The Wolf's Eye: A Series of Short Horror Stories

Into the World

Reem put down her paintbrush and moved the canvas in front of her to the side. "So, you've come back here, have you?" Reem asked. "What do you need from me now?"

"Reem," Catharine said. "We need your help. The gallery's been putting people into paintings. We need a way to get them out before the gallery sucks more people in!"

"Really," Reem stood up, stretched, and walked towards Justin. "And you're bringing a child who has no reason to be involved into this?"

"Actually, Reem, he got me out of the painting."

Reem started to laugh. "Are you serious?! This kid was able to get you out of the painting?! Never heard that one before!"

"I'm serious," Catharine said. "If he was able to get me out, then he might be able to save everyone else."

Reem sighed. "I see," she said. "It's a simple task, getting those people out. Come with me."

They followed Reem out to the black space that surrounded them before. Reem approached one of the strands and simply touched it.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Catharine panicked.

"Calm down," Reem said. As they watched, the strands began to disappear, leaving the empty, black space to surround them. "Now, you should be able to wake these people up and pull them out without a problem."

When they returned to the gallery, it was still empty. They walked to the back of the gallery and approached the paintings. Justin took each off of the wall and set them on the floor. They watched as each person slowly climbed out of the frames. "No way," Reem said with shock. "Jesus, I didn't think he could actually do it."

The people stood up and looked around with confusion. "What's going on?" one asked.

"There's been a bit of a problem in the gallery," Reem said. "You can leave now, though. We'll take care of it."

As the people exited the gallery, Reem started to sense that something was wrong.

"Something isn't right, here," she said as she looked at the art. "You said that the gallery was trapping people in here?"

Catharine nodded. "Yeah, just the people we just let free."

Reem shook her head. "I don't think it was just them."

Suddenly, The sculptures started to move. People started to come out of the paintings. They all surrounded Catharine, Justin, and Reem.

"What's going on here?!" Justin asked.

"They're starting to come to life," Reem said. "Why the hell is this happening?!"

Catharine quickly grabbed a staff from one of the sculptures and started to fend them off. "Hurry up and get back to the exit door!" she shouted. "Justin, I need you to go through Reem's room and find the pair of strings that are in the record player! Get moving!"

Justin and Reem ran through the door and went to Reem's room. Inside of the record player, Justin found exactly what Catharine said. A pair of bright blue strings were attached at the bottom of the horn.

"You need to detach them," Reem said. "If you do, it'll stop everything in the gallery that isn't human from moving. In the process, each painting and sculpture will return to an object and never move again." Justin reached for the strings and pulled on them. Suddenly, they tore apart. Reem did a silent cheer as they returned to the gallery.

When they came through the door, the gallery was back to normal. But in the center of the room, there was a figure. Looking closer, Justin realized who it was.

"Catharine!"

He ran towards her. She was frozen in place from the waist down, and was slowly becoming more like a sculpture. She forced her eyes to meet Justin's and struggled to smile. "Hey, kid," she said. "I don't know why you're not outta here yet, but I'm glad I can talk to you now. Thanks for what you did. You've been a huge help, don't forget that. And you really saved my ass, but I guess you can't do anything for me now. I'm sorry I had to subject you to that, and I'm sure you won't forget it. But just know that whatever you do now is on you. Own up to it, kid. That's all I have to say. Just-"

Before she could finish, Justin found that Catharine was completely inanimate. "Come on," Reem said. "You should go now. She froze."

Justin shook his head. "No," he said. "She's dead."

And after what he'd seen, Justin returned to the gallery years later. It was still the same, but one thing had changed. At the center of the room, there was a sculpture of a beautiful girl. Justin read the title.

The title was "Catharine."