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.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz9fb4TQWAe
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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.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmKiDe9uWkz
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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.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlN3qUqBhcV
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFdBOWiw08x
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.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3RYciqN88t
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP5WYmTknkM
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.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwHNgS0pykM
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡieCxUvasvM
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.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmPMAQjZYqg
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0uCXVRWD6z
“Ro, can we—”658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj7K1lR4ByX
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“Shhh!” She’s beside me, pressing her hand against my mouth. “You hear that?”658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6gD4kqFqmb
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqcMkNSVZE3
I start to shake my head, but then I do hear it: footsteps outside.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUtiQDqdkvs
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“We have to put these away,” she whispers.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7EkgHx4Rww
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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.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrfxM8mXv0Q
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVpwmVHjPqt
Two pairs of legs come in—a woman and a man.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWtzcfOax7d
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaLmTClTZGP
“You say you can have it completed tomorrow?” The voice is unmistakably Mr. Kensington’s.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAWZkMZuYls
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRNAaZaGSNQ
“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.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkcURLfLJho
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPvm9vYKa6A
“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.”658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl7NZpIYxpy
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJD9CdnnwfM
Roanna and I share glances. She mouths, “I told you so.”658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2RdqHzLiuk
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVqsymso4WO
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.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6aIFZBmNB
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvlUJumSvB2
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.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡerjgNt1d4E
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvKWEZ5hs7f
Roanna mouths something that looks like, “Scrying.”658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF8QdVduKMf
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBANQKhQ0KU
“Here it is,” Madame Pommier says triumphantly, slapping her palm against the table over our heads. Both of us jump slightly.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNaXHlhtEHP
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVpMQ4lp4ps
“I trust you’ll get started as soon as possible,” Mr. Kensington says. “And, ladies, you can come out from under the table now.”658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX5GeH1oB8A
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1mayBICa4h
I crawl out with a sheepish smile and Roanna right at my heels.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNo88Jc16UG
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKdmwbkqEyW
“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.”658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPO4SGpZNAo
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY9EO5vJvD7
“I think I figured it out,” Roanna says hurriedly.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdf0nXqABow
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYGDPEESrAB
“Please do share,” Mr. Kensington says, leaning back in his chair. His shock of white hair is the brightest thing in the room.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyeNuy6QAB0
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBoNi4pyqa4
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.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVsWqaL1q1x
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU9gPlt5bSM
“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.”658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ81onf9tc3u
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡadgFGlJAjL
“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.”658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbMlo8KrhEq
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk7ew38XViZ
Roanna’s face lights up instantly. “This was a hospital for psychics?”658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPy0GCtzM8G
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjZk50AQ573
“People who believed themselves to be psychics,” Madame Pommier corrects. “To everyone else, they were simply lunatics.”658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ38W77Hmlr1
658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGdPVmOsGL4
“They weren’t though, were they?” Roanna says.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqQrn6cnnBF
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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.”658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkn5Hl2QXOg
Penana
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