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.861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0U65fEKJl8
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“It’s Roanna,” she says. “Something’s wrong with her.”861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIjgOgLFDu4
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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.861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIQjVm7afdL
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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.861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6JA7ANjrKc
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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.861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ryXd5sRWC
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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.”861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqGzzvFENWc
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“Thanks for calling me,” I say, crouching down beside Roanna.861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQVU4rPnwa
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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.861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIAxga9vkAy
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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.861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXB8fZwz3Vl
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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.”861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo1EHbFTkLu
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My surprise melts into gratitude. “I think she’s sick. Do you think you can get the nurse?”861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuqqQN6WsFR
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Hopefully we can’t get demerits for following a deliriously sick person out of her room.861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTIViWXOHXM
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“Yes,” he says, straightening up. “Wait right here.”861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3wfPpQibUY
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He’s no sooner turned the corner when Roanna rises slowly to her feet.861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡatRD7KNaVJ
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“Ro?” I say, but she walks past with me with her eyes blank and staring straight ahead.861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡptYluh3Orw
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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.861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGvIGBckLla
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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.861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPIo73etrJO
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As I release my breath, Roanna takes a step forward. I want to tell her stop, but I can’t move or speak.861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz6b9pSz5Xo
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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.861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡthQMEwb6tN
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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.861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCdaZQ9WQkv
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“R-Roanna,” I manage to squeak.861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡubtVWXhg07
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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.861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCb8v1WLgmk
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I slam the door shut and lean against it, my chest heaving. Roanna blinks at me.861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9xiG7ZC5PR
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“Cami? What’s going on? Where are my glasses?”861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm0kvgFI2uz
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“You mean…you don’t remember?” My heart hasn’t returned to normal.861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIaYpqSuKtL
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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.861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGAZqSAW3mX
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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.861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcchrjHKfVy
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Roanna takes a shuddering breath as I hand her the specs and recount everything that just happened.861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjNY1wFprQL
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“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.”861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPrCE0MatnD
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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.”861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ZVivnwQhr
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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.861Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ9iFR2yAJ2
Penana
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