Okie! This is my second entry for Book_Girl_09's one-shot competition- YAY! I loved this prompt by the way!!

The Girl I Love

As soon as he had received the message, Keefe had gathered everything they said and went immediately to Mr. Forkle. What transpired next, Keefe couldn't entirely remember. All he knew was that stress and tears were involved along with the forming of a plan which was the epitome of not foolproof.

The rest of the gang had gathered, and soon everyone was informed of the frightening dilemma at hand. They suited up and grabbed as many weapons as possible, they would need them, they were sure.

It all took more time than Keefe would have liked, and the meeting time was creeping upon them steadily and surely. By the time they were finished, the group had seven minutes to spare. Luckily, the meeting place wasn't as crazy as it had been previous times, and they would be able to light leap to it easily and with what the message had instructed Keefe to bring.

The time was some point late at night, and after getting to Atlantis, they were surprised to find that the bustling city was bustling no more. It was like someone had scared the civilians senseless and they had all decided to keep to their homes for the remainder of their lifetimes.

That was not a good sign.

Three minutes.

The group of teens stood close together where they had been instructed to wait, they hadn't anticipated the cold night and they all shivered from the chill. Each of them alert and eyeing the premises, searching for something.

What, they did not know.

One minute.

No one had 'signed' the message, but they had a pretty good idea of who had left it. Just on time, a small group of figures in black cloaks appeared a mere twenty feet from Keefe and the rest of the group. Keefe, you could say, was perhaps more worried than he had been in the entirety of his whole life.

He was more afraid now than he would have been if it was his life on the line. It wasn't, of course, they tried that too many times and she always saved him. Now he had to save her, but he wasn't sure if he could.

Yes, her.

The Neverseen members pulled off their masks- there were four of them. Ruy, Gethen, Gisela, and someone Keefe didn't know. A younger fellow, perhaps only a few years older than Keefe. Lankier, surely, less good looking? Keefe thought so, but more powerful? Keefe feared that the young man had him there. There was just something unnerving about the boy that chilled Keefe to the bone.

Gisela stood in front, and she was quite a sight, her hair blowing in the slight wind and a wicked, crooked smile drawn on her face. She knew what she was doing.

She knew she would succeed this time.

She had finally found a way to eliminate the base that kept them all up and standing. She motioned to Gethen who pushed another figure forward. This one was much shorter than the others, this one didn't belong.

Keefe knew who this one was.

A strangled cry escaped his throat as Gethen pulled the figure's hood back. Sophie stood, well, not stood, not really. Gethen had to hold her up, it seemed she had no strength left and it pained Keefe so.

"Let her-"

"Oh shut up, Keefe," Gisela said, dismissing him immediately. No matter how many times she showed him no regard nor love, it still hurt, and he hated that he did. "We don't need to hear your relentless whining again."

Whining? Did his friends think he always complained as well?

"What are you doing to her?" Biana asked, Keefe could tell she was trembling but didn't want to show it. "She looks so... weak."

"Ah, yes, a rather unfortunate side effect."

"Side effect of what?!" Keefe tried to lunge toward his mother, but Fitz grabbed his shoulders and held him back.

"Keefe," Fitz muttered, "You're not going to help Sophie by attacking your mom. You know that." Keefe shrugged him off, he was getting Sophie back. He had to.

"Listen to your friend, son." Keefe grumbled to himself at the word 'son.'

"You know, mommy dearest, if you wanted me back, you could've just called. I've been sitting by my imparter, like a girl with a school girl crush day after day, waiting for you to call. Oh how I missed to hear you say 'son' with such little compassion." Gisela rolled her eyes.

"If you don't be quiet, Keefe, you won't get what you want."

"Aw, don't you think a good old fashioned smacking would do the job? You know, I've read that sometimes violence is the only way to get through to people," Keefe sneered at his mom, "Boy would I really like to get through to you!"

"Keefe," It was Tam who quieted him this time. Keefe rolled his eyes and stepped back, Tam took his place, standing stoically. "We brought what you asked," He said, motioning to a satchel Linh held.

Gethen lifted it from Linh using telekinesis, and carried it over to where the fivesome was standing. Then surprisingly, he took the items out one by one and levitated them back to the group of teens. Each of them receiving one item, something made of glass. Each item seemed to be something that signified a trait or liking of each teen. Biana received a glass lipstick holder- for obvious reasons, Fitz a glass fire emblem, which Keefe assumed represented his temper, Linh received a beautiful glass bird- probably to show her beauty and grace, and so forth.

Except, once Gethen was finished. They each had an item, with the exception of Keefe who was too lost in thought to realize.

Holding her small glass makeup in one hand, Biana pointed at Gisela and sassed, "What are you doing this time? Don't you think you and your little compatriots have done enough ruining?" She motioned to her exposed scars. Biana had grown accustomed to them, she showed them openly now, a reminder of her strength, but they also signified what she had lost. Faith in the world and humanity, and her childhood and innocence.

"We're not ruining lives. We are only doing what we must to make the Lost Cities a better place," Keefe snorted. Gisela glared at him, then continued. "I think it's time you met our new member-"

"Gee, finally, I was wondering when you were going to introduce us to your new boytoy."

"Keefe!" This time he wasn't sure who said it, but it was more than one person. He was forgetting his boundaries, but he was in pain. He just wanted Sophie to be okay, so he quieted.

The new Neverseen member stepped forward. "This is Adrick," she began. Adrick's face was unmoving, his lips pressed in a thin line and his eyes cold and calculating. "He has the ability of a mesmer, empath, and inflictor combined. Not only is he able to tell what angers someone, but he can use his power to make the anger and disliking fester and burn into hatred so pure it causes one to kill."

Keefe gulped and glanced around at each of his friends. They were each holding something that represented something Sophie disliked, hated, or was envious of from each person.

"Oh... gods," Keefe whipped around, about to shout to his friends, but it was too late. Adrick's eyes turned a bloody red and Sophie's soon followed suit.

"In theory," Gisela smiled, a triumphant grin, "Adrick is going to use what Sophie hates most, to take her soul."

Keefe wanted to scream, shout, fight, do something, but what could he do?

Before his eyes, Sophie's demeanor and stance was filled with a dark power. And her now red eyes narrowed with a glare. She smiled wickedly, then unleashed the terror and power of the Moonlark.

Her friends tried to run, but Sophie levitated high enough that she could see everyone. She spread open her Neverseen cloak to reveal a large array of really pointy lethal weapons. As his friends screamed, Keefe stood still, watching the girl he loved in shock.

He even pinched himself.

This couldn't be happening.

But it was, of course. Keefe stood still for another moment, then he laughed darkly. It wasn't a humorous laugh, though. No, it was the laugh of someone who knew their situation was so dire that it was almost pathetic. It was the laugh of someone who's whole world had been turned upside down. It was the laugh of someone who knew they were going to die.

The laugh of someone who knew the people they loved were going to be assassinated one by one before his eyes.

Yes, that laugh.

The Soulless Moonlark raised her first weapon. A long, jagged knife. Keefe watched her eyes lock onto Linh and the glass bird she was holding. Like predators to prey.

The knife launched from her hand, and the Soulless Moonlark used her incredible mental strength to make sure the knife hit its mark. The heart of a kind, graceful, innocent person.

Sophie, no not Sophie, not anymore. Sophie was not a killer. The Soulless Moonlark, was a killer. A horrible, evil, brutal, killer. And Keefe loved her still.

Linh fell to the floor with a bloodcurdling scream, and a chorus of screams and shouts followed. The glass bird fell from Linh's hand and shattered on the floor. Gethen, Ruy, Adrick, and Gisela just watched the mayhem smiling. They knew they were at a great advantage. Sophie had no soul, she felt no guilt or pain for what she was doing. Her friends, on the other hand, loved her and remembered her, they could not hurt her. But she could hurt them.

Another knife. This one curved. Another predatory stare. Another victim. Another scream. Another thump. Another broken glass sculpture.

Fitz.

Biana.

Tam.

Dex.

Keefe watched each of his friends slain. He watched each of them fall to the floor with an agonizing yell. He watched the glass emblems in their hands break. He just stood there. He did nothing.

There was nothing to do. The Soulless Moonlark was too powerful.

Soon he was the only one left. Standing alone with fallen bodies, rivers of blood, shards of glass. He glanced at Gisela, she made no motion to move, leave, or stop him. "Foster!" Keefe yelled, maybe he could bring back Sophie. Maybe he could remind her who she was. The Soulless Moonlark turned her attention to Keefe, but she pulled out no blade because Keefe held no glass trinket. Why not?

Instead, her fiery red eyes just watched him. "Come down!" He yelled to her. It was a long shot, but worth a try. She didn't move, just as he had expected. Keefe sensed some motion. Gisela was walking toward him.

"Moonlark!" She yelled, getting the Soulless Moonlark's attention. Gisela held up a glass child, one that bore striking resemblance to him. How had Keefe not noticed that when he retrieved the hidden stash of glass objects from a concealed hole in the wall in Gisela's room in Candleshade? Why hadn't he checked them more closely?

Keefe and his mother. That was what Sophie hated most about Gisela, how she treated her son. It was probably bad that Keefe kept finding reasons to love Sophie even more when he would most likely have to kill her.

Before Keefe realized what was happening, Gisela stood in front of him holding the glass figurine of him. The Soulless Moonlark's vision zeroed in on it, and she pulled a knife from her coat and directed it towards Gisela's heart. Just at the right moment, however, Gisela jumped out of the way and the knife continued towards Keefe.

Keefe snapped back to reality just as the knife was about to pierce his heart. "Sophie!" He cried out, his voice cracking and full of fear and pain.

The knife stopped a milimeter away from his chest.

The Soulless Moonlark's eyes faded back to her natural color. He had done it! He had brought Sophie back! Sophie looked around with an incredibly confused expression, then she saw her friends, and it was almost as if Keefe could see Sophie's thoughts align. He watched her understand what happened.

She screamed. A scream filled with more pain that Keefe thought possible and lost her concentration, falling toward the ground. Keefe caught her with telekinesis right before she hit the ground and went running toward her.

She collapsed into his arms. Screaming over and over. Scream after scream. Keefe held her as tight as he could as Sophie punched and kicked and screamed. "It's not your fault," he whispered over and over. He couldn't let her mind break, but he felt the guilt and utter devastation rolling off of her in waves. "It's not your fault, Sophie, it's not!"

Sophie pulled back and stared into his eyes. They both had tears streaming down their faces. "I ruined my life, Keefe. I ruined everyone's lives I can't believe I... You must hate me. Oh boy, everyone probably hates me-" Sophie let out a strangled cry, "They can't hate me because I KILLED THEM!" She started screaming again. Over and over. Keefe held her tight again and she punched his chest, there was no strength in the punches though.

The Soulfull Moonlark had no strength left. She had used all her strength killing everyone- but, Keefe realized, there was still one knife in the Neverseen cloak. Was it for him?

"Oh God, Keefe." She reached up and held his face in her hands, searching his eyes. "Do you hate me? What am I saying, of course you-"

She couldn't finish. Keefe had leaned in and kissed her.

She kissed him back. Their tears mixed together, but they held each other tightly. They were the only thing each other had. This is what Keefe had wanted since he had met Sophie, but for some reason, it felt wrong now. And he was glad that it did, it gave him proof he had a soul. That he wasn't meant to be evil like his mother said. He could feel guilty about it.

And for once, he was glad for the guilt.

In the pain, they forgot about the Neverseen members. The Neverseen members who would never, ever, be finished.

Something in Sophie's cloak's pocket pushed against Keefe's leg. "Foster," Keefe whispered, suddenly aware that Gisela and her little crew were still there, "What's in your pocket?" Sophie glanced up at Keefe, entirely confused at the question.

She pulled back a little and reached into her cloak. She pulled out a glass emblem, just like all of their friends had held.

Keefe's eyes widened, but before he could do anything, Sophie's eyes glowed red.

Her now predatory gaze found the glass trinket, and she found the last knife in her cloak with surprising ease.

This time it was Keefe's turn to scream. He wasn't in shock anymore.

No, not when he watched Sophie Foster, the girl he would do anything for, plunge a knife into her own heart. It happened in a mere three seconds, but Keefe saw it all slowly. Every motion, every glance, every memory he had of her.

Her smile.

Her laugh.

Her eyes.

Her emotions.

How she had always been there for him.

The Moonlark fell to the ground and the glass trinket rolled from her hand. It was the shape of a heart. She hated her heart. Keefe let out an agonizing cry and began to sob. Fat, ugly, tears rolled down his cheeks.

For his friends.

For his life.

For Sophie.

His heart felt like it had been wrenched out of his chest and he wanted, more than anything, to be gone as well. Why wasn't he?

"What the heck did you do?!" He screeched in the general direction of his mother, he couldn't put two and two together, he could hardly remember where he was.

Oh, nope. There's the remembrance: everyone's dead.

"What does it look like I did?" Keefe started charging towards them and Ruy lazily put up a force field. "Oh stop it, Keefe. You'll get over it, it really isn't that big of a deal.

Keefe laughed darkly. It wasn't a humorous laugh, though. No, it was the laugh of someone who knew their situation was so dire that it was almost pathetic. It was the laugh of someone who's whole world had been turned upside down. It was the laugh of someone who wished they were going to die.

The laugh of someone who saw the people they loved assassinated one by one before his eyes.

The laugh of someone who had watched the person he loved kill themself.

Yes, that laugh.

"What about me?" He asked, tears still flowing like waterfalls. "You forgot about me!"

"We didn't forget," Adrick said, smirking. Smirking?! Keefe hated this guy with every being in his body. "When we searched the Moonlark's emotions and mind and found her annoyances, what she didn't like about each of her friends.... There, uh, there was nothing for you."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Keefe shouted, throwing his arms up in the air.

"It means there was nothing she didn't like about you." Keefe sucked in a sharp breath and the world suddenly came back into focus. Nothing? At all? Why did that somehow make everything worse?

"But now you won't kill me! You'll never see me in pain of having a knife driven through my heart by the girl- by... by the. Girl. I. Love."

The

Girl

I

Love

He sounded quite pathetic, but Keefe didn't care. At this point he wanted to die. He just didn't want to be the only one left. Alone, the way he had been his entire life.

"Yes, that was our worry at first as well," Adrick sneered, "But we realized it was actually better," he met Keefe's eyes, "because this pain is far, far worse."

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