*Chapter Nine*
EVERYONE IN THE ROOM GASPED. Sarah had no idea why. "Uh, sorry, what?" she said. "What are you freaking out about?"
Sophie tugged an eyelash out; a bad sign. "Well... Keefe, you explain!"
Keefe just twisted his fingers and muttered, "Yeah, blame it on the guy." He turned to Sophie. "Could you explain? I kinda don't feel in the mood."
Sophie sighed.
Biana absentmindedly twirled her brown hair.
Fitz rubbed his chin.
Sarah just glared. Why is everyone acting so weird? she thought.
"Fine!" Sophie snapped. "I'll explain. Sarah. The Lodestar Initiative is some complicated plan the Neverseen have. It has something to do with Keefe. We don't know the full details yet."
Sarah waited. Nobody elaborated.
"Seriously?" she burst out. "I haven't the faintest idea of what the Lodestar Initiative thingy is, and I'm trying to be patient here. But nobody explains anything to me in a way that makes sense!"
She felt like she was a different species.
Keefe turned to Sarah. "Basically, my mom has this freaky plan for me, and she made all these fancy memory washes and stuff for the 'right moment.'" He quoted with his fingers.
Sarah shrugged. "Okay. I kinda get it now. So you guys think that our mom originally planned for me to be the Lodestar Initiative, but as a last-minute resort she had to use Keefe, because somehow I was taken to the Forbidden Cities?"
Keefe pretended to look hurt. "Hey!"
Sarah grinned.
Sophie nodded. "From the looks of your memory, that's a possibility. Another one is that she's still carrying out her plan with you, but it's interconnected with Keefe. So both you and Keefe could be the Lodestar Initiative. We're just spitballing here, of course, but the ideas could be true."
Keefe glanced at Sophie. "Could I see the memory?"
"I don't know if that's a good idea, Keefe..." Sophie warned, her eyes flickering over him, likely reliving some sort of memory.
"Yeah," Fitz jumped in. "You kinda overreact whenever you find out about some new thing your mom does."
Of course he would, figured Sarah. I'm freaking out right now and I just found out that one of my kidnappers is my own mother!
Keefe shrugged. "Guilty. But I need to see the memory. Maybe I could help? I am Sarah's brother, after all!" His ice-blue eyes were pleading.
Sarah scowled. Why is everyone acting like seeing my thoughts is something so natural? Uh, some are kinda private! "Isn't the memory mine?" Sarah finally blurted out, defiantly. "Everyone's acting like it's some public thing, my mind. But some of my thoughts are private. I don't want everyone delving into my mind and seeing everything!" she shuddered.
When she lived with the humans, reading minds was something of science fiction. Now, it was reality.
Everyone glanced at Sarah when she spoke. "Technically, yes, your thoughts are private. There are Telepathy etiquettes to stop us from reading thoughts without permission. We were so caught up in finding that memory, I guess we forgot we needed your permission. So. Permission to enter?" Sophie asked.
Sarah shrugged. When she put it like that... "Okay. Sure."
Sophie reached for Sarah's temples. She closed her eyes and concentrated, and a moment later she pulled away. "Keefe, are you sure you want to see it?" whispered Sophie.
Keefe gave a small nod.
"Okay." Sophie touched Keefe's temples and squeezed her eyes shut.
"Um, what's she doing?" Sarah asked, feeling oblivious.
"She's transmitting the memory into Keefe's mind. The one that she saw from yours," Fitz explained.
"Oh," Sarah said, feeling dumber by the minute. All these abilities... they were confusing. She was just a Pyrokinetic. All she did was call the flames. There was nothing confusing about that.
Soon, Sophie took her fingers off Keefe's temples and Keefe cringed. "Wow. That's a weird memory," he commented.
It flashed back into Sarah's mind:
Lady Gisela's lips were spread into a thin smile. "Oh, Karcey. You will do much for the Neverseen…"
Her voice distorted slightly, but she continued, "And I have no doubt you will carry the Lodestar Initiative to another level, unlike my pathetic son…"
Her voice crinkled, as if it was merely paper.
Then the entire memory faded. It hardly gave Sarah any clues at all. But Lady Gisela clearly said that she was somehow associated with the Lodestar Initiative.
She sighed, walking away from the arguing group. She needed some peace and quiet.
Sarah walked through dozens of newly-bloomed trees. They were very colorful and assorted. Some were lilac, others were a fiery red.
She smiled and inhaled the sweet scent of... a cloth? She muffled a scream, but the kidnapper sniggered and pulled out a leaping crystal.
Taking Sarah away.
A/N: First author's note of this fanfiction! I just wanted to say that it's the one-week anniversary of "The Sister You Never Knew Existed!" *squeals.* Wow, the time passed by really quickly!
