To escape the dangers of wartime London, Millie has been sent away to Wickford Hall, but what lurks there is far more sinister than anything war might bring.
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THERE'S SOMETHING WICKED STALKING WICKFORD HALL...
As war rages on, Mildred Cunningham...
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After the assembly, Millie and Petra followed the flow of people back to the dorms to drop off their things before dinner. Petra had gone quiet, staring off into space as she walked alongside Millie. Usually, she chattered away, but her uncharacteristic quiet unsettled Millie, and she wasn't sure what to do with it.
"Do you think he's telling the truth?" Millie asked to fill the void.
Petra jolted like she had been startled out of a dream. "Huh?"
Millie tilted her head in question. "Where did you go off to?"
"Nowhere," Petra replied, almost sharp. "What were you talking about?"
"About what the deacon said—that it's his responsibility to ensure we have 'everything we need to thrive' here. Does that mean he'll run errands for us?" Millie punctuated it with a giggle, hoping Petra found it all rather funny, too.
She didn't. Her friend just stared at her. "I doubt it."
A sinking hole opened up in Millie's chest. Why was Petra being so cold? Had she said, or done, something to make her upset? Millie resisted the urge to pepper Petra with questions, knowing that would only make it worse. Instead, she waited for Petra to say something. But her friend only retreated again, sinking back into her thoughts, far away from Millie.
A flutter of panic began to beat in time with Millie's heart.
"Do you want to sneak out again tonight?" she offered with a shaking voice.
Petra shook her head. "I don't think so."
The flutter turned into a thrum. Millie tried to stifle it, to little success.
They walked the rest of the way in silence.
Back in their dorm, Petra tossed her things on her bed with barely a glance, before turning back to the door.
"Where are you going? We need to head down for dinner."
"I have to go do something."
"Do... Do you want me to come with you?" Millie asked, her voice small.
Petra paused, already halfway out the door. She glanced back at Millie, her pale eyes guarded. "No, it's nothing important."
"What about dinner?" Millie added. She hated how she sounded so... desperate. Something cold twisted in her stomach. Had Petra changed her mind about her?
"Go down without me," Petra said, emotionless. "I won't be long."
She disappeared into the hall.
Millie's eyes began to sting as they welled with tears. Squeezing her eyes shut, she swiped at them and shook her head. She tried to convince herself that this was an overreaction, that this was nothing, that Petra's change in mood had nothing to do with her, but nothing helped. She couldn't shake the feeling that Petra was slipping away and soon she would be left on her own, alone again.
