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.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxw3YINPTYQ
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXUF7f7wv0C
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.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMtnk9VDuIP
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqwy8F2DzAR
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.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVV2u3AxlZV
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvwDBLd83XE
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.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuXW2Y7aath
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEy6GFEov0A
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.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxUS4DLwKJ6
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrQbRUyFZxo
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.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyQs5HfTuyl
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVHzPIMBXLO
“Ro, can we—”687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPhUJPnmJaj
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrYgG2Ydm9Y
“Shhh!” She’s beside me, pressing her hand against my mouth. “You hear that?”687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLdT76cyvD9
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsI3QNepJai
I start to shake my head, but then I do hear it: footsteps outside.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaUtV4MCVGL
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡToMomx5iwg
“We have to put these away,” she whispers.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡolRzPvXJku
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5F5DyyBudU
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.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpMfyEpwUT2
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ71oF8MxkSg
Two pairs of legs come in—a woman and a man.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYDJ62C3832
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvg8iYoDFv5
“You say you can have it completed tomorrow?” The voice is unmistakably Mr. Kensington’s.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj3qFsIHmcy
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzolPUBHjiL
“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.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkep3D9Taf6
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXjqzfa58GR
“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.”687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIGJ4dKGT1V
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmeLhxsY6kU
Roanna and I share glances. She mouths, “I told you so.”687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDstoKU9371
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkriy6LvFSG
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.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB5GtyyxakY
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGIKMWcjzUj
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.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5vvspvDv5s
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZJ8sYDuTx2
Roanna mouths something that looks like, “Scrying.”687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbGJ7GSD6mC
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoknYGyWgCm
“Here it is,” Madame Pommier says triumphantly, slapping her palm against the table over our heads. Both of us jump slightly.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqzBd7qGJl6
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ7FWz9uS2n
“I trust you’ll get started as soon as possible,” Mr. Kensington says. “And, ladies, you can come out from under the table now.”687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKjMT3aGWrZ
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYRbWUuaA8x
I crawl out with a sheepish smile and Roanna right at my heels.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7fjvJ2nG4z
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcUSfymiPK2
“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.”687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡstvHybLtl0
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUAtkKOrPKU
“I think I figured it out,” Roanna says hurriedly.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqcdjB8J8mZ
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzkRvcaaZ4p
“Please do share,” Mr. Kensington says, leaning back in his chair. His shock of white hair is the brightest thing in the room.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK2xPJntE0F
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk2MXvFcorC
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.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡattBuoG9Rt
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Y5fRZqUjS
“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.”687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQNwehTDsQG
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡinbxbYM2O6
“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.”687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXhWNoh6fqA
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiyKJNWJHpj
Roanna’s face lights up instantly. “This was a hospital for psychics?”687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbLNuO6FURI
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSI6HT93HWZ
“People who believed themselves to be psychics,” Madame Pommier corrects. “To everyone else, they were simply lunatics.”687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyLsZh5ULQi
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJZNLRoRQ0W
“They weren’t though, were they?” Roanna says.687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4tnuQN9Lew
687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnE5af6HrlP
“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.”687Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwElQi3AQaq
Penana
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