“Lost in their dreams?” May asked, her magi-chair backing away from Penwell.

“Yes,” Penwell said, gesturing to where the other Mental Notes once were. “Sometimes success is too great for a young girl seeking stardom and they truly lose face of who they once were.”

May shuddered. Images of those faceless girls flickered in her head and the thought she could end up like them.

“Fortunately,” Penwell said, putting her arms around May and Poshleen. “We can put those faces back on with a bit of magic and they will be good as new. It will surely be an ‘about face’ for them.”

Penwell laughed coldly to herself and walked over to the two remaining Mental Notes. They were swirling with imprints of a pinkish cerebral-like matter. “But tomorrow is a momentous day for both of you, these dreams you’ve imprinted shall be finalized. It shall be the riveting debut of THE first romantic dream novel from my students.”

May and Poshleen turned excitedly to each other. Hope was in their eyes. “But…” Penwell said with a loud stop. “There can be only one. The other must pack their bags and languish in obscurity forevermore…or find an independent publisher.”

Suddenly, Poshleen lost all her benevolence towards May, and sneered at her. She silently walked out of the room. “Best you get some rest too, Maylene,” Penwell said. “Tomorrow may bring fortune, or it may simply bring more rain and misery for you.”

“Have a good day, Ms. Penwell,” May said politely and floated towards the door. But before she did, she pulled a kumquat out of her sweater and put it on her head.

Mena and her friends would now know that it was time for them to go too.

***

Mena excitedly hopped from her seat onto the floor. “Did you see that?” she asked as she watched May exit the seminar room from up above.

“What?” Nick asked.

“She put the kumquat on her head,” Mena replied. “Operation: Kumqwatch is over. May’s safe and we can go check out room R-Seven.”

“Right-O,” Nick said, balling up a fist. “I’m game. You on, Bones? Huh, Bones?”

Mena and Nick both turned to Janus who remained transfixed on the floor of the seminar room. “Dead. Dead…” she remarked softly. “I could feel them… dissipate…”

“Feel what?” Nick asked abrasively. “Did Bones here finally lose all the marbles rolling around in her head?”

Mena ignored Nick and approached Janus, gently putting an arm on her shoulder blade. “What did you hear?”

Janus turned around to face Mena and Nick. The mirth and levity that often lingered in the pixie reaper’s eyes had long flown. “I could feel the spirits dissipating from their bodies, flying off into the soul void. Those girls. They won’t be coming back.”

“Whoa?” Mena exclaimed, placing both her hands to her cheeks. “You mean the other girls from the seminar?”

Janus nodded sadly. “All their love, their hope, their light and their darkness. It was all snuffed out.”

“Shut the front door,” Mena shouted. “And the side doors. And the back doors. Lock the house up tight and throw away the key. What IS Penwell?”

“She sure ain’t normal,” Janus remarked, and the pixie reaper sighed. “Death seeing really takes it toll sometimes…”

Mena approached her skeletal friend and gave her a hug. “Don’t you normally like death?” Mena asked curiously.

“Not when it wasn’t their time to go,” Janus said, balling her bony hands up into fists. “Only daddy…and myself, one day, shall decide that for the mortals. Not this Penwell…”

Mena released Janus and stood triumphantly with her hands on her hips. “We cannot let their deaths be in vain. May did her job. Now we shall do ours. To Room R-Seven.”

***

Much to Mena’s surprise, Room R-Seven was right next to the observatory room they were in. It was R-Eight, and R-Seven was beside it. It almost seemed coincidental. Unfortunately, another problem posed itself right from the get-go. Mena reached for the doorknob, but the door to R-Seven lacked a handle. There was only a strange, oval shaped keyhole. “Drat rats,” Mena muttered, “How are we supposed to get in. It’s not like X/O gave us a key or anything.”

The young witch got on her knees and peered through the keyhole. A chocolate brown eye looked right back at her and she squeaked in horror. Falling backwards, Janus and Nick caught Mena.

“What did you see in there?” Nick asked curiously as he placed Mena safely on the floor.

“T-there’s someone inside,” Mena gasped. “And they saw me.”

“Oh no,” Janus said, her hands touching her gaunt bone cheeks. “Should we run? We don’t want to get caught.”

Before anyone could elect on a decision, the door creaked open slowly. Mena got onto all fours and crawled towards it, peering inside the sliver of the room she could see. “Uh guys?” she said at last. “There’s no one inside.”

“What?” Nick and Janus both asked in unison.

“It’s an empty room with a blue lampshade in it,” Mena responded, looking back at her allies. “This is what X/O wanted us to find?”

“A-ha,” Janus said, peering in herself. “That must be the ‘light of truth’ that X/O was talking about.”

Mena thought for a second and a grin illuminated her face. “Wowie zowie, it must be a magic lamp. And here I thought that the only magic lamps were the ones that carried genies.”

“Well,” Nick said, rudely shoving both girls aside. “Let’s waltz in, get it and blow this lollypop stand.”

Nick careless strolled into the empty room, followed by Mena and Janus close behind. When they got inside, Mena observed all the busted heat pipes built into the walls, how the floor was missing some titles, and the flaking grey texture of the walls, like the wallpaper had been pulled off it. She heard something pulsate in her ears. “Uh guys, something isn’t right here.”

“Like what?” Nick asked, his hands placed upon his hips. “Let’s nab the swag and get outta here.”

“You’re ever the impatient one,” Janus remarked, rolling her black mascaraed eyes, but Nick ignored her. Instead, making a beeline straight from the lamp, but before he could make it to the other side of the room, a strange black vortex sliced a gap, and everyone screamed. Inside the jet-black hole was the veiny brown eye she had seen within the keyhole. It observed them with an agitated, dilated pupil.

“Wha-what the…?!” Nick screamed as the vortex began to inhale like a vacuum. It tore the Clear Mind medallion straight off his neck and with a loud choke and a stumble, he tried to outrun the powerful suction of the void.

Feeling the pull of the vortex sweep her off her feet, Mena grabbed onto one of the heat-pipes the suction pulled her horizontally. Janus grabbed Mena’s lower leg with her bony hands. Janus looked reassuringly at Mena. “Don’t worry! I’m holding on for dear death!” she cried. “Someone must have set this trap for us!”

Nick followed suit and grabbed Janus’ bony knee as the three of them fought desperately to avoid the powerful suction.

“M-miserable magicaps!” Mena screamed as the void attempted to overwhelm her. “This Evil Eyeball Void of Doom thingy really sucks!”