I closed my eyes and when I opened them, I was in my bed. I sat up and stretched. It was half two in the afternoon. I left on the Thursday to go and see Alex. It was still Thursday though. I went downstairs and went to the kitchen. Rosie, Cameron, Alex, Charlie and Nicklaus were all there waiting for me. "Rosie, I really need to get some girlfriends, we are outnumbered here." I said and everyone looked at me. The relief was clear to anyone and it was all over their faces. Rosie and Cameron came over to hug me first and said that they were sorry. Charlie came over and kissed my lips. It was long and slow and amazing. He hugged me too and promised never to let the scientist even see me again. Alex said he was sorry and said that I was stupid and irresponsible. Nick said he was glad to see I was ok but he needed to go. "Babe stop him." I said. "I want answers and the truth from everyone before anything." I finished. They all looked at each other and sat down. They started to talk. Rosie and Cameron had adopted me with no knowledge of what I could do. It wasn't until I had summoned Babe for the first time that they were told. My parents had got in touch with them and told them about me. They didn't say why they gave me up, only that it was safer. When I told Alex the truth he had sworn to protect me no matter what. That's what he did. He started to take karate lessons so he could protect me when he needed to. It was going fine until year seven. Nicklaus was really eager to be friends with us which I don't remember. He told Alex that he knew what my power was and said that he would help to protect me. He was a healer. Someone that didn't have a spirit animal, but could still see them and heal people. Half way through year seven Alex had been called by a group that Nick worked with. He went to the group's headquarters and trained on how to protect me and what to do in different situations. Nick wanted me to see that he wasn't a threat and he could only do that if I went in his mind to see that. It was what healers are supposed to do to form a bond or connection with the spirit talker. Alex didn't know that at first and didn't know that until Nick had disappeared. He had gone back to the groups HQ and told them what had happened. That's when they told Alex that he wasn't a threat. So Alex had kept protecting me. He made sure that I never needed to use Babe's weapon form. He knew that I was powerful because I had a tiger. No one at the group knew about my personal life. They only knew my name, my age, my date of birth and that I was a spirit talker. Nothing else. Charlie explained to everyone about the school he went to and what had happened there. He thought he had killed all the scientist but Dr. Young was the head there and must have escaped. He said that he tried to make a life somewhere else without his parents but people always got hurt. This is when Charlie kept losing control of his anger and letting it show. When the group sent him here to help protect me, he couldn't wait to meet me. Alex had been against it because he knew what Charlie had did before. Alex had been told that Nick was coming back and had warned Nick that Charlie didn't know about him. Nick ignored that warning and came straight after me. Alex and Charlie started to clash about ways to protect me. I wasn't supposed to find out about Charlie's past because Alex thought it would ruin everything. That's why he told me to keep it a secret. And so they tried to protect me in different ways. He was training when I went to his house and all the days he was sick. Nick liked to wind Alex up, but he also told him everything that we did. When I didn't pick up my phone and didn't come home they knew that they had to call everyone together to get me back. They wanted Charlie most of all and used me as bait. When Babe healed me and they found out I was a spirit talker, they had to keep me instead. No one else could be healed by their spirit animals. Babe sat there with tears coming out of her eyes. I just sat there and listened. I had been gone for a week. Every day they saw me looking worse and worse. They finally tracked the signal and came to get me. Nick healed me, Charlie created the distraction and Alex was told to get me back alive or he would end up dead too. They hadn't expected Babe to have learned he weapon form yet and they didn't expect it to be a Katana. Babe finally said something after they had all finished. She said that she knew how to become a weapon since I first started to get bullied. But before she could transform or tell me about it, Alex was there. My mum's spirit animal is also a tiger and my mum's tiger came to Babe with a message from my mum. My mum told Babe not to tell me about the abilities that she had yet. I had inherited my mum's and dad's power. My dad was a healer apparently and that's how Babe got the power to heal. When it was getting to much for me she told me that she could transform into a weapon. They all heard it because I was holding Rosie's and Cameron's hands. I had held Alex's for a couple of seconds too. And that was all the secrets that they had kept from me. I was so tired after using Babe because it was my first time. It would become easier, so they said. Tears were coming down my face. "You all lied to me. All of you." I said in barely a whisper.
"There's one more thing." Babe said. She explained how holding someone's hand won't let them see her, unless she also allows them to see her. I had been scared my whole life of someone finding out about me and Babe. Now it turns out that there was nothing to worry about. Not really anyway. I got up and went to my room. I couldn't face them at the moment. Not after what I had just heard. I had asked for the truth so it was partly my fault, but there were so many secrets. I had asked Rosie and Cameron so many times if they knew anything about my parents. Well, I did when I was younger, but they always said no. Babe came up after me. "It was safer for you this way. It meant that no one would accidently find out. I'm sorry I kept it a secret. It seemed like the right thing to do." I hugged her.
"I'm not mad at you, or Rosie and Cameron. The boys are going to take some time to forgive." I replied. "I know you're all there." I said and opened the door. Charlie took my hand and shut the door again. "Are we ok?" He asked. Were we? I needed time to get over all the secrets. But I don't think that he could help me much. I turned away and started to think about my answer. "I don't think I can do it at the moment. Just give me some time. No we're not ok." I said and he walked out before he could say anything else. He pushed past the others and went straight out of the door. He didn't say anything to anyone. Alex came in and took one look at me. He rushed over to me and hugged me. I wanted to push him away, but I wanted him to stay. I didn't need him. I tried pushing him away but he just held on tighter until I finally stopped. We sat on the floor and I was crying on his chest. He used the same voice he used when people bullied me and he was calming me down after. When people said horrible things about me he always used to let me cry on him. He told me everything was ok and I was strong and brave. Nick said that he would go too. "You ended it, didn't you?" He said after a while.
"I had too. There's too much to think about, and I don't think having a boyfriend will help that." I said and wiped my eyes. He looked at me like he wanted to do something but couldn't find the strength to do it. "Sorry in advance but I can't hide this any longer." He replied and lent down to kiss me. I pushed him back before he did and told him to go. He went and Rosie came up. I told her what had happened with the boys and she told me that everything was going to be ok on Monday.