Illusion and Reality

The painting

My mind went numb after hearing those words, “What are you talking about? Where?”

“I don’t know Astrid will tell us about it, come with me,” she held my arm and walked outside the room.

"No one will leave the house until Lucius comes back," Astrid announced as soon as we reached in front of her.

"What happened exactly?" Lily asked nervously as she sat down.

I took a seat next to her and waited for Astrid to explain everything. 

Astrid glanced out of the window, “There was an attack nearby, Lucius went to help the survivors,” she gave a curt reply, still looking outside.

“You’re not telling us everything,” Lily crossed her arms, but Astrid sat there quietly.

“We are not kids Astrid. We need to know about the s**t going on here, we live here as well and we can handle the truth,” Lily’s voice was strong, Astrid looked thoughtful after hearing her words.

She pressed her lips in a thin line and inhaled a deep breath, “We got the news about the attack a while ago, it sounded horrific. People were murdered brutally but that was not it, there was a message written with their blood, ‘it is time to end this forever’ Lucius is there right now.”

I was not expecting this, the place seemed more and more dangerous with the days passing by. “Does this happen a lot?” Astrid looked at me with confusion.

“The attacks.”

There was a silence, “No, not a lot,” there was something different in her voice, it was not the usual confident voice of Astrid.

It did not help with my doubt and worries.

"No. That is why we have to stay inside and not go outside alone until they find the person behind this,” Astrid stayed silent after this. Her finger playing softly with the amber-colored stone of her bracelet, a thing which she always did whenever thinking about something.

Astrid stood up suddenly, “I have some work to do, stay inside both of you and I mean it.

“Do you think this happens often? Maybe that’s why they have spells to keep people outside,” I asked Lily, trying to connect the dots, but they were too many.

"I never really thought about it that way, I thought this is a happy place where everything is picture-perfect,” she shrugged and gave a huge smile. I looked at her questioningly.

“Remember the guy I met at the ball?”

“Yes?” I remembered the guy she was dancing with, even though his face was hidden under his mask.

"I met him again. Astrid said she was going to the palace to get some rare herbs from their garden and I asked if I could come with her, so she agreed because we have to look like we belong here. He was there in the garden….. Sam he is just awesome we spent hours talking to each other,” Lily said with a goofy smile dreaming in her own world.

 I smiled at her “I am happy for you Lily, but just be careful. Don’t get too attached, we have to go home someday.”

“I know,” she replied in a small voice, but soon a smile appeared on her face again, “Where were you?”

“I went to see Valeria, our neighbor, I met her at that ball.”

Lily tried to remember her, “Oh, I remember her. I met her during that meeting, she seemed nice.”

Lily picked a random book from the bookshelf.

I sat there quietly looking at her and wondering if I should tell her about my dreams or about Valeria’s painting? In the end, I decided not to tell her anything, she was finally happy and I could not take that happiness away from her.

Soon she got bored with that book, “I am going to my room.”

I stayed in the living room, a part of the reason was I didn’t want to sleep but the main reason was I was waiting for Lucius. I wanted to make sure he was fine, I wanted to know about the poor people who lost their lives.

After waiting for what felt like an hour, I went to the garden, I was almost sure he was not coming home. The fresh aroma of flowers, accompanied by the full moon gave some relief to my anxious heart.

I took a seat on the wooden swing, closed my eyes, and felt the flowery calmness enter through my nostrils and seep throughout my body.

“Can’t sleep?”

I almost jumped from my seat after hearing his voice, I wasn’t expecting him or anyone to be in the garden at the moment. He took a seat next to me, I glanced in his direction silently. The light of the moon illuminated his sharp face, dark messy hair, slightly bowed shoulders. 

“I guess you heard about the attack,” he finally said after he caught me staring at him.

“Did you find the attacker?”

With a sigh, he ran his fingers through his hair, “Not yet, but whoever it is will be punished soon.”

I decided to ask the question running in my head, “How many people died? And how did the attacker entered inside?”

“5 people were murdered….2 families,” came his deep voice, “they were not inside their homes.”

“Any survivors?”

He closed his eyes briefly, “Just a one-year-old kid, the murderer left him alive, his face was soaked in tears but the baby was not crying anymore, he was just sitting in the pool of blood.”

A gasp escaped my lips, how could someone be so cruel.

“No one was there when it happened, not even a single witness,” he gritted his teeth.

I gave a squeeze to his hand, “Whoever did this will pay for it, that person can’t hide forever. Don’t blame yourself for this, you will find him but you can’t let your anger control you.”

He stared at me with a look in his eyes that I could not read, “Hmm….where did you go today?”

“To see Valeria.”

“You should not go outside especially after what happened today,” he said, in a stern voice.

I stood up after hearing this, I was not in the mood to hear what I should not do, “I am not a child I get it you people think I will do something to mess everything up, but I will never do anything to hurt you guys. Lily goes out and talk to other people but I have to stay inside or be with a babysitter every time I leave this house, I am not a prisoner here-"

I couldn't say anything else as I felt his soft lips on mine, my eyes went wide open In surprise it was something I could not expect in a million years. I stood there like a statue then started moving my lips slowly, It was a soft kiss, making my heart beat like a hummingbird in my chest. 

"You are not a prisoner here, this place is dangerous and you do not know about the dangers lurking in the dark. I do not want anything to happen to you,” he said in a serious voice.

Unable to say anything, I just nodded.

“Go to sleep Samara,” he left me standing in the garden with my thoughts. Taking a deep breath I put the hair behind my hair.

I stopped when I saw some moment on the curtains of the living room. Ignoring it I went straight to my room.

Sleep was nowhere to be found, I kept tossing and turning on my bed wondering why would Lucius kiss me? But most importantly my heart was aching for those innocent people and at last, a part of me was thinking about Valeria’s painting, could it be a coincidence or a sign? I needed more information about the painting.