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.696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXiz2Tie8eF
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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.696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9u2JznCA9e
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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.696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFv5ZiMoxon
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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.696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeGcwdI4QoS
696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqON3VTHEvw
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.696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfS18vOXFcF
696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsuYBdj1sSa
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.696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5oGv0UFDf4
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“Ro, can we—”696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKyi78M3KlA
696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoFfFSlFxNq
“Shhh!” She’s beside me, pressing her hand against my mouth. “You hear that?”696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBgHFUHqd1U
696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpRdbZoyImJ
I start to shake my head, but then I do hear it: footsteps outside.696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaayvRVUSDJ
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“We have to put these away,” she whispers.696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgnQhbebvLI
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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.696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEiYA2AXELG
696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBWzxMJ5tD
Two pairs of legs come in—a woman and a man.696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHjRymaxpvA
696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSzWG1zR6EG
“You say you can have it completed tomorrow?” The voice is unmistakably Mr. Kensington’s.696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQPK7QtoYmD
696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUeApjPl99F
“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.696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQpXqNUv8iL
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“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.”696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdAjWZKpUxW
696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Px6h9YdRH
Roanna and I share glances. She mouths, “I told you so.”696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNmaUiPd9dT
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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.696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMNcXcFzY5z
696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhMJYkVFLSa
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.696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwLjyGoNh1K
696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9XgbKap802
Roanna mouths something that looks like, “Scrying.”696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY9HstRsCfr
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“Here it is,” Madame Pommier says triumphantly, slapping her palm against the table over our heads. Both of us jump slightly.696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuRIcoxUdIl
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“I trust you’ll get started as soon as possible,” Mr. Kensington says. “And, ladies, you can come out from under the table now.”696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJZviR3uCEc
696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFS3r83HTL3
I crawl out with a sheepish smile and Roanna right at my heels.696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡozx1Vjzm4s
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“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.”696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAeb0KVGYbT
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“I think I figured it out,” Roanna says hurriedly.696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrWV7ULZfrt
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“Please do share,” Mr. Kensington says, leaning back in his chair. His shock of white hair is the brightest thing in the room.696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1KbhU2TeEK
696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsGXEMy7Cq4
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.696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeD416bvLS7
696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLZiPbkNxht
“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.”696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcSowny1aTa
696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg3PlODPHUB
“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.”696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzGkJRWDIbr
696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBC7LdVFNAv
Roanna’s face lights up instantly. “This was a hospital for psychics?”696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZwq09fUvkW
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“People who believed themselves to be psychics,” Madame Pommier corrects. “To everyone else, they were simply lunatics.”696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡafVSc9COcr
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“They weren’t though, were they?” Roanna says.696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtPblozKnV1
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“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.”696Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMrS84aD4SU
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