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.762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIPJ7tw8Cnq
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“It’s Roanna,” she says. “Something’s wrong with her.”762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMmbhULHBfM
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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.762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlxe8MPMZNJ
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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.762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpCOjBYHK8M
762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDRTuGdxLR0
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.762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm2Xe0mwS9j
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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.”762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpgOoO2549N
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“Thanks for calling me,” I say, crouching down beside Roanna.762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsh8NRlh8li
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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.762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8j5XXe2gW0
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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.762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjAHReZVUWw
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“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.”762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsCm0PUGW01
762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdGCv5lsFnW
My surprise melts into gratitude. “I think she’s sick. Do you think you can get the nurse?”762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlrY7tjtuew
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Hopefully we can’t get demerits for following a deliriously sick person out of her room.762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqUVDCgqfGO
762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoFFRxFizay
“Yes,” he says, straightening up. “Wait right here.”762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdcLKcToqqe
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He’s no sooner turned the corner when Roanna rises slowly to her feet.762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf91dph0PMG
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“Ro?” I say, but she walks past with me with her eyes blank and staring straight ahead.762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfSI4jVlhxZ
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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.762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlO2q1du1gM
762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡltyynlpW2b
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.762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGg35lDEvbn
762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJniZrhoDDQ
As I release my breath, Roanna takes a step forward. I want to tell her stop, but I can’t move or speak.762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK3EUUeszGz
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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.762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb1SYUrGP5K
762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXK2c49qbeI
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.762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEFdnBv18bP
762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzn9SPwcOOz
“R-Roanna,” I manage to squeak.762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYOCNE5fBI4
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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.762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡODqBIrSuhQ
762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKTqUlM1L6B
I slam the door shut and lean against it, my chest heaving. Roanna blinks at me.762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJyE8zKN8ii
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“Cami? What’s going on? Where are my glasses?”762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPKRxksMuUt
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“You mean…you don’t remember?” My heart hasn’t returned to normal.762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBCbgLJ4WTH
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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.762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTUC0PwFeRN
762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW3BkbdpUdB
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.762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0goLwd1hJn
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Roanna takes a shuddering breath as I hand her the specs and recount everything that just happened.762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ72CComvv1X
762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8fQQ0naA4t
“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.”762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBkx5lWR9f3
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“Ro,” I say, unable to keep a tremor out of my voice. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do this right now.”762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡglA3QbyHIR
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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.762Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlikvUzTSGg
Penana
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