Roanna begs me to go to the library with her. I can’t bear the idea of sneaking around at night any longer—I don’t want to see anything like what we saw the other night. I’ve had nightmares about it since then. But as afraid as I am of going, I’m more afraid of Roanna going on her own.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTa90WFaaho
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We manage to get to the library with Roanna stopping once in the hallway and staring into the distance before murmuring for me to follow her. I know she must have seen something and that she’s keeping quiet in order to prevent me from being scared. I’m grateful because that way I can pretend it’s nothing at all.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyw4Jfli9Sn
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We open the library door just a quarter of a meter—any more and it will creak like a gunshot, loudly enough to alert the nearest security guard. Roanna slips through first, and I follow. Our footsteps echo through the cool darkness of the library. I wish I’d thought to bring my jumper.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRBA5cnkNnP
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It takes Roanna less than a minute to jimmy the lock to the restricted area. I flip the light switch, but it takes a moment for the bulb to warm and fill the area with light. I sit at the gigantic oak table and rub the goose pimples off my arms. It all feels very Harry Potter.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkmGeDd83kd
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Roanna flitters from bookshelf to bookshelf like a butterfly going from flower to flower. She pulls out folders and books, dumping them on the table and dashing back to get more. She mutters to herself as she does so, but she isn’t saying anything I can make sense of. The contents of the folder fan out in front of me, and I reach for them half-heartedly.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKUkmHPiOJo
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Picking up a sepia photograph, I look at it. Four rows of people stand on the Wolverhampton House grounds with the house in the background. Doctors and nurses are at the ends of each row, flanking men all dressed in matching white shirts and black pants and women dressed in matching white shirts and black skirts. Their eyes make my skin prickle even more. I turn the picture over and set it back in the folder.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOlpe3KANSa
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“Ro, can we—”703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJO2VOp27UK
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“Shhh!” She’s beside me, pressing her hand against my mouth. “You hear that?”703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjnq0bmXTyA
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I start to shake my head, but then I do hear it: footsteps outside.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOqTcSkw07i
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“We have to put these away,” she whispers.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrUjLssWMRR
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I jump to my feet and rush to shove folders and books into random places, not caring where they go as long as they aren’t obviously sitting on the table. Right as the key is in the lock, we slide under the table and press our backs against the wall.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ5ItWaQHES
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Two pairs of legs come in—a woman and a man.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo7YMMtUrmJ
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“You say you can have it completed tomorrow?” The voice is unmistakably Mr. Kensington’s.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLDLoH3jApI
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“Yes.” The voice now belongs to Madame Pommier. “Tomorrow at the earliest. It will take me at least that long to gather what I need.”“Do you need my help?” Mr. Kensington asks.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMO5rxVF2su
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“Actually, yes. I need to find a particular file. It holds the blueprint of the hospital and the grounds. I need to see it so I can find the strongest point of connection.”703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyoaxANwvrh
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Roanna and I share glances. She mouths, “I told you so.”703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmCuNUd5A23
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They get up and shuffle through the bookcases. I hug myself and wait for them to comment on files being in the wrong places, but they don’t say anything. For a long time, there isn’t any noise but the rustling of papers. Roanna and I huddle together, trying to keep warm.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkLWgeWtrhV
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It feels like hours before Madame Pommier exclaims, jolting me out of my doze. Both of them hurry to the table, unfurling a sheet of paper on the surface. I pull Roanna away from Mr. Kensington’s foot, and we listen as they do something.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7GbxHHCD9g
703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN8OcpAHKxH
Roanna mouths something that looks like, “Scrying.”703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ01fuAoQfLW
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“Here it is,” Madame Pommier says triumphantly, slapping her palm against the table over our heads. Both of us jump slightly.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0HCBXcvj5e
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“I trust you’ll get started as soon as possible,” Mr. Kensington says. “And, ladies, you can come out from under the table now.”703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCag6siTC71
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I crawl out with a sheepish smile and Roanna right at my heels.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8v6sobGUTH
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“We should give you both demerits,” Mr. Kensington says sternly. Roanna and I hang our heads. “I won’t, though. I suppose it’s natural to be curious about what’s happening at this school.”703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRrz84WA46F
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“I think I figured it out,” Roanna says hurriedly.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK7Y5zpnlqu
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“Please do share,” Mr. Kensington says, leaning back in his chair. His shock of white hair is the brightest thing in the room.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSkBxJsEzlR
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She opens one of the files on the table and pulls out the same picture I was looking at earlier, handing it to Mr. Kensington.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjj8Ybq111y
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“Before Wolverhampton House was a boarding school, it was a psychiatric hospital,” she says. “The ghosts we’re seeing are spirits of the people from the mental asylum.”703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkm8hOjuixF
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“That’s getting close,” Madame Pommier says. “This was a sort of psychiatric hospital, but it was for people who believed themselves to have powers beyond regular humans: psychics and the like.”703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa5EesIQ9hr
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Roanna’s face lights up instantly. “This was a hospital for psychics?”703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZNQbRTJUF3
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“People who believed themselves to be psychics,” Madame Pommier corrects. “To everyone else, they were simply lunatics.”703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdnMHTcBDZM
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“They weren’t though, were they?” Roanna says.703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSCPW72Hb14
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“No,” Madame Pommier says, causing me to raise my eyebrows. “They’ve somehow created a connection between our time and theirs. We occupy the same space at two different periods of time. So, it isn’t ghosts we’re seeing, but living people.”703Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2VCHT6W24J
Penana
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