Payment

Paintings

Note: Rewritten but not triple checked for spelling and grammatical errors. If you see any feel free to comment

I followed as fast as I could but it wasn't enough. Ana and Kana were just too fast for me to keep up with. And they were too busy talking to notice that I was lagging behind. So, soon enough I found myself alone in the hallway, left behind by the people who were supposed to show me the way out. I had tried screaming to them, hollered down the hall a thousand times even before I had lost sight of them. But my voice seemed to be swallowed by the never ending walls. It's the same stretch of a hallway repeated, over and over. I didn't get any progress forward.

I wasn't sure how much time had passed since entering, much less how long I had been alone. All I knew was that I was getting nowhere. What was I to do but sit and hope they realized I was gone. My hopes were that they would retrace their steps back to find me. So, I sat in the middle of the hallway and waited.

Time trickled past in an unorderly manner and soon my tired eyes wondered to the walls I had been surrounded by for so long. To be more specific, I found myself looking closer at the painting I had passed over three dozen times.

It was only one painting. Hanging over a little vase of sunflowers, it looked oddly out of place. It depicted monsters covered in fur fighting in a vicious battle against demonic fanged creatures. It was strange, certainly not something I would decorate my house with. It had the same gothic vibe that Dominik's castle had but was instead here, hung on plain white walls.

Daring as I was, I didn't hesitate to raise my hand and glide my fingertips along the paint stroked. They seemed so thick and angry. Mindlessly, I pressed on one hard lump and something tumbled out from behind the painting. It hit the table beneath and slid across the floor.

When I bent to pick it up, I noticed writing on its back. It was old, a scrap of yellowed canvas forming into a nicely cut out square. It was about the size of both hands and must have been folded to fit behind the painting.

I picked it up and ran my finger over the writing as if it would make the letters clearer, more legible. It didn't. Instead I realized that I could feel the paint on the other side. I flipped over the canvas and froze, my hands dropping the square back down to the floor.

It was mini portrait. The subjects were easy to identify. It was almost an identical painting to one I'd seen before. Though, instead of it being strangers, it was Dominik and Kana.

There he sat, on a throne, a golden crown upon his head. Beautiful yet fierce, he looked threatening, far more scary than his dad had. Kana stood beside the throne in an elegant black gown of silk, her hand on her brothers shoulder. Before the throne, at Dominik's feet, were a family of nobel wolves, all with their fur at end and fangs out.

He looked like a king.

My mind raced back to all of the things I had heard over my time with them. Talk of wars and kings, it all didn't fit together. If Dominik was a king it would explain why I heard them talk about laws during their meeting. If Dominik was a king, it would explain why he had so much wealth and power. If Dominik were a king, it would explain why he took finding this killer as his responsibility. But how could he be a king? I would have known, my parents would have known. Maybe this painting was just some coincidence.

"My lady, are you lost?" Came a weak voice.

My head snapped to the side to see a young man, a coach boy. He stood there, hesitant to approach my slump form. My heart raced at the sight of him, at the sight of someone, anyone who could possibly get me out of here. And in my excitement, I quickly took a pause. I hadn't known he was there. But with a murderer roaming the castle, I should be more careful, more aware of my surroundings.

"I-" I didn't know if I could trust this young man. He didn't look familiar at all and neither did he look the type to have been in the loft. A mix of uncertainty and impatience filled me. But ultimately, the point was I needed to get out of here and wait for Dominik. "Yes, I am. I'm supposed to be leaving out of the side exit and it seems that I've been left behind. Could you take me there please?"

"Certainly." He bowed respectfully and began to lead me down the hall. Hesitantly, I followed.

"What is your name?" I asked wanting to strike up a conversation.

Silence wasn't what I needed. If I were going to figure out if he was indeed the killer or not, the only way I would catch him was to get him to talk.

"It's not often someone cares to ask. I thank you, my lady. My name is Felix." Smiling over his shoulder, he had a certain childishness about him he didn't have before. He was actually quite adorable, in a little brother kind of way. It made me forget my worries, even if they still played around in my mind.

"No need to be so formal, Felix. My name is Rozalina, but call me Roza. It is nice to meet you." I smiled back.

"It's nice to meet you too, Roza. You must be here for the party." He asked as we continued down the never ending hall.

"Yes, but its my first time being here. My date was the one who was sent the invitation." I admitted. I didn't want him to think of me as some rich woman. I knew he probably had to deal with many of them in his line of work but I certainly was nothing special.

Looking down at my hands, I noticed I was still holding the scrap of canvas. It seemed to fit so perfectly in my hand. I folded it and stuck it into my hidden pocket, tucking it away as Felix had his back turned.

"Well, I hope you enjoyed yourself. You are leaving rather early, is there a reason why? If you don't mind me asking." Stopping in place, the gruesome scene flashed to the forefront of my mind. I could hear the desperate cries of Loraza resurfacing, all the detail trickling in like spiders.

He didn't know.

Noticing I had stopped, he turned around, confused. "Is something wrong?"

But before I could say anything, something crazy happened.