“It has mirrors!” Elias explains, though it honestly explains nothing. Then, for some reason, he locks the door of the bathroom.
Not gonna lie, that is a little concerning.
But also, Elias is lanky and looks like a strong breeze could knock him over, while I’m taller than him and built like a refrigerator, so I’m not exactly worried.
Colten leans back against a sink with his arms crossed as Elias scrolls through his phone, looking for something.
“I should’ve just dragged you to the field,” Colten complains. “Your confidence in a stranger is deeply concerning.”
“Relax,” I tell him, resisting the urge to remind Colten healsowent into the locked bathroom with a stranger. “Worst-case scenario, we get murdered.”
Colten’s eyebrow twitches. “...That’s supposed to be reassuring?”
Elias is still looking through his phone as he mutters to himself, “Yeah, I think this is the right one.”
“Should I sign something beforehand?” I ask.
Elias thinks about it for a moment, but then shakes his head. “Nah, I’m sure it’ll work this time.”
“Good, I hate paperwork.”
“Patrick,” Colten says my name with a heavy sigh. “I want the record to show that I think this is beyond stupid.”
I laugh, and Elias ignores us as he steps up to one of the sink mirrors and starts chanting.
It’s not English or anything I recognize, but it does sound extremely cool.
Curious, I wander over and look into the mirror, too. Colten sighs again, but a second later, he comes to stand beside me anyway, arms crossed as he keeps an eye on Elias.
Our reflections stare back. Elias looks very serious.
I open my mouth to make a joke—
And then the lights flicker.
The air in the room shifts, like a pressure change before a storm. There’s this low humming sound building somewhere in the walls.
“Okay,” I whisper, impressed.
The lights flicker again, and the humming gets louder, Elias’ chanting echoing around us in a way not quite right for a bathroom’s typical echo.
Colten goes very still next to me. I glance over at him, eyebrows raised likedo you see this?
He looks more concerned than excited, which is frankly a bizarre response to the possibility that magic is real.
I shuffle a little closer anyway. If he's actually nervous, he can hide behind me. Not that he would. Scared or not, Colten would probably fistfight a ghost out of spite before hiding.
Elias’s voice rises as he chants faster and faster in that mysterious language.
Honestly? This is awesome!
And right as everything reaches a dramatic peak, with the pressure in the room building and Elias's reflection doing some deeply concerning things in the mirror—
The lights go out, leaving us in complete darkness.
Without thinking, I grab Colten and pull him close, looking around in the dark on high alert.
Then the lights snap back on.
