C H A P T E R 3
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

It was dark. Pure darkness. And she was surrounded by it.

Tap, tap.

Her hands wandered aimlessly in front of her, eyes squinting in the dark. She was alone, for what she could see.

Tap, tap, tap.

Her footsteps and the sound of rushing water was all she could hear.

Although she saw no river.

Tap, tap, tap.

She was starting to panic. Her mind inwardly kicked her, telling herself to calm down. She was afraid of the dark. Deep breaths. In, out. Another. In, out. And just on—

A horrifying scream caused on of her own to slip out of . She ran as fast as her legs would carry her. The scream echoed around her. She covered her ears, the scream growing louder with every passing minute. She was on the brink of insanity.

Tap, tap…

Her legs had stopped by now, but the scream had not.

“Stop!” She begged, falling to her knees as she tripped. “Please! Make it stop!”

She was sobbing, tears rolling down her cheeks like a stream. Her voice cried out, hoarse from the screams that past her dried lips. She cradled herself into a ball, her hand covering her ears as she rocked back and forth. Pleas slipped past her lips, barely audible as she whimpered. She took another deep breath in and out. Another. In, out. And the final one. In—

Scream. From both her lips and the air surrounding her.

Mei Hua jolted awake, a sweat breaking out on the bow of her brow. She was breathing heavily, close to a pant. She glanced around, noticing how the sun was not even up and about. She was completely alone in the dark. She grimaced at the thought and pulled the blanket closer to her as she tried to calm herself down. It was only a nightmare and nothing more to it. It was just her stupid imagination. Just her stupid imagination.

She glanced around once more, just in case. Noticing a faint glow besides her, she peered closer. Her eyes widened as another scream slipped past her lips. There stood Baekhyun, hand under his chin as it emitted a faint light. He seemed shocked to hear her scream, flinching almost instantly as he quickly snapped his hand close. The light dissipated.

“M-Mei Hua. It’s just me. Nothing to be scared of.” He spoke softly, trying not to alarm the girl more than he intended to. He bit his lip before speaking once more, “I was worried. I heard a scream from your room and I wanted to see what was going on. You’re not hurt, are you?”

Mei Hua sat there, wide-eyed like a deer in headlights. What had she just seen? She was sure the light came from his hand. She was sure of it…

“I-I’m going to grab some water,” she croaked, scrambling quickly out of bed. She scurried past him, leaving Baekhyun to wonder if it was a good idea to check up on her in the first place.

“I don’t know what’s worse, that nightmare or…” Mei Hua trailed off, absently grabbing a glass cup. She shivered and shook her head, “Stupid Mei Hua. It was just your imagination again. I really have to stop watching those science fiction movies.”

Filling the cup half way, she placed it on the kitchen island and sat at one of the chairs. She let out a sigh, eyes fluttering close as she leaned her cheek against the palm of her hand. She played with the rim of the cup before grabbing it in her hand. She was really going insane. But, what did she even see back there? Baekhyun’s hand was obviously emitting some form of light? Did he have super powers or something? “What in the world is going on?” She muttered to herself, eyebrows furrowing.

“What time is it anyways?” Luhan let out a yawn, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. Woken up by a scream down the hall, he decided to grab a cup of water before going back to bed. While he walked down the hall, a frantic Baekhyun walked past him and back into his room. The door slammed close, leaving a confused Luhan standing in front of the door.

“Baek… hyun?” He mumbled, stopping to look at the closed door. His eyebrows furrowed, deciding it was be best to not bother the latter. Instead, he headed straight to the kitchen. Another yawn escaped Luhan’s lips and yet again, he rubbed his eyes. Who even screamed at this time of the day?

Mei Hua let out a yawn, rubbing her eye gently with the back of her hand. She glanced at the wall clock in the kitchen and frowned. It was already 4 am? She should probably be getting back to bed and sleep more. Besides, who knows what the afternoon would hold for her?

“I should probably go wash this cup,” she mumbled, grabbing the cup into her hand and lifting it up. She felt a tug at her hand. Glancing down, she realized that the cup was somehow moving on its own. It tugged her forward and her eyes followed the direction. Eyes wide, Mei Hua was shocked to find Luhan standing in front of her, arm outstretched as if he was calling the cup to him.

“L-Luhan?” He glanced at her with a smirk. The grip she had on the cup loosened and flew out of her hands, landing gently in Luhan’s. Startled, she stood up, knocking over the chair she was sitting on. Her eyes were wide and her heart raced, pounding violently in her chest. What did she just see?

“Mei Hua,” Luhan spoke, trying his hardest to get into her head. She was obviously panicking. Why did he even bother with his powers? Good job, Luhan. Good job. “Mei Hua, listen to me. Look, I’m sorry for scaring you. Hell, I didn’t even mean to. Um, well… how do I put this?”

Luhan was cut of mid-sentence by a familiar scream. He flinched, losing his trail of thought. With a blink of an eye, Mei Hua was nowhere to be seen in front of him. He let out a sigh, placing the barely full cup back onto the counter.

“Mei Hua! Wait up!”

She ran like her life depended on it. Mei Hua swore she was going insane at this point. Cursing under her breath, she dashed towards her room. First Baekhyun, now Luhan? Jeez. She really has to cut back on those science fiction movies she has been watching. They’re really starting to get to her. Her eyes widened as she noticed a figure in front of her. Bracing herself for impact, she squeezed her eyes shut. She tried to slow her legs down but with no avail. She was sure she was going to bump into them.

But she didn’t.

She fluttered her eyes open, astonished. How did she not bump into that person? She glanced all around her, trying to find out where the person went. There was no way they could have moved so quickly in such a short amount of time. Mei Hua furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head. No, she was going to go back into her room and not worry about this anymore. She had enough for one day.

“Looking for me?” A voice called out.

Startled, Mei Hua jumped. A yelp escaped past her lips as she looked at the person in front of her. Her heart threatened to leap out of her chest as she glanced at the tanned male with shock. How did he even manage to dodge her? How did he end up right in front of her? What the hell was going on with her brain?

“Oh, whoops. Looks like I shocked the girl.” Jongin chuckled, a grin on his face as he waved a hand in front of her. “Hello? Earth to Earth girl,” He teased. He watched her facial expressions carefully, unsure of how to react if she were to pass out suddenly. He eyed her carefully for a few seconds until she was able to finally respond.

“What the hell is going on?”