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.839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrpOX3nRYV2
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhbg2oLLQe2
“It’s Roanna,” she says. “Something’s wrong with her.”839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmmSLHcyNwv
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmABiBoPMPB
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.839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQgGyI4YBZj
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡttfaMTBdM2
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.839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoTZ1vqDlXZ
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyX5mHFaS9J
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.839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYtxfyN81oP
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡabvqVAXDI1
“She just got up and ran out,” Jen says. “Then she came here and sat down. I didn’t know what else to do.”839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡedxZ2YR0vu
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfz0SJvGN9g
“Thanks for calling me,” I say, crouching down beside Roanna.839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDfIOKxjrHl
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4F9vwQNpxW
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.839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnDpbt9UOtg
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpejNxuP1Eq
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.839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6yaPb3ZAV4
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYYleQrNRFU
“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.”839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTs51PwJJ0i
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO118alDIP1
My surprise melts into gratitude. “I think she’s sick. Do you think you can get the nurse?”839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHiIXeVaBj7
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZpRfJGm6XK
Hopefully we can’t get demerits for following a deliriously sick person out of her room.839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh1Hpyt2kqi
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFHIXqRyrBC
“Yes,” he says, straightening up. “Wait right here.”839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmR07jfhXV6
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUW82Fco627
He’s no sooner turned the corner when Roanna rises slowly to her feet.839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoOqznwla8g
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6rVyYjuV4P
“Ro?” I say, but she walks past with me with her eyes blank and staring straight ahead.839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV1LsWXBfcd
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ11HUg92jqR
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.839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF59dH94j1x
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkVQOWvkSrq
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.839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbEt1FQcddD
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBgqnA6lg7G
As I release my breath, Roanna takes a step forward. I want to tell her stop, but I can’t move or speak.839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBFGM5cIeyh
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs8No8uJhKJ
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.839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCwqpXq7ejX
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4XgDXCv9uT
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.839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBkSFYRzQgT
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlviKXqXhjP
“R-Roanna,” I manage to squeak.839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ03IOGihZ4
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlnSW8oWCzf
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.839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQjrMNrK2bi
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4exn2alRT9
I slam the door shut and lean against it, my chest heaving. Roanna blinks at me.839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡezpijqPt1J
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxp5QZlziKo
“Cami? What’s going on? Where are my glasses?”839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhkEWzf71ru
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwvfgYP0E6L
“You mean…you don’t remember?” My heart hasn’t returned to normal.839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡImM8ZVhyEQ
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY1NYSRyDk0
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.839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSd8BmqfvX9
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLPEeRrwzqB
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.839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDzoolOr05U
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7WNPdxNoVR
Roanna takes a shuddering breath as I hand her the specs and recount everything that just happened.839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe2HtzFiWTR
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV9OAA3X1bK
“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.”839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLi04n9C6F0
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBPWC2FZqtz
“Ro,” I say, unable to keep a tremor out of my voice. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do this right now.”839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY2d45y4Lxp
839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJTechCfiRd
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.839Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYn872mlAL2
Penana
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