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.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj1IuivS0fJ
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“It’s Roanna,” she says. “Something’s wrong with her.”481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOaTmKL8eJw
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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.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT1P2PQwEXZ
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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.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOBSeO7GogL
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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.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg3hFgi1vpt
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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.”481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgy6Eia3DWi
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“Thanks for calling me,” I say, crouching down beside Roanna.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzsalh5gHa3
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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.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbFSx2T2l4f
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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.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFZraw4N6jP
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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.”481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0jrRkg9wAO
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My surprise melts into gratitude. “I think she’s sick. Do you think you can get the nurse?”481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5NxplkEpSM
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Hopefully we can’t get demerits for following a deliriously sick person out of her room.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4o2WhwcD6q
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“Yes,” he says, straightening up. “Wait right here.”481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZJOW5Rx8G6
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He’s no sooner turned the corner when Roanna rises slowly to her feet.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoYPCgnGRaO
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“Ro?” I say, but she walks past with me with her eyes blank and staring straight ahead.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTLq5VIB14z
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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.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEhy8gGTJEk
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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.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBLFYjw2PYX
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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.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzqhSLAtcYi
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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.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQPrSapNySv
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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.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu6QeDALJPy
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“R-Roanna,” I manage to squeak.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUApbFnwKmb
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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.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG5bGYGlz8M
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I slam the door shut and lean against it, my chest heaving. Roanna blinks at me.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFWGWSEW7kk
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“Cami? What’s going on? Where are my glasses?”481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡler2t5dXNQ
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“You mean…you don’t remember?” My heart hasn’t returned to normal.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1eBF8BZxer
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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.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgUN3qYQrso
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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.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrNoYSMgshL
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Roanna takes a shuddering breath as I hand her the specs and recount everything that just happened.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ60eH65L1H0
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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.”481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPqxp146DAB
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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.”481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUKVEEn3NAX
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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.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEGy15fU1ox
Penana
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