The Man In The Painting

Chapter 3

'The number you are trying to call does not exist'

That's what it had said when Magnolia tried to call the building's management. She had never used the number before, but she didn't have another contact to call. The man that had hired her had told her that all Magnolia needed was that number. Even he had retired the day after, which she should have found suspicious thinking back on it now.

Thud

She should have expected it after the third time, but it still made her flinch, the sound echoing around the vast silence of the space. An eerie feeling settled at the bottom of her stomach.

The tall bookshelves looming over her only seemed to add to her discomfort. It almost seemed odd to her that she was now aware of this detail; it never seemed to bother her before.

She got up to go and investigate only to find the book from yesterday had vanished. She looked around in a frenzy to see if she misplaced it, but it was nowhere. She tried not to overthink as she went to the source of the sound. A newspaper about...

The Death of Geoff Allen

Her eyes grew wide as she read the article title. She didn't even touch it, afraid of what it would do.

She almost jumped out of her skin when she heard another clang a few meters away. She hurried over and was greeted with a navy blue paperback novel.

The Fourth Floor

She jerked back around when she heard something fall behind her. Her gaze rested on a burgundy-colored book with gold and silver designs along the cover. For some reason, this book, unlike the others, seemed special. Not in the way that if you picked it up, it would transport you to a land of unicorns and fairies but as if it was the final piece of something she was unknowingly searching for.

The Man in The Painting

Her mind scrambled for an explanation, anything to not send her in a state of panic. She tried to make sense of what was happening. But she couldn't think of how any of the items related to her. She grabbed the newspaper, record, and the 3 books, bringing them to her desk.

But she stopped in her tracks when she saw the 'missing' journal sitting in front of her chair. Before she could even second guess herself, she quickly grabbed that and laid everything in front of her.

She read the titles over again to see if her suspicion about them being clues was even correct.

Thud

Another one. Magnolia was starting to get annoyed at this point. She turned to the side and found a book on Necromancy laying open at her feet.

She picked it up and read the opened page. Only then did it seem that everything fell into place.