I wake up to a bright light and a face, out of focus, hovering over mine.

"She's up!" the perosn yells. When I finally rub my eyes and open them, twelve pairs of eyes are staring down at me. I scream out of surprise and sit up quickly. Ooh, bad idea. I didn't notice the throbbing in my head.

"Take it easy," a voice says, sitting beside me on the couch. I blink a few times to see that it's Kai speaking. I look around and see that it's the rest of his friends that are surrounding me. "Do you remember anything that happened?" Beach, lost phone, woods...here.

"Not really," I answer, rubbing my head. I look down and see that I still have on my bathing suit and shorts from that day. The sunlight indicates that it's morning...as does the tank tops, boxers and bed hair that all the boys seem to be sporting right now. "What day is it?"

"Monday," Tao answers with a nod. He's one of the younger ones int he group like Kai and Sehun. He's taller than Kai with tan skin and bags under his that look like they belong there.

"WHAT?!" I exclaim, throwing the blanket off me that I just now notice was there. "Why didn't you take me to the hospital?!" I see a clock that reads 10:32. "And I'm late to work!" I get up and the room spins violently like the tops I used to play with as a kid. An arm wraps around my waist, bringing me back down to the couch. I rub my temples as my head starts throbbing even more.

"What the hell is going on?" I ask in a pained voice.

"You fell and hit your head at the beach," Suho explains with a weak smile. " You were discharged yesterday. You had a minor concussion and they said you'd be fine, but you might not be able to remember the last few days." I nod slowly. Right now, I just need to lay back down.There are so many pieces to the puzzle missing that I can't even begin to see the big picture.

They had me stay here because they didn't want me to be alone in this condition, plus Kai would go and get some clothes from my apartment.

While it's nice having company around, there are some strange things going on around the house. Lay cut himself one afternoon slicing an apple and the cut was healed up by dinner time. Then I had just refilled the two ice cube trays in the freezer then ten minutes later Xiumin was drinking a tall glass of water with ice cubes in it. At first I thought it was just my mind playing tricks on me. If I had a minor concussion, it's definately within the realm of possibility. It's not until I hear Chanyeol, the tall boy with the cute yet slightly creepy smile, mumbling about his food being cold and them having it steaming hot seconds later without even going to the microwave that I finally knew something weird was going on. This is stuff that happens in sci-fi movies, not in reality. Apparently, this has to be a group conversation so one night after dinner we gather in the living room.

"So," Suho starts with a sigh. He has kind brown eyes and a killer smille. Suho's quiet for a second, then looks at Kris. "Short version?"

"Yeah, that should do," Kris says with an agreeing nod. Kris has like perfect features and is even taller that Kai, Sehun ,Chanyeol and Tao.

"We have abilities," Suho begins. "We all went to the same high school. Lay, Kris, Tao and Luhan were exchanges students. Uhm, we weren't really friends but all had classes together. Anyways, one day we all ended up in Sooman hyungs chemistry lab."

"He was the chemistry teacher," Kai says beside me. I nod.

"We were there for various reasons," Suho continues. "Assignment makeup, detention, extra credit, etc. Anyways, Sooman hyung was working on this project and he had all of us help him. He gave us all a beaker with a symbol on it and we had to see what chemicals reacted with the nectar."

"What did the symbols have to do with anything?" I ask, slightly confused.

"We don't even know that," Kyungsoo answers. He has full lips and owl-like eyes. "I think he said that there were some other chemicals that he'd mixed in with the nectar that could cause them all to react differently." I nod, impressed.

"But it all went downhill," Chen says, swinging stretching his legs out on the ground. He has high cheekbones and a sharp jawline. "We'd been working on the stupid project for four days and nothing was reacting. Then some chemical he'd been waiting for came in. Some nectar from a tree he found in South America or something like that. Day five, we mixed it with the other chemicals in the beaker and...boom."

"Boom?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"The lab blew up," Baekhyun continues. "It was pretty bad actually. Sehun, Chanyeol and Xiumin got most of the blast because they were standing next to Sooman hyung when it happened. They were unconscious for a few days."

"So, what were the seperate beakers you guys had?" I ask, leaning back against the couch.

"Some weird stuff," Chanyeol says in a bass voice. The first time I heard him speak I nearly jumped. " Xiumin's was ice, Luhan had telekinesis, Kris' had a dragon, Suho has water, Lay's had a unicorn to represent healing, Baek had light, Chen had electricity, mine had a phoenix on it, Kyungsoo had like super strength, Tao had time manipulation, Kai had teleportation and Sehunnie had wind."

"Those are random," I state, grinning slightly.

"Definately," Luhan agrees with a smile. "We thought he'd lost his mind and had been watching too many movies. A few days after we got out the hospital was normal for the most part except for little things, but we didn't notice they were signs."

"Signs?" I repeat.

"Xiumin was always cold," Kai explains from beside me. "Kris and Chanyeol were always warm, Suho sweated a lot, Luhan was lightheaded, Lay was sick, Baekhyun squinted whenever he walked into a room with lights on, Chen had tingling in his fingers, Kyungsoo was slamming doors, Tao was losing track of time, I kept getting lost and Sehun was having breathing troubles."

"But it got worse after that," Kris adds. "It was when were out the hospital for about...two weeks?" They nod." Xiumin almost froze this kid on the soccer team he hated, Luhan woke up with everything in his room floating in midair, I had 'dragon eyes'-"

"Oh, those were creepy as hell," Xiumin says holding his chest. "His eyes were all green with a black slit down the middle." He shudders and Kris chuckles.

"Suho flooded the boys bathroom," Kris presses on. "Lay healed a blind girl's seeing eye dog-"

"Aww!" I coo with a smile. "That's so-"

"Sweet," the room choruses.

"We know," Chen says bitterly. "Every girl in school gushed over him for weeks." Lay leans back into his seat with a smug, dimpled smile.

"Baekhyun caused a power outage," Sehun says, continuing with the rest of the story. "Chen fried his phone just by touching it, Chanyeol set the kitchen on fire, Kyungsoo put a hole in the stage fooling around, Tao keep freezing moments around him, Kai would disappear when he was running and I blew away half the biology lab when I coughed."

"That's when we knew something wrong," Tao adds. "And that it was from the explosion. We went to Sooman hyung but he didn't have an ancedote, so he trained us to control our abilities. We've been living here ever since." I nod, taking all this in. Kai drapes an arm across my shoulders, pulling me closer to him.

"A lot to digest isn't it?" he says with a grin.

"Somewhat," I answer, tapping a finger to my mouth as I'm thinking. "So, you guys are like mutants?" They raise their eyebrows. "X-Men? Wolverine?"

"Not ringing a bell," Suho says slowly.

"The movie with the practically blue girl with red hair and yellow eyes?" I try again. An 'Oh!' sounds throughout the room and I roll my eyes. Then they nod. "So, can you two shape shift?" I point to Kris and Chanyeol.

"Oh yeah," Chanyeol answers with a face splitting grin.

"Show her your eyes," Chen says enthusiatically. Chanyeol smiles and Kris shrugs. With a blink, Kris' eyes are a bright green with a thin, black slit going down the middle of them just as Xiumin had described. Chanyeol's eyes turn an amber color and his pupil's enlarged.

"That's so cool," I say with a smile as they blink a few times to get their normal eyes back.

"She's not a normal girl is she?" Suho asks Kai. I blush and Kai just grins and pulls me closer to his side.

It's a few more days before I finally go back to work. For some reason, I've been a little jittery all day. I just feel like I have to be on the constant lookout for something or someone. I almost drop a mug when my aunt taps me on the shoulder.

"You've been jittery all morning," she observes with a raised eyebrow. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I answer simply. She gives me a skeptical look. "Honestly, I'm fine." I notice my hands are shaking as I refill one of the sugar containers. What is wrong with me?

"Hey!" a voice says happily behind me, causing me to jump. I turn around to be greeted with a smiling Kai.

"Hey Kai," I greet as calmy as I can. I try to slow down my breathing from the shock.

"Are you alright?" I nod. "You look a little...jittery." I laugh bitterly.

"Is that the word of the day or something?" I ask as I walk past him to the cashier counter.

"I guess so if it's the truth," he answers following me to the counter. Kai leans forward, resting his elbows on the glass. I dump a new pack of quarters into the cash register then look at him. His almond shaped eyes are full of worry. I cup the side of his face with one hand and give him a weak smile.

"I'm okay, Kai." He kisses my hand and I grin as I pull it away. "Are we still watching movies at your house tonight?" He nods as his phone goes off. "I'll see you later."

Later that night finds me and Kai snuggled up on the couch watching a movie. Tired from my first day of work, I fall asleep on his chest. Images flash across my memory from the day at the beach. The man on the shore as Kai and I are on the paddleboats. The men who jump me when I'm in the woods and pin me to the ground. I feel a cool, sharp, metal surface pressed against my neck. Words are coming out his mouth but all hear is 'Kai', 'secret', 'kill her'. I'm fighting and then there's fire and electricity, then all my air is being cut off and the world is fading into black around me...

I wake up gasping for air and Kai is holding my shoulders. I cough as I hear footsteps rushing into the livingroom.

"It was just a nightmare," I tell them, finally being able to breathe. When I remember the fragments from my dream, the incident from the beach. I look up to see Xiumin, Tao and Sehun standing above me. "I remember everything from the beach though." Their faces change to a cross between shock and worry.

The next few weeks finds me nearly moving into the guys house. I've come to know the guys well since then and conclude that they are quite a rambunctious bunch when they're all together. Kyungsoo, Lay and Xiumin are the ones I've grown closest to since I've been around. There's so many of them I'm taking my time getting to know them.

"Which jacket should I bring?" I ask Kai over Skype as I'm getting more clothes to take to the house. Kai shrugs.

"It's getting cold out," he states simply. "Bring a warm one." I roll my eyes. I chuckle when all of a sudden Kyungsoo is on the screen as he takes a seat on Kai's lap. I find the way that they interact with each other really sweet. I've observed that while the boys are close, there is one person that they feel the most comfortable with. Kai and Kyungsoo aren't as playful as Xiumin and Chen; as loud as Baekhyun and Chanyeol; as affectionate as Luhan and Sehun; as cute as Suho and Lay or as subtle as Kris and Tao.

"I agree, bring a warm one," Kyungsoo says as Kai rests his chin on his shoulder. I nod. Kyungsoo starts giggling as Kai pokes at his sides and I can't help the smile that breaks out over my face. "You might be staying with us for a while."

"Lay is taking a nap and Baekhyun said he'll be back from the store with Tao and Kyungsoo in like ten minutes," I tell Kai as the rest of the group is about to go to the movies one chilly friday night in November. I've been staying here with them since the beginning of September. I still have a lot of things in my aparment, but I'm practically moved in here. They thought with Sooman out on the loose that it's best for me to stay here with them. Apparently, after a while Sooman wanted to do experiments on them to see if he could enhance their abilities or even replicate them. The experiements at first were okay they'd said, but after a particulary frightening experiemnt with Luhan that nearly left him in a coma, they ran away from where they were staying with him. He's been out of the picture for years, but I can see on their faces when his name is mentioned that they're scared. "I'll be fine by myself for a bit."

"Are you sure?" Kai asks again as I tie a scarf around his neck. "I can wake Lay hyung up-" I cut him off by pulling his scarf so that his face is level with mine. I lean in and gently kiss him on the lips. Kai offcially asked me to be his girlfriend on October 26th.

"I'll be fine," I reassure him.

"But-"

"Dude, she's fine," Chen cuts in as Chanyeol pulls him into the hall. "Let's go. See you later!" With a shake of my head I close and lock the door behind them. Due to one cook being asleep and the other at the grocery store, I have to make myself some dinner. I'm dumping some ramen into a pot of boiling water when I hear footsteps behind me.

"Oh you guys are back-" A hand closes around my mouth and I'm being dragged backwards. I elbow the figure in the stomach and they release me. I see five men in black like the ones at the beach. I guess that can only mean one thing.

Round two.

They seem a lot tougher and rougher then they were last time because they're slamming me into walls and I even get dropped on the glass table. I'm holding my own as I keep knocking them down with roundhouse kicks and uppercuts, but they keep coming back.

"What' going on?" a sleepy voice asks from the hallway. I look to Lay coming down the hallway rubbing his eyes. They widen when he's sees all the men and immediately goes into action mode. I'm trying to fight two men off when I see the guy Lay is fighting pull a silver, pointy object from a pocket of his pants.

"Lay, watch out!" I scream. My breathing stops when I see Lay's face pale and he falls doubled over onto the ground. Somehow I'm breaking free and fighting through two different guys.

"There's a car!" one of the men announces looking out the window. "Let's go!"

"We're supposed to grab the girl," one argues. He shakes his head and they're disappearing like Sooman had. With all my strength, I help Lay to his feet and take him into the bathroom, leaning him against the counter. They stabbed him in the left side of his stomach. He's bleeding so much...

"I'm so sorry," I sob in apology as his face pales a little more. He shakes his head. "But you''ll be fine. I can clean the wound."

"It'll heal," he says quietly.

"Before you bleed out?" I ask, going through the medicine cabinets with shaky hands. A whole bunch of stuff falls and I angirly pick them up. "How deep is it?"

"A inch or so," he answers. I lift up his shirt and the sight of the wound has me bursting into tears. "It's not your fault." The front door opens and I'm trying to get myself together as the happy voices fill the air from the kitchen. They're silent observing the damamged livingroom before basically sprinting to the bathroom. Lay keeps telling them he's okay, but they mother him and patch him up anyway.

"How did they find us?" Kris asks once there's another house meeting in the livingroom. They're quiet.

"We need to find somewhere else to stay for a while," Xiumin says. "At least until things settle down." I leave my spot on the couch and head to Kai's room where my stuff is. I'm shoving all my clothes into a duffel bag when a he finally reaches the room.

"What are you doing?" he asks me.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" I ask in a shaky voice. "I'm leaving."

"What?"

"You guys wouldn't been in all this trouble if it wasn't for me." I sniffle. "Lay wouldn't have gotten stabbed either."

"He's fine. He said so himself."

"Kai, that's not the point!" I nearly shout turning to face him. I wipe a couple tears from my face. " It woud be a whole lot easier if I just disappeared."

"Easier for who?" he challenges. "What about me?" I bite my lip as he walks towards me. "Look, we'll get through this okay? Together." He wipe the stray tears from my cheeks before pulling me into a hug. "I'm sure Kris and Suho will think of something."