If there was one word to describe Exoplanet, it would be harmonious. Up until the point, of course, when the Defective started to pop up. Each individual on Exo is born with a gift; from Healing and Time to Fire and Flight, there were many variations of many gifts… unless you were born as a Defective. The Defective are those aliens from Exoplanet that are born without a gift. This happens when they are born with something extra, something negative in their hearts. Nobody knows exactly how it happened at first, it was overlooked and deemed that the child was simply a late bloomer, until the day he consumed his mother’s heart and killed her.  This child found himself gaining his mother’s ability, but as the offense was so great, he was outcast, forced into exile, into hiding. More Defective followed after this, sprouting as the offspring of happy and talented individuals, and soon their numbers became so great that they began to plot against the peoples of Exo. They wanted their gifts, and as a test they consumed multiple hearts; it should have come as no surprise to see that these Defective could gain multiple powers with the more hearts they consumed.

Exoplanet had sent twelve individuals down to Earth when the threat of the Defective became an obvious and imminent one; twelve males that were the most talented of the bunch, coming from different backgrounds and lifestyles, but the same home. The twelve most talented were sent as refugees from Exoplanet, just until the feud was settled. It was not going to be that easy though; the feud on Exoplanet turned into a war, the war into a massive battle that would eventually destroy the planet as a whole. Those that were lucky enough to get out were prepped to be moved to other planets; their systems were prepped, changed, morphed to fit the new world they would be in, but most did not make it. Refugee camps were set up for those who needed it, and among those camps where residents waited to be sent to safety, there was a young woman with her own unique style, her family with her.

The Hwa family was a loving, kind, well known family. The mother was a Healer, one of very few on the planet, and the father controlled Water; however, it was the daughter and her “plain” gift with stopping Time that caught so many people’s attention. Her name was Jae; a cheerful young woman with bright, melted chocolate eyes and a smile that never left her lips. She was tall, she was gorgeous, long black hair fell around her face in a flawless way even now, as she waited for news to move to the next camp, or get on a ship to another planet. Jae’s personality was one many knew of, and in fact many of the twelve that had left so much earlier for Earth had been her friends. The Controller of Time was a cheerful, always happy girl. Her goal was to smile for everyone, to make the people she encountered as happy as she possibly could, and even now when people were sitting scared and terrified and sick to their stomachs over what might happen, she was still somehow able to make them laugh with her silly song-and-dance routines.

“How do you stay so positive?” someone asked the girl, who merely grinned wider in response. “There’s nothing to be negative about! This will just bring us closer.” She was young but somehow, she had turned into a voice of comfort for the group she was travelling with. This night however, would prove to be one that would change her and her course entirely. The brunette female had fallen asleep next to her pregnant mother, her father on the other side of his wife, and they had no warning when an ambush came from the Defective nobody knew had been following them. The building was taken, the Defective always went from the strongest first; anybody with a gift of great power or rarity was sought out and consumed quickly. Jae tried to fight alongside her father, wanting to protect her pregnant mother and unborn sibling, but the Defective had such large numbers…

It wasn’t enough…
It just wasn’t enough…

                Jae watched in horror as her mother’s heart was consumed, her father helplessly limp on the floor. She thought she was a goner; if they had consumed her family, surely they would take her… right? Wrong. Jae had never seen herself as lucky to have such a weak power until now; she bolted, grabbing the bags her mother and father took and forcing her long legs to move as hard as they could, burning aside as her feet pounded the ground. She went to the first thing she found; a ship that was leaving to lord knew where. It didn’t matter, she had nothing left, she needed to leave. Frantic, the female pushed her way into the nearly empty ship, hiding in what she could only assume was some sort of emergency compartment – she couldn’t have been sure, but it was empty and dark and she was able to shut herself inside – and staying as silent as possible. It seemed like it took forever to hear more voices, and she was holding her breath as she heard so few pairs of feet stomping quickly against the metal of the ship. “We’re dropping supplies off to Earth. Then we’re heading to the next solar system.” Jae felt suddenly optimistic; she knew there were twelve of her own kind on Earth, and she’d heard rumors of their well-doings.

                The journey was not as quick as she hoped; Jae was terrified of flying, or heights, she’d never been much higher than the top of the Tree of Life back on Exoplanet and she had never thought of it being different. She stayed quiet, sobbing quietly as she held onto her mother’s bag, her father’s, and her own. These three bags were all the girl had left of her family; little heirlooms and trinkets and important things of that nature that her family had wanted to take in order to keep from getting destroyed. Her father’s bag was filled with clothes, food, things like that; her mother’s was different, filled with colorful stones and the badges of Jae, her mother, and her father. The girl sobbed quietly into the bags, crying herself to sleep until the jolt of a landing woke her up. She waited until the footsteps were gone, and carefully she slipped out of the ship.

                The land she found was certainly not what she had expected; a beautiful countryside with the sound of running water somewhere close filled her senses. So this was Earth? The black haired female began to walk, no sure of where she was going or how she would find these other members of her homeland. All she had was three bags and a huge amount of hope that she would find who she needed to find. Surely, she thought, they would remember her. “Where do I sleep?” she asked, her voice was soft and smooth and sugar-sweet as she made her way into the trees that lined the field that the ship had landed in. Just a quick look around, she thought to herself, and then I’ll figure something out. There were no houses here, just a large expanse of field until she got into the tree line. Her eyes wandered, examining the odd forest curiously as she moved haphazardly through the underbrush.

                “It almost looks like home,” mumbled the girl, her oddly colored eyes were wide, the greenery above casting odd colors against her caramel tinted skin. As she moved the sound of water became closer and closer, filling her ears until she was standing in front of a large alcove of rock, a waterfall draining somewhat loudly into a thick stream below. She smiled, climbing up without hesitation. Once at the top, she kicked off her shoes and set her bags down, taking a deep breath as she plopped down on the cool, smooth rock. This was an unusual place, and while she liked it now, she would come to hate it soon enough. She heard the ship leave, it was a sound many humans would have never noticed but it was a familiar sound to her, and after a little bit more looking around she found that underneath the waterfall, just on the other side of the loud stream, was a cave. “Just for the night.” She told herself, smiling uncomfortably at the darkness that crowded the hole in the wall.

                This would be her home, her place of residence, until she got up the courage to walk until she found the next town. It was truly frustrating; she spent countless nights and days in that forest, her fear and anxiety welling up and crippling her each time she tried to get up and get out and go look for her fellows. It took one final push one morning when she woke up; something told her that today was the day she needed to get out of this place and go find what she needed. She gathered her things up, changed her clothes into the last clean things she had, and headed out. What she found were things confusing to her; the scenery here was different, and strange machines kept passing her by on the ground, wheels spinning on a strange piece of gray that seemed to be harder than other parts of the Earth underneath her feet.

                The black haired female walked for… well, it was a long time. The town she found herself coming up on was large and loud even from a distance. She could hear the voices of so many different people, smell the difference in the air that surely came with such a large population and so very many buildings and strange machines. Entering the city was easier than she thought; surely they would have some sort of check point or registry, but Jae could not find anything of the sort here. She tried to talk to a few people, but it seemed that these humans were not like Jae. They were not all friendly or smiling… in fact, she noticed right away, that so very few were smiling that it made her heart ache. “Excuse me,” she kept speaking quietly, timidly, as strangers passed her by. “E-excuse me could you tell me—“ they would just walk away. It was nearly dark by the time anyone answered her. “Excuse me, sir? Could you tell me where I am?” she asked a young man in a leather jacket and tight jeans. He had a tattoo on his collarbone that was visible underneath the white tank he wore. He looked at her, looking over her five-foot-seven form with a smirk on his lips, and nodded.

“You’re in Seoul, South Korea…”

[[Alright, here’s the first Chapter of my story. I know it’s a bit vague, but I’ve made it this way for a reason! How was it? Is it suspenseful enough? I plan on posting a new chapter at least once a week, but usually it will be more than that. Please leave feedback, criticism, or just let me know that you liked it! I hope you’ll stay tuned for Chapter Two, when things start to get exciting!]]