(Sorry if this chapter is a bit rushed... I didnt have much planned for this one, but hopefully it sets up the future pretty well)

Luhan

“One caramel macchiato, please,” I turned to Suho. “You sure you don’t want anything?”

Suho was busy on his phone.

“No thanks, I’m good.” He muttered a little on his phone, scrolling down news websites. “There’s got to be a pattern with this guy’s disappearances. He seems to appear at schools a fair bit.”

“You know, while we’re both here, we should focus together on this lightning dude.”

“You’ve got your target, I’ve got mine. Plus, I think he’s headed south… or maybe he’s doing a counter clockwise circle around South Korea… do you think this pattern of disappearances looks like a star?”

I sipped my drink, holding the cup between two hands. Ah, the perfect blend of espresso, milk and caramel. Xiumin hyung would love this.

“You know, coffee isn’t good for you. You should cut down.”

“I can barely survive a day without a cup! Just… keep focusing on that disappearing guy. Hey, here’s a thought. Maybe he’s not teleporting, but he’s becoming invisible.”

“No that makes no sense… see, he was sighted here in September the twenty first last year,” he zoomed the map on his phone out and pointed to the other side of Korea, “and then he appeared here on the twenty second. It’s virtually impossible for him to travel that far without supernatural aid.”

“Okay, you keep pondering over that.”

It was time for me to make some detective work. I walked over to a lady sitting nearby. She had a small child on her lap and was between nursing her coffee and typing on her Macbook computer. I figured that as a mum she would be trustworthy and approachable enough.

“Hi, can I speak with you for a moment? I’m… I’m reporting on the lighting storms last week, and I’m interviewing a diverse group of locals on the anomaly.”

The lady looked up at me from across the table.

“If you’re a reporter… why don’t you have a clipboard?”

“I… uh… I am really bad at taking notes fast… so I…. prefer to record digitally and type it up later.” I turned around to Suho, dedicatedly immersed in his phone. “Suho, can I please have the recording device?”

At first Suho looked confused and I was worried he would blow my guise.

“The… recording….? Oh! The phone!”

He placed his phone onto record and placed it on the table. The lady gave no objections, so I started my questions.

“So, tell me about your experience with the lightning.”

“Well, it wasn’t forecasted. It was supposed to be quite sunny actually. The lightning lasted for only five minutes, then it stopped. I wasn’t very worried. See, I live up that hill a fair way away, and the lightning seemed pretty concentrated. I’m pretty sure it actually stuck the ground.”

I leaned in. the concept of the lighting hitting one point in particular.

“Where did you say it was concentrated?”

The lady hesitated and her eyes drifted upwards, searching her internal map for a location. “Do you know the supermarket? It’s a little close to there, around the back. It was a bunch of houses, the residential kind.”

I was about to ask more questions when the phone rang. Orange Caramel’s Magic Girl played loudly from the phone and vibrated in place.

“Sorry, I have to take this.” I picked up the phone and answered it, blushing from the embarrassing ringtone.

“Luhan hyung?” It was Yixing.

“Yixing? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just checking on everyone. I thought this was Suho hyung’s phone.”

“Yeah, I was using it for an interview.”

“So, have you found the guy?”

“Not yet, I have a pretty solid lead though. How are the other’s going? How’s the new place?”

“It’s a bit dusty. It said it was an apartment, but it’s more like a bunch of shacks stuck on top of each other. Still no progress with the tree, but physically she’s healing well. Still in a coma. Oh, and Kris is back, he bought a new guy over. Tao. He seems pretty cool, still very young. High school age, actually. He controls time, it’s pretty cool, I saw him do some martial arts practise before, and he literally makes arcs when he moves. I called in on Baekhyun before too; he’s on his way back with a fire controller called Chanyeol.”

“Any news on Xiumin?”

“Sorry, still nothing. I think Kris is planning to do a search in Japan, but it’s an entire country, it’ll be difficult.”

 “Okay, tell him to check around the 1000 year old cherry tree near the nuclear site, it’s pretty famous. I think Xiumin was testing for the Tree of Life there.”

“Will do. Oh, and I have a request. In the next town over, to the east, there’s one of the guys we’re looking for. He’s not very subtle, pretending to be a police officer. Maybe once you’re done there you can go get him?”

“Sure. I’ll keep in touch.”

“Good luck!”

Yixing hung up. I looked up to see the lady immersed in her computer again. Mumbling a quick thankyou and giving a deep bow, I left her to her work, dragging Suho out of the coffee shop with me.

“I think I know where he could be, and we’ve got another guy in the next town over to find as well.”

After a few grumbles about being assigned the most people to find, we arrived to the houses at the back of the supermarkets. They weren’t the prettiest; most of their windows had protective bars over them and were standing on concrete blocks. Absolutely nobody had a lawn mower, it was obvious.

“So…. We go door knocking?” Suho said.

“Yeah, like…. Hello, we were wondering if you were the person who created the lightning storm with your mind powers earlier this week. Nope? Okay, thankyou for your time.”

“Any better ideas?” Suho said.

I look down the street. A boy is fitting his luggage into the back of an old car. He doesn’t seem to be packing much, but I couldn’t imagine he would own much either. I pointed down the road at him.

“That guy.” I said, certain of my choice.

“That guy? Why him?”

“He’s leaving. If you created a freak storm, wouldn’t you want to run away, just in case anyone is hunting you, like those black things?” I was already strolling with purpose towards the boy, Suho close behind.

“Hello? Can we speak for a moment?” I said, raising my voice to gain his attention as I closed the space between me and the car.

The boy looked up and for a moment I saw a confused regular boy. He had a strong, defined chin and long thick eyelashes.

I wasn’t sure how to do this. How do you ask someone if they’re superpowered or not? What if they weren’t? I had a spark of an idea.

Pulling my collar down a bit, I mimed fanning my neck to let cool air into my shirt.

“It’s a bit hot today, isn’t it?”

His eyes were drawn to my mark on my collarbone, and almost immediately he knew. He had a quick brain.

“You guys are lightning controllers too?”

Suho stepped forward.

“Not exactly,” His inner leader showed himself again. “My name is Suho, and this is Luhan. We’re like you. I can see that you’re leaving…. Would you like to leave with us?”

The boy smiled.

“Chen.”

“Sorry, what?

“It’s my name. I’m Chen. And sure, I’ll come with you.”

----------------

We were in Suho’s car to the next town. With Chen sitting up in the passenger seat it was easy to tell him about us. With endless questions, we found it best to just talk and let him ask any questions he had afterwards. He was polite, and sat still and listened while Suho spoke. Not once did he interrupt until Suho had finished.

“I knew it! I knew I wasn’t the only one! I was searching for other people all the time!”

“You should’ve checked the internet. That’s how I found Xiumin.” I piped from the backseat.

“I…. I never really had a computer. I kept on moving houses a lot. It was difficult.”

“Why did you move a lot?” Suho asked.

“My nightmares. They appear every now and then, and usually I cause a lightning strike while I’m sleeping. I’m always pretty shaken up about them, so I move. Just to be careful."

“Nightmares? What are they about?” Suho had a fair amount of knowledge of dreams. He used to talk to the Tree in his sleep… before the tree became a girl.

“It’s a bit childish actually…. I dream of monsters. Black monsters.”

We both look at him, intrigued. With nobody butting in to talk, Chen continued his description.

“They’re not always the same shape. They’re black, and shine reflected light, like their skin is fluid. Usually they just scream about a bit and make a mess, but a few days ago, with the last lightning storm, one of them spoke.”

“What did it say?” we were on the ends of our seats. Suho had slowed down the car and was driving onto the side of the road to park.

“Knock knock.”

Suho and I shared a worried look.

“I’ve… I’ve had a few experiences with dreams. I used to speak to the Tree before she came to our world, in my sleep. She told me of vital information, like of us twelve, and our job to protect her.”

“This is just a nightmare though. I’m not talking with the Tree or anything, just black monsters.”

“How long ago did you have these nightmares?” I asked. I felt my voice crack.

“Two days ago”

I took a deep breath. “Two days ago, the Tree entered our world. With the tree came those monsters, they seem to fit our description.”

Suho added his thoughts.

“Knock knock…. I think they were just trying to scare you. Like, ‘knock knock, we’ve arrived!’”

Chen seemed shaken. His face had turned pale, and I was tempted to wind down the window so he wouldn’t throw up in the car.

“My nightmares are real? I’ve been… I’ve been talking with the monsters?”

We sat in awkward silence.

“Lets… let’s focus on getting this other guy.”

Glad to change the subject, Suho restarted the engine and drove back onto the road.

----------------------

When we arrived at the town it was nearing sunset. Suho decided to check the police station for information on this vigilante while Chen decided to join me in a stake out in the park. Together we sat in the car in silence, watching the park before us.

We had been sitting for at least an hour and we were bored out of our minds.

“So… show me some telekinesis.”

I took my gaze from the near dead activity in the park and turned to Chen.

“I’m serious; I’ve dreamed about other powers, I’d love to see some!”

Without a word, I reached behind Chen’s back with my mind and flipped his hoodie onto his head.

“Woah!” he let out a small chuckle. “More! Show me more!”

Concentrating more, I reached for the lever underneath Chen’s seat. Lifting it with my mind, I pushed the seat all the way forward until his knees hit the glove box.  Next, I floated myself off the seat and leaned back, stretching out until I was lying upside down on the ceiling.

“That’s awesome! How…. That’s amazing! You have major talent!”

“Thanks,” I blushed, floating back into my chair. “I’d ask you to show me your power, but if we get stuck by lightning we’d give away our position.”

“I don’t have to summon lightning from the sky… I can do other stuff too”

Chen opened his fingers so it looked like he was holding an invisible watermelon in his hands. Electricity sparked between his fingertips, crackling down his wrists.

“Watch this.” He picked up my phone and touched the bottom plug. “I just need to find the right…. Got it! Watch the battery.”

I watched the little symbol in the top right corner and slowly, gaining speed, it started to tick upwards in percentage.

“Are you charging my phone?”

Chen nodded.

“Yep! I never have to charge my appliances from the powerpoint ever!”

A car alarm sounded from the other side of the park, jolting us both into attention. we scanned the park for suspicious activity.

“Do you think that’s a car jacker or just a coincidence?” Chen asked.

Two silhouettes ran across the park at breakneck speed.

“Those are car jackers.” I said. “they’re running from the car alarm.”

“Should we stop them? Like, we’ve got this power why don’t we-“ I put a finger to Chen’s lips, motioning for him to shush. Another silhouette had appeared a few car lengths away from us. With a flick of his wrist, a car jacker fell over and another sharp hand movement and the ground collapsed underneath the second.

“We should go get him!”

Before I could think of a smart way to go about this, Chen was already out of the door, jogging towards the boy.

“Ya! You did that right? I do that too! Come with us, we’re supposed to save a Tree!”

The boy turned towards us and a streetlight illuminated his wide surprised eyes. He opened his mouth to speak; then he disappeared. A puff of smoke flew away from his ghost.

Did he just disappear? Does he have two powers? Is this the disappearing guy? I had billions of questions, but Chen had them answered.

“I was closer, I’m absolutely sure of what I saw. There was a second guy. He just appeared out of thin air! He grabbed the boy by his shoulders then they were gone! I swear it.”

“Call Suho. Tell him what happened, and get him over here.”

We had found, and lost, our disappearing member, as well as the earth-moving member.