Pain // Colby Brock

[Two] - Relief

CARSON RILEY

This time, the silence wasn't hesitant or nervous, it was pity and shock. It was clear nobody knew even the start of Colby's inner turmoil and having it presented to them so obviously was bound to astonish. Colby's reaction only furthered their realisation.

Barely comprehending what he was saying, Sam whispered into the hushed room while staring intensely at me. "What pain?"

It wasn't my place to tell Colby's own clan what I felt every time he was in my vicinity, even if I had inadvertently showed them a glimpse. So when I returned Sam's gaze, I shook my head and he - the only one - understood what I was conveying to him. This wasn't for me to talk about.

"I'm so confused," Kevin breathed. "Colby's in pain? When did he get hurt?"

Sam glared at him. "Whenever it was, I'm sure he's fine now. Leave it be, Kevin." He stood from the couch and motioned me out of the room. "Come, Carrie. I'll show you where you can sleep tonight."

I followed him away from the clan's prying eyes into the hall then up the stairs. My footsteps felt heavy even though I was surprisingly light considering how tall I was. We reached the top of the stairs and headed down a hallway that had just two doors.

"We don't really have visitors often," he explained as he opened the door to the right, "but when we do, this is where they stay. The bathroom's through that door straight ahead."

Grateful, I nodded and slipped by him, taking in the simple but somewhat charming bedroom. A double bed pressed against the wall under a window, a closet was built into the wall and left open, and there was a dresser with a floor-length mirror tucked closely beside it. I didn't have much on me except for myself and my clothes so there was almost too much storage.

Sam hovered in the doorway waiting for me to get used to the room, and when I looked at him, he shut the door. His eyes darted down to the floor then out the window. Nerves were pouring out of him. "When you said you were taking away his pain... I think I know what you meant."

I sat down at the edge of the bed. "It wasn't physical," I admitted softly.

He nodded. "I've suspected as much for a while. He's not the boy I became best friends with anymore. Ever since we changed, he's been... different. I can't describe it to you."

"Don't," I offered, tucking my foot under my thigh. Sam appraised me for a moment then sighed and turned toward the door. He wordlessly left me alone in this foreign room - something I was used to after four years of constantly moving.

Lying back on the bed, I let my mind wonder. Colby's emotions still lingered inside me from wherever he was in the house and I didn't have the heart to block him out. I didn't want to push away everything he felt, because a part of me knew that if he gave me the chance, I might just be able to make my powers permanent.

Emotional pain was different to physical pain. Whilst I could heal a cut or a broken leg in the matter of seconds, taking away trauma was only temporary. It would only last as long as the mind allowed, depending on how deep it was, and then it would all come crashing back. That was probably why I felt it so strongly despite no longer being in the same room as Colby; it had gotten worse almost the moment he ran from my grip.

Despite the fix being temporary, there was a way for me to heal emotional trauma, it just took a lot of time and effort from both sides. My main power had little to do with it, that only aided when it all seemed like too much; no, to heal emotional pain, I needed to see into their emotions. I needed to feel how they felt and how they reacted to whatever I did or said. I'd only managed it once while I was still in my hometown, helping a girl to get over abuse that she'd suffered from since birth. I'd never liked her but it was worth getting over myself to see her grow into a genuinely lovely young woman. And that had taken close to a year, to slowly take her pain bit by bit and allow her to see that she did deserve to live and didn't deserve everything that'd happened to her.