A/N: I wrote this for an english essay a while ago and finally got around to putting it on fanfiction. I thought of making it a serries but decided that it would be to much like Borrowed Wings so there will be no sequal.

Enjoy.

Accursed Gift

'She never wanted to be alone.'

I stared at the words in annoyance and then screwed up the paper and threw it over my shoulder in the vain hope that it would somehow go in the bin; and that the bin had magically been emptied when I wasn't looking. Stupid start for a story anyway. I'd have to write it eventually but right then I really couldn't be bothered. Besides it was far too close to the truth.

The snow fell silently outside my window, coating the garden in a shroud of white. Picturesque. A complete opposite to everything else in my life. A blizzard would more accurately picture my mood, or maybe a tropical storm. I smiled darkly as I imagined the stupid swing being picked up by a tornado and thrown around the garden. I used to play on that, back when I had friends, back when I thought I had friends.

I got up from my desk and surveyed my room, noting with indifference that the paper hadn't reached the bin. It, and a dozen other things. I rooted around for a sweater, eventually finding one in a ball of laundry at the end of my bed. My room's not untidy no matter what my mum says. I know just where everything is, most of the time.

I stalked down the stairs. I could hear mum clattering around in the kitchen but didn't care. She was hardly ever home anyway, off at work or with one of her boyfriends. Why don't they just leave us alone? I shrugged on my white anorak and opened the back door.

"Jessie," my mum called. Well it wasn't like I was making an effort to be quiet, though I am surprised she even noticed me. She usually doesn't.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Out!" I yelled back. Actually I had no idea where I was going; I just didn't want to be home. Stupid boring home. I ploughed my way through the garden, ignoring the robin twittering from the bushes and my mum yelling after me. Probably about not walking on the grass, as if I could even see it.

I wrenched open the back gate, it hasn't opened properly in years anyway, and trudged through the field out back. I should be out with friends, if I had friends, if I wanted friends, which I don't. I didn't even know why I was out, the house would be warmer; I didn't turn back though.

I probably take too many walks but at least I can be on my own without the crushing silence of the house pressing down on me. Mum doesn't care, for all her pretence over worrying about the times when I come back late there are ten others which she never knew about, was never there to see. I don't know why she's worried, it's not like I'm going out clubbing, not that there is one around here, and it's not like I have anyone to go with anyway.

I followed a path under the trees; they didn't offer much in the way of protection but it was better than nothing, I think the snow was stopping but the wind was still biting. I cleared a clump of bushes and groaned inwardly as I spotted Michael and his cronies leaning on a gate. Great, this was retribution for wishing I had someone to be with.

"Hey Jessie!" he cried boorishly. "Watch ya' doing?"

"Nothing much," I replied curtly lengthening my stride, maybe if I was fast enough I could get past before…

"Where you rushing to?" he asked standing up. Damn it. Now I'd have to talk to them.

"Nowhere in particular," I said coming to a stop. Michael's cronies were grinning widely, just waiting for today's entertainment to begin. I hated them. They were why no one would talk to me at school, one of the reasons; amazingly some people actually liked these jerks.

"Won't mind staying with us for a while then," he told me, knowing full well that I'd rather be doing anything than talking to them.

"No thanks," I said with a stretched smile, biting back the, 'I'd rather be stabbed'. I turned to go and he grabbed my wrist.

"It wasn't a question," he said leering at me. I wrenched my wrist out of his grasp and he pushed me in retaliation. I slipped on the icy ground and fell in the snow and mud.

"Aw," he said in mock sympathy. "Is Jessie getting messy?" I looked daggers at him and then kicked out, taking him by surprise and knocking his feet out from under him. He fell with a splat, covering his face and fancy coat in mud.

I smiled viciously then saw his cronies starting to come over. Damn it. I remembered the last time this had happened, I'd walked with a limp for two weeks. I scrabbled to my feet, trying to gain purchase on the mud, and started running. Tearing across the field and taking the first gap into the small wood. I didn't stop until the sound of them crashing through the trees had faded into the distance.

I leant against a tree and tried to catch my breath, straining to hear any sound of pursuit. I was so going to pay for that stunt at school tomorrow but for now I was safe. I looked round to check that. Nothing. I couldn't hear anything either. I wiped my hands on my jacket to try and get rid of some of the mud, didn't do much though as my jacket was completely covered in it.

I groaned, there was no way I could hide this from my mum. Maybe if I waited till she went out, but after me storming out she would probably wait until I got back, and then there'd be questions. Like she cared. If she did she would have fixed this long ago.

They'd always hated me, always. I could count the number of friends I've had on one hand; one of them had moved away and the other two betrayed me for popular people soon after. So that just left me all alone, prey to any bully who wanted to make himself look big, Michael was just one of them, another face in a sea of vicious people.

I realised in annoyance that I had tears in my eyes and wiped them away in anger. There was nothing to be gained from self pity, I know I've tried, I just wished... I just wished I had a friend; hell, I'd settle for someone who didn't hate me.

A twig snapped behind me and I whirled, Michael's cronies weren't exactly known for being stealthy but I wasn't going to take the risk. A man in a thick brown jacket pulled over one of those lab coats that my science teacher is always wearing, was standing a few feet away.

"Hi," he said, as if he knew me. "Jessie isn't it?"

"How do you know my name?" I asked, eyeing him warily. "Who are you?"

"Just a friend," he said in a comforting tone. My eyes narrowed, like I'd believe him, how old did he think I was, six? "I'm here to offer you something," he continued.

I should really have left at this point, I'd heard enough about stalkers and the like, but my curiosity was piqued so I asked. "What?" Trying not to sound too interested.

"Something that will make you amazing beyond belief," he said, still smiling. "Those bullies, they won't just leave you alone, they'll be in awe. There won't be a single person that doesn't look up to you."

I looked at him in shock and fought to keep the emotions off my face, shaking off the image of me standing in the centre of an adoring mob. He couldn't be serious, could he? Me special? It was beyond belief. I'd stopped believing my mum when she told me I was special when I was eight. Hell, I envied the average people. Could he really just make me amazing, make me liked.

"So how are you going to achieve this miracle?" I asked cynically, I couldn't show that I was excited; he'd jack up the price, whatever that was. "Wave your magic wand."

"Nothing so melodramatic," he said with a wry smile. He reached into his coat pocket and took out a syringe. "Just with this."

I took an involuntary step back, raising my hands defensively. "Okay, back off mister," I said warningly. No way was he coming anywhere near me with that, who knew what could be in it.

"Relax, Jessie." He never did explain how he knew my name. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"Yeah, and I'm not going to trust a guy waving around a syringe," I shot back.

"I'm offering you a gift, Jessie," he said sounding slightly offended, I even felt guilty for a moment. "It's your choice. You can just walk away, go back to your home, and be normal. Never knowing what you missed. What you could have had."

I scowled at him. He made it sound like I didn't have a life. Well, what did he know? I have… I might have friends. I have a mum who's always... sometimes there for me. More often than not she isn't. But I'm not going to throw it all away for the vain promise of glory; of being liked.

"Hell!" I swore and stuck out my arm. I didn't have anything to throw away anyway. He was probably just a dealer trying to get me hooked but it's nice to have some hope, just for a little while.

"Get jabbing before I change my mind," I growled and he obliged.

I looked away as the needle went in, too late to change my mind now, and just tried to ignore it. I don't see how anyone can be 'fine' with injections.

"Well?" I demanded when he'd taken it out.

"Just wait," he said calmly putting the empty syringe away.

"I don't feel any different…" I began, then something hit me like a hammer blow and I collapsed, unconscious before I even hit the ground.

He watched her fall with interest. Odd that it had taken so long. Maybe it was a good sign. He motioned to the two guys standing silently behind her and began to walk away, leaving her convulsing in the snow. She never had any choice really but he had a theory it worked better if they agreed to the injection. He hoped that this one would survive. She seemed so promising, real fire, not like the other outcasts. Maybe, if she had the will she would.

He'd just have to wait and see.