You blinked owlishly at him, startled not only by his words, but by the fact that his face was right there. You’d only just met him, but he already had an uncanny way of putting his lips close to yours, distracting your thoughts all too easily. His lips were the reason you had a delayed reaction to his statement. His words trickled slowly through your brain until they finally landed wherever it was comprehension lived, snapping your mind away from his face and back to reality.

“Wait, what?” You asked, frowning.

His tantalizing lips drew into a smirk as watched your thought process run across your face. He held up his right hand, the back of it toward you. It was an unremarkable hand, from what you could tell in the dark, adorned with a single, simple ring banded around his first finger. “This,” he explained, “makes it so humans can’t see me.”

The only question that had come out of your mouth in the last five minutes was “What?” You repeated it again. You would probably keep repeating it until something this guy said made sense.

He rolled his eyes, but before he could continue, there was a blue flash of light and another guy appeared behind him. The newcomer was talking before anyone could acknowledge his presence. “Yoongi, Taehyung sensed a large Shadow near you, I came to see…” the guy trailed off when he saw you standing nearby, obviously in conversation with Yoongi. The guy looked from you to Yoongi, and back again. He tilted his head, confusion etched all over his features. It was his turn to ask, “What…?”

Yoongi, crossed his arms again and shrugged at the guy. “I’m not sure. She can see us, she can see Shadows, and I’m pretty sure that big Shadow tried to attack her without stalking her first, or provocation, so something is strange.”

The new guy was now staring exclusively at you, sizing you up and down. He was taller than Yoongi, and prettier, too. He had striking features, a lanky, athletic frame, and a piercing gaze that was currently ripping through your soul. After many seconds of scrutiny, his face changed from quizzical to smiling with the brightness of the sun. He stuck out his hand and you automatically reached back to shake it. “Hoseok,” he introduced himself. You told him your name in response.

He stood back, admiring you with a friendly look. “Whooa,” he made an impressed noise. “She can see and touch us with the rings on. That’s never happened before.”

“Right,” Yoongi agreed. “And I can’t, you know…” he trailed off, tapping his temple with an index finger while giving you a wary look, then giving Hoseok a knowing look.

Hoseok rounded on Yoongi. “You can’t?” He was obviously astonished at whatever it was Yoongi couldn’t do.

“Can’t what?” You asked, curiosity taking control of your mouth.

Yoongi shook his head, but Hoseok had no such reservations. “Read your mind,” he supplied helpfully. Yoongi  made an irritated noise and smacked Hoseok’s arm, but it was too late. The words were out.

“What?” you asked for the umpteenth time. This time you were incredulous, your eyes wide as you stared at Yoongi. “You can read minds?”

“Not yours,” he motioned at you, his tone reminding you of a grumpy cat. “But everyone else’s in the world I can.”

“Like everyone at the same time?” Your shock was turning into awe.

He made another face, this time annoyed at you. “Within proximity. I don’t have billions of voices in my head at the same time, that would be crazy.”

“Well yeah, silly me. Of all things, that would be crazy,” you replied, shaking your head at him. “The craziest thing I’ve heard today.”

His frown deepened, not appreciating your sarcasm. “The point is,” he stressed. “I can’t read your mind. You’re just…silence. It’s weird.”

Hoseok was watching the exchange between the two of you with rapt attention. “Well, we have to bring her back with us. This is obviously something important. She’s important,” he gestured at you, “and we need everybody together to figure it out.”

Yoongi was nodding, but you were shaking you head. “No, no. I’m not important,” you insisted. “I’m not one hundred percent sure what you’re talking about, but I have to go home and go to bed. I have a cat to feed, a big exam in two days, classes to go to…I can’t be going who knows where with you two,” you told them. “With strangers,” you added.

“Did you not just see me kill a Shadow with a sword?” Yoongi insisted. Before you could respond, he continued, “There’s no way that you can be a person that sees us, sees Shadows, and we let you walk away. There’s a bigger picture here, and you’re involved.”

“I’m not saying that I’m not,” you argued. “But can’t I be involved on the weekend? I need some time to think about this, to process what happened tonight-”

Hoseok didn’t wait for you to finish your argument. Instead, he grabbed Yoongi’s arm with one hand, and your arm with his other hand. There was a flash of blue light and the two of them were gone in the time it took you to blink.

Your mouth was open, ready to yell at them for kidnapping you, when you realized you hadn’t moved. The two guys were gone; you were right where they left you. You snapped your mouth closed, your head swinging from side to side to figure out what just happened. You’d seen enough sci fi shows to realize Hoseok was teleporting or something, just like you had figured out that what you called Shades, they called Shadows. You weren’t dumb. You just didn’t have a clue why any of this was happening in real life.

Now that they were gone and you were alone, you wondered if it was happening in real life. Maybe this was a dream; you could totally still be sleeping in the library. You tried to shake yourself, with a whispered “Wake up,” but nothing changed. You hopped from one foot to the other, now working on a chant with the theme of “wake up.” Still, nothing changed.

Nope, not a dream.

You were still alone. It wasn’t the first time you thought you might be crazy. Seeing shadowy things your whole life never made you feel quite sane. You could have just hallucinated the whole chain of events tonight. It was possible.

You turned and took two steps to walk home, when a bright flash behind you caused you to stop and turn to see Hoseok with yet a third guy. As you watched them approach you, you noticed that Hoseok’s smile was gone, replaced by a confused frown.

“Why didn’t you come with us?” He asked hesitantly, as though he knew you weren’t going to know the answer.

You shrugged, confirming his suspicion. “I don’t know.”

“I create portals that I can pull people through. But you didn’t come through.”

You shook your head. “I did not.”

“That’s never happened before.”

“There seems to be a lot of things about me that never happen,” you exhaled softly. “I can’t control it,” you reminded him.

“I know,” Hoseok nodded. He gestured at his friend. “Namjoon here can see into people’s pasts. He can touch you, and know everything that happened to you that was important.”

Namjoon was also tall, all arms and legs, with an adorable grin on his face. Despite the pleasant smile, you could see the worry behind his eyes. He held out his hand for you to shake. You understood the implications of what he was doing; he was going to try and see your past when your hands touched.

As uncomfortable as that thought made you, you felt compelled to oblige. You grabbed his hand, introducing yourself. Namjoon shook your hand like a CEO, a firm, brisk shake, while looking you right in the eye. After an extra second, he let go, turning to Hoseok. “Nothing.”

“Like she has no past?” Hoseok asked.

“Like nothing. There’s just… blankness. Where there are usually memories flooding through my head, there’s literal emptiness. It’s trippy.” Namjoon explained.

“So, she’s immune,” Hoseok’s tone was one of awe as he looked back at you.

“I guess,” Namjoon agreed. “Unheard of.”

To you, it was beginning to sound like your life was about to get much more complicated. You didn’t have time for complicated. Shades…er Shadows were creepy and distracting enough. Whatever was happening, whatever fantasy/sci fi novel you stumbled into, you weren’t ready for it. You didn’t have time for it. You didn’t want it.

You jerked your thumb over your shoulder, toward the direction of your apartment. “Well, nice to meet you, but I have to go. My cat…”

“You can’t leave,” Hoseok walked around to block your way. “We have to figure this out.”

“Later,” you pleaded. “This weekend?”

Namjoon came around to your side. “You can see Shadows. You can see us with our rings on. You’re immune to our powers. This is a big deal,” he insisted. “Like world changing, big deal.”

Your eyes dropped to your feet. “I figured,” you mumbled. “It’s just…”

“You don’t want the responsibility,” Namjoon finished for you.

“Well, yes that. And my cat is probably starving.”

“I will go feed the damn cat!” Hoseok cut in with apparent exasperation. “You have to come to our home. We have to figure this out.”

“I get that, I do,” you insisted. “But you have to understand, I just happened to get off the same subway stop as some stranger and now my life is turned upside down. I need a moment to breathe.”

Namjoon put his hand on your arm, a gesture meant to comfort, even though you could tell it was awkward for him. “I understand. It’s late. We can talk more tomorrow? Can I get your phone number?”

You were tempted to say no, but if you were honest with yourself, you wanted to see Yoongi again, so you agreed. You gave him your phone number, insisting you would be safe on your walk home without an . It was the longest walk home of your life.

After feeding your cat (which literally had no name, you just called him “Cat”) you sat on your couch, his fur as he purred in your lap. You wished you could chalk the day’s events up to being a dream, but you knew that you were going to have to face some harsh realities tomorrow. A business degree with a desk job at a corporation didn’t seem to be likely in your future now. Despite wanting to be normal, you weren’t going to get that chance. You wondered if you should even bother taking the exam…any more exams.

You laid down on the couch with a heavy sigh, your cat coming to curl up on your chest. Rubbing your face into his fur, you felt your eyes grow heavy as tears threatened to spill from the overwhelming emotions that were flooding through you. “Oh, Cat,” you mumbled into his fur. “Maybe we should run away.”

You were just saying words, however. You knew you couldn’t run from this. With portal spells and magic swords,  you were pretty sure those guys would be able to track you down easily. And when Yoongi’s grumpy face flashed through your mind, you realized you wanted to know more. He was their hook, the thing that was going to keep you from fleeing.

Because you truly wanted to know if he tasted like mint chocolate chip ice cream.