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.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ68xiIlfdAw
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSLGKYUSITA
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.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhR5mKR6hwa
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjvh7LMQ0VA
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.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr2JK9JmsX3
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgg6cCGoaTc
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.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXOJuMoaefN
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsaRmI7sJdN
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.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxW7mmcVQ2o
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6B5TTF57IJ
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.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSSj1cnSURM
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu0FjCiQ3qk
“Ro, can we—”732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8KPlyyk0iX
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsuRU2fXKpw
“Shhh!” She’s beside me, pressing her hand against my mouth. “You hear that?”732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBaalUxTBYm
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4hT9S7MjZl
I start to shake my head, but then I do hear it: footsteps outside.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXxTQ4irSvi
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIEHdmHwyLl
“We have to put these away,” she whispers.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7J457sSlwl
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHCS7pwZ4I0
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.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjs86WHj7Da
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8MTDenOd75
Two pairs of legs come in—a woman and a man.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvyLe5q5Vz7
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdqByzDcz6j
“You say you can have it completed tomorrow?” The voice is unmistakably Mr. Kensington’s.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ87FZA02wkP
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFNcrAqniCf
“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.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKwz28eNozZ
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOQlQfAHieT
“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.”732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbc1BQ8hfNJ
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgmwnEosqkn
Roanna and I share glances. She mouths, “I told you so.”732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZZAvj4bf6u
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJfOxtnSszq
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.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzu5SsECG0h
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ysmyCx9ZJ
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.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfF8z3PGsu3
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxazMHchsa7
Roanna mouths something that looks like, “Scrying.”732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0RQHrVSrKt
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVmFunZ6oCx
“Here it is,” Madame Pommier says triumphantly, slapping her palm against the table over our heads. Both of us jump slightly.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNPmEVGmzJ8
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjlPoXgyiZq
“I trust you’ll get started as soon as possible,” Mr. Kensington says. “And, ladies, you can come out from under the table now.”732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYzjPrp6msX
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaqGsAnoFYY
I crawl out with a sheepish smile and Roanna right at my heels.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6u0LfUSz9E
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9dGJ79shxx
“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.”732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrR00v8ACHQ
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ISRXoGVvw
“I think I figured it out,” Roanna says hurriedly.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHYUlQFZ3hi
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiiZCM9NzIk
“Please do share,” Mr. Kensington says, leaning back in his chair. His shock of white hair is the brightest thing in the room.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQxppNIoOiX
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTtmE1cL2l
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.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdZGAhHvNT7
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHB5noNJEPe
“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.”732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLmBfQplNcX
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcHKEKN4pVl
“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.”732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx5zODGSKRT
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpXP3puAfcq
Roanna’s face lights up instantly. “This was a hospital for psychics?”732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQfH8aC8uK2
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPfYuACzMr5
“People who believed themselves to be psychics,” Madame Pommier corrects. “To everyone else, they were simply lunatics.”732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjlAhyUhkhE
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOCyIG7geIX
“They weren’t though, were they?” Roanna says.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkKhzJMdxRh
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6qp2FnsNB1
“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.”732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdwh2oTFiVE
Penana
search
Loginarrow_drop_down
Registerarrow_drop_down
