Midnight Creek Tales

#4. The Duchess' Lost Portrait / Chapter 6

"Bloody hell that's freaky! You think it's real?" Brown asked while constantly looking over his shoulder.

"Chaps I know this looks bad, but what are we toddlers? Why should we be scared of this? It's just a warning so no one would touch her precious portrait." I said firmly.

"Yeah and how do you explain her missing in the frame genius?" Scolded Radcliffe.

"Well to be quite honest I don't know, heck I don't think any of us even comprehend what just happened!"

"We're undoubtedly aware of the fact that we're not drunk or crazy," Starkey stated.

"Why is that?"

"Because Sheriff Carpenter said he saw no one in the portrait too, and I highly doubt a police officer would be drunk on the job, or even worse mad."

"You have a valid point there Starkey, but still, things aren't adding up."

"Well, what doesn't make sense?" Terry asked.

"How does a person transfer their soul into a painting and then bring it out into the real world? In the end, it's just paint and a canvas, right? How could that merit into a body?"

"I hate to say this Cole, but sadly I think we're gonna find out," Brown said frightened as he warmed up by the fire.

"Mates look, as long as we stick together and don't leave each other's sight we can fight her off," Radcliffe said gaining support.

"Have you all gone mad? Like I said, nothing is coming to get us! This is all just some prank from Payne! And I swear the next time I see that man I'm going to beat the living shit out of him!"

"Look Cole, I don't know about you, but I don't feel like dying tonight," Terry said grabbing his belongings.

"What do you think you're doing Terry?"

"Whatever it takes to survive this nightmare, I'm getting away from you and this cursed home! And especially that vile portrait!"

"If you leave, don't you think she'll just pick you off in the carriage or while your sleeping!"

"Stop it! That's not going to happen!" He said breaking out nervously.

"How do you know?" I asked, trying to keep Terry from leaving.

He couldn't come up with an answer, and then Brown added something to my statement. "Look guys, like Radcliffe said, I'm starting to think that if we just stick together, we can get through the night. We'll deal with the rest tomorrow, but we can't say a word to anybody."

"Why not?" Asked Starkey.

"Why not?! Because they'll think were insane! They'll lock us up in an asylum for the rest of our lives if we ramble on about a ghost from a painting that is haunting us!"

Everyone stood there quiet. "Well, do you have any weapons? Anything to protect us with Cole? You need to have some type of artillery around the mansion that would at least be of some protection to use if something occurs."

"Like what Starkey? What could you use against a ghost, a gun?!" I asked rolling my eyes.

Starkey and the others sat there planning for the entire night while I laid back in my armchair and started to smoke my pipe.

"How about a bible or crucifix, perhaps something religious?" Starkey said coming up with a somewhat valid idea.

"Well to be quite honest Starkey, I haven't touched one of those things in a long time, heck the last time I even went to church was my... wedding." I sat there looking into the fire as if it resembled hell, and in my stomach a small surge of fear shot through.