Empathy [Ben Hargreeves]

Episode One. Part I.

"We Only See Each Other at Weddings and Funerals"

Being back in her old dorm-like room at the Academy after thirteen years away was surreal to Eloise Hargreeves.

The haunting memories of emotional suffocating clawed at Elle's heart and mind. She inhaled deeply as she took in the small room with its pale cyan walls and ebony furniture and accents. The blue color was supposed to be calming, but it was never enough to surpass the hurricane of teenage angst that was constantly swirling around the Hargreeves mansion and flowing through Elle like a river of mud.

Nothing had changed -- not physically, at least. There wasn't a speck of dust or a book out of place, so she knew that Grace Hargreeves, better known as Mom, had been up-keeping the old umbrella factory that her adopted children grew up in.

Elle stepped down from the window ledge onto the old wooden floor which groaned under her faded black Converse. She brushed a finger across the smooth surface of her dresser, then ran her hand along the soft material of her favorite stuffed octopus that rested upon it.

When she had left the Academy all those years ago, she brought nothing but the clothes on her back, the leather bracelet on her wrist, and a stack of dollar bills that she had stolen. Even her beloved Ten Tickles that Ben had won at an arcade was left behind as she made her escape from the tragic reminders of her childhood.

She opened the squeaky door of her little closet. Her rich blue-grey uniform jackets and burgundy plaid skirts were plain and pressed for her seventeen-year-old self. She hated that stupid color scheme. With the creative freedom that came with leaving the Academy, she quickly found that her clothing color of choice was black.

Noise downstairs caught her attention. The arched halls echoed every sound -- a reminder that the big mansion was nothing more than empty rooms filled with broken hearts and buried skeletons.

Elle steeled herself to see her adoptive siblings again since she had managed to sneak into the Academy through her window without being noticed. The sturdy old oak outside of her bedroom was like a gift from Mother Nature when Elle was a teenager. She had climbed up and down that tree to sneak around and get fresh air for as long as she could remember. The rough bark against her hands was an oddly familiar feeling that she had welcomed upon arrival at the old umbrella factory.

A feeling of contempt swept through Elle like a low rumble of thunder. As she had been feeling wary a moment ago, she knew that the emotion was not her own.

"What is she doing here?" The voice of Diego, also known as Number Two, filled her ears as Elle descended the stairs with soft thumps of her shoes. She would have been offended, thinking that her copper-skinned brother was pissed at her, had he not been glaring fire at Vanya -- Number Seven. "You don't belong here," Diego continued. "Not after what you did."

Diego's internal rage at Vanya pricked against Elle's peaches and cream skin. Her eyes flicked to a scarlet red color before settling back to her natural blue as she sent a empathic wave of serenity in Number Two's direction.