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.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGg3fLLlXKd
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBLjqH7N1XU
“It’s Roanna,” she says. “Something’s wrong with her.”687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXQmD3bxNeU
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDrdZEE9BUm
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.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOSN98zslc5
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3yBsEM56AX
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.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ52PcpeOOem
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLklrhcUd1U
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.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwgQIheTMab
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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.”687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrRJ8lrHwMZ
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOMBaZ4bSC5
“Thanks for calling me,” I say, crouching down beside Roanna.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd65z6t9wVh
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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.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjZpVQSTkAl
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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.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfCneuWKBvA
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrNgfup3enA
“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.”687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPdBWLRh8tm
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCci9NlXKms
My surprise melts into gratitude. “I think she’s sick. Do you think you can get the nurse?”687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRPIroSheaU
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ8kcBPkq95
Hopefully we can’t get demerits for following a deliriously sick person out of her room.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA4yman9qSJ
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlMgrsGp2Rv
“Yes,” he says, straightening up. “Wait right here.”687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq6SDPAmLHF
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMmvZjk9uyP
He’s no sooner turned the corner when Roanna rises slowly to her feet.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSZ7cAtz4jc
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWinrdjxxBV
“Ro?” I say, but she walks past with me with her eyes blank and staring straight ahead.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXU7wFpX1lE
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnYgzAljNMV
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.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoVw0lGkQI0
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhf92tipq47
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.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtWrFBDJMOg
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbLlsJGMf5N
As I release my breath, Roanna takes a step forward. I want to tell her stop, but I can’t move or speak.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm2m21R2sNh
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoPDJq72VD3
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.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJFXHgPym2D
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGHgQSZRwlI
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.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynZpwX179K
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCgJgro5gGu
“R-Roanna,” I manage to squeak.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQisCMFFsRB
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ331pUBNUU0
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.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPDtpQgi1M6
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJNDUo4f5eB
I slam the door shut and lean against it, my chest heaving. Roanna blinks at me.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZpYImAwdZn
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaoyI9jlguI
“Cami? What’s going on? Where are my glasses?”687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAr4OYiVjmq
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1e6uy0IbTU
“You mean…you don’t remember?” My heart hasn’t returned to normal.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpVNM6QFGJk
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcazfEKawLt
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.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK7xGFSf4Ak
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnjmhTthlku
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.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWkRcmO8YW1
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXrfVxdHQCp
Roanna takes a shuddering breath as I hand her the specs and recount everything that just happened.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8S7RcPXp0f
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0xY0rUSOmW
“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.”687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIWgkKgGpSU
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb1iOE71Ssj
“Ro,” I say, unable to keep a tremor out of my voice. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do this right now.”687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR6AISVG6qn
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBayaFbzZi6
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.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv3vVTA9Gkd
Penana
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