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.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIMPlJwzEb8
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“It’s Roanna,” she says. “Something’s wrong with her.”792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmnlsXOCrO8
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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.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh7o39RyFEA
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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.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi36qrO9YED
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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.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡks81UUaPWJ
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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.”792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP6LINRg97Q
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“Thanks for calling me,” I say, crouching down beside Roanna.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn94sWPIW3n
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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.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCsnMdzO7j6
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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.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs1mmv2lS4x
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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.”792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN2OoYI9BMt
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My surprise melts into gratitude. “I think she’s sick. Do you think you can get the nurse?”792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP87AWfib8H
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡacSGGDHrRd
Hopefully we can’t get demerits for following a deliriously sick person out of her room.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgWKK6k1EPv
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGMBxKD0AaC
“Yes,” he says, straightening up. “Wait right here.”792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA48njlqPgR
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He’s no sooner turned the corner when Roanna rises slowly to her feet.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Ka99GhHGH
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaekUMWLfIV
“Ro?” I say, but she walks past with me with her eyes blank and staring straight ahead.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9D5IHITwE2
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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.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo53X6GZ9cf
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL6nDeXaI4o
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.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6cMhnvdgeX
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYY32oSCaSu
As I release my breath, Roanna takes a step forward. I want to tell her stop, but I can’t move or speak.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwMl3jIPCsH
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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.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzXm9q8IkIL
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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.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvXDt0HDxQ4
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5lHHB34ADk
“R-Roanna,” I manage to squeak.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ27bxPiqvyg
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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.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFiv0NMrazf
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I slam the door shut and lean against it, my chest heaving. Roanna blinks at me.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnVIvrniGKo
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“Cami? What’s going on? Where are my glasses?”792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpymciB4Z9J
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“You mean…you don’t remember?” My heart hasn’t returned to normal.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡozzb5w61LR
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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.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp0456pnP4k
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwqZVYHHejk
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.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOiVIt2IijA
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfJdgwnYAb6
Roanna takes a shuddering breath as I hand her the specs and recount everything that just happened.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLgB26ExCds
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYKHI7v63Qo
“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.”792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtgT4M8tiWQ
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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.”792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSGAQcvxGKJ
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡztQgQJB44z
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.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ46P7YUASxa
Penana
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