Hey, guys! Thanks for deciding to read this story. Okay, on to the first chapter!  

"To the Mysterious Miss F!

Ugh—I'm already regretting starting this letter that way. But I don't have any extra paper, and crossing it out would look worse, so... I guess we'll just have to add it to my list of mistakes.

And I know you're going to think that everything I'm about to say should also be on that long list of Keefe Fails. But I swear—that's NOT what this is. I'm not trying to fix everything or save everyone this time. I'm just trying to make sure I don't hurt anyone.

I can't tell you more than that without putting you in danger, so just... trust me when I say that the powers my mom gave me are super bad. There seriously aren't strong enough words to explain how horrible they are. And I CAN'T control them—just like I can't stop my mom from forcing me to use them.

So... this is the only way. I don't want to do it. But I have to.

And I'm not going to ask you not to hate me. In fact, it might be better if you do, because I need you to PROMISE that you won't try to find me. My mom will be waiting for you to track me down—and since I know how stubborn you are, I want to make sure you understand who you'd be putting in danger.

I'm going to be hiding the same way the Black Swan hid you.

That's why you have to stay away. Well, there are lots of reasons. So again, please, just... trust me, okay?

And since this is the last time I'll ever talk to you, I just... I want to say that I'm really going to miss you. You mean a lot to me, Foster. More than you'll ever know.

Please be careful. Please be happy. And PLEASE forget all about me.

It'll be better for everyone that way. You'll see.

Love,

Keefe"

                                                                                 . . . 

He left me again. He left me again. He left me again, Sophie thought. She kicked a chair as she felt tears dripping down her face. How would she survive the next war without him? She would never see his smirk or his ice-blue eyes. How much would she miss his pranks? Sophie cried and cried. She would never see him again. 

She felt like drowning in darkness, as if one part of her broke down completely. Keefe. Keefe. Keefe. Keefe. Keefe. Forgetting him was like losing herself. She had to find him. 

Sophie quickly grabbed her imparter and hailed Dex, swiping the fresh tears from her eyes. She knew Dex was the only one who had a chance to know what was going on. Hopefully he knew and she could find Keefe soon. Sophie kept her hope high and waited for Dex to answer the hail before she drowned in the deep darkness again. 

                                                                                        . . .  

"Sophie?" Dex asked, surprised. 

"Dex, please come now." Sophie pleaded. She angled the imparter away from her head, knowing her whole face looked like a complete disaster. 

"Sure." Dex replied. 

When Sophie didn't answer Dex had a worried look on his face. "Are you okay, Sophie?" he asked quietly. 

Sophie ended the hail before he could ask anymore. She buried her face in her pillow. She didn't know how she felt with Keefe's sudden departure. If Keefe was here he would tease her for her strong emotions, but he wasn't here. He left her. He left her!  

"Sophie, Dex is here. Did you invite him over?" Edaline asked from downstairs, opening the door.

"Yes," Sophie croaked. 

"Sophie." Dex called, racing up to her room. "What happened?"  

"Dex." Sophie whimpered. "Dex." 

"I'm here for you," Dex comforted her and for a while Sophie lay in bed. 

She lifted her face slowly from her pillow and whispered, "Read this." She handed him the letter. 

Dex quickly grabbed the letter and started reading it. As she watched him read it, she felt like she was reading it again herself. 

"Dex?" Sophie asked, when she realized Dex wasn't answering. 

"Nothing," Dex said, a little too quickly. 

There had to be something Dex knew that she didn't know. "Is it about Keefe?" 

"Ummm. . ." Dex trailed off, fidgeting with a gadget he made.

"Please Dex, I need to know. Especially if it is about Keefe." She pleaded.

"Dex!" she asked again when he shook his head.

"Please, Dex!" 

Dex shook his head again and whispered, "I can't tell you Sophie. I can't tell anyone about this." 

"Please! Please!" she demanded. 

He shook his head hard, keeping his eyes clear from tears. 

"No Dex, you don't get it. I need to know!" Sophie demanded, her voice harsher. If she couldn't find Keefe there was nothing else she could do. 

"No, Sophie. No." Dex mumbled. There were tears falling down his face. 

"Dex!" Sophie couldn't wait any longer. "If you tell me what's happened I could try to help you, but if you won't then I- I- . . ."  

Dex finally looked at her face. "I'll just tell you, promise me you won't tell anyone." 

"I promise." she whispered gently. 

"Okay, so when we were talking the day before he left he told me that when he felt Lex's hand it felt freezing. Bex's hand felt squishy and weird. When he felt Rex's hand he said it kinda felt empty and hollow. He also told me that he felt the same emptiness when my dad put his hand on his shoulder and you know what that means. It's not a coincidence that Lex manifested as a froster, Bex manifested as a phaser and Rex didn't manifest yet." Dex let out a sob. 

"Rex is going to be talentless?" Sophie gasped, as another realization hit her. "Wait. . . that means Keefe has an ability to. . ." 

Dex kicked his shoe hard. 

"Oh, Keefe." Sophie whispered, anger toward Gisela came on its own. Sophie could tell Dex had the same anger. 

"This is going to be so hard for you, Dex." 

"I can never tell Rex. Never." Dex whispered sobbing.

"I'm so sorry," She whispered, as she hugged Dex. The hug felt nice and just like how it should feel when two best friends hug each other, not weird like their hugs before. 

"It's not your fault, you know," Dex mumbled, wiping his tears. 

"But, it is my fault. It really is. If I hadn't come to the lost cities none of these problems would have started. The Neverseen wouldn't have targeted you and our friends." She argued. 

"Please, Sophie. We can't do anything about genetics and you can never change that. And if you had not come to the lost cities I would have had no friends at all! You're my best friend Sophie, I need you." Dex replied.

"But-" Sophie started. 

"No, Sophie. Guilt is a bad thing. You didn't do anything. The Neverseen were already there when you weren't even born." Dex told her. 

Sophie knew that he was right and that she shouldn't argue. It was already so tough for him to see his brother as talentless. Rex would always be wishing to get an ability and then when he was older. . . she hated matchmaking. She felt so bad for Rex. 

"I'm sorry." She told him again. 

"Sophie, it's okay. It'll be so hard for me to keep this a secret from my family and Rex. But, there is nothing we can do about genetics." Dex said sadly. "Don't you hate this whole matchmaking process?" 

"Yeah, it doesn't feel right to have rules about who people can marry. It doesn't feel fair and that's why I'm scared of the whole process." Sophie answered. 

Dex nodded uncomfortably. "I forgot about the whole unmatchable thing." 

Sophie shrugged and decided to make that a topic a "talk later thing". 

"Do you have any ideas to find Keefe?" She asked him. It was a bit easier to think about Keefe now. 

"We could search for him now." Dex suggested. 

"You are not going anywhere without me!" Sandor growled from a corner of the room. Sophie and Dex both jumped a foot. 

"Okay, okay Sandor. I never said I was." She rolled her eyes. 

"Don't you dare repeat any bit of this conversation to others!" Dex glared at Sandor. 

Sandor stood stiff and nodded at Dex. "I'm sorry Miss. Foster." Sophie knew that he really was. 

"Let's hail our friends and tell them." Sophie suggested. Sophie's head hurt just thinking about their reactions. 

"Ok, but please don't tell anyone about Rex." Dex begged her.

"I won't. I promise." she said. 

"Don't worry about Keefe okay, we'll find him with the help of our friends." Dex reassured her. Sohie and Dex both wiped the tears away from their eyes. 

Sophie hailed their friends one by one, telling them to come to her house. 

"Sophie!" her friends said entering her room. 

"Why did you want us to come here?" Biana asked. 

"Read." Sophie whispered uncomfortably. Biana took the letter and started reading out loud. Sophie buried her face in the pillow again. 

"He left and didn't tell me!" Fitz glared at the wall. 

Biana sank to the floor and started to cry. Linh and Tam huddled in the corner and wept for Keefe on their own. Dex just stood by Sophie waiting for someone else to speak. 

After a few minutes everyone looked up. Awkwardness hung in the air and even Sophie didn't know what to say. 

"Tomorow." Dex mouthed and everyone left just as they came. 

Sophie grabbed the letter Keefe gave her and reread it. She didn't know how she felt but she knew there was guilt mixed in. She knew it wasn't good but she couldn't help it. 

Sophie just went to bed early since she wanted to get up early the next day and immediately look for Keefe. She was sure her friends would help her and they would find him. But at the same time her mind was worried that they wouldn't find him. Sophie layed on her bed thinking about all the places he could be. 

As she slept she dreamed about only one person. A boy with blonde hair, ice blue eyes, and a playful smirk. A boy who made her laugh and smile. He was the only person Sophie could think of the whole night. 

Happy reading! Bye! 

Mysterious Miss S out ->