The Oak Hotel - Watty Awards 2013 Finalist

Chapter Thirty-seven - Illustrated Journey

Chapter Thirty-seven

Illustrated Journey

The sense of déjà vu was immediate. The structure of the lobby was nearly identical to that of the Oak Hotel, though on a smaller scale. The walls, however, were disturbingly similar to another famous Burnam Tau'roh landmark, the Painted Lighthouse. Starting from the left of the entrance and filling every last possible space around the lobby were dozens of scenes painted in a mad, though brilliant hand.

The first mural depicted a boy and girl standing before an old church. The girl was holding a red and white striped box of popcorn and the boy a box of candy and a drink. Behind them, the church door was closed. The faces of the boy and girl were nothing more than blank spaces, but Kayleigh and Lincoln knew. Stitch had painted this mural of them standing in front of the Shora Ceyssu Cinema.

They moved on to the next painting. Here, a panorama told the story of green hills, a distant, red city and four figures standing before an oily black tree. Two suns, one smaller than the other, created exaggerated shadows as they hung low in the sky.

"It must have taken forever to paint these," Kayleigh said, moving onto the next area. Here, a boy stood next to a grey-haired woman in a library. Above the woman's head was a dark, red question mark. "It's like a photo, except for the faces. Why didn’t he paint them in?"

Lincoln shrugged.

Continuing along, they relived both major and minor events on their journey to find Kayleigh's grandmother. Lincoln pointed to a row of people standing in a schoolroom. Three girls and two boys. Instead of a question mark, a dark red X had been painted over the tallest of the boys. "David," Lincoln said.

"Well," Kayleigh sighed. "David was the one who sent Stitch here. I wouldn’t expect hearts and flowers around him."

This struck Lincoln as terribly funny, but all he could manage was a wan smile. More than halfway around the room, they stopped at a disturbing scene: a girl swinging a gigantic axe (more than twice her own height) through an entire row of cowering oak trees. There were faces painted upon these trees with mouths howling out in pain, eyes squeezed tight in agony. A silver, jewel-encrusted crown sat upon the girl's head. Kayleigh reached out and set her hand against the head of the axe. Angrily, she pushed against the wall.

Lincoln was unable to move, unable even to speak. He watched as Kayleigh's fingers pushed hard against the paint, back and forth, up and down, trying to rub the pigment out of the plaster.

"Kayleigh," he finally managed to say, though his throat was dry and her name came out in a strangled caw.

She'd stopped. Then turned her fingers downward, digging in with her nails.

"Kayleigh!" he shouted.

Unable to erase the image, she found dark satisfaction that blood from her own torn fingers and nails now coated the axe, obscuring it from view. She continued digging, harder, ignoring the pain.

At some point in time, Kayleigh woke from her trance. Looking down, she found Lincoln's hands covering her own. They were sitting cross-legged on the floor facing each other. She tried to move her fingers, but winced. She tried pulling her hands back, but Lincoln held them gently.

"Don't," he said, eyes red.

Angry, more with herself, Kayleigh quickly yanked her hands back and held them up. Her fingertips were no more than clotting scabs, throbbing as if they'd been smashed under coarse cinder blocks. Her eyes widened in shock when she realized that at least four or five fingernails had either cracked or torn completely off.