Someone raps on the door to my room. It can’t be Roanna because she would just barge right in. I open the door just enough. It’s Amelia. Since she and I aren’t exactly friends, I stare at her for a moment. She’s flushed and breathless.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVWFWieLfhj
782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu2sbjRc36V
“It’s Roanna,” she says. “Something’s wrong with her.”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPxrOmzAkBX
782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW2CQZQ9Qms
I grab my room key and follow Amelia without a second thought, a sick feeling burrowing into the pit of my stomach as I wonder what could have happened to Roanna.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0DtIFgSC1A
782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR9WGJgKAu2
Amelia opens the door to the dormitory and sticks her head outside, looking around for the security guards. When she signals to me that it’s safe, we dash across the grounds to the school, trying to keep low to the grass—as if that could make us invisible.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJhtYl5d1vp
782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnAUR6mzF1I
Amelia hauls open the heavy ash doors, and we slip inside quietly. Jen is sitting off to the side with Roanna slumped against the wall.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ19R10JnYC5
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“She just got up and ran out,” Jen says. “Then she came here and sat down. I didn’t know what else to do.”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlmOWEAZB8K
782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdhpg04f9Sc
“Thanks for calling me,” I say, crouching down beside Roanna.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG7m9dCZWlE
782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr874SmBLlG
Amelia and Jen glance at each other and leave. I resent a little that they’ve left me to deal with this on my own, but I’m also grateful that they came out of their way to bring me to Roanna.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0hFZ5UfL4y
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Her eyes are glazed over, and she’s murmuring something. I press the back of my hand against her burning forehead before pulling it back.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbjNNUAYKMU
782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1vjg54mIAM
“Is something wrong?” I jump at the voice but see Will standing over us, bending to get a better look at Roanna. When I don’t say anything for a moment, Will adds, “I saw you run across the grounds.”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCXmIJqeuS5
782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡegAVHFpjSs
My surprise melts into gratitude. “I think she’s sick. Do you think you can get the nurse?”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJrq7V5vBe4
782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwx3XN7Av6R
Hopefully we can’t get demerits for following a deliriously sick person out of her room.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhjO87HzvcJ
782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuvCyMNPFuZ
“Yes,” he says, straightening up. “Wait right here.”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQFvJj1OEBy
782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy7dTUuNPNt
He’s no sooner turned the corner when Roanna rises slowly to her feet.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOVg4iqJvL5
782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUJyFRGfg2M
“Ro?” I say, but she walks past with me with her eyes blank and staring straight ahead.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL9dk3cWv1a
782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM66SKntQOk
I try to keep a grip on her arm as she moves, but she’s walking too quickly. Our footsteps shuffle and echo in the quiet hallway. I hope Will and the nurse can find us when they come back.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHVkZZ7GPTI
782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6DIn3mzLYU
A light flashes down the hallway. I try to grab at Roanna’s arm, but she turns and walks into Mr. Kensington’s English classroom. I follow close behind and shut the door, leaning against it. His footsteps draw closer, and the light shines into the room. It fades away almost instantly.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR50gYcQiqq
782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgIF7Xkw59o
As I release my breath, Roanna takes a step forward. I want to tell her stop, but I can’t move or speak.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡszWPsGUEEz
782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCPIZJmkVw7
What should be Mr. Kensington’s English class is now a room with two rows of beds against the wall. Some people are just lumps of blankets but some toss and turn in their beds. Roanna keeps moving toward them.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyvM2ydnqHE
782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9bB8BuVoIz
In unison, the people remove their blankets and sit up, staring at us. They walk toward us slowly and deliberately, their feet shuffling across the carpeted floor. They don’t blink, but they whisper over each other so I can’t pick apart what a single one is saying. Their voices are as soft as rustling leaves.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHG2fdGIagt
782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ88QAD0jH8Y
“R-Roanna,” I manage to squeak.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf8J1gO1WAr
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Wrapping my arms around her shoulders—getting a mouthful of her curls—I throw myself back, pulling us into the door. Her specs clutter onto the floor. Still holding onto her, I slide the door open with one hand. I turn her, pushing her out into the hallway.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXunWbzAEOf
782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ6v5SWhPgT
I slam the door shut and lean against it, my chest heaving. Roanna blinks at me.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ZGm4Pzdgi
782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM6L95vimQn
“Cami? What’s going on? Where are my glasses?”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx1YUHjL9mw
782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQTbrpl1jh4
“You mean…you don’t remember?” My heart hasn’t returned to normal.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡazYx1fMgfj
782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUx2tGOhZSL
She shakes her head, eyes wide. I turn slowly, hardly daring to peek through the window. But the room is back to normal. My heart, on the other hand, is pattering like a runner’s feet.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx8WRRozV62
782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ10fh6lDEyh
I tentatively push it open and run inside to grab her glasses off the floor and bring them back to her. The pattering of my heartbeat gets quicker as I do so, but there don’t seem to be any more ghosts.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbWXTBkAE7e
782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD3XQtllskP
Roanna takes a shuddering breath as I hand her the specs and recount everything that just happened.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzjkRKWCwAE
782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0BHYpg9WJK
“I suppose now’s a good time as any to tell you,” she says. “I found out what Wolverhampton House was before it was a school. It was a psychiatric hospital—they called it a lunatic asylum—back in the early 1900s. It makes sense, doesn’t it? And there are rumors that Madame Pommier is a ghost hunter who was hired to get rid of the ghosts.”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgrUMyNG4Xe
782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw6zr3EeCZK
“Ro,” I say, unable to keep a tremor out of my voice. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do this right now.”782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaDXwz0OhQU
782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7DwDFcWCgl
I wonder where Will is, and if he’s looking for us. The darkness begins to press upon me. It seems I can see more figures out of the corners of my eyes. I try not to whirl around, but even when I do, there’s nothing there.782Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbtQT6F50lk
Penana
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