Call Spirits in Your Past **Book Two**

Chapter 10 (Friday)

Well. This wasn't good.

"You can say that again."

Wait, had someone heard him?

"Yeah. You're thinking pretty loudly. Have you had practice?"

Kwayo wasn't sure what to think about that.

A warm hand yanked the blindfold off, and Kwayo blinked in the bright sun.

"How'd you find us?" a second voice hissed. Kwayo couldn't see the speaker.

"I saw a big tunnel. From the air. I wasn't sure if it was safe or not--"

"Whoa, whoa, back up. Your thoughts just jumped," said the first voice.

"Um...I was an owl," he said, carefully. "Then I saw a tunnel in the side of a hill, so I changed to a vulture and started circling the area, because you know, vultures smell a whole lot better than owls do and I wasn't about to just, crawl into the massive hole in the ground."

"Whoa," voice number one said. "Your mind..."

Kwayo kept talking. "I guess Niko and..." he tried to remember who else had been with Niko.

"Metal girl and green shoes boy?" said voice number two. The one that had talked when the black bag came off.

"Yeah, them. They came after me," he paused. "Wait, did you give me truth serum or something?"

Silence.

"What happened after that?" the first voice asked.

"I'm not sure," Kwayo answered truthfully. " I...I think I tried to stop them from going inside, but then there was a dust storm..."

"Ah, okay. Asha got them," the first voice sounded smug.

"Who's Asha?" Kwayo asked.

"Never mind."

Rocks crashed behind them, and Kwayo turned to look. His wrists were tied to a post sticking out of the ground.

"Please don't shapeshift!" voice number two said.

"Okay!" Kwayo chirped.

"Kwayo!" ...Chamrik? Kwayo squinted in confusion. What was Chamrik doing here? "Do something! They've got Niko an--"

Unease crept in Kwayo's gut. "Do what?" he shouted back. No reply came.

"What's this one's power?" someone muttered. Kwayo tried twisting further, only catching sight of a dusty clearing. He gave up, since voice number two didn't want him to shapeshift.

"His power is he's lucky," Kwayo answered helpfully. "Well, sometimes. I think it's usually only when he's wearing those shoes," he giggled. "One time, in martial arts--so we had our shoes off--we were doing drills, and Mrs. Aterak told us to practice hammer fists, and Chamrik got a splinter!" he giggled some more, but the clearing fell quiet.

Wait, where was he? He twisted back around. It was sunny. And a rickety cottage stood before him, practically leaning over. And another one. A whole street of them, actually.

"Did you say Aterak?" voice number one came back. They gasped. "He did."

"Mrs. Aterak?" Kwayo asked. Oh no. What did they want with her? He struggled against his bonds. Something...he couldn't shapeshift, for some reason.

A person appeared out of nowhere in front of him, crouching down, and Kwayo startled. "I am so sorry," the tall guy said.

Kwayo squinted, finding it hard to focus on his frame, like it blurred at the edges. "Sorry for what?"

"Frazzle, you can stop that," the tall guy turned to his right and a twenty-something year old woman appeared out of nowhere. She smiled nervously at Kwayo, and a fuzzy warmth inside him drifted away.

He gasped, staring around the ghost town. "Where am I? Who are you people? And..." he struggled to remember, finally staring hard at the woman--Frazzle. "Do you make people tell the truth?" he accused.

She nervously plucked at her gray shirt. "Not exactly...I just encourage people to be more trusting," she hesitated. "Or less."

"I'm Pointe," the guy said. "Frazzle's my older sister."

Kwayo glanced between the two of them, the similarities in their cheeks and jaws growing more apparent. They both had dark eyes and the same nearly-black hair, but he stood at least a foot taller. "What's your power?" Kwayo asked.

He smiled. "Telepathy, of a sort. I need Frazzle's help."

Frazzle snorted, approaching him. Kwayo flinched away, but her hands merely went for the knots that bound his wrists to the post.

Pointe added, "I can read people's thoughts, but only if they're willing to give them."

The cords around Kwayo's wrists and elbows slackened, and he moved his arms gratefully. "Thanks," he paused. "Wait, why didn't I just..."

"Shapeshift?" Pointe asked.

Kwayo nodded.

Frazzle sighed. "My powers take time to wear off. Most of the effects are gone, but since I specifically asked you not to shapeshift, it might take a few hours."

"What about--"

"Mom's getting them."

Kwayo shut his mouth.

"I know, I should wait for you to finish," Pointe muttered. "It's just slower."

"I think you'd get along with Razón real well," Kwayo grumbled.

Pointe just smiled. He probably already knew who Razón was.

"Ximena!" someone shouted, and Frazzle jumped.

"Mom! We were going with code names!" she shouted back.

Someone that could've been Kwayo grandma trod into view, dragging three prone bodies behind her. "Ximena," she said, "we abducted four children, interrogated one out of fear we'd been discovered, and you still want to lie about your name?"

Ximena wilted. Their mother dropped Niko, Rielle and Chamrik on the dusty ground, eyeing Kwayo. He wanted to squirm away from those piercing brown eyes.

"What's this boy's name?" she asked. Pointe muttered something. "What?" she asked, louder.

"I'm Kwayo," he supplied. He didn't want Pointe or Frazzle--Ximena--getting in trouble. He frowned. Was that still Frazzle's power making him do that?

The mother swiveled towards him. He asked, "what's your name?"

She stared at him, then started laughing. Not even a "that was funny" laugh. More like a "belly deep that was utterly hilarious" laugh. Kwayo wished more people appreciated his humor like that. ...Except, he hadn't been trying to be funny just then.

"I like this one," she finally said, brushing her wrinkled cheeks. "My name is Alura."

Kwayo stood up, shaking her offered hand. A sharp jolt twitched his forearm and his eyebrows shot up. "I can send signals through others' nerves." Kwayo's face went pale, but she just smiled. "Don't worry. I require skin-to-skin contact to work it," she motioned towards his classmates on the ground. "Sorry about your friends, by the way."