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.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhAIq5EIK8o
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqK5Tszabxw
“It’s Roanna,” she says. “Something’s wrong with her.”819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmEMZPXYnmi
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqnAI3hSqir
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.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAfZP24J3tC
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqzVfpTY1GO
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.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOYkx8Gfftk
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhciQ2HLJfw
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.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzNAMzfSW7v
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp1RPpDZFj7
“She just got up and ran out,” Jen says. “Then she came here and sat down. I didn’t know what else to do.”819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ67Tt6XpEzj
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYLGwjl0NLC
“Thanks for calling me,” I say, crouching down beside Roanna.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYHjkpbbONl
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKXOkGQ6Mzl
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.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaeAOBkste5
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9p8QYp4yzl
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.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgnK6R5rJ4W
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKMomBKWn75
“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.”819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeAz3hTKGVN
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxt01q9QLiW
My surprise melts into gratitude. “I think she’s sick. Do you think you can get the nurse?”819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS16xp9MqtC
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvWqKaGzWzv
Hopefully we can’t get demerits for following a deliriously sick person out of her room.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmEp8Lgrdw4
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvbzCtkQi2D
“Yes,” he says, straightening up. “Wait right here.”819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL7BWTAKI4e
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRuU6hfqEtr
He’s no sooner turned the corner when Roanna rises slowly to her feet.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG8QylACDWo
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5nj0UdO7h4
“Ro?” I say, but she walks past with me with her eyes blank and staring straight ahead.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡytOVKdJoAz
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUKuFCf5P4s
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.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkBDMQF607Z
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqgHgpBkh2o
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.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlCXgmJj3sC
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdQtoxkb1dA
As I release my breath, Roanna takes a step forward. I want to tell her stop, but I can’t move or speak.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ47jY9HXdpL
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPZKtxNJA8v
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.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3G8qnEWTKV
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLDediQJh09
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.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXj4RYtJjfS
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH2146Q5LZy
“R-Roanna,” I manage to squeak.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ86U0xtqSvz
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxMWs0RyOmY
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.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡejnMVHmgR6
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ02iIQcTqhy
I slam the door shut and lean against it, my chest heaving. Roanna blinks at me.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU1uShlSatr
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk40knoddkx
“Cami? What’s going on? Where are my glasses?”819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzllBoy0FHU
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvDx6iAFmVZ
“You mean…you don’t remember?” My heart hasn’t returned to normal.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCPqmN1cSzq
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeHyFRuTNAr
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.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCPHAgleINE
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8lRKh8fzwA
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.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXrApZNs7QC
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡImybjY0AqV
Roanna takes a shuddering breath as I hand her the specs and recount everything that just happened.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6srxt2p0Xl
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoeINuEu9Oi
“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.”819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ79e0KPDsDN
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKalD27kdKl
“Ro,” I say, unable to keep a tremor out of my voice. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do this right now.”819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpnyIwOwJot
819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8M83Cta6II
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.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAqkHIrM8kO
Penana
search
Loginarrow_drop_down
Registerarrow_drop_down
