See no evil - The awakening

Trouble

We ended up not leaving the room that day. And very few words were spoken, Which was actually very refreshing. For a second and amongst those 4 walls time had gone back, and we were just Luc and Cas, at my house in Buenos Aires just enjoying each other.

—I'm coming to dinner tonight Luc, it's time. –I said while getting ready at dawn.

—Cas. I'm not sure it's a good idea.

—What are you so scared about?

—There are many people here now, some of them can sense something. We are not ready for them knowing... yet.

—I've fooled the witches. No one will know. Come on Luc.

He sighed. —Ok. But you'll stay close to me at all times.

I winked. I'd won.

He wasn't amused.

We took the corridor towards the stairs and I could start listening to the voices downstairs. It sounded like a big crowd and I could hear the metal of forks and knives against the ceramic plates.

Once on the entrance of the dining room I understood what he meant by "lots of people". There must have been over 100 people dining at that place.

He walked in front of me between the tables and everyone turned their heads to look at us and then whispered between each other. The noise was deafening. I tried to keep calm and keep my thoughts to a minimum. I knew there were mind omnias dining there and didn't want them to get into my head.

We got to the end of the room and sat down at a separate table where Angus, Luc's brother, was sitting. Besides him, a beautiful blonde woman dug her eyes on mine which made me look down at the table and avoid future eye contact.

—This is a Hunter's table, brother. –She said.

—She is with me, sister.

The air was tense.

—Hey Angus. –I tried to be nice and smiled.

Yep, no. Not even a "hi"? No, nothing.

—Just ignor them. –Luc said to me.

There were four other men and three other women on the table. I looked at them and they at least smiled back at me. I could feel the power balance in that scene and no one was going to say something that could get Angus or the blonde woman angry.

—Sale, how was the retrieval Today? –One of the men asked the blonde woman. Sale, that was her name.

—Good. Easy. A Mind Omnia that had pissed off the wrong vamps. He'll be staying for a while.

—Did he put on a fight? –Another one of the men asked, laughing.

Sale smiled sarcastically. —Ja! yeah. Sure. It lasted a blink.

Ups, yes, she didn't sound like someone you wanted to fight with.

—Who are you talking about? –Someone said.

—Sorry? –I asked.

—No one is talking to you, witch. –Sale answered.

—Are you listening to me? –The same voice talked to me.

—Luc, someone is talking to me... in my head. –I whispered to Luc.

—Ignore them. Don't let them realize you are listening to them. Don't answer. —He whispered back in my ear.

—ANSWER ME! –The voice screamed in my head.

I tried to stay calm.

—Ok, you are making me do this. Stand up. –He continued. —STAND UP! STAND UP! STAND UP! STAND UP! STAND UP! STAND UP! STAND UP! STAND UP! STAND UP! STAND UP!

—STOP! –I screamed to him in my head.

Silence.

—You are not a witch. –The voice said.

—Luc, he knows. –I whispered.

—Who knows? –He whispered back.

—The voice in my head, he is a man, he knows I'm Mind Omnia.

Luc gave me the worst disappointment look I've gotten since my mother's, when I was 7 and came back home with gum stuck to my hair because I'd said Tommy from 2nd grade smelled like cat urine.

I kept silent for the rest of the dinner. I paid attention to the conversations happening around the table. Most topics revolved around new Eidolons that had arisen and had to be caught. I couldn't help but think about Nora and Aaron, and how scared they were about these exact same hunters I was sharing a meal with.

I wanted to ask about their other brothers and sisters, the ones who had left. If they were in touch with them, if they missed them, if they were even able to miss someone. They all seemed so calculated and cold that I was sure "feelings" were not something they had.

We finished dinner and stood up to leave to our rooms. Luc walked behind me as we passed next to a table where about 6 men were sitting down. One of them fixed his eyes on me and smiled. I smiled back and continued walking. After only a few steps I heard a voice that sounded on top of all the other voices. —EIDOLON! –That exact voice I've heard before in my head.

I turned around to see where that voice was coming from. The man, who had smiled at me, was standing up and pointing his finger at me.

Two more men from that table followed him, they stood up and pointed at me. —Eidolon!

The rest of the men at the table started laughing.

—Don't stop walking. –Luc said firmly.

I did as he said but the voices got louder as they repeated the same world over and over again. —Eidolon, eidolon, eidolon!

I didn't look back till I heard a loud blow. I turned to look where it was coming from and I saw the man who was shouting first, with his feet in the air being held against the wall by the hand of Luc. The other five men on the table stood up and jumped at Luc who with his free hand cleared them out of his way without even trying.

The five of them fell to the ground. The man being held captive by Luc's hand was trying to free himself and desperately grasping for air. The scene was causing an uproar in the crowd. Somewhere standing and asking Luc to free the man. Others were leaving the dining room as if they wanted to take no part in what was happening. Many others were cheering and enjoying the scene.

I peaked at Sale and Angus. They were still sitting down looking at Luc. They had a smile on their faces. As if they knew that would get him into trouble, as if they would have been expecting that to happen.

I froze. I could have made him stop, I could have helped the man on the wall, but that could have been the end of our lies. I know Luc wouldn't want me to intervene, but I had to. I couldn't let Luc hurt him if that could mean we would have had to leave the Sanctuary.

I was about to step in when the loudest of voices echoed across the room.

—BJORN. STOP NOW!!

Addison stood at the entrance. She looked enraged.

Without taking his eyes out of his prey Luc opened his grip and the man fell to the ground. Luc started walking in my direction and continued walking right past me. "I'm sorry" I said to the mind of the man who was laying on the floor. Even if he had been childish and mean, nothing justified the unravel of violence Luc had created.

I followed Luc and we both walked past Addison. As soon as we did she said. —You both. To my office. Now.