03/26/18

Mr. Forkle glanced around the room, registering Alden on the couch, his eyes resting on the tear-streaked face of Edaline. "You heard," he guessed. Edaline nodded, and Mr. Forkle, understanding the weight of the situation and the effects it was having on Edaline, offered condolences. "I am very sorry, Mrs. Ruewen. I know you and Ms. Aerodyte were old friends."

Edaline greeted his words with a weak smile, then excused herself to go to the bathroom.

"The numbers, Forkle. Do you have any idea what they mean?" Alden asked.

"I have no idea, and neither does the rest of the collective," admitted Mr. Forkle. "I was hoping, Sophie," he said, turning to Sophie, "you and your friends could try and figure out what the number means. The numbers have to mean something."

Sophie was pleased she finally had received word from the Black Swan, even if the situation had to be unpleasant. She was ecstatic Mr. Forkle wanted to include her – and her friends – in this case. Not only was Sophie happy with her involvement in the case, she agreed with Mr. Forkle and was glad she got to work on figuring out the meaning to the numbers. The numbers had to be important; the numbers could even be the most important part of the case. If the numbers weren't important, the Neverseen – if they were involved – would never have left them with the elves. It's how the Neverseen operated: giving the Black Swan seemingly unimportant clues and leads, only to let them figure out those very clues and leads were important when it was too late. The Neverseen would never have left the number with Jazzmine, then suddenly take her away. If they had taken her.

Finding out what the number 3914 meant wasn't the only thing Sophie would have to work on. She and her friends would also have to find out the significance of the elves with numbers. If they had significance. Surely it wasn't only people involved with the Black Swan. Maybe Jazzmine had ties with the Black Swan, but hundreds of elves? Sophie vaguely recalled the time Mr. Forkle told her the Black Swan was much larger than she originally believed, but Sophie doubted even the Black Swan was that large.

There were so many ifs. Sophie knew so little, yet she felt like she knew enough to jump right onto the case. This is what the Neverseen does. They make her believe she has all the puzzle pieces to start with the puzzle. When Sophie gets close to the finish, she finds another piece, or she realizes one was put in the wrong place. Most of the time she doesn't have all the pieces. That is what makes the Neverseen more dangerous than the average, violent rebel group. They were smart, and they knew how to mess with their enemies.

"I… I need a list of the elves who were given numbers," Sophie blurted. "I need – we need – to know what these people do."

"What do the people have to do with the numbers?" Mr. Forkle asked, curious as to which direction Sophie's mind was headed to.

"Yes, I understand Jazzmine had – has – ties to the Black Swan, but there's got to be more to it than that. Is there anything else that would give the Neverseen a motive to take her? Would the Neverseen even know Jazzmine is involved with the Black Swan? What was her ability – if any? What was her job? Was she smart? Did she have some kind of power over anyone? We need to know these things if we want to understand what the Neverseen is doing with these numbers. What good are we if we know what the numbers mean, but we don't know why the elves are put in danger? We need to know why these people are of importance to the Neverseen."

Mr. Forkle nodded with understanding. "I will get you the list of targeted elves. Is there anything else you need?"

Sophie took a moment to think. "I need access to the human internet," she decided. Sophie knew the Neverseen had history with humans – most was not pleasant history – and she wouldn't put it past the Neverseen to use a human idea to form their plan. If there was something in human history that had to do with the number 3914, Google would have information. She might as well try. The Neverseen could have used anything to inspire their newest mystery. That meant Sophie must try everything.

"Mr. Dizznee is quite skilled enough to grant you access to the internet," Mr. Forkle replied with a wink, making Sophie question whether Mr. Forkle knew about Dex's modifications to her iPod. Sophie had no doubt Dex would be able to bring her internet, but Sophie wasn't sure if she wanted Dex to spend his time on this one task. Sophie needed the internet before she could begin her research (the research she would put Dex on), but she also needed to start researching as soon as possible. Which meant Sophie would need a real human computer, one that could access thousands of websites.

"I need a laptop, then," she told Mr. Forkle. "And I mean a high-quality one. It has to have a big screen – preferably touchscreen – and I would like quite a few gigabytes. I would also appreciate it if the screen had a good picture. If possible, I would like the newest Lenovo. Dex can do the rest.

Mr. Forkle sighed. "You kids… Yes, I can get you a laptop. Is that all?"

Sophie was positive she wouldn't need anything else. Between the libraries Sophie and her friends had in their houses, and the knowledge of the internet, Sophie decided it would be more than enough. "That should be it," Sophie said.

"I can get that laptop to you at school tomorrow. Come meet me at my office in the morning. I will see you then." With that, Mr. Forkle stepped out of Havenfield and glittered away.

"I'm going to invite Keefe over so we can come up with theories," Sophie announced, standing up to call Keefe from her room.

Edaline, who seemed to have entered the room at just the right time, raised her eyebrows and asked, "Is that the only reason?"

"Yes," Sophie said unconvincingly; her forceful "yes" was accompanied by a blush. "Keefe is good at theories," she argued defensively before bolting up to her room.

Parents are so embarrassing.

"So, everyone who got numbers all got the same one?" Keefe asked, after Sophie had explained to him the situation, and he had made himself comfortable on the floor. He still made a habit of obeying Sophie's No Boys on the Bed rule. "And you've never heard of this number in any significance to anything?"

"Yes, everyone was given the same number," Sophie answered, pacing around her room. "No, I've never heard of this number in any significance. What kind of random number is 3914?"

Keefe let out an obnoxiously long, melodramatic sigh. Sophie couldn't help but feel like letting out a sigh equally as dramatic and loud as his. Sophie and Keefe were just discussing this, how the Neverseen was being eerily silent. Now, as if someone had heard Sophie and Keefe's discussion, they were faced with a new problem. A problem involving the Neverseen – most likely. This was a problem that could be catastrophic if the Black Swan didn't get to the bottom of it quickly. Somebody disappeared, and it was highly likely more would start disappearing.

Hundreds of elves.

If there was something more important than figuring out why people were disappearing and how to stop it, it would be finding out what was happening to the elves disappearing. If anything was happening.

"So, this person that disappeared… who were they, exactly?" Keefe questioned.

Sophie, tired of pacing, moved to sit on the carpet across from Keefe. She sat with her legs crossed, close enough to Keefe that she could feel his body heat and see the rise and fall of his chest as he breathes, but not quite close enough that their knees were touching. "Her name was – is – Jazzmine Aerodyte. Apparently, she had – has – ties to the Black Swan."

Keefe nodded, "So maybe they're attacking Black Swan members."

"I… don't think so. People involved with the Black Swan doesn't make sense as a sole motive," Sophie countered. "Maybe the Neverseen is targeting people based on their abilities. It could have something to do with family status, perhaps. Maybe they're going after possible threats. Threats to their organization, or some other new, much larger plan."

"You asked Forkle to get you a list of the elves who received numbers, right?"

"Yeah, I did. Mr. Forkle also agreed to bring me a nice, human laptop for Dex to work with. I'm hoping he can find something to do with the numbers online," Sophie replied.

"I guess all we can do is wait," Keefe sighed, moving to lay on his back. "Do you know what ability Jazzmine had?"

"I don't," Sophie answered. "But," she started, suddenly realizing some important information, "Edaline knew her. They were good friends, I think."

"Should you – we – maybe go ask her about Jazzmine?" Keefe asked.

"Well…" Sophie began, "I'm… not sure. I think Edaline took the news a little harder than what was expected. I'm pretty sure she knew Jazzmine more than she let on. I think the disappearance has affected her, in a way."

"Do you think Grady would know?"

Sophie contemplated whether Grady knew enough about Jazmine to be worth questioning. She knew her adoptive parents were at Foxfire together, but Sophie wasn't sure if they were in the same year. Sophie wasn't even sure if her parents were friends during school. "It wouldn't hurt to try," she said.

Sophie requested that Sandor bring Grady up to her room, as well as asking him to ask Edaline for some mallowmelt on Keefe's behalf. Once Grady was in her room, and Edaline was downstairs, busy with the mallowmelt, Sophie and Keefe wasted no time with their interrogation.

"Did you know Jazzmine?" Sophie began. If Grady had known Jazzmine almost as well as Edaline had, he would be just as reliable as Edaline would be for their information.

"Not very well," he answered.

Sophie felt her hopes drop ever so slightly. So, what? Grady didn't really know Jazzmine, but maybe he knew of her enough to be useful.

"Do you maybe know what ability she had?" Keefe asked.

Grady looked at Keefe as if Keefe's very existence irritated him, but answered the question nonetheless. "I think I can recall her as being a telepath. I could be wrong of course; I was only around Jazzmine when I was with Edaline, as they were best friends, and I wasn't around Edaline very often."

Sophie nodded. Telepath wasn't the most common ability, and sometimes it could be an extremely valuable and powerful talent.

Before Sophie or Keefe could get another question in, Grady said, "Jazzmine was also always top of her class. She was like the Dex Dizznee of our time: a genius."

Sophie couldn't help but smile at the fact Grady had called Dex a genius. She knew that if Dex were here, his ego would double in size. To Dex, being called a genius was no small feat.

"Am I not a genius?" Keefe asked, offended. "I skipped a grade, you know."

"I know," Grady replied curtly. "That doesn't make you any sort of genius. It just makes you privileged."

"Foster thinks I'm a genius. Right Foster?" Keefe pushed, slinging his arm around Sophie's shoulders.

Sophie couldn't help but blush, and by the heat of her face, she guessed she had turned a lovely shade of crimson. She made a mental note to slap Keefe later. If Grady thought that whenever her and Keefe hung out it was like this, he might consult with Sandor and Ro to take back the privacy rule. Sophie rolled her eyes and shrugged off Keefe's arm, playing it cool in front of Grady. "Why do you think Jazzmine was taken?"

Grady sighed and ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "We don't know she's been taken yet, Sophie."

"Yes but-" Keefe started.

"We also have no idea if her disappearance had anything to do with the numbers," he replied. Sophie opened her mouth, and before she could get out a word, Grady cut her off. "We don't even know if the Neverseen is behind the numbers."

Keefe huffed loudly and dropped onto Sophie's bed in defeat. "Really, you two, it's not your job to find out about Jazzmine. It's your job to find out what these numbers mean."

Sophie knew the conversation would take a turn in this direction. No, Sophie, do what you're told. No, Sophie, you're not strong enough or smart enough to handle that much. Sophie didn't like being told what to do. She didn't like being left out of projects the Black Swan was working on. Sophie especially did not like being warned to not do something, more so when she knew she could get it done faster and better than the adults. But for the sake of getting Grady off her back, Sophie would have to agree with him. "Fine," she pouted, shooting a glare in his direction, "I will do what I am told and nothing else."

Grady didn't look too convinced (who could blame him, really?), but he let her off. "Keefe," he said before leaving the room, "I expect you out of my daughter's room soon."

"Yessir!" Keefe said, saluting Grady.

"So, she was a telepath," Sophie told Keefe after Grady had left the room.

"Yeah. She was also smart. Top of her class and a telepath? Neither is an ordinary occurrence, and both could be extremely useful assets. Especially if she was powerful enough at telepathy. And trust me, I've seen telepaths do some amazing things," Keefe said, nudging Sophie's side, earning a blush.

"What does this mean?" Sophie asked, clutching the sides of her head with her hands. "Can't they make anything easy?"

"No. You know they can't," Keefe sighed. "We're not planning on 'staying out' of this though, right?"

"Not a chance," Sophie replied with a smile.

"Good. Then I know what this means." Sophie lifted her head a little higher, eager to hear Keefe's revelation. "The Neverseen – or whoever's behind this – isn't just targeting people at random."

A/N Look, I got the chapter out a day early! The next one will be out April 15th. I hope you enjoyed this, thanks for reading!