Cursed object

I sat at my desk, staring at the disaster in front of me.

Glue covered nearly every inch of the table. Some had spilled onto my notebook, while another sticky puddle clung stubbornly to my fingers.

“Great,” I muttered.

I sighed and started gathering my things. There was no point trying to clean everything now. I could deal with it later.

I stood up and slung my bag over my shoulder.

That was when I heard laughter.

Before I could turn around, something cold crashed over my head.

SPLASH!

A bucket of water poured down over me.

I froze.

Water dripped from my hair, my uniform, and the tip of my nose. For a few seconds, the classroom went completely silent.

Then everyone laughed.

My classmates.

Their laughter echoed around the room as I stood there, soaked and humiliated.

“What the hell?” I whispered.

Someone laughed harder.

I looked around, searching for even one person who might tell them to stop.

There wasn’t one.

Instead, two of my classmates grabbed my arms.

“Hey! Let go of me!”

They dragged me toward the classroom door.

I struggled against them, but they were stronger than I expected.

“Where are you taking me?”

Nobody answered.

The hallway blurred past as they pulled me farther and farther away from the classrooms. We eventually reached an old staircase that I had never noticed before

The air became colder as we descended.

“Wait… where are we going?”

Still nothing.

At the bottom was an old wooden door.

One of them opened it.

A dark basement waited on the other side.

My stomach dropped.

“No.”

They pushed me inside.

I stumbled forward and turned around just as the door slammed shut.

BANG!

I rushed toward it.

“Open the door!”

I grabbed the handle and twisted it.

Locked.

“This isn’t funny!”

Their laughter came from the other side.

Then their footsteps began to fade.

I pounded against the door.

“Please! Let me out!”I had no idea how long I had been trapped in that basement.

At first, I screamed.

I kicked the door. I pounded my fists against it until my hands hurt. I shouted for help until my voice became hoarse.

But nobody came.

Eventually, I stopped.

I sat in the corner with my knees pulled against my chest, staring into the darkness.

The water from earlier had already soaked through my uniform. My hair was still damp, and the cold air made me shiver.

My phone was useless. There was barely any signal, and the battery was slowly dying.

I checked the time.

Then I checked it again.

It felt impossible that only a few hours had passed.

The basement seemed to change whenever I looked away.

Instead, I kept my eyes on the floor.

I tried to convince myself that someone would eventually notice I was missing.

A teacher.

A classmate.

Anyone.

But the longer I waited, the harder it became to believe that.

Eventually, I forced myself to stand.

“I can’t just sit here.”

My legs were stiff from being curled up for so long.

I began searching the basement again.

I checked behind the old shelves. I pushed aside dusty boxes. I ran my hands along the walls, looking for a window or another door.

Nothing.

Then, just when I was about to give up, my fingers brushed against something cold.

Metal.

I turned toward the wall.

There was a door.

I stared at it.

“How did I not see this before?”

It was almost completely hidden behind an old wooden cabinet. I pushed the cabinet aside with all the strength I had.

The door was narrow and covered in dust.

My heart suddenly raced.

An exit.

It had to be.

I grabbed the handle and pulled.

The door opened.

I stared.

There was no hallway.

No staircase leading back into the school.

Just another room.

A much smaller one.

And it was completely dark.

I hesitated.

“Seriously?”

I stepped inside.

My eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness.

The room looked ancient. The walls were made of rough stone, and the air was noticeably colder.

Then I noticed something beneath my feet.

I looked down.

A ladder.

It disappeared into a dark opening in the floor.

I crouched beside it and stared down.

“There’s another level?”

I couldn’t believe it.

How could a school basement have a hidden room underneath it?

I reached down and touched the first rung.

It felt cold.

Very cold.

I pulled my hand back.

Maybe I should go back.

Maybe I should wait for someone to find me.

But then I looked at the door behind me.

There was no way I could stay trapped there forever.

If this place had another level, maybe there was another way out.

I swallowed.

“Okay…”

I placed one foot onto the ladder.

Then another.

The moment I started climbing down, the darkness below seemed to swallow me whole.

I couldn’t see where the ladder ended.

I couldn’t even tell how deep it went.

Still, I continued

For the first time, I realized I was completely alone.

The basement smelled of dust, damp wood, and something I couldn’t identify. There were old desks stacked against the walls, broken shelves, and boxes covered in cobwebs.

I wiped the water from my face and tried to steady my breathing.

“Okay, Mira.”

I swallowed.

“Don’t panic.”

But as I looked deeper into the darkness, I noticed something strange.

At the far end of the basement stood an old life size mirror.

It was covered in dust.

And yet, somehow…

I could see my reflection clearly.

I took one cautious step toward it.

My reflection smiled.

I didn’t.

I stumbled backward, nearly tripping over my own feet. I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t. My reflection continued staring at me with that unnatural smile.

“Stop…” I whispered.

With trembling hands, I slowly approached the mirror again. Maybe it was just a trick of the light.

I reached out and wiped the dust from the glass.

The reflection changed.

My breath caught.

There was someone standing behind me.

I spun around.

Nobody.

I slowly turned back toward the mirror.

A boy was now standing on the other side of the glass.

He looked around my age, perhaps a little older. His features were almost impossibly beautiful—smooth skin, sharp yet delicate features, and blonde hair that fell naturally around his face.

He looked like someone who belonged in an old painting of a prince

His clothes only made the impression stronger, elegant and strangely old-fashioned, as though he had stepped out of another time.

I stared at him, too frightened to move.

He stared back.

And unlike my reflection…

He wasn’t smiling.

The boy stepped closer to the glass.

“Who are you?” I asked, my voice trembling.

He studied me for a moment before answering.

“My name is Lucious.”

“Lucious…” I repeated.

He gave a small nod. “And you?”

“Mira.”

His expression softened slightly. “A pleasure to meet you, Mira.”

I stared at him, still trying to understand what I was seeing. Then I remembered an old story my grandmother used to tell me—a strange ritual involving a mirror that was said to reveal the face of your future husband.

My cheeks grew warm.

“Wait… are you my future husband?”

Lucious blinked.

Then he looked genuinely confused.

“Your… future husband?”

I nodded nervously. “There’s supposed to be a ritual that lets you see who you’ll marry.”

A faint smile appeared on his face.

“I fear you’ve misunderstood.”

“Then who are you?”

His expression became more serious.

“I am Lucious,a student just like you”

I stared at him.

“A student ?”

He nodded.

“Hundred years ago, I was cursed.”

My stomach tightened.

“Five hundred years?”

“Yes.”

He placed his hand against the other side of the mirror.

“And somehow, you are the first person to find me.”

“How did you end up inside a mirror?” I asked. “And why are you here? a ghost?.”

He smiled confidently.

Almost amused.

“What?” I asked.

He tilted his head.

“You’re curious.”

“I am.”

“I know.”he said then followed by silence

He stepped closer to the other side of the mirror.

Should I run away?I have to get out of this place!

I step back and was about to run away when he suddenly spoke again

“Have you ever heard of a necklace that can grant wishes?”

I frowned.

“A necklace?”

“Yes.”

He spoke casually, as if he were telling me about an ordinary piece of jewelry.

“What does the necklace look like?”

“Silver chain. Emerald stone.”

I suddenly remembered something.

In our school museum there's a big portrait of a woman who is wearing a silver chain necklace with green oval shape stone surrounded with tiny diamonds

My eyes widened.

“You’ve seen it.”

I didn’t answer.

Lucious smiled.

“Of course you have.

““That’s a story for another night.”

“Lucious—”

“Don’t worry.”

He leaned against the mirror.

“I’ll tell you everything eventually.”

“Eventually?”

“Yes.”

He smiled.

“When I know I can trust you.”

I frowned.

“Why should I find this necklace for you?”

Lucious laughed quietly.

“I’m not asking you to.”

“Then what are you doing?”

“Giving you a choice.”

He stepped closer.

“You could walk away.”

He pointed toward the door behind me.

“Forget this mirror. Forget me. Forget the necklace.”

Then his eyes met mine again.

“But if you stay…”

His smile returned.

“You could have the one thing you’ve always wanted.”

My heart skipped.

“How do you know what I want?”

“I don’t.”

He paused.

“But I know everyone wants something.”

His voice dropped into a whisper.

““Find the necklace, Mira.”

I stared at him.

“I don't know who you are and what you want from me?”i stared directly into his eyes” whether you're an aparation, a ghost a demon or what ever you are just know I don't trust you and you're nothing but an illusion”i declared

That was the only explanation that made sense.

Maybe I was exhausted.

Maybe school had finally gotten to me.

Maybe I had spent too many nights alone, thinking about things that weren’t real.

That's right,I'm hallucinating from all the trouble I had since I got to this place

Lucious raised his hand toward the mirror.

“Come closer.”

I hesitated, but stepped forward.

The moment my fingers touched the glass, a strange warmth spread through my hand.

“Now, turn around.”

I did.

The basement door was open.

I stared at it in disbelief.

“But… it was locked.”

“Go,” Lucious said quietly.

I glanced back at the mirror.

He was still there, watching me.

I took a deep breath and stepped through the doorway.

The moment I entered the hallway, the door slammed shut behind me.

I touched my forehead.

Maybe I was hallucinating.

I stepped through the doorway and found myself standing in the school hallway.

I blinked.

Everything looked exactly the same.

The lights were still on. The classrooms were quiet, and the familiar hum of the air conditioner filled the corridor.

For a moment, I simply stood there.

It felt strange.

I had been trapped in that basement for what seemed like hours. I had been cold, frightened, and completely certain that I would never get out.

Yet now…

Nothing had changed.

I quickly looked at my watch.

My eyes widened.

3:17 PM.

I stared at it.

That couldn’t be right.

I remembered looking at the time before Claire had led me away.

3:14 PM.

Only three minutes.

“That’s impossible…”

I checked again.

3:17 PM.

Three minutes.

Not hours.

Not even half an hour.

Three minutes.

I touched my face, wondering if I was dreaming.

Maybe I had imagined the basement.

Maybe I had imagined the mirror.

Maybe Lucious was nothing more than a hallucination caused by fear.

But then I remembered his voice.

Find the crown.

I looked down the empty hallway.

I didn’t know what was real anymore.

Still, something inside me refused to let it go.

If Lucious was real, then somewhere in this school was a necklace that could grant any wish.

And if he was only a hallucination…

I supposed finding out wouldn’t hurt.

I took a breath and started walking.

For the first time in what felt like forever, I woke up with something to look forward to.

Even school felt different.

The same gray walls.

The same noisy hallways.

The same people passing me without noticing.

But somehow, everything seemed brighter.

I caught myself smiling for no reason.

I even laughed when someone bumped into me in the hallway.

“What is wrong with me?” I whispered.

Maybe it was the necklace.

Maybe it was the possibility that things could actually change.

Maybe it was Lucious.

I stopped walking.

Lucious.

What if he really was an apparition?

What if he wasn’t just something my mind created?

What if there really was a person trapped inside that mirror?

I wanted to know.

More than I wanted to admit.

Next day,

After classes, I returned to the abandoned room.

My hands were shaking when I opened the door.

The mirror was still there.

Cracked.

Old.

Silent.

I stood in front of it.

Nothing happened.

I laughed nervously.

“See?”I whispered. “Just a mirror.”

I turned around.

Then I heard it.

“Mira.”

I froze.

My heart slammed against my chest.

I slowly turned back.

Lucious was standing inside the mirror.

Smiling.

“You came back.”

I couldn’t stop myself from smiling too.

“So you’re real.”

He tilted his head.

“That depends.”

“On what?”

“On what you believe.”

I frowned.

“You’re avoiding the question.”

“Maybe.”

He stepped closer to the glass.

“Does it really matter?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because if you’re real…”

“…then maybe the wish is real too.”

Lucious smiled.

And for some reason, that smile made me feel like everything was going to be okay.

Like maybe my life wasn’t stuck the way it had always been.

Maybe I could change it.

Maybe I could finally become someone different.

Someone happier.

At first, we only talked for a few minutes. I asked him questions about the school, the teachers, and the strange things that happened after sunset. He never answered directly, but he always found a way to make me laugh.

Eventually, our conversations became longer.

I told him about my family, my classes, and the things I was too embarrassed to tell anyone else. Lucious listened without interrupting. He remembered every small detail, even the ones I had forgotten mentioning.

In return, he told me stories about the school.

He knew which staircases creaked, which classrooms were always cold, and which teachers had changed the most over the years.

“You sound like you’ve been here forever,” I said one afternoon.

Lucious looked away.

“Longer than I wanted to be.”

I noticed the change in his voice.

“What happened?”

“Nothing.”

“You always say that when something happened.”

He gave me a tired smile.

“You’re becoming difficult.”

“I learned from you.”For a moment, he laughed.

Then the mirror flickered.

Lucious’s expression changed.

The warmth disappeared from his face, replaced by something distant and afraid.

“What is it?” I asked.

He didn’t answer.

“Lucious?”

“I wasn’t always trapped here.”

I stayed quiet.

He stepped closer to the glass.

“I was once a student at this school.”

“You went here?”

“Yes.”

His reflection looked older than usual, though his face remained the same.

“I discovered something about a teacher named Cordella.”

“Who?”

“Cordella.”

His voice became colder.

“She wasn’t the kind teacher everyone believed her to be.”

He looked down at his hands.

“One day, I saw her take a student into this room. She was holding a knife.”

My stomach tightened.

“What was she going to do?”

“She was going to cut his tongue.”

I covered my mouth.

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I only knew that I had to stop her.”

Lucious’s eyes met mine through the glass.

“I tried to help him.”

The room seemed to grow colder.

“She killed me for it.”

Silence filled the room.

“And somehow,” he whispered, “when I died, my soul didn’t leave.”

somehow, instead of disappearing…”

He placed his palm against the glass.

“My soul became trapped here.”

I slowly raised my hand and placed it against the other side.

Our palms met through the cold glass.

“So you’ve been trapped here ever since?”

“centuries.”

His eyes met mine.

“Alone.”

I felt something twist inside my chest.

“Why didn’t anyone free you?”

“Because the person who trapped me made sure no one could.”

“Who?”

Lucious hesitated.

“The teacher.”

His expression hardened.

“She took everything from me. My life. My freedom. My future.”

He looked at me with an expression that made my heart ache.

That was the moment everything changed.

I began searching.

At first, it was harmless.

Old records.

School archives.

Forgotten rooms.

Ancient books.

But every answer only created another question.

Why had the crown been hidden?

Why was Lucious’s name missing from the school’s records?

Why couldn’t anyone remember his teacher?

And why did the mirror sometimes show things that weren’t really there?

I dreamed about myself standing inside the mirror.

Lucious became the person I trusted most.

The next morning, I went to the library.

I told myself I wasn’t looking for the necklace.

I was only looking for answers.

But I knew that was a lie.

I searched through the school’s oldest records first.

Yearbooks.

Disciplinary reports.

Archived newspapers.

Anything that mentioned the abandoned classroom, the mirror, or the teacher Lucious had warned me about.

Most of the records were useless.

Until I found a box buried underneath a shelf labeled ARCHIVED FACULTY RECORDS — 50 YEARS AND OLDER.

I pulled it out.

Dust covered my hands.

Inside were old photographs, handwritten reports, and newspaper clippings.

Then I saw a name.

CORDELLA VANE.

I read the article.

A student brutally killed by its teacher

My fingers tightened around the paper.

I kept reading.

Cordella had been a teacher at the school decades ago.

According to the report, one of her students had discovered its relationship with his student Lucious

She was 23 and Lucius was 22

But the next part made my stomach twist.

The student threatened Cordelia to expose their relationship and she decided to silent her student by kidnapping

Lucious found out what cordella did and tried to stop her.

And somehow…

When cordella decided to end the student life ,Lucious stopped her and it cost him its life

The report claimed Cordella had killed him.

I stared at the photograph beside the article.

A woman with beautiful curly blonde hair and Sharp green eyes.

And around her neck—

A necklace.

The same red stone Lucious had described.

My heart stopped.

“So it really exists…”I searched deeper.

Another record mentioned the necklace.

It wasn’t listed as school property.

I quickly closed the book and rushed back toward the basement.

I needed to see Lucious again.

I needed answers.

And somehow, I knew he was waiting for me.

When I returned to the basement, Lucious was still there.

He stood behind the glass, waiting for me.

“You came back,” he said.

“I found something in the library,” I replied. “And I think I believe you now.”

For the next few minutes, we talked.

Somehow, the fear I had felt around him began to disappear. Lucious told me stories from the past, while I told him about school and the miserable day I’d just had.

For the first time in a long while, I felt like I was talking to someone who actually listened.

We became friends surprisingly quickly.

As we talked, I found myself staring into his deep green eyes.

They were beautiful—almost impossibly so.

I quickly looked away, embarrassed by the strange flutter in my chest.

Why do I suddenly want to kiss him?

Before I could stop myself, I stepped closer to the mirror.

Lucious looked confused.

“Mira?”

I leaned toward the glass and pressed my lips against his.

For a second, nothing happened.

Then the mirror began to glow.

“What—?”

A crack of light spread across the glass.

Lucious’s eyes widened.

“Mira, step back!”

But it was too late.

I felt something grab my hand from the other side.

I pulled.

And somehow…

Lucious came with me.

He stumbled out of the mirror and fell against me.

I caught him, both of us frozen in shock.

He stared at his hands.

Then at me.

“I…”

His voice trembled.

“I can feel the ground.”

I stared at him in disbelief.

For five hundred years, he had been trapped inside that mirror.

And somehow, one kiss had finally set him free.

For a moment, I thought Lucious was finally free.

He took a step away from the mirror.

Then another.

But the moment he tried to go farther, his body was violently pulled backward.

“Wait!”

I grabbed his hand, but the force dragged him through the glass.

He was trapped again.

I stared at him in disbelief.

“There has to be another way.”

“There is.”

Lucious looked at me through the mirror and somehow,there's a crack on it

“the mirror…it's broken “I covered my mouth, too frightened to speak

“What will happen if it shattered”

It will be over for me”he gently smiled

“This is all my fault”tears flowing down from my cheek”you're my only friend”

“You told me you wanted a normal life.”

I froze.

“How did you—”

“You told me about Claire. The bullying. The way everyone at your school treats you.”

He stepped closer to the glass.

“What if you could change all of that?”

I swallowed.

“What do you mean?”

“You could make them forget the rumors. Forget the chemical accident. Forget that they ever called you cursed.”

His eyes held mine.

“You could wake up tomorrow and have the life you’ve always wanted.”

I shook my head.

“That sounds impossible.”

“Five hundred years ago, I would have called it impossible too.”

He placed his palm against the mirror.

“But the necklace can do it.”

I looked away.

Part of me wanted to believe him.

Another part warned me that I shouldn’t.

“You’re asking me to search for something that could be dangerous.”

“I am asking you to give yourself a chance.”

His voice softened.

“You’ve spent your entire life wishing things were different, haven’t you?”

I said nothing.

“Don’t you ever wonder what it would feel like to walk into school without being afraid?”

My throat tightened.

“Don’t you want Claire to stop?”

I closed my eyes.

Yes.

Of course I did.

Lucious continued quietly.

“You could change everything, Mira.”

He paused.

“Your past. Your reputation. Your future.”

Then he smiled faintly.

“Even your own fate.”

I looked back at him.

Then in that moment, the mirror shattered into pieces

**

That night, I went back to the old wing of the school.

The halls were dark.

Every step echoed.

I carried a small flashlight and the photograph from the library.

I searched Cordella’s old classroom first.

Nothing.

Then the teacher’s desk.

Nothing.

I checked the shelves.

The cabinets.

Even underneath the floorboards.

Nothing.

I was about to give up when I noticed something strange.

The photograph showed Cordella wearing the necklace.

But in the background was a tall wooden cabinet.

I looked at the cabinet in front of me.

There was a small carving on its side.

A crescent moon.

I pressed it.

Click.

The back panel opened.

Behind it was a tiny compartment.

And inside—

The necklace.

My breath caught.

The red stone seemed to absorb the light from my flashlight.

I reached for it.

The moment my fingers touched the chain, the temperature in the room dropped.

I should have put it back.

Instead, I closed my fingers around it.

I stole it.

I slipped the necklace into my pocket and quietly left the room.

I didn’t know it then, but the moment I walked out with that necklace…

Something inside the school woke up.

“For the first time, guilt twisted inside me.

I had broken the mirror before he could explain.

And now I wondered if I had destroyed the only way I could ever hear the truth from him.

I want my friend back…

—-“By moon that hides and stars that fade,

By every promise ever made,

Let what sleeps beneath the glass

Awaken now and let it pass.

By whispered wish and spoken name,

By mortal heart and ancient flame,

Break the seal and bend the thread,

Call forth the living from the dead.

What was bound, be bound no more.

What was hidden, cross the door.

Let the mirror open wide—

And let the one who waits inside

return to the world outside.”

I recited the final words of the spell.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then—

I opened my eyes.

The mirror was gone.

I looked around, confused, until I caught sight of my reflection in the glass.

I froze.

It was me.

My face.

My eyes.

My smile.

But something was wrong.

My reflection smiled before I did.

Then she whispered,

“You finally let me in.”

My blood ran cold.

The boy I had trusted.

The voice that had guided me.

The one who promised to grant my wishes.

He had never been a boy.

He was her.

An ancient witch who had used the mirror to reach into my mind, twisting my thoughts until I mistook her manipulation for love.

She leaned closer from the other side of the glass.

“Humans are such fragile creatures,” she whispered. “Give them a little hope, a little affection, a little promise of happiness… and they will surrender everything.”

I tried to look away.

I couldn’t.

My reflection raised her hand.

My hand followed.

“You searched for the crown because I wanted you to.”

My heart sank.

“You trusted me because I made you.”

The mirror cracked.

And for the first time, I understood the truth.

The crown was never meant to grant my wish.

It was meant to give her what she had been waiting centuries for—

a way out.

My reflection smiled.

And as her eyes slowly darkened, she whispered one final thing:

“Don’t worry, Mira.”

“I’m not taking your life.”

She pressed her palm against the glass.

“I’m taking your place.”

opened my eyes.

My reflection stared back at me.

Then it smiled.

Before I did.

“You finally let me in.”

I couldn’t breathe.

The woman from the mirror was gone.

Lucious was gone.

And my reflection was no longer mine.

The witch looked at me through the glass.

“Humans are so fragile.”

She smiled.

“All it takes is a little loneliness.”

She touched the mirror.

“A little trust.”

Her fingers moved exactly when mine did.

“And a little love.”

I stepped backward.

She stepped forward.

“You thought you were freeing someone.”

Her smile widened.

“But you were only opening the door.”

I looked down at the crown.

It had never been meant to grant my wish.

It had been the key.

And I had been the one foolish enough to turn it.

The witch leaned closer.

“Don’t be afraid, Mira.”

Her eyes became mine.

“I won’t destroy your life.”

She smiled.

“I’ll live it for you.”

Who are you….

It's me Cordelia