Janice parked in front of a well groomed house. Even though it was a little farther from the downtown area, Serenia thought she might like living here, but she instantly regretted that thought, because she missed her dad.
She looked at Janice, "Will I be able to see my dad?"
Janice hesitated, "Yes...but there won't be any physical contact."
Tears came to Serenia's eyes, but she gulped them down and grabbed her bags. Janice knocked on the door loudly and with authority.
A middle-aged woman answered the door. She was plump with beady eyes, and a fake friendly smile. Serenia stood in front of the door, not willing to go any further.
"Come in, come in!" the woman said in a scratchy voice. It sounded like she had been smoking for years.
Serenia slowly entered the house at Janice's prodding. The house looked as beautiful inside as out, but there was something off about this woman that made Serenia want to run back to Janice's convertible.
"My name is Janette. Let me show you to your room."
"Well, I am going to go. If you need me, just call."
Serenia held onto the card as if it was a lifeline. Janette led her down the stairs to the basement.
Serenia heard the sound of something leaking, and she felt the chill of a draft. Goosebumps rose on her arms as she walked deeper into the basement.
She had always been afraid of the dark, and that is what she told Janette.
"You will get used to it." Janette shrugged her shoulders.
The basement was small and damp. There was a couch with one blanket on it. Across from it, there was a washer and dryer.
There was not even a window. Serenia missed her dad, now more than ever. He would have never allowed her to live under such conditions.
Janette left her to unpack her things, "Dinner is in one hour, you better wash up."
Serenia looked at the couch and put her bags on it. There was a bathroom with a light bulb hanging down. She quickly showered and ran upstairs. She sat down.
"What are you doing? You need to get everyone's dinner for them, and then, while we eat, you clean up the kitchen."
Serenia was confused as Jaentte's husband and son ran down the stairs. Janette glared at her and pointed to the kitchen angrily.
Serenia went to the kitchen, still confused, but she did as she was told and prepared everyone's meal.
She was briefly introduced to Brad, her husband, and Josh, her son, before she was forced back into the kitchen.
Not long after they had eaten, they all retired to the living room to watch T.V., and Serenia was left alone to eat her meager meal.
When she was done, she cleaned her dishes and went downstairs to her room, never feeling more alone in her life.
She sat on the couch and looked at the family album she had brought from home. Surely the court had called her mother to let her know what was going on. It did not take Serenia very long to figure out the truth-her mother didn't want her, either...

The next morning, Serenia opened her eyes to see a case worker by her side. She seemed friendly enough. She was thin with red hair and green eyes. She gave a friendly smile and looked at her, "I have some good news. You are on your way out of the hospital and into a new family."
"But...I don't want a new family." Serenia stammered.
"I understand...undergoing major changes in your life can be very difficult, but this is a good change and a good family who won't hurt you."
Serenia slowly nodded. She was sure that they were a good family, but all she wanted was her father back.
The case worker's name, Serenia found out soon enough, was Janice. Janice left, so Serenia would have privacy to get dressed.
Serenia sighed as she got dressed and followed Janice to her red convertible. They drove for ten minutes, and the whole time, Janice was talking her ear off.
"You know, you're lucky. In most situations, you would have to move out of town when it's this small..."

Paul sighed as he laid on the hard bed. He tried to tell them the truth-that he didn't know what happened to his daughter, but of course, he was looked at as the abusive father.
He had known what they would think, but he could not sit there to hear and watch his baby girl in pain.
She is not a baby girl anymore, he reminded himself. He wondered if she could get him out of this hell hole, but those thoughts quickly left hims mind. No one was going to believe her, either. He might as well get used to it here and pray to God that his daughter was alright...

James snuck back through his window and breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that his dad had not woken up. What was he thinking, trying to tell Serenia what his dad was? Not even he knew. It was like his dad was a demonic human, who seemed to much of the "unnatural."
Serenia would never understand. Even the psychiatrists would give up.
James sighed as he laid down and stared up at the ceiling. He wondered what tomorrow might bring. He wished that this was all just a nightmare that he would soon wake up from, even though he knew it wasn't...

Serenia struggled to wake herself up, because she knew she must be dreaming. Faces-twenty faces-looking at her, pleading with her.
"Save yourself." one girl said.
"Help us." another one said.
"You don't belong here." a girl touched her with an icy cold hand, and Serenia screamed as she backed away from her.
The girls surrounded her. They all had blue faces, and they were frozen. They also bore the expression of pain and sorrow.
Serenia screamed once again as she woke up in sweat. A doctor was by her side, "You're okay, you're safe." he tried to be reassuring, but Serenia knew that they were just words to something he knew nothing about.
Serenia slowly laid back as the doctor once again injected something into her blood stream. Soon, her eyelids became heavy, and she returned to the nightmare world that she had just came from.

James snuck out of the house, but then he hesitated. Maybe he shouldn't risk it. If his father found out, then Serenia would be even worse.
But, at the same time, his heart ached to see Serenia. He had to make sure that she would be okay.
He walked into the hospital, and it was not hard to find sneak past the one lady at the front desk.
He was even able to sneak past security as he checked each room up. It did not take him long to find Serenia.
He silently put the flowers that he picked from various gardens on the way, on the desk beside her bed.
Serenia's eyes flew open.
"Shhh..." James put a finger to her lips before Serenia could speak too loudly.
Serenia sat up and lightly held her head as she hissed through her teeth, "What are you doing here?" she whispered.
"I had to see you," there was curiosity in her eyes, so he quickly continued, "I cannot explain why, but I will say this to you-you need to get better for your dad...and for me."
Quick understanding came to Serenia's eyes, but at first, she did not speak. Then she saw the flowers, "Are these...for me?"
"Yes." James lightly smiled as he grabbed one of the flowers so she could sniff it.
She smelled it deeply, and then laid back against the pillows, content. Her smile quickly turned into a frown, "You know what happened to my dad..."
"Yes." James said quietly.
"We have to tell them the truth." Serenia said. There was a fire in her eyes that James had never seen before.
"We can't!" he said too quickly, and her head snapped toward him, and she looked at him accusingly.
"Why not?!"
"Because...my dad...he's not natural...he's..."
"Hey, what are you doing in here?!"
James sighed in frustration, "Just leaving." he looked at Serenia with an apologetic look before turning back to the guard.
"Damn right, you are!" the guard growled as he grabbed James' shirt and pushed him out the door.
Serenia thought about what James had said. The words, "He's not natural...." rang in her head, and those were the words she fell asleep to...

She woke up to a bright light. She almost thought she was in heaven, until she saw the doctor standing over her.
"She's awake, but don't stress her out. She could go back into a coma."
A coma? "How long-" she asked through dry lips.
"Just two days." the doctor said as if it was nothing and then walked away.
The next thing Serenia noticed was a woman's hands touching her own. She jerked her hands, and the woman seemed slightly taken aback, but then she lightly smiled.
"Who are you?" Serenia croaked.
"Here, dear," the lady handed her water with a straw in it, "My name is Rosalie Frank. I am a psychiatrist." She said rather bluntly.
Serenia froze and looked at the properly dressed woman sitting next to her, "My dad thought a shrink would help me in this situation?"
"Actually," Rosalie said with calm reserve, "Your father has no say in the matter. He...is being held behind bars until we clean up this matter," then she grabbed my hand again, "Don't worry, sweetheart, he will never hurt you again."
Once again, Serenia jerked her hand free from Rosalie, "What the hell are you talking about?"
"He can't hurt you. The doctor saw the scars on your back and-"
"He didn't see anything!" Serenia felt her body tense, and all of a sudden, her body was twitching, and her eyes were rolling into the back of her head.
Serenia could hear sirens and beepers going off in the distance, and she knew the doctor was in the room, because she could hear him in the distance, too, yelling for the psychiatrist to get out.
She felt a light pinch in her arm, and the world went black...

Serenia finally exhaled a sigh of relief when Larry left. She, of course, had spoken the truth, but she could see in his eyes that he did not believe her. What would be the price she would have to pay for his unbelief.
She didn't want to think about it. She didn't have long to not thing about it, because she felt the sudden burning sensation that brought her to her knees, sobbing and begging. She screamed as the blood ran down her back, and she started twitching on the floor.
Her dad ran into the room, and that was the last thing she remembered before passing out...

James had found out more than he thought he would be able to. The book had talked about psychic connections between people's minds. Some of it was a psychic connection, but not all of it.

The next section of the book talked about the connections of minds with siblings. James paused, even though he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he didn't have a sibling.

The book went on to say that this didn't always apply to siblings. Sometimes, it was just a connection between strangers. Out of all the random connections between people, 90% of them got married and never got divorced.

James made a disgusted noise and closed the book, not ready to think about love. But not long after he closed the book, he thought about how beautiful Serenia was. He stayed in that dreamlike daze for about ten minutes before his father came crashing into the library. 

"There you are! I have been looking all over for you, boy!" his father grabbed his arm roughly.

"Shh!" the librarian hissed harshly, "This is a library!"

Larry glared at the librarian as he dragged his son to the truck, "I knew you were keeping something from me! That girl is an ice skater!" 

James lightly gasped, but turned away, so his dad wouldn't see his face, "I...I didn't know that." 

"Don't lie to me, you devil!" his dad roared angrily.

There was no arguing now. His dad believed James knew, and he was going to pay for it. James flinched, not for his future pain, but for the scars that would show up, unexplained, on Serenia's back...

He started to grow impatient. He came home from work early, because he knew that his son was probably with that little whore.
He paced back and forth and stared at his kitchen clock that went from 3:05 to 3:10 to 3:15. It was 3:45 p.m when his face turned really red, and he realized that his son couldn't even be reliable enough to take the bus home.
When he was working, his son knew to take the bus. He stomped out of the house and slammed the door to his truck.
He drove to the school, but he noticed that it was completely empty. Still, he parked his truck on the chance that James was hiding from him.
He looked throughout the hallways of the school and did not find him.
He growled in anger and hurried to the truck. Everyone knew where this new girl lived, because it was a small town, and he smirked as he drove to the residence of Paul Johnson.
He got out of the truck, stomped up the front door, and pounded on the door. Paul cheerfully answered the door.
He looked at Paul and was slightly taken aback, but he quickly regained his composure, "Where is my son?" he asked in a gruff voice.
"Your son?" Paul's smile slowly turned into a frown of concentration.
He lost his patience and pushed Paul out of the way as he entered his home.
"Hey, wait, aren't you the manager of the supermarket?'
That caused him to pause, "You know who I am?"
"Yeah, isn't it Larry G...Oh, what is the last name?" Paul thought to himself, "Gilmore! There we go!" Paul looked at him.
Larry silently cursed himself, along with the name tag he was advised to wear at work. He calmed himself down and slowly turned to face Paul, "Yes, I am terribly sorry to barge in like this, but I am worried about my son. Is it okay if we check with your daughter, because I know they hang out together."
"Yeah, sure!" Paul said as they started walking up the stairs, "That's funny. I haven't heard Serenia mention a boy from school."
"She's probably too busy.' Larry said too quickly, but Paul didn't seem to notice.
"You're probably right-with homework and ice skating, she doesn't have enough time to talk to her old man like she used to. They grow up too fast." they reached the top of the stairs.
Larry's ears perked up at the word ice skating. He knew that devil of a son was hiding something from him, "She ice skates? Is she any good?"
Paul lightly laughed, "Not yet, but she will with more practice." he knocked on his daughter's door.
As his daughter's soft voice bade him to enter, Paul opened the door, and Larry looked inside, "Honey Mr. Gilmore is looking for his son...um..." Paul looked at him for help.
"James." Larry finished.
Recognition filled Serenia's eyes, and she lightly gasped, "No, I...I haven't seen him since this afternoon."
Larry looked at Serenia's face. She's lying, he thought. it took all of his strength not to go in there, hold her by the throat, and demand her to tell him where his damn son was. But Larry knew that even though Paul looked like a pansy at this moment, he would not let any harm come to his daughter.
Larry calmed himself by remind himself that that there would be plenty of time for that later-preferably when she was better at ice skating.
Serenia looked at him with as cold of a stare that she could manage while being afraid. Larry knew that look. He had seen it twenty times before, watching girls' faces turn blue and frozen in the lake of pure horror and hatred-all of them staring at him. But what he loved the most was that, though they hated him, they still pleaded with him in their own ways, because they realized that he was now god-the giver and taker of life.
"Well, thank you, honey." Paul said, breaking into Larry's thoughts as he closed the door and shrugged his shoulders, "Well, I'm sorry that doesn't bring you any closer to finding your son, but if it's any consolation, I'm sure you won't have a problem finding him. After all, it is a small town."
"That it is." Larry agreed as he walked out of the house and into his truck without so much as a goodbye...

I want to apologize for not getting this done on time. I have been really sick...   Meanwhile, while all the commotion had gone on, James had snuck out of the classroom and went to the public library. At this moment, he didn't care if his dad found out and whipped him, this was more important. He took several books off the shelf and sat down at the table.
The librarian looked at him funny, but didn't make a sound as she went back to stamping and putting away books.
James picked up the book from on top of the stack and looked at the title, "Mind Connections." It didn't take him long to find out that this was not the book that he was looking for, because it was all about the mind connected to limbs.
He grabbed the next one. "Psychic Activity of the Mind." Even though James really didn't think that Serenia was psychic, he still thought the book might help...

Serenia slowly walked to the office door and knocked. Her heart was hammering, but she attempted to ignore it as she was bade to come in.
The principle was handsome. He had dark hair, light brown eyes, and a young face. He normally had a boyish smile, but right now, he looked at Serenia with concern and told her to sit down across from him. Serenia did as she was told.
"Ms. Burkenstock has told me what happened in class today. She was very concerned. Apparently, you knew the past of each and every one of the twenty students, and you've only been here for a few days. Do you care to explain?"
"No." Serenia said. Her heart would not slow down, and she looked away. There was no way she could explain it, even if she wanted to.
Mr. Finnley, the principal, looked at her and slowly nodded as if he understood. However, Serenia knew that he would never understand. After sitting behind his desk silently for awhile, he finally looked up at Serenia and said, "I think I can schedule you inf or an appointment with the school counselor."
Serenia looked up at him in shock, "Please, no!"
Mr. Finnley shrugged his shoulders, "What do you want me to do, Serenia? You obviously need some help."
Serenia looked at him pleadingly, "I'll be good, I promise!"
Mr Finnley looked at her and said, "It has nothing to do with you being good or bad. It has everything to do with you seeming to know everyone, and you haven't had time to know everyone. That's a little...strange."
"To put it lightly." Serenia murmured sarcastically.
Mr. Finnley stood up and walked to the door, signalling for Serenia to leave, "There will be no worries. Mr. Schwartz is no one to be afraid of."
"Right..." Serenia nodded as she walked to her next class.
As she entered the classroom, everyone stared at her. When she sat down, someone screamed out, "Witch!"
"Really..." Serenia groaned and laid her head on the desk.
Mr. Kendall didn't even try to make the kids shut up, and he, too, was staring. Serenia didn't make a move to explain her strange behavior. She didn't even know where it came from.
An eternity later, the bell rang, and Serenia gratefully stood up. No one dared to touch her this time. Now that she was looked upon as a witch, no one wanted to mess with her. She got on the bus and sat in the very back.
It wasn't until she was on the bus that she realized that James had made a sudden disappearance. She sighed, wishing that she could talk to him right now, because she felt so very alone...