"You're late," Grady informed him.
Keefe resisted the urge to say, "Yep! Wanted to postpone my murder!" Instead, he nodded mutely and sat down.
"So..." Grady shuffled the papers in front of him.
"How do you want to start this?" Alina asked, flicking her hair over her shoulder.
Keefe shrugged.
Alina sighed. "Okay. Let's just get straight into it."
She stood up, pacing a few steps before speaking again.
"You new ability depends on your tone. Beguiling, though very similar, does not have that type of lasting effect."
Keefe nodded.
"So?" Grady said.
"So?" Keefe echoed.
"Put me in a trance. We have earplugs."
Keefe looked down at his hands. Long fingers, calloused palms. "I've been controlling it. If I use it..."
"Keefe," Oralie sat next to him. "You have to trust the process."
He didn't answer.
"Does Sophie believe in you?"
"Foster believes in everyone." He said in a low voice. "She even believes in my mom—somehow." He thought for a moment and amended the statement. "Well, maybe not anymore."
"Sophie knows you better than any of us. Trust her."
Alina snorted under her breath.
Oralie shot her a glare.
Keefe smirked, meeting Grady's look. He was also smirking, though it was definitely a tired one.
"Okay." He waved a hand between the two females' faces. "Let's start please."
Keefe's smirk disappeared. "I don't... I can't..."
"Do it." Alina told him disinterestedly.
She did not.
He glared at her. "No."
Grady groaned under his breath.
Oralie winced.
Alina raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
Keefe tried to school his expression, but honestly? Alina just annoyed him to death.
But he didn't say that.
She'd probably hurt him.
His hair didn't deserve that.
"If I hurt anyone... I just can't. I'm sorry."
Grady opened a drawer, withdrawing a pad of paper out, along with a pencil.
He plopped them in front of Keefe.
"Hmm?"
"Draw. Anything. Anyone. Draw."
Keefe blinked several times. "Why?"
"I need you relaxed."
He sighed, a deep breath out of his mouth, and inhale through his nose.
Then he began to draw.
In his mind, he could see it.
***
He leaped up, jostling her arms, shaking her—anything.
Where were her emotions?
Why couldn't they come back?
Sophie's eyes betrayed nothing as she lost balance.
He caught her.
Just barely.
Steadied her.
"Sophie."
He searched her face, her pale, slack skin.
Her blank eyes.
The brown.
Fading.
Why was it fading?
"Sophie!"
He felt the hot tears in his eyes, waiting to be released.
She didn't move.
Didn't register him.
She was staring through him.
Her eyes were grey now.
Grey.
Not the silvery blue, or the stormy color.
Grey.
A stone.
A sickly shade.
"SOPHIE!"
He felt her fading.
Her life force.
He didn't know how, but it was.
His voice was raw, filled with hopeless pleas.
He could barely recognize it.
"WAKE UP!"
"RELAX!"
"UNDO!"
Nothing made any difference.
"Please," Keefe begged, "Please don't be numb anymore."
Still no change.
Except her eyes.
They were white now.
Ivory.
Blank.
Lifeless.
Her breathing slowed.
He spoke again, desperation fueling him.
His voice sounded sharper—DARKER—as he told her, "FEEL!"
Then it was like being dumped into a pool of hot AND cold water.
Too many sensations.
Too many emotions.
All surging and swirling and churning—making his head spin and his heart race and—Sophie's knees buckled.
He caught her for the second time, cradling her in his lap.
He gently pressed his fingers against her arms, grateful to see the brown flooding back into her eyes, which were blinking rapidly, though still staring through him.
His hands shook.
Sophie's eyes focused. "Keefe?" She whispered.
The tears released in a flood as a rush of emotion cane from Sophie.
Something soft.
Comforting.
Something he had tried to block out ever since the Disaster.
***
His fingers slowed.
The pencil dropped from his hand.
He registered Grady easing him back in his chair, Oralie sliding a glass of Youth into his hands.
His vision sharpened to Alina staring at him, raw emotions on her face.
And compassion.
He tried to figure that out, but gave up. "What happened?"
Grady exchanged glances with the other two adults in the room. "You put yourself in a trance—at least, that's my theory." He glanced down at the paper, his expression changing rapidly.
"When was this?" He asked sharply.
Keefe's fingers drew the cup up to his lips, hoping no one would notice how they were trembling.
He took a sip, the cool liquid sliding down his throat.
"The first time," he managed.
"He managed to wake her up," Oralie murmured. "We walked in just as it happened."
"Sophie didn't tell me." Grady said, a scowl on his face.
"I'm sorry," Keefe whispered.
Grady looked at him.
His features softened.
"What happened after she woke up?"
Keefe shrugged, staring at Sophie's face. "I hid. I didn't talk."
"Why not?"
"I don't know." He muttered.
"Keefe, why not?"
"I told you, I don't know."
"That's not the answer." Grady said firmly.
"Because I was scared!" Keefe burst out. He took a shallow, shuddering breath. "Okay? I was scared. And I still am. Because... what if I did it again, and I actually killed her? Killed someone?"
"Death is small. You need to get over it. If you aren't hardened now, you will be after seeing someone close to you die."
The compassion had disappeared.
Oralie made a small noise in her throat, her face paling.
Grady growled under his breath.
After a long, tense moment, Keefe spoke. "You don't get it, do you?"
Alina picked at her nails. "Excuse me?"
"In a perfect world, we wouldn't have to worry about any of this."
"This isn't a perfect world. You need to wake up and see that."
"Death shouldn't be something we have to harden against!"
"Are you scared of death?"
"Yes!" Keefe exploded. "Yes, I am! We all are!"
He stood up in his chair, sliding it back with a screech. "You guys forget that we're still kids! You guys forget that we were forced to grow up, overnight! We shouldn't have to harden for anything! To not break when we see someone's life crumple!" His face was hot, his voice trembling. "I'm almost seventeen and I nearly killed the most important person in my life! And you want us to harden against that?"
Alina snorted. "I think we're done." She stood. "Maybe tomorrow you'll be calmer, and ready to try the ability."
Alina looked back at them just before she left the room.
"I really tried to help you, Keefe." She said quietly. "These powers are a heavy burden. Your mother..." she sighed. "Well, friends fall apart. You have to be prepared for the fact that they may not always stand at your side."
***
He had mostly cooled down by the time Oralie left and Grady was walking him to the Telepathy room.
"That was pretty gutsy back there," Grady said finally.
Keefe glanced at him.
Glanced away.
"Yeah. Uh, she... she was wrong."
"Yep."
Keefe waited for him to say something more.
Grady didn't.
"I have a question."
Grady looked over at him. "Shoot."
"Why... why do you hate me?"
Grady halted, his eyebrows furrowing. "Is that what you think?"
Keefe looked away and scuffed his shoes against the floor. "I mean, you always call me 'That Boy' and you... you, I don't know, give me hard time and... I just thought..." he trailed off. "Never mind, it's stupid, you don't have to answer that."
Grady sighed. "Keefe, Sophie gives her heart away very easily. She loves easily. I'm just trying to protect her."
"From me?"
"Yes. If someone has an actual chance with Sophie, I'm definitely giving them a harder time, to make sure they can take care of her. Anyone who could win her heart and actually keep it."
He started walking again, leaving a very confused boy.
It dawned on Keefe.
A slow smile spread across his face.
A chance.
A/N: Alright, alright, new chapter! This was kinda hard to write, because I figured Keefe still wouldn't be comfortable using his new ability...
And the flashback was just me switching POV's from Sophie's to Keefe's; obviously, it's very, very similar to the chapter about that in Unlocked and—I'm rambling.
Oops.
Oh I've been looking for new shows to watch, and I stumbled across Julie and the Phantoms on Netflix.
It combines my two favorite things: slow burn romance and music/rock bands.
Okay, Luke in muscle tees isn't bad either.
I swear, I'm not boy crazy...
I think...
His biceps though...
Sleeveless Luke is the best Luke sometimes.
Most of the time.
I'm sorry.
Anyways.
If you've watched it, HOW COULD YOU HAVE KEPT THIS TREASURE FROM ME? FREAKIN' LUKE AND JULIE HAVE THE CUTEST RELATIONSHIP!
Second season needs to happen, and soon.
My sanity is at stake.
But yes, Juke is now my second favorite ship, obviously Sokeefe is my favorite, but Juke y'all.
I just can't with them.
You know you're obsessed when you make a Pinterest board completely dedicated to something.
I also may have started a fanfic on them.
I need help.
It's on the back burner though, 'cuz this is my first priority for writing right now.
But maybe soon I'll publish the Juke one...?
Anyways, sorry this was so long.
And it also got weird.
But I need somewhere to rant, and y'all don't have to read these, so...
Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Updated: 1-21-2021