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.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEJgYWCpvdm
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“It’s Roanna,” she says. “Something’s wrong with her.”822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR0vlRiQp4V
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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.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpBPWSwSgkC
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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.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFtwhaQq7nd
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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.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHvWi1CPMZ4
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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.”822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVftStxMnwO
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“Thanks for calling me,” I say, crouching down beside Roanna.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGsCrGF9RJ3
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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.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT3XGlXUbhd
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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.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZlGNL0mWIb
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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.”822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5SEwYRIanB
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My surprise melts into gratitude. “I think she’s sick. Do you think you can get the nurse?”822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdCVOco0b9O
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Hopefully we can’t get demerits for following a deliriously sick person out of her room.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfVmwcfB9Rb
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“Yes,” he says, straightening up. “Wait right here.”822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8xJO4xWSMP
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He’s no sooner turned the corner when Roanna rises slowly to her feet.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlReKcXAgyo
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“Ro?” I say, but she walks past with me with her eyes blank and staring straight ahead.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbxArlT9zqv
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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.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYxiELfPxg8
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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.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1xBS1obVfh
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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.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWH91EzdO39
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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.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMMmeYASIMG
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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.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlblI9ED7eV
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“R-Roanna,” I manage to squeak.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡApOLoUx1td
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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.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGwHnqsJ2p
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I slam the door shut and lean against it, my chest heaving. Roanna blinks at me.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRAkAthvwP4
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“Cami? What’s going on? Where are my glasses?”822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7lMNVzabLv
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“You mean…you don’t remember?” My heart hasn’t returned to normal.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2gB3ggoCWa
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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.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjJuoaX7rid
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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.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX3EWVLEzlQ
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Roanna takes a shuddering breath as I hand her the specs and recount everything that just happened.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIuOA9axQWn
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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.”822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLCU4qLfXeQ
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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.”822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGfoaJgfiMR
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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.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ86q0u33j9T
Penana
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