough force to snap the chain instead of opening it when you took that off, right?” Sophie looked at the necklace, her eyes unwillingly filling with tears when she realized he was right. She was pretty sure that the entire necklace was broken, because she couldn’t see how the heart could get off of it. She slowly stepped towards it, tenderly picking it up as memories flooded her head. Suddenly she flung it against a wall, and a hairline fissure appeared like it was a broken heart as the bodyguards reaffirmed that they were okay. Sophie covered her mouth with her hand and nearly fell over when she realized the damage done to it. Fortunately, Dex was there to catch her.

He sat down next to her at a random spot in the room, rubbing her shoulder as he gently said, “Sophie, we really need to talk about what happened last night. It’s really hurting you, and you can’t just keep it inside you. Remember how that ended last time?” Sophie dropped her eyes to the ground as she pictured Dex’s scar in her mind. He’d been there when Sophie was kidnapped, and he’d been kidnapped and hurt as well because of it.

Sophie choked out the story and said, “Do you think I’m crazy? I’m malfunctioning? Do you think the Black Swan did this on purpose?”

Dex replied, “Sophie, of course I don’t think you’re crazy. And you can’t malfunction. You’re not a robot. You’re a real elf. With feelings. As for the Black Swan’s involvement, I think we can use them to help you solve your problem. But I do think we need to address how this will affect the Cognate thing. How do you feel about Fitz? Do you think you can handle talking to him?

Sophie sighed and said, “I know this is insane and stupid, but he’s still crazy important to me. I still completely trust him, somehow. That’s how he’s been able to transmit past my blocking all day today. In my head I feel hurt, betrayed, and angry, but my heart still wants to believe that there’s hope for us.”

Dex nodded and gave Sophie another hug as he said, “Hey, I promised my mom I’d be home in a few minutes to help watch the triplets. You can come if you want, but it’ll be crazy and probably won’t be calming for you at all.” Sophie smiled declined the offer, watching Dex as he left and leaped back to his house.

As soon as he was gone, she deflated. She felt lost and alone, and the small bit of courage she’d gained from their conversation was slowly fading away with every passing moment. She was just about to crawl back to the warm nook in her mind when she heard footsteps coming toward her. There was Keefe, obviously worried, standing in her bedroom. Sophie involuntarily smiled and tried to wipe her tear-stained face clean.

Keefe kneeled next to her and whispered, “Dex told me how your day’s been so far. He also told me about your necklace. I wanted to stop by because he made it sound like you were literally fading away, and the way you feel right now, the emotion has literally left you. Right now all I feel is deflated, defeated hopelessness. It’s a pretty empty feeling, if you know what I mean.” He winked, but his cheerful attitude felt pretty forced.

Between his protective position, his concerned face, and his disgruntled hair, Sophie had never felt like someone cared about her more. And, despite the promise she’d made, that was when she broke. Tears rained down her face as she wrapped her arms around herself to keep together. She felt fingers touch her hand and she tapped her fingers to bring back her Enhancing as Keefe wrapped his other arm around her. She felt herself slipping back into the hazy, purple oblivion.

The last thing she heard was a voice whisper, “I’ll be here when you wake up.”