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.739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC4KxyZCygD
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaFC5Mbcj9W
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.739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡleHfVCtQw9
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDEUyWPo86W
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.739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8HjsGWETNM
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmLtlTMsCq7
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.739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKrFTqudgNn
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡylARKHJDEG
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.739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIkPCXN8gL2
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡav6oczgL51
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.739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdOrb0CsHnH
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFkX9HZeKqq
“Ro, can we—”739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBWxX4J3wej
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDONDeucFWH
“Shhh!” She’s beside me, pressing her hand against my mouth. “You hear that?”739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM3VgXCL8Gd
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwnbH2Wv0ZO
I start to shake my head, but then I do hear it: footsteps outside.739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKjU6Pcg5EE
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ8C4Lm2t6m
“We have to put these away,” she whispers.739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPg29JrKoyI
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡavpqfnfSGr
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.739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg9RwsQ1bzO
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiVuys28dIy
Two pairs of legs come in—a woman and a man.739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8pbAub6VO5
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTEWd8QU5jj
“You say you can have it completed tomorrow?” The voice is unmistakably Mr. Kensington’s.739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGAzrZTtvC0
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8j8gmRoqLb
“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.739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUBS7zBOzxh
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDC2xsS39vQ
“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.”739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8EvSgFxaoR
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQvBtA1LTcN
Roanna and I share glances. She mouths, “I told you so.”739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwRnxe7Ablo
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkx6Y9uEF9g
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.739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6hK8BTRAVR
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkgzXg2jt1r
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.739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡroSGq4qtFy
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwtbdIbhZNd
Roanna mouths something that looks like, “Scrying.”739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDmwe8MUpDU
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ74Bk2JjDGt
“Here it is,” Madame Pommier says triumphantly, slapping her palm against the table over our heads. Both of us jump slightly.739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnY72nwg26u
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ69hg59dRss
“I trust you’ll get started as soon as possible,” Mr. Kensington says. “And, ladies, you can come out from under the table now.”739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLZmeSWZS2v
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDekXVkFPlr
I crawl out with a sheepish smile and Roanna right at my heels.739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuMUUXOWzUU
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVtteNALYZQ
“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.”739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4vdQKjC1aQ
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZN40tbb4X2
“I think I figured it out,” Roanna says hurriedly.739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTmdLUrshCq
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH8Us6x8NqF
“Please do share,” Mr. Kensington says, leaning back in his chair. His shock of white hair is the brightest thing in the room.739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWlcFrRuJB1
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUH5B1XaiXL
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.739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiHf5Gqk8SE
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOrkGgX0R8v
“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.”739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwZeczujjmR
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTR6jP3lcBI
“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.”739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8rZ8dqLzwX
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRqbLKpmwW1
Roanna’s face lights up instantly. “This was a hospital for psychics?”739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkuNwePciKd
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9upF1lz9H5
“People who believed themselves to be psychics,” Madame Pommier corrects. “To everyone else, they were simply lunatics.”739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM7Ei5n3dCA
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRBYHc2aZpl
“They weren’t though, were they?” Roanna says.739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdbMOgRN3rj
739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSqxU0YWV74
“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.”739Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVytXoqCz3r
Penana
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