Snippet #2243411

Honey, are you sure you can do this?”

“Yes, mother. I’m just as ready as I was five minutes ago.”

The lady of the Casimir house eyed her bright red manicure with a sudden interest. “Well, you never know. It’s just that I...” -she sucked in a breath- “worry about you....”

Luca stared out of the car’s tinted window, deciding to wait his mother out. He could feel them, all of the other students milling about the train station. Their laughter, their excitement, their fear... all of those emotions were his now, battering against his psyche with an almost physical force.

That one is uncertain they will fit in....

She wonders if her great-uncle is going to be alright without her... On instinct, Luca swiveled his attentions to the elderly man the young girl was currently saying goodbye to. The man was a psychic, and as such had a few barriers. Luca hesitated for a split second before cracking open his mental door, just enough surpass the walls and feel out the old uncle. Luca’s eyes narrowed.

She’s right. The geezer is going to miss her a lot.

Suddenly Luca was drawn from his reverie, noticing a concerned surge of energy coming from his mother. The youth instantly swiveled around to face the middle-aged woman once more.

“You know, I sometimes... I sometimes wonder if we’ve sheltered you too much, your father and I. Maybe if we had allowed you to go to school when you were younger, you could’ve built up more of a resistance. Then... maybe then you wouldn’t be forced to do... this!” Mrs. Casimir looked away, gesturing wildly at her son.

Luca frowned. “You’re just waving your hands in my general direction.”

Mrs. Casimir jerked her head back to her son, impatiently pushing her curly brown hair out of her blue eyes. “You know what I’m talking about!” -she snapped- “Look at those kids out there, Luca! I bet not one of them has to deal with... has to be reduced to what you’re having to do here!”

The dark haired young man sighed impatiently. “Mother, you know that I don’t really mind-”

“Don’t mother me, you weak-willed pansy! Look at you! You look like, like a weirdo!” Mrs. Casimir threw her hands up in the air dramatically. “There! There, I said it! I’m such a terrible mother, calling my own son a weirdo. But it’s true! It’s true!”

Luca just stared impassively as his mother began the waterworks, sobbing as if there was no tomorrow. He knew that at the end of it all, she would be fine and her mascara would be as perfect and un-smudged as ever. When Mrs. Casimir finally raised her head, sniffling and wiping her eyes, he was proved right.

“How can you not care?”

Luca rolled his eyes. “The mundane opinions of the masses have never really been a deciding factor in either of our lives, Mother. We both have more important things to worry about.” He pulled out a pair of sunglasses, and slipped them on, the black lenses glinting malevolently.

“Like, for example, eye safety.”

Mrs. Casimir snorted. “You look like a freak! Seriously, with that sweatshirt, and that creepy ‘stay away from me’ aura you have surrounding you, you’re a total stalker!”

Luca recoiled, suddenly defensive. “You know just as well as I do that ‘creepy aura’ is just a side effect of my anti-empathy shield!”

“But I worry for you! What if everybody figures out how weird you are!? What if my son doesn’t have any friends!?”

The elderly chaffeur in the driver’s seat finally turned around, unable to take his mistress’s distress for a second time. He sobbed, tears streaming down his wrinkled face.

“Don’t worry, mistress! Since the young master takes after his father in the looks department, I’m sure that his peers will be unable to see past the superficiality! No one will ever know how much of a freak he is, I assure you!”

Mrs. Casmir choked. “Oh Charles, I knew I could count on you!”

“Mistress!”

“Charles!”

“Mistress!”

“Charles!”

Luca rolled his eyes at his mother’s flamboyancy. It was to be expected, of course, that he couldn’t escape without some kind of humiliation. Though she didn’t look like it, the lady of the Casimir house was quite peeved that her son had decided to leave her.

Suddenly black eyes flicked over towards the train. “I need to go.”

Mrs. Casimir looked up, startled. “So soon!? Maybe, maybe we can wait for the next one...”

Luca glared. “No. You’ve caused me to miss the train three times now, mother. I think it’s about high time I board, don’t you think?”

Blue eyes locked with ebony. There was a moment of charged silence; this was the last chance, he was really going to leave, and if she wanted to stop him that time was now. When her gaze hardened, Luca thought she was going to make him stay, but Mrs. Casimir’s gaze softened, and she looked away.

“Look, Luca...” Luca was instantly at attention. It was a rare event for his mother to speak his name. “I-I know how you feel about interacting with others. I know how much energy it saps from you, how much it hurts to be around people who are hurting.” Mrs. Casimir reached under her seat, fumbling with what looked like a cake box.

“Just, just promise me this, Luca. Don’t shut people out, don’t ever distance yourself from people who need you. Luca, that’s how empaths like us become tainted. Normally we exist to be a healing force for other humans, but if we become too self-centered, or emotionally unbalanced, you know what kind of impact we can have on others around us.”

Luca’s mother grabbed her son’s chin, forcing him to look at her. “Luca, we can scar people. Don’t be like that. Be someone people know they can turn to for help.” After planting a swift kiss on his cheek, Mrs. Casimir finally released her son, handing him the cake box.

“Now take this, you should already have your stuff in your room, but I want you to have this as a final parting gift from me to you.” Mrs. Casimir smirked. “Now get out of here before you miss your train, stupid boy.”

________________________________________________________


Luca felt like he was on the verge of throwing up. He was slumped in front of the mansion’s courtyard, clinging feebly to a nearby pillar. Oh god. This was... difficult, to say the least. He had arrived just before the mob of people had arrived, but unfortunately didn’t get his wits about him fast enough to escape the surge.

So Luca Casimir, one of the most sensitive empaths of the age, was forced to experience the emotions of several hundred people within an extremely short period of time. And while the magority of the people seemed to have left (thank god), a disturbing amount of psychics still remained on the property. The haggard young man gagged, clamping a pale hand over his mouth as if to physically force the vomit to stay within his body. Would he have to deal with this number of people every single day? The prospect was utterly horrifying.

Luca scowled, wincing as he attempted to straighten himself. Screw the whole ‘being a healing force’, if this is what he had to go through on a daily basis, he would gladly corrupt himself. Corrupted empaths were cut off from the feelings of others, but still had access to the extra information that came with empathy. While that was all fine and dandy, corrupted empaths were almost always manipulative and self-serving, because, well, they no longer had understanding for other people’s feelings.

But, remembering his mother’s words, Luca decided to hold out for a little longer. He sucked in a breath, trying to go over all of the things he and his mother usually did in such situations. First of all, he needed to isolate himself, find a protected room where he might be able to either sleep off the unwelcome feelings or meditate through them.

Okay, so he only had to make it to his room then. Luca frowned. His mother had made herself in charge of his living conditions here at the Mansion as a term for allowing his departure. She hadn’t told him what his room was like, let alone what number it was. Desperate black eyes fixated onto the cake box. There. The information had to be there, otherwise he was doomed. If Luca had to spend his last few crumbs of energy asking for directions, he was going to pass out. For sure.

With shaking hands, Luca fumbled with the stiff cardboard lid, only just managing to slide it open.

Luca stared blankly at the small black rabbit that was seated comfortably inside the box.

The rabbit stared back impassively.