Edward and Hyo Shin arrived in Patsy’s neighborhood, parking far down the street so that they had time to devise a plan as they walked towards her home. Edward wanted to sneak in and retrieve his wallet without having to face the woman he’d run out on not too long ago. Hyo Shin was already annoyed that they were making a total detour just to get Edward’s wallet…but it was that much more irritating being roped into his over dramatic plan of breaking in to this woman’s house. “This is stupid. How could you forget your wallet in the first place?” Hyo Shin said, giving Edward a slightly disgusted expression. Edward kept walking briskly and only replied to Hyo Shin out of the corner of his mouth, feeling like he had to speak fast and quiet or else it would somehow alert the whole neighborhood of his presence. “I was kind of in a rush when I left. Goodness, just shut up and help me.” He said.

“Can’t believe you had a random one night stand with this lady and then left without saying goodbye properly…how sleazy.” Hyo Shin shook his head, faking how let down he was by his rival’s behavior. Edward clenched his fist, wanting to punch Hyo Shin right in the back of the head.

“Times are changing, Hyo Shin. You know nothing about women or dating so just shut up.”

“Well at least you went out with someone closer to your age this time. I guess you’re losing your touch…or maybe the college girls are just starting to notice you’re an old, creepy man.” Hyo Shin wondered aloud, picturing a college girl slapping Edward right across the face. The thought made Hyo Shin smile a bit. Until Edward punched him in the shoulder. “Owe!” Hyo Shin sputtered, looking at Edward all shocked. “Hey, I’m helping you out, right? How dare you hit me?”

“Because you talk too much.” Edward explained. Hyo Shin and Edward stared each other down, both feeling fed up and stressed with both each other and the day’s events. Now was the worst time for them to be bugging one another with patience at a complete low.

“At least I didn’t forget my wallet after sneaking out like a coward.” Hyo Shin shrugged.

“I wonder how fast I could kill you, bury your body and get my wallet back.” Edward rubbed at his chin as he calculated the time it would take to dig a proper sized ditch for Hyo Shin’s body.

                “Oh, Edward! Edward, come here!” Patsy suddenly called out from her front porch, waving cheerfully at Edward and Hyo Shin.

“Dammit…” Edward said way under his breath. In the midst of their bickering, neither man had realized they were standing just feet away from Patsy’s lawn. Patsy walked down a couple steps from her porch and motioned for Edward to come closer. “Edward, stop being shy. Come here, I have something for you.” Patsy said, looking just as happy to see Edward as she had been the day before. Hyo Shin slapped Edward’s shoulder after ten seconds of silence came from the man.

“Say something already.” Hyo Shin told him.

“I left my wallet here. Do you have it?” Edward asked, painting on a handsome gentlemen’s demeanor.

“Yes, yes, come on inside and I’ll give it to you.” Patsy used both her hands to motion Edward and Hyo Shin closer and closer to her home and even though it was last thing he wanted to do, Edward walked in, quickly agreeing to a cup of tea.

“We don’t have a lot of time.” Hyo Shin noted as Patsy flitted into her kitchen after returning the blue leather wallet.

“The tea’s almost ready anyway.” Patsy replied with a chipper tune in her voice.

“She’s not as ugly as I thought.” Hyo Shin admitted, taking a good look around the decent home. Hyo Shin took notice of how the house was decorated in a very posh, feminine way. “Does she live alone?” He asked without looking directly at Edward.

“With her daughter and sister.” Edward was busier making sure everything in his wallet was where he left it. Hyo Shin nudged his rival and jerked his head towards the front door. “We have the wallet, let’s just bail.” He suggested. Edward thought it over for about five seconds, unsure of what to do. Really, he had no ties to Patsy and knew he would never see her again, but he had to admit a part of him would feel like a jerk if he ran out on her twice in less than a two day period.

“Let’s just drink the damn tea and then make a lie about why we have to bail.” Edward said, causing a childish pout to spread across Hyo Shin’s face. All grumpily, Hyo Shin plopped onto a frilly sofa and inspected the staircase that led upstairs. Patsy started making small talk with Edward from the kitchen while Hyo Shin twisted his neck just a bit to see what was upstairs. Nothing much to look at, just some wall art, a laundry basket, Taemin walking around and large oval window and…..TAEMIN WALKING AROUND. Hyo Shin shot up the sofa, grabbed a throw pilled and fired it at Taemin’s head. Taemin was caught off guard by the pillow. The young boy dropped down to his feet as if he was in some serious warfare and cat crawled to a corner of the hallway. Like a tense animal, he peered from around the corner and cheesed when he saw Edward and Hyo Shin staring up at him in complete shock and confusion. Hyo Shin flashed up to Taemin and pulled him into a bathroom while Edward went into the kitchen with Patsy, hoping to slow her down as best he could.

                “Am I in the twilight zone right now?” Hyo Shin asked, cornering Taemin in the bathroom.

“No, no, no, Mr. Hyo Shin, I can explain everything.”

“Please do. Tell me why the hell you’re sneaking around this woman’s house.”

“Because she’s one of the descendants from that witch family.” Taemin said in an exaggerated whisper. Hyo shin laughed a small bit, thinking Taemin was quite the brave jokester for pulling pranks at a time like this. However, after a minute of silence went by and Hyo Shin saw that Taemin’s expression was leveled and serious…he gasped. “How the heck do you know that?” Hyo Shin asked hastily, sitting on the toilet.

“Oh, do you have to poop?” Taemin reached out to grab a roll of tissue from the sink and lock the door.

“No, you nitwit! Just tell me how you know this is woman is from the witch family.” Hyo Shin kicked the tissue out of Taemin’s hand and repositioned himself so that he was sitting cross-legged on top of the toilet. Taemin moved to sit on the edge of the shower and began telling Hyo Shin everything from Jonghyun’s phone call till then.

                Edward and Patsy walked from the kitchen together at the same moment Hyo Shin flashed back down to the front door. Like the award winning actor that he was not, Hyo Shin started shedding fake tears as he pulled on the front door knob. “Edward, Edward, it’s too late. She’s gone!” Hyo Shin sobbed. Edward and Patsy exchanged looks before Patsy clenched her chest in clueless sympathy.

“Oh my goodness, are you alright? What happened?” Patsy asked, seeming genuinely worried for Hyo Shin. Edward made jumbled, irritated faces at Hyo Shin, not understanding the plan at all.

“Our prized chicken that we raised since birth is dead, lady! We have to go now!” Hyo Shin swung open the door and ran out, calling for Edward to come quickly. Edward gave Patsy an awkward hug and bowed just before he ran after Hyo Shin. The whole scene was extremely stupid and overdone but at least it had got both of them out of the house fast. “Where’s Taemin?” Edward asked once he and Hyo Shin made it back to the car.

“Here I am.” Taemin said, flashing out of nowhere and landing on the hood of the car.

“This boy.” Edward snapped and grabbed at Taemin’s legs for him to get down from his luxury car. Taemin actually was the best behaved of all of Edward’s boys but even he got a little hyper sometimes and acted his age. “Get in the backseat.” Edward said, unlocking all the doors at the same time. As Edward drove off, he checked his phone and noticed tons of missed calls from both Key and Jonghyun. Something was definitely going on since neither one of those two ever called his phone. When they did it was only to complain on the other. Hyo Shin buckled up and then turned to make eye contact with Taemin. “Tell him everything you told me.” Hyo Shin directed. Taemin nodded and launched into his retelling of the story all over again, secretly getting tired of repeating himself.

                After listening to everything Taemin had to say, Edward finally picked up his phone to call Key back and see what the ten missed calls were all about. Hyo Shin was speaking a mile a minute in the passenger seat. “This is it, this is great, we found the family, they were here all along, now we can find the stones before Razzo and keep people safe and win the war and everything is going to be okay.” Hyo Shin nodded repeatedly as he went on telling himself some of the half truths. No, everything wasn’t going to be easy or safe or perfect but he was okay believing those thing for the time being. Taemin sat in respectful silence while Hyo Shin went on explaining the situation to himself and Edward spoke to Key. “What?!” Edward exclaimed while on the phone with Key. Taemin and Hyo Shin tensed, both praying the news wasn’t fatal. “Are you all alright? Call everyone on both ends to our place for an emergency meeting right now.” Edward said in the sternest voice he’d used all week, hanging up a second later.

                Edward, Hyo Shin and Taemin arrived back to Edward’s place just before 8pm. Everyone was in the large backyard where it was more open and there was fresh air to breathe in, instead of the tense, stuffy air inside of the house. Daehyun and Youngjae had seats at the pretty, cracked glass table under the balcony. Quietly, Daehyun munched on a bag of potato chips. Himchan, with his arms crossed tightly, sat directly across from the duo. Jongup was silent but focused right beside Himchan. Zelo sat next to Minho in a hammock hanging not too far in the background. Zelo had jumped a little when Minho took the cozy seat next to him. Really, they had never really spoken to one another and Zelo wondered if he should get up and let Minho have the whole hammock to himself. Bang was putting on the best poker face he could manage as he held up the wall right beside the sliding doors that led to the backyard. On the opposite side of Bang was Henry, also leaning on the wall with a somewhat pestered expression. Jonghyun sat at the head of the cracked glass table with Key resting on the arm of his chair. Onew just stood calmly in the center of everyone, tapping his feet impatiently. “So, you’re sure they weren’t Razzo’s goons?” Jonghyun suddenly cut into the silence, making everyone snap out of their own thoughts. Key nodded while Daehyun explained. “Razzo’s men would have only attacked us if they were going to get something out of it. Plus, they weren’t LOCKS.” Daehyun said, still chewing as respectfully as he could. There were a few surprised expressions at Daehyun’s coherent explanation. Besides those that spent all their time with him, not many knew that Daehyun actually had a lot of common sense.

“True, they weren’t LOCKS. But they did get something out of the attack…” Zelo pointed out.

“The girl.” Himchan finished Zelo’s thought when the blonde beanstalk hesitated. Bang clenched his fist and took a deep, silent breath, not wanting anyone to notice how worked up he was. As much as he really didn’t favor Kyungri, he couldn’t believe how easily she’d been swept up in all their mess and he wanted to snatch her back and bring her back to her seemingly normal life. Bang couldn’t stomach the thought of more innocent people being hurt because they were involved with the wrong people at the wrong time. Even if the girl cursed at him and slapped him forty more times, he knew he needed to do all he could so save her, because there was just no way any of this had anything to do with her. She, just like he had been not so long ago…and just like Sooyoung had been, was innocent.

“Does anyone know anything about that girl?” Key looked around, really directing the question to Bang more than anyone else.

“Uh, she hates Bang and like to make dresses?” Zelo answered for Bang.

“There’s got to be more to it than that.” Onew chimed in flatly.

“Maybe she’s a LOCK.” Youngjae added.

“We would’ve been able to sense that.” Himchan shook his hand, dismissing the notion Youngjae offered. Henry pulled himself from the wall and took a seat on the edge of the table, shrugging. Jonghyun and Minho exchanged looks, expecting the bratty blonde to say something controversial.

“If we don’t know anything about this girl and we’re sure the men who took her aren’t affiliated with Razzo, then what does it have to do with us?” Henry asked, lightly laughing at everyone’s grim faces. “It has zero to do with our mission so let’s just let it go.” Henry threw his hands up, not understanding why nobody was nodding or agreeing with him. Did they really want to spend their time getting to the bottom of this pointless case? He sure didn’t. There was a long list of things he’d rather be doing. Bang came from his position on the wall, and clenched Henry by the shirt collar, ready to shout something at him. Himchan and Jonghyun moved to separate both boys before any damage could be exchanged.

“What the heck was that for?” Henry shouted, fixing his shirt while also trying to get out of Jonghyun’s hold.

“Your skin is soft.” Jonghyun noted. Himchan tensed and wondered if Jonghyun was about to tap into creeper mode.

“How can you say something like that when someone innocent gets attacked and kidnapped? Are you crazy?” Bang yelled over at Henry, who just laughed again.

“We don’t know if that girl is innocent.” Henry said, rolling his eyes.

“She’s a high school human girl who spends all her time dreaming of making dresses.” Bang was even louder that time. “For all we know, those attackers could’ve been following us all day, maybe they were coming for one of us in the first place.” He finally said what had been on his mind since the moment Kyungri was abducted. Himchan rose an eyebrow at the thought, finally letting Bang go.

“Then she was taken as a hostage? Collateral?” Daehyun asked.

“That may be the case.” Jonghyun said.

“None of you knew who those attackers were, so why would you think they were after you? The only people after us or against us are Razzo and his goons. Just accept that this has nothing to do with us.” Henry explained his reasoning again, with more annoyance in his voice.

“Where are you going?” Onew asked incredulously when he saw Henry headed for the sliding door.

“I’m going to shower and take a nap.” Henry responded, tossing his hand up to wave lightly.

“Are you really that low and selfish?” Bang asked him, slamming his hand on the door. Henry slid open the door and took a big step back as Edward, Taemin and Hyo Shin stepped into the backyard.

“Where exactly were you headed to, Henry?” Edward asked, looking down on his nephew with an expression that Henry knew didn’t really require an answer. “Nowhere.” Henry answered fast.

                Edward stood before everyone and swiftly recapped the events involving the cloaked attackers as well as the news that the witch family had in fact been located…by somewhat of an accident. It didn’t take long for them to piece together that Kyungri was in fact, related to the witch family, meaning that whoever had taken her, was probably just as interested in the witch matter as they were. But was it Razzo?

“I still don’t think it was Razzo behind this.” Key said, shaking his head vehemently. Youngjae agreed, basically mimicking what Key had said and then biting his tongue when he realized who he had just agreed with. His least favorite guy from the other team…Youngjae got chills.

“If it was Razzo, he would’ve just had his own regular men carry out the mission.” Himchan said.

“And they probably would’ve put up more of a fight.” Hyo Shin tossed in his two cents. Daehyun wondered for a moment if it was a compliment to them or not. Edward had so many thoughts going around in his mind…a small part of him even wondered if Henry had a point by saying they should just let it go since it wasn’t Razzo involved. But no, they couldn’t. They needed to get Kyungri back not only because she had been innocent, but also because she was a descendant of the witch family and they needed her to help locate the remaining Zodiac Stones. And if it really wasn’t Razzo involved, then it may have been easier to get the girl back. Edward made some snap decisions in his head while the group of guys before him continued to go back and forth with their opinions and bickering. Edward was the strongest and the oldest, but in a way, he hated accepting all the responsibility that was somewhat expected of him. Clearing his throat, Edward took a step to the center of everyone’s conversation. Daehyun paused before opening a chocolate bar and waited to hear what Edward would say. Hyo Shin looked impatient as well, starting to wonder if he’d have to take the leadership role.

“We’re going to need to make sure Patsy and her sister are protected. The less hostages, the better. Taemin, Minho, I want you two to go back to Patsy’s home and watch over it. Report back to me every hour. Go now.” Edward said, motioning for them to buzz off in the nicest way possible. Without anything other than an agreement, Taemin and Minho flashed off, headed for Patsy’s home.

“Okay, but what about getting Kyungri back? Where do we start?” Bang asked, rubbing at his forehead.

“I can use my shadow tracking…” Key mentioned in a small, uncertain voice. Edward nodded right away at Key’s words. “That’s exactly what I was thinking. We’ll use your shadow tracking to trace where the girl was taken.” Edward was about to move on to the next plan, but Key intervened.

“Well, I mean, I’m not that good at it…what if I can’t do it.” Key looked more nervous than anyone had ever seen him. As much as he loved being the center of attention, when it came to people actually depending on him…he would occasionally freeze up under the pressure. Edward gave Key a fatherly pat on the shoulder and then looked him in the eyes just before saying “I’ll burn your entire wardrobe if you don’t.”

“I’ll do everything I can.” Key confirmed, hopping up from where he was seated. Hyo Shin shook his head at the shallow diva’s change of attitude.

“Whatever works…” Youngjae said under his breath.

“Key, Henry, both of you go back to the scene of the attack and trace where they’ve gone with the girl.” Edward told them in an extra stern voice (mostly because Henry still looked like he didn’t want to be bothered with any of this).

“I’ll go with them.” Himchan volunteered partly because he didn’t want to end up stuck with Jonghyun in any way, shape or form and partly because he felt a tiny ping of worry for Henry and Key…they didn’t get along, plus, neither one had very aggressive LOCK powers to fend off more enemies. Himchan knew his abilities would come in handy. Hyo Shin gave Himchan a proud yet vacant expression just a second before Bang rudely interrupted with his loud, deep cave voice. “I’m going too.” Bang declared.

“Hell no, keep him away from me.” Henry said, tugging on his Uncle’s shirt sleeve.

“If Bang goes, then so do I.” Zelo jumped up to stand next to Bang.

“They’re both so irritating.” Henry clung to his Uncle even tighter.

“Good, you already have so much in common.” Edwards mushed Henry’s face away playfully and allowed Key to drag him away.

“Ouch, that hurt my pride, Uncle.” Henry pouted, figuring that his Uncle wasn’t going to put up with much foolishness at a time like this. Yes, Henry disliked Bang a lot…like, a lot. But he wasn’t planning on contributing much to this mission anyway, so whatever, he’d go with them (and let them do all the work). Hyo Shin spoke to Zelo in a hushed, serious tone. In the most repetitive, drawn out way possible, Hyo Shin told Zelo to be careful, listen to Himchan and not to do anything reckless or childish. Himchan and Bang took off almost a minute before everyone else. Right after was Zelo. Henry and Key were slightly behind since they’d ran inside the house to grab their shades. “Why do you need shades at night?” Daehyun asked them.

“Because fashion doesn’t sleep just because the sun goes down.” Key said pompously. Daehyun sat with a scrunched up face, wondering if that even made sense.

“That was very poetic.” Jongup admitted.

                About thirty minutes after leaving their home, Minho and Taemin arrived at Patsy’s house. The pair landed on the roof as faintly as possible. Taemin, who had been there mere hours ago led the way to the attic window he’d snuck in through the first time. Minho hesitated when they reached the window. “I don’t know If it’s a good idea for both of us to go inside.” Minho said, figuring two people sneaking round in the two story home might be a bit too easy to spot. Taemin understood and crept in the window by himself, landing gracefully in the center of the attic. Minho whispered down towards his ally. “Make sure there’s no signs of foul play or anything fishy. I’ll do the same around the perimeter.” Minho saluted Taemin quickly and then flashed off to check on the backyard.

                Edward answered his phone before the first ring was even completed. “Taemin, yes?” Edward asked. “Is everything okay at Patsy’s house?” He asked the second question before Taemin could even say hello. Jongup and Hyo Shin were seated next to one another, they both sat up when Edward’s conversation with Taemin began. Jonghyun and Onew were having their own conversation from the kitchen, they also paused to hear what it was Taemin had to report.

“Speaker phone.” Youngjae suggested from the couch across from Edward.

“What’s going on, Taemin. Speak now, please.” Edward rushed the young boy.

“Sir, I’m trying but you keep interrupting me. Sorry.” Taemin explained.

“Oh, I’m sorry…go ahead.” Edward wasn’t just worked up because of the fact that these strange, powerful attackers had kidnapped someone from the witch family they desperately needed, but also because he had sort of become the leader of this whole operation that wasn’t even an operation yet. Daehyun walked back into the room after using the restroom and quietly took a seat, wondering what Taemin was going to report just like everyone else.

                Edward and Hyo Shin were waiting for more information from both Minho and Taemin as well as Bang’s group before they deployed any more of the guys. For now, all they could do was make sure Kyungri’s family members hadn’t been targeted and try their best to track where she had been taken, then a more appropriate and thought out plan of action could be constructed.

“Well, there doesn’t appear to be any threat here at the girl’s home. However, the older of the women is gone. My guess is she running errands…but, it might not be safe for her to be out alone considering the circumstances.” Taemin spoke in a low half whisper from the attic he had climbed through in the first place.

“That’s no good. The attackers might try taking her as well.” Edward said, starting to wonder if this witch family was bound to face another massive wipeout like they had so many years ago. Was someone else targeting them all over again? And if so, what for? The only thing anyone would need the witch’s power for would be to locate the Zodiac Stones and anyone trying to find them was already severely behind since Razzo had one and the both Edward and Hyo Shin already had the majority of the others. There were far too many questions that needed answers…and far too many answers that seemed far out of reach.

“Should Minho and I go look for the other lady?” Taemin asked.

“No, Youngjae and Daehyun will do it.” Hyo Shin interjected, moving from his seat so he could pull Daehyun and Youngjae up from theirs by the backs of their collars.

“Damn…I was hoping nobody would notice us if we stayed silent.” Daehyun confessed. Hyo Shin pinched the loudmouth’s stomach fat until he yelped and then pointed a strict finger in both their faces. “Be extremely careful. We don’t know enough about our enemies or this situation to let anything get past us.” Hyo Shin pointed them in Jonghyun’s direction, where the tall muscular boy was already righting down Patsy’s address and sending the picture of Mayura to Daehyun’s phone.

“If you start your search near her home and work your way across town, you should be able to find her. Wherever she went, she couldn’t have gotten far.” Jonghyun said casually passing the address across the kitchen island. Daehyun took the paper and jammed it in his left pocket. “Yeah, yeah.” He nodded dispassionately.

Youngjae turned to Hyo Shin with a question clear on his face. “What do we do when we find her?”

“Follow her. Keep her safe.” Edward replied. “Go, hurry.” The somewhat frantic man waved them away like bothersome kids. Youngjae and Daehyun didn’t take it personal, nor did they notice. The duo flashed away and Edward went back to his phone call with Taemin.

“Same for you, Taemin. Just continue to make sure Patsy is safe and report back in thirty minutes.” Edward hung up quickly, feeling like prolonged phone conversations probably weren’t that wise when you were trying to sneak around someone’s home. However, he knew if anyone could pull it off without getting caught, it would be Taemin.

“Now what?” Jongup asked honestly. It wasn’t that Jongup didn’t understand what was going on…well, maybe it was like that.

“Now we wait. If those attackers do come after the rest of Kyungri’s family, then the boys will be able to apprehend them and then maybe we can get some of the answers we’re lacking.” Hyo Shin explained. Jongup nodded slowly as Hyo Shin got up to pace around in aimless circles. Staring off at nothing, Jongup thought about how Bang and the others were doing.

                Jay and Sunmi had been gone for most of the day…as least that’s what Kai figured. Really, he had been inside his own quarters sitting in a corner, feeling sorry for himself for the past several hours and wouldn’t have noticed if his fellow wrong doers were around or not. Kai emerged from his quarters and was immediately grabbed. Gunwoo had seemingly materialized out of nothing but thin air and snatched Kai up with one hand around his neck. With the conflicted boy dangling in his grasp, Gunwoo let out a loud, bone chilling roar that stirred Kai’s blood in a nauseous way. Gunwoo dropped Kai on his back and began yelling as he ed his own shirt.

“Do you know how easily I could kill you, Kai?”

“Razzo…sir.” Kai bit back the hate he wanted to shoot off at the evil thing in front of him.

“I sometimes think you have a death wish.”

“Sir, what did I do?”

“Quit following me around like some love struck puppy.” Razzo shouted through Gunwoo’s mouth. Kai narrowed his eyes at the insult, wanting to draw his sword right then.

“I don’t know what you mean.” Kai answered, getting to his feet, brushing himself off. Gunwoo threw his shirt off and snapped his fingers, causing the shirt to turn to ash before it hit the ground. With another snap, Gunwoo caused a new, fresher looking button down shirt to appear over his lean, yet toned physique. Kai watched the dark magic without even blinking, it didn’t faze him anymore. There was probably no limit to what Razzo could do with all his dark powers.

“From now on, I’ll send for you when I want an update.” Razzo said, making a bottle of vodka float over to him. The hideout Razzo and his men had settled into was actually just a recently abandoned, small motel. With his dark powers, Razzo was keeping a veil over the building, making it impossible to see to the human eye. To everyone else on the outside, it just looked like empty space that the city hadn’t done anything yet. No one had a clue it was really there or the monster that stayed within. The place still had plenty of food and alcohol stocked, much to Jay’s pleasure. Even Razzo, who couldn’t get drunk or full off food enjoyed drinking the liquor.

“So, you knew I had to talk to you, but you let the boy you’re possessing rough me up anyway?” Kai wasn’t really asking the question…he was really just saying what was true out loud, getting angrier by the second. Razzo drunk from the bottle and flashed forward to look Kai in his eyes.

“Stop.” Razzo told him.

“Excuse me?” Kai replied.

“Stop thinking I owe you anything. You’re nothing more than a tool at my disposal, just like your friend was.” Razzo felt the heat coming off of Kai as he ripped into the boy’s heart. He loved it. He loved the feeling of hate, darkness and pain that radiated from the tan skinned henchmen. “If I decide not to give him back to you, then you would have served me all this time for nothing. How does that make you feel?” Razzo asked with his lips so close to Kai’s that they were almost touching. Kai didn’t answer, he didn’t even blink. Of course, Kai had thought of that particular outcome before (along with many others) but he wouldn’t ever accept them and knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was going to get Kyungsoo back…the easy way or the hard way. Razzo snapped his fingers and suddenly, everything was reversed. Kai was suddenly standing where Razo had just been and Razzo was gone.

“Bastard.” Kai said, feeling a bit dizzy. “I’ll get Kyungsoo back and I’ll be the one to kill you. Nobody deserves to kill you more than I do.” Kai sat in another corner, feeling less confident than he sounded.

                Insoo had been staring at Dasom sleeping on the couch for the past fifteen minutes. He felt a little creepy just watching her from the kitchen, but it was better than running to her side every time she tossed her turned. Insoo pulled his cell phone from his pocket when he felt it vibrating…but it was only a call from one of his school friends. Easily, Insoo rejected the call and went back to calling his brother repeatedly. After six failed attempts to get through to Gunwoo, Insoo gave up again, sitting his phone on the kitchen counter. “What the hell is going on?” Insoo asked himself. Dasom had showed up at his doorstep in tears and hysterical with no sign of Gunwoo, even though she had spent their whole day together. What happened to make Dasom so freaked out and where was Gunwoo now? Insoo turned around to make himself a quick bite to eat, moving slowly and soundlessly so he wouldn’t wake Dasom (or his mother sleeping upstairs).

                Dasom wasn’t really sleeping…she was basically trapped. As much as the girl wanted to, she couldn’t force her eyes open or her body awake. She remained trapped in another nightmare revolving around her strange boyfriend. In this particular night terror, Dasom was in the middle of her mother’s boutique. It was a dark night and the store was trashed from wall to wall. Dasom stared ahead as Gunwoo came walking up from behind her. There was a metal scraping sound coming from behind Dasom and she assumed it was some sort of weapon that Gunwoo would use to chop her up with.

“Please, tell me why you’re doing this?” Dasom asked, still unable to turn around and face the guy.

“Is that what you really want to know?” Gunwoo’s voice sounded distorted and filed with dark static.

“What happened to you?” Dasom asked the more important question with a haste in her fragile voice. Gunwoo laughed and it made every inch of Dasom’s body go cold as if she’d just stepped in a freezer. “Don’t kill me, Gunwoo…let me help you.” Dasom pleaded. Just as she turned around, Gunwoo swung the blade in his hand. However, it wasn’t Dasom that was sliced by the blade, it was Insoo. Insoo’s bloody body fell backwards onto Dasom’s chest. Dasom clung to her bleeding friend as he slipped further and further from consciousness. Gunwoo tossed his blade aside and walked silently from the trashed store. Dasom suddenly screamed herself awake and nearly fell right off the couch onto the glass coffee table. Insoo’s strong, reliable arms caught Dasom right away and she pressed her head into his chest to muffle her scream. Even after waking up from a night terror, she still had enough sense to not wake his sleeping mother, who had always been nothing but loving towards her. Insoo rubbed the back of Dasom’s back and kept her head pressed to his chest with the other. “You’re okay, you’re okay, don’t be scared of anything, Dasom.” Insoo told her in a low but brave voice. Dasom stopped crying and pulled away from Insoo’s muscular chest. The two friends made eye contact and instantly knew what the other was thinking. Insoo knew for sure that Dasom was afraid of Gunwoo and he wanted nothing more than to comfort her, protect her and be someone she could feel absolutely safe around. Dasom blinked away a few more tears, thinking about how much Insoo probably wanted her to just come out and say what he had known all along…that she was just as worried and fearful of Gunwoo as he was. What was the point of lying about it anymore? Without either friend really noticing until it was too late, their lips met. The kiss was actually quite long, but felt so short since both of them wanted it to go on just a few seconds longer than it did. Dasom pulled herself away first and dashed to the downstairs bathroom, apologizing once as she closed and locked the door behind her. Insoo exhaled deeply, letting his head fall into his palms. There was a large part of Insoo that felt like Gunwoo didn’t deserve Dasom anymore and so maybe it wasn’t so wrong for Insoo to have his intense feelings for the girl. However, Gunwoo was his brother. The brother he had loved and admired his entire life. And he had just stabbed him in the back. That was a hard pill for Insoo to swallow no matter how much he seemed to dislike Gunwoo lately. Plus, it seemed like Dasom was even more upset. Insoo got up with a thoughtful expression and just stared at the bathroom door that Dasom was behind, feeling more at odds with himself than ever before.

                While Taemin continued to monitor things from inside the home, Minho made his rounds through the neighborhood, making sure there were no signs of another attack. When Minho got back to the home, he checked the backyard once again. Minho dropped into a crouch and darted behind a bush when he saw the balcony lights come on, sending a batch of illumination through the backyard. Minho stayed crouched down behind the bush, catching something out of the corner of his eye. Under the bush was a handle. Minho grabbed the handle and pulled it upward, opening a small passageway built right into the ground. Intrigued, but uncertain, Minho contemplated leaving it alone or telling Taemin. Like the natural adventurer he was, Minho went into the passageway, tensing just a bit when the door closed tightly behind him.

                Taemin made his way back up to the attic to make another update with Edward. Really, there was nothing to report. If the attackers had been planning on taking this Patsy lady, they had either changed their minds or weren’t coming anytime soon. Taemin wondered how much longer he and Minho would have to play baby-sitter as the dial tone sounded.

“Hello, Taemin, what’s going on now?” Edward asked the kid.

“More of the same. If the attackers were –“ Taemin didn’t get the chance to finish what he was saying before his neck was grabbed from behind and shocked with a charge of power, knocking him unconscious. Taemin took a look in a dusty mirror that was hanging on the wall in front of him, catching a glimpse of Patsy before he fell to his knees. Patsy let go of Taemin’s neck once he dropped to his knees. “Did you really think I wouldn’t notice you creeping around my house, you rascal?” Patsy heard voices still coming from Taemin’s phone so she stepped on it, crushing it. With a small energized ball of magic in her hand, Patsy looked over Taemin’s body. “I’m going to get some answers out of you.” She said.

                Edward’s phone call with Taemin was suddenly cut short, making him jump to his feet with wide, skeptical eyes. Onew and Jonghyun had been the only others in the room with Edward at the time and the two of them looked just as thrown off by the call ending that way.

“Dropped call? Bad service?” Onew suggested.

“I’m going.” Edward tossed on his coat and began towards the front door. There was no way just anybody could sneak up on Taemin and attack him. The kid was more of stealth master than anyone of them. Heck, he was practically a ninja. Edward had to make sure Taemin was alright for himself, because if anyone had gotten the best of him, then only someone like Edward was a definite match for them. Plus, if Taemin was in danger…was Minho? Edward swung his front door open and pointed to Onew before he was all the way outside. “Come with me, Onew.” Edward said, not slowing down in the least. Onew didn’t even think about it, he just threw on his shoes and followed his mentor. Jonghyun quickly headed to the large office down the hall to inform Hyo Shin and Jongup of what had happened, but Hyo Shin met him halfway with a perplexed expression. “Edward’s pressure just faded, did he leave?” Hyo Shin inclined about his rival, not hiding the bit of worry on his face. Jonghyun explained the situation thoroughly, making sure both men knew there was no reason to overreact just yet.

                Henry sat on some monkey bars, watching but not really watching, paying attention but not so much to make himself really involved with what was going on. Himchan and Bang stood beside Key as he SUMMONED and UNLOCKED his powers. Neither guy knew what Key was about to do in detail, but apparently he was going to trace where Kyungri had been taken so it sounded good. Even better if it worked. Zelo was on all fours in half-beast mode, sniffing away. It was easy to pick up Kyungri’s scent and even those of the attackers, but since they had teleported away, as opposed to running, Zelo pretty much lost and found all trace of them within the same area. “Give me a little more space.” Key said, spreading his arms apart to nudge the two boys flanking him. Bang and Himchan listened to the eccentric boy, folding their arms as they stood behind him. Being back at the park gave Bang a mental image of Kyungri being taken all over again. Dropping his head a bit, Bang swore to himself he wouldn’t let any harm come to that loud, annoying, brassy girl. Bang refused to admit to himself that he liked her even a little, instead he told himself that it was just because he hated seeing someone who had done nothing wrong be targeted in such a way. Bang would rather keep quiet about the fact that Kyungri made him feel alive and caused his heart to beat in a similar yet different way than Zelo and the whole LOCK ordeal did. Kyungri was like human adrenaline and for Bang, that was something he hadn’t dealt with in more than while since Sooyoung’s departure.

                Key started to do something just then. The sword Key held suddenly turned to a long black cloth that flowed down to the ground like oil. The black cloth melted into the ground and caused a large black shadow to spread under everyone’s feet. “Whoa…” Zelo mouthed, watching intently. Key ignored everyone’s surprised expression as he continued to manipulate the ability he still wasn’t very skilled with. “I should be able to pinpoint the shadows of everyone who’s been in this area today…” Key said, closing his eyes and kneeling down to place his hands on the darkness. Himchan jumped backwards a bit so that he was standing on the jungle gym behind everyone. Key’s hands sunk into the ground as if it was nothing more than a pond or lake.

“That’s freaking creepy.” Henry laughed lightly, not believing the sight before him. Key’s brows furrowed and his whole expression started to look a bit nervy.

“What’s wrong?” Bang asked right away.

“Nothing…it’s just…a lot of people have been here today. So many shadows and it’s hard to pinpoint just the one I need.” Key strained, as his legs started to sink into the shadowed quicksand.

“Uhm, is he supposed to be sinking like that?” Zelo asked, looking over to Henry. Himchan and Bang waited for Henry’s answer with identical faces that were laced with specs of uneasiness.

“I honestly have no idea. I didn’t even know he could do this.” Henry said, jumping from the monkey bars so that he could stand beside Key. Surprising Key more than anyone else, Henry placed a firm hand on his ally’s shoulder and steadied him. “Take your time.” Henry said unfeelingly. Key took a deep breath and started to resurface slowly. With his eyes shut tightly, Key focused on filing through all the different shadows of the day, getting a feel for their essence, pressure, shape and aura. Even though Key was able to quickly sort out the shadows he didn’t have any use for…it was taking forever to locate Kyungri’s. Things remained silent and tense for another fifteen minutes as Key searched. Bang got less and less patient, starting to wonder what was happening to Kyungri while they were at the park searching through shadows. Bang was about to ask if Key could go any faster but before he could, Key cried in excitement.

“Found her!” Key exclaimed, opening his eyes wide in shock. Really, he was a bit stunned at how quickly he had located Kyungri’s shadow, especially since he never practiced this technique extensively.

“Really? That’s great.” Zelo applauded.

“So, where exactly is she, Key?” Himchan asked. Henry looked Key up and down discreetly, feeling loosely impressed.

“I don’t know.” Key said, still grinning.

“So, what the hell? Was that just an April Fool’s joke?” Henry flinched.

“No, I mean, I don’t know where she is exactly. But I do have a faint lock on her shadow.” Key confirmed.

“Faint? What good is faint going to do us?” Henry pointed out.

“It’s better than nothing.” Himchan said.

“It’d be better if you three didn’t let her get taken in the first place.” Henry snapped, being even more annoying and ill-mannered than usual.

“Even though I want to snap your neck…I’m not. I have mental strength.” Bang said out loud to himself as if he was performing some personal self-help routine. With a deep breath, Bang flashed a gummy smile at Henry instead of grabbing him a chokehold.

“Ehh, you’re all talk. Nothing but hot air. And hot breath.” Henry retorted with a quick flip of his blonde hair. Key sighed and stepped in the middle of their back and forth.

“The lock I have on her shadow is weak. We have to go looking for her now before the trace fades completely.” Key was starting to look just a tad disappointed with himself. Himchan nodded at Key’s words, mentally hoping all of this could be taken care of as quickly as possible since a new drama was premiering that night. Keeping his thoughts to himself, Himchan pulled out his cell phone and called Hyo Shin for an update.

                As Himchan spoke over the phone, Key struck up small talk with Zelo that eventually led to Key telling him more about his tricky, mysterious shadow LOCK abilities. Standing off on his own, Bang hoped not a hair on Kyungri’s head was harmed. As bothersome and loud as Kyungri was, she was someone that already meant a lot to Bang because she was someone that had already made him feel a lot. Henry was resting casually on the jungle gym, eyeing Bang inconspicuously. What the hell did Sooyoung see in him? Henry was still mad about the two or three times Sooyoung had mentioned Bang during his hospital visit with her. There was no way Sooyoung could still have feeling for someone she’d cut off and left behind so long ago. Henry didn’t think too highly of Bang, but once upon a time, Sooyoung did and that fact alone caused Henry a bit of panic. Was there really a chance that Bang could become competition? Henry shook his head roughly and walked over to Himchan when he finished his phone call with Hyo Shin.

“So, what’s the game plan?” Zelo asked once everyone was clumsily huddled, nearly rubbing elbows.

“Hyo Shin says…” Himchan started but was interrupted by Henry.

“Wait, what about my Uncle? He wasn’t there?” Henry asked, confused as to why Hyo Shin was suddenly the one to give the orders. It wasn’t that Henry thought poorly of Hyo Shin at all, in fact, he actually liked him a lot. However, Henry was more than protective and a bit attached of his Uncle Edward and was immediately interested as to why he wasn’t calling the shots all of a sudden.

“Edward and Onew left to check on Taemin.” Himchan said.

“Did something happen to Taemin?” Key and Henry asked in unison.

“I didn’t get many details from them. However, I do know Hyo Shin wants us to follow the trail.” Himchan said, getting a both exasperated and indifferent look from Henry. “He says we should take one of Edward’s car, so let’s head back.” Himchan flashed away with Key and Zelo right on his heels. Bang and Henry hesitated, both thinking about their own mountain of things. After one second of irritated eye contact, the two boys flashed off to catch up with the rest of the guys.

                Bora walked through the airport with a nervous knot in her stomach. Her parents were anything but thrilled for this spontaneous trip she was about to take across the globe. First, they had watched Sunmi walk out on them…and she hadn’t come back. Now, Bora could only guess they were scared of the same fate falling on them with their younger daughter. Bora tried to smile away her fret, but it didn’t work. Unknown to Bora, her older sister, Sunmi was actually watching her. More than watching, Sunmi was following. Walking more than a few feet behind Bora, Sunmi made sure to stay hidden well in the crowd of late night travelers. Up until Sunmi had seen Bora walk through the entrance of the airport, she hadn’t been sure her sister would take the bait and leave town like she wanted her too. Of course, the trip wouldn’t last forever…but Sunmi just hoped she and Razzo and Jay were all gone or dead by the time Bora returned. With a fake pep in her step, Bora made her way to her gate and boarded her plane. Sunmi left not long after Sunmi was seated, feeling just a small tinge of uneasiness, but writing it off as just nerves for her sister’s flight. As Bora settled in, she took a fast glance at a cute boy sitting not too far behind her. But, an even cuter boy to the left caught her eye.

                Jay, of course had noticed Bora board the plane, but his entire mind was and had been somewhere else ever since Sunmi had brought up that name. Only giving Bora one percent of his attention, Jay stared straight ahead, starting to wish he’d just upgraded to first class like he had planned in the first place. Bora turned around three or four times to sneak a peek at Jay and he paid her no mind each time, not because of Sunmi…but because he had more important matters to focus on.

                Henry and Key didn’t have much time to get their answers about Taemin or Edward when they returned home. Hyo Shin already had a car running and waiting for them. He ushered the boys in right away, wondering if this was a good enough team to send on the job. Himchan was powerful and skilled, plus he was a good leader. Henry was resourceful and smart as well. Hyo Shin didn’t know much about Key other than his preservation skills were good. Zelo was young and at times careless, not to mention he turned into a bit of a loose cannon/show off around Bang. And Hyo Shin was most worried about Bang because he was impulsive, rowdy, not good with authority or rules and also had no real training in battle. However, Edward had assured Hyo Shin that they could handle it for the most part and that not long after, a second group of them would also go after Kyungri. Henry was much less than pleased that he’d been put on this mission with a bunch of guys he didn’t even get along with. Jonghyun had been there to point out that Henry didn’t really get along with anyone. Hyo Shin had to take the time to call Edward, just so he could yell at Henry over the phone and force him to go. The conversation over the phone dragged on a bit too long for Key and he ended up shouting for everyone to wrap things up before his lock on Kyungri’s shadow aura completely died before they even hit the road. Himchan got into the driver’s seat of the silver Range Rover and Key quickly buckled into the passenger spot. Bang and Zelo took the first backseat while Henry pouted in the furthest seat, laying his head down on the seat itself so no one could see him texting his girlfriend. Hyo Shin still wasn’t one hundred percent comfortable or assured as he listened to Himchan tell him over and over how they’d stay in contact and be careful of everything. Bang was tapping the side door impatiently, feeling like every second that passed was a second Kyungri got deeper and deeper in danger. The group of men literally knew nothing about this kidnapping other than that Kyungri was in fact a descendant of the witch family that created the Zodiac Stones (and Bang still wasn’t even too sure what was really going on with any of that). However, he knew how desperate Hyo Shin and Edward were to get ahold of that witch family for the right reasons…so he could only guess that there were others who wanted them not so good reasons. Kyungri had some strange place in Bang’s mind and heart. He didn’t particularly like her yet, but he did feel a great attachment to her just from the fact that she had stirred up so much emotion in him. Bang was depressed and as alive as a box of bricks before he met Zelo. True, his whole involvement with the LOCKS and Razzo had caused an awakening in him. But when it came to Kyungri, she whipped him up in a different way that he couldn’t even describe just yet. The part Bang did however recognize well…was that he had only ever felt that way with Sooyoung in the past. It scared Bang a little that some other girl was making him feel that instant attraction and possessiveness again. It was even more confusing because Bang could swear he didn’t even like Kyungri all that much.

Before Bang even noticed, the Range Rover was out of the hidden car garage and on the round, speeding over the limit just by a few. Himchan drove in silence, taking robotic sips of his Americano every forty seconds. Yes, Bang counted how many seconds between each sip. In the passenger seat, Key was doing something like meditating, but it also looked like he was sleeping. “This is hard…” Key had muttered once, referring to how tough it was to keep in tuned with Kyungri’s shadow aura. The whole technique was a mystery to everyone including Key, so Bang wasn’t even going to attempt to understand one more thing that was definitely going to go over his head. In the furthest backseat, Henry laid informally. With his headphones on and phone up to his face, Henry lightly laughed along with some ridiculous anime he was watching. Looking over his shoulder a few times, Bang couldn’t believe how calm and apathetic Henry was about this whole thing. Even though he was in no way linked to Kyungri, didn’t he get the bigger picture? If they got her back and used her family to help locate the remaining Zodiac Stones, they would be one step ahead of Razzo and his goons. Which was good. So, why the hell was he so annoyed at the idea of doing this? Was he that selfish? Bang didn’t get why Edward would even wanna have him around if he was going to be such a pain in the neck. It wasn’t that Bang himself was a superhero and felt he had to save anyone and everyone…but he couldn’t deny Kyungri meant something to him and the fact that keeping her family safe could help their bigger mission was only a plus. Bang turned away from Henry when he began to notice the blonde brat dozing off. Next to Bang was Zelo, who had pretty much joined the rescue team by impulse and default. With a content expression on his face, Zelo sat straight up, blinking and breathing, nothing else. Bang wondered how Zelo, who was usually a bit emotionally charged and reckless would handle this mission. Heck, Bang didn’t even know how he himself would handle the mission. Up until now, Hyo Shin nor Edward or any of the guys had ever asked anything of him other than to align with them. They trained him and taught him things here and there about being a LOCK, but never had they asked him to do more than shut up and listen or take notes. Now, he was going with them on a mission to rescue a very important girl…they were depending on him. Damn. Bang hated being in a position to let people down. It freaked him out so much. When people counted on you, you had to be a better, stronger, smarter version of yourself. You couldn’t be useless or invisible or indifferent. When people were counting on you and lives were at stake, you had to be a hero…Bang wasn’t sure he knew how to do that. As it turned 1am, Bang exhaled deeply, picturing his father and sister. Even though his dad and Uko didn’t know about any of the LOCK business, Bang knew he had to come back in one piece and continue to protect the city against Razzo for him family. No matter what, he had to do a kickass job on this mission and get stronger so that he could erase the danger of Razzo for good.

Kyungri only remembered the fight she witnessed at the park and blurry bits and pieces after that. She remembered feeling like she was going to throw up when her captors had teleported away with her. The feeling was similar to being on one of those amusement park rides that shoots straight up, lingers in the air for twenty seconds, and then drops back down. However, Kyungri did very clearly remember seeing Bang and the look of endurance he’d had on his face just before she was taken away. Kyungri wasn’t even trying to wrap her head around all the superpowers she’d seen…really, she was stuck on the fact that Bang had tried to save her. Did he not hate her after all? Normally, the only guys that really liked Kyungri were gay guys because they were typically just as sassy and outspoken as her. Most guys found Kyungri too brave, too witty, too perceptive and too independent. And then there were other times when they were just down right scared of her. Bang was different in a lot of ways. Kyungri felt unlike herself when she was around Bang…he made her feel weak, but not in a defenseless damsel in distress way. It was more of a vulnerability that Kyungri felt when she was around Bang. She got the feeling that she had no walls or armor that would work against him and if she were being honest with herself, that was refreshing. It was a bit shocking that Kyungri could think of such things when she was currently laying on a large, rigid piece of stone. All four of Kyungri’s limbs were spread out and cuffed to the uneven edges of the stone. There were strange carvings all over the stone and Kyungri could have sworn the stone was…reacting to her in some weird way. The stone was rested upon a metal suspension. Slowly, the resting bed started to rise so that Kyungri was facing forward. Inside the dim, metal walled room was only one door. With her whole heart feeling like it was about to come crashing through her chest, Kyungri watched the door open and the five cloaked captors walked in one after another.

“Listen to me!” Kyungri screamed once all the cloaks were surrounding her. “I don’t know who you are or what you want from me…but I don’t have anything for you. I’m not rich, I’m not connected to anyone that is. I don’t know any dark secrets or have any of my own. I promise you have the wrong girl. Please let me go, I just want to go home and forget all of this.” Kyungri’s voice cracked a bit towards the end, ticking her off because she really wanted to sound strong and definite. One of the five cloaks reached out to Kyungri, rubbing their finger down her cheek as if she was some rare jewel they wanted to feel for authenticity. Kyungri cringed away as best she could while being tied to the uncomfortable stone.

“Please don’t touch me.” Kyungri said with a clenched jaw. As Kyungri heard footsteps approaching from far away, the captors before her began to reach up and reveal their faces. Kyungri nearly choked on the air in her lungs when she saw the faces of the people who had attacked and abducted her. It was her own family. Confused, hurt tears immediately started to rain down Kyungri’s cheeks. “What the hell is going on!?” Kyungri screamed out, thrashing her body pointlessly. Around her stood two of her Aunts and three of her cousins. One of those cousins, Kyungri had always felt close to and had even gone on a short vacation with only two months ago. The footsteps finally stopped as the door opened again. In the back of her heart and mind, Kyungri knew exactly who was about to walk through that door and when she saw just the beginning of their body, she dropped her head, hating that she had been right.

“Mayura…” Kyungri said the word through gritted teeth.

“So glad you made it here in one piece, my pretty niece.”

“Ahh!!!!!!” Kyungri did the only thing she could think to do, scream and thrash around like a madwoman. What the hell was going on? With her hair looking a mess (half sticking to her wet cheeks) Kyungri managed to look up and stare in Mayura’s cold, pleased face.

“Where’s…my…mom?” Kyungri said evenly, wishing she could go all Hulk on her and snap her Aunt’s neck in half. Mayura sighed and shrugged over towards her niece. “You’ll see her again. Maybe.” The woman said, pulling a small black stick from her pocket. Mayura shook the small black stick and it extended into a much longer rod. Kyungri squinted from the pink light that emitted from the tip of the instrument. Before he half closed eyes, a pretty pink orb appeared around the tip of the scepter. “It’s time for you to know the truth and accept the responsibility that comes with being a woman in this family, Kyungri.” Mayura pointed the scepter at the frightened girl.

“Just untie me, you freak!” Kyungri thrashed about, making quick, harsh eye contact with her other family members.

“No can do.” Mayura said with a small smirk on her lips.

“You’re evil.”

“No, I’m a witch and so is your mother and so are you as well as these women that stand beside you.” Mayura seemed to be getting both angry and impatient. “Goodness, your mother is a fool for thinking she could keep this from you.” The woman scoffed.

“Long story short, all you have to do is stay still for a bit and endure some uncomfortable sensations and you’ll be back to designing ty dresses before you know it.” Mayura touched the end of the scepter against her niece’s cheek. Kyungri spat at her Aunt, missing just by an inch. Mayura laughed out loud, throwing her head back…and then she whacked Kyungri across the face with the instrument in her hand.

“Damn I wish you weren’t our only hope for carrying on the magic bloodline, otherwise, I’d just burn you up right here.” Mayura narrowed her serious eyes at Kyungri.

“Do you really think anything will go back to normal after you do whatever you’re about to do?” Kyungri asked the question seriously, trying to sound brave again.

“It honestly doesn’t matter.” Mayura rolled her eyes. “Now, shut up and accept the power!” Mayura jumped backwards and summoned a bright pink illumination to overcast within the bland room. The light was hot on Kyungri specifically and caused her an intense burning sensation all over her body. Kyungri screamed at the top of her lungs, wishing she could commit suicide right there on the table just to avoid another second of this burning. “Yes…yes…very good.” Mayura said with a grim smile on her face. Kyungri thrashed around, screaming and crying for someone to save her. It was a confusing pain Kyungri had to endure because although she was definitely in pain, it also felt as though she was becoming stronger at the same time. Mayura laughed manically as she continued to forcefully transfer the magic over to Kyungri.

                Himchan and Bang were the first to react when Key suddenly clasped his hand over his mouth and heaved forward. Starting to slow down the vehicle, Himchan eyed Key carefully. Henry popped up from the backseat, taking note of the odd behavior as well. “Yo, Key, are you carsick?” Henry asked. Zelo reached for the water bottle beside himself and tried handing it to Key. Key quickly took off his seat belt and let himself out of the still moving car.

“He’s gonna puke.” Bang said. Key did in fact vomit on the side of the vacant road. Falling to his knees, Key shook with his teeth chattering together. “Key, what’s going on with you?” Bang and Henry were at both sides of the boy, each with a hand on his shoulder.

“Something’s happening to Kyungri…” Key managed to say as his eyes rolled to the back of his head slowly. Henry struggled a bit, but was able to scoop his ally up off the ground and bring him back to the vehicle. Zelo opened the doors and made room for Key to lay down across the first backseat. Key finally regained some composure and sat up on his elbows. “The vomiting and shaking was a side effect from whatever is happening to Kyungri…don’t ask how or why, I don’t understand it myself.” Key once again looked a little pissed off at himself. “I’m still in sync with her shadow aura so let’s keep going.” Key shifted so that he could put on his seatbelt. Zelo went to sit in the passenger seat, which meant Henry and Bang were stuck sitting in the furthest backseat together. Bang noticed a genuine look of worry in Henry’s face as he looked at Key closely. Maybe he wasn’t totally indifferent after all. Gritting his teeth, Bang wished they could just teleport to wherever Kyungri was somehow. With his best efforts failing, Bang tried to keep his mind from imagining what could be happening to Kyungri as Himchan accelerated.

                Taemin awoke. Tied to a chair with some sort of power restricting rope, he was defenseless against the woman who stood before him. “What the hell do you want from me, little boy?” Patsy said, pointing a butcher knife towards him. Of course, Patsy was a sweet, good woman with not even the smallest evil bone in her body…but she knew better than to let her guard down when it came to LOCKS and all the things they’d done to her ancestors in the past. Taemin was still a bit dazed as he tried to answer. “Don’t get the wrong idea…” He said, shaking his head lethargically.

“Who sent you after me?” Patsy yelled.

“Can you untie me please, these ropes are really tight.”

“Hell no.” Patsy said. “Answer the question, who sent you? Are you hear to kill me or kidnap me?”

“Neither.” Taemin said.

“So, you think I’m an idiot who will fall for that?” Patsy rolled her eyes and leaned in closer, pointing the blade to Taemin’s forehead. Taemin gulped, feeling like he would pass out again from the power restricting magic rope around him.

                Minho walked cautiously, using the light from his cell phone. Inside this secret underground room, he could feel a heavy presence. However, the presence wasn’t from another person…it was from al the magical weapons and items lining the walls. Everything was giving off a strong, magical aura that kept Minho both enthralled and wary as he walked back the way he had entered. Of course, the door was still jammed or locked and wouldn’t budge in the slightest. If there was any doubt that this family was indeed the descendants of those withes who forged the Zodiac Stones, it had been erased after all the things Minho had laid eye on. With worry for Taemin starting to well up, Minho began wondering how he could get out from this underground lair. “SUMMON!” Minho summoned his blade and peered around, hoping he wouldn’t regret what he was about to do.

                “Stop!” Someone shouted just as Patsy was about to kick Taemin’s chair over. Patsy widened her eyes, dropped the knife and squealed a bit when Edward came barging in through her now broken front door. Onew raced to Taemin and united him while Edward held Patsy at bay. “Edward, what on earth is going on here…?” The woman gaped.

“’I’ll explain everything to you.” Edward said after he did a quick inspection of his youngest boy.

                Patsy never got the chance to take a seat, the shock was too much. Staying on her feet, shaking from head to toe, the woman started to walk backwards until she hit a wall and exhaled deeply. The news that had just been dropped on her had all her hairs standing on edge and a never ending stream of chills running down her spine. “I know exactly who’s behind this…” Patsy said low. Edward gave Patsy a few minutes to collect her frantic thoughts, staying silently still between Onew and Taemin. Patsy looked like she was about to speak, but stopped herself twice and then finally started to say something.

“I know my older sister is the one abducted Kyungri.”

“Your sister?” Onew asked incredulously.

“Yes…my own flesh and blood has done this. Mayura, my sister…is very desperate to keep the tradition of magic practice in our bloodline. But Kyungri is the only female in our family who’s old enough to come into the power. And I refuse to let her become a witch.” Patsy crossed her arms and took a seat at the very edge of a loveseat. Taemin watched the woman very closely, not because he was afraid or wary…but because she looked so fragile all of a sudden. Just a while earlier, she had stood in front of Taemin with a knife ready to slice him if he didn’t answer all her questions. Now, she just looked like some human version of a rain cloud, all depressed and gray.

“Why would your sister go to such lengths like this?” Edward asked, still trying to grasp that the captor was actually related to the captured.
“Mayura is terrified that if our family doesn’t continue to practice and pass on magic, we’ll become mere humans and apparently that’s worth kidnapping her own niece and breaking my heart.” Patsy jumped up suddenly, raising her voice as if everything was sinking in bit by bit. Edward started over towards the woman but stopped when she suddenly clasped her hand over .

“We have to find her right now.” Patsy said.

“Well, that’s the plan.” Edward said.

“Mayura is going to try to forcefully pass the magic over to Kyungri.” Patsy said grimly.

“That’s bad I assume?” Onew chimed in.

“Since she’s not Kyungri’s mother, it can be very painful and catastrophic. Especially since Kyungri has never in her life been exposed to magic. Oh my poor baby…” Patsy went a little weak in the knees all of a sudden.

“Try to stay calm, Patsy.” Edward reached out to her.

“I can’t. I have to save my baby girl.” She flung herself out of Edward’s reach and looked around the room for some sort of idea as to what to do next. It wasn’t like she knew where Mayura had taken Kyungri. For a second, Patsy wondered what the heck she could actually do. Patsy suddenly took note of the fact that she was in a room full of LOCKS and got a small flurry of chills over her body. For many generations, LOCKS had done nothing but use and abuse her ancestors and because of that, they’d been taught to keep as much distance from LOCKS as possible. Because her magic wasn’t as strong as it once was, Patsy hadn’t ever sensed Edward being a KEY, but there was no denying it now.

“We have a trace on where Kyungri was taken and we have allies on their way to get her back.” Edward tried to comfort Patsy.

“What?” She tensed.

“Yeah, so there’s no reason to be freaked out.” Taemin flashed a wide, somewhat fake smile and Patsy just returned it with an emotionless stare that made him gulp.

“Try to calm down and stay at your home while we catch up with our team. Kyungri and your family is actually very important to our mission, Patsy. So we’ll do everything in our power to bring her back.” Edward spoke all businesslike. Patsy shook her head and laughed a little, throwing everyone else off.

“Do you seriously think I’m going to stay here and wash dishes while my daughter is out there probably being tortured by her own Aunt? If you have allies in pursuit that you’re planning on catching up with, then I am going as well.” The woman stood firm. Onew and Taemin exchanged looks, wondering how Edward would deal with this change of events.

“Patsy…I don’t know.” Edward said.

“I’m not asking for permission, Edward. At the end of the day, you’re all LOCKS anyway and my family doesn’t have a good track record with your kind. So, even more reason for me to go along and make sure I am the one to save my daughter. Now, how soon can we go? And should I pack snacks?” Patsy grabbed a random purse from a nearby closet to show how many snacks she could fit inside.

“I like chicken on long drives…” Onew admitted quietly. Edward face palmed himself. All four of them jumped when they heard an uproar of noise come from the backyard.

“What the heck?” Patsy said, dashing to the sliding door with the boys right on her heels. Everyone gaped at the sight in the backyard of Patsy’s home. Minho had used his LOCK abilities to blast his way out from the underground storage zone. Minho had summed a rigid, stony cliff that had sliced right through the backyard ground and now stood like some triumphant mountain smack dab in the middle of the yard. Minho jumped from the cliff he’d summoned and landed before everyone.

“I did a little remodeling.” Minho laughed, scratching his head. Edward resisted to urge to reach out and chop the boy on the back of the neck.

                Patsy didn’t ask many questions or wait around for many answers. Like a bullet, the woman ran up to her room and changed into more sporty attire, grabbed a couple weapons from the underground storage Minho had basically ruined and then threw her essentials in the trunk of Edward’s car. Taemin and Minho spoke quietly from the curb, watching Patsy move about.

“So, she’s coming with us? Interesting.” Minho said.

“I guess it’s good since she knows more about all this magic stuff than we do.” Taemin nodded at his own point.

                Slacking off, Youngjae and Daehyun strolled around the shopping mall for hour two. With a jumbo pretzel in one hand and chocolate shake in the other, Daehyun laughed out loud when he saw a small dance crew performing up ahead. “Man, they !” Daehyun said, letting tons of food particles and crumbs fly from his mouth. Youngjae walked faster to join the crowd that was gathering around the crew. “Daehyun, take out your phone, get this mess on tape.” Youngjae poked at Daehyun’s pockets. Daehyun fumbled for his phone, unable to balance the shake and pretzel at the same time. Youngjae poked Daehyun faster, telling him to hurry before the horrible dance crew finished their routine.

“Youngjae, you’re gonna make me drop my stuff.” Daehyun continued trying to get his phone out even with both his hands occupied. “Knock it off, give me a second.” Daehyun growled.

“Hand me the shake.” Youngjae said, all excited to get the dance team on camera. Daehyun tried to hand over the shake, but Youngjae started clapping his hands together at the last second, laughing his off. The shake fell to the ground and splattered all over a young woman’s back.

“You morons!” The young woman exclaimed. Daehyun and Youngjae traded shocked, accusatory expressions as the woman started calling for her boyfriend.

                After Daehyun and Youngjae had ran far from the screaming woman and her tall, thug boyfriend, they took a rest in a random shop that turned out to be a lingerie store. Daehyun and Youngjae blushed at all the pretty woman and y mannequins modeling even ier under garments.

“Uhm…maybe we should go back to looking for that one lady.” Youngjae didn’t sound very convincing as he looked all around him. Daehyun had spotted a cute girl waiting by the dressing rooms. “Yeah, yeah, start looking. Maybe she’s hanging out somewhere in here.” Daehyun said, walking towards the cute girl. Youngjae turned to his left and fell awkwardly into an elderly woman with a heap of bras and in her hands. One of the ended up tangled over Youngjae’s face. He blushed.

“Oh, sorry, young man.”

“No big deal.” Youngjae rolled his eyes, taking the off his head.

“Didn’t mean to get my old underwear all over your cute little head.” The woman took the underwear back and strutted off with a wink. Youngjae started dry heaving, hoping he’d just puke all his lunch up.

“USED?!” He yelled, punching himself in the gut.

                Jonghyun sat behind the kitchen island, watching Jongup lay in the middle of the floor like a rug or a piece of the hardwood. After the thirty minute mark, Jonghyun finally got up to make sure the oddball was still coherent or breathing.

“Buddy, are you comfortable down there? I can bring you a pillow or…energy drink.” Jonghyun leaned down a bit to see Jongup’s handsome face.

“Body is comfortable…heart is not.” Jongup answered, rolling over so he was completely on his stomach.

“Oh…yeah, I heard some of your members saying you were going through a breakup. Is that what’s bugging you?” Jonghyun smiled a bit, remembering when something as small as breakup with a girl would’ve caused him to be like Jongup.

“I want to become one with the floor so that my heart can literally be walked all over.” Jongup muttered. Jonghyun wasn’t sure of Jongup was being really poetic or just really ridiculous.

“Uhm, that’s very deep.” Jonghyun said with a confused grin. “So, I’ll be back with a pillow for you.” Jonghyun said, running towards the stairs.

“Excuse me.” Jongup lifted one of his hands.

“Yes?”

“Could you spray it with perfume so it smells like a girl?” Jongup asked. Jonghyun stared back at Jongup wordlessly. “Air freshner with work too.” Jongup dropped his hand.

                Hyo Shin walked in from the backyard just then, spotting Jonghyun race up the stairs with his finger up to his lips. Clearly, Jongup was becoming too weird for him. Hyo Shin was about to kick Jongup in the when his phone rang. It was Edward. Hyo Shin only had time to nod and hum agreements as Edward gave him a speedy update. Henry had apparently called Edward and told them that Key’s trace on Kyungri’s aura was still going strong, but surely fading at the same time. Also, Edward explained to Hyo Shin how they had no choice but to take Patsy with them on their drive to catch up with the first dispatched team. The real shocker came when Edward told Hyo Shin who was being the kidnapping. Hyo Shin had to take a seat on top of Jongup when the big news hit him. “Wow…her own Aunt orchestrated this?” Hyo Shin had a tough time wrapping his head around that until Edward began to explain Mayura’s motives. Hyo Shin didn’t agree with Mayura’s actions in the slightest bit, however, he did understand them to a certain degree. Edward told Hyo Shin that he, Onew, Minho and Patsy had already taken off to join the other group. Taemin was going to be staying behind to keep an eye on Patsy’s home in case anyone showed up there. “I’ll call you if we need anything. For now, just keep a watchful eye over the city. Razzo is still too much of a loose cannon for us to let our guard down.” Edward said. Hyo Shin nodded again, thinking about how bad the timing would be if Razzo really did decide to pull a stunt. After their phone call, Hyo Shin fell onto his back, crushing Jongup even more.

“Ouch.” Jongup mumbled with his face in the floor.

“This just keeps getting weirder.” Hyo Shin sighed.

                It was four in the morning when Bang’s group suddenly jumped at the sound of Key’s yelp. “Whoa, don’t just randomly scream like that.” Henry said, rubbing his ear as if his eardrum had been busted.

“She’s in this city. Somewhere in this city…” Key looked all around them frantically. Himchan pulled over out of the small amount of traffic and watched Key with one raised brow.

“Okay, but where?” Henry and Bang asked at the same time, annoying one another.

“I don’t know. The trace is getting stronger, but weaker. All I know for sure is that she’s in this city.” Key half smiled, impressed that he’d been able to hold onto the trace for so long. Zelo patted Key on the shoulder. “Good job, Key. You’re really cool.” The blonde giraffe said honestly. Key couldn’t help the wide grin that spread over his face then. Although he wasn’t going to admit it, a word of thanks or appreciation had been what he wanted to hear. Even though Key was probably the most confident when it came to countless areas, that wasn’t the case at all with his LOCK abilities. Really, he didn’t understand his own powers and most times was very hesitant to help out or use them. But now that he had in fact, helped out in a huge way with his powers, he felt like maybe he could start to be of more use in the future missions.

                The trace of Kyungri was beginning to dwindle a bit, so Key worked fast, directing Himchan as best he could. After driving for about another twenty minutes, the gang ended up in an underground parking garage.

“Did we take a wrong turn?” Bang unbuckled his seatbelt.

“She can’t really be being kept down here…” Himchan added, giving Key a sidelong expression. Key was the first out of the car, he ran to the garage exit and pointed at the large mountains past the woods. “She’s past there. I know for sure. That’s where the trace is strongest and weakest.” Key said.

“That literally makes no sense.” Henry said, walking up behind Key lazily.

“So, get the hell back in the car and let’s go.” Bang called out from the window. Zelo tapped on his chin, trying to decide of he was about to ask a dumb question or not. “But, how are we going to drive through the woods?” Zelo finally asked.

“Good question.” Bang had to admit. However, he really didn’t care about that. All that mattered at the moment was not wasting a single second and saving Kyungri.

“Call Hyo Shin, Zelo. Tell him we made it to the city.” Himchan said, tossing Zelo the cell phone. Zelo nodded and started to dial. Henry and Key made it back to the car at the same second a cloaked figure entered the parking garage from behind the vehicle. Himchan was the first to notice the cloaked figure in the rearview mirror.

“We’ve got company.” Himchan said seriously. Bang and Zelo jerked their heads around to see the cloaked figure getting closer, walking with a very clear intent to start some trouble.

“It’s one of the ones from before.” Zelo said.

“So this confirms we’re definitely in the right place.” Henry added, winking at Key.

“We really don’t have time for a fight.” Key said, starting to get woozy again. “Kyungri needs us like right now.” He had trouble getting the second part out because he was coughing roughly.

                The cloaked figure kept their slow, ominous walk towards the vehicle holding the five LOCKS. Without warning, she reached into her cloak pocket and pulled out handful of marbles. Rubbing her palms together, she transformed the marbles into a group of glowing energy blades. “I remember this one.” Himchan said, getting out of his seatbelt.

“What are you going to do? Just run the freak over and get it over with.” Henry said. The cloaked woman fired her blades and they went flying over the car, leaving slash marks all along it. Himchan passed the keys over to Henry and then got out of the vehicle to face the woman.

“Himchan, there’s no reason to fight her alone.” Bang said, halfway out of the car.

“There’s no need for more than one of us to waste our energy fighting. Plus, we don’t know the full extent of her powers. I’ll handle her and catch up.” Himchan said without a hint of worry in his voice. Every other boy in the car had to wonder if Himchan was really that tough or just acting so that they wouldn’t feel worried to leave him behind.

“But…” Zelo started.

“Zelo, call Hyo Shin like I said. Henry, please drive on without me. Bang, don’t lose your temper. I’ll catch up, I promise.” Himchan hated explaining himself more than once. Bang bit his lip, hating how the tables had turned.

“Let’s just do what he says.” Bang buckled up again, nudging Zelo to hurry up and make the call. Henry had been more than indifferent about the whole mission so far, but even he felt a little uncomfortable leaving Himchan behind. With some haste, Henry climbed into the driver’s seat, started the car back up and began to pull off.

“Himchan! Fighting!” Zelo yelled at the top of his lungs as Henry drove forward.

                “Big mistake.” The cloaked woman said, flashing a crooked smile.

“SUMMON!” Himchan summoned his sword and took a fighting stance. The woman pulled more marbles from her pocket, quickly creating more of the glowing blades. Locked in an intense stare down, the two ran at one another. As they blades collided, Himchan knew he was going to do whatever it took to defeat this woman. After all, this had been the whole reason he’d volunteered to go with this particular group in the first place. None of the other LOCKS traveling with him had the brute power or know-how to handle a skilled one-on-one battle like this. In fact the only LOCKS on both sides that were probably good enough to handle this were Himchan, Minho, and Taemin and of course Hyo Shin. As irritating as it was…Himchan had to admit Jonghyun was in that group as well. Himchan was almost shocked at himself because of how easily his instinct to protect the weaker or less experienced LOCKS had been. Oh well. Maybe they really were growing closer. Himchan hoped they just focused at got to Kyungri as fast as possible. The cloaked woman and Himchan shoved each other backwards, creating a gap between them.

“Show me what ya got, you stupid LOCK!” The woman taunted. Himchan smirked and nodded once.

“UNLOCK.” He said, tapping into the second level of his LOCK abilities with ease.

Okay, so that’s the eighth chapter!

Bang’s feelings for Kyungri are getting more and more intense

Kyungri starts to realize she has feelings for him as well

A lot of the characters are kind of spread out right now, right?!

It’s going to be that way for the next few chapters.

Also, Himchan is so cool for stepping up like that!

I HOPE YOU GUYS LIKE THIS FIC SO FAR

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