SMOKE SPIRIT

8: ~the painting~

I pressed the hairpin further into the lock, and the door clicked. I raised my head and looked back at the ghost. His lips formed a worried smile, his hands tucked into the pockets of his sweatpants, and he smiled warmly. I volunteered to push the door open and step inside. My heart trembled, but I gathered myself, gulping hard. I felt the cold presence of Elic behind me, his breathing shallow and erratic. I closed my eyes and took in the room: the full-length mirror, the bed lying at the bottom, and the toy box in the far left corner. I averted my eyes to the old archaic almirah placed to my left and saw Elic near it.

I gazed at him, and as he caught my sight, he nudged his head, calling me towards him. I slowly paced towards him. He opened the wooden door of the closet. I didn't know what my eyes awaited, but when I didn't find it, my heart once more beat with relaxation. The almirah was empty. I looked at him, confused, wondering if he was going to unveil a secret door to another world or a portal.

He stepped into the almirah, looking back at me. He extended his hand towards me. I hesitated, but with a fast-beating heart, I placed my hand in his, which was much softer and colder. He gently pulled me towards him. It felt almost nonchalant in the almirah. He looked at me, then turned towards the narrower part of it, slid his hand along the length of the almirah, and pushed at a spot. The click was loud; I cringed, thinking someone might have heard it outside the room. Even though it was 4 in the morning, some maids wandered here and there in the manor due to their night shifts. We'd be in big trouble if someone found out, and now I kinda knew why Jonathan locked this room and forbade me from entering it.

I focused on what the ghost in front of me was doing.

"You need to bow down. The door is small," he whispered. My assumption proved right. The place where it clicked was not a rectangular opening; it was small but big enough to pass through. He decided to go first and bowed his head slightly, hitting the upper part of the closet. I mimicked him and bowed down, almost sitting. It felt claustrophobic, but I gulped down, not letting my fear take over. I slid against the smooth surface of the closet and went to the other side.

I was still sitting on the ground. I looked up, my eyes widening in astonishment. It was a big space, the roof so high, the walls covered with paintings almost mirroring the style I once saw in the hallway towards the guest room. The room was worn out, with dust on everything, like it hadn't been visited in a long time. My eyes wandered aimlessly in the big room and stopped on the left corner, where a small staircase led up to somewhere.

The happy voice of Elic boomed in the room, resonating in the high-ceilinged space."This is my hideout," he declared, spreading his hands. There was a liveliness in his voice, as if he had come to life again. Unknowingly, a smile stretched across my lips. He looked down at me and smiled as he came near and extended his hand once more like he did a little while ago.I grabbed onto his hand, and he pulled me up abruptly. I hit his chest, and he locked his eyes with mine, looking deep into them as if he was reading me like an open book. Neither he nor I averted our gaze; we kept our eyes on each other, and I swear I saw something flicker in his eyes before a loud thud of a small door pulled us out of our gaze. I flinched and backed off quickly, gulping down awkwardly. He smiled, almost shyly.

"Follow me, Avery," he spoke in the same excited tone. The irony of the moment was that I felt so light-hearted seeing him smile and be happy. I followed him as he made his way towards the staircase in the left corner and climbed it. As I followed him, I felt the creaking sound of the wooden stairs beneath my feet, the railing covered with dust. I saw him several times bowing and blowing the dust off the railing. The staircase came to an end, and there stood a brown door with a lion carved into it, its mouth holding a peephole. There was no lock on it. He pushed it, and without any effort, it opened ajar.