Chapter 22 [Ethan and Claire]

Ethan's voice cracked from all the shouting, he was fond of Crystal, thankful to her for giving in and helping.

The happiness and excitement quickly turned into a serious composition. it was Claire's turn.

Ritual began, candles almost extinguished, stones facing Claire's bare face. waiting to be crushed. she took her car keys are starting going through the elemental stones, one by one. it wasn't a soft crush, she was putting in work.

Claire's hands were still. she wasn't nervous, if Crystal could do it, she could too.

Air stone caused her middle finger to bleed, the blood wasn't red, it was dark purple, causing everyone to tense even more.

She didn't hesitate to move to another stone, it was the firestone, she didn't even care about blood anymore, she took her left hand and swept the pieces left and right as if she was sure it wouldn't cause her any harm.

The blood poured down from her hand, and the carpet made out of silk was bright dark-red, it felt like she was losing too much blood, but she didn't care.

Ice stone was causing dread in the room, this was her last shot, her last resort, as she took her bleeding left hand and slowly swept it, she didn't wanna bleed more, she didn't want to let the last chance go.

Her hand was in pain, the last stone damaged it, even more, and her eyes kept turning left and right, analyzing people's emotions around her.

The room was silent, a void, meaningless space. Ethan's eyes were focused on Claire's hands, it looked like a crime scene.

Claire's tears made the blood a little bit clearer, she wasn't sad, she was disappointed. mad. jealous.

"Claire, we have to get you bandages" Crystal spoke, panicked. as she started touching her hand.

"Don't touch me!" Claire yelled out. this wasn't Claire, it wasn't like her to scream.

Crystal pulled away swiftly, she was in disbelief, no one would convince her that it was actually Claire raising her voice at her, let alone screaming.

The ritual timing was coming to an end, it was Ethan's turn to test his channeling and end this vicious cycle once and for all.

Claire stepped out of the circle made of salt, as she set on her bed, staring at her bloody hand.

Ethan was speechless, no words, no emotions, right now he had to focus on one thing, his channeling, they could sort everything out once everything was finished.

He aligned the stones in front of him, and gently crushed them, but he didn't want to touch them at all. the thought of Claire's left hand being completely butchered didn't put him at ease either.

Was he not gonna do it at all? could he just not do it? it's not too late to walk away, but it also is. everyone signed the paper, you cannot break a rule after your first day. but what if he did? what if he just begged the head mister to let him go home with his loved ones?

Ethan and his friends would not hold grudges against each other, they would go home and forget about any of this ever happening, they didn't waste much time either, or did they?

What about Aiden? are you gonna forget about him as well? throw him under like you always did? Ethan kept hearing the voices.

Are you gonna just give up? not even looking at your potential? just because one of your friends didn't get the channeling? because they were weak?

Ethan's eyes widened, he knew this weren't his thoughts anymore, someone else was occupying his mind, filling it with lies and despair.

He quickly shook his head, cleared his eyes with his elbows, and took one last look at Claire and Crystal staring at him.

Ethan's hands took a gentle gesture towards the stones as he swiftly swept not one but three stones at the same time.

Not a single stone made him bleed, three elements obeying his hand and not harming him, causing his eyes to widen in confusion.

As he was about to look at Crystal just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating all three stones unleashed bright red, white, and blue silky strings charging towards his chest at the same time.

He couldn't help but scream in pain as every single drop of the stone power went into his veins, occupying his mind and body.

His pupils widened and changed colors three times, he had never felt this powerful before. his body was going up, he could feel his legs not touching the floor anymore.

As the channeling stopped all of the stones fell down and so did Ethan.

"What just happened?" Ethan mumbled, the tears still visible on his cheeks, leaving a mark.

"I think you absorbed all three elements at the same time" Crystal replied, astonished by his pressence.