THE EMPATH

KICK OFF

I jumped off my bed,slid into my slippers and rushed out.I was very much awake and that was not a dream.But the scream sounded exactly like the one in my dream.By the time I got out, my parents were already halfway across the field heading for the gate, I followed them running, I caught up with them and in only a few minutes I was there struggling to make my way through the crowd.I fought my way to the front and there i was.Standing with my face staring straight at the head on my feet.It was the little girl from my dreams.

A wave of fear and guilt moved through my being.I looked at my hand, there was no blood or apple, there was not a single tree around and no hill either.But the little girls head was there, her eyes still open and blood trickling down.My head started spinning and a voice inside me started shouting."It your fault, Its all your fault," Everything was blurry and I woke up half an hour latter in my bed, my neck hurt like hell and it felt as if my head has just been chopped off.It had to be a dream.I was glad it was only a dream but my mum was there to tell me it wasn't .That time it had actually happened and I had fainted, mum thought it was because of the head.

The guilt was eating me away little by little.If I had told someone about the dream, maybe I could have saved the girl.But then again how could i even begin to explain, how could I have saved her if all I had seen in the dream and I never saw what happened before the incident.why was my conscience judging me? what could I have done.The events of that morning kept flashing through my head.The b****y body lying there and the terrified mother standing there hands on her mouth.The sword that was used to do the deed was about a meter away from the girls body.It was supposed to be a family antique.Until that morning it was a valuable to give the home sophistication, how quickly it had turned into a means to the death of the girl was alarming.The incident was explained as a robbery gone wrong, but something wasn't adding up.

It was not for me to judge the situation and I was busy blaming myself.The police took over and the stories circulated for a while before dying down and people started to forget.My brain and conscience however never forgot.The nightmare I was having changed into a reminder.My brain used the event to t*****e me.It was getting worse day after another.

Two weeks later, I was doing my assignments on my study table.I was soo tired and my eyes hurt.For the whole of that week I was unable to sleep well due to the dream.I don't know when I fell asleep and I had the most weird dream yet.The little girls head on my feet suddenly started to talk.It was the most horrifying thing yet.She explained to me who her killer was and assured me it was not a robbery gone wrong.She told me the thief was after a precious stone that was hidden in a hidden compartment on the basement of her house.

I had had weird dreams but that one was more.Why would I dream with such a thing.It was getting clear to me that they more than just dream and the voice in my head said it was the right time for me to open up to someone.I took my cell phone and texted Ben and Alice .They were the only people I could talk to without fear.I could have told mum but I didn't want to worry her.It was on a friday.After classes i met up with Ben and Alice and told them my story.The two started laughing even before I could tell the second part of the story but halfway through their laughter they realized I was not joking.Of course the didn't believe me but they didn't want to show me that.

Ben thought that the only way we could prove if my dreams were more than just dream was to break into the little girls house and look for the stone.It was not the best idea yet but I also felt the need to know.We planed on how to break in and that evening we didn't go home directly after school.We walked up to a big tree that was behind Stacey's house.We had learned her name through some women talking about her on the day she was killed.We waited until the lady of the house went ou.Her father was a soldier and was never at home.He had only gone home for his daughters send of and he was off to work again.

The lady of the house worked night shift at the local tavern that she also happened to own.As soon as we were sure she was gone, we broke into the house all thanks to Ben's lock picking skills.We went down to the basement.I had never seen that much wine in my life.There were bottles upon bottles of both cheap and super expensive wine.There were a few barrels too.We were there to look for a secret compartment and after a few minutes of admiring the cellar we went down to business.Alice was convinced it was all bullshit but Ben was willing to give me benefit of the doubt.

We searched for a good ten minutes but he found nothing.Alice suggested we go home since it was getting late and we were not going to find anything.Ben insisted on a few more minutes and I was just glad the two had not thought I was going insane.I also hoped it was not true and I was backing up Alice's idea to get the hell out of there.The place gave me a scare and every once in a while I could hear screams and whispers.

We were just about to give up and go home when Ben called us.He had found a secret compartment alright and there was more than just one item inside.We took the things inside out one after another.There was some really expensive looking things, among them was a small bag that contained precious stones, among the pearls and blueish gems, Alice said they were stoned mostly used by psychics and witches.Other stuff like a silver dagger and golden bullets.The name that the girl had given him was embroidered on the napkin that was used to wrap the stone.

Alice went crazy for moment." It was not just a dream, you really spoke with a dead girl and she directed you.Do you know what that means?The psychic crap is real.Maybe you are psychic, maybe....," she went on blabbing things for a while before Ben put his hand over her mouth to shush her.As for me, I was just standing there confused.I had spent the whole day saying silent prayers.

I was a bit scared and even as much as I didn't want to scare my mum, Ben and Alice thought it was best if I told her.It was impossible to handle the revelation alone.I however assured them I would tell her if it didn't end with little Stacey's revelation.By the time I got home, it was late and I found my mum worried.My father had already reached home and I had never reached home after him.He was a little bit mad but I lied I had lost count of time while training back at school, he was not convinced but most of the fighting was usually left to mum.

That day I went to bed both scared and relieved.At least I was not in it alone.Once again my friends were willing to follow me to yet another crazy ride.That night Stacey came to me dressed in white and in her full body.She looked okey but there was anger behind her eyes.She had one last message for me.She told me it was time to visit Robert.She also told me to keep the the contents of the box safe because according to her I would need them later.She was not after revenge and she felt her death was supposed to be a wake up call for me.She also told me that there was a darkness in the world that people could not see and every generation had these special people who were supposed to protect the world.She never said I was one of the protectors though.

The next morning, my father had something to tell me.She explained to me the crap about introverts and extroverts,nothing I didn't already know.However his reason for doing that was because he had observed somethings in my life.He explained to me that the reason why it was hard for me to connect with other people was because I was a special kind of an introvert, apparently I am an empath, i felt other peoples pains, pressure, stress, emotions and even happiness.That explained a whole lot but not the dreams.I hadn't told him about those yet and I was not going to.The whole idea of being an empath was not great but it was the least of my concerns at the moment.

The next weekend, I went to Roberts, I found him seated on a stone under a tree and in his hand was a pink apple.He smiled and welcomed me to sit next him.He offered me the apple and at that point it all started coming back to me.The tree from my dreams was the exact same tree and the stone was pretty much that same stone.I was even more confused.Robert explained that he had been waiting for me.He however pointed out that I was supposed to go looking for him about two months before.He knew about the dreams and the stones and everything that happened during the past two months.

He showed me to the house and there I sat on the same arm chair I had sat on on my fifth birthday.And now I was turning sixteen years the same very day.He told me it was time to pay up.I wasn't sure what he was talking about.I was chewing on a piece of apple and I never heard the things he was mumbling under his breath.He had a look of sadness on his face and his voice was not all that angelic that day.

He explained to me that I was special, but that was no big deal to me since mum told me that all the time.He however went on to explain further.He told me about a dream he had a week before my mom came to him asking for help.It was about me.He believed I would grow up to be a protector and he was supposed to guide me.He told me that the apple was my ultimate cure and ten years ago when I came to that place he deed nothing to cure me, he believed I cured myself.He also told me that the voice inside my head was the voice of a guardian and every protector had one.The voice was the reason why I had been diagnosed in the first place.I was too young to understand it and my brain got sick.I could however not function fully without it and that was the reason why I remained sickly even after I was declared healthy.

He was the one who had negotiated with my guardian to let me be and the deal was to last for ten years.Ten normal years with no voices and after that my guardian would return and I would become who I was always meant to be.The very thought of that was scary but then at least i knew I didn't have a choice.I just asked Robert what was expected of me and he told me all I had to do was follow my instincts and not to disobey my guardian.He also repeated Stacey's words about keeping the precious objects safe.He promised to teach me to use my gifts to help others.As he explained that by relieving other peoples pains I was relieving my self and that would be my life.I was however not to tell my mother because Robert said it would put her on harms way and I was not ready to deal with it yet.

Back at home I told Ben and Alice everything.Alice suggested I try conjuring a spirit or try and read her mind while Ben was looking for cool super hero names and costumes for me.They had no idea that I was dying with fear inside.I could not even keep my room clean or safe for myself.I couldn't count the times I stumbled on my own shoes that I had kept carelessly.My room was always messy and my mum even had a nickname for it.She called the death chamber.How was I then supposed to keep a world of normal unsuspecting , innocent people safe.It was not exactly like stumbling on a pair of sneakers or a skate board.Where would I even start protecting others if I couldn't protect myself.All Ben and Alice saw was a special talented friend.Alice had actually never even be to my room and Ben could not see the problem since his room was actually way worse than mine.

I hated lying to my mother, the fact that I could not tell her the truth would surely kill me with time.But I had to be strong for her well being.I tried to call my guardian but he never answered, apparently he was only there to show me the path, warn me and show me visions on the things to come but he was not on my speed dial.I was not supposed to call him whenever I felt like and even though I deed he chose not to show up and it was annoying.My life was about to change and there was nothing I could do about it.Little did I know that was only the beginning and the worst was about to happen.I was happy to have my two best and only friends around but I wished they would really understand what I was going through.I wished they were like me so I wouldn't have to go through what was coming alone.

In only a few days I would start my training .In my head I thought it was something like learning karate or kung fu but it was very different.My learning time was mostly when i was sleeping.First I had to learn to astro project myself.My guardian explained that it would help me explore my visions to see more details, he simply explained it as a way to walk through the worlds that the body couldn't .There are many shadow worlds and the most popular one is the dream world.I needed to know how to navigate through those worlds and it was one hell of training.There were places i would get stuck and were I not for my guardian I would probably get stuck there forever.I still had to go through physical training though and that's where Robert came in.He would train me fighting tactics and languages and after all that was done I would become a protector.