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Chapter 2: Number Fifteen

It took me a moment to remember where I was. Some kind of Amazonian jungle insect-beast was crawling on my face, and as soon as I realized it, I sat up, wildly brushing it off. Someone started laughing. A young native girl was on her knees on the ground next to me. She was wearing a dress made of tree bark and was holding something that looked like one of the dream catchers my mother used to hang on her wall. I also noticed that my foot had been packed in dark dried mud, wrapped in leaves, and tied up with jute twine. Surprisingly, my ankle wasn’t aching anymore. “Hey,” I said to the girl.

She gazed at me with dark, intense eyes. “Dzao an, hen keai.” “I have no idea what you’re saying,” I said. “I have no idea what any of you have been saying.” She smiled, then set down the dream catcher and ran out of my hut.

Now what? I thought. I lay there for a while, wondering what I should do. I still didn’t know what the tribe had planned for me. It crossed my mind that I should try to escape. But where would I go? The jungle had to be at least as dangerous as this place, and I’d only get more lost—if that were possible.

Out of nervousness, I sat up and started making lightning balls and throwing them against the wall, which wasn’t exactly smart. You know how they say that people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones? They could also say, people in thatch huts shouldn’t throw lightning balls, because the wall will catch on fire. It did. I had to use my shirt to beat the flames out. I had just extinguished them and was sitting back on my mat, pulling my shirt on, when the chief walked into my hut flanked by two warrior tribesmen. There was still a lot of smoke in the room, and the chief looked at the burned spots on the wall, then back at me. As usual, the warriors just stared at me with angry expressions, like they wanted to skewer me with their spears, then eat me.

“Good afternoon, Michael Vey,” the chief said.

“Uh, hi,” I replied, not sure how I was supposed to talk to a tribal chief. My eye started twitching. I still didn’t know how the guy knew my name. Just the fact that he spoke English freaked me out a little.

“How is your ankle?” he asked.

“It’s not hurting like it was.”

“Stand,” he said.

I slowly stood. My ankle was still a little sore, but it was not nearly as painful as it had been the day before.

“It feels better,” I said.

He nodded. “The jungle medicine is strong. By tonight it will be healed.” I didn’t know what medicine they had used, or even when they had wrapped my ankle—I had slept through it all—but whatever they’d done was nothing short of miraculous. “Thank you,” I said.

He stepped closer to me. “How did you dream?” “I had weird dreams.”

He looked concerned. “What did you dream?” “I dreamt about this guy called Dr. Hatch. He said he would find me.” The chief frowned. “Then he will find you.” His saying that chilled me. Hatch had found me twice before, and both times I had barely escaped with my life. I couldn’t imagine being lucky three times. “It was just a nightmare,” I said.

The chief just looked at me gravely. “Wo syiwang jeiyang,” he said. Then he said in English, “We can hope.” “Do you know where my friends are?” I asked.

“The woman with the two boys is deep in the jungle. They are safe.” “What about the others? The ones like me.” “They are not safe. The Peruvian army is hunting them—as they are hunting you. You must leave the jungle soon.” “Why is the Peruvian army hunting us?” “I do not know their ways.” After a moment, he said, “Come. There is someone you must meet.” “Who?”

“You will see.” The chief turned and walked out of my hut. The warriors stood next to me.

“Janchi lai!” one shouted.

I followed the guards outside. We walked maybe twenty yards to the edge of the clearing where there was a small hut set apart from the others. We stopped at its door.

The chief said to me, “When you go, there is someone you must take with you.” He turned back toward the hut and raised his hands. “Hung fa,” he shouted. “Gwo lai!” A moment later a young woman came out of the hut. She looked like she was my age—pretty with dark red hair and freckles. She looked at me curiously, then at the chief, as if awaiting an explanation.

“She is one of you,” the chief said.

“She’s American?” I asked.

The girl stepped toward me. “He means I’m electric. Like you. You must be Michael.” I looked at her quizzically. “How did you know that?” “Because I know all the electric kids except for the last two the Elgen hadn’t found. You’re not a girl, so you must be Michael Vey.” She reached out her hand. “I’m Tesla.” As my hand neared her, electricity began to spark between my fingers. I pulled back, afraid to shock her. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m not trying to do that.” She just gazed into my eyes. “It’s all right. You can’t hurt me.” I still kept my hand to myself. “Are you sure?” “I’m sure,” she said.

“What’s your power?”

“Have you met any of the others like us?” “Yes.”

“Have you met Nichelle?”

I stepped back from her. “Yes.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not like her. Actually, I’m the opposite of Nichelle.” “You mean you’re not a psycho Goth freak?” She grinned. “I meant my powers. I don’t suck away electric powers. I enhance them. Here, shake my hand.” She stuck out her hand again. “Go on.” I just looked at her.

“C’mon,” she said. “You won’t hurt me. Promise.” I hesitantly reached my hand out. The closer I got to her, the more intensely my electricity sparked. When we touched, my hand was glowing pure blue-white, almost like it was in the rat bowl.

“You have a lot of electricity,” she said. “It . . . tickles.” “Tickles?”

“Yeah. I usually don’t even feel it.” She stepped back from me and my electricity lessened. “You’re very electric. Far more than any of the other Glows.” “You were amplifying my electricity?” “Yes. But I wasn’t really trying. If I tried, I could make you produce ten times that. At least.” “That could be useful,” I said.

“Dr. Hatch thought so.”

My heart froze at the mention of him. “You’re with Hatch?” “Not anymore.”

“Why are you here—in the jungle?”

“The Amacarra rescued me. I escaped from the Starxource compound by crawling out through a pipe that runs underground. . . .” “The Weekend Express,” I said.

She looked surprised. “You know about that?” “It’s the same way I got out.”

“Then you know it just drops you out in the middle of the jungle with a lot of snakes and stuff. It was dangerous, being alone in the jungle. I’m not like you. I don’t have any powers of my own. I probably would have been eaten by something if it wasn’t for the Amacarra.” “Why were you here in Peru in the first place?” “Hatch was using me to amplify the electricity the plant was producing. Do you know how the plant works?” “The electric rats . . .”

She nodded. “I was able to increase the amount of electricity they produced by more than three times.” She cocked her head. “So you also know about the rat bowl.” “I broke it.”

“What?”

“Actually my friends broke it. I just helped.” She looked at me in amazement.

“What kind of name is Tesla?”

“Actually, it used to be Tessa. A few months after I was captured by the Elgen, Hatch added the l, in honor of Nikola Tesla, the great inventor and pioneer of electricity. He’s the guy who invented the Tesla coil.” “Like in science,” I said.

She nodded. “Hatch thought changing my name was pretty clever. Tesla is also the name of one of the Elgen boats.” “They have boats?”

“Practically a whole navy.”

“Why?”

“It’s where they live. If they lived in any real country, they’d probably be arrested. So they made their own country.” “You’ve seen their ships?”

“Only the Ampere and the Volta. The Volta is a science boat. It’s where they do their most secret experiments. It’s not as nice as the Ampere. The Ampere is where all the Elgen brass are.” “Brass?”

“You know, the bosses. Hatch’s boss.” “I didn’t know he had a boss.”

Tesla grinned. “I don’t think he does either. I’m pretty sure they don’t like each other. Hatch calls them the board of jesters.” “You should change your name back. Tessa’s a pretty name.” She thought about it for a moment. “I like that idea. It could be my declaration of independence.” She nodded. “Call me Tessa.” “Tessa,” I said. “So how long have you been here?” “I’ve been in Peru for more than two years. I came three weeks before they turned on the Starxource plant. But I’ve been in the jungle about six months. I think. It’s hard to keep track of time out here. It’s not like the Amacarra have calendars.” “You’ve been here for six months and the Elgen still haven’t found you?” “They sent guards out looking for me.” Tessa looked at the chief. “But the Amacarra know the jungle. They protect me.” “I am sorry we cannot protect you now,” the chief interjected. I had forgotten that he was even standing there. “There are too many of them coming. The dark magic of the Chullanchaqui is too strong for us.” Tessa turned to me. “Do you know what’s going on out there?” “When we shut down their power plant, all the guards came after us. But now the Peruvian army is looking for us too. The chief said we’ll have to leave their village soon.” Hearing this upset Tessa, and she began to tear up. “Then we’ll leave,” she said to the chief. “You’ve risked too much for me already.” The chief frowned. “It is with great sadness that you leave,” he said. “You are Amacarra, Hung fa.” He turned and walked away.

I let Tessa compose herself before I asked, “What’s a Chullanchaqui?” “The natives believe the Chullanchaqui is a demon who lives in the Amazon jungle. It appears as a friend and lures people off into the jungle where they are never heard from again. The chief thinks Hatch is the Chullanchaqui.” “He’s right,” I said.

Tessa nodded, then said, “I have a lot of questions. Do you want to go into my hut and talk?” “Sure,” I said. I followed her inside. Her hut was nicer than the one I’d stayed in. The walls were decorated with bright red and green parrot feathers, and the ground was completely covered with a thick mat woven from leaves. We sat cross-legged across from each other, my back toward the door.

“Nice place,” I said.

She grinned. “For a jungle hut.” She looked at my mud cast. “What happened to your foot?” “I hurt it while I was escaping from the Starxource plant. I woke up this morning with this mudpack on.” “Is it broken?”

“I don’t know. I’m hoping it’s just sprained.” “The medicine they put on it will help,” she said. “Your face keeps twitching. Are you feeling okay?” “I have Tourette’s syndrome,” I said. “It makes me blink and gulp—stuff like that. Especially when I’m under stress.” “Tourette’s,” she said. “I’ve heard of that. Is it contagious?” “No. It’s genetic,” I said. “You won’t catch it.” She nodded. “Before I came to Peru, there were two of you that the Elgen couldn’t find—you and a girl. Did they ever find her?” “Taylor,” I said.

“Then you know her?”

I nodded. “I know her.”

She looked at me for a moment, then said, “You like her.” “Why do you say that?”

“I can tell by the way you said her name.” I didn’t realize I was that obvious. “She’s my girlfriend.” “Where is she?”

“She’s out in the jungle with the rest of the Electroclan.” “What’s an Electroclan?”

“That’s what we call ourselves. They’re my friends. Some of them used to be with Hatch. You might know them. Ian, Abigail, and McKenna. Zeus.” Her eyes narrowed. “Zeus? You’re with Zeus?” “You know Zeus?”

“I know them all,” she said. “I knew Zeus the best, since Ian, Abigail, and McKenna were locked up for insubordination. I’m glad Dr. Hatch finally let them out.” “He didn’t. We rescued them.”

“And Zeus?”

“He came with us.”

“That surprises me,” she said. “But he always was a wild card.” “He still is.”

“So how did you meet up with them?” she asked.

“It started when Hatch kidnapped my mother and Taylor. I went after them.” “Have you ever met Dr. Hatch? I mean, face-to-face?” I nodded. “The last time I saw him he tried to feed me to his rats.” She grimaced. “Hatch made me watch someone be fed to the rats. That’s what he does to the guards who disobey him. How did you escape?” “I absorbed the rats’ electricity. It made me too electric for them to touch.” “You can absorb electricity?”

“That’s how I stopped Nichelle.”

She looked surprised. “You stopped Nichelle?” “Yes.”

“No one’s ever stopped Nichelle.” Suddenly, Tessa looked up. “Ni yau shemma?” I turned. The young woman who’d been in my hut when I woke up was standing in the doorway looking at us.

“Hung fa. Ta bi laile. Tade jyau hai hwaide. Wo syu bang ta.” “Hau, hau,” Tessa said. She looked at me. “I guess you have to go.” “Where?”

“She said your foot is still hurt. She needs to work on it some more.” I lifted myself up. “Yeah, it’s still a little sore. It was nice meeting you.” “Same here,” she said. “Though kind of surreal.” “What do you mean?”

“You’re kind of a legend. Like Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster.” I looked at her quizzically.

“It’s just that everyone at the academy has talked about you for years. But I never thought I’d ever really meet you. Especially not in the middle of the Amazon jungle.” “I never thought I’d be in the Amazon jungle,” I replied.