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.784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLneb9ZVmC4
784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Ytgav1v1M
“It’s Roanna,” she says. “Something’s wrong with her.”784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZlPeoF1TmE
784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRUZzhdweEK
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.784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2mNGcoUM85
784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ62yEn7YmPJ
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.784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAmYpUjJf5z
784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwGNNa4PvYI
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.784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOJ6JCzVGNg
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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.”784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFpCKDSsDtI
784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgSk6MZfOIk
“Thanks for calling me,” I say, crouching down beside Roanna.784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhdokF0UJB0
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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.784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdSLMZaIe44
784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTxdLDgugkm
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.784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4OSrHEJHC9
784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm0clJvYbtc
“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.”784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDbqdqfjAhw
784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjnPudsMdus
My surprise melts into gratitude. “I think she’s sick. Do you think you can get the nurse?”784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Ye0WbRohD
784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbk8rdsNXvX
Hopefully we can’t get demerits for following a deliriously sick person out of her room.784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHeDVyw1q2U
784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzl8zgg74ZI
“Yes,” he says, straightening up. “Wait right here.”784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjBHAL0t4Hg
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He’s no sooner turned the corner when Roanna rises slowly to her feet.784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwYq4UwSeHm
784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhwOYq88L7f
“Ro?” I say, but she walks past with me with her eyes blank and staring straight ahead.784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIpZmv9WQaR
784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN3jSlC45ph
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.784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ClJTMW2g0
784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc6in9dwEoL
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.784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOVNM66I0um
784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPaANGgmf7o
As I release my breath, Roanna takes a step forward. I want to tell her stop, but I can’t move or speak.784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ37WlfSoHbs
784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjsIC1v6VLP
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.784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9mxLOL3MiF
784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKx9kGVPsOr
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.784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVlERImfIIZ
784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWXLTIaoiyw
“R-Roanna,” I manage to squeak.784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEeu03Xk8pY
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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.784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW4TtI2EO1Y
784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTRjb8yMFda
I slam the door shut and lean against it, my chest heaving. Roanna blinks at me.784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2uzV9VOekU
784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0MCkUJ0cYG
“Cami? What’s going on? Where are my glasses?”784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlXAnJaskuJ
784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2z2lvm4dIn
“You mean…you don’t remember?” My heart hasn’t returned to normal.784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYPhXXMbx8A
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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.784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYVLHWYew5x
784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyzcNsH8Lk1
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.784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXSJjhvmMrb
784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxDek2PdfnH
Roanna takes a shuddering breath as I hand her the specs and recount everything that just happened.784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbgcv8aH3Oc
784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQug4pekZmq
“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.”784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkg4ptL7Enn
784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgsZBEV3KCK
“Ro,” I say, unable to keep a tremor out of my voice. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do this right now.”784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgw6LmZkFeP
784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCPXFwRuh4L
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.784Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG8FPIOQJKz
Penana
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