Chaining Mentality

Chapter II: Silent Cries, Hidden Scars

The next day Felix, Gabrielle, and Maria headed to school, everyone silently battling their problems at school. Felix, on edge from his paranoia, keeps his guard up every moment of school, his mind convincing him that something terrible was brewing. Gabrielle, cold and distant, continued subtly condescending Marial, ensuring her sister to constantly feel left out and small with every look and comment. At school Gabrielle seems to thrive, while Maria lives in isolation. Marial feeling everyone's thoughts through her telepathic abilities, was drowning in sadness especially under Gabrielle's growing hostility towards her.

As Marial walked through the school halls, her mind buzzed with the thoughts of everyone around her. She couldn't escape the cruelty within people's heads; "too talkative, "annoying", "isolated" echoing in her head, each word slicing her self worth. Her friends' thoughts were no better; they only saw her as a "weird attention seeker" desperate for friends, and Marial realized that every smile everyone gave her was just polite courtesy to her family's power in society. The constant negativity made her feel dead undeserving of self-worth , her mind replaying every word, making her isolate herself. With each passing day, she pulled herself away and withdrew herself from her "friends", her classmates' harsh opinions pressing down on her suffocating spirit, Marial's once vibrant presence dimmed, her mental state crumbling, smashed by everyone's opinions and thoughts of her

The school bell suddenly rang, driving Marial back to reality, but the thoughts was still ringing in her head. She gathered her things and swiftly leaves. As her classmates saw her walking out, She overheard whispers; "Did you see how she was staring into space? So weird, she must be seeking attention for us to pity her." Her heart dropped. She didn't even have to look to know who said it, it's definitely her so-called friends and Gabrielle. Each day it became harder to pretend she doesn't know how they think of her, harder to smile, laugh, and play along.

As Marial sat at her desk, the classroom emptying, she saw Gabrielle walking away, her eye swelled with tears and she tensed up. A wave of flashback occurred, Gabrielle sobbing after a horrible traumatic event, the one that broke Felix too. "Gabrielle! Listen to me I can fix it, I can help. I'll alter your memories, Marial said back then, her voice trembling, desperate to ease the pain for Gabrielle. But Gabrielle resisted, fear and mistrust in her eyes, begging Marial to stop. Marial couldn't, her powers surging beyond control, and as she altered Gabrielle's mind, she watched helplessly as her sister 's sanity shattered, The following months after Gabrielle had to recover from insanity, and since then, every look Gabrielle gave nor was filled with silenthatred, a hatred Marial knew she deserved very much.

Marial sat there, lost in her guilt, her mind wandered to Felix, or the one she couldn't "fix". The horrible event had left a bigger scar on him, one that repeated and ran through his head every waking minute. It was a night of bloodshed, when he and Gabrielle was attacked, and Felix had been forced to watch helplessly as chaos and violence tore through their home, guards and maids, footmen and cooks slaughtered at their very home. Marial had been too too focused on Gabrielle's mind, but Felix... Felix had seen things no one should ever see.. Since that night the paranoia gripped Felix everywhere he went, nightmares haunting him with flashes at blood and screams. He was always observing, always on edge, expecting the same event to reoccur, and no one not even Marial can reach him.