I remember him telling me this when I first came to Ghost Academy. There has to be a way to fix that, a way to better guard the bodies of the dead from the Xers. I’ll add it to the list of goals for Team Untwist the Mystery, along with researching a way to untwist the Twisted.
Pressing the bottom of my shoe into the bench Kaz is sitting on, I decide to push my luck. “Has anyone ever looked into curing the Twisted?”
Kaz sighs and shuts his eyes. “You can’t fix something if you don’t know what the root problem is. As Xers, we were told the spells we used sent ghosts to the other side. Clearly that’s not the case. And so far, my research into what they actually do hasn’t gotten me anywhere.” He rolls his staff between his palms. “And even though our shields allow us to get close to them, no one I know has ever been able to communicate with them. I’m not saying you didn’t hear what you thought you heard, I’m just saying that as far as I know, no one else ever has.”
Immediately, this phrase pokes the rebel I have living somewhere inside of me. It also stokes curiosity. Maybe my weird ability has something to do with whatever the Healers are concerned about. If I can figure it out before that solution is necessary, even better. Then no one will have to make a decision they don’t want to.
I grin and lift my chin. “Just because it hasn’t been done before doesn’t mean it’s impossible. I’m going to figure it out.”
“Mr. Qureshi won’t let you anywhere near those Twisted students.”
“So I’ll go find the one I keep running into.” I cross my arms. “Or just wait for him to come to me. Because that’s definitely a thing.”
Kaz leans forward to rest his elbows on his knees. Then he rubs his chin and drags a hand over his face. “I’ll help.”
I’m so shocked I lose my balance a little. “No way, seriously?”
With a nod, Kaz stands. “I know there’s no way I can talk you out of it, and this isn’t something you should do alone. And since I know you probably won’t ask anyone else because they can’t defend themselves, like Rafe,” he lifts a brow, “I’m your best option.”
I trace the scar on my upper lip and consider his offer. In spite of his honesty a few nights ago, and the fact that he saved my butt from getting sucked into the Twisted Ghost’s orbit, I still don’t know that I trust him. That’s not fair — as far as I know I could have a very similar past to his — but I’d be dumb not to keep my guard up.
Still, he is right, I do need help.
Extending a hand, I shake his. “Okay, you got yourself a deal. Let’s go find this ghost haunting ghost.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Inspired by the insane goal of attempting to track down an unruly and very dangerous polter-ghost, I train extra hard in combat class. After our make out session in the woods, physical contact with Rafe — or whatever we call it in ghost form — is much more intense. I’m relieved whenever Coach Richards has us practicing with pads today rather than chokeholds.
I level a punch at the black tomb-shaped pad. Rafe, who’s holding his arms out to the side, lets it swing backward and grunts. “All that training with Kaz is beefing you up.” He winks and I giggle.
Flexing a little, I pretend to brush off my shoulders. “Yeah, I am pretty tough.” I snort and throw another punch. “After that incident in the woods I figured I needed to step things up a little.”
Rafe resets, aligning the pad with his shoulder. “Who would’ve thought we’d be scared for our lives, or uh, safety after dying, right?”
“It’s weird.” I shake out my hand, then attack again. “And has me thinking about what actually happens to ghosts when their bones are burned. Everyone’s describing them as getting twisted because they’re not able to communicate anymore. Well, apart from screaming. But what if it’s more complicated than that?”
“How do you mean?”
I purse my lips, mulling my theory over for a few more punches. “What if it’s like they’re locked in their pain and can’t get out of it? So they’re still in there but hurting so bad that they can’t think. I don’t know, I don’t have the theory fully fleshed out.”
“No, that makes sense.” Rafe rotates his shoulder a little, then lifts the pad again. “Which might mean that if we could take the pain away they might go back to the way they were.”
“Exactly.”
“You’d think a Healer would have tried that.”
“Maybe they have, but it hasn’t worked because they can’t find the main source of...hurt.” I snicker. “That sounded super eloquent.”
Rafe smirks. “Sounded better than how I would have put it. And it makes sense, especially if they can only communicate in screams.”
“So the question is,” I grunt when the pad buckles and pinches my knuckles, “how do we figure out how to ease their pain enough for them to be able to communicate?”
“Maybe…” Rafe tilts his head to one side, eyes narrowing a little in thought. “Maybe whatever spell the Xers are using is actually a curse. So, then what we’re actually looking at isn’t healing, but curse breaking.”
I drop my fists. This theory is absolutely brilliant. Has someone else thought of it before? I don’t know a dang thing about curse breaking, at least not that I
