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.741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBNZ4HsANx4
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5LG1YjNgnm
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.741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9difWuD8Dj
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRVjlVnqKzm
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.741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEYsWUh9QDC
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpj3VnQvZPT
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.741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqdmoJtyRNW
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡul1WbGaNsL
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.741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2aIs2k2FAg
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsnU3nHIjEI
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.741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0wHxKFWY1N
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYokE7Stiyv
“Ro, can we—”741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRNrNRfX1j4
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2bI19E6Bei
“Shhh!” She’s beside me, pressing her hand against my mouth. “You hear that?”741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQmcj4Y2g5o
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiOKYynCzD6
I start to shake my head, but then I do hear it: footsteps outside.741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDsokspVPA1
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFZlBA0SUAu
“We have to put these away,” she whispers.741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW4jqrZe50K
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyggFelKkvB
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.741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN3GBAoDQ7z
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKeFmLHmNWx
Two pairs of legs come in—a woman and a man.741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR6VU6hNwxP
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR3Q2PQsDVp
“You say you can have it completed tomorrow?” The voice is unmistakably Mr. Kensington’s.741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7utjAspV58
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqjykgtgXNU
“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.741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb2moxTixr2
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwmiAkdQrEx
“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.”741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAMdemNjz2e
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYwiecOMVic
Roanna and I share glances. She mouths, “I told you so.”741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKj9wmwXCaH
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡamW7ScpIHZ
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.741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiGyCzDRWl6
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh1E49ykElz
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.741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF4fy8FMzeA
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpWeSqSDagf
Roanna mouths something that looks like, “Scrying.”741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNjw2slxLqw
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ79uBwhrPNy
“Here it is,” Madame Pommier says triumphantly, slapping her palm against the table over our heads. Both of us jump slightly.741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjFEJeK1zL0
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs10V6WAKvD
“I trust you’ll get started as soon as possible,” Mr. Kensington says. “And, ladies, you can come out from under the table now.”741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRDjwt56tyf
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKVkGqKA9dp
I crawl out with a sheepish smile and Roanna right at my heels.741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiYIMrDoptG
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXD6R2WIztp
“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.”741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvZCEBFmYg2
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQaod6tLZAc
“I think I figured it out,” Roanna says hurriedly.741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ6jf6DDnsP
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo723vHU8xr
“Please do share,” Mr. Kensington says, leaning back in his chair. His shock of white hair is the brightest thing in the room.741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKComDBhg0N
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRKvAlAQuaa
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.741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ZlsmD90N6
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVT0Atdy0sN
“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.”741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjOkaIBCzBK
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhpcCYTZsvv
“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.”741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4k9hgfKyUd
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsfYltdFwIM
Roanna’s face lights up instantly. “This was a hospital for psychics?”741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPo01qagYo8
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡshSg40qhoO
“People who believed themselves to be psychics,” Madame Pommier corrects. “To everyone else, they were simply lunatics.”741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡghdgsShPLS
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQwYDmdGiy2
“They weren’t though, were they?” Roanna says.741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPLexC8snXf
741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq6qvaVEGCF
“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.”741Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3KrGEGES9X
Penana
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