The Girl With Gifts

Chapter Eight

Sitting next to Leo was comfortable for me, no talking was necessary. He already knew everything about me from back then and it was a relief to not have to avoid questions which i had grown used to doing. He had tried asking questions about how i was feeling. Of course that's just because i used this part of my powers and of course i also gave him a blunt answer of 'I'm fine' which showed him i wasn't. All i could see from his eyes were pity. Every time i found my eyes on him and we made eye contact, pity was evident. It was a strange world where every one of us were pitied by each other but having it come from Leo was strange, he never had that look in his eyes before and i'm sad to say, i didn't appreciate what it infers. He's sad for me, he had empathy for what i have to go through when using each of my powers but surely, his power is just the same. I don't blame him for getting this look now that he has seen me in action. I just hated that he had it. The engine hums softly as he continued to drive. Every now and again i can feel his gaze fixing on me making me shift in my seat. I don't dare look into his brown eyes, i don't want to see what is in every ones eyes once they see... The real me.

Positing my hair so it sits on my face covering the side he can see, it's acting as a barrier between my eyes and his gaze. It's the only soft way to tell him to stop what he is doing and hopefully he gets my silent message. My eyes flicker to look at the environment we are going by. Houses, apartments, shops. Things that are considered normal. My lips quaver threatening a sob to come through. I push my lips together quickly and gain my confidence back. I hope my body language did not fail me, on my second of weakness. What is considered normal for them isn't normal for us. They can have friends, family and a... A home. Where as, we are always on the move. Trying to stay one step ahead of The Faculty. Hoping to never get caught. In reality we were seen as little children, having a temper tantrum as we could not get what we wanted. We are threats. Sure, some of us use our powers for bad things. Like i had before but not every one us deserved to be punished for the actions of a few.

The engines hum come to an abrupt stop as Leo glides out of the car. He runs up to a house carefully checking over his shoulder before knocking. This must be the contact giving us information and right now they stuck out like a sore thumb. I found my eyes watching them unable to tear my gaze away, it was like a television show. When you saw the good guy getting information on the bad guys. Like in crime shows when they find a clue and everybody cheers but in this case. Are we the bad guys? Or the good guys? When Leo comes back clutching a folder i am finally able to take my gaze away now curious about the file. What was so important to Dean and the others?

Pulling up to the abandoned apartment slot where we are setting up, i guess you could call it. Leo jumps out of the car clutching the folder before running off. Clearly taking it to Dean. Before he can get too far away i shout, "Guess i'm the muscles then. Hurry back Princess, to at least help with the stuff!"

I hear a few chuckles before i start pulling the blankets out of the boot of the car. I turn to see peoples eyes light up at the fact more people will now be warm. People have been on a schedule with blankets and now they had a least a few more, it would have helped if we went to more shops. I had wanted too but Leo didn't want to stress me out from using it too much. It was sweet that he thought of me but he did not think of everyone else, which we should have. Little kids including the girl who helped me escape The Faculty came to help with taking the blankets and pillows to the vendor who put them in separate piles and started to gaze up another plan on who would have blankets for the week and sadly, who wouldn't. I did not envy their job, they must get a lot of threats. I guess it helps having powers. Sometimes.

Leo comes running back to help with the things however, he has a dull look on his face. I bite my tongue not wanting to impose on what had affected his mood. I pull out some food staking them on a trolley that somebody had brought for the food. My gaze kept looking at him, his shoulders were slumped and his eyes were staring at the floor. He only looked up when grabbing things from the car not sparing me a glance. Not about to take it anymore, i forced him to look at me. I grab his chin and make him stare at my face. I smile slightly when i see his brown eyes but it quickly, disappeared when i remembered that he had been ignoring me. I didn't remove my finger from underneath his chin, scared that if i moved it he'd go back to ignoring me.

I inhale sharply, "what happened Leo?" his eyes advert to the side and his breathing has increased rapidly. What doesn't he want to say. I add, "spit it out Leo!"

"Dean has a mission for you and you won't like it."