Protect me.

Chapter 1- Therapist

 "Come in."
I stepped in and was instantly bombarded with the smell of lavender and an icy breeze of air.
"Welcome back Freya." The lady sitting on a comfy white chair turned to look away from her computer and smiled at me.
"Good afternoon Marla, I'm sorry that I didn't make it to last Wednesday's counselling appointment, I totally just forgot about it." I grimaced, taking a seat in the usual grey couch as I scanned Marla's eyes for any kind of anger. My dad installed that cautious habit on me.

"No, no, no Freya it wasn't a problem at all missy," Marla replied sweetly , tucking her platinum blonde hair behind my ears as she took her red framed glasses from her head and slid them onto the bridge of her nose with a smile. I knew for a fact that she was somewhere in her late 30's, but I'd always admired the way she had taken care of her skin so nicely that there was not a sign of a single wrinkle on her face.

"Now, what's been bothering you lately hun? Any updates on your mother's car registration transfer?"
I winced. The topic of my dead mother was still a touchy subject to me, even after it had been almost 6 months. Anything to do with her used to bring tears to my eyes up to 2 months ago. But now, I was just left with an empty shell of sadness.

"No, my father hasn't gotten around to it even though we're low on money now. He's been-" My voice wondered off as I tried to find a word that would describe the state he had been in lately without giving away too much.
What's the point of going to a therapist if you're not going to tell them everything.
"Busy?" Marla suggested.

I nodded, staring down at my black and white shoes.
"You know, when you fill in the end of someone's sentence and they agree, most of the time they're lying and just going on with it."
I whipped my head up in surprise. Could she see the bruises on my cheek? Even after I had covered it with layers of makeup?
"I'm just kidding you Freya. I'm not accusing you of being a liar."
"U-um yeah of course not,".
"How about your headaches?"
This was it. This was the moment I could tell her the strange things that had been going on.
I took a deep breath.

"They've been getting so much worse... and I've had these crazy outbursts. I-I think something might be happening to me."
"How so?"
"I-I feel like I can move things with my brain."
"What are you? Magical?" Marla laughed. I felt my lips turn down into a frown. I didn't think it was that funny.
"This isn't a joke."
"Hallucinations." She commented.
"What?"
"That's what I'm typing on your write up," She mumbled.
"I didn't say I was hallucinating,"

"Mhm." Marla said, glancing away from her screen, lowering her glasses, looking at me with her deep blue eyes. "What else?"
"I can even make people do things I don't want them to do." I whispered. I almost choked on my saliva and my hands felt clammy. This was the first time I was admitting this all out loud to someone.
"So you're telling me you're manipulative." She scoffed, turning back to her computer again.
My mouth dropped open in disappointment and I pulled an offended face, but she clearly couldn't see.

"I always feel like someone's watching me." I insisted.
"Paranoia." Marla replied, typing it onto my profile.
Was she serious?
I tried to inhale a deep breath to maintain my irritation below surface level. But the slight flush of heat I started to feel in my cheeks told me I wasn't the best at controlling my anger.
The clicking sound of her fingers on the keyboard suddenly irked me, and the clock ticking on the wall above her rang in my ears loudly.

"Freya? Freya?"
I blinked profusely. The therapist staring at me like I was a crazy person brought me out of my trance.

"S-sorry I haven't been able to sleep much lately so sometimes I zone out," I lied.
Marla sighed. "Tell me about it. I haven't been able to sleep either, my sleeping schedule is all over the place. It's definitely because of the Mercury retrograde, I'm sure of it."

"Yeah I'm not really that into astrology to be completely honest,"
Her lips frowned. "What sign did you say you were again?"

"Sagittarius."
"Ooh, one of my favourites." She squealed. "They're known for being so bluntly truthful and optimistic. They're my favourite zodiac sign to build friendships with."
"And you?"
The moment she opened her mouth I knew I was in for a very long tangent on her astrological sign.

"I'm a Cancer," She stated. "They're known for being nurturing, hence why I'm a therapist."
"But they're also emotional and sensitive, so wouldn't counselling be hard on you?"
"Oh my gosh you remembered my traits! And no, it helps me be more empathetic for my clients."
"So you're faking it?"
"What?" Marla asked.
"You're faking the fact that you understand how we feel when you don't really care?"
Marla's face twisted into a look of offence.
"Why would you say that? Of course, I care!" She breathed.

I pressed my lips together and kept my mouth shut before any more weird accusations came out of my mouth. We sat and stared at each other in an uncomfortable silence when finally, my therapist let out a sigh.
"Did this therapy session help you at all? I feel like lately I've been feeling off,"

"Maybe it's the Mercury retrograde making you nervous," I joked.
Marla's face lit up at the sound of me talking about astrology and she raised her eye brows in amusement, her blue eyes sparkling with joy.

"Maybe it is! Gosh, I need to write it down on my phone to meditate tonight," She gushed, scrambling to find her phone.
"It's on your table," I pointed out.
"Oh, dear me, thank you Freya."
"Call me Frey." I smiled.
"Thank you Frey. I'll see you on Friday?"
"Friday?"

"We have two counselling sessions every 2 weeks remember?"
"Oh, yeah I-I forgot. I'll see you on Friday Marla. Thank you," I nodded. I went to close the door behind me but felt a cold chill down my spine again, and I could tell it wasn't the air con.
I bit my cheek as I turned around. Marla looked up at me innocently, waiting on my explanation as to why I hadn't left the room yet.

Make her forget. A voice whispered into my ear. I whipped my head around but saw nothing.
"D-Did you hear that?" I whispered.
"Hear what Athena?"
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, letting the air expand my lungs slowly in a calming way.

My eyes fluttered open as I exhaled and stared Marla straight in her eyes, my heart pounding at the thought of doing this in such a public place.
"Forget everything I told you today Marla. Everything."
Marla's head bobbed up and down. "I will." She murmured, her eyes looked as if they were staring off into the far distance, focusing at nothing as if she could see through the wall.

The sound of a phone ringing from the main office made me jump and I shut the door closed in a hurry, my hearing racing.
How did I do that?

Someone slammed into my body and I fell back, my head hitting the door.

"Ow," I groaned. A hand shot out.
"Let me help you up." A deep voice suggested. Disorientated but still fully conscious I looked up as I took his hand and almost stumbled into him as he pulled me back up.
"T-Thank you," I stuttered as I slipped my cold hand out of his, self-conscious that he would point out that I felt like I had just been in the snow.

"It's nothing. My name's Colton." He shrugged. I caught myself staring in awe for a moment as his middle-parted jet-black hair that nicely framed his face, his skin a warm beige, and his eyes... his eyes were the deepest colour of black I'd seen, if that was even a thing. But I liked the blackness, it was... hypnotising?

"I-I'm Freya."
"Okay." Colton replied, not even glancing back as he tucked his hands into his jacket pockets and walked away, his feather shaped piercing caught my eyes as he walked away.
I stood speechless as I felt my nose scrunch up into a face of disgust.

"Rude." I gasped. What was that. Okay? I rolled my eyes and walked myself out of the counselling hall. What an asshole. I looked back before I left the building, but by that time he was long gone.

"Weirdo."