Sophie's P.O.V
Sophie stood there for a long time, in shock. She even slapped herself a few times to check if she was dreaming or not.
She couldn't believe that she had just seen Keefe himself— and not only that!
KEEFE WAS CARTER THIS WHOLE TIME?!
It was all so confusing and such a shock, yet it was all making sense.
The reason why "Carter" tried kissing her in the cave or the many other moments they had.
She had so much more to say to Keefe but he had left too soon. She wasn't even sure if she could even form any words at the moment.
She wasn't sure when she would see him again, but he promised to come back to save her. She didn't know how but she hoped he knew what he was doing.
For all the risk and sacrifice Keefe had made for her, it had to be worth it.
Sophie knew she would just have to be patient and to continue to play along until Keefe's plan came into place.
Suddenly, there were loud footsteps coming towards Sophie's door and in a few seconds, Mai barged in.
Sophie jumped and backed up when she came raging in, looking like a mess.
"WHERE'S CARTER?!" Mai yelled.
Sophie's eyes widened as she put her hands up. "I'm not sure— what's going on?" She asked, lying.
"I'VE MADE MY WAY AROUND TO QUESTION EVERYONE ELSE ABOUT ZACH'S MURDER EXCEPT YOU AND CARTER!" She exclaimed.
"Okay..." Sophie mumbled, taking another step back.
"It's not you— you wouldn't dare!" Mai said, her hands running through her hair. "BUT! WHEN I GOT TO CARTER, HE WAS GONE!" She continued.
"Gone?" Sophie asked, trying to muster some acting skills. It made sense that Carter wouldn't be anywhere since it was Keefe and Keefe was gone.
Mai then spun around and narrowed her eyes. "YOU! Don't you dare act like you have no part in this!"
"Huh? Me?!" Sophie squeaked.
Mai then stomped towards Sophie and stuck her sharp and boney finger right in Sophie's face. "Don't act all innocent! I know you know where he is!"
"I swear— I don't know!" Sophie begged.
"You're awful at lying! Right when I excused you all to go to your rooms so I could question you all, I saw you rush over to Carter! YOU know where he went!" Mai raged.
Crap...Keefe didn't tell Sophie how she would explain this one.
"Look...I came up to him to ask if he knew anything but he seemed to be in a weird mood so I left him right after and haven't seen him since," Sophie lied.
Mai stood there, her terrifying eyes glaring down at Sophie for a few seconds. "Well, I suppose you could be telling the truth," she said, backing off. Sophie let out a relieved breath.
"This means it was probably Carter then!" Mai continued. "If I find that boy, he'll never see the light of day again!"
Now Sophie really hoped Keefe knew what he was doing. If Mai or her little minions found him, he would...well Sophie didn't want to think about what would happen.
Especially when Mai finds out it was Keefe the whole time.
"Well, get ready!" Mai exclaimed.
"For what?" Sophie asked.
"We are going to have a standoff against the Blackswan," Mai explained.
"Really?" Sophie asked, pretending to be surprised.
Well she kind of was, she didn't expect Keefe to start his plan this quickly— how this would be her chance to escape.
"Yes, that old and ugly Forkle man proposed it and obviously he doesn't know what he's asking for— but this is our chance to get them all. With or without that traitor Carter," Mai said. "So we must prepare immediately."
With that, Mai stormed out of there quickly, slamming the door behind her.
Sophie flinched and was scared as to what Mai would do out of rage for her son's murder.
Sophie had hated Zach with a passion with all of the heartless things he had done and his annoying comments but she was embarrassed to admit that a part of her felt a little grief for him.
After all, he was just one of the pawns in Mai's games and he was used and brainwashed into doing and being apart of the many things he did.
He deserved better but that doesn't change the fact that there's always a choice.
Over the past few years, Sophie knew that more than anything.
After quickly getting a bag ready for the fight, she started to make her way over to the weapons room to gather some weapons.
On her way, she heard some mumbling coming from around a corner.
She felt strangely drawn to whatever was there and when she quietly turned around to see what it was, she gasped quietly when she saw Ace.
Holding up one of the blue crystals.
Sophie immediately made sure she didn't stare directly into them, afraid of being controlled. They already had a strange effect on her from a distance.
"I know you're there," Ace spoke, slowly turning around.
Sophie jumped, embarrassed. "Sorry— I was just making my way to the weapons room," she apologized.
Ace shook his head. "The weapons room is nowhere near here."
"Huh?" Sophie said, confused. She then looked around and gasped when she realized that she was, in fact, no where near the weapons room. "But...I could've sworn I was making my way there..."
"It's the crystals— they drew you here without you knowing it," Ace explained.
"Oh..." Sophie mumbled, backing up.
Totally not creepy and strange at all.
"They're fascinating aren't they?" Ace asked, his eyes glued to the crystals like they were his most prized possession.
"I guess..." Sophie mumbled, kind of getting creeped out.
She then noticed the crystal started to flicker and the blue light was starting to fade a bit from the one he was holding. "What's wrong?"
"Apparently, when the crystals are away from their home environment, their powers start to fade. Thankfully, we have this," Ace explained, holding up a packet of some strange power.
He then opened it up and grabbed a small pinch of it and sprinkled it over the crystal. Immediately, it glowed a bright electric blue again.
Sophie then realized that that was the packet she had seen in that envelope she had to deliver him once!
She had wondered what it was and now realized it was a piece in this whole puzzle.
She didn't want to know how they got a hold of that packet— in fact, she didn't want any more part of this whole creepy crystals scheme.
She was worried as to what they even wanted the crystals for, giving her more reason to get out of this place as quickly as she could.
Thinking back to that day she had delivered that envelope to Ace, she remembered also seeing that note about Ace wanting to find some boy.
Sophie was still curious as to who Ace was after but she knew it was too risky to ask.
She just quickly and quietly backed away from Ace as he began to creepily mumble again as he stared into the glowing crystal in his hands.
Sophie made a run for it once she made it around the corner.
Forget it, she would worry about getting weapons in the morning.
If she even tried going to the weapons room, she would probably keep circling back to those crystals.
The whole crystal thing, Ace's obsession with them, and Mai's psycho self roaming around the area was all probably going to give Sophie nightmares tonight.
Keefe needed to save her from this nightmare soon!