One

Alex moans in frustration, kicking the wheels of her parents' rusty, baby blue minivan. It's a miracle she's been able to get through senior year without it breaking down for good. Now, though, in the middle of downtown Chicago on a dark and rainy night, it's finally decided to give up on her.

She holds a hand above her head, trying to shield the raindrops from her eyes. It's no use for her short, black hair, which is dripping wet. There's not a soul in sight, and she's been stuck here for a long time now. She came downtown to look for any job openings around the college she's going to be attending fairly soon. So far, she's found no luck.

"This is ridiculous," she mutters to herself, taking the keys out of the ignition and shoving them into her back pocket. She stalks off towards one of the alleys, in search of any stores that are still open.

She rubs her bare arms up and down, trying to drive the goose bumps away. Her flip-flops splash in puddles, water soaking up the edges of her jeans. She has no idea why she decided to stay out this late. She should've been home hours ago.

Without looking where she's going, she stumbles over a pair of extended legs and almost falls. Alex steadies herself, glancing up to catch the culprit who tried to trip her. An older looking man in tight leather pants and an overly large leather jacket snickers at her, a toothpick poking out of the corner of his mouth. "What're you doin' out so late, princess?" he sneers, standing up and peering down at her.

Alex backs up a couple of steps. "Umm…I, uh—my car won't start." Her teeth are chattering so the sentence comes out chopped.

He nods. "You know what happens to princesses that stay out past their bedtime?" He cracks his knuckles, making Alex wince with every noise.

She gulps. "Listen, I-I'm not alone."

He steals a glance in both directions. "I don't see anyone." As a devilish smile paints itself across his twisted face, he starts stepping closer to her. She backs up against the brick wall of the alley, her heart beating so fast that it feels like it's about to leap out of her chest. She throws both arms in front of her, trying to shield her terrified face as a terrified scream builds up in her throat.

"Hey! Picking on someone three times smaller than you? Isn't that a bit cowardly?" a voice with a very distinct English accent comes booming across the alley, making them both jump.

Alex peeks out of her arms as a teenager looking no older than herself comes strolling up to them, completely at ease. The man in the leather jacket snarls, turning towards him. "What are you?"

The teen smiles mischievously up at him, and Alex is watching in awe. Why isn't he afraid? "Well, I get called a lot of things, really. Nicholas, Nick, freak, abomination, but I like Bounder the best."

The man stares at him, obviously not understanding a word coming out of Nick's mouth. "Well, freak, you better get lost before I gut you with this." He whips out a knife from inside of his jacket, and Alex gasps. Nick, however, doesn't react one bit. The man shrugs, turning back to Alex and ignoring Nick.

Alex whimpers, hiding behind her arms once more. There is a swishing noise, and she looks up to see Nick right beside them now. She watches as the man swings his arm to punch him, but Nick suddenly disappears into thin air with another swish. In a flash, he's standing ten feet away from them once more. Alex rubs her eyes. She must be dreaming.

The man runs at Nick, completely enraged. He takes another swing at him, but Nick disappears and is now on the opposite side of the man. Before he can react, though, the man kicks backwards, sending Nick flying into the wall behind him. Nick grunts in pain, obviously caught off-guard.

The man heads straight towards Alex now, knife in hand. Alex is frozen in place, her round eyes fixed on Nick, who is just starting to get up. As the knife is seconds from coming in contact with her gut, she squeezes her eyes shut and wishes she were on the other side of the alley.

With a swish, her brown eyes find themselves opening up to see Nick and the man many feet from her. She's breathing hard, and she has to bend over her knees to catch her breath. Did she just…teleport?

"Why didn't you just do that ten minutes ago?" Nick asks, suddenly two feet from her.

She stumbles back, grabbing onto the wall behind her. "I…I didn't know I could."

"Oh." He grins at her unexpectedly. "You're a dormant. Well, you were." He snaps his head back as the sound of the man's shouts suddenly appears, becoming gradually louder by the second. Alex watches as the man starts charging towards them at full speed, his knife in front of him. Nick turns back to Alex and holds out a finger. "One moment." In less than a second he is right behind the man, both hands on his shoulder. "You're coming with me, big fellow." With another swish, they both vanish, leaving Alex alone in the pattering rain.

She looks around, wondering whether the entire scene has just played out in her head. A minute later, however, there's that familiar swishing sound, and she turns to see Nick standing behind her. "Where'd he go?" she wonders.

"I thought he would enjoy Mount Fuji." He grins wickedly, and Alex gasps.

"You really just went to the top of Mount Fuji and back in under a minute?"

"Yeah, like I said...bounder. Now, I'm sure I have a lot of explaining to do, especially because I'm going to be seeing a lot of you pretty soon."

Alex raises an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Well, you do want to learn how to bound well, don't you? I mean, that escape was pretty good, but it wasn't that far. You're going to need a lot of help," he smirks.

She frowns. "Wait…so I'm a bounder too? I thought you said I was a dormant. And what the heck is a bounder? And what's a dormant? And why can you teleport places? And why did I? And—"

His hand is suddenly clamped around her mouth. "Stop talking, will you? God, you Americans are so chatty. Listen, you can have all your questions answered if you come with me for a moment." And before Alex can object, his arm is on her shoulder and they're hurtling through the air.

A second later, Alex finds herself in a strange room, her soppy clothes forming a puddle on the floor. The walls are comprised of a rusty metal, and there are no sounds around them, almost as if they are underground. "Nicholas, who is this?" a man with a thick German accent asks.

"Everyone, I think I just made a bounder," Nick announces, pushing Alex towards them. "This is…er—sorry, what's your name again?"

Alex glances around at everyone nervously before answering, "A-Alex."

"Wahoo! Finally, we got another girl!" a kid, looking hardly older than thirteen, hollers in a Scottish accent.

"Hey, I'm not good enough?" a tall woman, appearing to be the oldest in the bunch, says in a similar accent, her long, blonde hair and gray eyes matching the younger one's.

More men start pouring in (some suddenly appearing into the room), all different ages and ethnicities. It seems as if there's one from every country, and they all begin introducing themselves to a very wet and confused Alex.

There's Nick, of course, Riley, the thirteen-year old, Susan, his older sister, Leon, the German, Christof, his twin brother, Trevor, Irish, Antonio, Mexican, Caspar, Dutch, Amar, Indian, Tavin, French, Angelo, Italian, Jamal, African, Dong, Korean, Eduard, Dutch, Bao and Bo, Chinese brothers, and Julio, Mexican. They all greet her, some in broken English, but Alex can still decipher what they mean. While she is being introduced to everyone, Susan comes out with a towel and drapes it across her bare shoulders. Alex smiles gratefully at her, trying to stop from shivering.

"Of course, this isn't everyone," Susan explains once they're finished. "Bounders come and go as they please."

"So, can someone please explain what is going on here?" Alex asks, her teeth still chattering.

"I'll tell her!" Riley shouts excitedly.

Susan rolls her eyes. "He's been waiting a while to fill in a new member, since he just recently finished his own training."

"Hey, we were turned around the same time. It's not my fault you wouldn't let me start training for so long." He frowns at his sister. "And what I mean by turning is that some people have a bounder hidden inside of them, but they can't use the power until they have seen someone else bound."

"I've never…uh, bounded before I saw him do it." Alex points at Nick, still not comfortable enough to call him by his name. "He said I was a dormant. What's that?"

"Well, those are all the bounders that haven't seen someone bound before. Their power just sits inside of them, inactive, until they've witnessed a proper bound," Riley explains, looking pretty proud of himself. "Oh, and this is our little bounder hangout. We all bound in here from time to time to catch up and, em…" He glances back nervously at the other bounders, who all shake their heads. "Well, you'll figure it out soon enough."

"Listen, I think we should send this poor girl home soon. Her parents must be extremely worried and she looks like she needs to get into some warm clothes," Susan says, quickly changing the subject. She puts her hands on Alex's shoulders and removes the towel, the breeze from the movement sending fresh chills down her spine. "Listen, sweetie, whenever you're ready to learn more about your power, feel free to join us here. Just picture this room very clearly in your mind, and once you're able to get yourself back here, you'll be ready for training." She smiles gingerly at Alex, her icy gray eyes twinkling.

"How…how exactly am I supposed to get home from here?" Alex wonders, and they all start laughing.

"Well, you bound, of course," Trevor says, looking at her as if it was a silly question.

Alex blushes, still debating if this is a dream or not. "Okay…so do I just picture my house?"

Adonis nods. "Take a deep breath and shut your eyes. Try to picture the look, the smell, and even the feel of the atmosphere."

Alex does as he says, gingerly closing her eyelids. She takes a couple of deep breaths, actually, trying to get herself warmed up. She thinks of her clean-cut little neighborhood, her suburban bubble. She pictures herself standing on her front lawn, the grass freshly cut, the flowers sagging under all the rain. She can practically feel the humidity in the air and the soft pounding of raindrops on her skin.

Another swish goes by and Alex opens her eyes, finding herself staring at her house. She's still sopping wet, but the rain is much lighter here. She's surprised at how out of breath she is; it's even worse than what it was downtown. She crumbles to the ground and sits there for a moment, trying to slow her heartbeat. After getting back up, she glances around, checking to see if any of the other bounders had followed her. Once she's positive she's the only one outside, she quickly slips into her house.

All the lights are off in her house, except for one kitchen light. She can hear her parents snoring upstairs, completely oblivious to their daughter's whereabouts. She tiptoes up to her room, being extra careful not to make too much noise as she walks past her parents' room. After throwing on warm clothes, fatigue overwhelms her as she collapses onto bed and into a dreamless sleep.