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.688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzOjeSmL0SG
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWv5axAJVKk
“It’s Roanna,” she says. “Something’s wrong with her.”688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzWhjiYPEsX
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvQ6mD3oqqI
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.688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiVkuOXl49Z
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjKkAmvdtFL
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.688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxsWK0iyy5K
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCnnDW2wF6d
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.688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ19dci1gXZz
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhlDPeveGIM
“She just got up and ran out,” Jen says. “Then she came here and sat down. I didn’t know what else to do.”688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgSoGRFpthC
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCryk4m4Z3L
“Thanks for calling me,” I say, crouching down beside Roanna.688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmojzTTeJUz
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4xA4MIZ5v2
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.688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx3YMtHnqoy
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNQrZSrBzxR
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.688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNdxZ6GWiEl
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGbczkR4gwe
“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.”688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi9hKUvpRsS
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdwOUlNejgP
My surprise melts into gratitude. “I think she’s sick. Do you think you can get the nurse?”688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡySacQJWLB0
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhlqTfZbq2Q
Hopefully we can’t get demerits for following a deliriously sick person out of her room.688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZuuBHTnFZV
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡloZflgVstU
“Yes,” he says, straightening up. “Wait right here.”688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIZgwYSMw6m
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHkCN7EDZlX
He’s no sooner turned the corner when Roanna rises slowly to her feet.688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp0IX3lDTBv
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Kc94dui6T
“Ro?” I say, but she walks past with me with her eyes blank and staring straight ahead.688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTG4xIfZEfz
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA6L847ohNL
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.688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ky16AaEYw
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxtM53OIdEe
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.688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ffNZoqKU0
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhL3X5FotD
As I release my breath, Roanna takes a step forward. I want to tell her stop, but I can’t move or speak.688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6muN5Trowy
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV0YFd1GFLO
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.688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzFwi4yJj4H
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVr5UbuFJB1
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.688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwZsfsjHCZh
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡATSostZ9Fm
“R-Roanna,” I manage to squeak.688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYfGEwjZjbf
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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.688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡipHboxHmqw
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2IT0qvYamE
I slam the door shut and lean against it, my chest heaving. Roanna blinks at me.688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGo2pHEZ8IC
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnNUpb9d7Y0
“Cami? What’s going on? Where are my glasses?”688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHokLB5WSpM
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuSSpz8gjKL
“You mean…you don’t remember?” My heart hasn’t returned to normal.688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs8rsuAmeLE
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmk4bnURkbn
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.688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbt6B3bau78
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ77uAGZrDGY
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.688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuh4KtRRlWI
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO7pJputa0k
Roanna takes a shuddering breath as I hand her the specs and recount everything that just happened.688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsM6Iza7fVE
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8bNMxNOH1h
“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.”688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQJbAcrYvt
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSZHWbGOvL5
“Ro,” I say, unable to keep a tremor out of my voice. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do this right now.”688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiFmud51V3N
688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU1CjzyVUIM
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.688Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvPk4F3jK0o
Penana
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