Work Experience Gave Me A LOT More Experience Than Just Work, It Nearly Killed Me!

Chapter 11

Recap: 

"I know, because she was my Mum as well." Gabriel said, silencing everyone. If my Mum is Gabriel's mum that means we're related, but I don't see mum giving up a baby. Gabriel can't be related to me, he just can't, can he?

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Chapter 12

You could hear a pin drop, in the silence that met Gabriel's announcement. It's was Rob's turn to ask "What?" I was still trying to work out how it could be possible, and still not coming up with anything.

"You heard me. Ava's Mum is my Mum." Gabriel stated. Again.

"What?! How? I don't understand." I said all at once. Gabriel couldn't be much older than Rob; I would bet they were the same age. If this were true then he'd be almost the same age as my brother. I couldn't fit any of this into a time line. Surely Dad would have noticed if Mum was pregnant. It's not something you can hide easily, if at all.

Gabriel surprised me by actually answering me seriously and calmly. "Your Mum was mine first. She was married to my Dad who had an ability and only knew about it after Jill was pregnant with me. Jill was his soul mate but he was ready to leave her if the scratchers came, and was planning to leave her before he found out she was pregnant. He didn't want the scratchers anywhere near Jill and knew if he left, she would be safer. He ended up staying and things were good, up until I was two. My father found out they were onto us and did the only thing he could think of to save Jill. He left, taking me with him." Gabriel paused here, as if to compose himself before continuing. "That night, Martin, your Dad and Jill's best friend was over. So when the scratchers came and Jill wearing a wedding ring with Martin in the house, they must have assumed they were a married couple who were only friends with my father. They wiped both their minds and left. When your mind's wiped, it fills in the gaps of what happened for you. Martin and Jill, your parents, married a week later and soon after Jill became pregnant with your brother."

I was speechless. I could see how it could be true but I also wished it was a lie. It was such a sad story and it meant I was related to Gabriel. It also meant that if it weren't for the scratchers messing up Gabriel's life, my brother and I would never have existed, and that in itself was not something I wanted to think about.

"That still doesn't prove that Jill has no powers. Your father only knew her for four years and Jill might have a subtle ability." Rob pointed out. I stayed silent, trying to take all of this in. I was still stuck on the whole Gabriel-being-my-half-brother thing.

"She didn't." Gabriel growled out. Looking at Gabriel, I could see bits of my mother in him. His stubbornness for one and his strikingly blue eyes for another. Realising all of this made me think, how could I have ever missed it before? If I hadn't been so scared of Gabriel I might have hugged him, but not now.

It would take time, for me to come to accept Gabriel as my half-brother, but for now I was willing to leave it and think about it later. Hold on, if Gabriel knew all along he was my half-brother, why didn't he tell me? Why didn't he bring it up before, instead of just calling me a liar and nearly killing me? He had been keeping this from me, but when I did it to him, he blew up about it! Thinking about this made me angry, angry enough to speak up. "Why didn't YOU tell ME before, huh? You had ago at me for 'withholding information', when I wasn't, but you've been doing it since I met you? How can you justify doing it when you make such a big fuss when it's done to you?" By this point, I was up on my feet, almost shaking with anger. May was standing next to me, but holding on to Rob.

I saw hatred in Gabriel's eyes, but didn't care. He couldn't insist everyone follow the rules but then not follow them himself. I took a step forward and waited for his answer. "This is different. YOU'RE not one of US! I don't have to explain myself to YOU." Gabriel practically shouted back.