trigger warning!! violence, ptsd mentioning.
Gisela's gaze lifts from Keefe and flits to Seraph. "Don't kill him," she says. Her voice is gleeful. Why is she so happy? It's unsettling. "But please hurt him, dear."
Dear. That was said in a malicious kind of way, I think, and it sends goosebumps up my arms. "My pleasure," Seraph says, and I still hate her voice.
Before anyone can react, Seraph is gone, she's sunken through the floor, and Keefe's whirling around, and—a knife is at his throat. A knife is at his throat.
Seraph is there, and she's holding a knife at his throat.
Everything freezes again, and I hate the anticipation. I know what happens: Keefe gets hurt, and they escape to Paris, but—it's still scary. It's terrifying seeing my friends get hurt.
But he smirks. There's fear laced into it, but he still smirks. "You can't kill me," he taunts. "You need me alive, for your dumb legacy." He has the audacity to laugh.
Only Keefe Sencen would laugh at Death.
Seraph takes his arm and twists it behind him; I hear a snap, I hear a snap, and my breath is gone for a moment. He screams. I think he screams. Does he scream? Or was that someone else? It's an eerie sound either way.
The scream, echoing off the high ceilings, Gisela smiling. Tam's face, ashen, he just watches; he's frozen. But he keeps his composure.
It takes a moment, as Sophie's vision clouds with red, and as she forces it away, to realize there is no blood. But his arm hangs at the weirdest angle, and he's breathing hard.
But then he looks at Seraph and this idiot, this screwed idiot, smiles through tears. "Wow," he says, breathless. "That's the best you got? I'm defenseless, too, and all you can do is knock my arm around?"
I think I know what he's doing. You can't break me, he's saying. But now he's just getting hurt more, and it's painful to watch.
Sophie, Biana, Linh—they can't do anything, too. They're helpless. They're so helpless.
"I can do so much more than dislocate your arm." She murmurs it in his ear, voice quiet, but I can hear it. "I can cut your head off and feed it to a flock of crows."
Run, I'm thinking now. Run. Run. Run. She's—she's insane. Please run.
Even Gisela, even Gisela, is taken aback a little, and I'm—I'm so scared. I know he's alive, I've seen it, but in this moment, I truly believe that he is going to die.
Keefe just smirks. "You could. But you won't."
Seraph's lips curl up, into a soft smile, like birdsong before a storm. "Of course not," she says lightly as she stands. It looks like he's kneeling at her feet from this angle, and she knows it. "Why would I kill you? Suffering is so much worse."
She crouches down, and something flashes in the light. A knife. She has a knife. Keefe sees it, he tries to push her arm away, but his hand passes right through her.
Seraph points the knife towards him, and pushes it into him. He makes a terrible noise, almost like there's something liquid in his throat. "Keefe!" Sophie screams.
His murderer—no. He's alive. She's not his murderer, because he's alive. But Seraph—she takes the knife from him, and blood glistens on its tip. She wipes it against her cloak, and dusts red-brown flakes from her hands, before tilting her head at Gisela.
Gisela blinks for a moment, and even her face looks a little pale. "Good job," she says finally. "You've made quite the debut, Seraph."
But Alvar's shaking his head. "That was unnecessary, Ixor—Seraph. That wasn't—we don't say or do things like—"
Seraph's gaze cuts to him. "Don't you?" she says softly, and he frowns, but doesn't argue any further. "That's what I thought."
Then the world unfocuses, and for a scary moment I think Sophie's passed out—but then it refocuses. She just transmitted something.
But what, and to who? Her gaze flicks, just for a second, to the others, and I realize we're about to escape—they're about to escape. The nightmare's ending.
It happens in a flash; they hurry to Keefe, slipping on the scarlet, as Gisela says something unintelligible. All I can hear is the pounding of Sophie's heart, and her vision warps the blood to be a neon red that burns my eyes.
I hear shouting, but I can't tell what's going on. This is how Sophie remembers this, after all. They float upwards, carrying Keefe's broken body, and from the corner of Sophie's eye, I see Seraph aiming a melder—
But then Gisela holds her back. She's watching Sophie and the others, eyes satisfied, and Alvar seems unconcerned by their escape.
And then everyone's plunging down, into a void that cracks open, and I see the Eiffel Tower, and then I see the city from my night terrors.
The rest of her memory is hazy and panicked. I see a knife cutting registry pendants, and Keefe's sobs echo in my head when his shoulder's reset, and I see blood in an alleyway of Paris, hear myself saying Breathe, it's okay, Sophie. I'm here. I'm here.
But then, it's over, and I'm back in the Healing Center, and—I have no idea what to say. "That's... bad," I whisper. "I'm so sorry—I'm sorry I made you relive that."
She looks shaken, but as I step forward to hug her, Fitz rubs her back, whispering that everything's fine and there's no reason to be scared, you're okay.
I frown. That's not helpful, I want to say, but I don't.
"Will he be okay?" I ask instead, glancing at Keefe. "You guys reset his shoulder, right?"
Sophie pulls an eyelash. "Y-Yeah. Thankfully, Linh knew how." She inhales a shuddering breath. "I think... Elwin said he'll be okay in a week or two. A vital organ—got cut, and—Bullhorn, he screamed, and... I don't... I don't know."
I bite my lip. I turn and find Bullhorn curled up in a corner, thankfully not sleeping near Keefe at all. That's good. "It'll be okay," I promise. "Keefe will be okay."
She looks at me, and—in this one heartbeat, Sophie Foster is not the Moonlark. She's just fifteen. She just watched one of her best friends almost die.
Before I can say anything more, Fitz's Imparter rings. He shoots us an apologetic look, takes one last glance at Keefe, and steps outside to pick up.
I don't say anything to Sophie, but I guide her to an empty cot and sit next to her. We both avoid looking at Keefe, and—"When Jolie... yeah... Mom took Edaline to therapy."
Sophie looks at me. "What?"
"I'm not saying it's mandatory, but our whole group's been through a lot, and—you especially. I think you should go. I can come with you, too, if you need me."
"Therapy?" she repeats. "Dex... I don't know if that's a smart use of time—"
"They're only about 50 minutes," I say quickly. I don't mention how I went to some after the kidnapping. Mom had taken me to the therapist's office, after I got diagnosed with PTSD, and at first I was scared, but... it helped, even if it was awkward sometimes. After about a year, my nightmares went away, even though I still avoid the cave.
And whenever I used to wake up crying, Mom would always sit next to me and be there for me. And she'd stay until I fell back asleep. Or, from even before the nightmares, when I couldn't sleep, we'd play card games all night until I could.
"Oh. I don't know if I want to, Dex, it's..."
"I'll go with you," I promise her. "It's not scary. Okay? They can help you, and you can stop whenever you want." She looks skeptical, so I squeeze her hand. "It's been a while since you had a good night's sleep, hasn't it?"
Sophie doesn't seem surprised that I know. "Silveny helps."
"The therapy sessions will, too, and if they don't, then—it's good that you tried, right?"
She sighs. "Promise... Promise you'll come with me?"
"I promise."
The door opens, and I look up. Fitz stands at the doorway. "Hey, I have to get back home. Is that okay?"
Sophie nods. "Yeah, that's fine. Thanks for coming."
"Of course. See you later, Sophie."
"See you." With that, Fitz closes the door, and for a moment, I'm really, really confused.
They both sound so... distant. Did they get into an argument? I frown as I dig deeper into my memories. And—whenever Fitz would touch her, she'd tense. And earlier, Fitz made up an excuse not to talk to her.
But... it doesn't make sense. It doesn't seem like they're mad at each other, or else Fitz would be angry. But, instead, it's like they're distant and drifting away. (Like what happened to me and her, but... different.)
And come to think of it—when was the last time they'd gone somewhere together for Cognate training? Not in a long time. Maybe—Maybe it has something to do with that.
Think, Dex. What has to do with Cognate training? Trust? That was what Fitz always talked about, anyway. What was the other thing? Trust and—
Secrets. One of them—Sophie, probably?—is keeping a secret from the other? And now they're stuck in this weird relationship, huh? Hopefuls, but... a distant kind.
I blink, then chastise myself after realizing I'd just picked apart their whole relationship. But... who could blame me, honestly? Sophie tensing at Fitz's touch is... it's not normal, for them or for any healthy relationship, and I was worried for a moment.
"Is there something... going on between you and Fitz?" I say carefully.
She blinks. This time, she is surprised I can tell. "What..." Sophie softly laughs. "You're smart, Dex. Does that come with being a Technopath?"
I offer a lopsided grin. "Nah, I'm smart naturally."
She laughs, then sobers, and says—"Don't tell anyone. Okay?"
Now it's my turn to be surprised. It's been a while since she told me things, but I guess after our conversation and after our break from each other, we might just be okay.
"I won't."
"I'm..." And then she hesitates, as if she's realized that her confiding in me isn't normal. But Sophie takes a deep breath, and when she continues, her voice is a whisper. "I'm Unmatchable."