paintings on the walls (just dance story)

6.

-joanna-

a few weeks had pass and my nightmares had been turned into peaceful dreams, well, until i had a dream that i was dead from an apparent suicide. other than that, mother superior had said that we were taking a trip to an art museum today to learn about the deaths behind the paintings. learning about that stuff isn't really my thing, but i have to get extra credit points for sleeping in and coming to training late. right now, i was on the bus, looking at the charcoal gray sky.

"are you excited, jo?" catharine said to me, slightly shaking my shoulder. she noticed the tiredness in my eyes. "i know you're tired from missing out on training, but you gotta get your extra credit points to pass."

"thanks, cathy." i replied sarcastically before rolling my eyes. catharine can be a smart ass sometimes, but that's what i like about her; she is my best friend overall.

"oh lighten your mood up. you wouldn't be saying that about all of those horror stories you've read."

"after that night, i swore i would never read that satanic crap ever again!" i whispered yelled, my voice laced with aggression.

"okay, okay, geez what's up with you lately? you've been acting funny for the past couple of days."

i sighed. "nothing, cathy."

——————

the tour around the art museum was beautiful. there was many historical paintings; some were international such as greco-roman, japanese, french, german, etc. the artists deserve a medal for their hard work and creativeness. right now, we were staring at the last four paintings that had all four people with their eyes covered by either glasses or a mask.

while the tourist was explaining to us about each picture, i heard faint whispering behind me, only to realize i was the last in line. i was so lost in my thoughts that i didn't even hear mother superior call my name.

"joanna!"

everybody looked at me. shaken, i had the courage to speak up.

"i apologize for my short attention span" i croaked, hearing more whispering behind the wall. the tourist announced that all of us would be heading to the dining room to eat and head home.

mariana looked back at me. "are you coming?"

"i'm just gonna stay here for a little bit"

she nodded as she walked away. i continued to stare at the paintings before walking down the dimly lit hallway to catch up with the group.

suddenly, candlelight lit up the hallway, urging me to run back down. how did that happen?

a gloved hand popped out of the picture. "come on sweetheart, we don't bite."

looking back, i had a tight grip on their hand as they pulled me behind the walls.