The Long Game━ (l. sinclair)

me, an empath

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Fireworks burst through the dark sky that hugged the moon. They exploded colorful and fiery among the stars, and they cracked to the Ooh's and Aah's of the crowd that huddled to watch them. Fireworks were a beauty, but with beauty came danger.

Just like Sam. She was a beauty, and everyone seemed to know it but her. She had perfectly toned skin that never broke out. Her nose was arched perfectly, and her blonde hair was always styled just the way Sam liked it. Sam was kind, and most people were naturally drawn towards her. They liked staring at her. Most people watched Sam, only a few knowing how much weight Sam truly carried with her. Sam hated it — everything about her that could possibly gain attention. She never liked it when people would stare because it made her feel small and vulnerable.

Like she did now.

The majority of the room stared at her, watching the similarity between Sam and El carefully. They both had blood running down their nose, and had both gone into the mindscape together. But it was Sam who had gotten stuck in there; it was Sam who was panting at a pace that seemed like she was at the brink of a panic attack.

"I'm — I'm sorry, Sam," El shook her head in the clutches of Max and Will. "I meant to get you out—"

"No," Sam shook her head quickly in the clutch of Lucas, who had Corey and Mike hounding behind them. She was weak — not in the way she had been in the void, but because she had exhausted too much energy by going into the void. "No, it's my fault. I shouldn't... I shouldn't have offered to go in there with you. Not for my first time. I ruined everything."

Lucas shook his head, said, "You didn't, Sam."

Sam choked out a dry sob, disagreeing.

"I did. I — I really did," she rasped. "You guys didn't hear Billy, okay? I... It all went wrong."

Jonathan rushed out of the kitchen, handing both girls a glass of water. Nancy gave them wet washcloths to wipe the blood off their noses. Sam accepted both things gratefully with a croaky thank you.

"I don't understand," El sniffed after she wiped her nose off. "That's never happened before."

"What even happened, though?" Will asked, which was a fair question.

Sam chugged all the water down in one gulp, earning concerned stares from her friends, because she had never done that once in her life. Actually, they made fun of her for drinking and eating so slow. She shakily set the glass down before meeting everyone's expecting eyes again.

"I think the emotions from Billy's memories were making you weak," El said, much calmer than Sam. "All of the pain hurt you. The void was never safe for you."

"I don't know what it was," Sam shrugged with a miserable huff.

Lucas began shifting up from their spot on the floor, and before Sam could question why, me muttered, "Come on. You should sit on the couch."

So he helped Sam up, with Mike and Corey also coming to her aid, and sat Sam down on the couch where Max was. Max could see the wet tear tracks running down's Sam face at the close proximity.

"When I took the blindfold off... I was here, but... but no one else was," Sam began, recalling the traumatic events that had passed. "I was alone, until B-Billy — he came out of El's room. He said that 'they' can see me, and that El let him in, so I have to let 'them' stay... He also said he was building something. That it was all for El and I."