Revolution (Book 3 of POE Chronicles)

Chapter 29 Home

"Abigail?" My mother descended down the stairs and her face lit up when she saw me, but I didn't miss the flicker of alarm in her eyes. Engulfing me in a hug, and took hold of my shoulders and studied me for a while.

"You look so grown up." She said, her voice choking a little and Dan shuffled uneasily behind her; he was never one for public display of affection. "How come you didn't tell us you were coming back? And who are these fine gentlemen?"

Stifling the urge to laugh, I surreptitiously looked at Viktor and Gerald and was rewarded by the former looking extremely self-conscious. "This is Viktor Graham, he's a, er, student at the SMS and also went to the District 9 school." I started, then Dan coughed the word boyfriend and I gave him a glare. Viktor's face turned into a bright red shade as he extended his hands for my mother to shake.

"Oh yes! I remember the news of you getting admitted a few months after Abigail had." She smiled brightly, then turned towards Gerald. "Are you one of Abigail's classmates as well?"

"Actually," Before Gerald can open his mouth and probably give away everything, I cut him off. "He's a distant cousin that I found."

Mum froze, assessing Gerald with a more critical eye and I had to suppress the urge to confront her. I understood that people keep secrets, and that she probably did it to keep us from the world that's far beyond our imagination; but hers was a little too big for me to stomach.

"We need to talk." I said, but before I could talk any further, the door clicked open and Dad entered.

"Abigail!" He beamed at me, and I was surprised at his lack of surprise. Then I caught sight of the people trailing in after him.

"Tristan, Eleanor, Diego?" My eyes widened and I had to discreetly pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. "What are you guys doing here?"

"I ran into your friends on the way back from the market and they told me you would be coming soon!" Dad said, giving me a quick hug then went on to give Mum a peck on the cheek. "You could have at least written us a letter!"

Dumbfounded, I looked from my family to my allies and felt as though my two worlds had just collided head on, leaving me smack in the middle and completely at a loss as to what to do. It seemed that everything was converging here, and my heart suddenly sped up with no warning, sending needles of pain all over my body.

"Hey." Both Diego and Viktor reached for my arm to steady me as I almost stumbled over, earning me a concerned look from everyone and a raised eyebrow from Dan. Putting a hand on my chest, I took a few deep breaths and tried to calm my racing heart as a sense of foreboding washed over me. This was not good.

"We need to talk. All of us." I said, and I guessed my tone was so severe that it had everyone moving into the living room. That or I had accidentally used my mind control power. I really needed to learn how to keep it in check.

"What is going on?" Dad asked as Dan settled next to him on the small sofa while the rest piled onto the main sofa or on the floor. Grabbing my usual armchair by shoving Gerald out of the way, I sat down and took another deep breath, hoping that a few more seconds would give me inspiration as to how to address the situation.