Preface

         

          Immortals.  They walk among us, just like regulars.  There aren’t very many of them, but there are more than you’d expect.  They can be hurt, but they cannot die.  They spend their forever blending in with the regulars.  Constantly running out of places to live after their short time in one place is up.  Their identity must always stay hidden.  A regular becomes an immortal during the occurrence of a disaster, only then can a Moderate cast her spell.

          Regulars are humans.  They don’t live forever and can die at any given time.  They are a worthless species, constantly dying out, hardly ever achieving anything great.  All the great ones were Immortals; Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, Charles Darwin, Martin Luther King Junior- and many others.  But haven’t these people died?  Yes.  There is only one way to kill an immortal.

          Moderates are the in-between of Regulars and Immortals.  They don’t live forever, but they live much, much longer than Regulars.  Hundreds of years longer.  They are the ones that cast the spell for their Regular to become immortal.  Most of the time, a Moderate won’t mess with the universe’s way of killing someone.  However, when the Moderate is in love with the Regular, they will save them from their tragic demise.  Their demise has to be tragic.  For example, if the Regular has a heart attack and dies, the Moderate cannot save them, but if they are in a freak car accident, plane crash, earthquake, hurricane, etc...They can be saved by becoming immortal.  But the real tragedy is that when a Moderate turns a Regular Immortal and their energies aren’t matured, being around them will only weaken them to the point where if they’re around their Immortal, they will die.

          The year was 1912.  Lizbeth was on her way from Southampton, United Kingdom to New York City, United States on the Titanic.  She planned on travelling alone to the coveted America for as long as she had known about the freedoms that awaited her there.  She hadn’t lived a bad life, far from it.  She was an only child, her parents were well off, and her grandmother taught her many things about being a Moderate.  Her dreams of travelling to America alone were crushed the moment Kim Jongin made his way into her life.  She met him in the market when they were sixteen.  He was helping his sisters carry their baskets of fruit, and she was picking out a new dress to wear to a party at the palace.

          Lizbeth could tell that he wasn’t from Europe, it was obvious.  And his attire didn’t say “wealthy”.  He worked, that’s what the flannel shirt and overalls told her.  She watched him until his eyes finally met hers.  He smiled at her.  She smiled back. 

          For weeks, their meetings were that of only meeting each other’s eyes in the market.  When they finally got around to introducing themselves, it was hopeless in a way that neither of them would ever fall out of love with the other.  They snuck around for years.  Her parents would never approve of her seeing a farm boy.  His parents probably wouldn’t have cared, but he didn’t want them in his business, so he never told.

          Jongin always knew of Lizbeth’s plans to go to America on the big ship that had been in the process of being built for so long.  He told her that if she wanted, he would go with her.  She was ecstatic. 

          He didn’t want the love of his life to pay for both tickets, so he worked and worked and worked until he had enough money for two middle class tickets.  They loved the ship, and they were excited to be going to America together.

          When the ship sank, they were dragged under the water by the suction of propellers as they plummeted to the ocean floor.  They could both swim, but the current was took strong and he drown.  She managed to pull him back up to the surface in time to make him immortal.  She draped him over something wooden from the ship, and whispered to him, “I love you Jongin,” then she explained what he was and why she couldn’t stay with him.  When he would awaken, he would know everything, and she would be gone.

          Lizbeth managed to swim to a lifeboat when one came back for the people in the water.  She survived the sinking of the Titanic, but living without the love of her life would be the biggest challenge she will ever face.

         

          Jongin awoke with the rising sun.  He felt the coldness of the icy water, but that was its only affect.  There were bodies floating around him, in the distance he heard a boat completing its final search for survivors.  But that boat didn’t come for him.  He knew that Lizbeth did to him, he knew that she would die if she stayed, she told him everything before he awoke. 

          Hours passed, maybe days, he wasn’t really sure, he wasn’t much aware of time anymore.  Another boat floated by, this time it stopped only feet in front of him.

          “Hey, kid,” said the voice, “I know you know what you are, so I don’t have to explain.  Get up here.”

          “Kyungsoo, be nice!  He’s a baby!”

          “And it’s not like you’re much older than him anyway.”

          “Shut up, nobody asked you guys,” Kyungsoo retaliated.

          There was a loud splash and a small wave hit Jongin in the face.  He opened his eyes to a boy with big, doe eyes, staring right at him.

          “I’m Luhan,” he spoke, “We’re all Immortals, just like you.”

          “Which one of those es did it to you?” asked a new voice.

          “Be nice!  Not all of us are bitter about not being able to die like you, Sehun!”

          “That’s right, Baekhyun,” said Luhan from the water.  “Come with us, we’ll give you a place to live.”

          “We’ll also teach you how to stay hidden…” added Sehun.

          Jongin followed Luhan up the latter to the deck of the boat.  And Kyungsoo handed him a blanket to keep warm.  “Not like anything’s gonna happen if you don’t cover up, but it’s nice to have that reassurance when you aren’t used to this new body yet.”

          “Which one of ‘em turned you?” asked the tallest of the guys on the boat. “I’m Chanyeol by the way.”

          “There’s more than one?”

          “Oh yeah,” said Kyungsoo, “whole clans of them-they’re everywhere.”

          “They’re not everywhere, but it does seem like we meet one every other week.”

          “Shut up Suho,” said Luhan, “what’s your name?”

          “Jongin.”

          “Did you know the person who changed you?” asked Suho.

          He nodded.

          They all went around and introduced themselves.  There was Sehun, Baekhyun, Kyungsoo, Chanyeol, Suho, Kris, Luhan, Tao, Chen, Lay and Xiumin.

          Xiumin spoke next, “was it a Hastings, McConnell or Thibodaux?  They’re the most common Moderate families.”

          “No.  She’s a Montgomery.”

          There was a sudden intake of breath.

          “What?” Jongin asked.

          “The Montgomery’s are the most powerful Moderates in the entire world!  They basically invented the art,” said Chen!

          “What’d a Montgomery want with you?” Kyungsoo asked with slight disgust.

          “She’s my-she was my girlfriend.”

          “She must be young,” Lay whispered to Tao who nodded once in response.

          “Her powers aren’t matured then,” said Kris.

          “Otherwise she would have stuck around,” added Baekhyun.

          Suho was the last to speak, “she’ll be back then.  They always come back for their first.”

           

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