Erica wanted to hug the girl and tell her that everything was going to be okay. She had no idea why but she felt like she needed to protect her. It wasn’t like Erica to be that nurturing but seeing her in the cage had sparked something inside of her. She looked over to Derek as Summer explained what being an empath meant but then turned back when she mentioned controlling emotions. Did that mean..?
She took a step back from her as Derek voiced the concern that she was just thinking “But if we decide to trust you, how do we know that you aren’t making us do so? How do we know that Erica isn’t being controlled by you right now because being friendly isn’t exactly in her nature.”
Summer swallowed hard. Their fear reached out and tapped at all the aching places inside of her, familiar and hurtful; the same reaction that everyone had when they knew what she was. Staring at the floor, she closed her eyes and said, voice raw, “If you still feel the same way when I’m asleep it’s yours. Even if you don’t believe me now. I promise — I swear. I don’t do those things.”
Erica spun around to Derek. “I believe her. I don’t need to sleep on it to know that she isn’t controlling me. Derek, you know that locking her up wasn’t right and I am disappointed that you let Peter talk you into doing this.” She was ‘mom’-ing him right now because she felt like it would be the best way for him to realise what he did. “Now Summer, we should get you upstairs for some water or food.”
Both men seemed to be reduced to simply gaping as Erica bustled Summer across the room and up the stairs. She could feel the faint tremors of both lack of food and too much emotional intake starting in her bones. “How did you do that?” she asked, finally. “You just ran right over them … “