36. Altar of Circle

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Edith did not believe what he saw and at this moment he was swept beneath his feet by surprise.

"What the hell happened?" he asked again though in a lower tone.

None of the Vam hunters with him answered him as they were also buried by surprise themselves and they wished at some point what they saw was not true.

Federick slowly headed to the altar of circle and paused for a little moment. This did not mean he knew what he was doing. It only meant he was being controlled by an undefined fraction.

Edith and the rest understood this and now, it became more clear why Adam was in that position that he was.

Edith also looked at Adam at this moment, his eyes were still shut and he was still rallying the circle as the witches were doing. Also, he continued to mumble strange words out of his mouth.

At the moment Federick held a pause, he turned to look at Edith. This was more a reason Edith was further defeated by fear. But to run towards the door and attempt to open it just like Federick had done would cause him to become like Federick.

Edith and the rest understood this. But it did not mean they did not stare at the door in their frightened position.

They looked first at Adam and upon Federick then at one another and waited for whom to be the first to run.

Only a smirk Federick gave back at them even when they did not notice it. And he continued to walk toward the witches and finally joined them at the altar of circle.

They kept on rallying the circle and chewing strange words on their lips. Also at the moment when their number increased by one, their energy increased and the wave of the wind also increased.

By this, the voice of Kitara became a little louder and the voice of the witches with her became a little louder as well.

This did not mean Adam's voice increased as well. He still was speaking in a whisper and also was Frederick speaking likely.

Another portion of the smoke travelled out of Kitara's thighs. Only at this time, it was not a black smoke but a white, thicker smoke.

When this happened, everyone halted. It did not mean they saw what came out of Kitara. It only meant they stopped according to the power of the magic.

Though they stopped to rally at the altar of circle, their mouths were still rumbling words. Also, their vanished blue iris returned. Still, it does not mean they could see their surroundings.

This smoke began to cloud each of the witch's heads and also Adam and Federick but it did not cloud Edith and the rest.

And by this, Edith, Barnabas and Otto and the rest were satisfied with this event and watched what was about to happen most especially to Adam and Federick.

But what they thought was all a lie. The candles were now quenched by the power of the conquering wind and at this moment, everything the Vam hunters saw and heard was darkness and rumbling voices.

This caused them to fear the most. But they did nothing. They held to one another and prayed that they would be saved and leave that place in one piece.

Suddenly, the prevailing noises and the wavering wind stopped and everything was calm. This gave them a satisfying thought that maybe the ritual was over and they would finally walk out of there and for good, leave the temple even if Adam would desire to stay.

But no one of them has taken the boldness to move. More of the fact that they could not see anything than darkness. They paid attention to their environment by listening to footsteps that may notify them of movement.

Still, there was no movement, there was no noise, not even their breath could be heard and at this moment, their thoughts began to change.

Suddenly, one of the candles became lit by itself and this provided a faint light in the whole chamber.

It did not mean the light lasted for a good while because it quenched again by itself almost immediately as it lit itself.

Simultaneously, when a candle lit itself and died, another would light itself and die and in that manner, all the candles kept lighting themselves and they would die almost immediately after one another.

And even by this, Edith and the rest were able to catch a glimpse of their environment but if this was a good thing it was a lie as at this moment, what they saw was another reason for a greater panic.

It was Otto who first screamed. The trait of a hunter wore off completely from him and he became a helpless child who only wanted to be able to live.

Hearing Otto's scream caused Edith and Barnabas and the rest to stare in the direction he faced and if they had not all screamed again and again it was a lie.

Kitara was already at their front and the rest of the witches behind her including Adam and Federick.

All of the witches including Adam and Federick crafted a crooked smile at them except Kitara who looked sober and stared at them yet from the smoke that clouded around her.

All of a sudden, all the candles became lit again and remained to brighten the chamber. They could now see all of the witches more clearly.

But this had not meant anything to them, what was happening within them was life-threatening. They could feel pain in their hearts and they began to endure this endless pain which made them crumble from their feet.

No matter how Edith tried to speak, even when he and the others fell to the ground, his words failed him just like they failed the rest of the Vam hunters and everything that came out of their mouths rather than words were blood.