THE EMPATH

IN THE NAME OF JUSTICE

"...can you believe it? Even with all the evidence, even with testimonies from seven people, they let him walk free. This is so unfair Jude, I wish I had my own superpower or something because I would tear him up to pieces...that son of a b***h," that was the most painful statement I had heard all day and it kept ringing in my head. I had no idea who the girl I heard saying them was, I had never even met her before in my life but as usual, her pain was transferred to me a hundred times much stronger. By now who would have thought I had developed some sort of ability to at least ease it but no, it was just getting worse by the day. I went around with pills in my pockets and dark shades even at night to hide my coal-red eyes. I could not even sleep for three hours a night and it was killing me. I knew what to do to make it better but I still didn't have the courage to do it. I knew that if I walked down that road, there was never going back and so I had decided to wait until I was absolutely sure that that was what I wanted to do. My waiting had lasted about three months but the words from the strange girl from the school parking lot, that morning had pushed me to make a somewhat rush decision.

Immediately after the lecturer called for the end of the lesson, I headed out to the parking lot and I was glad to see that the little red car was still there. I had seen the lady walk out of it and that would only mean it was hers. She didn't show up until ten minutes later and by then I had already broken into her car, gone through it from top to bottom, and had found nothing in it that could tell me who she was or who Jude was. I had to come up with another plan and I hated that it would involve making a conversation. Before my abilities grew, it was hard for me to start a conversation but now it was impossible. I only said what was necessary when it was necessary and that had left me with no friends whatsoever. I watched as she approached and she was still on the phone but with a different person. She was talking about a return to a different court but the guy on the other end wasn't having any of that. I knew it had something to do with what she was talking about earlier that morning but I also knew that I had to treat it like it was none of my business.

The more she got closer, the clearer I could hear the conversation and the more nervous I got. My hearing ability had not fully grown but with enough concentration, I could hear stuff from about a mile away, and in as much as that was cool, it came with a tone of challenges. Think of all the pillow talks I had to endure hearing at night, not to mention the ugly noises people made even in the middle of the night. My neighbor, Miss Linda for once was a naughty, naughty old lady who seemed to love doing a new younger guy every other night and there were and can never be words appropriate enough to describe the things she did to them boys or the things she made them do to her. Then there was the parking lot where I was standing waiting for this gorgeous little lady while listening to her private conversation and there were these two having the time in someone else car and it was both disgusting and interesting. I would have loved to know why someone would be having revenge s*x with some guy he had never met before inside her ex-boyfriend's wife's car. My attention was decided between the two and I never saw the lady get to her car which by the way I was leaning on.

"Excuse me," she said. I had no idea when she got there or when she finished up on the call but that didn't seem important at the moment. I mean I was leaning on a car that I had just broken into minutes earlier and now the owner was here and she would have liked an explanation as to what was going on. Looking around, I was the only one close to it and that would mean I was the one to explain. "Oh! sorry, it's just...I was just walking by when I saw this guy breaking into your car and it felt like stopping him was the right thing to do and so I did, then I realized that if I just walked away, there was no telling that he would not come back and go on with his evil plan so I decided to wait up for the owner. Now that you are here, I should probably get going. I am Victor by the way, but people just call me Vicky," I said with the most awkward tone ever. "Well, in that case, then I think I owe you a thankyou. My name is Lily by the way," she said with a smile and extended her hand. We had an awkward handshake moment and I started off but she stopped me. She asked me about where I was headed and she offered me a ride. Before I could tell what was going on, I was seated in a dinner facing her and having a lunch that she had offered to pay for.

I was supposed to be working on finding out who she was and who was causing her the pain that eating us both from the inside out but instead I found myself enjoying her company. Even with all the pain and the baggage, she still managed to smile and tell a few jokes. She felt so easy to talk to and for a moment she had reminded of Alice. "So, Vicky, you are a fresher in the college too right?" she asked and I could tell that she so needed to get a yes from me. "Yes, why do you ask?" I asked just to keep the conversation going. "Because I am and so far it has been so hard for me to make a single friend and I would like to know if I am the only one," she went on and I found myself smiling. "Well, I don't know about everyone else, but I have no friend either. In my case, everyone thinks I am weird and spooky so they stay away but looking at you, I don't understand why you would find it hard. I mean you are beautiful and well dressed, and you are not at all weird or sleep-deprived," I was not trying to be funny or anything but for some reason, she burst out with a peal of laughter and told me that I was funny. Honestly, she was the only one who had ever said that about me. For all I knew, even my closest friends Alice and Tom never thought I was funny.

"Well, I have to get going now. I am dealing with this crazy thing right now and I can't stay for long but it was nice knowing you and I am looking forward to having lunch with you again. What do you think of tomorrow, same time, same place," she said and I could tell she meant it. "That sounds nice, I will be there," I answered and watched as she took out her pen and wrote her number on my hand. It was ticklish but I tried my best not to laugh because then she would see the weirdness I was telling her about. We both walked out and I waited until she had gotten into her car and started the engine before starting off for home. My classes for that day were over and I felt like taking a long shower and sleeping for the rest of the afternoon. My plan had worked better than I had hoped and it felt like I had just found myself a friend. That night I tried to find out as much as I could about her but I never found anything about the case she was talking about earlier.

I knew now that her name was Lily Williams and that her father was a doctor and her mother was a middle school teacher. I also knew that she was nineteen years old like myself and her hobby was reading. She had a friend named Jade whom I previously assumed was a dude but learned that she was a girl and that made me feel better. Finding out about those details of her life made me feel like I knew her already even though we had just met that day. How I hoped with all my heart that she meant the being friends part. From her f*******: page, I could tell that she was in more ways than one just like Alice and that made me wanna know her more. She had made me promise that I would call her that night and as I picked up the phone to dial her number, my hands felt a little bit shaky and I felt a cold sweat form on my face. For some reason, I didn't expect her to pick up the phone but she did. We talked for about half an hour but then we both had to go since we had classes the next morning. We however agreed to meet and go out to lunch the next day.

It took me three days, but I eventually found out about tahr case. As it turned out, Lily had three sisters, one of whom was supposed to be in the final year of high school but tragedy had struck and she was dead. The family knew all too well that one of the uncles was responsible, they had taken a legal action which had seen to the forty-four years old r****t and killer spending a few weeks in a police cell and later tried about two weeks before I met Lily, However, according to Lily, her uncle was well connected and he had deep pockets so he walked in broad daylight. Lily had told me that the crooked man even had the guts to go back to her home and rub it on their faces confessing to not only r****g and killing his niece but that he had also done it to a few other girls. She had recorded him and she thought that would hold in a different court but her uncle seemed to know everyone and had the power to persuade them not to help her. She was at the very edge not ready to give up but she had no other option. I had listened to her through the story that pained me more than it pained her but she had no idea. To me, the man had sealed his fate and I was going to pay him a visit and make him pay for his actions.

As Lily was telling the story, I was busy working on a full proof plan on plan on how to take care of a very very bad wolf. Immediately after she was done crying on my shoulder and went home, I made a quick stop at the local pet store and bought some supplies that I claimed to need for my lately aggressive pet dog. I was about to have my first nighttime adventure and I could not remember the last time I felt that kind of thrill. I got home at about three o'clock and took a shower. I took a cold shower and slept for a couple of hours. By the time I got up, the emotional pain I had taken from Lily had eased a little and I could think straight. I needed the remaining pain to help me push through the disgusting thing I was about to do. I armed myself with all the equipment. and tools that I needed. I packed my bag ready to go. I had a quick dinner fix and I was out.

It was my first time ever since I joined college to take a bus. Dad had made sure to provide enough money that I could travel around in cabs now that he knew other people's pains affected me. A bus was the perfect means as no one cared and they all just went in and out without ever looking at the person they were seated next to. By now I knew all there was to know about finding my way in the huge city. I knew exactly where to go looking for people like Albert who loved beer, women, and crimes. It had involved a little research but in the end I had found his hiding spot which happened to be the most exotic club in town. The club itself was located at the heart of the city. I knew I would never get in like a regular customer so I had to improvise. Once again, I had to rely on the survival tricks I had learned from Robert together with my abilities. I created an illusion that showed me getting out of a really expensive sports car. I also made myself look a little bit older than I was so that the two mountains of men at the door wouldn't be suspicious.

Getting inside the club was the easy part, finding my way into the VIP room was a different task all together. I had to go through layers and layers of clearance before being allowed in. I struggled for three good hours until finally I had to find out about my new ability and learned to use it in a matter of seconds. It was mind control and so far it was the most amazing ability. I finally found my way into the Vip room where I met a group of guys enjoying expensive liquor and cute n***d lady dancing all around them. Every once in a while, someone would throw cash at them and they would dance even more wilder. I hated the place the very moment I got inside and were it not for the strong longing in my being, I would have walked right out and walked back home. People all around acted as if they friends but deep down all the wanted to do was tear each others throats open. They were all rivals in illegal businesses like drugs and human trafficking. The girls dancing on the poles loathed their jobs and their skin would crawl with every touch from the old, fat, and ugly guys that kept touching them all over.The only thing that was good about that place was the fact that it had no cameras. I watched as Albert walked in and it was finally time to get down to work. I took one more sip of the bitter liquid before getting up from where I was seated and headed towards Albert's tiny private room.