Sophie's P.O.V

After searching for Carter around the huge rocks that were from the collapse of the cave entrance, there had still been no sign of him.

She was currently running through the wooded area, trying to get as far away as she could from the cave.

She had heard Zach calling for her and she knew she couldn't go back with him.

Not when she had a chance like this.

As Sophie ran away, she started to really worry for Carter. She had no idea if he had escaped too or was left behind inside of the cave. She felt guilty for not checking if he was behind her. She had just assumed he had ran right after her.

She hoped he was okay.

Her mind also wandered to when he had tried to kiss her. She was still confused as to what he was even trying to do.

She felt guilty for reacting the way she did, but what else was she supposed to do?

Kiss him back?

She had Keefe to...well technically she wasn't able to go back to him. But it still felt wrong.

Sophie put her hands in her pocket as she stopped to catch a breath and that's when she realized that the crystals weren't in her pockets anymore.

Oh no.

She must have dropped them back at the cave!

Sophie couldn't help feeling that she went through all of that for nothing.

Well she couldn't go back now.

She felt worried as to what the Neverseen would do about this one.

That's if she even planned to go back to them.

This was to perfect way to freedom, right?

But what if they found her? What would they do then?

Sophie tried to focus more on finding her way back since she had no idea where she was heading to.

It had been a couple hours of her running until she finally reached a town area.

She figured she could try to navigate her way from here.

She was grateful that she still had her bag with her. She stopped to look through it and realized she had a few bucks of cash.

She used the money to quickly buy her some clothes to put on instead of the ridiculous suit she had on.

She picked black clothes and made sure her top had a hood so she could be better undercover.

She was now on her own and had to figure out where she was if she even wanted to escape.

But where would she even go?

Her family and friends were all back home at San Diego. She didn't have enough money to fly back that far. And her biological parents were still with the Neverseen.

So where would she even go? She had no one.

Great, she was all alone and lost at some place in Tennessee.

It was even getting dark out. At this point, she decided it was probably best to ask someone for help.

At the moment, she was walking along a strip of shops and there were many people nearby.

"Girl, you look lost," a man said, sitting on a bench.

"Uhm no...I just need some help," Sophie replied slowly, getting closer to the guy.

"What kind of help?" The man asked, shifting in his seat.

"Uh— where exactly am I at?" Sophie asked, feeling embarrassed.

The man chuckled. "Don't worry, I can help."

He got up and approached her and right when she was about to feel relieved, he pulled out a switchblade and grabbed her and put it against her throat.

"Let me go," Sophie managed to say, not able to break free. Her heart pounded as she struggled to breathe.

So much for the Neverseen's training. If only she had a weapon.

"This is why you don't go wandering off alone— and trusting random men like me," the man said, cackling.

"Now you're going to do exactly as I
say—" The man started to say but suddenly he collapsed, allowing Sophie to break free.

She was shocked and spun around to see the man unconscious on the ground.

"What the..." she mumbled.

"Hello Sophie," a way too familiar voice spoke aloud.

Sophie slowly lifted her head to see Zach standing before her with a smug look. "Thought you could escape huh?"

"Shut it, you should've let the guy take me," Sophie spat, backing up.

"No, that will be my job," he said. Within a split second, he then pulled out a tranquilizer and aimed it right at her.

Before she could react, he shot it at her and then everything went dark.

***

Sophie slowly awoke, instantly feeling pain in her neck. Her eye adjusted to the light to see she was in a familiar room.

The living area of the Neverseen hideout.

"Nooo," Sophie mumbled, letting herself fall back.

Recent memories flooded back and the last thing she remembered was Zach finding her.

Now she was in some deep trouble.

She felt frustration at her horrible attempt to escape. Of course they would find her.

They were the Neverseen.

"Ah, so the rebel finally awakes," she heard Mai say.

A few seconds later, Mai came into Sophie's view. She stared at Sophie with mock pity.

"That was a poor choice you made," Mai said, now standing in front of her.

"I didn't know what to do. I had no idea where I was and you guys have never shared with me the location of this hideout," Sophie defended.

It was technically true.

Mai sighed in annoyance. "I know you want to leave more than anything. Which is why we are letting you go."

"Huh?!" Sophie exclaimed, sitting up quickly.

That didn't make sense.

"You may not have brought back the crystals but you helped Carter. And he brought them back," Mai replied.

"He's safe?!" Sophie exclaimed, relieved.

"Yes, but that's not for you to worry about," Mai replied.

"Okay, so you're just letting me go like that?" Sophie asked.

"We would now gladly let you go but Sophie, the real question now is: do you even want to leave?" Mai asked.

"What are you talking about?" Sophie asked.

"We still need your biological parents now so you can't go with them," Mai said.

"But you promised I could be free with them!" Sophie exclaimed.

"Yes, if you succeeded the mission. But you didn't," Mai reminded.

Sophie slumped back in defeat. She felt like she had been stabbed, she had been so hopeful to be with her parents again and now she couldn't even be with them.

"I have my friends and family," Sophie finally mumbled after a few seconds of silence.

"I assume you would need to money to find them," Mai said. "Maybe we could help you out with that."

"Really?" Sophie exclaimed. "I still don't understand, what's the catch?"

"I just want you to see something before you decide if you want to go," Mai said, a smirk starting to pull at her lips.

"Okay," Sophie said, confused.

Mai then turned on the screen in front of her to show a video.

"What's this?" Sophie asked.

"You'll see," Mai replied, smiling now.

Sophie squinted her eyes at the screen as Mai hit play. Sophie then gasped when she realized that Biana and Keefe were in the video.

It was a dark room and Biana was looking into Keefe's eyes and it was hard to make out what they were saying.

But suddenly, Biana and Keefe started kissing and Sophie gasped in complete shock.

"What is going on?!" Sophie yelled out, not being able to pull her eyes away from it all. She couldn't even believe what she was seeing.

"How did you even get this video?!" Sophie exclaimed.

"Doesn't matter, either way, it seems like your friends are just having a wonderful time without you. Your boyfriend has also seemed to move on," Mai said, pretending to feel bad.

"I— I don't understand..." Sophie whispered, feeling her eyes tear up.

What was really going on back home during all this time without Sophie?

How could Keefe and Biana even betray her like this?!

"Turn it off!" Sophie exclaimed.

She couldn't handle it. Her heart broke as that video was now burned into her memory.

She thought she was able to forget her love for Keefe but it was clearly still there but now it didn't matter since he had moved on to Biana.

How could he?!

Sophie couldn't go back home to that, she was to scared to face him.

What else did she lose while she was away?!

Did they even care about her anymore?!

"So, Sophie, do you still want to go back now?" Mai asked.

"No," Sophie whispered, feeling tears pool down her face. She then got up and stormed off to her room.

Now she was never going to leave because she had no one.