Murder Feels Awful (An Empath Detective Mystery, Book 1)

Chapter 2

We stared for an eternity, watching the glider plummet. Willing it to pull up.

It sank out of sight behind the trees.

There was a distant, sickening crash.

I froze, but Ceci sprang to her feet and whipped out her phone.

"Where you going?" I said.

She was hustling off toward the crash with the phone to her ear. "I'm a nurse, remember? Stay with him and get his name. Gwen'll want a statement."

I protested, but she was already a hundred feet up the hill.

Leaving me alone. With this guy.

He was sitting on the rocky ground and resting against the tree. Eyes closed. Chilling, it seemed, like any tired hiker. Except that bloody scrapes lined the arm against the bark.

"It's all good, man," he said. "Just let me catch my breath and I'll be on my way."

"What just happened?" I said.

Eyes still closed, he shrugged. "It's not a big deal."

"Not a big deal?"

"I mean yes, if someone actually just died, that's a big deal, but I'm sorry I ran into you right when..." He growled in frustration and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "How the hell was I supposed to know?" He was grumbling more to himself than me. "I can't even take a hike in the fricking forest..."

All at once, the magnitude of what I had just witnessed exploded in my brain like a fireworks finale.

"Oh my gosh," I said. "You're an empath."

Wait, hold up.

You know what an empath is, right?

I guess you might not. I didn't know myself until I started hanging out with the crystal-and-incense crowd.

But I snuck in the definition right there in the book's subtitle. ;) An empath can feel other people's emotions.

I'd never thought I'd actually meet one.

He flashed me a sharp, angry glance, then heaved to his feet. "Don't know what you mean," he said. "Gotta go, kid. Go help your girlfriend."

He strode off down the mountain trail at warp speed.

I rushed after him. "She's not my girlfriend and you're an empath! Wow! This is amazing! I've read all about empaths! I wasn't even sure you guys were for real! My boss, Vivian, she's on the spectrum, she's a Highly Sensitive Person, but the most she's ever vibed is like, super general emotions! You know, if you're depressed or mad or bored or whatever, she can totally tell, even if you're trying to hide it. But she's got to be right there looking at the person. You just vibed someone from a plane! Holy crap! It's like your midiclorian count is off the charts!!"

Okay, I guess I gushed a little. I can get enthusiastic.

Looking back, maybe I could have kept a bit more due solemnitude, considering I'd just witnessed my first plane crash. I think I was partly coping, I didn't want to believe it yet. But I did want to believe in empathy, full-on Fox-Mulder-style, craving that invasion of the spiritual for real. I love my fellow birthstone believers and they're super sincere, but you can only see so much yoga before you wish someone would levitate already.

He was speed walking now, practically jogging. Pebbles were scattering. Without turning around, he said, "I don't know what the hell you're talking about."