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.607Please respect copyright.PENANArT6DIj1siL
607Please respect copyright.PENANA2uCCQJU30P
“It’s Roanna,” she says. “Something’s wrong with her.”607Please respect copyright.PENANA3NHvmrxw06
607Please respect copyright.PENANAPMSN8q3gto
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.607Please respect copyright.PENANA6YC87NRJJu
607Please respect copyright.PENANAWoLJwnHLSB
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.607Please respect copyright.PENANAcOa25fAhaq
607Please respect copyright.PENANAFKg0Xew1Mo
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.607Please respect copyright.PENANAxIbpHdXjT9
607Please respect copyright.PENANA3TJ1jBBX1W
“She just got up and ran out,” Jen says. “Then she came here and sat down. I didn’t know what else to do.”607Please respect copyright.PENANA1a2E4YydYu
607Please respect copyright.PENANA2jH2oFSdSx
“Thanks for calling me,” I say, crouching down beside Roanna.607Please respect copyright.PENANAAUteezxg6Y
607Please respect copyright.PENANA1ebZh6mYrl
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.607Please respect copyright.PENANAtxm5qh1d4j
607Please respect copyright.PENANAO6XFABNpAI
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.607Please respect copyright.PENANAMD3Ki8QFcn
607Please respect copyright.PENANAajQEp5UnEA
“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.”607Please respect copyright.PENANAuBxYKU8V6k
607Please respect copyright.PENANA99TjZO3jdm
My surprise melts into gratitude. “I think she’s sick. Do you think you can get the nurse?”607Please respect copyright.PENANAol8os2i4TE
607Please respect copyright.PENANAl5BMdQls34
Hopefully we can’t get demerits for following a deliriously sick person out of her room.607Please respect copyright.PENANAlC4NKFn26h
607Please respect copyright.PENANAbQ59BNFte6
“Yes,” he says, straightening up. “Wait right here.”607Please respect copyright.PENANAWhTtNpmYDr
607Please respect copyright.PENANAv68sSBBlek
He’s no sooner turned the corner when Roanna rises slowly to her feet.607Please respect copyright.PENANA7G5OI1fjVX
607Please respect copyright.PENANAtzogzExTwJ
“Ro?” I say, but she walks past with me with her eyes blank and staring straight ahead.607Please respect copyright.PENANAPYEmgEzkXP
607Please respect copyright.PENANAL6ywSkvjfR
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.607Please respect copyright.PENANAQnxs4LlSMp
607Please respect copyright.PENANAVRul6vBhqz
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.607Please respect copyright.PENANAzMO3thQ7rn
607Please respect copyright.PENANAsehzIYFllN
As I release my breath, Roanna takes a step forward. I want to tell her stop, but I can’t move or speak.607Please respect copyright.PENANAcuyjmiJjEe
607Please respect copyright.PENANAmpJgO191ik
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.607Please respect copyright.PENANAg8PyOk2zNI
607Please respect copyright.PENANAsC4QY0MPMl
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.607Please respect copyright.PENANAvE4wl4gdYJ
607Please respect copyright.PENANAMidrMhUD8N
“R-Roanna,” I manage to squeak.607Please respect copyright.PENANAA4IuJ3ZfTk
607Please respect copyright.PENANARxWjssUDUl
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.607Please respect copyright.PENANA5oZeJPV5at
607Please respect copyright.PENANAkwnKyj6UeC
I slam the door shut and lean against it, my chest heaving. Roanna blinks at me.607Please respect copyright.PENANAwbzXK5DG3o
607Please respect copyright.PENANAsqSETPkuRn
“Cami? What’s going on? Where are my glasses?”607Please respect copyright.PENANAMNIxwGNqpp
607Please respect copyright.PENANAJLAgZA11zU
“You mean…you don’t remember?” My heart hasn’t returned to normal.607Please respect copyright.PENANAhirgcgR2WA
607Please respect copyright.PENANA9omdzWQZBR
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.607Please respect copyright.PENANArqXnKMIzT2
607Please respect copyright.PENANA0eBLw5jazv
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.607Please respect copyright.PENANAij8KiyM4YM
607Please respect copyright.PENANAOd8sRE9kEN
Roanna takes a shuddering breath as I hand her the specs and recount everything that just happened.607Please respect copyright.PENANATnrotG9TmB
607Please respect copyright.PENANAtw0RiuJaGd
“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.”607Please respect copyright.PENANAgN5KIFANSs
607Please respect copyright.PENANAe4cqcZUDyi
“Ro,” I say, unable to keep a tremor out of my voice. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do this right now.”607Please respect copyright.PENANAOMwQOPgl6P
607Please respect copyright.PENANAs83Hpw3hYV
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.607Please respect copyright.PENANA6CrFPUAqp4