Chapter 18 [Stranger Behind the Door]

"I'm with Crystal and Claire, we decided to take a trip outside the town to clear our minds, please do not be worried mother, we will be back shortly. I really needed to take my mind off from everything that has happened recently, with love - Ethan"

To - Qetsyah Du-Couteau

From - Ethan Winters

as Ethan's mom closed the envelope her thoughts blanked out, her worries went away as if someone swept them away with wildfire, her worried eyes sparkled with joy and relief addressed the room.

"I told you, Ethan is not some clumsy boy who gets lost, its a small town and you got a letter as well" said Ethan's dad while brushing off dust from his car.

"I suppose overreacting was a mistake, you are right Charles, you know how I am after the incident" replied Qetsyah, her dark brown eyes were glowing in the sunlight, dress she was wearing was full of sunflower prints, she was radiating beauty itself.

"He is our son, and you have every right to worry about him, don't ever apologize for being a good mother to my child" Charles reply brushed a smile in Qetsyah's glowing face, as he quickly got up, took off his working gloves, put them on top of a car's engine and hugged her tightly.

"You know I love you right?" Qetsyah's hands met Charles's hands, soft delicate touch from her husband was not a new thing. he did look like a tough firefighter but he was soft as a marshmallow from the inside.

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Ethan's mind was occupied with thoughts, his bright smile all faded away trying to find clues, understand the gems power. library was his best shot.

Book after book, paper after paper, he kept searching for answers for exactly three days, there was no sign of a book that talked about Gems and its powers. hopelessness was a horrible disease, it conjures itself in your mind, trying to crawl as deep as it possibly can, until you lose hope and give up your dreams.

Ethan was not that kind, he was thirsty for knowledge.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing about conjuring two souls together, using other person's gem as yours, I've looked everywhere" Crystal sighed as she finished speaking, her breathing was heavy as if she was running away from someone.

"I know, three whole days and not a sign of gem knowledge" replied Ethan.

As Ethan and Crystal shared their doings with each other Claire opened the door quietly, walking straight to her desk.

"So? anything from your side Claire?" said Crystal as she took time to sit down before she passed out from exhaustion.

"Nothing, I don't think that kind of knowledge would be displayed in a public library, have we ever thought of that?" Claire's reply wasn't as rude as it reads, she genuinely wanted to know.

"Not really, but it was worth a try" said Ethan as he threw away the last book of its kind that was titled " How to identify Necromancers" as if that was gonna help them.

"Ethan, remember when you stole a book from Head misters office?" Crystal got up confidently.

"Yes? and they knew somehow as well but to answer your question, yes I do remember that" Ethan replied.

"What if the book containing those answers is in the Head Mister's office?" Crystal's idea was brilliant, and might as well true.

"I never thought of that, but before we even think of trying we have to remember two things, one, they will know if we steal something from them and two, the book shelf has a lot of books and they change every day" Ethan's reply was planned and well executed, all they needed was a key which solved both of these problems.

"Fair enough, but I'm mostly sure that it's there" Crystal finished confidently.

"We should plan this ahead if we want to steal something from a person who has another person inside of him" Said Claire as she laughed loudly, the joke itself wasn't that funny to Ethan but the laugh somehow cracked him up.

As the group was coming up with a potential plan the door shook couple of times, someone was knocking.

Ethan was the first one to grab the knob, slightly rolling it not knowing if opening it was a good idea or not, as he opened the door his eyes went from worried to confused.

Behind the door there was a boy, his eyes were sharp blue, his shoulders being occupied by his lingering silver hair, lips carved out of stone but soft as cotton before the harvest, his skin pale as snow reflecting the sun itself.

"Oh, hi, can we help you with, um, anything?" Ethan was the first one to strike a conversation.

"Good afternoon, the Head Mister would like to have a word with you three" the boy replied, his eyes were only meeting Ethan's, he wasn't looking anywhere else as if he was confident enough to shatter a stone with his bare gaze.

"Thank you, we will be right there" Ethan replied with a delicate tone, but it was too late, the boy was already walking away, getting lost into hundreds of people, probably to never be seen again.

"Wait!" Ethan yelled out, but quickly got ashamed.

The boy turned, confused not knowing why the stranger was yelling for no reason at all.

"Yes?" was the reply Ethan got.

"Can I know your name?, just in case we meet again" Ethan mumbled, trying to hide his words behind his back like that would work in any universe.

"I'm assuming so?, Its Nico." he finished the sentence with no emotions and turned back.

"Oh, great, nice to meet you, Nico aaaaand he walked away" Ethan was confused but also amazed, what was this feeling again?

"Someone is in a flirty mood, huh?." Crystal laughed him off.

"Nico is a pretty name not gonna lie" Claire tried to mask her laugh with a book in front of her face.

"You guys are so rude!! I needed him for information, what if we need him?" Ethan's reply was satire and everyone knew it.

"Right, Nico is gonna be our Moses in the future" Crystal burst out of laughter as she hid in the blanket, followed by Ethan throwing crunchies at her.