sand castles | f. vacker

01 THE PROBLEM THAT IS SOPHIE FOSTER

🪼

"THIS SOPHIE FOSTER, she's not Elvin."

A young man (who was, in reality, 743) of average height and good looks — good looks as in "lost Hemsoth brother" — sat on the edge of a massive bed covered in embroidered light blue sheets. Next to him was his 14-year-old talentless daughter, Joelle, who was as beautiful as he. Dark brown hair, which glinted auburn in the moonlight, cascaded down to her lower back. It was the same color as her father's, and everything else between them was identical, too — their dark blue eyes, their mature faces, their lean figures, and the understanding look they always held.

Joelle nodded. Her father was usually right, and from what Fitz had told her, Sophie Foster had already proved to be a bit different. In fact, Joelle was already wary of Foster's intentions and sudden appearance in the Lost Cities.

"She's different," Joelle agreed. "But, everyone likes her."

"Things change," her father said, raising his eyebrows, "and you just have to adapt. Isn't it time you go to bed, Joelle?"

"Does sleeping help with ability detecting or something?" Joelle pouted but snapped her fingers nonetheless, causing the curtains to close and the bedroom to grow dark as the moon's last rays of light disappeared. Joelle's father kissed her forehead and closed the embellished door on his way out, leaving her to another lonely night with no friends.

By the end of the month, Joelle was still talentless, and everyone was mourning, for Sophie Foster was dead. And then she wasn't. Just kidnapped. Joelle spent the remainder of her existence avoiding Fitz and Foster's friend group while focusing on studying and ability detecting with her mother. That was until Alden's mind broke and brought Fitz with it. The 'funeral' carried a deathly cloud over the whole of the Lost Cities, especially Everglen, the ironically glowing castle known as the Vacker's residence. Of the countless times she had been there, nothing ever changed until now.

Joelle knocked on the big gold door, praying for nobody to answer. Unfortunately, her wishes weren't granted. Keefe Sencen's tired eyes immediately met hers. It looked like he had been at the door for the Vackers all day.

"Oh, uh, hi, Keefe," Joelle whispered.

Keefe rubbed his eyes. "Hi? Is that it?" he asked incredulously.

"I'm sorry," Joelle apologized. It wasn't just for Alden's mind break but also for being petty enough to leave her friends. "I know it isn't enough, but I am. Truly. Can you tell them that? Just give them my condolences."

"Tell them yourself," Keefe snorted. He opened the door wider, motioning for Joelle to step inside. Warily, she did so, following him up the stairs and to a small living room, where two brunettes sat close to each other, holding each other as they would never let go. Joelle frowned but moved inward after knocking on the wall to gain Della and Biana's attention. Keefe watched as Biana started to tear at Joelle's appearance. He suspected Biana was too depressed to be mad at her for abandoning them all because of Sophie Foster. They all knew Sophie was the reason Joelle was gone — she had said it herself before she slowly drifted away.

Speaking of mad, Keefe decided he should better tell Fitz of who he let into the estate. As always, it was easy to find his best friend — Fitz had locked himself in his room again, so Keefe had to knock. When nobody opened the door, he just resorted to yelling the news like a good old friend.

"Joelle's here. I'm sending her up."

Keefe heard something crash to the floor and jolted in surprise, quickly moving back downstairs to grab the aforementioned girl before anything exploded. The next time someone knocked on Fitz's door, it was Joelle, and Fitz was absolutely not happy about it. He flung the door open, almost taking it off its hinges and causing Joelle to jump back in surprise. She had to get used to his temper again. But there he stood. As tall as ever, as angry as ever, yet now he was closed off. He was willing to yell at Joelle — to accuse her of leaving him, which she wished she hadn't done — and to take out his stress on her, and Joelle just stood there, begging her tears to stay in. They didn't listen.