Dan's never moved so fast in his life. His heart is pounding in his chest and his breathing is erratic, mixing between deep and shallow and all he knows is that he has to keep moving, he has to keep going.
PJ is in front of him, practically jogging the familiar pathway, and everything seems like a blur, a single target in mind, because once he sees it, he'll know for certain.
He doesn't know how long it takes him, but suddenly they are there. And Dan jerks to a sudden stop, almost colliding into PJ as the other male also comes to an abrupt halt.
Dan's eyes widen, trailing over the familiar figure before him, breath caught in his throat.
"Miss me?"
Chris' voice is as cocky as ever, but Dan can hear the undertone of so much more. It's a little croaky, and Dan has a million guesses as to why. But he knows Chris, knows his best friend and he's sure it has everything to do with being able to see them again.
Chris pushes himself up, moving from his previous sitting position at the base of PJ's house steps and stands upwards.
Dan doesn't blink, he doesn't move and neither does anyone for a good moment. There should be relief, but he is too filled with shock to even process any other emotion. His eyes trace over Chris' face, as though he is unable to process it fully. His eyes are drawn to a particular spot, and once they find it, he can't drag his eyes away.
A nasty set of yellow and blue bruising is on the right-hand side of his temple, large and painful. Dan lets out an uneven breath, like the air somehow managed to escape from his lungs without him wanting it to. The pathway flashes into his mind, the burnt charred parts of the pavement, and the situations which must have happened during that moment that managed to cause such a nasty bruise on his head.
Chris opens his mouth, as though he is going to say something again. He doesn't have time to however, because PJ takes one large step forward and pauses before he all but runs up to Chris and pulls him into his arms.
It doesn't take long before Chris' face is buried in PJ's chest, and there are unshed tears in both of their eyes. And as much as Dan wants to go over and pull his best friend into a well-deserved hug and make some smart ass rhetorical mark, he can't bring himself to ruin their moment.
Instead, he takes Phil's hand, giving it a squeeze.
His heart almost melts as Phil squeezes back.
:::
The air seems crisper and cooler as they enter PJ's house. Like the adrenalin and shock factor has completely left Dan's body. He feels a bit drained, like he hadn't just woken up half an hour ago. Like he's just worked a full day and wants nothing more than to collapse into his bed in exhaustion.
There is another part of him though, one that's torn and mixed between relief and worry. The air is still rather tense. Despite the fact that Chris is back within reach. They are almost treading on egg shells, wanting to bring it up and avoid the topic all at once.
They make their way into the lounge, and Chris is the first to find a seat. Putting himself on the far right-hand side of the sofa, he picks himself up, legs against his chest. And that's the first sort of warning sign that appears in Dan's head. The fact that normally Chris is more than willing to sprawl out, have his legs dangle off the end of the couch and hog as much room as possible.
Everyone makes their way back down, and it's quiet, which has been a far too frequent occurrence lately.
PJ plants himself next to Chris, close but not extremely close either. Just enough to provide comfort and warmth and far enough to give Chris the space that everyone is sure he needs.
Dan follows in suit, sitting on the couch opposite the coffee table in the middle, providing a gap between the couches.
"I've never had anyone hang on my words as much as you are all doing right now," Chris laughs but somehow it doesn't fix the tension in that air. His humour falls on pairs of deaf ears, but Dan tries to chuck him a small smile momentarily.
"Yeah well, I suppose you always liked to cause a commotion." Dan responds with, and he notices Chris relax a little, like the pressure somehow shifted for a second.
There is another small silence, before Chris decides to jump right in. "They didn't do anything. I mean, not really."
It's like a sign of relief and a sharp stab all at once as the words leave Chris' mouth.
Then everyone speaks at the same time, questions being asked simultaneously.
"What do you mean they?" Phil asks, his eyes a little wide. PJ's question is just as concerning but more of an echo. "Not really?"
Chris looks a little bit like a deer caught in headlights, but if Dan's being honest, he is pretty sure they all reflect the same expression. Questions are stuck on the edge of his tongue.
"That guy, the one that keeps messing with Dan. He's not exactly the same as we thought. Although, I mean, he still kind of is. But I'm pretty sure his abilities are a little different to what we first assumed. And he's well…I don't want to use the word leader, because that's really fucking cliché. But there was a few of them in this small group and I'm pretty sure he runs it."
Chris pauses, allowing everyone to try and take in the information before he continues. A million more questions run though Dan's head. Panic and alarm are going off everywhere. He's pretty sure his eyes are now worse than Phil's were, wide and in some state of disbelief.
"Leader? Leader of what?" PJ asks, and yeah, Dan's pretty sure that's the most pressing question of them all right now.
Ignoring the next round of questions, Chris continues. "When I was making my way back from my house to PJ's they kind of appeared out of nowhere. I didn't take any notice at first, because it wasn't the guy that Dan had been describing. It was a girl and a guy, they looked to be fairly young too. Maybe nineteen or twenty. Just a bit older then us I think. But they caught up to me, and I realised something was up. I dunno, something wasn't sitting right, so I tried to bolt. Only, I hit this sort of invisible wall."
Dan gulps, a small breath involuntarily leaving.
"And as I turned around the other guy was there too. I tried to get them, make a heap of flames before they could get to me. But as I did that everything went a little hazy, I was panicking, because there were three of them and only one of me. I don't- I don't really remember what else happened. But when I woke up I head a massive headache and this ridiculous bruise."
Chris starts fidgeting with something in his pocket. All eyes follow his movements, and then he pulls out a slightly crumpled piece of paper, that looks like it has been folded over again too many times. Dan can picture the situation unfolding. Chris crumpling onto the ground before he gets a real chance to defend himself. Head banging against the concrete, but not enough to leave any blood.
"What's that?" Phil asks, and Chris grimaces.
"I think it's an invitation."
Dan blinks, and everyone seems a little lost for words.
"A what?" Dan all but splutters.
Chris unfolds it, placing it on the coffee table before them. The moment he puts it down, PJ picks it up, reading it over quickly, his face turning into a frown as his eyes read down the page.
"He's right," PJ mumbles and both Phil and Dan's face morph into confusion.
"An invitation to what?"
"An invitation to join them."
A stunned stillness settles upon them. All that can be heard is the deep breaths of everyone in the room. It takes Dan more than a moment to soak up the information."
"I don't, I just. What."
Chris shakes his head. "I didn't get to talk to them, I mean not really. It was weird…I mean I think I remember that guy speaking, but like in my dream. I don't really remember what happened. When I woke up I was alone in an empty apartment on the other side of town. It was really fucking weird. I was so freaked out I just left as quickly as I could. When I arrived at PJ's I realised that you weren't here. And I still had my phone in my pocket so I rang, and well, this led us to the shit storm that we are in."
Dan urges for more information. None of this really makes any sense. "Why did they take you? What does that prove? Why can't they just fucking talk to us instead of screwing with our minds and kidnapping someone?"
Phil shifts in his seat uncomfortably.
"I don't, I mean, it's only a theory," PJ pipes up, his eyes still locked on the letter. "But I think that either is a test, or, it's a point."
That doesn't sit well with anyone.
"If Chris can't defend himself, what hope do the rest of us have? Or our families? They have nothing to defend themselves with either."
Dan almost falls off his seat, a sudden shock rippling through his body. His family never really crossed his mind until now. But it's right there. There are four separate reasons in this room for everyone to be afraid.
"They, I mean, they could have done that by now though, right?" Phil mumbles, and Dan bites his lip as PJ responds.
"Maybe, I mean. I don't know. It would have been easy, but I sort of feel like that would give the wrong impression."
"The wrath of four fucking teenage boys with superpowers knocking at their doorstep would give a wrong sort of impression," Chris comments. And Dan takes a deep breath, the thought had been the furthest from his mind.
"So what, they don't want to fight?" Dan asks, "is that what you are saying?"
Chris shrugs. "I mean, maybe. They had plenty of chances. If they wanted to take us out they could have probably done it before we even knew they existed. They could have left me on the side walk and finished me off without a second thought."
The words don't sit quite right with Dan. But it's also true. They had plenty of opportunities, why not take them? Why mess around with him? Why leave a note for Chris and everyone else?
"Yeah well, if they wanted to talk, this isn't exactly the best way to go about it," Dan mutters.
"A-fucking-men," Chris agrees, his head flopping backwards and resting on the back of the couch. PJ gives him a sympathetic look, and places a hand on his thigh.
"So, that still leaves the same question." Phil states and Dan inwardly shudders. He knows exactly what Phil is going to ask, and Dan isn't sure he is going to like the answer. "Are we going to go?"
The words linger heavily in the air. Chris' head shooting back up much quicker than he had laid it to rest.
"Do we really have a choice?" PJ says his voice low and almost in a whisper. Like he doesn't want to say them out loud, but has no other choice.
"Sure we do." Chris laughs. "We go, and we face whatever fucked up cultist thing they are going to try to convince us to join, or we don't go, and suffer whatever consequences that they deem appropriate."
Dan wants to say that it might not be true. That they might have all just gotten on the wrong foot and this is a good chance to talk to them. Maybe they have more answers surrounding their powers. This is the first time they have met anyone other than their group with abilities. It could be a good chance.
Except deep down, he knows that it's not.
"How long do we have to decide?" Phil asks.
PJ looks back down at the piece of paper. "About three days."
And just like that, Dan knows that these three days will probably be the most important of his entire life.
Notes: Oh hi there. Look, i'm still alive! I'm sorry this chapter took a long time, but it was important I get it right :) So I hope it was worth the wait. Also, obviously this is not still the weekend, but I had to wait for it to get edited. Otherwise we would all be suffering aha.
(P.S I am sorry about the cliff hangers). I keep not intentionally ending it the same way.