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.813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg5SHi2ugae
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYNa9SD8p6A
“It’s Roanna,” she says. “Something’s wrong with her.”813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRd81cRZW4V
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy6vuF8mXQs
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.813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXQLbV0Vpnp
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9tRuBcYyT5
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.813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYJFAmCz4Vs
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmGULUZsC2k
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.813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5FHtzMTOqU
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8TNLBNH0p0
“She just got up and ran out,” Jen says. “Then she came here and sat down. I didn’t know what else to do.”813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnyvjw9fL1f
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcNporxKiNW
“Thanks for calling me,” I say, crouching down beside Roanna.813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTtXoSvoS9G
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH2hgeBPgzs
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.813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuvIV3ElMVw
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmsq0g3gkqm
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.813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc5ZiuZhu4E
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTo1690ZddE
“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.”813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTL6XtCLBtm
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK3A9CKzize
My surprise melts into gratitude. “I think she’s sick. Do you think you can get the nurse?”813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaiOLTHpbWu
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEY0VZSszHl
Hopefully we can’t get demerits for following a deliriously sick person out of her room.813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0QBBonJtc9
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnJB6XcqgeS
“Yes,” he says, straightening up. “Wait right here.”813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRIUB27Um8Y
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzUahQaymzZ
He’s no sooner turned the corner when Roanna rises slowly to her feet.813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ14rdkmcygy
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZDEA9H2xY5
“Ro?” I say, but she walks past with me with her eyes blank and staring straight ahead.813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDGTtSAsj2Z
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9KgrMfWW1r
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.813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPyFHlf6arI
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ65FPF31LU8
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.813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgy1SHgNLVd
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwZbvXxAf9t
As I release my breath, Roanna takes a step forward. I want to tell her stop, but I can’t move or speak.813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHEXoAU9vmC
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlYk7xT9nWp
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.813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf54mQBUd6t
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡflmxrjBJ8T
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.813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBSRbaYNcRr
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv0XR8qhdQY
“R-Roanna,” I manage to squeak.813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDCZ5xU3wO5
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMnLywt1c6p
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.813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Lfm8WekDb
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpduOxl2c44
I slam the door shut and lean against it, my chest heaving. Roanna blinks at me.813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxRTwkgpA5T
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0IJLfNvZ0F
“Cami? What’s going on? Where are my glasses?”813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡonmwnSR8ix
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCnrWIQlv4C
“You mean…you don’t remember?” My heart hasn’t returned to normal.813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3dpcDG0xtR
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNOKCqNuL8X
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.813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRksSLHmjN3
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2gYruEtyoW
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.813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1TzkrKUmHW
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlOIkuL3WnJ
Roanna takes a shuddering breath as I hand her the specs and recount everything that just happened.813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu1kKybf1cz
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6HEo7faPpv
“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.”813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Ttj9l2mnK
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU0TuZi5HlB
“Ro,” I say, unable to keep a tremor out of my voice. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do this right now.”813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLIJocZVnqD
813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9QxqUT4VJs
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.813Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpV5j4fmGax
Penana
search
Loginarrow_drop_down
Registerarrow_drop_down
