Okay, I'm back! Sorry for the unplanned (not so) mini hiatus, this past week I've been literally drowning in homework. A 3 part major maths project and homework, English essay, science test, 2 social sciences document studies, health project, art homework and to top it off, 2 Italian tests and homework! Yeah, I'm a zombie now. Gods, I hate high school. Well, I wrote you guys an EXTRA long chapter to make up for it!

Also, apologies for all the italics in the Verity scenes. That was the best way to use emphasis. I may have slightly overdone it. . .

-Tom-

All his life, people had said that there was something wrong with Tom. Teachers, friends, classmates, relatives, but most especially his mother.

Tom stared out the window as rain stained the glass indigo and blue, completely in his own little world. What did reality matter when his dreams were so much more beautiful, and so much less lonely?

Voices called his names far away but he didn't hear them.

He watched the tiny flowers blooming on his desk and smiled.

Yes, his dreams were much better than real life.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

-Verity-

Verity swung around, fast. Tristan stood behind her with that stupid half smile he got when he thought he'd said something smart.

"What do you want, freak?" She snapped, trying to shake off the weird aura he was exuding.

"Hi to you too," he said. His voice sounded weird. His smile got even more stupid, if that was even possible. Then suddenly his face went all blank and serious.

Verity shuddered. "I said, what do you want?!"

"Just to talk," he leaned against the locker in a casual way that would have made her look cool, but just made him look like even more of a loser than he already was. "About stuff, you know, like maybe the weather, homework, the disappearing students. . . "

"What do you mean?" Verity attempted a cool yet civil tone. She failed as her cheek muscle twitched a little, betraying her. Dammit! She opted for a scowl.

"I know you're involved. . ."

No, no!

"And I know about Serena."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

-Tom-

Someone was saying his name.

"Tom. Tom? TOM!?" The voice sounded annoyed.

Tom turned towards the voice. It was Zack. "Hi Zack," he smiled.

Zack looked worried. "Tom, school's finished. It's time to go home. Also, you need to cut it out, your Gift's raining on my head." Tom looked up. Floating above Zack's head was a small grey cloud that spilled water which vanished just before it touched his head. "Tom, c'mon!" Zack pulled at his arm.

Tom frowned. He couldn't remember creating that cloud. His eyes became unfocused as he thought. Zack was dragging him out of the class but all Tom could think was that there were a lot of things he couldn't remember lately.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

-Verity-

NO! How could he know?! HOW?! Verity had no idea what was happening. "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about." She said coldly, but heard desperation leaking out the edges of her words.

"Oh, I think you understand very well what I said," Tristan smiled pleasantly. "I know all about Serena Siren. Your older sister, yes? You two hated each other for as long as you could remember, always rivals, always at each other's throats. She was always better, always right, always loved more, wasn't she, Verity? You despised her, your parent's Golden Girl. You wanted to be the best, you wanted control. She lied a lot. Your parents believed her over you. You wanted to be believed, you wanted truth. That's how you got your Gift, wasn't it? Because of her. The one you hated the most gave you the thing you value the most.

"That's why you both fear and love your Gift. Or is it?" He asked, as Verity's eyes betrayed the truth.

She knew what he was going to say, and she didn't want to hear it, didn't want to relive it. "Stop-" she began but he didn't seem to hear.

"What did you do, Verity?" he asked quietly. "What did you do with your Gift? Did you hate them so much, the ones who had hurt you? Did you tell them to go and never come back? Did you force your parents to leave, and then wonder why they never returned? Did you sit there waiting for them to come back? Did you cry when you finally realised they never would? Did you fear what you had done, hate and revile yourself and your Gift, when all your emotions finally came to the surface? Or did you put on a cold mask and say you didn't care? You just tried to get on with your life, trying to hide the pain of what you had done." His eyes filled with compassion and sympathy. "I know how it feels. The pain of something you thought was right, was justified. The way it comes back even years afterwards. The memory that never fades."

"NO!" Verity screamed. "NO! Just GO AWAY! I don't want your pity, JUST GET AWAY FROM ME!" she shuddered in horror as she was overcome with the memory of the worst time of her life.

He was right about everything, everything, but how could he know? About Serena, her gift, her parents?

"How . . .?" she whispered, not registering the fact that he hadn't left even after she ordered him to.

"How did I know?" He smiled sadly. "Do you remember after Alice was released from hospital and she joined the gifted class? She sat next to me, remember. For the first couple of weeks she just ignored me. She was still trying to be the Old Alice. Then she found out some things. And once she knew, she could never go back to the way she was. She just wanted to regain her mind, rebuild her life. 'But how?' she wondered. The doctors said there was nothing that could help her. Then she realised the answer had been sitting beside her for weeks. Me. I was a Healer, surely I could cure her. This is what she thought. So she started to be nice to me. At first it was just an act, but after a while I think she genuinely wanted to be friends."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Verity snapped irritably, trying to regain control of the conversation.

"Well, you see, friends tell each other stuff. And Alice liked telling me about the memories she picked up. There were some very interesting ones, actually. But the strangest ones, she told me, were the ones she got in the Gifted class. The ones she picked up from you."

It was Alice! Verity thought in disbelief. That wimpy cry-baby read my memories and told Tristan! When I see her again, I swear I'll –

Tristan cut off her thoughts before they got homicidally inclined. "But she didn't understand everything, you see. She only saw memories of you and your sister. It was lucky she even found out Serena's name. But she didn't connect it to your Gift. It seemed unimportant to her, an awful older sister. But something about it stuck with me. And do you remember what Madame was talking about in class on the day Joy disappeared?"

"Why would I care about that?!"

"It's how I started to figure out you were involved. Madame was telling us to be on the lookout for someone who had been threatening her other students. She cut herself off in the middle to tell Lola to pay attention, but she said to look out for 'a woman named Sere-" How many girls names start with SERE? In fact, she was about to say Serena, wasn't she?"

"That's why you think I'm involved?" Verity sneered. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!"

"Please, give me a little more credit than that," said Tristan. "Besides the fact you were acting weirdly ever since Joy vanished, Alice told me that when Madame was talking you were thinking about your sister. And when she asked you how you got your Gift. Coincidence? I think not."

"That doesn't prove ANYTHING!" Verity was starting to panic. Everything was spinning out of control, everything was wrong. No one was supposed to know! She said no one would find out! She took a deep breath. I need to calm down. It's okay. I know what to do.

Collecting herself, she turned to the raven-haired Healer. "You will not remember anything we discussed. All memories regarding me in relation with Serena and my parents will be erased from your mind. You will stay silent and do exactly what I say. You will come with me without resistance." Satisfied that she had cleaned up this mess, she turned to leave, when Tristan's voice stopped her in her tracks.

"No."

"What did you just say?"

"I said No. Did you really think you had that much power over others, Verity Siren?" He asked pityingly, mockingly.

And with that he sauntered off as though he didn't have a care in the world.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

-Zack-

Tom was acting really strange and as his one-and-only best friend, Zack was very worried about him. There was only one thing to do. He had to talk to Tom's parents.

Zack gulped. It wasn't that Mrs Jones scared him, it was more like . . . intimidation, maybe? No, that didn't sound right, he thought, shaking his head. Well, whatever it was, he did NOT like it.

It was this feeling he got from her. He knew she thought he was a Freak (with a capital F). She thought the Gifted class was a nice name for the Troubled Kids class. And since she knew he was in the Gifted class . . . well she thought he was crazy or something probably.

Or maybe she just knows about your past . . . a little voice whispered in his head.

No, he thought, there was no way she knew. Only Madame and his Aunty and Uncle knew, and they would never tell anyone about his time on the streets. Why does that always come back to haunt me?

They reached the front of the school and Zack pulled a spaced-out Tom down the stairs, reflecting on how much easier life would be if he didn't have to keep his gift secret.

A familiar green car waited in the drop-off-pick-up zone. The two Gifted students headed towards it. "Hey Mr Jones, hi Audrey!" Zack said cheerfully, hopping into the car and yanking Tom in too when he just stood there.

Audrey's excited squeals covered Mr Jones's reply. "Zacky! Tommy!" Zack grinned at Dree's tendency to add a Y to the end of everyone's names.

"Let's go then, kids," Mr Jones smiled cheerfully, starting the car.

"Let's go!" Audrey cheered with the enthusiasm only an eight year old can have.

Zack glanced over at Tom grinning, then blanched. Oh crap, he thought seeing tiny sparkles drifting off his friend. He elbowed Tom in the ribs.

The sparkles abruptly vanished and Tom blinked. "Oh yeah, let's go home!" he said happily. Zack was relieved to see Tom acting like his usual self again, and he felt the good mood infect him too.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ding Dong! Ding Dong! The doorbell rang at the Jones's house. It was five thirty.

In the garden Zack stood up and stretched. "Guess I should go then. My aunt and uncle said to be home before 6."

Tom looked up from the grass where he was sitting with Audrey, who they had been entertaining with their gifts. "Yeah, we should go in now too, Dree," he pulled his sister up.

They went into the house where Mrs Jones was calling for them. "Tom, it's time for Zack to be going!" And you have a visitor!"

"A visitor?" Zack asked.

Tom just shrugged. They went to the front door. Tom's parents were constantly mystified by the fact Zack insisted on walking home every time he came over despite the fact he lived a fair distance away.

At the front door was a blonde woman, talking to Tom's mother.

Zack waited for a break in the conversation and said politely "Thank you for having me over Mrs Jones. I'd better get going now."

He started out the door, and when he rounded the corner he shimmered, then vanished.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

-Tom-

Tom sighed. She was here again. His psychologist had recommended hypnotherapy to his mother and now every second evening this lady had been coming to hypnotise him to 'help him get over his delusions'. He knew something as small as hypnotism would never get rid of his gift. But he also knew his gift upset his mother, so he continued the sessions to please her.

After the sessions, though, his head got all dizzy and he kept forgetting stuff.

Tom really didn't like hypnotherapy.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At seven o'clock Mr and Mrs Jones and their daughter found themselves sitting on the couch watching television with no recollection of the past one and a half hours and the odd feeling that someone was missing.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

WOW, this chapter is definitely long, double the normal length! As promised this is a Tom chapter so you get his profile!

Tom Jones-

Messy black hair, hazel eyes, shortish, shy, patient, dreamy, pretty, compassionate, spacey, loyal, kind, has his head in the clouds. Constantly spacey, unconsciously uses his gift, daydreamer, could be smart but is too busy dreaming to pay attention in class. Family- Mum, dad and 8year old sister Audrey. His father is generally accepting of Tom, his little sister adores him and loves to play games with him and his mother believes his gift is a 'delusion' and wishes he was normal.

Likes- Audrey, Zack, His parents, playing games, his gift, daydreaming, strawberries, origami

Dislikes- Studying, upsetting his parents, Hypnotherapy, cucumber

When Tom was little his parents worked a lot and he was often left to his own devices. His favourite time of day was in the evenings when his mum would read him faerie tales and stories of magic and adventure. He would fall asleep at night thinking about those stories and spend all day waiting to hear another one. Eventually the magical beings he dreamed of, wished to be real with all his heart began to appear as shadows. The more faerie tales he heard, the more he wished they were real, and so the shadowy figure slowly solidified until one day five year old Tom's gift became real. He could create his dreams and imaginings as solid figures or illusions; he could bring life to his toys and other inanimate objects just like in his stories.

Tom had always been a quiet, dreamy boy, off in his own little world where he would retreat to hide from the loneliness. When his gift fully developed he spent more and more time this way, distressing and alarming his mother, who was never able to see her son's gift.

Tom's only friend is Zack, who he first met when, on Zack's first day at school, Zack had used a pin to punch holes in Tom's unopened bottle of water so when he opened it water sprayed everywhere. Zack is the first person Tom truly trusted and opened up to. The only other person is his sister Audrey who loves his gift, even if she doesn't understand it. She likes to play with him because she says "Tommy plays the best games". It's because his gift brings to life the make believe games they play.

Tom's illusions and creations never last long, because he usually loses focus and turns his attention elsewhere. One of his favourite pastimes is to make origami animals, especially cranes, and breathing temporary life into them.

Miki, out!