"Did anybody see the two police vans near the gates?" Noah asked as he settled in the seat besides Lekan, the latter looked up at him, wondering why he didn't take the empty seat besides Feyi. In fact he could have chosen among the four other empty chairs round the table, Feyi had waved away all company with a snap and they had scurried away like rats, whispering among themselves what they could have done to offend the queen bee.

"I saw." Feyi said sourly, she rubbed the side of her face and Lekan glanced at her untouched bowl of custard and thought that Feyi must have been really troubled to leave her food go cold. Noah did not look at the full bowl that way, he only glanced down at his own almost empty bowl and reached for Feyi's, pouring the contents into his own.

Feyi didn't even bat an eye, she reached for the single akara and took a nibble, when she set it down, Noah reached for it again and ate the small ball in one bite.

"Is anybody going to tell them that it is too late for their security?" Noah mocked, letting his spoon his plastic bowl silently and nodding his head at Cook who stood with her hands on her hips. "The murderer is over there."

"The three of us know better than anyone that the police are only here to find the most unruly of us to lock up and declare the killer." Lekan added through a mouthful of the sugary custard. She swallowed and shook her head. "We have to be careful, especially with what we've agreed to do."

"You mean get into trouble so we get moved faster. I don't think that will work, at least work without us getting into trouble."

Lekan leaned forward to grip Feyi's cold hands.

"This is our only chance."

"I say we kill Cook." Noah declared suddenly, Lekan thought that the way he continued to glare pointedly at the oblivious woman made it obvious that he hated her and by the way their mates snuck glances at their little accidental team, it wouldn't be hard for anyone to piece the truth together.

Lekan didn't pretend to be shocked by Noah's suggestion, because as she had laid in bed last night, unable to sleep, she had thought the same thing, then had been quick to rebuke it. She might have been a prostitute, a thief, a drug dealer, but she wasn't ready to cross over to murder. Again, her mind taunted.

"If we do, then we aren't much different than her." Lekan said quietly.

"I agree with him." Feyi murmured, her voice was barely audible but her eyes were serious and the way both Feyi and Noah turned to her, Lekan knew they were waiting for her approval and a shiver snaked down her spine as she imagined agreeing. It was an impossible task since Cook slept in the staffs quarters and it was impossible to gain access into the cottage building at night.

But if it was possible, could Lekan take her second life?

She shivered as a memory flashed through her mind, blood on her hands, blood on her dress. Her next breath was a painful wheeze, Noah noticed and gave her a concerned look, looking up from his bowl.

"No," She almost snapped the word out but settled for a hiss.

"And we're back in square one." Feyi said sarcastically.

Lekan shook her head. "Not really, the police arrived this morning, they might be after us, but they will be patrolling at night, Cook will have to limit her activities. We need use this to plan the biggest ruckus Mary Slessor has ever seen."

A hint of a smile tugged at Feyi's lips. "Like a riot?"

Lekan nodded. "Like a riot, and we won't stop at one."

"I know the perfect people to start one." Noah added, he appeared relieved at a possible solution.

"You two handle that, I need to do something important." Lekan said. "I need to find Zeke."

"Oh," Feyi said. Noah looked confused and Feyi quickly added; "The ghost that haunts Mary Slessor."

Then he carefully arranged his features into a relaxed look that didn't fool Lekan one bit, she saw the way his fists clenched themselves and wondered whether he was paranoid about ghosts or the fact that she could see them.

"Yes, Zeke, I found out the truth about his death and he needs to know that it is not connected to these deaths." Lekan explained in a low tone as the boys at the table next to theirs stood up to clear their tables, she noticed that Cook was beginning to grow impatient, hollering that they needed to get up and get out for morning chores - which included clearing the weeds that was beginning to grow around the compound.

"I haven't told you two this before, but remember Dr. Munachi?"

Feyi nodded, Noah seemed to brace himself for whatever she wanted to say.

"It's a long story but she's helping me learn my abilities, I think she can help Zeke remember," Lekan explained. "I read an awful lot about ghosts last night hiding out the bathroom."

"So our therapist is a witch?" Noah asked, surprise causing his words to slur.

Lekan scoffed a relieved laugh, while she still wasn't sure what Noah thought of her abilities, it was a relief that he wasn't running away. "Something like that."

"You do that, Feyi and I will talk to other people and see if we can get them to start a riot." Noah said.

"I still think we burn down Mary Slessor to the ground, maybe they'd get us out of here then." Feyi muttered bitterly as they stood, noting that others were rising too.

"I know this is horrible, but now that Cook knows we know, there is no telling what she will do next, we have to make our plans carefully." Lekan told her, the girls paused in their steps as Noah went ahead to the counter, she was briefly distracted by the mean looking boys that stepped into Noah's path with cocky grins.

"I dreamt about that thing, Lekan." Feyi admitted quietly. "You know I heard the Warden say that the police are getting even more confused about what's happening, they cannot even imagine what could bite through flesh like that, like the way matron died."

"And there are still four of them somewhere in this compound. I'm scared." To hear the seemingly untouchable Feyi admit fear made that same fear settle in Lekan's stomach and she suddenly felt like throwing up.

"Your boyfriend is in trouble." A familiar voice whispered in Lekan's ears, so sudden that she jumped and kicked back a chair. Sure enough, a smirking Zeke was by her side and Lekan heaved a sigh of relief, too soon because she heard the echo of plastic snapping and looked just in time to see Noah receive a fist to his face.

"Be right back, Zeke." Lekan threw over her shoulder.

Someone screamed and Lekan abandoned her tray on the table and rushed forward, pushing through the small gathering of onlookers. Thankfully, Cook wasn't in sight, most likely in the kitchen.

Noah swung back and one of the three boys in front him slapped the fist away, anticipating it, they grinned at each other, muttering something that made Noah's fair skin redden slightly.

"Break it up!" Lekan screamed, barrelling to the front.

The boys turned briefly, giving Noah the chance to swing his fist and hitting the boy in the middle right at the back of his head.

They turned again, all three of them, fists raised and ready to strike when Lekan shouted again.

"Hey! Cut this bullshit or I will be taking this to the Warden." She threatened, they paused and so did Noah, but they did reach out to give him a shove against the shoulder before pushing past Lekan, the gathering seeing that there was nothing else to see began to scatter, pilling their plates on the counter.

Noah stood there, chest rising and falling harshly.

"Next you want to pick a fight, then make sure you're going to win." Lekan snapped at him. She looked back to make sure Zeke was still there and saw him standing near an oblivious Feyi.

Noah shrugged off her barb. "They came at me first."

"I know that, I think everyone saw that."

"They are the boys I used to hang out with before here." He said.

Lekan felt her anger douse, she offered him what she hoped was an empathic look.

"Fitting that my mistakes continue to follow me around." Noah added as he dropped his bowl on a lower stack of dirty bowls on the counter.

Lekan gave him a friendly blow to the shoulder. She looked at him, really looked at him, as if she was seeing him for the first time, his uniform suited him, the sleeves of his blue and white checkered shirt were rolled back and she was sure that he had had his trousers tailored to suit him because they didn't sag like they usually did on the other boys. For once, his height did not intimidate her, because she saw who he was, a scared boy who spent every day in regret.

"Own them." She told him then she left him standing there, walking back to a grinning Zeke and Feyi who was staring intently at nothing, when she saw Lekan she perked.

"Zeke has been keeping me company." Feyi said.

"How?" Lekan spluttered. She cast a suspicious look at Zeke who waved his hand innocently.

"I left this on the table and he lifted it." Feyi said, pointing to her empty bowl on the table, on a closer look, it was levitating a little above the white plastic table as Zeke gripped on to it. He turned and smiled cheekily, seeing the look on her face.

"Relax, it's not like I'm lifting high so everyone can see it."

"I'm grateful," Lekan said sarcastically at the same time Feyi said; "It is strange to see you talk to him when only you can see him."

They both ignored her and Zeke's playful look left his eyes, he sobered up and a small frown was etched on his face, for a second it reminded her of the Warden's own frown.

"Is there something you want me to know?"

"Play time is over, I know what killed you Zeke." Lekan deadpanned. "And I think you deserve to know by yourself."

***

"I'm impressed." Dr. Munachi said as Lekan helped her draw a pentagram with chalk on the dusty floor with the former's guidance, Lekan drew a smaller circle inside the pentagram next. "You've done your research on sitting sessions."

"In the past it was used to communicate with the dead, mostly by their loved ones, but by performing a séance, we can summon your friend in his most natural spirit, not the fragment of his soul that you see." Dr. Munachi said as she shut the classroom door behind her with a loud bang, outside the door, Noah kept watch. No one had questioned Dr. Munachi when she had ascended up the stairs to the top classroom block and declared she needed it for the evening.

"The perfect time for a sitting is the dusk, like now." She continued saying as she rolled up the sleeves of her dress shirt and kicked off her flat sandals. "You do not want to have a sitting at a time like midnight where all kinds of supernatural beings roam, you might accidentally summon evening."

Lekan paid rapt attention, so did Zeke, even though he wasn't required to do a thing. It seemed like there was so much she didn't know about the paranormal and a part of her was excited, although nerves made her chew the inside of her cheek.

"Now you step into the circle and sit legs crossed, do not break the circle as you do so." Dr. Munachi cautioned.

Lekan gingerly stepped inside and tried to sit straight.

"You need to focus, visualize, hence the picture you have in your hands." Dr. Munachi jerked her head at the small frame of picture in Lekan's hand, the frame she had stolen from the Warden's office, she hoped to return it before he returned from his evening prayers.

"Clear your mind, the chalk is a special set ground out of bones."

Lekan popped one eye open at the grim words and then shut it again, she let the reflecting evening sun rays wash down on, she let the chatter downstairs claim her until the sounds were blended together into one peaceful hum.

And when she opened her eyes, it seemed like the sun had gone down and it was dimmer than she remembered, she didn't see Dr. Munachi, didn't hear any of the noise again.

Only saw the tall boy gazing at her, standing in front of her. So familiar yet so unfamiliar, he didn't look like a shadow anymore, he looked as alive as she was and his dark brown skin shimmered, as if bathed in golden light, as if he had sucked all the light in the room.

He spoke a single sentence, full of a sorrow she had never heard and her heart sank, because she had been right.

"I remember, I remember how I died."