“Are they saying anything?” Kallie pressed.
“No. I know they hear me. They’re ignoring me.” Marcus scowled. “Whatever these spirits are here for, they were sent on business.”
“Business?” I asked.
“Negative entities are always looking for someone to latch on to and feed off of,” Marcus said, waving the cedar around. “Though I’ve never seen so many in one place before. Usually, they’re all around us.”
“Is that common at the prison?” Kallie questioned.
“Oh, the Institute’s full of that kind of shit. We’ve got negative energy up the ass around here. Look what the bus brings in every week. You can bet there’s some evil spirits attached to some of these jerks walking around,” Marcus said.
He set the burning cedar down on the edge of my table, then turned to me. “You got something to make noise?”
I had a couple of alchemy pots from class lying around. I handed them to Marcus, and he started banging them together, screaming, “COME OUT, GHOSTS! TIME TO TALK!”
“Gods, Marcus, cut it out.” Kallie put her hands over her ears and winced.
“No good. They aren’t responding.” Marcus sighed, and let the pots clatter to the floor. It jarred my hearing.
“Thatwas the hard way?” Kallie scowled.
“Hey, I still don’t know what I’m doing,” Marcus said with a shrug. “That’s all I’ve got, and anyway, they’re gone now. You should notice a difference, Ava.”
I really did. Rishi lay on my bed and purred, like he was pleased the area had been cleared.
Charlie poked his head in my dorm. “Are you girls in here? I heard Marcus screaming from all the way down the hall and assumed it was a normal Tuesday.”
“Fuck off, Charlie,” Marcus snapped.
I giggled. “Kallie and I are here. How do you feel?”
“I’m fine. You sound a lot better, pidge.”
It didn’t hurt when he called me that, like it had before. We’d… ugh… had abondingmoment when we saved my brother, and now we were that much closer.
I didn’t know whether to feel happy or sad about that.
“I’m doing good. And Ez will be all right, though he’s taking his diagnosis really hard.”
“We’ll be here for him,” Kallie said. “He’ll be back to his happy, underwear model self in no time.”
Oberi nosed his way in as a husky. He panted heavily, drooling all over my floor.About time you woke up. You don’t need that much beauty sleep.
I patted his head. “You saved my brother’s life, Oberi. You knew exactly what to do.”
Well, I couldn’t very well let him lie there. He makes a crappy area rug.Oberi’s tongue lolled out.
“You should let me in your cell, Charlie. I found some negative entities in Ava’s room, and I’m betting there’s some in yours, too,” Marcus said.
“Entities?” Charlie asked.
Kallie and I explained what was going on as Marcus cleared Charlie’s room. He came out again a few minutes later, looking just as perturbed.
“Charlie’s got some bad shit in his cell, too, though not as bad as Ava’s,” Marcus said. “I just cleared both of them. You guys should start feeling a lot better, physically and emotionally. It’s no good when your energy’s cluttered.”
“This is definitely weird,” Charlie said, scratching the back of his head.
“We need to check Kallie’s room.” Marcus started forward before the rest of us could follow, walking with purpose.
