It was a high, shrill sound, like the wail of an animal with its leg caught in a trap, or the screaming of a child who’d just realized they were somehow horribly, inexplicably alone in the world. Miss Lennox dropped to her knees, still screaming. Rowena stumbled backward. Stephanie moved more smoothly. Emily seemed to root in place, becoming an unobtrusive part of the environment. Even Regan and the nameless girl moved, putting distance between themselves and something they instinctively recognized as dangerous.
Only Sumi moved toward the sound. She put a hand on Miss Lennox’s shoulder, bearing down slightly, so that her presence would have both weight and immediacy.
“It’s all coming back to you, isn’t it?” she asked, glancing to Cora as she spoke. Many people would have been surprised by the gentleness in her voice, the understanding; she sounded like a general trying to talk a foot soldier back from the edge. The scattered, sometimes incomprehensible girl was gone, replaced by someone who had seen too much, and would never be able to forget it.
Many people would have been surprised, but almost as many wouldn’t have been. They knew what it was to bury yourself in dreams to escape from the nightmares. They knew what it meant to survive.
“If you didn’t graduate, then you weren’t willing to let go,” Sumi continued. She began stroking Miss Lennox’s hair with one hand. “There was something waiting on the other side of the door, and all you could think about was finding a way back there, back to them. Friends or lovers or family, it doesn’t matter, because they took your name and they didn’t let you go home, and now you’re here and everything is strange and it hurts. I know. I’m sorry.”
Miss Lennox kept screaming.
Sumi had trouble guessing the age of adults sometimes: they got mad when you guessed too high, and sometimes they laughed when you guessed too young. Still, she could tell Miss Lennox wasn’t a teenager, and probably hadn’t been for quite some time. She was probably somewhere in her late twenties or early thirties. More than a decade from her graduation date. More than a decade from home.
Footsteps pounded along the path. Sumi turned to see three more matrons running toward them, cheeks flushed and eyes bright with panic. A decision had to be made. Sumi stepped forward, projecting innocence just as hard as she possibly could.
“We were looking at that plant over there”—she pointed to the flowering bush—“and she started screaming. I think maybe something bit her? I don’t know. Can you help us?” She took a hiccupping breath, allowing her eyes to fill with frightened tears. It was easy to pull her fear forward, to wrap it around herself like a blanket. If this didn’t work, if they didn’t get away …
Cora moved to stand next to Sumi, a reassuring wall of girl, offering comfort through her presence alone.
The matrons slowed to a stop, looking from the still-screaming Miss Lennox to Sumi, and finally to the other students, who weren’t faking their confusion or dismay. Regan looked like she was on the verge of hyperventilating. The nameless girl was half-hiding behind Stephanie, eyes filled with vivid terror.
“None of you said or did anything to trigger this response?” asked one of the matrons. She pointed to Regan. “She isn’t part of your class.”
“She doesn’t have a class, ma’am,” said Cora. “She didn’t graduate, and now the other girls from her dorm don’t want her around. Our matron said she could come on the nature walk, so her education wouldn’t be underserved.”
It was clear from the looks on the matrons’ faces that they didn’t believe her. It was equally clear that something had to give. Miss Lennox was starting to whine between screams, a high, agonized sound that made the hairs on the back of Cora’s neck stand on end. Nothing healthy should make a sound like that one. Nothing sane.
“Fine,” said the tallest matron, voice tight. “All of you, return to your dorm at once. We will send someone to fetch you for supper.” She turned her attention to Miss Lennox. Just like that, they were dismissed.
“Come on.” Cora grabbed Regan by the hand and began dragging her along the path, away from the matrons, away from Miss Lennox. She felt a pang of regret at that. She would have liked to save her. “All of you, quick.”
“Where are we going?” asked Regan. The rest of the girls followed, so schooled in the ways of quick obedience that it was clear they hadn’t considered doing anything else.
“Different places. Come on.” Cora kept walking until they reached the end of the path, where it widened out onto the grassy field, ending at the terrible structure of the school. She let go of Regan’s hand, took a breath, and turned to face the others.
“I’m leaving,” she said. “I’m leaving, and I’m taking Sumi with me, and we’re not looking back. Rowena, I know you want to stay here. That’s your choice. I need to know whether you can be quiet and let the rest of us go.”
Rowena looked from Cora to the others, her normal arrogance melting into uncertainty. “I haven’t told on you yet.”
“We haven’t done anything yet. We’ve talked about doing, and we’ve talked about being unhappy, but we haven’t done. Now is where we start doing. If you can’t let us do, you need to say, so I can put you out of the way.”
Fear sparked in Rowena’s eyes. “You mean kill me?”
“I mean put you out of the way. I don’t think this will take long enough for you to really be hurt. I think it’s all going to happen very quickly now.” Cora looked at her levelly. “I don’t kill innocent people. That’s not what a hero does. But I don’t stand back and let people endanger my friends. That’s not what a hero does, either. You can’t say ‘my hands are clean, that means I’m a good guy’ when you let people stand behind you with knives, ready to slash at everyone you say you want to save.”
Rowena held her breath. So did Stephanie, and the nameless girl. Regan, Emily, and Sumi said nothing at all. Finally, Rowena looked away.
“I’ll be quiet,” she spat. “I want to stay here, but that doesn’t mean I want to hurt—” Her mouth worked soundlessly, unable to find a name to fix on, until she gestured angrily to the nameless girl. “—my friend. I don’t want to hurt my friend. The rest of you can go screw yourselves.”
“Thank you,” whispered the nameless girl.
Cora only nodded. “Okay. Regan.”
“Yes?”
“No one’s keeping track of you right now. That’s a good thing. I want you to go into the woods, as far as you can, and find a deer. Ask them to show you how to get out of here.”
“She can talk to deer,” said Emily. “Of course she can talk to deer. Nothing else makes sense about today, so why shouldn’t she be able to talk to deer?”
“What am I supposed to do if I find them?” asked Regan.
“Wait in the woods.” Cora managed a smile. It wasn’t a very encouraging one. “We’ll be out by moonrise.”
Then she turned and walked toward the building. The others followed, and Regan was left outside, alone.
14?THE POWER OF NAMES