Chapter seven

02-06-15

 

 

Baekhyun turned the handle downwards and opened the fence. ‘’Welcome to the non-magical-place.’’ He quietly murmured and took the first few steps in. The air was the same, the ground was the same, nothing had changed; aside from the fact that no one here had any magical ability except for them. They were in a small of park, walls on both sides, covered with plants and creepers. Right in front of them was big gateway that lead into a dark alley. From what Baekhyun could see, the alley lead into the heart of the city.

 

Kyungsoo was the first one to enter after him and soon after followed Chanyeol and lastly Jongin. The fence behind them disappeared and Baekhyun knew (he had read it somewhere) he had to touch a particular spot to make it appear again. Stray bushes covered up the place.

‘’So now we’re here.’’ Kyungsoo said behind him.

‘’Yup.’’

 

‘’…’’

 

‘’…’’

 

‘’…’’

 

‘’Let’s just go in and see what will happen.’’ Baekhyun eventually said and walked ahead of them; walking through the alley, into the with people filled streets. The village they were in would be something you'd see in the 19^th century; small, cozy and friendly. It was in the middle of the woods (in which EXO was secretly established) and a long road lead you to the big city that was only half an hour away.

To his slight surprise, everywhere he looked where these small stalls with either food, plushies or technology. In other words; there was a big market going on, occupying the whole street. People were happily chatting with one other, children were playing around; it looked like a place where happiness won over everything. But there was one thing that troubled Baekhyun.

‘’Guys, wait a minute.’’ He said as he turned around. He didn’t know whether they had already seen it or not, but he was going to point it out anyway.

‘’Guys, that man over there,’’ He pointed at the tall man, fully dressed in black, black sunglasses covering his probably emotionless eyes and a big belt full of supplies on his waist. The others looked over his shoulders to see who he was talking about before they one by one nodded.

‘’he’s from the A.D.T.’’ He said. ‘’In other words, they’re probably everywhere so don’t you dare to show who you are.’’ Baekhyun said before turning around and walking into the busy streets.

 

Chanyeol was a bit taken aback by his roommate’s sudden behaviour, but he could understand it. It was a good thing that he warned Jongin and Kyungsoo, especially the latter. He didn’t look all too good in means.

 

They stopped by every stall to take a look. But while Baekhyun and Kyungsoo were immersed in almost everything, Chanyeol was talking with Jongin about other things. He just couldn’t understand that someone could get so excited over a stuffed toy. Chanyeol had seen tons of those when he was younger, every kid had! So he couldn’t understand why his small roommate acted all happy when he saw all those things.

It didn’t just stop with the toys. Everything looked wonderful in Baekhyun’s eyes. Chanyeol however didn’t bother to ask why.

 

It was at one point where Chanyeol finally found something that had interested him ever since he was young.

‘’Oh my god, this is soo cute!’’ Chanyeol called out in a high pitched voice (which actually sounded like a normal voice since his voice is way too deep to sound high pitched) as he ran towards a rilakkuma stall, eyes widening at the large amount rilakkumma’s. Baekhyun chocked on his salvia when the younger boy suddenly pushed him aside. He felt a small hand rubbing his back, figuring out it was Kyungsoo, he didn’t bother to turn around. He felt another presence next to him, which was Jongin of course, and the three of them watched the taller boy literally drooling over the rilakkumma’s.

‘’Uhm Chanyeol?’’

‘’Y-yeah.’’

‘’Your scaring the rilakkumma ajumma.’’ Baekhyun said as he tried pulling the black-haired boy away. ‘’Oh… okay…’’ Chanyeol said as he backed up a little, but he didn’t take his eyes off the plushies.

Baekhyun had never seen him like this before, and it legit scared him.

 

In the end, Jongin had to pull the tall boy away from the stall and Baekhyun and Kyungsoo had to apologize to the woman (who only nodded in fear) before they could finally go.

When they thought they were at a far distance from the stall, Jongin let go of the boy, who now was a grumpy piece of grumpiness.

‘’So I assume you love rilakkumma’s?’’ Baekhyun asked, crossing his arms as he smirked. Yes it was funny, or so he thought. You’d think tall, muscled guys would like motors, cars or stare at y women, not rilakkumma’s! But then again. Baekhyun didn’t know much about his roommate.

Chanyeol ignored him and walked ahead. Jongin snickered. ‘’You’re being really childish dude.’’ He said as he quickened his pace to walk beside the boy.

‘’I was just looking!’’ Chanyeol quickly defended himself. ‘’Have you seen how they looked at a ing lamp?! And I can’t even look at a rilakkuma?!’’ Chanyeol threw his hands in the air in annoyance.

‘’That wasn’t a lamp, it was a toy; let them be, that Kyungsoo has never seen those things when he was younger, I don’t even know how to explain it, taken away from his family. I don’t know where to but he wasn’t educated with toys and stuff. Baekhyun probably has the same kind of story.’’ Jongin said and Chanyeol was silenced. He tried hard to imagine what a childhood without toys must be like, but he couldn’t. He had a great childhood, until the part where his parents found out he was an abnormal.

 

In the meantime, Kyungsoo and Baekhyun were walking behind the twin towers, overhearing everything. Both boys had become silent, until Baekhyun became curious about what happened to his new friend.

‘’Hey Kyung?’’ He called for the latter’s attention, which he gained. ‘’Where were you sent?’’

Kyungsoo looked back at the ground as they walked further, taking big steps to keep up with the two tall boys. ‘’You know, I am very strong; I don’t usually say that, but it’s the truth. But for me, being strong also means that a lot can go wrong, you know what I mean?’’ Kyungsoo cocked his head to the side and eyed Baekhyun, who blankly nodded.

‘’I used to have a lot trouble dealing with my emotions, couldn’t concentrate well. So this one day, on which my parents got into a fight – apparently about me. I got mad at them. happened, they sent me to a school. I was there for eleven years before I got here. Pathetic right?’’ Kyungsoo ended happily, as if he wasn’t troubled by it at all.

 

He wasn’t troubled by it.

 

He just learned how to move on; continue living life.

 

Baekhyun admired that.

 

‘’What about you?’’ Kyungsoo asked, taking Baekhyun aback. He kept silent. He didn’t know what to say, or how to say it. So in the end, he decided to not say it. ‘’I think it’s not a good time to tell that.’’ He whispered, referring to the many people that could hear him.

 

It wasn’t a good story to hear.

 

Kyungsoo nodded and looked forward.

 

¬

 

They finished walking over the whole market within half an hour and walked back the same way to take a look at the other side too. After that, they would probably return to the institute for dinner and then watch a movie or something at theirs. They had become hungry by seeing the many food stalls, all filled with delicious things. Dinner time on the institute would last two hours so they didn’t have to rush back to make it in time.

If they were bored?

No.

Definitely not.

It was quite amusing to look at a dazed Kyungsoo who had seen cookware, or to pull a drooling Chanyeol away from all the rilakkumma stalls (and there were a lot!). He and Jongin had a really hard time.

 

‘’Baekhyun?’’

‘’Yeah?’’ Baekhyun looked up at Jongin, who was walking beside him now. The younger boy was about to open his mouth to say something, but was cut off by a scream and a yell.

 ‘’HELP!!’’

Baekhyun’s head snapped to the side and saw a young woman run out of an alley, hair dishevelled, face striped with ash and tears running down her cheeks. ‘’PLEASE HELP ME!!’’

She seemed to get more attention as nearly everybody nearby turned around. An old man stepped forward. ‘’What’s wrong my dear?’’ He asked.

‘’My-my d-daughter is i-i-inside. ‘’She stuttered as more tears started forming in her eyes.

‘’There’s fire.’’ She sniffled as she burst into more tears. People tried to calm her down, but her knees gave in and she fell on her , crying harder. People were standing around her, trying to understand what she meant, but it was obvious that she wasn’t able to say another word in this state.

But Baekhyun saw something.

‘’Guys.’’ He said, trying to get their attention.

He pointed towards the alley when he got their attention.

‘’What’s there?’’ Kyungsoo asked. He didn’t see it. Nobody saw it. Baekhyun did see it.

There was a huge fire. The smoke was already coming their way and the flames would burn the whole village down if they didn’t do anything. And there was a baby inside.

‘’There’s a fire.’’ He whispered, basically repeating what the woman said just now.

 

‘’I’ll settle it.’’ Chanyeol immediately said and walked towards the fire. He didn’t stretch out his arms like any other would do, but just lightly lifted his hands, leaving his arms tight to his sides. Baekhyun wanted to call him back, saying it wasn’t a good idea at all, but he stayed where he was. Baekhyun knew he was trying not to get too much attention, but he also knew Chanyeol practically lived for attention; and what better way to get attention was there than saving a baby and probably the whole city as well.

But the fire was too big, even for the ‘supreme’ man, Chanyeol. Baekhyun already saw it coming, but he was the only one. Time slowed down and his vision became clearer than ever. People stopped moving, stopped crying and stopped walking; and Baekhyun was the only one who could move.

As the woman was on the ground, surrounded by other people; and Chanyeol was walking straight into the alley, to the burning house, a dark attired man slowly walked from the fire towards Chanyeol.

 

Baekhyun knew who he was.

 

He knew what he was.

 

 

‘He’s gonna die’

 

‘No one ever escaped them’

 

 

 

 

‘I need to help’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘I did it once already, I can do it another time’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The man opened his coat and took out three small balls, taking off the pins and throwing them at Chanyeol. But just before the balls could hit him, a huge, light shield appeared around him, not only starting the boy himself, but the stranger too.

 

The man slowly backed up.

 

The crowd went crazy.

 

The bombs exploded without doing any harm to anyone.

 

Time gained its normal speed.

 

‘’IT’S THE ABNORMALS!’’ One yelled as everyone quickly, screaming, ran away, taking to crying woman with them.

‘’Run.’’ Baekhyun whispered to Kyungsoo who looked at him with big eyes.

‘’RUN!!’’

Kyungsoo didn’t waste another second and ran, so did Jongin. The shield around Chanyeol disappeared as Baekhyun grabbed his arm. The former’s face was a mess as he stared down at Baekhyun with large eyes. The boy didn’t waste another second and ran, leaving Baekhyun behind.

‘’What the fu-‘’ His sentence was cut off as he heard the cry of the woman echo in his head.

 

‘The baby!’

 

Although he knew he shouldn’t. Although he knew the possibility of getting caught was huge. He still had his standards of humanity. If he ran away right now, he would never be able to forgive himself.

Without any hesitation, he ripped off a piece of his shirt and held it in front of his mouth as he ran to the burning house, which was just around the corner. He kicked open the door with one, forceful kick and ran inside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He didn’t see the eyes on him when he kicked open the door.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neither did he see his own eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

¬

 

 

 

 

‘’Wait, guys!’’ Chanyeol yelled, seeing Jongin looking back before he grabbed Kyungsoo’s arm to stop him from running. The streets were empty, the stalls were left behind as everybody ran in fear of the abnormals.

 

They didn’t know there were still four on the street.

 

‘’What happened?!’’ Chanyeol asked as soon as he was in front of them.

‘’I don’t know, Baekhyun just spaced out and then this all happened.’’ Kyungsoo explained before Jongin stepped in. ‘’No, it wasn’t like that. He saw one. One saw you.’’ Jongin said, looking at Chanyeol who stared back with a confused expression on his face.

‘’What are you talking about?’’

‘’The A.D.T.’’ Jongin hissed. ‘’He saw them before I did and protected you. If he didn’t shield you, you would be ing dead by now!’’ Jongin whispered angrily, glancing around constantly. No one could know or they were dead.

‘’Now that we’re talking about him, where is Baekhyun actually?’’ Kyungsoo remarked and looked behind Chanyeol, hoping to see him running. But he wasn’t.

‘’He was behind me just now.’’ Chanyeol said as he turned around, only to face the deserted streets. The sky had turned orange and the cosines of the village had disappeared completely, giving it a creepy atmosphere instead. ‘’He’s not behind me.’’ He breathed out.

He turned back; Jongin wasn’t there anymore. He felt how a rough, strong yet small hand grabbed his arm and pulled him down slightly. ‘’We need to go back.’’ Kyungsoo said and dragged Chanyeol with him.

‘’What!? Going back means we’re dead!’’ He yelled and harshly jerked his arm back.

‘’That boy saved our ing lives just now, we’re not leaving him!’’ Kyungsoo reached out for his arm again, but Chanyeol took a step back, keeping his mouth closed.

‘’Fine, then don’t go. You’ll regret it later.’’ And with that, Kyungsoo ran off, leaving Chanyeol behind; dumfounded and a bit afraid. His body said no, his mind screamed NO! He wasn’t going back, he wasn’t going to get caught because of Baekhyun’s stupidity. Chanyeol could’ve easily protected himself. Baekhyun would probably be fine, he’ll think his way out of the trouble.

Yes, that’s it. Baekhyun’s smart enough to clean up the mess he made. With that thought in his mind, Chanyeol ran away alone.

 

 

¬

 

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun kicked the door open and was immediately met by a -load smoke. He held the cloth tightly in front of his mouth and nose to prevent any smoke from entering his lungs and quickly ran inside. His vision became bright.

The house was a disaster on its own, furniture thrown over, glass broken on the ground, shelves hanging from the ceiling, and so much fire. But through it all, Baekhyun could hear the incredibly soft cries of a baby. He ran up the stairs, passing the railing on fire and kicked every door open one by one.

He was panting, but pressed the cloth harder.

Sweat had formed on his forehead and his bangs were sticking to it, yet he mindlessly kicked open another door.

The cries became louder.

He saw a crib standing in the middle of the small, blue room.

He ran towards it and there she was.

‘’Come on baby girl, it’s okay; I’ve got you.’’ Baekhyun tried to reassure the crying baby as he took her out of the crib, wrapping a thick blanket around her small body as she kept on crying loudly. He removed the cloth from his mouth to speed up his job, but not even a second later, harsh coughs left his mouth, hurting his throat. He caught a glimpse of himself in the pieces of the broken mirror that was lying on the ground.

He was startled.

 

His left eye shone. It shone brightly despite the black. If anyone saw him right now he-

The girl’s loud cries got him to look away from the mirror. He immediately hugged the girl tightly to his chest and proceeded to walk out; just when a piece of the ceiling fell down, creating a thick smother. Fire entered the room.

The ceiling hit his arm, slicing it all the way from his elbow to his wrist. A cry escaped his mouth as he fell down. He felt blood dripping down his arm and coughed his guts out. His throat hurt badly, but he knew that if he stopped now, he would die for sure. He took the girl in his unwounded arm.

Baekhyun ignored the pain and the blood and stood back up again, grabbing the crib for support before he stretched out his bloodied arm, red palm pointing outwards and shot a huge ball of light into the flames, making a small path for himself to walk through.

He ran off the stairs, barely avoiding the next piece of the ceiling that fell down right behind him and ran to the light.

 

The exit.

 

A loud thud was heard.

 

 

 

 

The light was gone.

 

 

 

 

The door was closed...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

by a man dressed in black

 

 

 

 

‘’

 

‘’Just stay there and no one will get hurt.’’ The man said, his voice was deep and honeyed, as he slowly walked up to Baekhyun. They were surrounded by fire, fire here, fire there, fire and smoke everywhere.

But the man didn’t know Baekhyun had the ability to see him, to see every motion he made. He didn’t know what Baekhyun was capable of.

What he did see was the eye. That one, shining eye with the black.

 

Baekhyun knew he had seen it. But he also knew the man had no idea what it meant.

 

 

He wasn’t going to give up.

‘’I have a baby!’’ He yelled into the smoke and throatily coughed again, feeling how all the air inside him got up and bended forward, punching his chest. The man stopped his actions – hearing the loud cries over the raging fire – but that didn’t stop him from grabbing a small bomb from his belt.

‘’Tell me, abnormal, what can you do?’’ He asked as he started walking again, not caring about the fact there was a kid with them. Baekhyun kept his mouth shut and tried to stop coughing, slowly backing up towards the nearest window. He knew the man could barely see him.

 

But the man could and immediately threw the bomb. Baekhyun, however, was much faster than the man and even before the bomb could hit the ground, he had taken away the man’s sight and shielded himself against whatever was inside of the bomb before he threw a light ball out of the window and jumped out of the burning house.

 

He made it out of the house just in time when the roof came down. Baekhyun fell down on his knees right behind the house, in a dead-end alley. He held the baby tightly to his chest and in as much air as he could, coughing half of it out. His arm had started throbbing, his whole hand was bloody and trembling.

It was then he saw Jongin running towards him.

‘’Baekhyun!’’

Baekhyun looked up and grimaced.

‘’I got the child.’’ He said before coughing again. He felt how the girl was taken from his arm and he immediately used it to keep balance.

 

‘’What happened?!’’ Jongin asked frantically, patting the crying kid’s back as he crouched down in front of his friend, who didn’t respond.

‘’Baekhyun!’’

‘’I just got the baby.’’ Baekhyun replied with a hoarse voice. ‘’Ceiling fell down and man came inside.’’ He said before he started coughing again. He couldn’t even notice the throbbing in his arm. The adrenaline was still there.

‘’Your arm.’’ Jongin breathed out, taking the girl in one arm and lightly grabbing his arm. Baekhyun flinched and Jongin let go.

‘’It’s okay, just scratched.’’ Baekhyun smiled, wiping some ash off his face before he slowly stood up. Jongin stood up as well, carrying the girl – who had become tired from all the crying – higher up.

‘’Let’s find Kyung and Chanyeol.’’ Baekhyun said as he started walking. He made sure to hold his injured arm against his T-shirt to hopefully stop the bleeding. He knew that Jongin was behind him and soon after they got out of the alley, Kyungsoo came running towards them. Upon asking what happened, Baekhyun just raised his good hand and shook his head, non-verbally telling him he would tell him later. Kyungsoo nodded and started walking beside Jongin behind him.

 

Baekhyun didn’t bother to ask where Chanyeol was.

 

He knew the latter had ran off as soon as he could.

 

The cozy streets from earlier were now deserted, the sky was a mix of orange and smoke and everything was thrown over. From the market was nothing left. Baekhyun knew that people would come out of their hiding places as soon as they saw the kid.

He had his guard up high, ready to shield himself and his friends.

 

He was right.

After a mere five minutes of walking, they saw people, hiding behind bushes, stalls or fences. It was then they heard a scream. It was one of relieve and happiness.

‘’My baby!’’ The same woman who caused the disaster came running up to them, but slowed down slightly when she remembered what they were. Baekhyun turned around to Jongin and nodded at him, telling him to give the child to her mother.

He handed her the child.

 

She didn’t back up like he thought she would and stayed on the same spot, looking up to meet Jongin’s eyes. They glistered with tears.

‘’Thank you.’’ She whispered, her voice thick with emotion, yet clear as water.

Jongin said something and Baekhyun saw how the woman looked past him at him. Tears in her eyes as he mouthed a ‘thank you’. He nodded.

Jongin walked back to them and the three started walking again. People were in awe with what they just saw. The woman turned around to watch them go.

 

But it wasn’t done yet.

 

Baekhyun knew something was coming.

 

 

He could feel it.

 

 

 

Without thinking, he shielded the three of them with a thick light shield, just before a bomb exploded right beside them, causing screams. He always trusted his gut, it always had been right so far.

He heard a curse, but was too tired to actually catch what the men outside the boll said.

‘’We’re leaving undergrounds.’’ Kyungsoo then said and the others nodded. They knew it could leave traces if Jongin teleported  and that the ADT could find them is they did that. A square of bricks grew from the ground outside the light and covered the boll before the ground opened and a cave appeared right in front of them. The light boll disappeared and became a small ball instead, floating in the mid-air to keep them provided from light. The square of bricks stayed where it was.

People tried breaking it down.

 

People tried smashing it.

 

Throwing bombs at it.

 

Tried to do everything they could.

 

 All without any avail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It broke down days later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As they walked further beneath the ground, the hole behind them disappeared without any noise. They were in deep. No traces of them were left behind; and when everyone was trying so hard to break down the square, the woman was watching from a distance, remembering the sparks she saw in the boy’s eyes as she wished them all the best luck.

 

 

 

 

They were save.

 

 

 

 

They managed to escape easily, no sacrifices had to be made.

 

 

 

 

They were save.

 

 

 

 

For now.

 

 

 

 

¬

 

 

 

 

 

‘Give him to us.’’

 

The secure arms never left his body, instead held him tighter.

 

‘’No, I’ll take him to the castle.’’

 

‘’It was our job to bring him there.’’

 

‘’And it took you three days, we need the boy alive, not dead.’’

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘’…He is already dead…’’

 

Baekhyun shot up from the bed, grabbing his bandaged arm when the pain shot through it. His shivering body was covered in a layer of sweat as he panted slightly. He let out a few throaty coughs before his head jerked up again, scanning his surroundings before he came to the conclusion that he was alone. He was in his own room, Chanyeol was sleeping in the one across his.

He came back a while an hour ago, missed dinner. He didn’t face Chanyeol and went straight to the shower and wrapped up his arm, then to bed. The cut was much deeper than he thought it was, yet no one aside Jongin had found out.

 

The voices never left his mind. They were cold, too cold to be human, too terrifying.

Baekhyun held up his trembling hand and swiped the sweat off his forehead, letting himself fall back on the sheets again. He closed his eyes, his breathing didn’t regulate.

It took him a while to fall back asleep again.

 

It was 3:33 in the morning.