The air exploded with light.A blinding fsh — silver, white, alive — fred from the neckce as soon as Alex slipped it around the girl’s neck.

  He barely had time to flinch before the light swallowed her whole.

  And when it cleared—

  She was gone.

  In her pce, standing in the same patch of glowing grass, was Ethan.

  Alex froze, mouth hanging open, the world suddenly silent except for his own heartbeat hammering in his ears. “...What,” he whispered, taking a shaky step forward. “What the hell—”

  Ethan staggered, gasping like the air had been knocked from his lungs. His hands clutched the neckce — now resting heavily against his colrbone — his eyes wide and unfocused.

  His brown hair stuck to his forehead with sweat. His body trembled. The transformation had left him dizzy, disoriented, and half-colpsing.

  Alex’s brain scrambled to make sense of what he just saw. Just seconds ago there had been a girl — long silver hair, fox ears, tails. Ten of them, fanned behind her like living ribbons of light.And now… Ethan.

  “Ethan—?” The name slipped out before he could stop it. “What—what just happened? Where’s that girl? What—what the fuck was that?”

  Ethan didn’t answer. He just shook his head, too quickly, his breathing shallow and uneven. “I—don’t—” He swallowed hard, avoiding Alex’s eyes. “I can’t—just—don’t.”

  “Don’t?!” Alex stepped closer, his confusion turning to frustration. “I just watched someone turn into you, man! What do you mean, don’t?! Who was she? What did I just see?”

  Ethan’s voice cracked when he finally spoke. “Please, Alex.” His grip on the neckce tightened until his knuckles went white. “Don’t ask. Please don’t.”

  That quiet plea stopped Alex cold. There was something raw in Ethan’s tone — fear, maybe grief — like the weight of everything was crushing him.

  For a long moment, neither said anything. The distant sounds of students and chaperones echoed faintly from the other side of the garden, muffled by the thick pnts.

  Alex exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair. “You look like hell, man,” he muttered, softer now. “We should get out of here.”

  Ethan nodded weakly, still trembling, still gripping that cursed neckce as if it were the only thing holding him together.

  They started walking through the glowing paths, Alex gncing at Ethan every few seconds. He couldn’t stop repying what he saw — the light, the ears, the tails — trying to convince himself it hadn’t been real.

  But the ground still shimmered faintly where the girl had stood.And Alex was starting to realize this wasn’t something he could just forget.

  Beside him, Ethan kept his eyes on the ground, silent and hollow. Each step felt heavier than the st.He could still feel her — Eri — fading inside him.

  The echo of her tails brushing against the air. The calm, the warmth, the freedom.

  All gone.

  Alex gnced at him again. “That girl... who was she?”

  Ethan hesitated, voice barely audible. “Someone I shouldn’t be.”

  The garden was quiet now.Too quiet.

  Most of the other students had already made their way back toward the buses, their ughter and chatter fading into the distance. Only the soft buzz of insects and the hum of the garden lights remained — a strange, glowing stillness that pressed around them.

  Ethan stood near the fountain, staring down at his reflection rippling in the water. His own face looked wrong — pale, eyes hollow, the neckce gleaming faintly under the artificial moonlight.

  Alex lingered a few feet away, arms crossed, trying to wrap his head around everything he’d just seen. He kept gncing at Ethan, then back to the path where she — that silver-haired girl — had stood.

  He didn’t have words for it. None that made sense.

  Finally, he said quietly, “You gonna tell me what that was?”

  Ethan didn’t move. Didn’t even blink. “No,” he whispered.

  Alex frowned, frustration simmering under his confusion. “You just changed. Right in front of me. You can’t just expect me to pretend that didn’t happen.”

  Ethan’s ugh was soft, shaky — the sound of someone standing right at the edge. “Pretend,” he said under his breath. “That’s all I ever do.”

  That threw Alex off. The words sounded too heavy, too practiced. He took a step closer. “Ethan, what’s that supposed to mean?”

  But Ethan just shook his head, gripping the edge of the fountain until his fingers trembled. “I can’t talk about it, Alex. I can’t. You wouldn’t understand.”

  “Try me.”

  Ethan looked up then, and for the first time, Alex saw something raw and broken behind his eyes — not fear, not anger, but grief. Deep, bone-deep grief.

  “She’s gone again,” Ethan murmured, voice cracking. “And I didn’t even get to say goodbye.”

  Alex blinked, confusion cutting through him again. “She? You mean that other you?”

  Ethan pressed his lips together, turning away. “Forget it.”

  “No, don’t—” Alex moved closer, reaching out before stopping himself. “You keep saying things like that, and you’re shaking like you’re about to colpse. What’s going on with you?”

  The question hit something inside Ethan. The dam cracked.

  He sank down onto the stone edge of the fountain, burying his face in his hands. His shoulders shook once, twice — silent, contained, but real.

  “I just want to be her again,” he whispered into his palms. “I just want to feel okay.”

  Alex froze, heart twisting. He didn’t know what to say to that. He didn’t even know how to process it.

  The two of them sat there in the glowing garden — one lost in disbelief, the other unraveling quietly beside him.

  Finally, Alex crouched down beside him. His voice was hesitant but softer now. “Whoever she was… you miss her, don’t you?”

  Ethan’s breath hitched. “She was me,” he said, so quietly that Alex almost didn’t hear it.

  Before Alex could ask what he meant, Ethan stood up, wiping his face quickly. “We should go,” he said, his tone ft, distant. “They’ll notice we’re gone.”

  Alex opened his mouth to speak, but Ethan was already walking away — fast, unsteady, one hand clenched tightly around the neckce as if it were all that was holding him together.

  Alex watched him go, confusion and worry gnawing at him.He didn’t understand what just happened.But one thing was clear — Ethan wasn’t fine.Not even close.

  And that thought followed him as they left the glowing garden behind.

  I'm sorry there will be no chapter on Christmas day