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I walked byThere was an arbor covered with ivy A statue of someone whose name I didn’t know The air was moist and cool around s and found le rower slid across the water, looking backward, ic, but the ainst the current, and I wondered how he made it appear so easy

“Fancy seeing you here”

The voice cut through ht, but I didn’t startle; I turned

“So did you get it?” my best friend, Bex, asked Her British accent was even thicker in her native land, and her s arms The wind blew her black hair away froer, so I held up the key card I had slipped out of Dr Holt’s pocket

“Are you ready?” I asked

She looped her arh mine “Cammie, my dear, I was born ready,” she said, and then she walked up to Crawley Hall and swiped

When the light flashed green she said, “Come on”

Chapter Two

Crawley Hall seemed empty as Bex and I closed its doors behind us Our footsteps echoed in the corridor We passed heavy wooden arches and stained glass s It felt more like a museum than a school, and not for the first time in my life I walked down the hallowed halls of education, totally breaking the rules

“So, what do you think, Cairl? Or do you fancy yourself as more Oxonian?”

“Oxonian?” I repeated

“It’s a word Now, answer the question” Bex shrugged and leaned against a door that was unlike the others we had passed—not heavy wood, but steel Security cale her way inside

“Cah,” I said

“So, no Cae” Bex nodded “How about Yale? Or you could always join ether, out in the real world”

“Bex,” I said, rolling my eyes “We don’t have time for this”

“What?” Bex asked She put her hands on her hips and squinted at me “It’s winter break”

“I know”

“And we’re seniors”

“I know,” I said again

“So aren’t you…curious?”

“About what?”

“About life Out there Life!” she said again “Tell row up?”

We’d reached another door, and I stopped, looked up at the camera that monitored the entrance, and whispered, “Alive”

Thirty seconds later ere standing in the entrance hall of the largest library I had ever seen Old oak tables filled the center of the roo every wall First editions of Thackeray and Forster sat behind protective glass, and Bex and I walked alone through the empty room like a pair of extremely literate thieves

We clih a

“We should have brought Liz,” I said, thinking about how our smallest, smartest, and…well…nerdiest roommate would have loved it there; but when Bex came to an abrupt stop, I remembered why Liz wasn’t allowed on that particular type of field trip

I peered around Bex’s shoulder in tihts were off and the corridor was still, yet a figure cut through the light that strealass s, like a puppet in a show that only ere supposed to see

I heard a door open and close, and slowly Bex and I eased out onto the landing and padded softly down a narrow hallway to where a door stood slightly ajar

We paused for a moment, and Bex mouthed the words You sure?

But I didn’t answer I’d come too far—I wanted this too much So I didn’t hesitate I just pushed open the door and walked into the room, ht find

“Stop!” thesecurity” He spoke rapid-fire, barely breathing in between deh time to answer

“Put your hands up Up! Put theh he didn’t hold a weapon His hair was overgrown and gray He wore a dirty, wrinkled suit and looked like he hadn’t showered in days

“Mr Knight?” Bex asked She inched closer “Sir Walter Knight?”

“This area is restricted,” he shouted again “The campus is closed You aren’t supposed to be here”

“I’s,” I said “My naan” As soon as I said the words, a shadow crossed his face It was like he was staring at a ghost

Me

He was staring at me

I wasn’t supposed to be alive But I was