The whole way home Lei didn't say a single word. She was too busy with her own thoughts. She rested her head against the window of the car and tried desperately to figure everything out. Not long after they left Lei's house, they made it back to Jian's.
"So from what I can tell there has been 3 other people like us. Two girls that both died a year apart to the day and another guy who has gone missing since the death of the girls." Jian began explaining before they even made it inside the house. Lei listened and carried her bags inside before setting them down.
"I can't figure out any reason that we do have powers- we all have nothing in common except that we were all born in the same year and given up for adoption at birth in Chicago. Sierra and Jessica both showed their powers fairly quickly. Sierra became a track star and was able to fly under the radar until she suffered a psychotic break and killed 10 people in a library- she was 12. She was killed 5 years later after being released on parole. That was December 16th, two years ago. Jessica however began performing magic tricks on the street when she was 16 and used those tricks to help her rob people for petty cash. The police quickly caught on and when she was being arrested she became invisible. The government had her killed and all public filed of her sealed or deleted. This was December 16th of last year. I ran into Luke last year two days before Jessica was killed and he shot a fire ball into the wall of a cafe after being refused service. I haven't seen him or any trace of him since."
"So we're just sticking together to avoid dying? Kind of like super heroes?" Lei said a little hopeful, trying to ignore the obvious coincidences of the other two girl's deaths.
"Sort of." Jian walked back to his room and began going over his research again. Lei dropped her bags on the couch and sent Ivy her location. Lei didn't want to have powers- especially if she might die and leave Ivy alone. She teared up at the thought of her dying.
"It's happening again." she barely managed to make out through mangled breaths. Jian ran back into the room and began throwing questions at her, holding her hands away from her neck to keep her from touching it. Lei finally calmed down enough to bring her eyes up to Jian.
Jian's eyes were wide. He looked horrified. He loosened his grip on her arms and stared at the place on her neck that was still faintly itching. Unknowingly, Lei reached up at her neck.
"Lani, Sto-"
இ
Music began humming and Lei opened her eyes. She felt Jian laying on top of her and she quickly shoved his shoulders. He groaned and rolled over off of her. Lei looked around and saw they were in some type of antique shop. They were surrounded by racks and rack of clothes and a record player quietly hummed in the corner of the shop.
"If ya' need some help gettin' decked out let me know." a man dressed in a white tee said, coming from behind a curtain. Jian looked at Lei with wide eyes and stepped closer to her.
"Do you know this song?" he whispered in Lei's ear. Lei shook her head at him, confused, as he began pacing back and forth. Lei began to silently freak out. Both of them were just in Jian's house- did she teleport? She admittedly got a little excited at the thought. She began walking towards the door of the store when Jian reached out to grab her arm.
"Lani, wait-" Jian said, Lei had already stopped. There was tons of cars- retro cars driving down the street. Kids ran up and down the sidewalk freely and the streets were busy as could be. Lei stopped, the wind hitting her hair.
"I told you to wait." Jian says with a small smile.
"Jian, where the heck are we?" Lei says, her heart pounding in her ears.
"Well by the look of things we're in 1960." he says.
Time travel? Doesn't that require some kind of machine. A young boy runs past her, knocking her off the edge of the sidewalk and into the streets. Jian barely caught her hand and pulled her close to him.
"Just stay close- We'll figure something out." he says, looking around distracted. He grabbed her hand, hauling the closest taxi.
Jian opened the door of the cab and let her climb in first. She slid into the seat, Jian tightening his grip on her hand so she wouldn't let go. Like that would happen. Jian closed the door, telling the driver to drop them off at the nearest hotel.
இ
They got to the hotel in what felt like 5 minutes. Jian was currently at the front desk, paying for the room, which left Lei to hold the heavy bag of their clothes. Thinking back on everything, it seemed unreal. It has been such a short time since she first met Jian and already so much has happened. It was enough to leave an unsettling feeling in her stomach.
"Alright, let's go." Jian told Lei and she followed behind him, her footsteps matching his. They walked into a room labeled 6b.
The sight of the room caused Lei to stand in amazement. She walked to the only wall which was painted green, the others being gray. The green wall complimented the two purple beds. Across from the bed sat a TV, which was beside a couch. She was quick to run and look through the window. Pushing back the curtain, the window overlooked the street. The street was filled with the rush of people to and fro.
"Wow." was all Lei could say. It couldn't be any later than right past lunch and imagining what the view will look like during sunset made Lei excited.
"Congrats on your fourth power, Lani." Jian says, causing Lei to turn around.
"You can time travel." he said, seeming slightly agitated.
"Why do you look so upset? It sounds amaz-" Lei says but Jian can't wait for her to finish.
"Time Travel is supposed to be a final power- your sixth power- if at all a power of yours. But it's your fourth. Lani, there's no way this is normal. Unless I missed something..." Jian trails off.
"Can I help with anything?" Lei asks, even more confused after hearing what Jian said. How could you miss a power?
"Yeah, there's a diner down the street, would you mind going to get something to eat?" Jian said. She wanted to help more than just getting food but she grabbed the room key and walked out of the room.
