Keefe's Whereabouts

10

Ugh my head hurts. A lot. What happened? I try to search my head for why my head hurts and why I can't move my body, but all I can remember is blacking out. I attempt to open my eyes and see it's all dark. But we are moving. I can feel the slight movement as if we are in a car. Wait a second. I open my eyes again and start feeling around. Leather seats. I look to the right and see a window. We are in a car. Which means...

"Ah good morning Sophie Foster," the same deep voice from earlier says.

I thought we knocked him out.

"I've been waiting for you to be conscious, it seems your friend already woke up though," he says.

"What is going on?" I ask groggily.

"We will get to that point, first off, are you hungry?" he asks me.

"Hungry?" I asked surprised. Why is a Neverseen member asking if I'm hungry out of all things?

"There are many choices here," he says referring to the city. "But I do believe you are familiar with this area."

I look outside again and feel my heart almost stop. "Why are we in California?"

"As I said before, please hold your questions. I need you to pick a place to pick up food," he says.

"I'm not hungry," I answer honestly. "Where is Keefe?"

He sighs. "You're going to regret not eating."

The rest of the drive, he's silent. Even when I ask my questions. I learned that he's not going to say anything, so I quieted down. This doesn't look like San Diego, maybe Laguna. But I've been here before with my old family for a vacation. I wonder if they are okay, I haven't checked in on them in a while. I notice my arms are tied, but not roughly. I wonder why they haven't just killed me yet. If they try to use me to hurt Keefe, I'm just going to have to end myself or find a way to run away because no way am I going to do that. Keefe. I miss him. I hope he's okay. What if I lose him again? I just found him. This is all so confusing and stressful.

"We are here," I watch as the man pulls into a driveway of a very normal looking house.

It almost makes me laugh how suburban it is. He steps out of the car and opens my door, helping me out gently. I notice my suckerpuncher is gone.  Along with my cloak, which Sandor would hide tracking devices in. These guys really know their stuff. He opens the door and we both walk in.

"Where's Keefe?" I ask looking around what looks like the living room and can't find him.

"Right here," I hear his voice and see him walking from upstairs. He's untied, but he has the other guy in the cloak behind him.

I can feel the guy start to untie me. "What's going on?" I ask them all.

"Sit down," the other guy orders and I feel my body along with everyone else sit down.

My eyes go wide. "Wha-"

"He can control people with just his words," the guy who drove me here says.

Keefe isn't this what you do? I transmit to him.

I watch as he nods his head and I feel my heart rate speed up. What's going on? How do they have the same power? Who are these people?

"You're going to have a lot of questions, but all I can tell you now is that you're safest here," he says.

"How can we trust you?" I ask. "You just kidnapped us and took us away from our family and friends. How do we know they are safe?!"

I hear him sigh and watch as he drops his hood. His styled back blond hair and his blue eyes. Oh my god.

"My name is Brandon," he says, "I'm Lady Gisela's oldest son."

"You're Keefe's brother?" I say feeling my heart drop. "Keefe..."

I look over at him but I can't see his reaction. His head is down. I look back over at Brandon.

"Why- what- how did you-" I can't come up with full sentences.

This is so confusing to me.

"That's a conversation for another day. But I just want you to know you guys are safe, your families are being watched over right now by our members. And if you're wondering, your Mr. Forkle is alive and well," he says.

The similarities between him and Keefe are uncanny, but Brandon doesn't have a crooked smile. And his eyes aren't the same color as Keefe's, his are more cooled down.

"Who are you?" I ask the cloaked man next to me.

"I am your ally, that's all you have to know for the minute," he tells me. "You two will be staying here, and just so you know, this house is protected by a force field that won't let anyone in or out unless it's one of us," he motions to him and Brandon.

"Just tell us why you took us?" I ask them. "Then I'll stop asking questions."

The cloaked man goes silent but I notice Brandon shift. "The lady Gisela you took in is not real. She's been hiding, waiting for Keefe to get out of hiding. And you guys did her a favor by finding him. She's been waiting to make her next move," Brandon says. "Taking you, Sophie, wasn't part of the plan. But you two were together so that's why we took you."

"We must leave now," the cloaked man says standing up.

They both stand but Brandon looks back at Keefe.

"Keefe," he says and Keefe raises his head. His eyes are red. "We will talk more later, goodnight."

They both walk out the door, leaving just the two of us now.