The old man sat behind the old run-down counter of his antique shop. It meshed well with the rest of the shop, which was cluttered with old trinkets and baubles nobody had any use for. Well, that's what they appeared to be anyway. Among the dusted shelves and creepy dolls were some items with value. A careful eye would come by and pick one out every now and then, but some things in here were special. Magical even. They avoided the sight of most that looked at them but shined to those who were truly deserving.

One of those items walked up to his counter. It was a blue and red dip pen. In the old man’s eyes it shined and he smiled fondly. He looked up to the man standing in front of him, he had good eyes. Good eyes that were unfortunately clouded over in resignation. A good match, for a special item. He rang the pen up and saw the man chew on his lip as if making a decision when he saw the price.

“This is a good item, say, boy. What’s your name?” The man suddenly broke from his stupor and looked at the old man.

“It's Lester.” He replied curtly without much of a thought.

“Well Lester, why don’t you write down your name here and we can talk about payment later. That one looks like it wants to go with you.” He said and glanced down at the pen. It pulsed happily in the old man’s eyes. Lester’s brow wrinkled in confusion, but he nodded, his eyes drawn to the object.

“Yeah. Yeah, I get paid in a few days. I can bring it in then.” Lester said, smiling at the old man who reached under the counter and produced an old piece of yellowed parchment. It was strange, but everything in here was ancient. There was a spot for a signature on the paper at the very bottom as if Lester were signing a contract, but there were no other words on the paper.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“That’s fine. Take all the time you need. I know you’ll pay the price in full. Just sign this contract, we’ll make this official.” The old man said, pointing to the line at the bottom of the page. “Just press the button on the side of the pen.” Lester did so without really putting much thought into it. Ink flowed from the tip of the pen. It was black as night, but there was a colorful blue film atop it. It glistened as each letter of Lester’s name alit the page.

Lester Deak

A fine name the old man thought. Enjoy your adventure. There was a sudden pop and the lights in the shop flickered. The old man was the only one left inside. He leaned back in his chair and rolled up the contract before stuffing it underneath his desk.

/////////////////////////////

This pen writes beautifully. I thought, admiring the thematically red and blue film over top the dark black letters. I couldn’t stop staring at them, my hand moved across the rough old paper slowly. I hadn’t even noticed that I’d fallen into a trance until I finished the last little letter. A beautiful K marked the old yellow parchment. Suddenly a splitting headache began to rear its head and I looked up at the old man to confirm I’d finished signing and ‘POP’ the store was gone. The old man was gone. Hell, even the contract I was signing is gone. I was floating around in the void. Floating might not even be the proper description because I could still feel something beneath my feet.

Had I gone blind? A moment of panic assaulted me and I looked down at my hands. Still there. Hell, even the pen was still there. A voice suddenly cut off my panicked thoughts.

“Welcome, are you here to help?” A soft, feminine voice called out from the void.

“Help? I don’t even know where I am.” I said, glancing around in the darkness.

“I see. That’s unfortunate but ---------- please ---- ---- We need you.” Her voice started to turn all staticy and cut out like she’d lost service while driving through a tunnel. I tried to respond, but my voice caught in my throat. The world started to spin and then--- Darkness.