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.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGTV1JnCRVV
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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.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrhC1cLvQ0h
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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.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0qKLlhlfMw
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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.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkyPa85rBGJ
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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.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfd5biQb3WA
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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.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ36R8zoCv8v
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“Ro, can we—”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmjfVVYyQpk
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“Shhh!” She’s beside me, pressing her hand against my mouth. “You hear that?”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJidoZrktZB
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I start to shake my head, but then I do hear it: footsteps outside.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg4Pafnx8jj
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“We have to put these away,” she whispers.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0M7hPbLfLf
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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.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv7csTnTWm2
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Two pairs of legs come in—a woman and a man.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYleBnjGgiU
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“You say you can have it completed tomorrow?” The voice is unmistakably Mr. Kensington’s.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6hhFWVQzse
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“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.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgnXyxHdZ9Z
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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.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0RFBvKjmnG
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Roanna and I share glances. She mouths, “I told you so.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd1t1jNFdEc
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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.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcvNDGnBw3N
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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.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvjEEnlh8uy
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Roanna mouths something that looks like, “Scrying.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDPZwZDs7wa
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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.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAsZMhCdQps
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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.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWAxxcoXM5e
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I crawl out with a sheepish smile and Roanna right at my heels.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9UYo6JoyAX
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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.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8T8NS7aFrM
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“I think I figured it out,” Roanna says hurriedly.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNW3qNv7v8t
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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.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡear7Ne3E3C
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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.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt4RJM1fOTj
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“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.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQluJEqdfe4
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“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.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡci9hglQHv1
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Roanna’s face lights up instantly. “This was a hospital for psychics?”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvMVPvfiuHw
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“People who believed themselves to be psychics,” Madame Pommier corrects. “To everyone else, they were simply lunatics.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8yV3hRjvt3
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“They weren’t though, were they?” Roanna says.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjijxvOSLiE
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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.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡICd2mLZUr5
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