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.598Please respect copyright.PENANAVtefy9FdcV
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“It’s Roanna,” she says. “Something’s wrong with her.”598Please respect copyright.PENANAbPTPC4eOs6
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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.598Please respect copyright.PENANAdtm2uOJofy
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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.598Please respect copyright.PENANAVoMOCOtI6u
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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.598Please respect copyright.PENANAW2NQLbjj0e
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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.”598Please respect copyright.PENANA75AXS7Vo1A
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“Thanks for calling me,” I say, crouching down beside Roanna.598Please respect copyright.PENANAGSAEKTuLE3
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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.598Please respect copyright.PENANAu6trxlvr4D
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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.598Please respect copyright.PENANAno0N6EMLeN
598Please respect copyright.PENANAeZNMszJnGx
“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.”598Please respect copyright.PENANA5ApJyAqyJy
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My surprise melts into gratitude. “I think she’s sick. Do you think you can get the nurse?”598Please respect copyright.PENANAClZW6eDnbf
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Hopefully we can’t get demerits for following a deliriously sick person out of her room.598Please respect copyright.PENANAloARsjEKmG
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“Yes,” he says, straightening up. “Wait right here.”598Please respect copyright.PENANAa8ux3iigi5
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He’s no sooner turned the corner when Roanna rises slowly to her feet.598Please respect copyright.PENANAmTKxYtn5eq
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“Ro?” I say, but she walks past with me with her eyes blank and staring straight ahead.598Please respect copyright.PENANA5KcatgzZTT
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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.598Please respect copyright.PENANAxRWIivDGlk
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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.598Please respect copyright.PENANArTcS5NjLot
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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.598Please respect copyright.PENANA5hrT8yOvOo
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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.598Please respect copyright.PENANAA5hR458SwG
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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.598Please respect copyright.PENANA0gl5vVXfQl
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“R-Roanna,” I manage to squeak.598Please respect copyright.PENANAudCUV9sgbD
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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.598Please respect copyright.PENANALPuBn1JgMx
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I slam the door shut and lean against it, my chest heaving. Roanna blinks at me.598Please respect copyright.PENANAeIjYKv31zr
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“Cami? What’s going on? Where are my glasses?”598Please respect copyright.PENANA5ABujDG4b8
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“You mean…you don’t remember?” My heart hasn’t returned to normal.598Please respect copyright.PENANAxthmgWNRzu
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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.598Please respect copyright.PENANAFDrJ7Vxigi
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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.598Please respect copyright.PENANAJU85wfoKpK
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Roanna takes a shuddering breath as I hand her the specs and recount everything that just happened.598Please respect copyright.PENANA6jY3iRsrem
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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.”598Please respect copyright.PENANAgy1aj2DDOg
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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.”598Please respect copyright.PENANAl561KTMDmI
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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.598Please respect copyright.PENANAVTkRuR0jb4