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.778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB9dZGjpXOd
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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.778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmf3QEpj2NL
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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.778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI59Lv4uwDV
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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.778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwueshujNsN
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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.778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvPf1PKG2Vj
778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhaaXVmd5SZ
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.778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwwhpnyh8u1
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“Ro, can we—”778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhBv9Aiw5cC
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“Shhh!” She’s beside me, pressing her hand against my mouth. “You hear that?”778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIPn7Ax2kkg
778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpgDrgBP5Ku
I start to shake my head, but then I do hear it: footsteps outside.778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXyrNtqClC3
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“We have to put these away,” she whispers.778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0WfFUUDhHf
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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.778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnHf1uCBjKV
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Two pairs of legs come in—a woman and a man.778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn9TXFxOzyU
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“You say you can have it completed tomorrow?” The voice is unmistakably Mr. Kensington’s.778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBFFRH73p9D
778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjVwtjNCjvr
“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.778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAJFaimEatC
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“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.”778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw1J39hoNbd
778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlo20Y301NL
Roanna and I share glances. She mouths, “I told you so.”778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOlI4Kwe2Kk
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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.778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWgi6BiAujG
778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlR9Qjk678P
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.778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5rD0Jg5PDW
778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnx5mFiCDXj
Roanna mouths something that looks like, “Scrying.”778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyuPsqijBI6
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“Here it is,” Madame Pommier says triumphantly, slapping her palm against the table over our heads. Both of us jump slightly.778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡExvK9wWqSJ
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“I trust you’ll get started as soon as possible,” Mr. Kensington says. “And, ladies, you can come out from under the table now.”778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡihLoBgKPRd
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I crawl out with a sheepish smile and Roanna right at my heels.778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSWGaVM3HgJ
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“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.”778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGgllJsT0UH
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“I think I figured it out,” Roanna says hurriedly.778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7KagmrVaV2
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“Please do share,” Mr. Kensington says, leaning back in his chair. His shock of white hair is the brightest thing in the room.778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH7IkwQOKrX
778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrARj4Lr813
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.778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ySxvqRSZI
778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSJNzlCej5X
“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.”778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF2Kr6WG96Y
778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqcyLqxgtrn
“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.”778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGR83vftO9r
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Roanna’s face lights up instantly. “This was a hospital for psychics?”778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUkyqXHroru
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“People who believed themselves to be psychics,” Madame Pommier corrects. “To everyone else, they were simply lunatics.”778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7vRdC5dAGk
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“They weren’t though, were they?” Roanna says.778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxTBDhvaSLw
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“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.”778Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzy80n8CHzz
Penana
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