Chapter 11

"What do you mean 'Aww shit, '?" Jennifer asked.

"I had a thought," Gabriel said as he ideas ran though his head.

"Well don't leave us waiting," Jennifer said.

"You're absolutely sure you weren't using your gift?" Gabriel asked.

"Positive," Jennifer stated.

"And I wasn't using mine..." Gabriel was able to say before being interrupted.

"How does that help?" Jennifer exclaimed.

"Process of elimination. You weren't using and neither was I so that leaves only three options," Gabriel explained.

"And they are?" Kimberly asked in a hushed tone.

"One; Jennifer or I did in fact use and neither of us could tell if we did or not," Gabriel said. Before Jennifer could say anything, Gabriel continued, "Two; someone we haven't or can't see did it." All three quickly turned their heads to look in all directions but none of them could see any animals, not to mention people. "Or three; as impossible as it sounds, Kimberly did it." Gabriel and Jennifer both looked at Kimberly who stared back at them.

"I'm telepathic, no pyrokinetic," Kimberly said.

"Are you sure?" Gabriel said softly.

"What do you mean?" Jennifer asked, confused.

"I'm not sure but a simple experiment should be enough," Gabriel remarked.

"What experiment?" Kimberly asked, fear setting in.

"Oh its nothing to be worried about," Gabriel said, noticing the look on Kimberly's face. "I just want to see if you can manipulate fire."

"Why start there?" Kimberly asked, still worried.

"It's the easiest one to test. How are we going to know if it was us if we can't tell if we can use our gifts? If it was someone else, then they are either long gone or not going to let us find them," Gabriel explained. He watched as Kimberly thought about what he had said.

"Alright, you're right. How do we do this?" Kimberly said with resignation.

"Ok, When Jennifer flicks her lighter; I want you to try and call or move the fire over and gather it above your hand. Nothing else. Unless we get control of this, it might cause an accident when it would be worst. Just ask Jennifer," Gabriel said. Over the time they had spent together, Gabriel and Jennifer had spoken a lot about their gifts and how they had been using them.

"Yeah, you don't want to be at the hairdressers getting a dye job and almost burn the whole place down because you lose concentration and think too much of the candle flame," Jennifer said with a grimace. Gabriel looked at her in thought. He hadn't known she dyed her hair.

"I see your point. When do I try this?" Kimberly asked.

"Right now," Gabriel said and nodded at Jennifer. She bent and retrieved her lighter from the ground and flicked it, holding it out at arms length.

"Just think of the fire gathering above your hand. It's easy," Jennifer said with a smile.

"That's easy for you to say. You can already do this," Kimberly said with an undertone of fear. She held her hand out, palm up, and stared at the lighter's flame. She thought back on everything her parents had told her of all the gifts they knew about in case she ever found one and nothing she had heard told of anyone that could use two completely unrelated gifts. Concentrating on the task at hand, she stared at the flame and willed it to gather above her hand. She felt something strange in her but ignored it and concentrated harder. This happened several times before she felt something inside her break.

As she felt the break, she watched in surprise and fear as the fire leapt from the lighter and passed through the air and gathered above her hand in a flaming ball. Kimberly just stared at the ball of fire above her hand, trying to come to terms with what it meant.

"Everything I knew has just gone out the window," Kimberly said to herself. "Where did I get my Telepathy from? Has to be my mother."

"Kimberly, Kimberly," Jennifer tried to call her. "Kimberly, it is ok. Now that we know, we can deal with it."

"Everything I have known has changed. How can I deal with that?" Kimberly asked angrily.

"No, everything hasn't changed. All that has happened is that you are now aware of something that you weren't aware of before. What would have happened if this had come out when it would have been least appropriate?" Gabriel asked. "At best, it would have been embarrassing, at worst, deadly. And if what you say is true, hiding would not have been an option." Gabriel could see Kimberly trying to reject the idea but slowly her mind worked it over and the realisation of what had happened and what could have happened set in.

<Oh my god!> Kimberly blurted out. "Oh, please tell me you didn't hear that?" Kimberly asked shyly.

"Ok, we didn't hear that," Jennifer said with a smile.

"Ohhh," Kimberly let out but immediately descended into laughter. When she managed to get herself under control she turned to Gabriel. "You are right, but I still don't understand what happened."

"We'll I can't be certain, but it seems you are a mimic. That is, your gift allows you to copy other gifts. We won't know if there are any limits or what they are until we experiment a bit," Gabriel explained.

"Doesn't sound very good but I know what you mean," Kimberly said.

"You been reading my mind again?" Gabriel asked with a smile.

<Maybe a little, > Kimberly said to them both with a shrug and a wink. "How do we start this?"

"First I think we should determine how you gain abilities. Think carefully, is there anything that might have happened that could be a sign of you mimicking Jennifer's gift?" Gabriel asked. Kimberly dropped into thought before her eyes came up.

"I don't think so. Our telepathy was the same as yours and everyone else I've ever spoken too. Wait, in the food court, just as we were leaving, Jennifer grabbed my hand. I did feel strange for a moment, like my hand went numb or something for a moment but it didn't last so I ignored it," Kimberly answered.