Chapter 24

{{ Renesmee's POV ❤}}
Renesmee had to endure an hour of watching kids screaming and pushing themselves to the breaking point. The monstrous banshee screams were ringing in her ears even after Thomas muted the screens.
"It seems none of the contestants made it to the valley, aside from the ones that are already there," Rayne stated, turning to face Thomas.
Thomas chuckled softly, a broad smile covering his face, "My plan was to bring the contestants to the valley using the help of the banshees, yes, but my plan hasn't failed at all. I only wanted everyone in the valley so that I could observe them use their newfound abilities on each other. I wanted to see how well the selective energy distribution worked and it seems it worked much better than I imagined it would.
“Of course, I expected some of the contestants to try and fight the banshees but I didn't think their abilities would be so effective," he paused to laugh again. "Almost all of the banshees are dead and it's only been an hour."
He was going to test out their abilities on each other? That would have been a total massacre and they were short on new contestants as it was.
"Well this whole ordeal will certainly be entertaining for our audience but try to refrain from killing any more contestants for a few days. We have enough new material to replace those that died but no more than that," Rayne spoke again, voicing Renesmee’s thoughts.
Renesmee's head was spinning. The infinity games were getting worse and worse by the day. Something had finally clicked in her head, which had finally opened her eyes to the horrors that were happening every day so close to the mansion. She had to do something. She couldn't sit by and watch child after child be slaughtered for sport.
Then she got an idea so brilliant, she wondered why no one else had tried it.
"Mr. Ralfen, I have a question."
"Oh, of course, Renesmee! What is it?" Thomas smiled, his whole persona emanating enthusiasm. Anyone who knew Thomas knew that he loved to share his ideas and explain anything involving his work. She almost felt bad extorting him.
"Is there any way to remotely shut off the arena's force field?"
For a moment Thomas looked taken aback by her question and Renesmee began to wonder if she had been too abrupt until his face broke into another wide grin.
"Yes, actually, there is! To avoid problems with the occasional power outages in the mansion, the kill switch to the dome is located near the arena and runs on its own power grid.
"The kill switch was only installed in case of a severe emergency here in Gravara such as a bombing or siege of the mansion. The amount of electricity that enforces the force field is enough power to level half the city if improperly used."
The wheels in Renesmee's head began turning as she was supplied with the idea of a kill switch. The power source for the arena wouldn't be hard to find, it was probably near the gate where the contestants were inserted into the dome. There would be guards of course but if she told them who she was...
"Renesmee? Renesmee are you alright?" Both Thomas and Rayne were looking at her with slightly worried expressions.
"Oh yes, I'm so sorry. I must have spaced out," Renesmee answered sheepishly. "What were you saying?"
"I was just wondering why you asked me about the kill switch?"
She stared at him for a few seconds trying to come up with a plausible answer to his question.
"Oh, um, I was just wondering if we had any such safety precautions in place in case of an emergency like you said and it appears that we are well prepared," she spewed, her explanation coming out in one breath.
After a slightly stunned silence, Rayne cleared her throat, "Well then, if that is the only question you have for Mr. Ralfen then I think it is high time we get out of his hair," she stood up, implying that Renesmee should do the same.
Renesmee and Thomas stood at the same time and he followed them to the door. "Thank you both for visiting, it can get quite monotonous in here by myself," Thomas smiled at Rayne and nodded at Renesmee.
"All the thanks is ours, I assure you. Thank you for letting us disrupt your day, it was quite enlightening," Rayne returned Thomas' smile and looked like she wanted to say something else but decided against it. She turned and began walking back up the long hallway.
Renesmee nodded curtly at Thomas and hurried after Rayne, the glowing white doors shutting behind her. As she walked down the carpeted hall to her office, thoughts of the kill switch swirled around her head. Would it be possible for her to shut off the dome? Would that end the infinity games forever or just temporarily? No, as long as it stopped part of the brutal violence it was worth whatever the consequences would be.
She was going to end the infinity games.

{{ Willow's POV 🌿}}
Willow's mind was frozen.
Sophie had dragged them away from the treeline and valley but now they were trapped against a huge hill. There was no time for them to attempt to scale it but the horrible creature was running at them head-on, demonic screams echoing through the trees.
Before taking the time to actually wonder if it would work, Willow thrust both hands in front of her, and two jets of wind shot straight into the monster's sickly ribcage. The trees around her were blowing so hard she thought they might break in half and the leaves from the forest floor now surrounded her. Through the hurricane of leaves, Willow managed to make out the small form of Sophie struggling against the wind.
She knew the only way out of their problem was to kill the sickly, screaming creature. She didn't know what either her or Sophie could do with their new powers but that was probably the best option. So far all they knew about Sophie's ability was that she could see some kind of aura. The best conclusion that Willow could come up with about her own ability was that it was related to nature. Maybe she could control it? If so then that opened lots of possibilities.
The monster had slowed its advance slightly, giving the girls a few extra seconds to formulate a plan. The leaves had stopped attacking her and she now had a clear few of the surrounding woods. A hundred feet behind the creature stood a large tree that had been split in two. Its upper half was nowhere to be seen but the jagged lower base was still firmly rooted to the ground.
Willow planted her feet and focused on channeling the feeling of the trees, wind, leaves, anything that was in her reach. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath in, and opened her eyes. The trees around her were waving wildly, the wind picking up the leaves off the ground again. Straining all her focus on a dozen thick tree branches that still clung to the trucks of the trees, she pictured the branches snapping off, the ends jagged and sharp. Using the wind to direct the falling branches, she shot the branches down into the creature like spears, each branch impaling a different part of its body. It screamed so loud that she heard Sophie cry out somewhere behind her. A thick, black liquid oozed out around the wounds and dripped down onto its sickly skin.
With the last bit of her strength, she blasted the monster backward until she heard the crack of its body and its final cry. It went limp but its body remained suspended by the razor points of the tree. The black liquid was starting to pool beneath the dead body and Willow unceremoniously plopped onto the ground, quickly followed by Sophie.
"I can't believe you killed it."
"Neither can I.".

{{ Kelsey's POV 🎀}}
Kelsey had been practicing with the crystals for hours and had finally figured out how to successfully control one of the four dazzling rocks. She had one of the long cylindrical crystals hovering a few inches above the palm of her upturned hand when the ground beneath her began to tremble. The crystal fell to the leaf-strewn ground as Kelsey turned her focus on the direction of the thudding. It almost sounded like… stomping? She was about to start toward a clump of thick bushes when a blood-curdling scream pierced her ears.
Kelsey immediately clamped her hands over her ears and stumbled back, away from the most terrible noise she had ever heard. When she saw the monstrosity that emerged out of the bushes she knew that the unearthly scream wasn't the only unearthly thing in the arena.
As she backed away, she tripped and landed on her back. All she could do was sit and stare at the creature and it released another painful scream before starting toward her. Kelsey was a small girl so the thing that was charging at her was at least triple her size with long bony legs and arms, its sickly skin stretched tightly over its spindly body.
Kelsey couldn't move. Couldn't think. She stood frozen in place staring in horror at her imminent death. She was finally able to crawl back until her hand landed on one of the crystals.
The creature was advancing toward her, slowly closing the distance between them with its long legs. Somehow she managed to get the crystal into her hand but now what? She didn't know how to fight, let alone how to use this new ability to kill the impossible thing that was making its way toward her.
She clenched the cool stone in her hand, willing her body to stop trembling. She had no idea what she was going to do with the crystal but at least it was something. She unfurled her fingers and focused on the crystal until it started to float. While maintaining her focus, she slowly rose to her feet and retreated a few more steps. With a little more concentration, the long stone began to rise higher until it was at the same level as the monster's chest.
The monster was a little more than its arm’s length away. With one long stride, it stretched its skeletal arm toward her and she thrust the crystal forward with a force she didn't know she had. The creature withdrew its hand and let loose a head-splitting screech. In one swift movement, it pulled the crystal out of its chest and threw it at Kelsey.
Kelsey couldn't even cry out. The long purple-blue stone protruded out of her torso, only the very end of the crystal visible at her stomach, the rest protruding out her back. The blackness encroaching on her vision moved quickly but Kelsey was still vaguely aware of the monster swaying slightly before the bloody hole in its chest disappeared. At least that's what it looked like, but she couldn't be sure.
Her legs gave out and she collapsed right before her eyes gave out too and the black swallowed her whole.