Where It Leads Us

Chapter Fourteen

"Yes, we do," Aaren says, glaring at me.

"Emilia continues to lead us to a white door as she says, "I like buying contemporary paintings." She turns around and continues, "I like to keep these artworks hidden where my friends wouldn't be able to touch them," We all come to a halt as Emilia opens the door.

My mother used to hide her paintings after they had dried. She'd stow them in the empty room next to their bedroom. She'd lock the door and keep the keys hidden from the rest of us. Elise loves messing around with mom's paintings, either destroying or painting them.

Instead of being angry with my sister, my mom hugged her when she found out what she did. I remember mom whispering something in Elise's ear that made her smile. "I'm sorry, mommy," Elise said as she stood beside me, nodding her head, "I'll never do it again."       

My mother sold the portrait that my sister had ruined, and it sold for $19,000. When I asked Elise, what mom had said to her, she said it was a secret she would never reveal. Elise, as far as I'm aware, loves keeping secrets. She absolutely loved it when people told her secrets because it meant they trusted her.

As Emilia entered the room, we followed her. Paintings were hung from top to bottom on the walls. Paintings by contemporary artists, abstract artists, and a few surrealists. It's the kind of room I figured my mother would adore—also, it's the kind of space I'd genuinely love, but why can't I seem to adore this room?

"Here is the painting," Emilia says, standing in front of it. The only free space in this room is the ceiling. Though, I wouldn't suggest hanging a painting on the ceiling.

The painting itself didn't bother me as I was focused on getting the note. My gaze was drawn to my mother's signature and the date on the canvas. The year is 2010. Behind this portrait, I'll be able to find the following note. Now all I have to do is take it—

"Please, don't touch it unless you're planning on buying it," Emilia says. I look at Aaren as I casually place my hand back down.

"Sorry," I say.

Aaren gives me this look before cocking his head in the direction of the painting. "Would you mind showing me where your toilet is?" he asks. "I just need to go badly."

Emilia gives him a friendly smile and says, "Sure." Emilia steps out of the room, and Aaren follows her, whispering before leaving me, "Go get your note."

I swiftly lift the painting off the wall and run my hand around the frame, trying to touch all of the edges and feeling it, wishing there was a piece of paper underneath it. I snatched a piece of paper, poking my finger from behind the frame, almost causing the painting to fall. I quickly grab the canvas before it falls to the ground and adequately hang it on the wall. As I see a number two scribbled on top of the folded piece of paper I was holding, my heart begins to race.

"Sometimes the best moment to sing a victory song is in THE middle of your BATTLE," quoting Jeremy Riddle, as I open the paper and read it.

There was nothing else written on the back of the paper when I checked it. "The battle" was the only clue I received.

Perhaps there's another note hidden behind a painting, as I recall seeing another painting with my mother's signature inside this room earlier when I first walked in. I look around the room, inspecting each painting for my mother's signature, which I quickly locate. I slowly lifted the canvas, trying to re-feel the frame's edges, and felt a piece of paper poking me. I grab it and notice the number four scribbled on it.

I hear Aaren's voice from a few steps away before I can even open the note. When I turn around, Aaren and Emilia are both smiling at what Aaren is saying. They were both smiling as they looked at me.