3 The Library (1/2)
”Huh? The library? Surely a man like that wouldn't- Hey! Wait up!”
”Sorry dear, but I have to see if its still here...” she doesn't explain much more.
Sophia quietly follows behind.
She is getting nervous because the farther they move from the foyer, the dimmer the lights are getting. ”Um the lights seem to be...”
Ms. Ipruk mutters something under her breath and a little orb of light is conjured up! ”There now we'll be able to see. I hope you weren't scared, dear. If you need to hold my hand-”
”Nonsense! I can handle myself. And I was certainly not scared!”
They have arrived but there was one problem. The doors had a lock.
”I suppose we won't be able to enter the library a shame!”
Ms. Ipruk had a different idea though and proceeded to rip the lock off the door. With her bare hands! She smiles at Sophia and says, ”We can take off the cost of the broken lock on our bill.”
She opens the door carefully this time but they still creek eerily. The library, to no surprise, is pitch black. Ms. Ipruk casts another spell making the light orb bigger! ”Stay close.”
Sophia couldn't agree more.
”Wow..”
The library looks like its been been ransacked! Furniture is broken and books are splattered everywhere. Seriously what happened to this mansion?
”Oh no.” Ms. Ipruk mutters.
She walks inside and seems to be looking for something. Sophia hesitantly follows behind. It's only a few seconds before she almost walks into her because she suddenly stops walking!
”What is it?!” she asks slightly annoyed.
”Hold this.”
She hands Sophia her mask.
”...”
”Unfortunately dear, I can't see clearly with the mask.”
Sophia almost face-palms. She takes the mask and carelessly shoves it in her purse.*
”Teacher, what exactly are we looking for?”
Ms. Ipruk responds with, ”An odd painting.”
Why is she so vague! Odd could literally mean anything! Especially, in a place like this. Sounding a little frustrated she asks her, ”What do you mean by odd?”
Ms. Ipruk was trying to move one of the bookcases but she stops and and turns to Sophia, ”This painting, when I first saw it I was shocked. I was beautiful but incomplete. The woman was missing her eyes.”
”Well that could be unsettling but some people don't have eyes so...”
She shook her head, ”No. I mean that it was obvious the artist painted eyes for her but they were missing. It was as if someone or something cut them out from the painting and then hung it back up. As if nothing was wrong.”
”Oh! Then that's strange indeed. Do you think that this painting could be...”
”Haunted? Cursed? Something else entirely? That's what we're here to find out!” With energy renewed she continued to try and move the bookcase. It was already close to falling apart so she was trying very hard to keep it in one piece. After managing to move it to the side she continued to elaborate, ”Since it's been such a long time I'll admit I can't remember too well but I do recall asking Mrs. Johnson what happened to the painting and she avoided the question. She said something like it was meant to be like that. Which I doubted but, I couldn't dwell on it back then. Until now…”
They've been carefully maneuvering over the chaos of the library for a few minutes. As they're making their way towards the back, Sophia steps on something making a deafening cracking noise.
She almost can't look.
Please don't be something gross please don't be something icky!!!
Oh it's just a locket.
Wait.
Before she can take a closer look, Ms. Ipruk calls for her. She grabs it and hurries over.
”Dear, I think I have found it but can you grab the other end so we can turn it around.”
She complies and helps her turn the painting around.
What in the world?
//What is this?//
How Ms. Ipruk described the painting before, she was completely wrong!
The entire body was missing!
Except for the eyes.
What does this mean?
”Guess I was completely wrong! Haha oops.”
Sophia has always respected how Ms. Ipruk never tries to hide her mistakes. Although, this is too strange.
”Perhaps, it's a different painting after all and be these two are connected?” She tries to reason.
”No. This is the painting from my past. There's no mistaking it. I can't explain it but by looking at it, I have the same feeling as before.”