Runaway - A DEVIL'S NIGHT FANFICTION (PTBR + ENG)

Chapter 30 - Nini

Four years ago...

As the light begins to creep into my room, I feel my body complain and I let out a groan in frustration at not having been able to rest once again. Ever since finals started, I'd been obsessed with spending my free time with Ivar, Mads and Tavi, and when I got home, I'd study until sleep came.

The problem was that sleep hadn't come for days. For this reason, I waited until three o'clock in the morning to get Vince from my backpack, climb into bed and hug him, wishing more than anything to have a moment of rest, but all I got was a few brief moments when my mind switched off.

I hear the sound of a car parking and wonder who could be awake at that hour. However, I know that my mother's job sometimes consists of receiving works that arrive at her house as soon as they land in the country, without even a detour on the part of the carriers. In other words, there have been a few times when my mother has received calls in the early hours of the morning informing her that the pieces or paintings would be arriving within an hour or two.

Thinking that this might be the case, I got up, put Vince away and walked out of the room, trying not to make a sound.

The front door is open and so is the basement door, which would mean that my mother would be receiving or would have already received the delivery, but as I practically slide down the floor to see what it is, I see the basement empty and the new paintings still wrapped.

As long as I was careful and never damaged the canvases or their frames, Mom didn't mind me opening and looking at the art, so I take the stylus she usually uses and carefully open the paper covering them.

When I open the third canvas, however, I realize that the three paintings are the same, having even separated them and placed them side by side. The signature is also the same. What artist would make three identical paintings? And why? On the envelope above the counter, there's a piece of paper that says the name of the painting is The Bed and as I look at them again, this time from a distance, I see that they remind me of something I've seen before. I take out my cell phone to search for the name of the painting and see that I'm right, it does exist and was painted by a Bulgarian artist, but that still doesn't explain why two other identical ones are there.

I get up and run to the door to ask my mother about it, but instead of finding her, I see Evans standing next to Professor Forester, who has an envelope in his hands and is counting out bills.

Was he the one who had brought the paintings? I frown in doubt and I don't have to think too hard to realize that this is a case of fraud. There's no other explanation and I don't doubt that my stepfather is capable of it, but I wonder what role Forester, who claimed to be a lover of the arts, played in this. He didn't draw. And I'd heard him get it wrong more than a few times with his references in class.

Forester finishes counting the money and puts it away. I can't hear what they're talking about, but they say goodbye and Evans goes back inside, finding me there.

"What are you doing up?" he grumbles, standing in front of me.

"I woke up early," I lie. "What was Professor Forester doing here?"

Evans takes two steps forward, but walks straight past me to answer:

"It's none of your business, child. Go upstairs and go back to sleep."

"Does my mother know about these falsifications?" I ask him, crossing my arms.

He pauses, but doesn't turn around immediately. I know the risk I'm taking, but I also know that he wouldn't hit me with so little time to get me to school and that he wouldn't let me miss it, since this was my last day before the vacations. However, I was faced with a dilemma that made me take courage, because I wouldn't let him harm my mother because of his scheme.