“She’s flatlining. Sungjong! Lay! Get over here!”

--

“How many months? What? Years? Jesus….”

--

“Pull the line... We can’t wait any longer….”

--

    ‘Where am I? What’s going on? Why am I….here? Ugh, what just shocked me? What’s that...warm...tingling...sensation...It burns. Oh my god, it burns. Stop it, STOP IT! Get me out of here!’

    Sungjong and Lay flinched as a wave of energy pulsed from Jae Rin and cut through their concentration. Beads of sweat trickled down their foreheads as they forced her subconscious back into her body. Grunting, they tried to contain her power, but it pushed back against them, shifting them further and further away from the bed.

    “We need a little help here, Lu. Bring her down for us, would you?” Lay asked. His voice barely carried over the howling wind, but Luhan never needed to be asked twice. He struggled against the pulses of energy ebbing off Jae Rin’s elevated body, practically dragging himself over by the tails of Sungjong’s and Lay’s coats. He pulled himself upright and held onto their shoulders as he eyed Jae Rin’s floating, unconscious body through the gap between their heads. Sheltered behind the two boys, Luhan anchored himself on their shoulders and took a deep breath in, finding his center of energy.  The little bundle of nerves, knotted tight in his chest, gradually loosened as his racing heart slowed down to the rhythm of his breath. He knew he only had one chance to get her down and couldn’t let his nerves mess him up this time, or else he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.

   “Okay, guys, I’m going in,” Luhan said as he pushed past them and ran towards the bed. He kept his head down and prayed that he could make it to Jae Rin without bailing in the wind. His eyes zoned in on his target, and he launched forward, his arms reaching out before him.

    Almost instantly, the wind stopped and everything was put on pause. Time seemed to have stopped as the room went deafeningly silent and everything froze in place. Scalpels and beakers bobbed around, hovering alongside the vials and tubes that were into Jae Rin’s vortex. Luhan slowly moved forward, arms trembling in effort to contain Jae Rin’s power. Her body, still floating above her bed, lay in contrast to the frozen space around her. The vortex continued to whip around her, though it remained encased in an invisible forcefield. She was still unmoving, yet the wind around her whirled at top speeds. Luhan needed to get her down and stable, but was beginning to run into some difficulties. For one, his hold on her and everything in the room was starting to slip. Slowly, items were starting to drop to the ground, clattering against any and every surface on their descent down from wherever they hang. Beakers shattered onto the the floor, while vials bounced and rolled under the tables and shelves. Luhan knew that he could only hold on for a few more seconds, and that it was only a matter of time before he lost his grip and the vortex pummelled them yet again.

    “Quick, grab the straps. I’m lowering her down,” Luhan said, nodding at the two Biokinetics. Lay and Sungjong leapt forward and took their place on either end of the bed and grabbed hold of the restraints. Everything was on the line now because Luhan had one chance to get the timing right. He needed to let go of her at the right moment or else catastrophe would strike. Release her too early, and the vortex wreaks havoc. Release her too late, and the two Biokinetics will get into their most painful death. Breathing as steadily as he could, Luhan lowered Jae Rin down. He shifted his feet to better ground himself as the pressure rapidly weighed down on his arms and shoulders. He kept slowly lowering her until she was just millimeters above the bed, hovering ever so slightly on top of the sheets. “When I count to three, you two secure her, alright? Whatever you do, do NOT let her get back out, okay?” The two nodded at him and waited for his signal. He took one last, deep breath in before he counted down.

    3...2..1...NOW.

--

    “How are you guys feeling?” Sunggyu asked, eyeing the three youngsters in their hospital beds. Lay and Sungjong shrugged, while Luhan looked away. He knew he couldn’t hide from prying eyes, but at least he could look somewhere else to escape them, though only for a moment. Sunggyu nudged his leg for a reply, and he sighed in response. “Luhan, you did what you could. There’s nothing more you can do now.”

    “I know,” Luhan replied, “but I just wish there was. Hyung, she almost died. If we didn’t get there when we did....”

    “At least she’s not dead. She’s fine now. The doctors have her stabilized, so you could you stop worrying about her and start worrying about yourselves. I can trust you to do that, right?” Sunggyu asked. He looked at all three of them, his gaze holding Luhan’s longer than the other two. The trio could only nod in response, none of them eager to defy their leader’s orders. Sunggyu nodded in approval and left them to their devices, mumbling along the way about speaking to the Colonel.

    “Hey, Lu. You did what you could. She’s going to be alright,” Lay sighed, breaking the silence. He pat Luhan’s knee as he got up from his bed, nodding with a reassured glance at the older boy before shaking his outstretched hand with a scoff. Lay glanced expectantly at it with a raised brow before Luhan sighed, a whisper of a grin playing on his lips. He slapped Lay’s hand away before grabbing it and hoisting himself off the bed. “See, nothing to worry about. Like I said, she’s fine, you’re fine, we’re all fine.”

    “Yeah, but being ‘fine’ isn’t the same as being awake. When is she going to wake up?” Luhan asked. He glanced between the two boys, neither of which would make eye contact with him. They merely shrugged before they both cleared their throats and scurried out the hospital room.

    “It’s almost lunch. Let’s go to the canteen,” Sungjong called out behind him as he raced ahead of the older boys. He instinctively reached for his chest, lightly tracing over the scar nestled underneath the layers of fabric as his mind lingered on the thought of Jae Rin in her comatose state. He, too, wondered when she would wake up.

--

    “In other news, the city of Seoul is finally reaching its last stages of full rehabilitation from the devastation seven years ago. There is still no definite answer from the government or environmental association about what happened in Seoul, so the answer as to why the sudden tragedy hit will remain a mystery. Now, moving on to sports news…”

    The Colonel shut off the tv as he leaned back into his chair with a sigh. He rubbed his eyes, leaving his hand there for a moment longer as the darkness eased the throbbing in his temples. Silence engulfed the room as his mind wandered to the day he go the phone call from his superiors that changed his life as he knew it. Visions of the aftermath danced before his eyes as he remembered back to that critical day. Cars mangled and upturned lay strewn across the roads and parks, and trees uprooted next to fallen buildings rolled through his thoughts, followed by flashing emergency lights and Jae Rin’s lifeless body.

   Jae Rin, the person who started it all. If it weren’t for her, he wouldn’t be in the his position right now. Whether it was a positive or negative thing, the Colonel was still trying to figure that part out. His brows furrowed as the memory continued. Hoya was nowhere to be found, while the other boys lay unconscious or dazed next to Jae Rin. Sungjong lay sprawled over her body, frenzied and on the brink of insanity. He resisted, kicking and screaming at the emergency personnel who were trying to help him and remove her body. How or when they pried him away, the Colonel still didn’t know. All he truly remembered was the smell that still burned at his nose from time to time. The strong odor of burnt flesh, blood, salt, and despair. The aroma tickled and grew under his nose as he was dragged further into the memory.

   A light rap at the door pulled him out of the darkness and back to his dimly light office. He grunted an order to his guest to come in while he rearranged his files on his desk and cleared up some space. He was greeted by Sunggyu with a sullen expression pasted on the young man’s face.

    “Ah, Sunggyu, how are you today?” the Colonel asked, walking over to the lounge area as Sunggyu flopped onto the couch and groaned, swinging his arm up to cover his eyes from the light and recent events. “What? Something happen to Jae Rin?”

    “Of course. When has there not? She acted up, again, today. Nearly ripped the entire room apart. If it wasn’t for Lay, Sungjong, and Luhan, this entire base would’ve been leveled,” Sunggyu mumbled. He rubbed his sore eyes as he swung himself up. Sitting across from the Colonel, he only just realized how worn out the older gentleman looked today. His usually well groomed hair and beard had grown out into unruly strands, and his uniform was in need of a pressing. “Sir, when was the last time you left your office?”

   “Leave? You know I don’t have anywhere else to go,” the Colonel replied with a bitter laugh. “Anyway, that’s not important right now. Tell me what happened with Jae Rin.” Sunggyu left the nagging feeling alone and went on to report the events of the hospital room to the older man. Even if he could, Sunggyu knew just as well that neither of them had anywhere else to escape. Not in this decade at least.

Confusing? I hope so LOL. This story will develop slowly, with gradual plot reveals, so there will be a lot of questions in the beginning that may not be answered until later chapters. Please stick around for as long as you can!

Until next time, cheers!