Psychobabble
Prologue
||. I n f o r m a t i o n :::
Vanilla's appearance to Whispering Rock Summer camp caused far more trouble then she or the staff wanted; the girl holding powers that hadn't even been heard of in the Psychonauts.
||. C o m m e n t s :::
Just a quick little chapter, I hope you enjoy. It's not as graceful or soft-imagery-wise as I like my stories to be, but it's a little difficult making Whispering Rock Summer Camp as Victorian as I normally make things so hehe it's a little different and simple to what I write, so yeah XD I'm a little worried, especially because its only short but meh, here you go :3
The bright mauve, round and large eyes that belonged to Vanilla grazed over her campmates that would be her only source of social interactions for the next six weeks, or even more weeks if her training was going well. The short, extremely thin, young girl was stood against the wall of the darkening lodge; the noise of the campers laughing and giggling drifting between her ears as she brought her hand to her chest; her fingers cradling a pendant wrapped around her neck that was in the shape of a four leaf clover. Through her fingers, trembles were spread to the chain of the white gold necklace, causing it to shake around her neck. Already she knew she was the new girl; the other campers having gone off in their own groups they had probably made years ago, leaving her to stand in the corner, wondering what to do with herself. Using her left hand, which had been just at her side, she pushed some wine red locks behind her ear; the shoulder length curls still being unruly despite her attempts to keep it from her porcelain, ivory face. Vanilla leaned from one foot to another nervously; her heart beginning to pound underneath her layers of clothing and flesh and ribs. It pounded so hard, so desperately that she was utterly sure if there wasn't so much protecting it then the others in the room would surely be able to hear it with their own, funny shaped little ears. The young girl felt no hunger in her stomach, her nerves having grabbed her mind that much it was as if her brain wasn't functioning correctly, so she contemplated whether to leave the lodge, where the food was being served, or to stay and just sit with someone to settle herself in. She was never, ever, this nervous at home, but at home she honestly couldn't give a rats ass about what people thought about her. Back home she was already the outcast from her peculiar abilities that were frowned upon, especially in her high class family that refused to have anything extraordinary (she was honestly amazed that her parents hadn't thrown her into a prison camp years ago, instead of encouraging her behaviour by throwing her into a psychonauts camp – she was also shocked that this hadn't happened sooner, knowing how much she was disliked from her parents, they would have wished for some sort of break). But here there were people like her, and for some reason that nerved the little wine haired little girl. These were people where it would be either everything or nothing; a friend or an enemy and she prayed for a friend. A voice in the back of her head was telling her to take a step foreword, to interact with the people, or at least go ask those people playing music in the fireplace what their band is but no, her feet weren't listening to her. Instead she fiddled with her hair and necklace, allowing the other campers who had finally realised there was a new girl to eye her up and down. She wasn't an ugly little thing, she knew that much, but she didn't think she was pretty. Vanilla was well, simply average. Her hair was shoulder length, curled into fine ringlets with a straight fringe going across her forehead. Her brows were black, yet hidden from her hair; her eyes a shade of purple that was mauve, glowing energetically in the light, and framed by thick black eyelashes that darkened her appearance slightly. Her lips were thin, a shade of cherry blossom pink and her cheeks were cute and big, like a little child. She was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans that were almost a shade of black, along with a long white shirt that was more then a few inches past her waist. On the white shirt were grey abstract patterns spiralling along her right side. She had a campers scarf on that was a shade of red, along with a pair of simple white trainers. Underneath her white shirt was another long sleeved one that was grey; the sleeves the only visible part on her body. There was nothing horrible about her, and if one were to walk past they'd be engulfed in her scent of vanilla mixed with sweet roses.
"Hey, looks like the new kids a living statue!" came a sickly voice from beside of her, followed by a hysteric laugh; both noises annoying to her mind. Turning her head, she spotted a taller boy holding a tray full of food. From how his hair was, she wondered whether a cheese puff had exploded on his hair and frozen during the mid-explosion. Her lips curled into a grin as she felt her confidence draining back into her veins; she knew how to deal with snotty comments that the boy was giving her. "What, ya just gonna' stand there for the rest of the evenin' kid?"
Vanilla folded her arms across her chest, tilting her head to the side. "Well I was, but seeing your face has made me want to vomit so I'll probably just move to the bathroom," she laughed slightly from his bewildered expression; his eyes widening in frustration. With her gems she could see his hands trembling around the tray he was holding; a few other campers behind him that were getting their supper had stopped, smirking from the words she was using.
"Why if my pop hadn't taught me not to hit a girl," he ground out through his teeth, obviously holding back frustration. "I'd smack you down to the ground so hard you it'd be like I super glued you there."
Widening her lips, she showed off her pearly white fangs. "I dare you," she whispered through the back of her throat, leaning foreword, closer to him. Within a flash of her eyes, the stranger with bright carroty cotton hair was floating well above the ground; even higher then the staircases; he was almost touching the beams. In fearful panic he dropped his tray to the ground, the crash rippling through the room like thunder crashing in the distance. Everyone in the room was watching now; silence having engulfed the space. The boy flapped his arms, screaming down at her to let him go. "Sorry kid," she laughed up at him, her heart pounding happily. "You can't really 'smack' me 'down to the ground' from there, can you?" she made her voice louder, exaggerating how high he was. Putting on a show like this wasn't exactly how she wanted the campers to see her, but it was fun none-the-less and she had done this so many times to other people that were attempting to bully her before it came almost naturally. Just a few feet away from her the door to the lodge suddenly swung open; grabbing Vanilla's attention, along with all the others in the room apart from the ginger headed boy. Stood at the doorway was an adult man, clad in a black blazer and trousers; his shirt underneath his blazer a lime green and dark green stripped turtle neck jumper. His skin was a peculiar shade of pale emerald; his eye colour unknown to her from the sunglasses he was wearing. This was a man she had met earlier in the day; Sasha Nein who apparently was a top Psychonaut agent, helping to teach other children. His black brows widened as he shut the door, looking at the kids that looked almost panicked from the authority figure in the room. Vanilla's concentration fell suddenly as she panicked, wondering how much trouble she would get into. When the concentration lowered, she heard a loud screeching from above her, causing everyone in the room to look up to the floating boy, who was quickly zooming down to the ground head first. Sasha Nein was obviously too stunned at the situation to do anything; Vanilla being the only person in the room to act rapidly. She put her hand out in front of her, stopping the kid in his tracks before he smacked against the floorboards. Just the tip of his hair was touching the ground; his body trembling furiously as another cry left his throat from the fear he had from possibly nearly losing his life. Dropping him to the ground, there was a second bang, followed by a curse from the carrot headed boy, who sat up and immediately turned to Vanilla, glaring furiously with his dirty eyes. He pointed firmly at her; trying to put on a face of anger to hide his fear and humiliation from what she had just spectacularly done to him.
"She just tried to kill me!" he yelled to Sasha; his voice breaking in places which ruined his mask of hiding the terror. "You're crazy!"
"Did not!" she tutted, folding her arms firmly again. "You were the one who threatened to stick me to the floor, when I did nothing at all."
"You said my face made you want to vomit," he argued, standing to his shaking feet. The others chuckled in the room, happy to have seen their bully in such fear. Vanilla gave a small smirk.
"Sorry," she laughed, rolling her eyes. "Never knew telling the truth could get you a death threat."
"Bobby…" sighed the German man behind Vanilla, shaking his head slightly as he did. "What have we told you about threatening campers?"
"Wha-cha…" he struggled to get his words out, completely dumbfounded. "She just levitated me up to the roof!" he yelled hard.
"I understand and I'll deal with that issue in a moment," he replied, causing Vanilla to wince slightly; damn already she was going to get into trouble. Hopefully not as much trouble as Bobby. "But as far as I can tell, the situation was caused by you. I want you to take your things and eat in the cabins."
Bobby gave off a growl in the back of his throat, moving back to collect different food as the things he picked were being picked up. The silence slowly began to roll its way back into casual chatter; eventually the noise of the band at the back of the room coming into the equation. As Bobby was leaving, he turned to Vanilla, glaring firmly at her. "Stupid new kid," he hissed under his breath. "I'll get you back…Wait and see…" he slammed the doors shut behind himself loudly; causing her to jump slightly though she knew the noise was coming. When she lifted her head to shuffle from side to side, some of the campers were smiling happily at her; one or two of the boys giving her a full grin and a thumbs up, causing her to blush happily. But her joy and triumph was cut short when she felt the gloved hand of Sasha Nein firmly upon her shoulder, stabbing into her heart like a sharp knife. Lowering her head, she sighed deeply, preparing herself for his scolding.
"You never told us you knew how to levitate other people," he told her matter-of-factly like the information would have saved someone's life (which would have been true if she hadn't have thought as fast as she did). Before she had the chance to reply, he continued to talk. "I want you to collect your super and we'll be having words."
"I'm not hungry," she replied, hoping that would get her out of getting into trouble. All Sasha Nein did was sigh softly between his lips, taking his hand from her shoulder. He walked over to the flood, collecting things for himself.
"I am," he muttered, taking this and that, piling them on his plate as she watched with her hand on her right hip, unsure of whether she could sit down or not. "So if you get hungry while I'm eating we're not coming back here. It might even be too late to, so I'd rather you collect something just in case, Vanilla."
Sighing, she took a step foreword, looking at what he had put on his tray; a bowl of pasta; the bowl being a green colour, of course; a colour she assumed to be his favourite, a fork, some fruit and a drink in a bottle. Her own eyes hovered over the food. She wanted something ever so simple, so she grabbed a tuna salad sandwich, slipped it on Sasha Nein's tray, grabbed a small bottle of coke and headed for the door, waiting for him to finish. This wasn't how she wanted to spend her first night either; with one of the staff members, probably having a three hour lecture about the dangers of using her little powers on the other campers. Already the start of the weeks were failing; she wondered how much trouble she would get into now for almost killing her "fellow" campmate…
