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.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMQSYXj4msS
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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.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkKtckgKB9D
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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.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUXpnMaR95H
657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyyJITyUc4q
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.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6sNqmlmaIr
657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoDPkwle9b3
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.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4DTumarMT7
657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbGnPpTr0JA
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.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYDOEZNgNE8
657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOBgZXur9rg
“Ro, can we—”657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1rJD3zhcBG
657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSUe7tydK7u
“Shhh!” She’s beside me, pressing her hand against my mouth. “You hear that?”657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Uu1VYd5NA
657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ29U8ALHtM1
I start to shake my head, but then I do hear it: footsteps outside.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJA2G8Cv7J9
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“We have to put these away,” she whispers.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoCzCW1rM3d
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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.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUS1CvqDWpU
657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡykV13JZiRW
Two pairs of legs come in—a woman and a man.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaH3KUe0lJc
657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDWzIRFgi6g
“You say you can have it completed tomorrow?” The voice is unmistakably Mr. Kensington’s.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLacgx5tUTZ
657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6wtzmcZ2pe
“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.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMt73f0EkQJ
657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgagAr194gC
“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.”657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb93m4YmJbb
657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYtxMyh8qgK
Roanna and I share glances. She mouths, “I told you so.”657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLAvcawwanf
657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMPNkYjCsmC
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.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMrLPn1Sfbi
657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0goIDf9jPn
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.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM3v9bb59Bq
657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡugCOOLe6c3
Roanna mouths something that looks like, “Scrying.”657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZbrQvNgIbA
657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvC4grUTSPf
“Here it is,” Madame Pommier says triumphantly, slapping her palm against the table over our heads. Both of us jump slightly.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKZdRyYpabP
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“I trust you’ll get started as soon as possible,” Mr. Kensington says. “And, ladies, you can come out from under the table now.”657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡONC70GC81d
657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ck5t6cCO2
I crawl out with a sheepish smile and Roanna right at my heels.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3amI0M1vSu
657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjLC8by0qwf
“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.”657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU3NjUB03fM
657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwLLt0etHyk
“I think I figured it out,” Roanna says hurriedly.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpSZLq79q62
657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOemItwv8RM
“Please do share,” Mr. Kensington says, leaning back in his chair. His shock of white hair is the brightest thing in the room.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh5nq1bIHyj
657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Ps8PaWZQI
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.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYGUF73UptB
657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpdrXoBmfR3
“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.”657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtWAXpLU1aP
657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc8Xku6We4a
“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.”657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyBnuUI6Atf
657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtU80Pt0xsy
Roanna’s face lights up instantly. “This was a hospital for psychics?”657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMFmdnn9wXD
657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmhcsJ5OboG
“People who believed themselves to be psychics,” Madame Pommier corrects. “To everyone else, they were simply lunatics.”657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyecDxGXxXw
657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeZMPV6h23d
“They weren’t though, were they?” Roanna says.657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKLBlp7mYgI
657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPfxlSr4gIE
“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.”657Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡccuqDWpd7N
Penana
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