Empath (The Empath Trilogy Part 1)

(The Empath Trilogy) Empath

The saying, "I understand how you feel" usually just means someone is being sympathetic. Usually. But recently, I met someone who seems to almost read minds.

I'm Tina Owens, a paranormal investigator. At first my work was with hauntings, but then I got bored and began to investigate people with abilities that science can't explain. I've seen most of them in my 13 years in this line of work. Telepathy, precognition, pyrokinesis, clairvoyance, psychokinesis... But I've never seen anything like what I saw last night.

*****

It was 11:00pm. She wasn't going to turn up. Why should she? Lucy Kenton had spent the last 4 and a half years hiding what she could do. She told me in her email that even though she'd heard of me and my reputation, she still wasn't completely comfortable with telling someone that she could tell what other people were feeling. I was sceptical. Surely everyone could do that? If someone's angry or upset, most people can easily tell. What makes "empaths" so different?

I shivered. It was getting colder, and it was clear that Lucy had either forgotten, or she'd just decided I was one of the many people she couldn't trust. I sighed, my breath steaming in the cold night air. Maybe I'd forget about this one. I'd dealt with cases like this before. People prefer meeting late, and even if they do show up, they decide that you couldn't understand them anyway, and quickly leave.

As I walked, I wondered why I'd agreed to come here in the first place. It wasn't like an "empath", from what I'd heard, was the most exciting thing I'd ever seen.

Suddenly I heard quiet footsteps, and sighed again. She should've known better than this. People always try to startle or frighten me by sneaking up on me, but after 13 years I'm used to it.

I turned, and Lucy Kenton pulled up short with an embarrassed smile.

"Hi," she said sheepishly.

"People try that all the time," I said. "It never works. Sorry for bringing this up so suddenly, but I've never heard of an ability like yours. Could you show me what you can do?"

Lucy looked panicked. I suppose she hadn't expected that she would have to prove her abilities straight away. "Well, I can't really just..." her voice trailed off and she clutched her head in pain.

"Lucy?" I prompted, worried. "What's wrong?"

Lucy groaned. "Strong emotions are hard for us to deal with. If someone's been hurt, either physically or mentally, we absorb it and it-" she clenched her teeth, "-it hurts. Someone must have had an argument-"

I was stunned. When I'd thought of "absorbing other people's feelings", I'd never imagined it would be this powerful. I was at a loss as to what to do. Lucy sank to the ground, trembling and with her eyes squeezed shut, and I decided I had to do something.

"Just try to block it out," I encouraged. "Relax. Breathe."

Lucy took deep breaths, and shakily tried to stand. She collapsed again almost immediately.

"Don't hurry. Rest for a minute if you need to," I told her. "Do you want to get to my car?"

Lucy nodded gratefully and stood up. I supported her with my arm and together we walked slowly back to my car and climbed in. I was bursting with questions.

"I didn't know how powerful it was going to be. Are you sure you're all right?" I asked, concerned. Lucy smiled. "I'm fine. Thanks."

"If that happens every time you're around someone, how do you ever go anywhere?" I was puzzled.

"Normally I have "mental shields" which block it all out, but sometimes the emotions are too strong and they get through anyway. If that happens, they can be too much for me to cope with."

"How do the shields work?" I asked, intrigued.

"Basically I just imagine a shield or a wall around me before I go anywhere, but recently it hasn't been working as well as it should. Thanks for this, by the way."

"What?"

"Listening to me talking about things which probably don't make any sense to you. Most people who listen aren't actually interested."

"How can you tell if I'm interested or not?" I asked, smiling.

"It's part of being an empath. As well as picking up people's emotions, we can also tell when people are lying." Lucy explained.

By now I was ready to accept most of the things Lucy said she could do. The way she had collapsed had convinced me that her ability was genuine. But a doubt lingered at the back of my mind. What if Lucy had only pretended to collapse just to convince me? Unlike her, who was apparently a human lie detector, I couldn't be sure that everything Lucy said was true.

I turned away from the window, which I had been looking out of to prevent Lucy seeing my face, and saw her staring down into her lap. "So you're another one who thinks I'm lying," she said quietly.

"What? No! Why would you think that?" I exclaimed.

She looked up to meet my eyes, and I saw that her own were blazing with defiance and sadness.

"If you don't believe me, just tell me, rather than trying to hide it," she cried.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean..." I trailed off. I didn't know what to say.

Lucy turned away from me to stare out of the window. I noticed it had started to rain, echoing my mood.

Suddenly Lucy threw open the car door. "Where are you going?" I exclaimed. She turned back to me.

"Home. I haven't met anyone yet who believed me, and I'm going to stop looking for people who will."

She started to walk away.

"But it's raining... Don't you want a lift home?" I called after her. Lucy turned again. "I don't need your help!" she yelled. "So just leave me alone!"

I watched, aghast, as Lucy Kenton stormed off through the rain. Then, with a heavy heart, I turned for home.