The familiar tinkling of the bells as the door hit them signalled both arrival and departure. This time, it was the former.

“Henry!” Amber greeted the man behind the counter in English with a broad grin as she stepped inside, gently shutting the door behind her.

“Hey.” The hazel-haired Chinese Canadian native greeted back easily. “How was the vacation you told me about?”

“It was great. I think I gained a few pounds or something.” She took the moment to sniff the aroma that whiffed through air. “It always smells so good in here.”

“As it always should be in a tea store.” Henry chuckled. “What can I get for you today?”

“I still have some of the earl grey chocolate I got last time I was here.” Drumming her fingers lightly on the counter, her eyes scanned the selection before her. “I’m actually here to get tea for the office just to add to our stash of drinks and snacks. Any recommendations?”

He turned towards the boxes of tea on the wall; his lips pursed in thought as he too scanned the varieties of tea on the shelves. “Ah, this one!” He grinned, moving to reach for a box on the third shelf before handing it to her. “It’s a general favorite among our customers.”

Amber looked at the box and grinned. “Apple Cinnamon. Sounds good. I’ll take three boxes.”

~`~`~`~`~`~

It was one of those rather rare times when the Psychic Research and Investigation Center office is peaceful despite the number of people currently inside it.

Changmin and Kris were holed up in the former’s office, working on organizing the records and other pertinent files in their archive. Last both men checked, there were no scheduled clients for the day, which gave both Jessica and Heechul to fall asleep on opposite ends of the sofa with Seohyun in the middle reading her book. Sooyoung, Yunho and Yoona occupied Kyuhyun’s office, discussing a non-paranormal case they just finished. Kyuhyun was in the office too, listening in on the meeting out of sheer curiosity.

Do you think it’s a good idea for us to check up on our past clients? See how they’re doing and all that.

Like a follow up? Changmin asked in his head.

Yeah. Kyuhyun replied. Soo, Yoong and Yunho hyung are talking about how they should do a follow up on this case they just had. It made me think if we should be doing that too. I actually want to know how Oh Sehun’s doing now.

Kris trailed off; the blonde man in the midst of talking when he noticed that Changmin was no longer listening. “Min?”

“Kyuhyun.” The dark haired man said by means of an explanation, smiling apologetically at his assistant. “He was suggesting that we should do follow ups on our previous clients to see how they’re doing and all that.”

“Sounds like a good idea. It shouldn’t be too hard to make separate records for that.” He grinned, noting down the new task in his laptop. “It’d be nice to show our clients that we really do care and it’s not all just about the money they pay us. Who knows? They might have friends or relatives who are potential clients.”

“But it is about the money!” Changmin joked, sobering up insantly when Kris’s head suddenly snapped up; his eyes wide. “Kris?”

Min.

The worried tone in his brother’s words and Kris’s sudden reaction were enough to tell Changmin what was going on; the two tall men were out of their seats and rushing out of the office in no time just as Yoona rushed out of Kyuhyun’s office to wake both Jessica and Heechul and move the two and Seohyun out of the way. Yunho emerged from the office with an unconscious Sooyoung in his arms and Kyuhyun hot on his heels, sitting down on the now cleared sofa with the brunette on his lap.

“Is it a vision?” Seohyun asked worriedly; the tall raven haired woman standing off to the side with Jessica.

Yunho nodded once. “I think so.”

Kyuhyun gritted his teeth. “Damn it.”

~`~`~`~`~`~

All she could hear were loud, guttural screams.

They made her ears hurt as much as they made her insides twist and churn painfully. Sooyoung looked around. There were too many people; all screaming and running in different directions. She winced and groaned as some of them hit her in their haste but she could see no face. They were all mere silhouettes.

It was dark, but not completely so. There were strobe lights; red, yellow, white, green flashes that momentarily blinded her whenever they headed her way. It was noisy, but it wasn’t just the screams. Music. She could hear music. Loud and fast and carefree, they contrasted the screams too much.

“What’s going on?”

And then everything turned just a bit hazy.

Smoke, she realized. She could see smoke.

Sooyoung looked around, following the direction that people were running from.

Sparks