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.854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMzQxcCfdRw
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“It’s Roanna,” she says. “Something’s wrong with her.”854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVe2vKHvq8X
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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.854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxy759215Zv
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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.854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCGUZB6KH9g
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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.854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2vAC5FVgpi
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“She just got up and ran out,” Jen says. “Then she came here and sat down. I didn’t know what else to do.”854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpPLSI9XFL7
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“Thanks for calling me,” I say, crouching down beside Roanna.854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh2fhezM6KU
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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.854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqrpn7aBsyt
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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.854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxHlg7wpgzX
854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbiKIifw7VT
“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.”854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8lupd546AU
854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYW3PPkWftl
My surprise melts into gratitude. “I think she’s sick. Do you think you can get the nurse?”854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ52rRbSfnZI
854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtjOLucN7V8
Hopefully we can’t get demerits for following a deliriously sick person out of her room.854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtq5q44VnRs
854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOrRRCxxE1l
“Yes,” he says, straightening up. “Wait right here.”854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaCz1YNmyrt
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He’s no sooner turned the corner when Roanna rises slowly to her feet.854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPSRJ6BLgtD
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“Ro?” I say, but she walks past with me with her eyes blank and staring straight ahead.854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBMcZYjWxIi
854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡParNn5OEnv
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.854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFuugqyC755
854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5DsPIbtGrr
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.854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9OZX7eaQMB
854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOvbTlSN4BD
As I release my breath, Roanna takes a step forward. I want to tell her stop, but I can’t move or speak.854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeuSs4V2IPj
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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.854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQGnBrX96be
854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkmAPW8tjnl
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.854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt2Qh50YKx2
854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYT5YCIGUKv
“R-Roanna,” I manage to squeak.854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD9II357A5k
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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.854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9c0PuThFGZ
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I slam the door shut and lean against it, my chest heaving. Roanna blinks at me.854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJORxVYslFf
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“Cami? What’s going on? Where are my glasses?”854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3e8yJ3yHwB
854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuk4uwSI1oi
“You mean…you don’t remember?” My heart hasn’t returned to normal.854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxml3405ds0
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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.854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ZVQ2cWsXU
854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLL5aGU6skK
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.854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWYWWjDQV0J
854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeYpuxrX4Oy
Roanna takes a shuddering breath as I hand her the specs and recount everything that just happened.854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlsBnf8g9Ss
854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsywfFDSdG2
“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.”854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvUIX6f57tc
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“Ro,” I say, unable to keep a tremor out of my voice. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do this right now.”854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzFlGd74Pw0
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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.854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5vLSDAkuyq
Penana
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