Malefic [BOOK 2]

Dreaming a Dream I've Never Seen Even in Dreams

All the sculptures were of nymphs, sirens or mermaids. Their eyes were following her every step as they smiled down at her. Their faces made of alabaster looked so realistic that Leo thought they would just crawl down the ceiling any moment and take a bite of her flesh.

What creeped her out, even more, were the paintings. Each wall had a painting hanging on them. Only, all the paintings portrayed only one thing.
A gateway of some sort.

If Leo wasn't been so freaked out, she would have pondered on the art pieces.

There were different art styles. Realist, abstract, cubism and whatnot. But in every painting, Leo could see gateways leading to different worlds.

There was also a person in those artworks. She couldn't care enough to closely inspect them because she could feel the more she stared at those walls, the closer they came to her.

And the piano was getting louder by the second. With notes being played, the walls and the floor shook violently. She felt her feet wobble but didn't stop walking further away from the noise.

Leo was panting. Her eyes were getting blurry making her realise that she was crying. She was scared. The hallway was getting narrower. She had to place her hands against the walls to keep walking.

She felt her chest tighten and oxygen leave her body.

Leo watched as the person in the painting also started walking closer to the frame until she could see a man staring at her with wide eyes. He looked old and tired. He was mouthing setting to her but the only thing she could hear was the piano.

She searched around her, trying to find a turn or an exit. But all she could see was the man in the painting. He was slamming his hands against the surface and screaming at her.

Leo let out a sob. She wiped her face and blinked frantically to get rid of the tears. She wanted to hear the man so desperately but her ears rang with the sound of the piano.

She stopped walking and tried to squint at one of the paintings. The man repeated the same words again and again. She tried to read his lips but she was panicking way too much to understand what he was saying.

That is until the noise stopped and the walls stopped moving closer to her. She felt her ears pop and the paintings screamed at her all at once.

"RUN, LEONA! DO NOT FALL!"

Leo slammed her hands against her ears and screamed in fear until her throat felt raw. She had her eyes squeezed shut and felt her knees giving out. Before she could crumple to the ground, a strong hand wrapped around her waist and held her tightly.

Another hand caressed her cheeks and wiped off her tears.

"Tom," she whispered, feeling a wave of relief wash over her.

She finally dared to open her eyes only to meet the feline gaze of Chen. He was looking a bit disappointed. His hair was neatly swept back with one strand hovering above his forehead. His lips were pulled into a frown.

As soon as Leo realised that it was not Tom, she pushed off the boy and stumbled back.

"What is in that boy that is not in me?" Chen wondered out loud.

Leo opened her mouth to speak but soon found out that her voice was gone. She glared at the boy who was looking smug. Her eyes travelled behind him to find a piano in the centre of a huge room. She finally looked around to take in her surroundings. She was definitely not in the haunting hallways any longer.

She was standing inside a room that looked quite cosy and modern. There was a messy bed with two familiar-looking squish mellows against the white pillows. A small study table with crumpled papers and broken pencils scattered all over only added to the messy appearance. The walls were decorated with paper cuttings of different species of butterflies. There were picture frames hanging on there as well but the glass cover was shattered and the pictures were all scratched. In another corner, a guitar with a broken string was leaning against the wall.