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.619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa0L93yy7Yl
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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.619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7XVj9Kx8TS
619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI7c68a1NFz
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.619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ63nrpfpWmm
619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ29qMuHVjKO
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.619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqOmFU1fCZr
619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC2r25pvzQv
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.619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN4xGqAm4Od
619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ocCZd24OZ
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.619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwr5w5awClE
619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHzSzDuFl9z
“Ro, can we—”619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwC5kEfcD3H
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“Shhh!” She’s beside me, pressing her hand against my mouth. “You hear that?”619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJvZ4a7dflC
619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN6CYn5z9XJ
I start to shake my head, but then I do hear it: footsteps outside.619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtcSnUwOvOz
619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIBYDD7YVho
“We have to put these away,” she whispers.619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDMmT1P1h8X
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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.619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ90x4AsYYGv
619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZXRykgx1ui
Two pairs of legs come in—a woman and a man.619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWeKL0M70IS
619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ga1jXpQIq
“You say you can have it completed tomorrow?” The voice is unmistakably Mr. Kensington’s.619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ10Wkfizypo
619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkM6UZ7axua
“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.619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡclSIwzSoGL
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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.”619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkSFtSuXMrl
619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRX2nx3SrPx
Roanna and I share glances. She mouths, “I told you so.”619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHjxIUNtWCJ
619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHSIUmhMro6
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.619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSULYIqY4P
619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNchMhVs5Wx
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.619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ9GodxVIbd
619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ8GH1uoNtJ
Roanna mouths something that looks like, “Scrying.”619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsfjhNC5XOR
619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcMkXR7kecI
“Here it is,” Madame Pommier says triumphantly, slapping her palm against the table over our heads. Both of us jump slightly.619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ206js3Mh9A
619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbY8End4ClO
“I trust you’ll get started as soon as possible,” Mr. Kensington says. “And, ladies, you can come out from under the table now.”619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxyzemYmG95
619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJW28GeiE8
I crawl out with a sheepish smile and Roanna right at my heels.619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡskEcV8orvb
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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.”619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvIe9K9rA2p
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“I think I figured it out,” Roanna says hurriedly.619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ958DkMmMx1
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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.619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIrOnzfJjE2
619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡayOOBEF1i0
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.619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIKssN9NrB2
619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjamIWVSbzK
“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.”619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2YDp1UwG54
619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZZ8Yi6yQvb
“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.”619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7LIzg3qmH0
619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuKiaR8ZxZI
Roanna’s face lights up instantly. “This was a hospital for psychics?”619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqPew53q58r
619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAjaCAlytEF
“People who believed themselves to be psychics,” Madame Pommier corrects. “To everyone else, they were simply lunatics.”619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAPT9F0y4MF
619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZpLl32YxE1
“They weren’t though, were they?” Roanna says.619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkNk1FIou7x
619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfCGzZz6v1Z
“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.”619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ3ve1pT9yO
Penana
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