Just something for this chapter, I always imagined past that anger that Lex expressed to Tom near the start, Tom is actually a really important and strong person in Lex's life, so that is what is described here.

'Right, we need a plan.' Lex said after Tom had thrown the doll to the ground. Tom seemed to come out of a trance and look around. It was like the memories of what had happened all came back to him at once, he fell to the ground, holding his head.

'Oh no, what have I done?' Tom murmured, shaking his head, tears coming to his eyes.

'Look, it isn't your fault! The doll hypnotised you, just like the many others.' Lex said, trying to help, although she had no clue what to do. Tom tried to hold his tears back, not wanting to cry in front of one of his past students, but the harder he tried the more tears fell, dripping down his cheeks and onto his arms. Soon he began to whimper, no longer able to keep the horrible memories flashing in his mind to himself, words poured out of his mouth quietly and quickly, pain evident in his voice. It was hard to tell what he was saying, some of it wasn't even words, just murmurs of memories. Despite that Lex eventually heard a word that stood out to her, a name to be specific.

'Becky...' Lex felt like she recognised the name, although she wasn't sure from where. Was it his wife? No that was Jane. Oh, isn't it that hospital girl? She had heard her mother talk about her a few times when she was drunk, that she was an annoying do-gooder who's husband had left her. Lex felt like she also knew her from somewhere else, but she couldn't figure out where. Lex knew that it didn't matter right now, she could think about that later, right now she had to focus on the broken man curled in a ball in front of her.

'What about Becky?' Lex said as comfortingly as she could, kneeling down beside Tom. She never was the best at dealing with emotions, that was more Ethan's job. It also felt very weird to her that she was comforting her teacher, someone that she had looked up to for a long time, breaking down in front of her.

'I messed up, what have I done?' Tom sobbed out, his whole body shaking. Lex reached out her hand hesitantly, softly began to rub his back. Scared to make him panic more.

'Can you tell me what happened?' Lex said quietly, continuing to rub his back, a bit more confident now as he seemed to be calming down. Tom began to take deep breaths, slowly calming down and was soon stable enough to talk without breaking down again. Although the tears still silently fell from his eyes as he told his story.

'I... I lost her, no, I gave her away. We had just lost track of who we were chasing, I can't even remember who it was, but they had the doll, and I, like everyone else, was consumed by the need for that stupid doll. We found ourselves in a clothes shop, not sure which. We had barred the doors, as we had been chased, a lot of people thought we had gotten the doll from the person. They seemed to have formed some sort of group, a group that we weren't in. So they banged on the doors, getting closer and closer to bursting in. I felt immense fear, but more than that I still felt the need for this fucking doll. So I took the chance I saw. Becky was carrying a needle with her, she had tried to use on the person with the doll, I remember now it was a young girl. How could I ever have done that to a poor defenceless girl?' Tom began to break down again, guilt overpowering him for a second time. Lex continued to rub his back.

'It's okay, I think I know who it was and I know she doesn't blame you. She is safe now, when this is all over you can apologise, if that helps.' Tom seemed to calm down after this was said, and continued his story.

'I took the needle out of her pocket and stabbed it into her leg, taking her by surprise she put up little fight. I then grabbed a backpack from one of the shelves near by, shoved some clothes in so that it looked like it was full, put it on her back, opened one of the doors and pushed her out. I gave her up.'

'I know it sounds bad, but it will be fine, I know it will. We just need to get Becky back. We have an advantage, we have the thing they need. We can do this.'

'How do you know?' Tom sounded so unsure. Lex no longer saw her favourite teacher, instead she saw someone else, a broken man that needed help. Before today this would have frightened her, knowing one of the only strong people in her life wasn't all that she thought he was. But now it comforted her, it made him seem more real, she felt closer to him somehow.

'I... I just know. I don't know how, but I have a voice in my head, telling me that everything is going to be fine, we just need to take it one step of a time. I know I sound crazy, but I trust this voice.' Lex hoped that explained it, even though she wasn't sure herself what the voice was. Tom just nodded, slowly getting up and brushing himself off, preparing himself for the things to come.

'Well, now that we got all that sorted, would you like to help me come up with a plan?' Lex said, glad that Tom seemed to be doing okay now.

'Certainly, what do you have in mind?'

'Well, I think the first thing I want to do is find my sister and Ethan. I just hope they haven't moved from where they were.'

'Okay, first thing find family. What's next?' Lex wasn't sure why, but the fact that Tom had called Ethan her family did something to her. She felt more empowered, knowing in her heart that Ethan was her family, it felt incredible that someone else thought that too.

'Umm, I hadn't really thought past that, just run in there with the doll and distract them long enough to stop whatever is going on there. The voice was telling me to "kill the prophet" or something, so we should probably work out what that means.' Lex knew that the plan she had just come up with wasn't fool-proof, but she hoped it would turn out fine.

'Sounds great to me, anything else?'

'I don't think so, should we go and find my family?' Lex felt warmth spread through her at the thought of being with Hannah and Ethan again, she had been away for a short time but was already worried about them.

'Yep, should we move these boxes first?'

'Fuck yeah.'

I apologise for not getting a chapter out in over a month, quarantine has been really horrible for me and I haven't had any time to relax and write. I'll try to get another chapter out soon but I'm not going to put pressure on myself to do so as it isn't good for my mental health. Take care of yourselves in these hard times.
Love y'all!

(Ps. I edited this a 12am so sorry if there are mistakes.)