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.686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRNS1upUxDp
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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.686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvzC91FHfKz
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbhRxZ4Zw2B
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.686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7eFJpcSiVO
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ03BGlGH36H
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.686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR5t4ni8psq
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXCHrq1hBGb
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.686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmbTh8olel6
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUsDH50fZWq
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.686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡENpctyu304
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ahWNj0SKR
“Ro, can we—”686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2snv2v2IdK
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX55BVc519W
“Shhh!” She’s beside me, pressing her hand against my mouth. “You hear that?”686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL7kCGLa2XM
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrFEiKX6Pyh
I start to shake my head, but then I do hear it: footsteps outside.686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6GKdY1sAfV
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwZQQ8oOkug
“We have to put these away,” she whispers.686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqUVO0Fm1Pz
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ35g2DdoZRX
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.686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYyJnW19SHz
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUot8f6OXvT
Two pairs of legs come in—a woman and a man.686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡssUxpJNIbx
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgTKFgtULqQ
“You say you can have it completed tomorrow?” The voice is unmistakably Mr. Kensington’s.686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQU6vI6n1Xd
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIvIk5xSADN
“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.686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLmRwsi7g5F
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuOoOSduoWd
“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.”686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhWdWypQBj2
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRLR4jl3qTB
Roanna and I share glances. She mouths, “I told you so.”686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWdFliyMSKe
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYCpalen5sl
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.686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡazbuKj2LO5
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡraf5cA6Rjs
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.686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7dqvaTOS3I
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLQF6V1dSN1
Roanna mouths something that looks like, “Scrying.”686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwIues2tRWI
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Hymk3A8ML
“Here it is,” Madame Pommier says triumphantly, slapping her palm against the table over our heads. Both of us jump slightly.686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwk0nzk5To5
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA3SYdqn6PV
“I trust you’ll get started as soon as possible,” Mr. Kensington says. “And, ladies, you can come out from under the table now.”686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyuhikEvvZg
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2JMAfJJa6r
I crawl out with a sheepish smile and Roanna right at my heels.686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcrxQeKICPS
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzJYrH46l6D
“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.”686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCFjQjKc5xG
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq6nI3Tb2oe
“I think I figured it out,” Roanna says hurriedly.686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX2bmvlZybG
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzwihtUW76Q
“Please do share,” Mr. Kensington says, leaning back in his chair. His shock of white hair is the brightest thing in the room.686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMtu16i7pee
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDAKGr0rI7d
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.686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡScaiCS8DjF
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAUtA2DAlnu
“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.”686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn2HXUpHlFe
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6y1TWJMNv2
“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.”686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJgne496uoJ
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCbGjPmj4Z6
Roanna’s face lights up instantly. “This was a hospital for psychics?”686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb1IsMBzeAd
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp1u4Z0tS6X
“People who believed themselves to be psychics,” Madame Pommier corrects. “To everyone else, they were simply lunatics.”686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeb8Fj5NWdO
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfXEln89zpd
“They weren’t though, were they?” Roanna says.686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLrweKcEcAb
686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡju46uUuDol
“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.”686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmb7rlKZY0D
Penana
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