The Riddle

The Drawings

Dana's P.O.V

September 3008

"Micheal, relax. Everything will be fine," Her mother said, holding his hands. "Don't worry. We will sort it out."

He pulled his hands from her and stood up from the wooden chair and pushed it back. The movement of the wood against the ground produced a screeching sound but none of them seemed to notice. He ran his hands through his hair and shut his eyes. Frustration was evident on his face and in every part of him. He paced around, his head bent down, muttering to himself while her mother watched.

"Micheal?" Her mother called, her voice cracking a little. She stood up and walked towards him. "Look at me, breathe."

"What if you're wrong? What if we can't fix it? Have you even thought about Dana? What about my little girl? What will happen to her?" He said, looking up at her.

Her mother was silent. She only held him tight, her hand caressing his hair. "She'll be fine," She finally said, "She'll be fine."

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I couldn't understand what I had just dreamt about. My parents... I couldn't remember when or where it happened but it felt like a familiar memory. Like I was reliving the past bit by bit.

I smiled at Marie who had fallen asleep with her head resting on my feet. Managing to get up without waking her, I placed her head gently on the bed and took in my surroundings.

I was in a strange room. It was oddly neat and everything seemed perfectly placed. The walls were completely covered with paintings and drawings of every kind. A few caught my eye and I couldn't resist walking towards them to touch them.

One drawing was that of a small boy reaching out. It was so real that when I moved closer to it, I felt like he was reaching out to me. The lines around his eyes and his shadowed background indicated to me that he was troubled and searching for an escape. Somehow, the artist managed to capture everything.

The next drawing was that of a book. It was old and brown, but it looked familiar. It reminded me of something. I just couldn't get to it right now. Right next to it was a painting of a transitioning cameleon in the middle of the road. A car was at the edge of the painting and the painter made it seem like it was speeding towards the cameleon. It felt like the situation we were in... the situation Riddleland was in.

"Ahem," Someone at the door cleared their throat. I turned around abruptly and saw Caleb. "What are you doing?" He asked.

"Do you stay here?" I asked, not answering his question.

"Yes, why?" He asked, walking towards me with a smile.

"Nothing. It's a nice place, that's all."

I walked back to the drawing of the boy and touched it, trailing my index finger gently along the lines of his shadowed background.

"Do you like it?" He asked me, his face barely a few centimetres from mine.

"Yes," I whispered. "Did you draw it?"

He shook his head and looked away. "My brother did."

"Wow. It is beautiful," I said. "They all are."

He nodded his head. "He always knew how to capture emotion in his drawings. He was the best I'd ever seen."

Where is he?" I asked, noticing that he was speaking in the past tense but choosing to ignore it because I was hoping for an opportunity to meet the artist. Unfortunately, my hopes came crashing down as Caleb moved away, running his hands through his long dark-pink hair.

"He's gone," He said and left the room. I stared at the door, which was now wide open. I tried to understand what he meant by "gone". Was his brother dead or was he "gone" like my parents?

I really wanted to know but from the way Caleb reacted, I knew that he did not want to talk about it. I didn't want to push it as I knew exactly how it felt to not want to think about something.

I looked at the drawings again and whispered, "Well, Caleb's brother, wherever you are right now, you are one hell of an artist."

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A/N

Omg sorry this took so long! I've been so busy lately it's unbelievable. Prelim exams and stuff that I'm trying not to screw up. Anywhoo enough of my problems.

The best comment on the last chapter was...

* drumroll*

"I like the pov haha I'm a sucker for knowing what the guy thinks, and yeah he's a bit sketchy, but I so want to believe he has good intentions ughh. so much suspense!" - trapdoctorx

Hehe till next time lovies!
-Becks 😘❤