Unravelling The Mystery

Chapter 8

I was seated between my parents. The word "parents" seemed extremely foreign to me. I still had no idea how to feel about this. I had grown up around people who cared, loved and cherished one another such that the issue of parents had never been much of a bother. Maybe plain curiosity.

Justin cleared his throat again and I couldn't help the snicker that left my lips! I quickly covered it with a cough then blushed when I saw Mase smile. Justin said nothing about it and continued with whatever he wanted to say.

"Andrea, I want to acknowledge the fact that you didn't grow up where you were supposed to. But the way you reacted when we came to get you, shows that you at least had a nice upbringing"

I glared at him.

"I had the best upbringing anyone could wish for. It might not have included certain comforts but at least it was full of love and care. And that is all I could have wished for!"

The woman who was my mother winced again. I felt bad for saying that but it was the truth. I had grown up with love and care and that's really all that had mattered.

" I'm so sorry dear, I never wanted that to happen. I was very heartbroken when I left you back then. I couldn't bear the pain. I know I'm a failure sweet one but I had no choice.  I had to put your life first. Because I knew somehow that I would see you someday. "

I couldn't help but feel bad for her. She was talking with so much emotion I could feel my heart breaking for her. She was my mother after all. And seeing her state right now, I knew she had never wanted to abandon me. Her eyes shone with tears again. Desolation could be felt in the air. And I couldn't help myself.

"Mom, don't worry I'm sure you couldn't have wanted to leave your child just like that."

My mother broke down crying. She cried so hard I thought she was going to lose it. I knew it was from the fact that I had acknowledged her as my mother. My father leaned in and held me by the shoulder and he also seemed relieved. Some of the tension in the room was lifted just like that.

Justin went on to inform me that I was born second. My parents had a daughter before me and there was also two siblings behind me. A girl and a boy who were twins.

I looked up at Gabby and knew then that she was my  big sister. She gave me a small smile and I returned it. No wonder why I had felt a familiar connection with her.

Justin went on with his story. He said that after I was born, they noticed strange features in me as a small babe. He mentioned that I had a star for a birthmark. But the star was not a normal one according to him.

He said that the star had glowed and emitted a bright light the night I was born. My parents had been very afraid and shocked and they had gone out to seek him and tell him of the occurrence. Apparently, they had never seen or heard anything similar to that before.

Justin who had been flabbergasted at that time, told them about the history of the family. He told them of my great grandmother who was said to  have a similar star in the exact place I had mine. He had told them that my grandmother had been gifted with special powers to do certain tasks.

He also told them that apart from her, the other person who had a similar thing was my great grandmother's great grandmother. It seemed like something that was passed down the family from time immemorial.

However it was strange since it had always been first borns who always found themselves in similar situations. It had never been a second born thus why my parents had not been told about it. And that star  had marked my first danger.

The room was completely silent after Justin paused and I looked around. Everyone was  very attentive. Though I'm sure they must have heard about it. It seemed like they were waiting for my reaction but I was too caught up with the story I didn't know how to act.

Justin went on after sometime. He told me that after the star had glowed that night, there had been a very heavy rain. And the special thing behind the rain was that they had not experienced rain in so long. He said that they had been anticipating a famine at that time. So when it rained, everyone was surprised but there was celebrations to celebrate the rainfall.

He told me that after the rain had fallen, their leader at that time broke the pact he was about to sign with the neighbouring state. The pact involved giving away a part of the land in his state to the neighbouring one in exchange with basic necessities. The neighbouring state was supposed to provide their state with food and water mainly.

After the pact was broken, the leader of the other state was not too happy and he demanded that the pact had to be kept. That brought a misunderstanding between the two states and the other leader swore that he'd take revenge for what he called disloyalty.

At this point, I was wondering who Justin was if he was the one that had been sought out after the incidence.

However, I didn't get the chance to ask him because he went on with his story.

He told me that the war that was lurking around the corner was another danger. I was also told that Justin had advised my parents to take me away from that place then but my parents would hear none of that. They insisted that they wanted to wait and watch. They had wanted to see whether there would be other strange occurrences.

Justin had let them keep me on the promise that they would be extremely careful. They could not share that with anyone.  My parents had then observed me and noticed all the strange behaviors I had. For example, I would be very excited when there was rain. So my parents used to dress me warmly and they would sit near the window while it was open and I would watch the rain while I cooed and cackled happily till I fell asleep.

I was also told that even at that age, I could be able to sense when there was trouble knocking. That was explained by the fact that I would cry nonstop before anything bad happened.

I was told that with my special gift,  I had been a perfect target to anyone with a bad motive. And the neighbouring state was a threat at the time.

After some time of observing me, it was decided that I could not stay here for long. So just before my first birthday, my parents decided to move. Word leaked to the other state of the child with peculiar gifts. And the leader decided to launch an attack.

That led to hasty decisions since they had to protect the baby.  Every trace of my existence was destroyed and my parents had to sneak away before a war broke out. With nothing that could give away who I was they set out to look for shelter.

That's how I ended up outside of the orphanage. I was told that that was the best orphanage they could find and the perfect shelter for me. It was far away from home and no one could suspect a thing.

That was also why my name was changed.

Justin looked at me and I looked at him with a blank expression. I realised everyone was also looking at me and I knew that this is where I was supposed to react.

Well, I had heard him and my brain was still processing that information but one thing was clear in my mind.

"There's much you haven't told me, I feel like you have left out the major parts and gave me the basic information!"

Everyone else seemed shocked. That was definitely not what they expected. But Justin smiled and I knew I was right. There was much I was not told. The important parts had been left out. And instead of satisfaction, there was frustration.

" There's something  I need to show you first."

Well, now we were talking business...

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