After the accident on the bus, things in Castiel's life became strange, and this was really something special, considering what he could do.
First off, there was the pain. It was nearly constant physical pain. He started getting headaches on a daily basis and each day, they got worse. The ringing in his ears came and went and it made his headaches worse. The pain from his head moved down to his shoulder blades and all of the skin in that area dried out, constantly itching and achy. Castiel had never been injured and he rarely got sick, but in the weeks following the bus accident, he felt like an old man.
His "special powers" as Anna had dubbed them, became erratic too. He'd slip into people's brains without realizing it, tromping around in their private thoughts like it was his own personal vacation spot. He started hearing people without focusing and he was terrified that it'd become a nonstop stream of chatter in his head. His emotions became erratic, mostly because of the pain, and every other day, glass would break or light bulbs would flicker. Anna started driving him home from school so he wouldn't have another incident on the bus. One day he was home alone and desperately wanted the remote control. The remote control started to float over to him, very weakly and then it exploded. He didn't know to explain that. He never told Anna. Most troublesome was the cut on his knee. He tripped one day and skinned his knee and it hadn't healed. It was a tiny cut, but he'd had the freaky invulnerability for so long that he thought he might be dying because it didn't heal right away.
Brian Cooper received 40 stitches on his arms, face and neck after the accident and his vision was halfway gone in his left eye because a piece of glass had sliced an optic nerve. He'd have to get surgery to repair it. There would be no more baseball for Castiel's bully for a very long time. Whenever Cas saw him in the hallway, Brian would turn and go the other way. He was scared of Castiel, which had never happened before.
One day, a month after the accident on the bus, Castiel's head was throbbing, his ears were ringing, and he decided to find out why Brian was scared of him. He couldn't do anything about the pain in his head or the ringing in his ears, but he could try to find out what it was about him that suddenly terrified his ex-bully. He approached him at lunch and when Brian saw him approaching his table, which was filled with beefy football and baseball players, he actually looked terrified.
"Brian?" Castiel asked. He glanced at the table. No way did Brian's friends know that he was afraid of nerdy, skinny Castiel Milton, the odd one out of the shining Milton family.
"What do you want, freak?" Brian snarled. His friends started laughing, but Castiel heard his voice waver. Cas dipped into his brain, eager to hear what he was thinking. Maybe he wouldn't have to talk to him face to face and embarrass himself and his former bully.
Oh God, what does he want? Just go away. GO AWAY. I don't want to look at you. Get away from me, you freak of nature. Oh God, he's not leaving.
Castiel couldn't help but smirk a little. He did feel bad, but Brian was still being kind of an asshole despite his fear, and it gave him a little boost to realize just how terrified he was of him.
Castiel lowered his eyes, looked at the ground, trying to look ashamed of being such a nerd, such a freak, in the presence of the jocks. The ringing in his left ear was dying down. He cleared his throat.
"Um, Brian, it's about Anna." He muttered. "She… wanted me to talk to you."
The other jocks began hollering, voicing their approval. His stepsister was a hot commodity. She was one of the most popular girls in the 10th grade and it was for all the right reasons. She was gorgeous, funny, intelligent and kind. She was also the younger sister of Benny Milton, who was the golden boy of Pontiac, Illinois. Every heterosexual boy in their high school would date her, even if he meant talking to her dweeby freshman brother in public.
"Okay. Awesome." Brian said, some of his unease showing.
He followed Castiel out of the cafeteria into the empty hallway. Cas turned to him. "Brian, why are you scared of me?" He asked simply.
"You don't think I don't know that it was you who did this to me?" Brian responded, his voice quavering even more now that they were alone. He pointed to his face. He was wearing glasses and the lens over the left eye was about a quarter of an inch thick. "I have to wear these all of the time. If I don't, I have to use one of those sticks that blind people use. You could have killed me. Some of that glass could have sliced my throat open."
"I didn't do anything to you." Cas said, trying to keep his voice steady. Did Brian really know?
"Your eyes, man. Your fucking eyes. It happened when you looked at me with those eyes. I've never seen anything like it. I don't know what the hell you are, but stay away from me." Brian said.
"My eyes? What do you mean by any of that?" Castiel asked.
What the hell is he talking about?
"Look, just leave me alone. I don't bug you anymore. I'll make sure my friends don't either. I'll get them to leave you and your sister alone. Just please, stay away from me. I see your eyes in my nightmares. Isn't that enough for you?" Brian said. He was backing up.
"What happened with my eyes? What are you talking about?" Castiel pressed.
"I'm not crazy. The second they lit up, the window exploded. You looked at it and made it explode."
"What are you talking about? My eyes don't light up. The window, I didn't mean to do that, I'm sorry." Castiel said desperately.
"You did do it! What the hell are you?" Brian whimpered. "Please, Castiel, stay away from me."
"What did my eyes do?" Castiel said. "Please, just tell me what you're talking about. I promise I'll leave you alone."
Castiel was getting desperate. With all the other weird shit that had happened in his life, it wouldn't surprise him if something like this happened. He truly was beginning to wonder what he was. Maybe he wasn't human. The ringing in his ears began again and his head throbbed even harder. Pain suddenly shot through his shoulder blades. These days he always hurt, he always was in pain. He couldn't help it, he groaned out loud.
"What's wrong with you?" Brian asked. "You look sick."
"Please, what did they do?" He begged.
"They lit up, okay? They lit up, all freaky bright. Your eyes became white. Pure white. They almost glowed. I'm going to see them in my head until I die and looking into them made my head hurt. Now, please, leave me alone." Brian said, looking down at the ground.
Castiel nodded. "I'm sorry for hurting you." He whispered, almost doubling over.
Brian just nodded and took off running down the hallway. Castiel knew he had to leave. The pain was growing worse by the day and with this new revelation about his "glowing eyes" (which sounded ridiculous) he had to do something. He didn't know what, but he'd start by leaving school. He stumbled to the hallway door, relieved the school as empty because it was lunch. He darted off school property, fumbling for his cell phone. He dialed his mother's number.
"Hello?" She said. "Cas, why are you calling me in the middle of the day?"
"Mom. I'm sick. I feel like I'm going to die. My head, mom, it hurts so bad. My shoulders and my head." He whimpered. "Can you please come get me?"
"Honey, go to the nurse and take an Advil. It'll be okay."
"I can't, it hurts too much. Something is happening to me. Please come get me. I need to go to a hospital."
"No!" She said sharply. "Castiel, you do not need to go to a hospital. It's just a headache."
"I hurt every day, I'm sick. I need help. Please come pick me up." He said, almost sniveling. He knew he sounded like a baby right now, but his head was pounding and his body felt like it was being torn apart from the inside out.
"You know I can't leave work."
"Please mom. Why do you hate me so much? Why? I am in so much pain. If you won't take me to the hospital, please just come get me and take me home so I can go to bed."
She sighed, sounding resigned. "Castiel, I don't hate you. Go to the nurse. I'll come get you"
"I already left. I hurt too much. I feel so sick, please."
"Meet me at the McDonalds a block from your school." She said, her voice sounding annoyed, like Castiel was some kind of pest.
"Okay. Thank you." He hung up the phone, trying not to smart over the fact that she didn't say I love you when he asked her why she hated him.
I must be something awful. She must know.
He stumbled into the McDonalds and the pain in his shoulders intensified. He went to the bathroom, which thankfully was one stall only. He locked the door and stripped out of his shirt, determined to identify the source of the pain in his shoulders. Today they hurt more than they ever had.
He stared at himself in the mirror. He was scrawny and pale and looked the same as he always did. His shoulder throbbed and he turned to examine them. When he saw his bare back, he almost fainted.
"What the fuck?" He whispered.
His shoulders blades were completely black and blue, as if he'd been hit by a car. These injuries had not been there this morning. Nothing had happened to cause these injuries. The worst bruising was located in between his shoulder blades, about four inches below the top of his neck. Two identical bruises, both about as wide as his fist, sat parallel to each other on each side of his spine. They were ugly, a dark mixture of purple and black, with broken blood vessels evident through his pale skin. He touched one of them and gasped out in pain. They were swollen too. The area around the worst two bruises was a lighter purple, and the bruises looked almost feathery in texture. They extended all the way across his shoulder blades. He ran his finger over them and felt something strange. They felt… rough, not like his own skin.
"What's happening to me?" He whispered.
His cell phone rang, bringing him out of his trance. He gulped and put his shirt back on, eager to get home. As he walked out of the bathroom, a man's eyes slid across him. Castiel felt them, slithery and cold, like an eel. The man smiled at him, looking at him if he were a piece of meat.
"Hey there, little angel." The man said. He winked at him.
Castiel, too nervous about the bruises, didn't even look at him.
"My, my, I haven't seen something like you in ages…" The man started.
He was interrupted by Tina Milton, who was huffing and puffing like she'd run a marathon. She looked annoyed.
"Get away from my son, you old pervert!" She snapped. "Come on, Castiel."
"Now, now. Castiel, what a name. What a little angel you are." The man cooed, ignoring Tina Milton's stare.
Tina looked disgusted and just shot him another death glare and they walked out of the restaurant. Castiel's mind was reeling so much from the sudden appearance of the bruises and Brian's confession about his eyes, that he hardly noticed the way the man continued watching him. Castiel was sure that something terrible was happening to him. He didn't want to live to see what it was.
As soon as they were in the privacy of the car, he burst into tears. Tina Milton, who was usually completely put-together, her face a mask, actually looked stunned.
"Mom, what am I? What's happening to me? Please, just tell me." He blubbered. "Why won't you take me to the hospital? Why do I have bruises on my shoulders? Please, tell me. Mom, please."
Tina stiffened. "There, there, Castiel. Honey, don't worry. You're… you're going through puberty, is all. It's, um, it's different for everyone." She leaned in and gave him a stiff hug.
"Mom, why don't you like me? What did I ever do?" He sobbed into her expensive wool cardigan and she stiffened even more.
"Honey, Cas, baby. I love you. I like you. I just… Honey, I'm sorry. Let's go home, we'll talk there."
She pulled away and turned on the car. Castiel sat there, miserable.
"What do you mean, I'm going through puberty?" He whispered. "Mom, I'm almost 15. I'm almost done with it. What does that have to do with bruises? What does that have to do with me… well, everything about me? Why won't you ever take me to the doctor? I don't think I've ever been to a doctor."
"You are very healthy, son. You don't need to go to the doctor." She said awkwardly.
When they got home, Castiel noticed that his sister's car was there. He'd forgotten that she'd stayed home sick with a bad cold that day. He smiled feebly. At least they'd get to be sick together. The prospect of watching Maury with Anna was almost enough to make him forget about mystery bruises, glowing eyes and being an absolute freak of nature whose own mother couldn't stand him. His mother pulled up next to Anna's car, showing she intended to go back to work, and they walked around the back.
They stopped dead in their tracks.
The back door was table and chairs they kept out on the back deck for barbecues in the summer were knocked over and askew.
There were blood spatters along the white paint of the door.
Castiel could feel it in the air.
Something was very wrong.