Twin Doors (The Museum)

A Chapter by Toki

I know Daniel means well, but I would take him more seriously if he weren't such an a*****e about everything.

SLAP!

"You are such a creep, Jonah!"

Well, he probably deserved that. See that guy with the sore face? You know, with the brown hair and green eyes and that smirk that makes you want to kick him in the balls? That's Jonah. I don't know why I hang out with him, but I do.

"Oh, my. Another girlfriend? You beast~"

That's Vivia. Yeah, the ginger girl with the brown eyes. Isn't she so pretty? She's nice, too, and she never gets angry. It makes me wonder if she kicks puppies when she's alone.

"Honestly, I don't remember. Must've been really drunk."

"You were three kinds of high and insisted on showing her all the fun things to do with marmalade."

The platinum kid is Sh-- Wait, WHAT?! Gross, Jonah! Way gross! God, I feel so sorry for that girl!

"Huh. I guess I deserved that, then."

As I mentioned.

"You definitely have peculiar tastes, Jo." I hope you never learn his true nature, Vivi.

"I will never take you to a party again. Make Cecil drive." Why must you punish me so, God? I don't want to be Jonah's babysitter!

Ugh... Anyway, I was introducing Shou. He's the platinum blonde with the ponytail and green eyes. He's the most normal of all of us. He's nice, but knows when to get angry, he's optimistic, and his camoflauge of the fact that he's batshit insane is God tier.

Yes, he's still the most normal.

His problem? Oh. He has multiple personalities. Sometimes he's Shou, sometimes he's Daniel, sometimes he's a cat named Prince King James III. (Don't ask me, Vivia named him.) No lie, I swear one of his personalities is a cat. He meows and purrs and everything. He's usually in Shou Mode, though, and he's getting better at controlling it.

Me? I'm Cecil, aptly labeled as the generic emo. I shamelessly dye my hair black, wear eyeliner, tight pants, trench coats-- you name it. If you can buy it at Hot Topic, I probably already own it. Well, except for the girls' clothes. I don't quite go THAT far.

Just for a little background, we're all still in high school. Proud seniors. Vivia is head-over-heels for Jonah, who is head-over-heels for anyone but. Shou prefers 2-D anime chicks over real people, and I... uh... never mind.

"So I got tickets to that new mythology exhibit at the museum." Vivia told us on our way to lunch.

"Sounds cool." Shou loved the museum. He usually hung out in the planetarium and talked with the curator. He told us the stars calmed the voices, so we just let him be.

"Man... can't we go to a party of something?" Typical Jonah, the party boy.

"No." I glared at him. "The museum sounds God tier." He pouted.

"Whatever, I'll go." He finally caved. "But only because you went through the trouble of buying tickets." No one can resist my emo glare!

Vivia smiled that perfect smile. "They're for next Saturday. Is that okay?"

"Yeah." We all agreed, even Jonah.

"Awesome!"

God, she's beautiffFFUH, I MEAN VIVIA IS A QUITE THE GENTLEM-- WOMAN.

At lunch, she talked about what the pamphlet said about the exhibit, and all of us just shut up and listened. Shou had a few Daniel problems, but it wasn't anything major. Apparently, his alternate ego didn't like the idea of the Twin Doors, whatever they were. They'll be explained later, I assure you.

Vivia seemed to really be looking forward to our little trip. The excited look on her face made me want to go, too. It was a nice-- however indirect-- feeling.

Shou met up with me after school after Jonah went to soccer practice and Vivia left for her volunteering at the library.

"Hey." I greeted.

"Hey." He returned.

"Still having Daniel problems?" I asked.

"Not really. He calmed down after I got away from Vi." He looked guilty. "I don't know if I'm gonna go." Guilt turned to anger. "Damn right you're not going! That b***h is leading you to a death trap!"

That's Daniel for you. I scowled. This was the only part of Shou I didn't like.

"Dan, let Shou back out." I ordered.

"Hell, no! He wants to go behind my back! I'm just making sure he stays out of trouble." He looked proud of himself. I stared. He thought he was doing good by preventing Shou from having fun? What a dickwad.

"He'll probably just abscond to the planetarium like he always does. After all, he'll do anything to shut you up." I sneered. Daniel seethed.

"I'm not going to let Shou get hurt. Or you. Or Vivia." He paused. "I couldn't care less about Jonah."

I laughed. It was on the inside, but I still laughed.

"Why do you think we're going to get hurt?" It did seem peculiar that he thought we were going to run into some kind of fatal accident while at the museum.

"The Twin Doors. They're not models." He answered very seriously.

"Why is that a problem?" He was starting to sound rather ominous.

"They're cursed-- haunted. Don't you know the legend? The weekend Vivia wants to go enforces the curse."

Ominous indeed. I nodded slowly, taking this in.

"No, I don't know the legend. Care to... elaborate?" I said. Daniel rolled his eyes. It looked dumb on Shou's face.

"If you come into contact with the Doors on a specific day at a specific time, you get possessed by the spirits that haunt them." Daniel recited in an unamused voice. I squinted. Was he implying that Vivia was going to get us possessed? Anyone else could "come into contact with the Twin Doors" and "get possessed by the spirits that haunt them." It could have already happened.

"What, do you not believe me?"

Of course not, you're positively daft! I stayed silent, and turned to start on my way home.

"Shou's going, and so are the rest of us. Vivia was nice enough to buy us all tickets, and you better respect that." I called, not looking back.

"You're gonna regret it!"

Yeah. Sure.

Shou was scarily quiet for the rest of the week, and into the next week. When he did speak, his voice shook, and he didn't look Vivia in the eyes. Poor kid. I couldn't begin to imagine the turmoil that was going on inside him. Damn Daniel, trying to ruin my best friend. And Vivia's plans.

Vivia, however, seemed wholly unfazed by Shou's detachment. Jonah, too, of course, but no one cares about him. Well, I don't care about him. And that's all that matters because I'm the narrator. "Self-serving"? You bet your sweet arse.

The Friday before we were supposed to go came faster than I expected. Vivia practically squealed her every word, she was so excited. Jonah was done with her giddiness, an irritated look seemingly plastered to his face as he glanced at her and rolled his eyes. I was simply content-- her smile is contagious-- but I was a little worried. Shou didn't come to school that day. He sent me a text saying he felt sick, and I believed him. I'd be sick, too, if I had a cat and an obnoxious b***h-machine prancing around in my brain.

I know I shouldn't blame all Shou's problems on his personalities. In my defense, they're usually the cause anyway. Force of habit, I guess?

Nevertheless, Shou arrived at the museum the next day. Early, in fact. Vivia tossed praises at his enthusiasm.

"I need to go to the planetarium." he muttered to me. I gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Want me to go with you?" I asked. He smiled back.

"Sounds cool. And this way, we can give Jo a chance to realize what he's missing." He glanced at our other two friends. She didn't deserve a tramp like Jonah. She deserved someone cooler, nicer, that will treat her right. Like me! Yeah! But she liked him, and her happiness was all I cared about, so I walked with Shou to the planetarium.

As soon as we caught sight of the slowly-rotating done of twinkling lights, Shou relaxed.

"Aah. Quiet." He sighed contentedly, plopping down in one of the uncomfortable movie-theater chairs along the wall. I smiled a little.

"You gonna be okay?" I asked. He nodded, kicking his legs and staring up at the fake stars like a happy little kid.

"You can catch up with Vivia and Jo if you want." he said. "I think I'm gonna catch some Z's now that I've silenced Prince King James III's purring."

"Sounds good. I'll come back later."

"Seeya."

I found Vivia and Jonah a the entrance. Did they wait for me? I could imagine Vi doing such a thing, but I kind of expected Jo to abscond to "someplace more fun", A.K.A. a party. Instead, I found him sitting next to her with his ear-buds in.

"Hi, Cecil!" She smiled and hopped up. I nodded in greeting.

"You ready? The next group's about to leave." I nodded again, following her to the next departing tour group. Jonah trudged, obviously not amused, behind us. We were given little remote thingies and clunky headphones that looked over nine thousand years old and the tour guide lead us on our way.

She was short, with a hideous squeaky voice, and looked like she was 12. She started explaining the displays and I shivered. God, her voice was like nails on a chalkboard. Needless to say, I cranked up the volume on my electronic tour guide to attempt to tune her out.

They had a little bit of everything from a bunch of different cultures. Norse, Greek/Roman, Chinese, Japanese, Indian... All kinds of stuff. It was pretty awesome. I made a pass at holding Vivia's hand, but she just gave me a confused look and put her hands in her pockets.

Well, s**t.

I could hear Jonah snickering behind us at my failed attempt at chemistry. I flipped him a subtle bird, but I don't think he caught it. Oh, well.

We finally reached the penultimate display-- the Twin Doors. I couldn't help but remember what Daniel warned me about, but shoved it to the back of my mind. What an annoying dick, trying to make me worry about nothing.

I noticed something strange then. When the prepubescent female began squeaking out an explanation of the Doors, my headphones crackled out and finally died. I frowned, tapping it against my leg. Nope. Nothing.

"Hm?" Vivia turned around and looked at me expectantly.

"I didn't say anything."

"Oh."

"Vivia," Jonah said.

"Hm?"

"Did you say something?"

"No."

"Weird."

I stared. They were both hearing something I couldn't. What is this? I don't even--

"Don't you hear that?" Vivia muttered to me. I shook my head.

"You don't hear any whispering?"

No. What are you, Shou?

She frowned.

"I hear it, too." Jonah mumbled almost shyly.

What the hell? I can't hear s**t.

"Listen." Vivi said. "I can't underst..." She trailed off, her eyes going half-mast. Jonah was shaking his head, like he didn't want to hear whatever he was hearing.

"Shut up! Shut! UP!" He roared, making everyone go silent. My eyes widened. Whoa.

"If you have a problem, you can leave." The tour guide grumbled. I held in a snicker. It was very difficult.

"N... no, there's no prob..." He became silent. Now, I'm freaking out just a little at this point, because both Vivia and Jonah were going bonkers over some nonexistent voices, and were approaching the Doors. I grabbed Vivia's hand. She glared at me with glassy grown eyes and jerked away. Me-ow. B***h.

"Uh, please don't touch the displays." The guide chirped. Oh, yeah, because they're going to listen. "Don't touch, please!" she repeated. Total disregard. I don't see how they could possibly block out such an irritating sound, but they acted as if they never heard her.

This is the point where I start really freaking out. But how can you blame me? My friend and Jonah had suddenly turned into zombies and were walking towards mythical doors that would supposedly get them possessed. Or something like that. I shoved to the front of the group and tried to grab them.

Whoops. Too late.

Their fingertips brushed against the elaborate mahogany carvings and the brass knobs turned, swinging the Doors open.

S**t. S**t, s**t, s**t, s**t, S**T! What a twist! Daniel was right (for once)! Remind me to listen to him more often! Seriously. Most of his advice is bull, but he was right this time! Whoa!

Something was coming out. It kinda looked like glowing hair. Really long, gold, glowing hair. I pulled Vivia away and threw my arms out in front of her. (One of my more heroic moments. Also one of my only heroic moments.) The locks paused, then brushed over my body. I shivered, but didn't move.* I faltered a bit when I saw Jonah get pulled into the white void and the door slammed shut behind him. My eyes grew wide.

HOLY S**T! WHAT THE HELL? He was gone! F*****g gone! In that door that opened to nowhere! ...WHAT?

"You are not what I am looking for."

Great! Now I'M hearing voices! I was so dazed that I almost didn't feel the golden strands wrap around my neck and toss me to the ground. I felt the cold tile against my head and came to my senses in time to see a flash of curly orange hair and then a door slam bluntly.

...No. No! Not Vivia! You can have Jonah, but leave Vivia alone. Give her back, you stupid door!

I scrambled up and pounded on its worn surface, yelling to give her back. What was going to happen? Was Daniel really right? Why didn't I listen to him? Was Vivia going to be okay? Was that thing going to hurt her? A million questions raced through my mind. I wanted to cry manly, manly tears of manly frustration.

Let her go... Give her back...

"S**t!" I heard Jonah's voice and a door slam for a third time. I looked up. He looked fine. Well... except... There was a mark around his right eye. It kinda looked like a red crescent moon. But I didn't care. Don't you know nobody cares about Jonah? I think I mentioned that before.

I counted the years before Vivia returned. Was it seconds? Oh. It felt like years. A heavy weight was lifted from my chest when the door opened and she stepped out, closing it lightly behind her. She was just as perfect, pale and pretty as ever, with one exception. Three thin, red triangles had appeared below her left eye, points down. Like rays. I couldn't stop myself from gathering her up in a hug and kissing her forehead.

"Um, Cecil?" She tweeted.

"Uh-huh?"

"Can you let go, please?"

"Uh-uh."

"Oh, no hug for me?" Jonah piped up.

"Burn in hell." I answered bluntly.

"Cecil!" Vivia complained. She pushed away from me. I felt like I'd lost a limb. Or my soul. Which is more important?

"We're going home, now." I ordered.

"But--"

"No buts! You scared the hell out of me!"

They gave me puzzled looks. I returned the look at their reaction.

"For what?"

I sighed. "Forget it. Come on, let's go get Shou." I dragged them to the planetarium where I found something almost as worrying as Vivia disappearing for those over nine thousand-bajillion years.

Shou was curled up in his seat with his eyes squeezed shut and his hands over his ears. The curator was sitting next to him, petting his blonde hair, muttering calming coos. I rushed over.

"What the hell happened?" I demanded.

"I don't know." She answered. "He just started screaming, and now he's just like this." She gave Shou a pitying look. I sat down next to him.

"Shou..." I muttered. "You okay?"

He shook his head.

"Do you want to go home?"

Nod.

"I've got Jonah and Vivia--"

Shake, shake, shake.

"What's wrong?"

Shake.

"We can, uh... go." Jonah offered.

Nod.

"Okay. Feel better, Shou." Vivia smiled, then left with Jonah. It was a long time before he finally relaxed, even if it was only a tiny bit. God, this day. And I thought today was going to be fun. And normal. Ha. Very funny, fate.

"Shou," I whispered. He still hadn't opened his eyes. "Bro, they're gone."

Nod.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"Daniel yelled at me, and then Prince King James III got all pissy because Daniel was yelling too much and then he started yelling at Daniel for yelling so much." His voice was hoarse and cracked, probably from screaming earlier.

"Why?"

"Because of..." He paused. "It ain't none of your f****n' business."

"Shut up, Daniel."

"I told you so."

"I said, shut up, Daniel."

"You got them both possessed."

"Shut up, Daniel! Vivia and Jonah are fine! You don't have to yell at Shou! He wasn't involved!"

"I'll do what I damn well please." Daniel rumbled. Hot anger burned in my chest.

"That's not even your body! You can't do anything."

"You don't know that! I am Shou! I'm the person he wishes he could be!"

"Why would anyone want to be like you?"

He really didn't like that. I smirked, then felt something blunt collide with my face. It took me a couple seconds and the taste of warm copper before I realized I'd been clocked. What a jerk!

"On the topic of being an idiot, why didn't you stop whatever supposedly happened to them?" I questioned. He froze, mid-punch.

"I couldn't if I tried." He was suddenly calm. What the hell, was he bipolar or something? I mean Jesus Christ! First he seems content with whaling my face off, and now he's retreating to the emo corner.

"What do you mean you 'couldn't'?" I growled.

"The only way to stop it was to not go. As soon as we set foot on these grounds, fate set its course." He glowered at me like it was my fault.

"Your attempt at sounding prophetic has failed." I mumbled. He shrugged.

"Good luck reversing the damage."

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