A/N: Okay, here's the reason why it's so late: my life's been crap. (Note: that's the only curse word I'm allowed to say in my house) See, first, I had five projects due, then my English teacher got us all in trouble because of the Great Expectations report (six people in our whole GRADE read the book entirely), so now I have to read the whole thing or I've got a zero, then I lost my notebook (sniffle) that had all my writing in it, so I found it a little while ago, and this is the first free moment I've had since then besides finally putting up the one-shot I found lying around on my computer. Okay, my rant is over now. Here's the chappy!

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Chapter 5: June 4, 2014

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Sam sighed. He had been on tour for one year and two months. Why did he have to have a show on his birthday? It made no sense to him. The only thing that kept him going (and sane) was his art. And a band he had put together.

Two months into his tour, on his birthday, Sam had gotten an electric guitar. It was blue with silver flames on it. Marissa had taught him how to play several months before, and he had learned quickly. He had also been taught how to sing. He and four new friends had made a sort of "tour-bus-band". On nights that there was no show, Sam, Nick, Jon, Leo, and Kay would find a local coffee shop/any place that asked for groups to come on to play a few songs. Some of the time, they were asked for an encore. Some of the time, they were booed out for being too "depressing". In times like that, Sam, Nick, Jon, and Leo would have to keep Kay from running back in and beating up or killing all those who were booing. Even then, she normally was dragged away from the door, kicking, punching, and screaming, just slightly weaker than the three boys put together. Of course, she always listened to Sam, especially after the first, and only, time they had fought.

Sam laughed, remembering that day a year ago.

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Flashback

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It was July, and Sam and his three friends had just pulled into a new town. Nick, the group's jokester, immediately said, "Whoa, I think we may want to keep moving! Looks like the only art here is in spray paint, on the street walls!" That got a chuckle from Jon and Leo, but Sam merely grunted, knowing that there were people here who would appreciate real art.

Then, the van broke down. All four groaned in sync, getting out to check out their "home sweet van". A girl around their age was staring at them from the street. Compared to them, well, her clothes were rather ratty. She was wearing black jeans that were about five sizes too big and already baggy, with silver chains hanging everywhere, holes in the knees, torn bottoms, and several huge pockets, a black T-shirt that said, "The following is not a compliment: y'all suck" in red, and a black baseball cap turned backwards. She looked Hispanic, with slightly tanned skin, black hair with three or four inches of red tips, and, oddly, brown eyes with a hint of red in them. She also had red, fingerless gloves. The four boys looked at her, then each other, then back at her. All of them knew that she'd probably be able to help, but none were very willing to ask.

So she said it for them.

"Ya need tha car fixed, doncha?" she asked.

"…Uh… yeah, we do," Nick replied, looking at the others again. Jon and Leo shrugged. Sam leaned against the van, staring her down and sizing her up.

She closed her eyes, chuckling, then stood up from her Indian-style sitting position. She looked right at Sam, saying, "'Less ya want a bullet through ya, I'd suggest not starin'."

Sam surprised them all by speaking up. "So, why haven't you shot me yet?"

"'Cause I don' do things like that, 'cha know?" She stepped up next to him, nearly hissing the rest, "I prefer ta make it bloody."

"So why don't you?" Sam asked, daring her. She looked angry already.

"Fine, but it'll be on yo head, ya know!" She reached into a pocket, pulling out a knife, flipping it, and plucking it out of the air by the handle. She slashed at Sam, who side-stepped and twisted her arm, loosing her grip on the weapon. So, she punched him in the nose, but he grabbed her other wrist before she got there. Nick, Jon, and Leo, who had stepped up to help Sam, backed away when they saw he was more than capable of handling it himself.

The girl spun around then kicked out, throwing Sam into a wall. Sam jumped up quickly, just in time to block a series of punches and kicks. Everyone, excluding Sam (mostly), was surprised by this, all these moves coming seemingly second-nature to him. Of course, attacking came first-nature to the girl. After a few minutes, she began to tire. Sam, thinking it was over, turned and started walking to the van, deciding to fix it himself. Unfortunately, he ended up with a face full of dirt after the girl spun-kicked his legs out from under him. She ran over and began kicking him painfully back down every time he tried to get up. Sam rolled over so he was facing her and deflected her next blow by grabbing her spike-soled combat boot and twisting her foot around. He let her walk away, and it was then that Nick, Leo, Jon, and the girl realized he wasn't going to actually attack. The girl smirked as Sam finally stood up.

"What's so funny?" he asked, surprisingly breathing normally.

"The fact that cha won' fight back, even when I do this," she replied, lifting a hand into the air. Nick, Leo, and Jon all thought it was some kind of weapon, but Sam realized what she was about to do, having done something like it many times before. He was actually surprised that Nick, Leo, and Jon didn't recognize it; their transformations were much closer to hers than his was.

She snapped her fingers and a black and red light sparked at her fingertips, quickly spreading across her whole body. When she was completely engulfed in black and red, the light started to fade out. Before disappearing entirely, it flashed brightly for a split second. Standing in her place was a very different looking girl.

She had black hair with green streaks and silver tips instead of red. Her outfit was a black shirt with six red streaks crossing each other diagonally in a triple X, as if torn by claws, and a black skirt that flowed, but stopped at her knees, torn off. The shirt had a long, flowing sleeve that came to a point wrapped around her middle finger on her left hand and remained flowing behind her hand and a sleeve that was torn off at her shoulder on her right. Her spiked combat boots became high-heeled leather boots that reached up to her knee on the right but gathered at her ankle on her left. There was an X-shaped scar on her right cheek and a crescent-shaped one reaching from the left side of her forehead to her cheek, directly across her left eye. Her eyes were now completely red, and she glared right at Sam. Nick, Leo, and Jon finally noticed what had happened. All three were thinking the same thing, It's over, and he's not going to go easy on her!

"Ya still wanna fight me?" she asked.

Sam laughed, ticking the girl off.

"Ya wanna fight or not?" she yelled.

"I'm going to fight, but first, I have something to show you, too." Sam stood still as a flash of white light engulfed him. Standing there was the surprise his other friends knew, and what Nick, Leo, and Jon had been waiting for, Spectral Anomaly.

Sam stared at the girl's shocked face. She shook it off and stretched her hands out towards him, waving them in a complicated way. Vines suddenly shot from her hands, wrapping Spectral up and throwing him into a wall. He flew back at her, shooting with his yellow ectoplasmic blasts. Each one hit its mark, pushing her into a corner. He dove at her, but hit a wall of dark energy. He turned intangible, flying through it, and kicked at her. As if knowing this attack was coming, the girl blocked by somehow making a bolt of lightning strike down in front of her. Spectral dodged it, then kicked out again, hitting her with such force that she flew into a wall, slid down, faded back to normal, and sat there. After a moment, she chuckled.

Spectral didn't seem fazed. He simply asked, "What?"

"I should've listened to Fate! She told me that cha would come! I should've listened! I knew that the fight would end badly because She told me!"

Nick, Leo, and Jon exchanged a look and shrugged. Spectral understood, somewhat…

"You're psychic, aren't you?" he asked.

"No. I'm a psychic, nature, dark-energy witch. Born with my powers, unlike you, Sam."

"How did--?" Nick began to ask.

"Uh, psychic, duh."

"…Right…."

"You're a pyrokinetic, right, Nick?"

"Yeah."

"And Leo's a hydrokinetic."

"As surely as the world is round," Leo replied.

"…Uh-huh. And Jon's a geokinetic."

"Yep."

"Thought so." She turned to Sam, who had changed back. "Fate told me I should join you. Should I listen to Her?"

Sam thought for a moment. "Depends…."

"On what?"

"Two things. One, you have to have a name, and two, … can ya play guitar? We're missing a beat guitarist."

"Then, I'm the perfect girl for this guy group. Y'all need a bit of a feminine touch, anyway," she said, resting her elbows on Sam's and Nick's shoulders.

"So, what's your name?" Nick asked, smiling up back at her.

"It's Back Off, a.k.a. Kaylen. But call me Kay."

"And if we don't?" Nick questioned.

"It'll be the last thing you do."

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End Flashback

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The five had been inseparable ever since, but not as inseparable as Nick and Kay. The two started dating hust a month after they met.

All five had at least two major nicknames, one about their powers, and the other about their attitudes. Sam, Kay, and Nick had a third major nickname, though.

Leo's nicknames were Water and Philosopher. Jon's were Earth and Optimiser. Nick's were Fire, Jester, and Nunca Serio. Kay had given him the last one. Kay's were Psyche, Temper, and Xexioxa (or Triple X). The history of the last one was… complicated. Sam's were Ecto, Peace-Keeper (because he made sure they stayed in line), and Super Amnesia. Together, their band was called PARAnormal. Jon was on drums, Leo on keyboard, Nick on bass guitar, Kay on beat guitar, and Sam on lead guitar. Sam, Nick, and Kay took turns singing. But every so often, there were songs they sang that made Sam walk off stage, crying silently. Of course, he'd always get back for the finale, but sometimes he left in quiet tears more than once during a performance. This led Nick and Kay to their concerned conversation on his twenty-third birthday.

"What's… he… hiding?" Kay asked as she punched the hand pads Nick was wearing. It was practically a daily ritual for the two to train together.

"Dunno," Nick replied, wincing and shaking his sore hands. Nick had hair dyed orange, black baggy jeans with silver chains, and a black T-shirt with a saying in orange. Today it read, "If the light at the end of the tunnel is red, turn back!" Kay's had three pictures and the saying, "How to dump a boyfriend: pick up, find trash can, dump in". Nick said it was a cute shirt, but she'd better not actually do that. She'd reply with "Who'd stop me?"

Leo had platinum blond-blue hair. He wore pretty much the same outfit as Nick, only with blue instead of orange. His shirt said, "You want philosophy? Drop the fortune cookie and talk to me!" and his pants didn't have the silver chains.

Jon was the… different one. He had brown hair and wore black jeans with a brightly-colored shirt with a saying in black. Today's was, "My mind works like lightning, one flash and it's gone!"

Sam was more extreme. He wore all black including sunglasses, black fingerless gloves, and a backwards black cap, but his whole outfit, including his hair, was always speckled with paint. His shirts had a saying written in green, but no one could really understand them. Today, it said, "Here for the present, loved by everyone nearby, you left me too soon." All his shirts seemed to have been bought all black, then he painted a saying on them.

Kay, Nick, Leo, and Jon had started being worried for Sam after he had been locked in his room for three days straight. Kay and Nick thought they should try to find out what was wrong, but Jon and Leo decided it would be better to let him work things out. Of course, Nick and Kay were determined, which brings us back to their conversation.

"I mean, he's always so quiet, and never lets anyone in his room! He doesn't have a girlfriend, so what's he up to?" Kay asked angrily.

"Dunno," Nick replied again. "Maybe you should try to talk to him, get him to invite you inside his room. Just talk with him!"

"Wow, Nunca Serio is actually being serious!"

Nick chuckled. "Just go…."

Kay nodded and walked back to Sam's door. She knocked and waited for him to answer.

"Who's there?" Sam asked harshly.

"Kay. I… just wanted to talk some."

Sam sighed, and the door opened on its own. Kay gaped when she saw his room. There were papers, pencils and art supplies strewn all over the place. Taped, pinned, and tacked to the walls were nearly hundreds of pictures. Sam was sitting on his bed, a charcoal in hand, shading in a picture he had just drawn. Kay walked over with a stack of papers and sat down next to him, sifting through them.

There were landscapes, pictures of ghosts, characatures of the band's members, and several pictures of two girls. One had brown hair and brown eyes, the other had black hair and--Kay did a double-take to make sure--violet eyes. The brown-eyed girl was either smiling, laughing, or deep in thought in all the pictures of her, but the violet-eyed girl, well, there were pictures of her in every pose imaginable. There also seemed to be several pages of lyrics, some with pictures in the background. One that caught Kay's eye was one that had splotches on it, like he was crying when he wrote it. The picture in the background was a girl with one brown eye and one violet eye, with hair that was brown on one side and black on the other. She glanced at the title and saw that it was called "Loves Long Lost". Kay looked at Sam, but he was still working on his drawing. After a few silent minutes, Sam smiled and set aside the paper and charcoal.

"May I see?" Kay asked, quiet and cautious for once.

"Sure," Sam said, handing the page to her. It was another picture of the violet-eyed girl. She was drawn in a pose that looked slightly shy, looking upwards with her head down and her hair mostly covering her face. She was biting her lower lip and folding her hands, with the toe of one shoe scratching her other ankle. There was a dark halo over her head along with shaded black wings. Kay thought is was amazing.

"Wow," she sighed. She turned to Sam and opened her mouth to ask a question, but closed it when Sam answered it.

"I'm not sure who she is," he said. Kay looked at him in confusion, causing him to shrug. "Fate talks to me some, too."

"Oh. …This picture's awesome."

"Thanks. I don't know why, but I think I know her." Sam took the picture back and stared at it. After a moment, he shook his head and turned back to Kay. "So, you didn't come in here just to admire my pictures, right?"

Kay smiled slightly. "Nah. I wanted to say, you're show today was really cool. Why don't you show these pictures along with your other ones?"

"Dunno. I guess I'm just… waiting for the right time."

"Which reminds me, I gotta schedule for the next few months." Kay handed him a piece of paper. He took it and glanced at it. His eyes suddenly widened.

"What?" Kay asked.

"I just," he shook his head. "The… That name looks familiar…."

"Which one?"

Sam closed his eyes, hoping to remember--

"Amity Park."

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LYRICS

In the middle of the night That's when you caught my eye

I chased you round in memories Through the breeze and trees and you tease me But hey

The clock's turning around And you're still playing these games

It's such a waste to bring me down, down, down Don't bring me down cause

Hey girl, I wanna catch your wave Hey girl, I wanna drift away with you

Hey girl, you've got an undertow Hey girl, hey girl, don't wanna let you go

When I turned sixteen That's when I started to dream I chased you round in memories

Through the breeze and the trees and you tease me But hey

Well every princess has her knight And I'm still in it for the fight

Not givin' in, I'm gonna win, win, win I'm gonna win cause

Hey girl, I wanna catch your wave Hey girl, I wanna drift away with you

Hey girl, you've got an undertow Hey girl, hey girl don't wanna let you go

I'm never gonna let you go Hey girl, I wanna catch your wave

Hey girl, I wanna drift away with you Hey girl, you've got an undertow

Hey girl, hey girl, don't wanna let you Hey girl, I wanna catch your wave

Hey girl, I wanna drift away with you Hey girl, you've got an undertow

Hey girl, hey girl, don't wanna let you Hey girl, hey girl don't wanna let you go I'll never let you go Alright

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A/N: See? Much better! (And longer!) The next one goes forward two months. You guys know what that means? We got an awesome meeting! That's all I'll say… besides the sneak peek! BYES, y'all!

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Sneak Peek!

Sam sighed after Jazz hung up. No matter how excited she was, she really didn't want to go alone. But, that's the price of being a reporter. It would be… odd to have a friend come along for an interview.

She put her cell away and began to walk towards the hotel while looking at her shoes, deep in thought. She was trying to figure out exactly what to say to S.A. when she met him. She was still on the first word when… she ran into someone, causing both to fall backwards onto their butts.

"Oh my gosh!" she said, standing up to help the man up. He appeared to be her age. "I'm so sorry; I wasn't looking where I was going. I was--I was--"

"Too deep in thought," the man finished, grabbing her hand to pull himself up. He was half-smiling, as if afraid to. "We all get lost in thought sometimes."

"Yeah... I'm just... really sorry."

"It's fine, don't worry."