The Blackfriars Archives: The Forbidden Floor

The Blackfriars Heritage Books building stands tall in the heart of London like a red-brick giant from the Victorian era.

Inside, narrow corridors and spiral staircases hold millions of ancient manuscripts.

But there is an unspoken rule: After 9 PM, staff are only allowed on the 1st floor, 2nd floor, and the basement.

The 4th floor—the storage area for sealed religious and occult texts—is strictly forbidden.

Daisy, a young, enthusiastic junior librarian, was assigned to inventory a batch of rare books before the exhibition.

The smell of old parchment mixed with the scent of rotting wood and a century's worth of dust filled the silent air.



Chloe, Daisy’s colleague, went with her, but they worked at opposite ends of the towering shelves.

While checking the books, Daisy saw Chloe peek her head out from the opposite aisle, smiling.

"Daisy, come over here and help me carry this stack of books, will you?"

Daisy followed Chloe deep into the dark corner at the end of the hallway, where the flickering lights couldn't reach.

When she arrived, she saw Chloe standing with her back turned, busy arranging leather-bound volumes.

But right then, the phone in Daisy's pocket vibrated.

It was a message from the staff group chat: "Everyone down to the main lobby for an emergency meeting, Chloe is already down here!"

Cold sweat poured down Daisy’s neck.

If Chloe was on the 1st floor, then who was the person standing right in front of her?

Daisy slowly backed away, but "Chloe" turned her head.

The face was identical to Chloe's, from the freckles on her cheeks to her silver hair clip.

But its smile stretched all the way to its ears, and its eyes were solid black with no whites.

It spoke, its voice sounding exactly like Chloe's but with an eerily high-pitched screech:

"What's wrong, Daisy? Why won't you come here and help me?"

Daisy turned and bolted toward the old elevator, but it was stuck in the basement.

She dashed into the stairwell, her legs trembling on the creaking wooden steps.

Reaching the 3rd floor, she bumped into Arthur, the elderly security guard carrying a flashlight.

"Daisy! Why are you running like that? What happened?" Arthur asked, looking concerned.

Daisy gasped for air, grabbing Arthur’s arm tightly:

"Mr. Arthur, on the 4th floor... there’s something pretending to be Chloe... it's terrifying!"

Arthur looked at Daisy, his eyes turning strangely gentle:

"Terrifying, is it? Does it look like this?"

As he spoke, the skin on Arthur’s face began to crack like shattered porcelain, revealing Daisy’s own face underneath.

He repeated her words in her own voice:

"There’s something pretending to be Chloe... it's terrifying!"

Daisy collapsed onto the floor in pure horror.

She looked up toward the 4th floor, then down the stairs.

From every dark corner, "colleagues" were slowly stepping out of the shadows.

Every single one of them had the same face: Daisy’s own face.

They surrounded her, laughing in a chilling unison:

"Welcome, the newest member of the 4th floor."

The laughter echoed throughout the ancient building, but in the main lobby, the meeting went on.

No one heard Daisy’s final cry for help as it was swallowed by the pages of the old books.


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