The Painter's Fate (Book 3 of The Painter Trilogy)

Unknown

(Someone's POV)

So, this is where she was last seen. I roamed my eyes around the art gallery of Dreamer's university. Nothing looked weird and suspicious. Everything is in order except for an empty table on the corner of the room. Maybe the painting that was used to be there was already bought. I ran my fingers along the edge of the empty table. I was about to walk away when I saw a drop of dark red liquid on it. This must be an acrylic paint or whatever those colorful liquid thing painters used in their art.

I took my pen and my notebook out from my bag and started scribbling, jotting down the clues I gathered over the past days and tried to connect it to the missing person but there seems to be no connection at all.

It has been almost two weeks since my cousin, Rocksien went missing. I had been studying criminal law as an inspiring detective in another university peacefully then I started having dreams of Rocksien asking for help while crying. The dreams kept me from sleeping until I became restless. 

I spoke with my and Rocksien's parents, but they simply laughed at me, claiming that Rocksien is OK and that it is common for her to only phone or visit her parents on rare occasions. I also sought assistance from the university's personnel, but they stated the problem was minor and that Rocksien could be nearby or living at her boyfriend's house, which is common among university students. I also couldn't contact the police for assistance because I didn't have enough evidence that she was truly gone, so I started to investigate on my own. My suspicion is that my cousin did not simply go over to her boyfriend's house to stay. As long as I keep having the dreams then I won't stop until I find out where she is. She could be kidnapped or trapped somewhere.

The gallery seems to be a dead end in this case but for some reason I feel like the gallery has everything to do with my cousin's disappearance.

As I continue examining every crook in the gallery, I came upon a door which looks like it leads to the second floor of the building. Come to think of it. The building is big but the gallery occupies only this floor. I wonder what's upstairs?

Curiosity got the best of me so I tried fumbling on the door knob to see if I can proceed upstairs but it was locked.

"Hey there! How can I help you?" a girl suddenly appeared from behind me startling me a bit.

"Oh! Hi, uhm I was just looking around. I kind of love paintings." I lied at the girl in front of me. My hands are getting sweaty and I feel nervous all of a sudden. I moved away from the door and pretend to look at the paintings.

The girl smiled at me. She appears to be sweet and innocent. She got this angelic face and a bubbly aura around her but I don't feel like trusting people no matter how they appear to me and besides, looks can be really deceiving.

"I haven't seen you around. You're not from here, are you?" she asked without looking at me. She picked up a few paintings then started rearranging them.

"I- -I'm visiting someone here, I'm from out of town." I lied again starting to feel uneasy.

"May I ask who are you visiting?" she investigated further.

"I- -I really can't tell you. I'm about to surprise her, so I don't want to ruin it. In case you knew that person and you might mention me coming around - -" I was not able to finish my long answer when she laughed suddenly.

"Chill! You sound so tense. I'm Hera by the way." She laughed cheerfully then offered her hands to me.

"I'm Riley. Nice to meet you." I shook her hands and smiled at her.

"The pleasure is mine Riley. See you around!" and with that she started walking away after giving me a head-to-toe look but before she went out of the gallery, she looked back at me and said something.

"Try not to poke your nose into someone else's business alright? That'll keep your pretty face safe. Bye!" she then waved at me and went away while laughing to herself. I stared at her disappearing figure as I contemplated on her last words then I got my phone out of my bag and dialled a number. As what we had expected, she thought I am just a visitor.

After a few rings, the person answered.

"I got them." That's all I said before ending the call.