Chapter 50: Revelations

                                    

                                          
Guys...
                          
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 15K READS!!! THIS IS AMAZING!! I never thought that my story would ever make it this far! Thank you for all of the love and support! You guys are truly amazing! I love you all sooooo much! Now onto this next chapter! Enjoy 😉
                          
"Please don't throw us across the lawn!" Dex begged from behind Sophie.
                          
"Huh?" Mr. Forkle said with a confused expression.
                          
Sophie rolled her eyes. "Dex, he's not gonna throw us across the lawn."
                          
"I might," Mr. Forkle grumbled. "Now what are you kids doing here?"
                          
Sophie looked at Dex. "Well we um..."
                          
"Did you guys follow me, so that you could find out why I had that box?" Mr. Forkle asked, looking unimpressed.
                          
"What—how did you—"
                          
"Well I saw how you guys were looking at me during class today and I may or may not have see you guys when you were hiding behind that bush," Mr. Forkle explained, interrupting Sophie.
                          
Oh. 
                          
Before Sophie could respond, the doorbell rang again.
                          
"Ugh! Why is she here early?" Mr. Forkle muttered.
                          
"Why is my aunt here?" Sophie demanded.
                          
"You kids be quiet and stay up here," Mr. Forkle instructed as he turned to leave the bedroom.
                          
Sophie didn't care what he wanted her to do. So, she shoved him and ran past him to open the door herself with Dex following behind her.
                          
"You kids come back here!" Mr. Forkle called after them.
                          
Sophie heard Mr. Forkle stomping after them so she ran faster down the stairs.
                          
She quickly unlocked the front door with an anxious Dex next to her.
                          
When she opened it up, her aunt was standing there with papers in her hand. When she noticed Sophie, her eyes went wide as she gasped.
                          
"S-Sophie—what are you doing here?" She asked with shock.
                          
"I was wondering the same about you," Sophie replied.
                          
"They aren't supposed to be here! These kids followed me home!" Mr. Forkle huffed from behind them.
                          
"Because we want answers!" Sophie snapped.
                          
"Wait—they don't know?" Sophie's aunt asked Mr. Forkle.
                          
"Don't know what?" Sophie demanded.
                          
"They weren't supposed to know this early!" Mr. Forkle said, gritting his teeth.
                          
"Um if you guys don't tell us about what you are talking about, I'm pretty sure Sophie is going to explode," Dex said.
                          
Mr. Forkle sighed. "I suppose things are changing and exceptions can be made."
                          
What exceptions?!
                          
Sophie's aunt, Suzy, shared a look with Mr. Forkle as she walked in and closed the door behind her.
                          
"You kids might need to sit down for this," Mr. Forkle said, guiding her and Dex to a couch in the living room.
                          
"This doesn't sound good," Sophie said.
                          
"It won't be that bad," Aunt Suzy said.
                          
Sophie turned to face Mr. Forkle as Dex held her hand for support. "Well...?"
                          
After a few seconds of pacing, Mr. Forkle started, "Sophie, I work at Webber's Research Facility of Science and Conducted Experiments. Yes, that is the same place that your parents and Galvin worked at. Your parents were the brightest scientists I knew. They were always working in the lab and coming up with life changing inventions. They were smart to keep all of their works a secret. A few years ago, a few months before the fire, your parents were working on something big. William and Emma were working on something life-changing which caused them to be extra secretive about it. It was called project 49aY27hqT. They didn't give it a name with actual meaning since that would give away what the project was. However, a group of people somehow found out about this project that your parents were working on. They are called the Neverseen."
                          
Sophie gasped and Mr. Forkle continued, "the Neverseen didn't know what the actual project was, but they knew that it was life-changing and would be worth a fortune. They worked to try and steal the project from your parents, but it never worked. Eventually, they decided to take control. They contacted your parents and threatened them to hand over the project. However, your parents refused. Not long after that, there was a fire at a warehouse that killed your parents."
                          
Sophie jumped up. "Wait! Do you think that my parents' death wasn't an accident? That it was a murder?" Sophie choked out.
                          
Mr. Forkle gave her a sympathetic look. "Yes, we believe that your parents were murdered by the Neverseen."
                          
Sophie stumbled back and Dex grabbed her shoulders to steady her. After a few breaths she realized what he said. "What do you mean by 'we'?" She questioned.
                          
"Well, as in 'we,' I mean the Black Swan and I am the leader of the group. The group was formed after your parents' death." He paused. "Before they died, they must have knew that they were going to get murdered so they gave access to the project to Galvin. That's why the Neverseen were after her too. They wanted her to hand the project over and Galvin refused, so she was murdered too. Now that she is murdered, no one knows where the project is. And the Black Swan are still trying to figure out why she never patented the project. Your parents technically just handed the project over to her because they knew that they were going to die. But what we don't get it why she never patented it but still protected the project."
                          
"That doesn't make sense," Sophie agreed. "So we have no leads to find this project?"
                          
"Actually, I have a lead. Your parents also knew me well so they gave me a slip of paper and told me not to open it until it was time. I didn't know what they were talking about at first. But when they died, no one knew why so I thought that the answer would be in the slip of paper. Since then, the Black Swan has been working to figure out the clue and have been researching about their death to find out more information. That's actually why your Aunt Suzy is here. I was going to question her more about the day she saw the fire at the warehouse."
                          
So many questions were floating in Sophie's mind that her head hurt. This was all so unreal. 
                          
What was this project? Why did Lady Galvin never patent the project? Who is in the Black Swan?
                          
She finally came up with, "so why did you guys never tell me this? Like, why were you waiting?"
                          
"Well, the topic of your parents is probably still hard for you and we didn't want to put you in more danger. Anyone who knows any information or is involved with your parents, is in danger. That's why the Neverseen have been attacking Edaline and other people. They are trying to force you into helping them and we never wanted that for you," Mr. Forkle explained. That seemed logical, but Sophie still felt like she was being treated like a little kid.
                          
"Wait—you never said why you had that box," Sophie said, still not sure if she could trust Mr. Forkle and this Black Swan.
                          
"Well, we found out that you found that box at Galvin's house and it was taken from you by a Neverseen member. The Black Swan then worked to steal the box back from them since it is probably important. So recently, we succeeded. And before you ask—we don't know what's in the box or how to open it."
                          
After some silence, she asked, "okay and what was on the slip of paper my parents gave you?"
                          
Mr. Forkle hesitated. "It said: Our girl is the key."
                          
"Wait—how am I the key? Like—I knew nothing of what they did or anything about their death! I thought it was an accident!" Sophie exclaimed, feeling tears pool her eyes.
                          
"I know this is frustrating. Believe me. We have been trying to figure out why you could possibly be the key since you knew nothing about any of this. But, now that you know about this, I think we have a shot now."
                          
"A shot at what?" Dex asked.
                          
"Well, a shot at finding this project Sophie's parents made and defeating the Neverseen."
                          
"How does it make a difference? I don't know anything!" Sophie said.
                          
"Well, you'd be surprised at what you can discover about yourself when you have help. And I think we can fix this mess if we work together. We can come up with plans to defeat the Neverseen and work to figure out this puzzle. So, which is why...we are asking you, Sophie, and your friends to join the Black Swan."