Emma is a skittish, withdrawn individual due to a trauma that happened when she was twelve. She has a hard time trusting people and prefers to keep to herself or confer with the spirits instead. At least with them she knows they can’t her, not in the way people can. All of this makes it hard for Emma to be in a crowded room, mainly because people terrify her so much.
Emma has anxiety issues. Her panic attacks can be intense, making her lock up, have trouble breathing, and even fall to the ground from dizzy spells. She hates having them, and what’s worse she hates when people try to help when she has them. It’s not that she’s so much embarrassed by them, but when people start crowding her, it only makes the anxiety worse.
Despite her intense fear of people, Emma has a big heart. Knowing what it’s like to suffer, she hates to see others hurting or in pain. If a spirit is conjured or earthbound, Emma will let them use her as their voice. It’s the only time she speaks, but it’s never her voice, only the spirit who’s using her as a telephone to the mortal world.
Emma carries two knives with her everywhere. One is for protection, the other is for personal use. When the weight of the world becomes too much or she needs the pain inside to go away she often cuts herself. This is pretty much why most of her wardrobe is mainly long sleeved shirts and baggy pants. Not only does it help hide the scars in her chest and stomach, but it helps to conceal the self-inflicted wounds. It helps so that people don’t notice, but people don’t offer see her unless she’s acting as a medium anyways.
Emma is cautious in all things. She has no desire to be found by her uncle who has no problems exploiting her powers for money. It always makes her feel guilty and she wants no part of it.
Emma still has her moments of shyness. She still cuts herself as well, but over the last year, thanks mostly to Sastre and her spirit friend Julien, Emma has become a bit more self assured. She still has a long way to go, but she's realized that being a hunter will give her purpose. The once timid, shy girl who had panic attacks around large groups of people can still fall on her old bad habits, though she's trying hard to work through them. She's stubborn and determined to be strong enough to take care of herself and help others as well.
Emma Lee Martin was born to Jack and Alice Martin on a warm, sunny day on July fourth. It was the prefect beach day and the Martin family had decided to go to the beach to celebrate independence day. Though Emma’s older brother Peter was adamant the baby was coming that day, his parents decided to take him anyways. It made him a little angry that they didn’t listen to him and then they had to leave the festivities. Though Peter wished his mother would have listened he couldn’t have been happier that his little sister was now a part of the family.
The entire family resided in Cassadega, Florida. A family of psychic’s that lived in town full of them. Growing up in a psychic community was a unique experience. Some were real, others weren’t. It was a lifestyle, but it made it hard for the kids to get away with anything. Sometimes the adults would let them slide, just for the sheer entertainment of it, though the kids didn’t need to know. Besides there were times when it was much more fun to watch them squirm.
Jack, like his son Peter, knew certain things and could catch glimpses of the past, present and future. Alice used tarot cards and runes to find answers for herself and others. She often said she did not read the cards so much as they spoke to her.
Emma had no powers. It was often frustrating being the only one in her family who was normal, well besides her Uncle Jed. He didn’t have any powers either. Jed tried to be a faker, but he wasn’t any good at it. He was always trying to get more money from the clients, and most of the people, even the fakers were doing this to offer closure and help people find their way. Jed was just greedy. The type who was always trying to the get rich quick schemes. Emma never really liked him being around for long periods of times. He always seemed sorta creepy.
Emma and Peter and all the other kids from Cassadega were a tight knit group. Especially ins chool. They were considered weird, outcasts, and misfits because they were from Cassadaga. That was okay though. Emma and the others knew more than most and they had each other. That was good enough for them.
In a town full of psychics one would think that it would be easy to see tragedy coming. Yet no one foresaw a nefarious evil slipping into the Martin’s house one night while twelve year old Emma and fourteen year old Peter slept in their beds. Jack and Alice were still downstairs, having some late night quiet time while the kids slept.
Emma doesn’t know what happened, at least not in the beginning. There was a loud boom that woke Peter and Emma. They ran from their rooms, Emma clinging to her brother as fear gripped her. They called for their parents, but there was no answer. Peter wanted Emma to stay in upstairs while he went down to check things out, but there was no way she was letting him go down there alone.
They started walking down the stairs when Peter paled and almost collapsed. It was all Emma could do to hold him up right while she asked what he had seen. He wouldn’t tell her. He just grabbed her hand when he’d gained her bearings and tried dragging her up the stairs.
The twelve year old girl was terrified and confused. She didn’t fight him though. Emma trusted Peter more than anyone, but before they could get anywhere, there was another boom. Warm blood sprayed Emma’s face and she stood there, breathing heavily, in shock as her brother crumpled on the stairs. Her mother was standing at the bottom, a gun in her hand.
Emma looked from her brother’s lifeless body on the stairs to her mother, screaming and crying, having no idea what was going on. All she could do was ask why.
In response her mother shot her three times.
Emma woke three months later in the hospital. Her entire family was dead, save Uncle Jed who was now her sole guardian. The only reason Emma had survived was because a healer in town and gotten to her, holding death off until the doctors were able to do it themselves.
From the moment Emma woke up she couldn’t speak. She could see spirits walking around the hospital. It was a shock to the senses. The doctors thought she couldn’t speak because of the trauma, but the her friends from Cassadega knew better. Emma had come into her powers, and with it, she had lost her voice. A spirit slipped into her while she was in the hospital, they spoke in their own voice, and scared the bejesus out of the doctor.
The police called the incident a murder suicide, though the people from Cassadaga swear that it was some nefarious evil that had managed to make its way into the house. Eventually Emma was well enough to go home, and her Uncle Jed made her stay at her parent’s house. She hated it there, and most thought it wasn’t right, but he was her guardian.
He also made sure that the money that Emma’s parents had saved up over the years was quickly diminished. Knowing about Emma’s new found powers he pulled her out of school and put her into a homeschooling program so that she could work more than she could do anything else. Emma hated it, taking money from people like that. Uncle Jed didn’t give her much choice though.
Emma became withdrawn to the point where her only friend was Josh, a spirit she had met the hospital. While no one else could hear her, Josh could hear her thoughts. All the spirits could. They were the only ones she could converse with. Still, people were worried about her and it made Uncle Jed worry that they would do something to take his meal ticket away – especially after Emma collapsed from exhaustion from working so hard.
Uncle Jed decided it was time to split. He packed them up and took Emma’s talents on the roads. They went to carnivals, fairs, festivals, anywhere someone needed a psychic medium. Emma’s homeschooling basically became nil and all she could do was read whatever she could get her hands on. Though Uncle Jed didn’t much like that and if he caught her he’d take the books away, tossing them. He wanted to have complete control over the girl. She was after all, the money maker.
Eventually Emma became so well known that Jed was able to start getting her private clients who were willing to pay more for one on one session’s. Though she was still uncomfortable, Emma preferred the one on one sessions as opposed to being in the crowded festivals. It helped with her anxiety, which she had since she woke up in the hospital.
It was mostly Josh that kept her sane though. Although it wasn’t enough. Jed was spending money as fast and Emma was making it. The world was upside down and it had been spinning out of control for a long while now. She had started cutting herself to cope with it, but eventually that wasn’t enough either.
She just couldn’t take it anymore.
That was when Emma took off. She ran and for the last year she’s been hiding out on the streets, trying to stay under the radar and away from Uncle’s greedy clutches.
Even though Emma is nineteen now she still tries to stay under the radar due to the fact that her uncle has been searching for her. Technically he is still in control of her assets, claiming to the authorities that Emma is a traumatized young woman. She knows when he catches up with her, he'll either make Emma do what he wants, or try and have her committed until she complies with his wishes.
In Emma's opinion, it's better to stay gone.
After Sastre found Emma cold and sick in the woods, he somewhat took the girl under his wing. For the last year she has been training ruthlessly, not only her body but her mind. Her uncle is still searching for her, still wanting Emma as a meal ticket. As time goes on though, the world has stopped putting Emma in the limelight as the kidnapped or lost medium. She's done well hiding herself, but she's still scared that one day her uncle will find her and put her under his reign again.
While training with Sastre some new powers have come to light. Not only can ghosts hear Emma, but demons and angels, and really anything in supernatural origin. The only species that apparently can't hear her is normal, mundane humans. Psychics, witches, anything supernatural in origin can hear her thoughts. This makes it easier for her to do exorcisms. Emma is also more able to forcefully evict an unwanted spirit from her body if they try to spend to long inside her. However if she becomes possessed it is much harder to expel the demon from her body.
Emma Lee Martin, Medium - kinda
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