Chapter 15

{{ Rayne's POV 😋 }}
All she could do was stare at the screens in front of her. Rayne sat paralyzed by the chaos that covered the screens. A girl covered in flames, a tornado circling another girl, a boy rolling around on the ground screaming, his hands clamped over his ears. It was incredible and horrible and she didn't know how to react to it all.
"Rayne, are you alright?" Thomas' voice broke through her stupor, gentle but laced with worry.
"Oh, um, yes," she stammered, still trying to rip her eyes from the screens.
"What's happening to them?" she asked, some confidence returning to her voice.
"It has to do with the dome and with the chips they were all implanted with before being entered into the arena. I don't want to get into the specifics, because it gets pretty complicated, but basically, their entire body is reacting to the mist that was ejected into the arena, through the dome. Their chips help alert their body's to the slight difference in the air, triggering a chemical injection from the chip. Like I said it's complicated," he stopped short like he wanted to say more. "Sorry, I know I'm rambling," he stopped again, his face beginning to flush.
"No, I enjoy listening to you talk about something you like. But could you maybe dumb it down a little, so I can understand?" She could feel her face getting hot as well, but kept her smile unwavering.
Thomas grinned before answering, "Basically they are getting inhuman abilities, or powers as some would call them."
"But wouldn't that make them more powerful than us? Some of these powers could possibly even help them escape!" Rayne had traded her pleasant smile, for a look of worry.
"Trust me, I took all that into consideration before releasing the mist. And after all, there's only one entrance into the arena, and it only goes one way. The tubes that deliver them only open if a pod is delivering a contestant. We have applied all the safety measures possible to the arena."
She did trust him, but it was still hard to dismiss all of her worries.
Her attention was drawn back to the screen by the silence that suddenly tore through the room. All the chaos had disappeared just as fast as it had come. The wind had ceased, the lightning and screaming had stopped. All of the unnatural happenings had finally ended.
Thomas moved a few more things around on his table, before announcing, "Let's give them a few minutes to calm down before starting phase two."

{{ Coryn's POV ☀️ }}
Coryn felt like she had just been punched in the stomach, knocking all the air out of her lungs. She was totally surrounded by sky blue flames, the same color as the center of a flame. She didn't want to move for fear of being burnt, but she couldn't just stand there doing nothing. Xander was calling her name, keeping a safe distance from the inferno. She couldn't hear his voice over the roar of the fire, but the worry was evident on his face.
But just as quick as the fire had come, so did the lightning. It was pouring down on Xander, long white bolts tinted blue by the fire distorting her vision.
It took all of Coryn's strength to tear her eyes away from the impossible image in front of her. I have to get us out of here, she thought, squeezing her eyes shut trying to block out some of the distractions. Breathe, Coryn, breathe. You can figure this out. For both your and Xander's sake.
She opened her eyes, taking in one more big breath. She reached out her hand and touched the fire, but her arm was completely...fine? How was that even possible?! She slowly stretched her arms out farther, her entire arm now covered in dancing blue flames. The flames began to crawl up her arm, slowly but steadily and Coryn quickly started patting the fire in a sad attempt to extinguish them. But how had it climbed up her arm? She was wearing a t-shirt, so there were no sleeves to catch fire and her jacket was now on the ground next to Xander.
Ever so slowly, she inched toward the edge of the fire. It didn't take her long, seeing as the vertical tunnel of flames was only a few feet in diameter. She stood face to face with a wall of fire, bracing herself for the excruciating pain of the burns, and stepped into the fire.
She was now completely on fire. She, Coryn Anderson, was on fire, and NOT burning to death. She took one more step and exited the inferno, the fire extinguishing everywhere except on the palms of her hands. Coryn looked down at her hands and balled them into fists, and the fire went out. "Cool," she breathed in response, her quiet exclamation practically inaudible over the monstrous cracks of lightning.
She shook herself out of her awe and turned to face Xander, who was still being showered with lightning bolts. How could she help him without getting hit with lightning? Maybe her immunity to fire applied to his lightning as well, but she didn’t want to test that theory just yet.
She was so deep in concentration that she almost didn't notice that the crackling of the fire had disappeared. She turned around and the monstrous column of fire was gone. Then there was complete silence. The abrupt lack of noise made her ears start to ring.
She spun and saw that the downpour of lighting bolts had also vanished. Xander was standing for only a few moments before he collapsed. With a gasp, Coryn darted over to where he lay on the ground, groaning. His encounter with the lightning had apparently been much more severe than her encounter with the oddly colored fire.
Coryn knelt down next to Xander, looking down at his flushed face. His eyes were squeezed shut as he continued to moan.
"Xander, can you hear me?," Coryn gently rolled him off his side, onto his back. She opened her mouth to ask again, but she stopped when he opened his eyes.
He groaned again, "Ow. Who knew being struck by lightning hurt so much." Coryn couldn't help laughing.
"You didn't have to go and find out, I could have told you." This time he laughed but was caught short by a coughing fit. When the spell had passed, he pushed himself up on one elbow and looked at her.
"Well you don't look fazed at all," he grimaced and pushed himself up into a sitting position.
"I don't feel as bad as you look if that's what you mean. But from what I could tell, you were busy getting hammered with huge bolts of lightning, while I was only surrounded by fire."
Xander leaned back on his hands, contemplating, "I guess that would make sense. I mean I thought you were completely engulfed, but I couldn't get a closer look before the lightning started. Maybe -," he stopped at Coryn's horrified expression. His own questioning expression asked the question for him.
"What do you think the fire and lightning really did to us?" she asked, the fear still evident on her face.
Xander moved his hand up in front of his face and wiggled his fingers. Small tendrils of electricity danced over and under his fingers, occasionally sending tiny sparks bouncing off his fingertips. His eyes met Coryn's, expecting her to do something similar. She bawled her hand into a fist, unfurling her fingers to reveal a bright blue ball of flame flowing from the center of her palm.
Xander had expected Coryn's face to transform into an awe-filled smile, but when he glanced up from the small ball of fire, he was met with the same worried expression.
"Xander, if we both have these... abilities, or whatever we want to call them, does that mean everyone else did too?"
His face fell into an expression that mirrored hers, but it quickly transformed into a look of fear.
"Coryn, behind you," Xander's voice was monotone, but it was clearly a charade to mask his fear.
They faced a tall, athletic girl, with pale skin and long, wavy, jet black hair. The black was pierced with a streak of blue, but her most prominent feature was a long, jagged scar that ran from her upper forehead down to her sharp jawline. Her expression was observant, which made Coryn think that she had been standing there for a while.
Observation slowly turned to a smug eagerness as she removed a long knife from her thigh.
"Don't mind me, I was just enjoying the show," her voice was calm and empty of fear. "Mind if I join?”

{{ Kelsey's POV 🎀 }}
Kelsey Rosales lay in a crumpled heap on the forest floor. Her long, wavy, red hair lay in a tangled mess over her pale face. Her freckles were barely noticeable through the curtain of hair and her usually soft brown eyes were squeezed tightly shut.
She lay there for at least a minute before opening her eyes. She pushed herself into a sitting position, her small frame feeling even more fragile after its last escapade. She brushed the hair out of her face and pulled it around so it would rest over one shoulder, the blonde tips reaching down to the middle of her stomach.
Her head was spinning, running at a million miles an hour trying to comprehend what had just happened. She had experienced something that should have been impossible. She had been lifted into the air by some invisible force and four purple-blue, iridescent crystals had appeared, one in front of her, one behind, one to her left, and one on her right. They had begun to spin, simultaneously growing faster with the wind that swept around her. Then the crystals had begun to glow, an odd, pale greenish-blue, and then exploded with a burst of light.
Then she had woken up on the ground, in a small crumpled heap. Her head was still spinning but not to the point where it was unbearable. She stood up completely and started toward the small shelter she had crafted for herself, but the glint of glass caught her eye.
She strode over to where the piece of glass lay, but it wasn't glass at all. It was one of the mysterious crystals.