Ink on the Pages

4

Genesis woke up the next morning and prepared to leave for school. Ira had been waiting in his car for her. She hurriedly hopped into the vehicle.

"Hey, Ira," she greeted him.

"Hello!" he happily replied. "Hey, don't you normally have two backpacks?"

"Oh! My sports bag! Ira, what would I do without you?" Genesis leapt out of the car to grab her other backpack, which contained volleyball attire and accessories. Since she had a game today, it would've been terrible if she'd forgotten her gear.

After getting back into the house, Genesis turned to go down the hallway leading to her room. Before getting too far, she skidded to a stop, almost falling over. At the end of the hallway was the figure she saw outside the previous night.

Genesis had no clue what to do. The man kept staring at her. The figure appeared to be silhouetted, even though there was enough lighting to provide visible features.

The person's white eyes were currently their only noticeable feature, and they seemed to be lacking pupils and irises. The eyes also appeared to be glowing. Genesis took a nervous gulp. "Can I help you?" she asked. "I think you may have the wrong house."

At this point, Genesis was expecting the man to pull out a gun and shoot her. She was too afraid to even back away from him at this point. She didn't want to freak out and yell for help, either.

"Do you not recognize me?" the man suddenly responded, causing Genesis to flinch. He moved ever so slightly when he spoke. A shiver went down Genesis' spine at the sound of his voice. Finally hearing him speak made her feel cold and lifeless—like a corpse. It took a moment for Genesis to realize she wasn't replying to the figure in the hallway. Before she did speak up, the dark figure took a step towards her. She instinctively stepped back. "Well?" the figure asked, cocking his head slightly to one side. He seemed unamused.
Then it hit her.

She drew this man. She drew him in that sketchbook. She drew him out of anger and frustration and sadness, all in response to her wicked teammates.

"I do recognize you," Genesis finally replied. The feeling of nervousness still hadn't left her yet, and for all the right reasons.

"Ah, splendid," the man chuckled. Genesis was surprised to see emotions come from this...thing. "Do you remember what else you drew?"

"Yes," Genesis said. The man started stepping closer. The slashes over his eyes were now visible. "I also recall pointlessly crossing out your eyes, and I'm really regretting the fact that I decided to do that now. You're a scary guy!"

"Don't move," the man demanded. Genesis listened to him out of fear, allowing him to continue in his path towards her. "Where did you put that journal, anyway?"

"Which journal? I have many."

"The one you so delicately incorporated me into." He was about five feet away from her now.

"How have you not found it yet? I swear I put it in plain—wait, why the hell are you looking for that?"

"Because if I don't get that journal out of your pretty little hands and into mine, we're going to have a lot of problems," the man laughed. "You'll end up dead in the end either way, as the Artist, but what's very important is that no more humans get ahold of that journal anymore."

"Do you have a name?" Genesis boldly asked, clenching her fists.

"No," the man chuckled.

"Okay, I'll call you 'Nameless' then."

"Nameless. I'm actually quite fond of that. Now, quit avoiding my question, Gen. Where is the journal? Is it in your precious art room?" Nameless began to circle around the girl. Genesis' artistic yet logical brain began working.