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Since her sister’s mysterious death, Persephone “Phe” Archer has been plagued by a series of disturbing dreams. Determined to find out what happened to her sister, Phe enrolls at Devenish Prep in Shadow Hills, Massachusetts—the subject of her sister’s final diary entry.
After stepping on campus, Phe immediately realizes that there’s something different about this place—an unexplained epidemic that decimated the town in the 1700s, an ancient and creepy cemetery, and gorgeous boy Zach—and somehow she’s connected to it all.
But the more questions she asks and the deeper she digs, the more entangled Phe becomes in the haunting past of Shadow Hills. Finding what links her to this town…might cost her her life.
The main building of Devenish Preparatory was a daunting structure. It was redbrick like the others, but with a double-door entrance and expansive front steps, it was statelier. And it's massive clock tower presided over the campus with an imposing air.
The heavy wooden doors had large wrought-iron hinges bolted onto them, like doors to an old English church. I grasped one of the handles and pulled.
As I stepped into the foyer of the main office, I survey the vaulted ceilings, marble floor, and curving grand staircase. There was a brass sign on the wall in front of me with the word admissions and an arrow pointing to the left. I walked into the office expecting to see some ancient, possibly with a mole on her face, but I was instead greeted by the sight of a guy about my age. He was sitting in a desk chair behind the counter, scribbling on a sheet of paper and looking bored. He is definitely not a decrepit old lady.
We came to a stop in front of a smaller building with white stone moldings around the windows. Its looked even older than the main office, and some of the gray roof shingles had a slight greenish cast. "Well, here we are. Kresky Hall." Graham opened the door for me."So here you are. Safe and sound.". Graham took a few steps back toward the entrance, then stopped and turned to me. "Hey, it's kind of quiet before everyone arrives. Do you want to do something tonight?"
I wasn't surprised to see a historical plaque near the front entrance; the place looked like it was hundreds of years old. I quickly scanned the metal script: Shadow Hills Memorial Hospital...best diagnostic unit in the U.S...originally an almshouse in the 1700's...
...I noticed a discreet sign that had been placed next to the plaque. You are invited to learn more about Shadow Hills hospital, please visit our history museum located to the left of the front lobby
The trees opened up into a circular plot of exposed land. My hands were suddenly cold as ice. Directly in front of me were the ghostly ruins of an ancient graveyard....Every person had died the same year. I surveyed the vast burial ground. There must be at least three hundred graves. I walked up and down the rows more slowly, looking for a death date after 1736. There were a handful from before then, but I couldn't find even one from 1737 or later. Something had happened here---a battle or a plague...
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