Baekhyun rarely left the compound on his own. Like many of the others, he was a lost cause, without a home to return to or a place where he truly belonged. He was close to some of the members in the Union, but the distance between remained the same. All these years and nothing changed. He was born a Transcendental with strange appearance. His eyes were catlike, his hair was silver. In the religious society he was born to, this was simply an abomination to the laws of nature. This, they said, was the Demon’s Child.

Wherever Baekhyun went, there was always light. If there wasn’t, he would simply make one of his own. From the tip of his fingers to the size of a palm, his power grew with time, and so was his fear of the world. Baekhyun, who his parents viewed as a gift, was shunned by the community, never to go out in broad daylight when people could see him. Children were frightened of him, parents loathed him. Instead of playing and having fun with his peers the way a ten years-old should, Baekhyun shut himself in his room from dawn to dusk, as he, himself, knew that his parents’ positions, jobs, friends, relatives had all isolated them into that tiny little house.

Baekhyun came from a small city in the Northern of America. His family was a minority, so the pressure to conform and fit in was already unbearable since the beginning. His father taught him how to pray to God, his mother told him to forgive. ‘Forgive them, Baekhyun. Your heart is purer than everyone else in this world, no matter what they say.’ The words his mother said had left him haunted ever since. His parents were every bit loving as a happy family could be. Except that they were totally, completely, irrefutably – in every sense and every word there was – alone.

Unlike most of the Twelve members, Baekhyun grew up with love and fear. Although his parents never punished him when his ability showed, they would quickly reprimand him, showing both pity and despair. So he grew up with an insufferable amount of self-hatred and blame. That his ability was a mistake, that maybe he, too, was a mistake for bringing pain and dread to them two. Despite his parents’ love and generosity, he knew that they probably regret birthing a son like him. Or so he thought.

They said that a Transcendental would have their ability growth at its peak during their puberty, hence the need to train and stabilise them before a certain age. During adolescence, their emotion would be unstable, and their ability would be greatly affected by this mood swings, causing numerous, sometimes occasional outbursts from each individual, whose frequency depended on the capability of their ability, the amount of power they could possibly accumulate, and the environment they grew up in. Baekhyun, as a Transcendental, had violated all three: (1) he had the potential, (2) his power was extremely destructive, and (3) he grew up suppressed and ashamed.

Thus, at the age of thirteen years old, he lost control after fighting back against a bully, inevitably causing a massacre in his school, murdering at least seventy students and staffs in one explosive outburst, and severely injuring three hundreds of the local neighbourhood. Afraid of him and his ability, they took revenge on his parents three months after, in a small church in suburban area. The so-called holy place had been soiled as the ground of blood and violence. All in the name of justice against a small boy who knew nothing of the world’s hardened heart.

He was tied to a cross as he watched his parents, blindfolded and bloodied, murdered in cold-blood by the community’s members. He cried, begged, pleaded until blood came out of his mouth and his eyes, and still they weren’t satisfied. On the third day of thirst and hunger, and his life hung between life and death, a man appeared to him. Baekhyun didn’t quite remember, only that he spoke of few words. He touched Baekhyun on the forehead and lifted the swollen and dying face, a smile was carved on his face, as he said, “Hello, Brother. I am here to save you.”

“Baekhyun,” One call and he was awake to reality. He had been daydreaming during the conversation. It had been a hard-to-die habit, given that he almost always spaced out whenever and wherever he was. Those blue eyes focused on no one in particular, until he focused on the man who called him out for being so absent-minded during such an important meeting. Usually, this man would tolerate him best, for they had known each other for more than ten years since he joined in. But not today, apparently. Suho narrowed his eyes and stared at him, “Anything interesting you’d like to share? Perhaps a new discovery of this universe?”

There was a clear mocking and disdain in those sentences. It was so Suho to use sarcasm to attack, but Baekhyun wasn’t just anyone. He dully smiled at Suho, recalling those memories he buried deep in, his eyes dropped a little to the man who was neither gentle nor beastly – only a little savage on the inside, just like all of them were. Had he not come that day, would he still be the same Baekhyun from back then – fearful, gentle, and forgiving? Maybe. He shook his head and lazily replied, “No.”

“Then, what did I say before regarding the plan?”

Baekhyun’s eyes were clear now. Though his back was slouched against the chair, the ghost of the smile lingered. He was perhaps, one of the few who had no qualms arguing with Suho. He had no fear, after all. His fear had long gone to hell when he killed off those people and sank the bloody town to the ground without an ounce of guilt. The whole city vanished in the matter of a week – the people, the houses and buildings, all living things – leaving only dusts and ashes of what used to be. “I know,” He emphasised, “The girl ran away to the other part of the world. We are supposed to find her and bring her to New Mexico.”

* * *

Getting in was easy – I was kidnapped, tied, unconscious, not at all a threat.

Getting out was… a little harder than I expected it to be. Perhaps Suho had known the difficulty of escaping without a scratch, hence he was confident in the deal we strike. I silently lied within the bundles of things as the car passed by the first security post in the bridge. Down below was a thousand meters valley with snow on one side and a deep abyss on the other. It was perfect for a graveyard with no soils to bury as the snow immediately covered up the corpses in thick layers. There were at least five people in the security office, and ten more checking the car. Amongst them, two were Transcendentals, two were responsible in the technology department, and six skilful martial artists.

I smirked and looked at the ceiling with much interest. I hadn’t had as much fun in a while after escaping the Rebel’s compound two years ago. One of the Transcendentals was gifted with his smell and the other in touch. Together, they used their senses to detect any mishaps, and once they went to the back of the car, they could sense something was wrong. In the instant that they opened the door and saw the bundles of raw materials for plantations, they immediately discovered someone hiding beneath. The first Transcendental found me beneath a pile of sunflower seeds’ sacks. I grinned and grabbed him by the hand, whispering quietly, “Go back. I’m not here.”

The second soon followed, but the first man blankly stared at the woman who barely looked thirty and shook his head, grabbing her by the hand to prevent further observation. They both returned to the post and the car assumed its’ route to the last security post, with one Transcendental in charge of illusion and the other in ability recognition. She worked effectively as a human scanner, instantly alerting the second Transcendental as they quietly approached me to strike first. As this was the last valley, I sat up and peeked at the small hole to see a river underneath this narrow road. Upon looking closer, the dark spots on the water moved a little every now and then, and I spotted two scaled tails splashing against each other in extreme agitation.

“It’s you,” The second Transcendental was also a young woman, whose hand grabbed into mine and looked at me before I could say a word. Her speed was extremely slow, and I saw before my eyes, scenes of the illusions she had intended to place on me, and I grinned, pulling her close and whispered to her ear softly, “It’s too early to trick me with this kind of ability.” There were times when I needed not speak to place a strong compulsion to a mind, especially if I could identify someone’s hopes and fears through eye-to-eye mind-reading. And so, I mirrored those illusions back on her, pulling and tugging on the string as she fell back in trance, unable to speak nor hear.

“Guards!” The first Transcendental stepped back and alerted everyone else. The alarm rang, and my eyes flashed in annoyance as ten men surrounded us with their fighting stance. I jumped up and ripped off the quilts covering the back of the car, facing all of them fearlessly. This scene reminded me so much of my first month training in the Camp of the Gifted, where each of us had to fight a life-and-death battle against each other until one winner emerged. It was also the first time I had dirtied my hand with the blood of others. And the first time I had collapsed in so much self-loathing I considered committing suicide.

“Turn around and kneel,” I demanded and stepped off the car. The driver’s face paled down immediately as he saw me from the mirror, clenching onto the steer, too frightened to even speak. As they did so, I grabbed one of them by the chin and told him, “You’re from the IT team, aren’t you?” A nod. “Where’s the CCTV camera?” He pointed to the small black device on top of the post. I let him slid back down to the ground and walked to the camera, “Hey, Suho. If you’re watching this, know that I’m not breaking any rules or deals between us. I’m taking my break until we meet again – somehow. Maybe never. ‘Till then, Gentlemen. Ciao!”

Feeling the burden off my shoulder, I forced the driver into the passenger seat and let him plead and beg until his pants were wet with his own piss. I took control of the wheel and drove us to the border of this damned place and the outer world. Finally freed, I hummed happily to the music in the radio, drowning whatever noises the driver made before his energy was drained and he collapsed onto the seat. I abandoned this car in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in the snowy land of Scotland’s wilderness, before hitchhiking my way to the nearest airport.

Glasgow was two-hours away from where I left. I had never been here before, but the people were friendly as their Scottish accent was thick. I stopped by a small restaurant in the West-End area and ate my fill as I watched the sky slowly darkened and the rain poured out in the cold winter day. The snow fell not long after, colouring the ground white entirely. I heard Scotland was beautiful and I wasn’t exactly disappointed. I called for a taxi ride after resting for a few hours, not at all fretting for anyone coming after me. Unless one of the Twelve stronger than Tao came after me.

“Going for a holiday?” The cab driver flashed a smile and closed the door for me. “It’s snowing out here, mate. Planes will be delayed for a few hours. The roads will be empty. Slow hours, slow business when it snows like this. Terrible weather. Been changing so drastically in the last few years. One day it’s storm, another day it’s sunny. Then the next day it’s heavy snow. Rain comes, rain goes, they said. We’d be lucky to even have a few more days of sunlight during summer. And winter,” He sighed with a comedic tone, “I hate winter here. It’s just rain and cold.”

“Aye, I can see,” I stiffly threw him a smile. I had been so cautious since the kidnapping incident, learning never to trust most people, even with their kindness and smiles. It was human’s nature to expect something in return, easy as it was to turn their back the next moment. I brought nothing with me, but the clothes on my body and three fake identities that I obtained over the years. “It’s a pity the winter lasts for so long. A pity, indeed. I would have loved to come visit again when summer arrives.”

“Where are you going this time of the year? Travelling for work or taking a New Year vacation?” He asked. It was already the fourth week of January, and we were long overdue for a new year holiday, unless the employee was as entitled as I was, demanding random holiday whenever I felt to. I decided to humour him and responded with a kinder tone, putting down a little of my barrier, “Definitely for work. My boss will kill me if he knows I’m taking a break in the first few weeks after new year. He’s pretty hard to please – so I gotta follow whatever he wants me to do.”

“Oh,” He exclaimed in pity. “I hope you get a big fat bonus, then.”

“Definitely,” I laughed, “He better not forgets.”

I landed safely and soundly in Rio de Janeiro the next evening. Having been here a few times, I took the public transport to a more secluded area in the higher ground where the view of the sea was more magnificent at night with bright lights and an enchanting night sky. Then I had to hike a hundred meters to the top, taking off my outer wear and threw it somewhere in the public toilet. When they tracked me for it, I would have long been gone from this place. I had a single goal in mind when I ran away from the headquarter to breath the fresh air of the outer world: that was to annoy the Union. Then I decided that whilst doing so, I might as well visit a long-time friend for a quick chat.

* * *

Kang Daniel was cooking in the kitchen by the time he sensed a disturbance in his force field. He put down his knife on the chopping board and turned off the stove. His brows furrowed together in confusion. It had only been a few days since he arrived in Rio, finally home at long last. The mission had worn him down so much so that his superior granted him a week’s worth of holiday – which wasn’t much in standard human labour, but this was Kang Daniel; a gifted Transcendental – human’s regulations of standard holiday didn’t work. He had several homes across the world, courtesy to three years’ earning with the organisation, but America, particularly Rio, was always warm and welcoming, and as such, he never felt quite as home in here than anywhere else in this world.

Lately, he was feeling a little bit restless. Like a premonition of an oncoming chaos to him. It just sort of came and went, sometimes it stayed. But still, his instinct told him something would happen, and it would happen very soon, given that the organisation was busier than it had ever been – handling transaction here, doing mass murders there. Never been one with glib tongue, he was almost always sent to the battlefield, encountering blood and violence more often than he would to a shower. He had grown used to the gory sight since he joined in, but never quite rid of the feeling it brought him every time. And yet, his stomach churned in anxiety as he headed out, not a little bit frightened or panicked as he prepared himself for a round of fight.

Or so he thought.

He didn’t think that halfway across the world, I would still be able to find him. Of all the places we could have been, I was still here, well and alive. Daniel stood very still where he was, not moving an inch as I ran to him, almost knocking him off to the ground. This hair was real, this touch was real, and this petite body in his arms felt very much real, too, and that was when reality slapped him awake and rendered him speechless. Two years ago, we lost each other during my escapade, and now, I came back. Jung Sera, the girl with a ‘devil-might-care-but-I-won’t’ attitude, was here.

Our relationship had been tense at first, especially since we arrived with the same car, on the same day in the Camp of the Gifted. He was the boy who was too frightened because he knew too much. After all, he was offered twice in a row and refused the first, only to be kidnapped by the second. I was the girl who knew nothing at all, too ignorant for his liking. And yet, due to the intensity of the survival test, combined with the missions we had done together in the past, we grew a mutual understanding and a completely platonic friendship with each other. Had it not been for this man, I would not have been able to escape the Rebel’s headquarter on that faithful day two years ago. I owed him a life in return.

Daniel looked pleased and returned my hug with a monstrous strength. I was choking and laughing at the same time, patting him on the back as he smoothened my hair and gave me a flick in the forehead. Although I was older than him by a year and a half, he was always the more mature one, insisting that his masculine and paternal instinct only kicked out whenever he was with me. I pushed him away and looked around curiously, “I smell food all the way from the front door. This tummy needs to be fed asap.”

“Alright, Miss Jung. Why don’t you follow me to the kitchen and help me around for a bit?” He led me through the first floor, passing by a large painting of a couple strolling by the forest in fall. It was beautifully drawn by a no-name painter. Daniel liked collecting things with sentimental values that reminded him of his parents. He hadn’t seen them for a very long time and figured out that the best way to keep them safe was to keep himself away. He must have missed them so and found solace in his collection of things. “So tell me. Why are you here? Why would you find me?”

“Oh, it’s a long story. If I tell you, I’m afraid they would have to kill you. And then, they would kill me, too,” I replied curtly, revealing as little as possible to avoid any possible damage for us both. This meeting was supposed to be a private one, and I didn’t want the organisation to absorb information out of Daniel. They would have to torture it out, given Daniel’s special ability to render any Transcendental useless with his Shield. His power was such that he was feared, even by the Seven Knights by the his side. “I did little bit of this, little bit of that, lots of freelancing in-between. Freedom’s done so many good things to me, you know?”

He stiffened a little as he grilled the steak to perfection. Pouring out the sauce on top of the meat, I gave him the plates and the cut vegetables to decorate. Always one to be meticulous with things, he neatly placed them side by side, and I helped to set up the tables and the dinnerware as we both sat down. He opened a bottle of wine and gave me a glass. “It’s been two years since you left the organisation. Two years since you disappeared. Aren’t you scared that the Rebel would find you, one day?”

I shook my head, “None of them have came after me. It’s pretty weird actually.”

“Do you still have that connection with him?” Daniel asked, and we both knew precisely who that man was. For a moment, we were both quiet, and I could feel my own emotion stirring madly in my chest, my heart beating as if it would burst out of my body. Calm down. I took a deep breath. It was terrifying. I had to admit I was scared thinking of him. “He can’t contact me unless my emotion runs high. I’ve done a pretty good job keeping it in check for the last few months.”

Daniel sighed and shook his head. He solemnly told me as he put down his food, losing his appetite the more he talked, “Have you ever wondered why, given his ability, did no one find you up to this very moment?” I shook my head and leaned in closer. I had a bad feeling of what he wanted to say, knowing his words by heart and yet refusing to acknowledge it, too fearful of the reality. “He’s never stopped looking for you, Sera. Even until now. He’s been keeping track of your whereabouts, of who you came to contact with, of what you’ve done so far. One simple order, and you would be captured back in no time, but he never did that. Do you know why?” Again, I shook my head and shrank into my own thoughts as he continued, “He told me he knows. He is bidding his time and he is waiting. When the time is right, he will come back for you. And this time, no one will stop him. Not me, not you. No one can save you anymore, Sera.”