Thanks to everyone reading this! I love you guys and I hope you continue to read this. And pls R&R! I'd love to get suggestions on making my story better!
To ForeverFreeFall: OMG I didn't even notice…. I mean, Jewel was supposed to be the backup for Sophie anyways, so she had to be similar but more enhance… but I guess you're right. I'm not really sure how to fix that tho… but I'll definitely try to pay more attention to that. If you know a way that can help, plz tell me… I'm super stumped on how to change that. And thanks a lot for always giving me your honest opinions and good constructive criticism! J
To waterfallphoenix: You like made my day for following and favouriting! You totally rock! Thanks so much! J
Chapter 9- Jewel's POV
She fled down the hall, searching for a bag. She couldn't describe the excitement and fear mixed inside her. She now had a clue! Her rush of emotions blocked out the sounds of Keefe calling to her. She completely ignored him, taking whatever useful things she could fine. She opened the pantry closet and was just about to take random foods out, before a face popped up in front of her. She flipped out and screamed.
"Oh my god! What the heck!?" Jewel said as she realized it was Keefe.
"Is that what you say to a dear friend?" Keefe replied, pretending to be sassy. He put his hand on his hip. "What are you so energetic about?" he asked suspiciously. Jewel averted her eyes to her feet.
"Um…" She hid the note behind her back as she tried to find an excuse. Sadly, Keefe was too sharp and noticed her secretive movement.
"Hey what do you have behind—" He said, reaching towards her. She panic and tried to get away but hit her leg against the table, making her collide with him. They both fell on the ground with a loud thud. She felt something heavy on her. Jewel slowly opened her eyes.
"Ouch…." She heard Keefe grumble. She looked up to see him right on top of her. She blushed and looked away. But Keefe, still pinning her down, forced her to look his way.
"Seriously, what's wrong?" Keefe asked, impatiently. He found the note and snatched it from her hands.
"No— wait!" Jewel yelled out as she tried to take it back. But Keefe rolled off of her and walked out of arms reach. He looked at the Swan seal and then turned to her.
"What does this mean?" Keefe asked her. Jewel let out an angry sigh and sat down on a chair. Since he already saw it, she might as well tell him.
"I'm going to find Neverseen." She said. Keefe looked at her wide eyed and burst out laughing.
"No seriously." Keefe said between gulps of air.
"I am serious." She said. Keefe stopped laughing and cocked his head. She sighed again and showed him the other note from Black Swan.
"I need my memories back and some answers from them. So I have to go find them. To be honest, I'm not really sure what I'm doing and I don't really have a plan in mind but my gut tells me to find them. And Black Swan finally gave me a clue. I'm not backing down. And you can't stop me." Jewel said, determined. Keefe seemed to look at her with newfound respect before smirking.
"Who said anything about stopping you? I'm coming with." He said. Jewel gaped at him.
"No way. You can't!" Jewel exclaimed.
"Oh right. Tell me again where you're going to get all the supplies you need? Because I'm pretty sure you're going to need them." Keefe grinned, mischievously. Jewel shot him an exasperated look before looking down in defeat.
"That's more like it." Keefe smiled triumphantly. He then left the room and returned with two backpacks filled with human clothes and food. Jewel stared at them with her mouth opened.
"How did you—" Jewel started.
"I asked Sophie to let me keep the human things from our trip to Black Swan when we wanted to take down Neverseen. I always thought humans were interesting creatures. I mean their clothes are so weird. They aren't fancy at all!" Keefe explained. Jewel raised her eyebrows but said nothing. She took a bag from him and swung it over her shoulder.
"Thanks." She mumbled. He grinned at her then put his hand up to his ear.
"Sorry, say that again?" He teased. Jewel rolled her eyes.
"Just don't slow me down." She turned quickly, hiding her blush. She didn't like how he always made her feelings so messed up.
"You know… I really can't figure you out." Keefe called out from behind her. She glanced back at him and shot him a teasing smile.
"Makes me more mysterious, right?" She replied. She turned forward again. She didn't have to look back to know that Keefe was watching her with a smirk on his face. They stopped in front of the porch and Jewel grabbed Keefe's hand. She closed her eyes and imagined the park near her old apartment building. She felt the air around her change and she opened her eyes to find the portal in front of her. She exchanged a look with Keefe and nodded.
"Let's go." She said as they were swallowed up in the darkness.
A second later, they landed roughly on the soft grass. Thank goodness the ground was soft, otherwise, it would have been a disastrous landing. Jewel glanced around the park, feeling nostalgic. It brought back way too many memories from before. She forced herself to not tear up and quickly recollected herself. She can't think about her old family. They probably think she's dead. Who knows if they would even recognize her anymore. Her hair obviously grew longer. She never got the chance to cut it at Neverseen so it grew to the end of her rib cage. When she was younger, she had a short bob cut. She also was paler than before from always being kept inside. However, her purple eyes stayed the same. She didn't even think it was possible for humans to have that eye color without using contacts.
Suddenly, the times she spent with her family swarmed around in her head. They could recognize her because of her eyes right? She missed them so much. She missed the feeling of having her mom hugging her and comforting her. She missed the times when she and Jake, her brother, would goof around together. She missed the days when she would hang out with her friends at the mall and go take selfies in front of the Eiffel tower. All these good memories were starting to get to her. She shook her head, trying to get rid of those thoughts.
I have to concentrate on what I really came here for, Jewel thought. She vividly remembered the time she got kidnapped. It was fresh like it happened just yesterday. But it didn't. It was about 3 years ago. She glanced at Keefe and scanned him up and down. He caught her staring and smirked.
"What? Finally noticing how handsome I am?" Keefe teased. Jewel blushed and looked away. She just remembered that Jake would be the same age as Keefe. She sighed and continued down the familiar path into the hiking trail. She couldn't get the memories as a human out of her mind. She kept thinking back to the times with her mom and brother, even though she was on an important mission.
"Where are we going?" Keefe asked out loud, snapping her out of her thoughts. She glanced around and noticed a tree with big roots. She never even thought about it but now that she noticed, the ground was covered in colorful leaves. It must be autumn now in the human world, Jewel observed. The very season when she was kidnapped. She let out a scoff. What a coincidence, she thought to herself, amused. Keefe gave her a weird look but she ignored it. But the place did seem to make her feel homesick. Actually, she didn't even know if she could call it her home anymore. She didn't really have a home to return too. Jewel felt the sadness creep back in her. She tried to shake it off but it didn't seem to work. Then, Jewel remembered that she never answered Keefe.
"We're going to the place I was kidnapped." Jewel answered with a small whisper. Her emotions were getting to her again. Her mind was a jumbled mess. Her thinking was all over the place. She groaned in frustration and slapped her cheeks. She needed to snap out of it. She noticed that Keefe was watching her oddly. Oh yeah, he's probably wondering why my emotions are getting out of hand, Jewel concluded. She walked forward to the tree with big roots. Suddenly, her dream from the kidnapping flashed through her mind. She let out a gasp and touched the tree.
"This is it. This was that one tree that I tripped over during the kidnapping." Jewel whispered. It was the one tree that practically ruined her life. If only she didn't trip over the roots, she could have gotten away. A hand suddenly pulled on her. She let out a muffled gasp before she was pulled against something warm. She looked up to find Keefe hugging her with a pained expression on.
"K— Keefe? What's wrong?" She asked softly. She never really seen Keefe with that sort of expression on. Only when he was talking about his mom. He hugged her tighter.
"Stop it." He whispered in her ear. They were so close together, his breath tickled against her ear when he spoke.
"What?" Jewel asked, confused and a bit flustered. Her face burned and she didn't know how to react so she let herself be embraced.
"Stop trying to act strong! You don't need to do that with me…" Keefe mumbled. "You've already saw all my embarrassing parts that I try to hid from the others. It wouldn't be fair for you to hide them from me." Jewel stood in his hug, taken by surprised. She felt the sudden urge to giggle but she choked it down. She didn't expect Keefe to sound so childish and cute. Slowly she wrapped her arms around him.
"Thank you." She whispered in his ears. She gave him a small peck on his cheeks, letting go of him. His face turned a slight pink as he touched the place she kissed him, gaping at her. He was completely flabbergasted and flustered. Jewel let out a small giggle.
"You know, you're sweeter than I thought." Jewel smirked. "Now, help me look for anything out of the ordinary. Black Swan must have left a clue about Neverseen here for us to find." They spent the next half an hour trying to find a clue. But as time passed, they grew more and more hopeless. Finally, Jewel had enough. She stomped her foot on her ground and let out a frustrated groan.
"Why haven't we found anything yet?" Jewel complained. "Isn't this what Black Swan wanted us to do?"
"Here, let me see the note." Keefe said. She handed the note to him and watched as he scanned the address.
"Where is this place?" Keefe asked, fingering the address. She glanced at it quickly and looked off in the direction of her old apartment.
"That was where I used to live when I was with my human family." She answered. "But why would Black Swan make me go back there? Shouldn't elves keep their identity hidden from the humans? I mean wouldn't it be bad for my family to recognize me (that is if they do) and freak out?" Keefe shrugged and handed back the note.
"True… but it's not like we're finding anything here." He stated. Then he gave her a mischievous smile. "Ever heard of breaking and entering?" Jewel shook her head in disbelief.
"No way, Keefe! Are you crazy?!" Jewel exclaimed. "I'm not going to just barge into my family's apartment!"
"We're not barging. We're simply sneaking in. There's a difference." Keefe corrected. Jewel grumbled, still against the idea. Keefe sighed and took her hand.
"Just trust me, okay?" He said. Jewel looked down at their hands then back at his face. She reluctantly nodded and led them to her apartment. They reached the apartment room and stood outside the door. It was locked.
"So, now what do we do?" Keefe asked. Jewel looked at him with disbelief.
"Seriously? It was your plan and you didn't even think this far ahead? Aren't you supposed to be a mastermind at this kind of stuff?" Jewel asked, about ready to give up. Keefe looked at her sheepishly and scratched his head.
"Um… yeah about that. It's kind of different in the Elvin world because I didn't think it'd be this high up in the air…" Keefe said. Jewel rolled her eyes at him and frowned.
"So let me guess, you probably didn't know what an apartment is, right?" She asked. Keefe shrugged and shifted his gaze.
"In my defense, the Elvin world doesn't have a need for them. Everyone has their own house." Keefe said. Jewel shot him a look.
"Well not everyone on Earth can afford a house, plus the population here is really big. Earth doesn't have an alternate universe where people can live on." Jewel retorted. She brushed away a loose piece of blonde hair in her face.
"How do we get in now?" Jewel asked. They thought for a moment. Jewel snapped her fingers and flashed Keefe a smirk.
"I have an idea!" She announce. She saw a nearby women and casually walked towards her. Keefe watched silently and confused on what she was doing.
"Bonjour Madame, my friend and I forgot our keys and got locked out our apartment. Could we burrow a card and hairpin from you?" She asked fluently in French. Jewel gave the sweetest and most innocent face she could muster. The women looked at her hesitantly but gave Jewel a small card and a hairpin. Jewel thanked her and quickly swiped the card through the crack of the door and jammed the hairpin into the lock. After turning the hairpin, she heard a small click. She returned the stuff back to the women and quietly opened the door. She glanced inside then back to Keefe, who was staring at her in awe.
"How did you learn how to do that?" He asked, amazed. She shrugged.
"Saw it in a movie." She replied, nonchalantly. Keefe then smiled at her.
"Remind me to bring you as an accomplice to every crime I commit." He joked. Jewel rolled her eyes at him and hid her smile that was creeping on her face. They slipped into the small apartment and quietly looked around.
"No one seems to be here." Keefe noticed.
"Yeah well my mom is at work and my brother… he's probably at school?" Jewel said, unsure. Hopefully she was right.
"What about your dad?" Keefe asked, curious. Jewel paused for a minute before looking down.
"He died by cancer when I was seven." She answered.
"Oh… sorry." He said. Jewel sighed. Why did it seem like they always ended up talking about a depressing subject?
"Nah, it happened a long time ago so it's fine." She replied. "Now we should probably get searching." Keefe nodded but then stopped completely.
"Wait, I'm still confused. What exactly are we looking for?" Keefe asked.
"I have no idea." Jewel said, annoyed. "Black Swan really should be clearer. I feel like we're on a goose chase here." She sighed and was just about to go to her old room when she heard the front door click opened. She and Keefe shared a look of horror. Jewel's mind raced as she tried to find a place to hide. But instead, she stood frozen in place. Her legs wouldn't move and she was freaking out. She heard footsteps approach and she gulped, squeezing her eyes shut. Crap. They were so dead.
"…Jewel? Is that you?" She heard a familiar voice say. The blood in her became cold. Slowly, she turned around. There she faced him. Her brother. Jake.