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.788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX5e61N7fXh
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ27jQwM6Erj
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.788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvy5OU9qcXy
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhIrlfL03EY
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.788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI6Hj9aKEx1
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUv1UnXaeTA
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.788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZYnyTZrkS1
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd5JagrnsJb
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.788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKft6LFx3NJ
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNa0KnC3XrR
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.788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3jZwaoBdtX
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaxwMtfvytV
“Ro, can we—”788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnEFq9h8Gw7
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡadziEPU375
“Shhh!” She’s beside me, pressing her hand against my mouth. “You hear that?”788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIu4Sa9QBaK
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Ha2kSukUQ
I start to shake my head, but then I do hear it: footsteps outside.788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFJqrh39s6O
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ27d9XptBce
“We have to put these away,” she whispers.788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡubcQu69zmL
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9e0PXhTuIt
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.788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKlEXCjabKw
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnpUMGnn8Ht
Two pairs of legs come in—a woman and a man.788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7uk7Eid86k
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ76y974iNd7
“You say you can have it completed tomorrow?” The voice is unmistakably Mr. Kensington’s.788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ588cOzrsTJ
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡASg5t4CxBW
“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.788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡifMEvx33jZ
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEJtZD3GyRn
“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.”788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkLqhglbA9k
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTgOtryHH3E
Roanna and I share glances. She mouths, “I told you so.”788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ841tdNIdEF
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxlQlZi0cgH
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.788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoTg4BhdpGG
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgdesX4bJ4z
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.788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrp4U07ovzV
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLTLa8MwuDf
Roanna mouths something that looks like, “Scrying.”788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNrwcLFtikJ
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp9B4IhFNOQ
“Here it is,” Madame Pommier says triumphantly, slapping her palm against the table over our heads. Both of us jump slightly.788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtXupZWETyv
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAkiz5cMjVI
“I trust you’ll get started as soon as possible,” Mr. Kensington says. “And, ladies, you can come out from under the table now.”788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnNBSF9zVgy
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvvBJW4sGEF
I crawl out with a sheepish smile and Roanna right at my heels.788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ28yCSZwiPd
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqd3EzKBuyz
“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.”788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4v1cMTrNd4
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtq6Qge3S1r
“I think I figured it out,” Roanna says hurriedly.788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSDyAer0ZJg
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGd0DexlRtH
“Please do share,” Mr. Kensington says, leaning back in his chair. His shock of white hair is the brightest thing in the room.788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUXQjRK17qM
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY3zTvB5LY7
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.788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBfL56kYnHM
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHbQtS4ykx8
“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.”788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAhFIxS9Vkh
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ75VTJAoemd
“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.”788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvtbpzOuk87
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQgCx4LK6IC
Roanna’s face lights up instantly. “This was a hospital for psychics?”788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW6lLrQ3qds
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoXVUxXWjQZ
“People who believed themselves to be psychics,” Madame Pommier corrects. “To everyone else, they were simply lunatics.”788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgyAYwlSpdC
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBmcItVY7X6
“They weren’t though, were they?” Roanna says.788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW6C8mc8pfn
788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcPmr3O70Pp
“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.”788Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡagzBqWASbU
Penana
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