5

At those three words, the anger coming off of Baekhyun exploded in the form of light launching him backwards against the wall behind him. It was blinding, intense to the point I could feel the heat coming from him. It wasn't like earlier where it just came from his hands but his whole body was illuminated. I shuffled back, away from it and closed my eyes before I was blinded. Although, even with my eyes closed all I could see was light.

"Baekhyun! Baekhyun!" Suho yelled. "Stop! You're hurting us. Calm down, just breathe." I wasn't sure how long the rest of us could withstand this, the light was too powerful. However, there was something else about it that I couldn't put my finger on. It wasn't just normal light, it was like a substance that felt painfully purifying. 

"I can't stop it! I can't control it," Baekhyun cried. "He's right I'm different! Look what I've become, look what they turned me into. I'm not human anymore, I'm a monster."

He was distraught and I knew that he was in full fledge panic. It seemed as though his powers were heightening all his other senses, especially his emotions. The light we were basking in was an insight to everything he was feeling: anger, pain, guilt, sadness, panic and fear. It was all jumbled together floating around us and it felt like I was a part of it, experiencing the same as he did.

The situation was becoming desperate since it was completely out of our control. All I knew was we needed him to calm him down. I shuffled forward, with my eyes still closed, until I reached the metal bars of my cell getting as close to him as possible.

"Baekhyun, listen to me," I said in a firm voice. "You are not alone. We are all here and we are experiencing the same thing. It's not only you that is different and you're no monster, you're just a kid. Don't be afraid. You can control it, don't let them win because if they do then we truly have no hope left."

I put my hand on the ground and willed something to happen. Surprisingly something did. My body turned cold, freezing, it was like everything from inside out was chilled, painfully and numbingly so. I pushed through it though, trying to ignore the discomfort. Something was growing, forming and expanding. Ice. With my eyes closed I couldn't see what was happening but I could feel it. Like it was a part of me, an extension of my existence.

"I'm not alone..." Baekhyun mumbled with a trembling voice. The light behind my eyes was starting to dim and I opened them cautiously. I saw a path of ice had formed from my cell to his but without even meaning to, I had shaped a hand out of ice. It was my hand and it was linked around Baekhyun's in a comforting embrace.

He was on the ground shaking as though he had been hurt and I think he was. Like how the ice had been painfully cold for me, I think the light was too intense, even for him. His cheeks were wet with the residue of tears and I felt a pang right in my heart. An ache of sorrow. I wanted to comfort him but from my cell there was nothing I could do. A tear slipped down my cheek and I quickly wiped it away before anyone could notice. I was surprised, I didn't usually cry but this was different. His pain echoed within me.

Suho reached across the bars into Baekhyun's cell and took his hand in comfort, replacing the one made of ice. I looked around to see the other boys wore expressions filled with shock. Especially Chanyeol. Suddenly he dropped to his knees with a thud and we all watched him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered but we could all hear it loud and clear. His words penetrated the quiet of the room and the guilt on his face was evident. He brought his body down to the ground in a full bow of apology, surprising me.

"I'm sorry," he repeated but this time he spoke firmly until his voice cracked at the end. He stayed in that position until Suho instructed, "get up, Chanyeol."

He did and now I could see his face was also wet with silent tears. He wiped them away with his sleeve, embarrassed and regained composure. Then Suho continued in a strong voice, "we only have each other. It's us against them. We can't turn on one another when it already feels like the whole world has turned on us. We are stronger if we stand together and we maybe even have a chance against them if we're united. Let this be a lesson learned, that fighting between us is useless and harmful. We don't know the extent of these powers and they can hardly be controlled. However, there's no point in panicking over it, let's be logical and let's stay calm. We'll wait for their next move so we can plan ours. We could fight all we want but nothing will be achieved unless we stand as one."

I instantly felt better hearing those words. Suho was well spoken but more importantly he was right. We would we would fight and we would escape this place and we would do it together.

*****

It felt like a day had passed, guards had come and go with food twice. Unexpectedly, our portion sizes had increased, with the majority being protein but I couldn't complain, food was food. I would eat what they gave since survival was key. 

Things had slowly started to patch up between the boys. We all knew that we were being impulsive and acting on our emotions so fortunately no one held grudges. I tried testing my powers with Chen's help but I couldn't summon it. The ice didn't show again after my big display earlier, no matter how hard I tried.

Not long after we finished our second meal, they came for us. Like the same as before, Vic and a group of guards led us to the experimentation room. This time they didn't bother with introductions and directly strapped us to the beds. None of us were stupid enough to put up a fight seeing number of guards with weapons. There was a time and place to fight and this was not it. We would have to catch them off guard and we would have to plan for it to work.

As we being strapped in, Doctor Choi spoke, "we've been monitoring you for the past few days and I'm happy say we've seen advancements and inklings of success. Subject 04 has already shown positive results, with Photokinesis: light manipulation. We were wondering which one of you made all the lights in the building explode during the last experiment. We even placed lamp in the cell room as a test but little did we know it wasn't need. You brought out the powers in each other with your squabbling." 

She was awfully chipper and her feminine voice was grating on my ears. I hadn't realised they had cameras and people monitoring us. The thought hadn't occurred until now which was stupid. Of course they were, we were subjects of an experiment. No different to lab rats. They were watching our every move so we would have to be more careful I thought.

"Another success, Subject 99, with Cryokinesis: ice manipulation. How marvellous but it seems as though your powers have not fully developed," Doctor Choi said. I clenched my fist at her mention but showed no reaction otherwise as I stared at the ceiling. I didn't know what we were in for today but I prepared myself for the worst.

"Unfortunately, some of the others have shown no results and it seems their genes are taking longer to activate. So we'll keep repeating the first phase of experiments until your powers fully develop," Doctor Choi stated.

My worst nightmare had come true. We were to go through with the experiment not only once but multiple times. I said before I wasn't sure if I would survive a next time. Now there were multiple next times and I feared for my life.

The same Asian doctor who had been assigned to me the other day injected the blue serum into me again.

And so again, it begun. Pain. There was only pain.

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