authors babbling: warning for some bad language in this chapter

Everything happens so fast and yet so slow that I’m not really sure if I’m actually seeing the events as they unfold or if my mind is processing them after it has all happened.

I see Joonmyeon clearly stepping out into the road, almost as if he doesn’t even realize what he’s doing in the slightest and then slowly turning to look out way with glowing eyes. I swear to go, they’re glowing a faint blue colour that stands out even in this blinding sunlight and that is something completely strange because Suho has lovely dark brown eyes that are delicate and captivating.

All right, I admit it, I had a crush on Joonmyeon but it never went further than that.

But now they’re literally glowing blue, like something out of a science fiction movie and I have no idea what to think in the slightest.

All I can hear are several yells of panic, fright and me telling Tray to damn well stop before some instinct has me reaching out to grab the steering wheel and yank it roughly down. The sudden motion sends the van lurching to the side and nearly toppling over before another salvo round goes off underneath us and sends us spinning straight up into the air, above Joonmyeon. My eyes lock onto the strange glowing blue ones as he raises his head up in shock, staring directly at me with hundreds of different emotions playing across his face and a frightened yell escapes from my lips because I can see what’s going to happen.

The truck is going to come straight down onto Joonmyeon and crush him.

However, it doesn’t.

Instead, Joonmyeon seems to just casually reach up his hand and taps the windshield with his palm which stops our fall and then sends us tumbling over to the right where after a moment or two we land and we’re back on all four wheels, staring straight at him as he stares back at us.

My heart is beating ninety to the dozen inside my body, as I know that look on Joonmyeon, I’ve seen it before but I don’t recall from where. It’s the look of despair, of uttermost horror and a vulnerability that makes me want to reach forward, scoop him up into my arms and drag him out of whatever hell that he’s been forced into against his will. His lips move, speaking words that I can’t hear because of an instant ringing that’s come from the crash but I know exactly what he is saying.

Protect my babies, Yifan, don’t allow them to be…

A yell cuts straight through the background whistling noise and only a fight or flight survival instinct makes me grab hold of Sehun before he can get out of the truck – through the front window as he’s attempting – and I haul him back, constantly uttering reassurances to him though he tries desperately to get away from me.

“ you Kris!” Sehun says, trying to pull away and scratching at my arms in a painful way, “Let me go! Suho! Suho!”

“No! Stay here, Sehun! Stop fighting me! You can’t go out there…” I yell back, trying to haul him close and then looking back towards Joonmyeon who is looking towards me so pleadingly and I nod frantically towards him. “I’ve got him, I’m not letting go. Not this time.”

Joonmyeon looks worried for a few seconds, glancing at the still struggling Sehun in my arms who I’m literally having to bear hug now to keep him still despite the fact that he’s actually drawing blood with his scratches before letting out a pained smile which causes a single tear to escape from his lids as they close. “Everyone, down!” I yell in the most authorative tone that I think I’ve honestly ever come out with and the next second another explosion rocks the truck and I hear the concrete going underneath us. Before I can even think, the truck is rolling backwards as the road rises upwards and after a few confused seconds we finally come to a stop again.

Silence envelopes everyone as we take in what just possibly happened before two things happen within seconds of one another.

Tray starts whooping his arse off about another crash like the dimwit that he is and the door to the back of the truck is hauled open by a very concerned looking Alex and a small, poodle haired figure whom looks one part mad, two parts relieved and another part confused as to hell. “Everyone all, right?” Alex asks, offering me her hand to that she can haul me out whilst Cage deals with getting tray out of his seatbelt which quite frankly I’m amazed the silly twerp actually wore for once.

“Think so…” I say, hauling myself upright and glancing down at Sehun who has not said a word in the slightest only to have him snatched rudely out of my arms by Baekhyun who is clearly mad now.

“What the hell did you do to him?” he yells at me in Korean, clearly worried for one of our youngest friends and since Sehun is now passed out I’m not really surprised that he’s taking the wrong end of the stick.

Still annoys me that I’m blamed for something that’s not my fault though. “Hey you ungrateful little , I just saved his life,” I snap back at him, not in the least bit interested in putting up with anymore bull, especially not from Baekhyun, “If I hadn’t have stopped him he would have gone running straight to Suho and been blown to pieces in that explosion.”

Suddenly the sass is gone from Baekhyun as he looks up to me with a pale face, “You…you saw Suho?”

“Yes…” I say, raising an eyebrow in question because this is certainly not what I expected in the slightest.

“Oh god,” Baekhyun replies, pulling Sehun closer and slightly adverting his face as if he’s afraid I’ll see him crying or something. Unfortunately, I know Baekhyun too well, even after the years that we have been apart and a sigh escapes my lips as I very carefully kneel down.

“Beak?” I ask slowly and carefully, “Is there something you need to tell me.”

“Not out here, Benben,” a new voice catches us all off guard and I turn to see Luhan appearing from the opposite side of the wreckage, looking dust covered and slightly cut up as if he were digging around for something. He’s changed since the last time I saw him, a bit bulkier with shorter hair that actually makes him look manly though I won’t tell him that just yet. “We need somewhere far safer to talk.”

“Just how many names to you happen to have, Nicks?” Xander asks me in mandarin, clearly not being overly amused by the fact that he’s being left out of this one and I can actually understand why.

Personally, I’m still not in the loop about any of it and I’m starting to wonder if this is all some kind of strange dream but there again working with Xander can lead to all sorts of strangeness so this really should be expected.

I sigh, “You don’t want to know, man. Hell, I don’t even know anymore.”

“Introductions now or later?” Xander continues, eyeing the new faces up and a sigh escapes me because this is surely going to cause some hell.

Quickly I point to my three former colleges in question, “Baekhyun, Sehun and Luhan. They were my friends before you found me in the fire.”

“Fire?” Baekhyun asks, blinking at me quizzically, “What fire?”

I stare at him like he’s mad, “The one which started in the safe house and nearly killed me.”

“What are you talking about? There was no fire,” Baekhyun continues on, obvious to anything else that is going on around him, “We woke up and you were gone.”

“What?” the word is drawn out on my lips because no way was that the case in the slightest, I know they left me behind because there was only me in that fire and no one else because Xander checked it. Hell, I checked through the remains myself once they were safe enough to do so and there was no sign of anyone.

Alex steps in, “Whoa, ladies we can argue about this later. Right now, we need to get out of here and to somewhere safe asap.”

I nod and without thinking move to scoop Sehun into my arms but Baekhyun pulls him back into his with a determined look to his eyes. I glare back, “You can’t lift and carry someone whose taller than you for long Baekhyun. We’re all going to the same place so stop fussing at me about it.”

“Baekhyun, please,” Luhan cuts in, hiding something into his backpack which he slings over his shoulders, “We don’t have time for this and you know that. He won’t hurt Sehun, he saved him.”

“But he…” Baekhyun starts again, looking torn.

“I saw him do it,” Luhan says in response, “He stopped Sehun from going to Suho. Even though Sehun hurt him, he still stopped him.”

Baekhyun blinks and looks at me and it’s only then that the stinging pain from my forearms. Raising them up I’m surprised to see that Sehun actually cut me quite deep because there’s quite a bit of blood seeping from them but I can’t quite figure out how. I mean Sehun has pretty nicely trimmed nails that look fine but they’re not that long.

Baekhyun gasps and grabs my arms, pulling them closer before paling even further, “We need to get him to Yixing.” The tone that comes out of his mouth is soft and concerned now and I just go to a little bit when there’s a sudden crippling pain in both of my forearms that makes me yell aloud.

It feels like something is tearing at my arm, like a rapid dog has suddenly grasped hold of the flesh and is tearing it off and white hot pain shoots through my entire body because it just hurts so much. It’s the last thing I register before passing out into a sea of white that is neither calming or peaceful. It’s just a presence that invades my mind and leaves me there for the time being.  

authors babbling: Okay, hands up I'll admit that I nicked the car flip hand to windscreen moment from the Russian 'Day Watch' film because it is an awesome movie and that sequence just popped into my head when I set to write it. But anyways, any guesses on what's going on? Hope you enjoyed and catch you next time