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.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv9jBpCecL1
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLcvdBzq3Sk
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.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbgdAVA9fp7
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Xp3FGeq7m
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.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMpxE4fonij
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrN52x5qsR8
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.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡajUCzAFJjN
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiNCu1YrOV5
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.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9tK971TSfC
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAHU8KqeU0v
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.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfuUOF42r03
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk7To6dUH7K
“Ro, can we—”792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPIQJMCJT09
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5pVja2yAzE
“Shhh!” She’s beside me, pressing her hand against my mouth. “You hear that?”792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCr9YBPxTQb
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOowowUTerZ
I start to shake my head, but then I do hear it: footsteps outside.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOQnWMfFPom
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDiuVwvk37W
“We have to put these away,” she whispers.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOCgGYCa4hz
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCLWehmixQW
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.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXXni5JoAU6
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGzo8pYUebL
Two pairs of legs come in—a woman and a man.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgvf6Q5IRny
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ40YxvQ4Rj1
“You say you can have it completed tomorrow?” The voice is unmistakably Mr. Kensington’s.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpiyw1Dl2wN
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBEZLDBUwKl
“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.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTVFexb3TJ5
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgo7fEOKTJ2
“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.”792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYLGnIl4VvP
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡckgjq7QHmT
Roanna and I share glances. She mouths, “I told you so.”792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLowm4JbbsU
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp1dlk7FJLK
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.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwg3R5BCVCB
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzalpPH7ZOf
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.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1nuQJYOp8L
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡik3LZVgrL9
Roanna mouths something that looks like, “Scrying.”792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTvIDoXg1eV
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzNRLHdH6VP
“Here it is,” Madame Pommier says triumphantly, slapping her palm against the table over our heads. Both of us jump slightly.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOaFvG34KnF
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz73M6EMl9n
“I trust you’ll get started as soon as possible,” Mr. Kensington says. “And, ladies, you can come out from under the table now.”792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzvAkuepnlt
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7knTXxLQ6G
I crawl out with a sheepish smile and Roanna right at my heels.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ790hmDnPJp
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyGRihnHnYF
“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.”792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJejh5lKjp
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYCk7vda3x6
“I think I figured it out,” Roanna says hurriedly.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1g8fLl8bje
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHmMfl2Lc74
“Please do share,” Mr. Kensington says, leaning back in his chair. His shock of white hair is the brightest thing in the room.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjvFRKyXn9g
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡThJqtknbxE
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.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZHz3bCxCu3
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL7SREevol6
“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.”792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYfBGjwB7Vg
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxZohmFSj9X
“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.”792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnLdgM7kuCW
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwAvdMZXShP
Roanna’s face lights up instantly. “This was a hospital for psychics?”792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzfGDt1ewi1
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP7lknapvWY
“People who believed themselves to be psychics,” Madame Pommier corrects. “To everyone else, they were simply lunatics.”792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfha89H56wx
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLSJtmfdD6w
“They weren’t though, were they?” Roanna says.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡapTAMMfqyN
792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOzGo600agb
“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.”792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn1adMGpG50
Penana
search
登入arrow_drop_down
註冊arrow_drop_down
