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.823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡumlOgzkfCD
823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyF4X7T1vuN
“It’s Roanna,” she says. “Something’s wrong with her.”823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡodTdn3IoYG
823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5whOn1AdQt
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.823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhsqybQ9orz
823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEVwJeL1ZCf
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.823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSJs1ufTIq
823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3iP2NNXbNR
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.823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG0MYT7TugE
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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.”823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOrA2Z4OaIu
823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbIWfrwDTH8
“Thanks for calling me,” I say, crouching down beside Roanna.823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqCdONtNDC0
823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSVS3sV3qNc
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.823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR2U58Kldml
823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0iQuJpCDO0
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.823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6kE5DXleBl
823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBG3B5esdqj
“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.”823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMQh2v92KS8
823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwwlyxrrqHw
My surprise melts into gratitude. “I think she’s sick. Do you think you can get the nurse?”823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXHcbIIJ4XC
823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa5PlGW3ys6
Hopefully we can’t get demerits for following a deliriously sick person out of her room.823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4b7OwEzU5V
823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8HiG10kxbg
“Yes,” he says, straightening up. “Wait right here.”823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7S06QchQj1
823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk0HfflnzWO
He’s no sooner turned the corner when Roanna rises slowly to her feet.823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1jgD4Vvw39
823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjiOmorYW2N
“Ro?” I say, but she walks past with me with her eyes blank and staring straight ahead.823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwJbw8YHB3y
823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDN8jvFngAu
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.823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeEyba1a196
823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3hEyO9KQYg
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.823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHVR7xMDh8X
823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa6Pg3z75RY
As I release my breath, Roanna takes a step forward. I want to tell her stop, but I can’t move or speak.823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ497qYGTPFK
823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡESuYJC1FoT
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.823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdDrMJnHyRh
823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVpd4gzqNhF
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.823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpIvZe1o0pW
823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf4nn9OJ8lR
“R-Roanna,” I manage to squeak.823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn8YQxvcL7f
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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.823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNXRgb2a5RI
823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwySXREfJMW
I slam the door shut and lean against it, my chest heaving. Roanna blinks at me.823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjnJIVu38il
823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLD11LQzub8
“Cami? What’s going on? Where are my glasses?”823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWwMsxOrgNS
823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYSciuMYfIV
“You mean…you don’t remember?” My heart hasn’t returned to normal.823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDj53l8fsnT
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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.823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Qr73jtiGC
823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh4GyRwgW95
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.823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDErM47LMar
823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPljTsIJ8Cz
Roanna takes a shuddering breath as I hand her the specs and recount everything that just happened.823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcASu2kPKMC
823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1m9olWJOWB
“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.”823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs77l13besS
823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5fvSSYCGCR
“Ro,” I say, unable to keep a tremor out of my voice. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do this right now.”823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEBm94bjEYE
823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpPH8wJh0FT
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.823Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAgvIJvGXjc
Penana
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