Halloween writing prompts

Prompt day five: Portrait

Being a fairly well known artist definitely has its perks, but it also has downsides. One of those downsides being commissioned to do a portrait for the weirdest family in town, who also happen to live in the creepiest house in town. I could have declined, could have said I was too busy with other paintings. I should have. But I didn't. It was a lot of money, and I really did need money, but I didn't know that it was not worth it, I'm a lot more careful about who I accept commissions from now.

*One year ago*

"Hey, you got another commission." Abbie says. I take the paper from her.

"Cool, I'll look at it in a second. I just need to finish this."

"Is that for the O'Donnels again?"

"Yeah, they wanted another landscape." I say.

"Cool." After I finish the painting, I set it aside to dry and rip the envelope open.

Dear Kara, we heard that you're quite the talented painter, our daughter is turning sixteen soon, and we would like a portrait of her, we've looked at other artist's work, but like yours the best. If you are interested, please give us a call. We will pay you 2,500$.

I look at the address.

"Woah, you just went white. What's up?"

"Look at the address." Abbie takes the note.

"Yikes.. that family."

"Yeah."

"You're allowed to say no."

"But the money... that's a lot of money, Abbie, I could pay rent for a couple of months with that."

"It is a lot of money. But you still don't have to go."

"I'll go. It's all just rumors." I say, though I'm not convinced. I call the number.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Mrs. Linley? It's Kara Meyer."

"Kara! I trust you got my commission request?"

"Yes. And I'm available, when would you like me to come?"

"Tomorrow around five?"

"That works. I'll be there." I hang up.

"You're sure about this?"

"I only have to be there a few hours." I say. "And I need that money."

********

Mrs. Linley lets me in. I set my stuff on the table.

"So, where's your daughter?"

"My husband will be home with her soon." The way she said it stuck me as odd, but I don't question it. "Please, have a seat, would you like some water?"

"I'm ok, thank you." I look around. The house is not as creepy as I thought it would be, and Mrs. Linley seems nice enough. She sits down and stares at me. I shift uncomfortably. "um, so what made you decide to get a portrait of your daughter?" I ask. She continues to stare at me. "Does your family like art?"

"Oh. Yes. I'm sorry. And we just thought it would be nice." The door opens. "We're in here!" Mr. Linley comes in, followed by a pale young girl.

"You must be Kara. The painter."

"Yes. And this is your daughter?"

"Yes. This is Elizabeth."

"Hi, it's nice to meet you." She doesn't say anything, doesn't look up. "Okay, um, well, we should get started." We go to the living room, and Elizabeth sits down.

"We'll be in the kitchen." Mr. Linley says. Elizabeth doesn't look up.

"I'll need you to look at me, just for a bit, ok?" She looks up finally, and her eyes are teary and red. "Oh no, what is it?"

"You have to help me." She whispers, her voice choked.

"What?"

"Please, I'm not their daughter." I look at her, trying to figure out if she's joking. "They kidnapped me, two days ago. After you paint that portrait, they're going to kill me. I found the others."

"The others?"

"The other portraits. They've done this before."

"Is this some kind of joke?"

"No! It's not, I promise."

"Okay, just stay calm. I'll figure something out." I say, my heart pounding. "I'll call the police." I whisper.

"No! They'll hear you. Just... the kitchen is far enough from the living room. We can go out the front door, and they won't know at first." I nod, grab my stuff. She gets up, and we go outside. We don't run at first, but when we hear them, yelling for us to stop, we do. I filing my car door open and shove Elizabeth in, then jump in and take off. I don't stop until we get to the police station. My phone is ringing, I don't recognize the number, but I know it's Mrs. Linley. We go in, and, sure enough, Elizabeth's picture is hanging up behind the desk. "You have to help! They'll find me!" An officer leads us to the back of the station.

"Who are you?"

"Kara Meyer. I was commissioned to do a portrait for the Linley's daughter." I say.

"We'll need to ask you some questions."

"Of course." I say. I go a different direction from where they took Elizabeth.

"Okay, have you had contact with the Linley's before?"

"No sir, I got a letter yesterday, and I responded to it."

"Did anything seem off?"

"Not at first, but after a while, yes. When I asked where their daughter was, Mrs. Linley said her husband would be home with her soon, It wasn't so much what she said as how she said it. When I went to start the portrait, Elizabeth wouldn't look at me, and, when she did, she was crying, I asked her what was wrong."

"And that's when she told you."

"Yes, she said they kidnapped her two days ago, and that after I painted the portrait, they would kill her, that they had done it before. That there were other portraits."

"Did you see the other portraits?"

"No, I just wanted to get out of there."

"Okay. We're sending units out now."

"They have my address, my phone number. Am I in danger? I have a roommate, too, is she in danger?"

"No, no one is in danger, if what you're saying is true, they're going to jail." I nod.

"Is Elizabeth ok?"

"Yes. We're contacting her family. You don't happen to have the letter do you?"

"I do, actually." I pull it from my backpack.

"Thank you. I think you're good to go home. We'll call you if we need anything else."

"Okay." When I get in, Abbie is asleep, which is good. I don't feel like explaining what happened, she'll see it on the news tomorrow, anyway.

*****

"Good, you're up. You have to see this, Kara! I knew that family was weird!"

"Emily and Jack Linley were arrested yesterday evening after Elizabeth Tierny was brought in to the station. The Linely's had contacted local artist, Kara Meyer, to paint a portrait of their daughter, Tierny told Meyer she was kidnapped, and Meyer brought her in. Upon investigation, the remains of four young girls were found, along with four portraits, presumably of the missing girls."

"Yeah. I was there. I'm the reason Elizabeth isn't dead." She looks at me.

"Wow. This is... wow."

"Yeah."

"Did you get paid?"

"Yeah, they paid me in advance." I say. "Next time I get a request, and it's that much money, I'm declining." I say.