You know how my mom told me not to be scared?

Yeah, I was scared.

Very much so.

I woke up in a limousine, my hands tied behind my back. At first, I didn't open my eyes, just listened to the voices. I didn't think it was safe for them to know I was awake.

"...so do not interfere, you understand? Do not interfere, unless your own safety is threatened," a familiar voice said. Yeah, that guy that invaded my house... he was definitely sitting right in front of me.

"But they're freaks! Figures they'll do something dangerous. What if they decide to explode the entire castle?" a frightened voice to the left asked.

"First of all, you know there are cameras set up around the whole place. This is a scientific test, for crying out loud. If they're plotting something, you should be able to figure it out. If not, then I don't understand how my people agreed to hire you."

"Maybe cause I was the only one willing to take the job," the voice murmured.

"What?"
"Nothing."

"And second," the creepo man continued. "The only reason we were able to take them captive in the first place was because their powers aren't developed yet. So for now, there's no danger. They're coming, though. Oh, they're coming, and they'll come with a BOOM! hehe," the dude paused, as if enjoying his helper's fear. "So anyway, at least for a little while, you should be safe."

I tried to process everything that was happening. Back at our apartment, the guy said that I was carrying some kind of gene that will soon be uncontrollable. There was a man in the limo with us that seemed scared out of his mind that I was going to burn down a castle. And there were other people going through the same situation as me right now? Unbelievable.

After several more minutes, the car stopped.

"Take her," the boss said. His friend hesitated, then swung me over his shoulder and we got out of the car. I opened one eye slightly. It was already dark outside, even though it was almost summer, and I wondered how much time passed since I was separated from my mom.

There were three more limousines coming to a stop behind ours.

Out of the first one came a boy along with more dudes in their ugly green suits - security. The boy's face was covered in tears. He glanced at me for a moment, but probably didn't realize I was awake, because when he noticed my body slung over the dude's shoulder, his tears just came flowing out in bigger amounts. He must have thought I was dead and freaked out. Or maybe he just had a bad day and didn't want to be here. I couldn't blame him.

The second limo's door opened and another couple of big dudes came out. One of them was carrying a boy much too big for him - the other dude had to grab the boy's legs to save his partner from falling over. The boy had frizzy hair and a smile on his face, which made it seem like he was having a pleasant dream, even though I knew not long ago he was teared away from his family and injected with sleep-evoking drugs.

Another guy stepped out of the final limousine. He stepped cautiously between his guards, looking around in interest. He didn't look scared, but rather... curious. As if whatever reason he was brought here for wasn't a problem. As if he could adapt to the situation. I couldn't wait to get to know him.

Wait a second. I wasn't supposed to be thinking that. I don't want to know any of these people. I need to get out of this place.

The entire crowd of people that piled out of the cars headed for the castle, with me still dangling from a guy's shoulder. And let me tell you, the castle was gigantic. It had seven floors, each at least three hundred feet squared. Its stone walls were overgrown with ivy, windows barred, roof tiles cracked. Further off to the right was a ranch house (which, by the way, looked totally ridiculous next to the castle) with several vans parked in front of it. And both those buildings were surrounded by a forest. There was an eerie path cutting through the trees - the only way to and from this place.

The boss knocked on the huge metal door, and it opened almost automatically. Then, the most ridiculous thing happened. The men placed us on the floor right at the entrance, and left, closing the door behind them.

I lay still for about a minute. There was sobbing somewhere next to me, and another voice was whispering in a soothing voice. I finally got the courage to open my eyes.

I was lying on my back, facing the tall ceiling. It was covered in chandeliers. I gasped. From the outside, this seemed like an old, abandoned castle. But from the inside, it was like a 5-star hotel. Or royalty's palace. The walls were covered with paintings, candles, animal heads, weapons (wtf?!) and other decorations that I wouldn't be able to afford in a million years. The floor was hardwood, but it was warm and comfortable to lie on. The entrance hall was about the size of my entire apartment. There was a coffee table and several leather couches with pillows (couldn't they have set us on those instead?!) in the middle of the hall. If I didn't know I was being held here against my will, I wouldn't mind moving in.

I looked at the guys. The boy that was earlier crying was still in a pretty bad shape, but the other guy was petting him on the back, trying to make him feel better.

"It's alright... we'll be fine. Don't worry," he was whispering. Then, he noticed me looking at him.

"Hi," he half-smiled. I didn't dare do the same, but I nodded in response. He didn't seem to be a threat. Just the opposite, actually. I could see how he managed to calm the other boy down. He was so calm and composed. His voice was like that of an angel.

"Any clue as to why we're here?" he asked me, and I shook my head.

"Apparently, we're a threat? So far it seems like those kidnappers are more threatening than us," I pointed out. "Psychopaths."

"That's probably exactly what they think of us," he answered. The crying boy wiped his face clean and took a deep breath.

"That's right. I asked them on our way here. They said we're not human and we need to be separated from the rest of society," he said. If the situation wasn't so serious, I would've smiled at the sound of his lisp.

"How very... blunt," I grumbled.

"No kidding. What the hell. I'm human. I'm human! How did a bunch of idiots suddenly conclude I'm some kind of freak, I don't know. I never did anything out of the ordinary."

"Why do you think they're watching us?" I asked, pointing to one of the cameras.

"I guess they expect us to act out?" the angel-boy suggested, but his friend shook his head.

"It's a warning. Don't act out, they're saying. We're watching you."

"I'm Luhan, by the way," the angel told the other boy.

"Sehun," he answered, smiling slightly. Luhan then glanced at me.

"Romi," I told him. "So what about this kid?" I motioned toward the boy that was still sleeping on the floor, dead to his surroundings. He was breathing noisily, letting out a snore every once in a while.

"I don't know him... should we move him to the couch?" Luhan asked. I shrugged.

"Nah."

I walked over to the door, and pressed the handle. It opened.

"Whoa. It's unlocked?"

There was nobody waiting outside the door. No security. No apparent traps. No signs to let us know not to leave the castle. Just a camera attached next to the door. I scowled and went back inside.

"I guess we could go look around?" Luhan suggested. I suppose I should have screamed "hell no!" and run out of there as soon as possible, but I had a feeling I wouldn't have gotten far anyways. So I just sighed and nodded. The three of us headed up the stairs to the first floor.

The first room was a gigantic kitchen with a gigantic dining room. Maybe I should just let you assume that everything here was gigantic?

The table was occupied by a guy a bit older than me, with about ten plates spread out in front of him. He was munching on a muffin, his mouth covered in crumbs. He looked up and almost spit out his muffin when he saw us.

"There's more?" he asked in shock. A clatter came out of the kitchen and another boy popped out, wiping his hands on a towel.

"Seriously?" he mumbled.

"Hi..." Luhan smiled. He really had some guts. Sehun was just hiding behind him, while I stood next to them with my arms crossed, looking around.

"When did you get here?" the eating boy asked.

"Just now. I'm Luhan."

"Oh, sorry! I'm just surprised that they're still bringing more people here. My name is Joonmyun, nickname Suho," the boy introduced himself. "That's Kyungsoo," he pointed to the boy standing next to him. The boy bowed and hid back in the kitchen. "But we call him Donut, cause his face is so round."

Quite honestly, he reminded me more of an owl than a donut, with his eyes wide open. But I didn't comment. The rest of us introduced ourselves.

"Well, make yourselves at home," Suho told us. We stared at him, and he sighed.

"I know it's a difficult request, but I have a piece of advice to you guys: play along. Just don't do anything rash and stupid, and you should be fine. They just want to see if we know how to handle ourselves."

"What are you talking about?" Sehun asked, confused.

"What am I talking about?" this time Suho was the one staring in surprise. "You don't know?"

We shook our heads.

"Obviously, we just arrived, in the most brutal way," I complained.

"You guys are kept here as an experiment. They want to see if our kind can live on this planet without ruining it," Suho said matter-of-factly. "Of course the previous experiments of this sort all turned out in failure. It's hard to have these sorts of powers and not get a little carried away. So, all the dangerous subjects were disposed of."

I gulped.
"What kinds of powers are we talking about here? I personally don't recall doing anything weird or dangerous lately," Luhan said cautiously.

"Oh trust me, if you're here, you're quite dangerous. All of us in this castle are."

I slammed my hands on the table, running out of patience.

"How? WHY? What exactly are we?" I growled. Suho stood up and looked to the side uncomfortably.

"I'm not one hundred percent sure about this, but everything seems to be pointing toward it... they told us that we've got powers out of this world. The three of you, as well as Kyungsoo, I, and at least seven others..." Suho looked at me with sadness in his eyes. "...are aliens."