I don’t know how much time had passed until I woke up, but I was in a car when I did. I heard only one other heartbeat, so at least there was only the driver and me.

I opened my eyes, only to see nothing but more darkness. I guess I was still too out of it to realize my eyes were covered.

“Is my aunt okay?” She was the one that told me the lie. They had to have gotten to her in some way.

“Relax, she’s fine. We don’t like to do things messily, so you’re lucky.” An even, slightly humored voice replied.

“What did you do?”

“Well as it turns out, you ain’t the only one with powers.”

I already knew that, and honestly he should have known I did if this had anything to do with the emails. “So… what’d you do? Make her lie?”

I was trying to wriggle my hands out of the bindings, but they were way too tight. Instead of wiggling around uselessly, I sat back and tried to pick up any useful information I could. The smell of where we were driving through, the sounds, how the air felt. It just all felt like the same woodsy place, which was a problem.

He laughed. “Sort of. I just gave her a false memory. You see, I simply gave her a friend that needed help, and I knew she’d do the rest. As it seems, it’s not too good to be a famously kind family.” This guy could change peoples’ memories. Sounds scary. Would I know if he did anything to me?

“Yeah well, can’t say we expected this.” I mumble annoyed. It was a nice to have a good reputation until now.

He laughs again. “Right? Well anyway, hate to do this after we bonded and all, but it’ll be easier if you’re out. So… yeah.”

Before I can protest, there’s yet another prick. This time in my leg.

I felt groggier the second time I woke up. Maybe it was because of the white light that seemed to be shining on my face. When I was finally able to open my eyes, I realize it wasn’t. It was just a regular light; it only felt that way.

I lightly shook my head to try and get some focus, and when I managed to, I saw a beautiful girl in a white lab coat standing in front of me taking notes or something of that nature. Were all the scientists here pretty, or could this be the girl from Solar’s vision? She certainly fit the bill.

“Good to see that you’re up.” She said softly, not bothering to look up from what she was writing.

“Suppose it’s nice to be up. Is there water?” I managed to croak with my dry throat.

“To the left of you.”

I turned, and sure enough I see just what I needed. I gulp it down hungrily, and felt just a little bit better.

“Now that you’re up, I’m going to have to give you a basic physical. You know, blood pressure and all.”

“Of course, why wouldn’t you?”

She looks up and gives me a searching look. Clearly baffled by my behavior. No one else could have expected anything like this, but I was fortunate enough to have some inside information.

“You’re not like the others,” she observes.

“I wouldn’t imagine I am.”

“You aren’t scared?” She asks setting down her pad, and moving closer to me.

“I am, just not nearly as confused as the others were.”

“Why is that exactly?”

“Depends… Are we being listened to? Or is it just the two of us?”

“We’re nearly almost always monitored… Except for now, in your bunk, the halls have cameras but no audio, and there are a few other exceptions.”

That was good to know, but before I can make any use of it, I hear someone making their way to this room. I can consider myself saved by the bell. I still don’t know if I can trust her.

“You better make yourself look busy, someone’s coming this way.”

Without question, she grabs the sphygmomanometer and wraps it around my upper arm. Just as it starts tightening, a man in a similar lab coat walks in.

“How’s it going? Oh good, she’s up.”

“She just came back to consciousness minutes ago.”

“Well, sorry to rush you, but the leads are getting impatient. We still don’t know what gift she has, and they’re anxious to know. So once you’re done here, don’t take her to her bunk like usual. They want her in the trial room ASAP.”

“But her clothes are in the bunk.” The women says sounding annoyed.

The man shrugs. “Those are the orders.”

She rolls her eyes as she turns back to face me and says, “Fine. This shouldn’t take too long.”

“Good.” The man needing nothing else, leaves without another word.

She and I are quiet for a few moments before she breaks the silence.

“So what is you have, super hearing?”

“That’s only part of it.” I figure there’s nothing to lose at this point, so I tell her the rest. “I have hypersensitivity with all my senses.”

She nods, not looking particularly impressed, just thoughtful really. It’s probably her scientific mind kicking in.

“The first day is going to be the hardest. Don’t resist, you got that? Fighting won’t mean anything, it will just get you hurt.” She finally looks up from checking my heart and makes eye contact, looking very serious.

“Okay, I’ll try.”

“No. Don’t just try. The first day means they’re going to try and scare you into submission, so you’ll be getting hurt anyway, but the last thing you want is anything extra.”

I can tell her warning’s genuine, so all I do is nod. I was really starting to get anxious now.

“Why are you telling me this?” I was beginning to think she could be trusted, but maybe she had other reasons.

“I’m simply not some sadist.”

Solar’s POV

I couldn’t think straight. I must have been having a panic attack because my world was spinning and I could barely breathe.

“Solar, if you don’t calm down you’re not going to be any use, and we need you right now.” Wheein said in a soothing voice, trying hard to bring me back.

I know she was right, but God, how quick my biggest fear came to reality. It was impossible to just move past it. I mean, they had Moonbyul.

They had Moonbyul… They had Moonbyul, and I had to help her. I had to get her back. Her and Wendy. So I steadied myself, took deep breaths, and shut my eyes. I had to be on my A game for her. When I finally opened my eyes, I get straight down to business.

“They have Moonbyul, which means what?”

Hwasa answers already knowing where I’m going. “We have an inside man.”

“Exactly. She’s our asset now.” My hands shook as I said it.

The email Hwasa and I sent backfired in the end. Moonbyul was gone, taken by crazy scientists willing to do who knows what to unravel the science behind the lightning.

She was being instructed down the white hallways, just like I’d seen with Wendy. Her heart rate was increasing with each step she took, and I could do nothing but experience it with her. It was a connection like no other I’ve had before. Maybe it was because our hearts were already intertwined.

“The next door on the right will be it.” Quieter, the voice I recognized to be Miss Bae’s said, “Stay strong and follow instruction. Answer every question without a fight. Please, for your own sake.”

The statement was genuine. That much I could tell, but what seemed off was her concern. She didn’t truly seem to have any. Not the way she had any for Wendy. Maybe it was a good think Moonbyul didn’t get my text. She still didn’t seem to trust her fully.

Moonbyul walked up to the door, and reached a shaky hand out to the handle, but she couldn’t seem to get herself to open it. She could make out the voices behind the door, but the blood rushing through her head made it hard to concentrate on the words. Gently, a soft hand pushed her hand out of the way.

“I’ll lead us in.”

Moonbyul was given a moment to take a deep breath, and steel her nerves.

Before she took a step in, she murmured quietly to herself, “For Solar.” My heart leaped for her, wishing I could do something else but listen in.

“Miss Bae, I knew I could trust you to get our new subject to us quickly. We’re all excited to see what we have in store for us this time.”

Moonbyul looked around, taking in the scene before her. The adjacent wall had a two way mirror, and in front of the wall, parallel to it, was a big chair with all kinds of gadgets hooked up to it. Clearly that was meant for her. Facing the chair was a table with a staff of five scientists, looking excited and ready. There was also random objects strewn around the room, like balls, cards, and other things Moonbyul couldn’t guess they could be for.

“Yes of course, Dr. Park. I wasn’t able to get her a change of clothes, but I took the liberty of cutting off her sleeves, so that we can see her scars. I think you’ll find that she has an interesting pattern.” Miss Bae spoke formally.

“Always thinking, Miss Bae! She wasn’t any trouble, was she? You didn’t have to resort to the stick?”

“She was very compliant, Sir.”

“Good-Good. Why don’t you strap her into the chair?”

“Yes, Sir.”

The beautiful scientist gestures to the chair, and Moonbyul makes her way to it avoiding all the eyes that were on her. She sits down in it, and easily allows Miss Bae set her in the right position to strap her in. Nothing else is said until the meek scientist steps back to stand with the others.

“You see subject 55, there’s something I always do before getting started. It’s just a little demonstration of what you want to avoid. And what you want to avoid is a little something we call the “stick”.”

From the inside of his lab coat he pulls out a medium sized baton looking thing. “Yes, it does look a bit like a police baton, as I’m sure you were thinking, but I can assure you it has much more kick. Well,” he chuckles. “You’ll see right now.”

Moonbyul sees Miss Bae turn away slightly, and the quickening of her heart only causes Moonbyul’s nerves to spike.

He walks over with a small smirk, and it takes a lot for Moonbyul not to show the disgust she feels. Dr. Park, a man with a hard looking face that still comes off as gentle is clearly the oldest in the room, but it has nothing to do with his looks that disgust Moonbyul. She can just feel that he’s a despicable person, and she doesn’t need my sixth sense to figure that.

When he gets close, she sees his eyes travel the length of her scars. “Wow Miss Bae, you were right. Her scar really is something else. Dr. Yoon, after my little demo, get your camera please and take some pictures. I definitely want to document this.”

He again addresses Moonbyul. “55, this is something you’ll never be ready for, but all I can say is – brace yourself.”

He doesn’t wait another moment to press the baton to her arm. It’s just a touch. A silent touch, but the effect is immediate. Her body tenses, and a strained scream leaves . Every nerve seems like it’s on fire, and every vein feels like it’s going to burst. It was a whole new definition of pain that I never want to feel again. I understood the fear Wendy felt when she even considered acting out.

Feeling everything she does is almost enough to break me off of the connection, but instead I’m suddenly stuck between places. I hear Hwasa and Wheein panic, as my own strained scream breaks out of my throat. It’s rough like my throat doesn’t want to open. I was lucky I was on the couch or I would have dropped.

After what seems like hours, he pulls the baton back. “It’s a neurotoxin I invented. Painful, isn’t it?”

Moonbyul hardly hears as she tries to catch her breath.

“I asked you a question, 55.” He says in a stern voice.

“Y-yes. Yes, it’s painful.” She responds desperately.

She looks up at his out of focus humored face, understanding Miss Bae’s warning fully now. This guy was ruthless, and it seems like it was just for the fun of it. He liked the power he held way too much.

“Good. You answer like that, and there should be no problems, 55. We all look forward to working with you.”

He puts the baton back in his lab coat, and claps his hands together. “Now, let’s take a look at your delightful scar!”

He comes up to her again and glides his hands up her smooth skin. The amount of hate I feel for him then makes me wonder if Moonbyul can feel it, even though the connection is only one way.

“I’ve never seen a scar purple and dark like this before… Tell me, how were you struck?” He says as he steps back for Dr. Yoon to take the pictures.

“I was in a car when it happened. I had my hand out the window and I was touching the metal frame when the lightning struck the roof.”

“So it all flowed up your arm… That’s not something we’ve gotten here before. Interesting.”

He waits for Dr. Yoon to finish with his pictures and heads back to the table before he says anything else.

“And now for the million dollar question, what is the gift that the lightning has granted you?”

Every word since the baton has come out defeated, but slowly I can feel the confidence build back up in Moonbyul. I know she’s trying to stay positive. She’ll answer every question he throws at her and she’ll do every trial, and more importantly she’s going to find a way out of here. We’re going to find a way out of here.

“I have hyper-senses.”

“Please, elaborate. I will expect detailed answers after every question.”

“Yes, sir.” Moonbyul responded, just managing to keep the agitation out of her voice. “I can see every pore on everyone’s faces in this room. I can hear every heartbeat and the sound of your blood as it runs through your veins. I can smell every attempt of every person to mask their smell, as well as their natural smell. My touch can fell every micro detail on every surface. That is what I mean by hyper-senses.”

Dr. Park grinned and nodded his head in approval.

“That’s it for now. You did well, 55.” She watches in shock as the crew begins to get their notes together. Surely this was some trick. “You look surprised that we’re already done here.” She was and I was too. “From here, my team and I will develop methods on how we will learn from your gifts. We would have started today, but we like to take a more prepared approach. Besides, it’s lunchtime, and after that we have other subjects to look into. Miss Bae, you can now take 55 to her room.”

We both felt relief that it was done, but if she stays here longer, this would have only been just the beginning.

“Will do.” Miss Bae nodded, and made her way over to untie Moonbyul from the chair. Moonbyul was relieved to have Miss Bae near her again. Anything was better than that man. Her touch was gentle, and when Moonbyul stood up wobbly, the beautiful scientist made sure to be there as support.

The neurotoxin had lasting effects, and it made walking out of that room rather difficult. Even if all Moonbyul wanted to do was be gone, she had to take her time. Eventually, Moonbyul and Miss Bae were alone again in the white halls.

“That was only the hardest day because of the baton, but every day will be hard.”

“Sounds great.” Moonbyul mumbled.

“I know. I can only offer my condolences.”

“Change your clothes, and put your old clothes here. I’ll be back with food shortly, but for now just rest. You’ll need to get all the rest you can while you’re here.”

Moonbyul nodded and sat on the hard bunk, trying to ease the pain she felt everywhere. It did little to help, but it was something. Miss Bae left, and Moonbyul was finally alone in the small box-like room, but she could hear everything outside of it.

For the most part it was still, but she heard a couple of hearts and breathing to match along with them, but she was more interested in Miss Bae. She followed Miss Bae’s footsteps down the hall as she was clearly making her way to one heart beat in particular. She listened as the heart that belonged to the beautiful scientist sped up in excitement as she got closer.

She finally stopped at a door and took a deep breath. Moonbyul heard the key card unlock the door, and finally Miss Bae walked in.

The heartbeat of the other subject, which had been steady before suddenly matched in beat with the scientist’s.

“You’re back.” An unexpectedly happy voice said. Moonbyul’s eyes widened. That voice must have sounded familiar to her. I couldn’t believe it got past me before.

“Is that…” Moonbyul trailed off.

“I am, and I brought something delicious just as I promised.” She could hear the faint smile in her voice. “A simple sandwich, but I also brought you something sweet for once. A chocolate chip cookie.”

The girl giggled softly. “You know, you tell me it’s only been 2 weeks since I’ve been here, but it feels like it’s been months, and it feels like it’s been forever since I’ve had a dessert. You know, outside of here, I baked quite a bit.”

“Did you now? Were you any good?” She heard the scientist move over and sit next to the girl on the bed.

“People tell me I was pretty good. What dessert do you like?” Moonbyul smiled a bit when she knew their hands brushed because she could hear the complement response of a skipped beat.

“I like carrot cake best, I suppose. Though I’m sure I’d like anything you made me.”

“Well, lucky for you, I make a pretty mean carrot cake.”

“You’ll have to make if for me sometime.”

“If I ever get-”

“You will get out of here. I promised you, didn’t I?”

We heard the hitch in Wendy’s breath, and I could imagine the scientist brushing the hair from Wendy’s face.

“I don’t want you to get hurt at my expense, Irene.”

“Shh, Wendy. You don’t have to worry about me. Eat the cookie, and get some energy back.”

“You don’t have to leave already, do you?” Wendy asked sounding disappointed.

“No, I have some time. Everyone else is eating right now too.”
“Oh, you’re not skipping a meal are you?” Wendy asked suddenly sounding worried. I could just imagine her wide eye expression.

Irene laughed softly sounding rather pleasant.
“Worry about yourself, my Wendy.”

Wendy coughed, almost choking on her food.

“Woah, careful there.”

“Yeah, sorry.”

They were quiet a moment as Wendy slowly chewed.

“Wendy, the first day you were brought in, I thank God I wasn’t there, but I missed something.”

“What? What’d you miss?”

“The story of when lightning struck you.”

“Oh...” Wendy breathed, sounding almost disappointed. “What makes you think of it now?”

Irene was quiet unwilling to answer. Of course it was unpleasant news to hear that another subject was brought in.

Wendy was able to guess anyway. “They’ve brought someone else in haven’t they?”

“Yes.”

“How many does that make it now?”

Irene shifted uncomfortably, and ultimately decided not to answer.

“Tell me your story, Wendy.” It sounded almost like a plea, to move on from what she didn’t want to answer.

Wendy sighed, easily giving in. “You have an undeniable pout.” She laughed sounding shy at the admission. “Fine, I’ll humor you. After all, you did bring me a cookie.”

“Thank you.” Irene said sounding thankful.

Wendy chuckled nervously and cleared . “Anyway, let’s see… I was a senior in high school when it happened… So like a couple of months ago really… It was nearing the end of the school year, actually… I only heard about it afterwards, but a lot was happening the day I got struck. You heard about that girl that went missing around here, Krystal Jung?”

“Yes, it was big.”

“Right, it was massive. Well the day she was found, it was raining hard, and I happened to get caught up in it.”

“And how did you manage that?”

“I was helping Mrs. Lee across the street. She’s not with us anymore, she was very old at the time, and the rain made her bones hurt, ya know? So I cooked her a meal, and it was when I was running back to my house after giving it to her that it happened. It came out of nowhere, as lightning does, and I was struck right on the head.”

Irene laughs fully with her whole body.
“What? Why is that so funny?” Wendy asks sounding offended.

“That is the most Wendy way it could have happened.” She laughs.

“It really is.” Moonbyul chuckles to herself. “It’s definitely our Wendy alright.”

“You are too adorable.” Irene murmurs as she’s coming down from her laughter. Then she sighs clearly upset. “Now I have to go.”

“But you’ll be back to say goodnight, right?” Sounding almost frantic.

“Of course. I always do.” She soothes.

Irene gets up and takes one step before Wendy stops her. “Don’t you dare try to leave here without a hug.”

There’s no moment of hesitation from Irene when she turns back around. I can tell she pulls Wendy into a hard hug because Wendy lets out a quiet gasp.

“You’re the only thing I look forward to in here.” Wendy murmurs, clearly obstructed by something. Probably Irene’s shoulder or neck.

“I may not be stuck in here, but you’re the only thing I look forward to as well. I’ll see you tonight. I’d say I hope they don’t push you too hard today, but I know they will.”

“I wish you were at least there with me. It makes it easier when I can find solitude in your presence.”

“I know. Me too. Stay strong just a little longer. Alright, I better go for real now.”

“Okay.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.” Wendy giggled. “You have to open the door in order to leave.”

‘Right, I was getting to it.” Irene says with a smile in her voice.

Finally the door clicked and after a moment of recollection, Irene’s footsteps go further down the halls.

Moonbyul sighed, and laid back on the hard bed. “Solar, you must be with me aren’t you?”

It was the first time she addressed me, and I wanted to scream, “Yes! Of course! I always am.”

“It was pretty rude of us to eavesdrop like that, huh?” She laughed. “Well, at least it was for a good cause. I’m going to need you to stand bye, babe. I’m going to get you in contact with Irene. It seems like she’s the key.”