The moment Chloe and Cherry stepped through the narrow doorway, a shiver ran down their spines. The chamber they'd entered looked nothing like the rest of the museum. It was dim, filled with shelves stacked with ancient objects, and carried the heavy scent of dust and secrets.
Despite their unease, curiosity tugged at them. They took a cautious step forward—just as the door slammed shut behind them.
Chloe gasped. "Where… where is this place?"
Cherry swallowed hard, eyes darting left and right. "Beats me, girl. But it's… weirdly fascinating."
A voice drifted out of the darkness. "Indeed it is."
Both girls spun around. An elderly man stood behind them—the kind of man who looked like he belonged in a different century entirely. His tall frame cast a long shadow, and although his smile was warm, something in his eyes gleamed unsettlingly.
Cherry stuttered, "We're so sorry, sir! We didn't mean to wander in. W-We'll be leaving now."
"Y-yes. We didn't mean to intrude," Chloe added.
The man lifted a hand gently. "No need to apologize. My name is Facilier. You are welcome to explore." His smile deepened. "Just don't take anything without my permission."
Chloe blinked. "Permission? You mean… you'd allow us to take something?"
"Only one item each," Facilier replied, as if discussing something completely ordinary. "An artifact, perhaps."
Cherry leaned toward Chloe and whispered, "Is it just me, or does this man look like he came out of a horror movie? We should get out of here."
"You dragged me here, remember?" Chloe murmured back. "Relax. Let's just look around quickly."
Reluctantly, Cherry followed her deeper into the room.
The longer they walked, the more impossible the objects around them seemed—strange trinkets that shimmered, ancient books with unreadable titles, statues whose eyes seemed to follow them.
Then Chloe saw it.
A pen lay in the far corner of one shelf, silver and elegant, decorated with tiny swirling engravings that seemed to shift when viewed from different angles. Something about it called to her.
At the same moment, a ring resting on a stone statue caught Cherry's attention. It sparkled more brightly than anything else in the room.
"This would totally go with my outfit," Cherry whispered, slipping it off the statue's finger.
"Sir… can I take this?" Chloe asked, lifting the pen.
Facilier studied her with unsettling interest. "Are you sure that's what you want?"
"I… yes. I think so."
"Very well." His smile stretched wider. "An interesting choice. A small warning, my dear—be careful what you write."
Chloe didn't know why the comment made her uneasy, but she nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Facilier."
Cherry added quickly, "Yes, thanks. We'll be going now."
The door they had entered creaked open on its own. The girls exchanged a shocked glance before hurrying out, the mysterious chamber closing behind them as if it had never existed.
Cherry exhaled sharply. "A pen, Chloe? Seriously?"
"It looked cool," Chloe defended. "Plus, it matches my diary. But… honestly? That room didn't feel like part of the museum at all."
"You got that right," Cherry muttered. "Come on, let's catch up with the others."
---
After a tiring day, Chloe finally arrived home. In the quiet of her room, she took out the pen again. It seemed to glow faintly under her lamp. enchanted and exhausted, she placed it with her stationery before drifting off to sleep.
The Next Day
The cafeteria buzzed with chatter as Chloe and Cherry waited in line for lunch. Their peace didn't last long.
Brianna approached with her usual entourage, wearing her usual smug smirk.
"Well, well," she said loudly, "if it isn't clown girl."
Chloe rolled her eyes. She didn't intend to give Brianna the satisfaction.
But Brianna kept going. "Has anyone noticed she buys the same cheap food every day? As if looking like that isn't sad enough."
Cherry stepped forward. "Why don't you mind your own business?"
Chloe added, "Brianna, I didn't know you were studying my lunch habits. What now—jealous?"
Brianna scoffed. "Jealous? Of you? Please. You're way beneath me."
Chloe shook her head and tried to walk away, but Brianna's voice followed, sharper than ever.
"I finally understand you. Your dad left because your mom couldn't keep him. You're nothing but bad luck—just like your waitress mother."
Chloe stopped cold. The world around her blurred.
"What did you say?" Her voice trembled. "Take that back."
Brianna shrugged. "But it's the truth."
"I said TAKE THAT BACK!"
Before she even realized it, Chloe's fist connected with Brianna's cheek, with a hard punch. Gasps erupted throughout the cafeteria.
A teacher rushed in moments later and escorted both girls to the principal's office.
That evening, Chloe's mother confronted her the moment she entered the house.
"Chloe, your school called. Why were you fighting? What is happening to you?"
"I'm sorry, Mom," Chloe whispered. "She pushed me too far."
"You should have ignored her! I'm trying my best for you and your siblings, and you're making things harder. Go to your room."
Stung and frustrated, Chloe stormed upstairs. She opened her diary and grabbed the pen—the strange pen that felt almost alive in her hand.
She poured her feelings onto the page. Every wound, every frustration, every ache. Then, without thinking, without meaning to, she wrote one final sentence:
I wish Brianna would just disappear.
When she finished, her chest felt lighter. She closed the diary and tried to forget the day.
As she slept, the pen began to glow. The diary page shimmered. Symbols pulsed faintly in the darkness.
Then everything went still.
__
Two Days Later
Cherry nudged Chloe in the hallway. "Hey… have you noticed something?"
"What?" Chloe asked.
"Your rival hasn't shown up. No Brianna for two days straight."
"And? Should I care?"
Cherry frowned. "It's weird, Chloe. She never misses school. Not without a reason."
Chloe shrugged. "She'll show up eventually. Honestly… I needed a break from her."
But as the second day passed with still no Brianna—
and as the students, and even her friends acted like nothing was unusual—
a strange, cold feeling settled in Cherry's stomach.
Because it seemed that she and Chloe were the only ones who remembered Brianna at all.