"Huh? The library? Surely a man like that wouldn't- Hey! Wait up!"
"Sorry dear, but I have to see if it's still here..." she doesn't explain much more.
Sophia quietly follows behind.
She is getting nervous because the farther they move from the foyer, the dimmer the lights are getting. "Um the lights seem to be..."
Ms. Ipruk mutters something under her breath and a little orb of light is conjured up! "There now we'll be able to see. I hope you weren't scared, dear. If you need to hold my hand-"
"Nonsense! I can handle myself. And I was certainly not scared!"
They have arrived but there was one problem. The doors had a lock.
"I suppose we won't be able to enter the library, a shame!"
Ms. Ipruk had a different idea though and proceeded to rip the lock off the door. With her bare hands! She smiles at Sophia and says, "We can take off the cost of the broken lock on our bill."
She opens the door carefully this time but they still creek eerily. The library, to no surprise, is pitch black. Ms. Ipruk casts another spell making the light orb bigger! "Stay close."
Sophia couldn't agree more.
"Wow.."
The library looks like it's been been ransacked! Furniture is broken and books are splattered everywhere. Seriously what happened to this mansion?
"Oh no." Ms. Ipruk mutters.
She walks inside and seems to be looking for something. Sophia hesitantly follows behind. It's only a few seconds before she almost walks into her because she suddenly stops!
"What is it?!" she asks, slightly annoyed.
"Hold this."
She hands Sophia her mask.
"..."
"Unfortunately dear, I can't see clearly with the mask."
Sophia almost face-palms. She takes the mask and carelessly shoves it in her purse, which is enchanted to hold any object no matter the size.
"Teacher, what exactly are we looking for?"
Ms. Ipruk responds with, "An odd painting."
Why is she so vague! Odd could literally mean anything! Especially, in a place like this. Sounding a little frustrated she asks her, "What do you mean by odd?"
Ms. Ipruk was trying to move one of the bookcases but she stops and and turns to Sophia, "This painting, when I first saw it I was shocked. It was beautiful but incomplete. The woman was missing her eyes."
"Well that could be unsettling but some people don't have eyes so..."
She shook her head, "No. I mean that it was obvious the artist painted eyes for her but they were missing. It was as if someone or something cut them out from the painting and then hung it back up. As if nothing was wrong."
"Oh! Then that's strange indeed. Do you think that this painting could be..."
"Haunted? Cursed? Something else entirely? That's what we're here to find out!" With energy renewed she continued to try and move the bookcase. It was already close to falling apart so she was trying very hard to keep it in one piece. After managing to move it to the side she continued to elaborate, "Since it's been such a long time I'll admit I can't remember too well but I do recall asking Mrs. Johnson what happened to the painting and she avoided the question. She said something like it was meant to be like that. Which I doubted but, I couldn't dwell on it back then. Until now…"
They've been carefully maneuvering over the chaos of the library for a few minutes. As they're making their way towards the back, Sophia steps on something making a deafening cracking noise.
She almost can't look.
Please don't be something gross please don't be something icky!!!
Oh it's just a locket.
Wait.
Before she can take a closer look, Ms. Ipruk calls for her. She grabs it and hurries over.
"Dear, I think I have found it but can you grab the other end so we can turn it around."
She complies and helps her turn the painting around.
What in the world?
//What is this?//
How Ms. Ipruk described the painting before, she was completely wrong!
The entire body was missing!
Except for the eyes.
What does this mean?
"Guess I was completely wrong! Haha oops."
Sophia has always respected how Ms. Ipruk never tries to hide her mistakes. Although, this is too strange.
"Perhaps, it's a different painting after all and maybe these two are connected?" She tries to reason.
"No. This is the painting from my past. There's no mistaking it. I can't explain it but by looking at it, I have the same feeling as before."
"What feeling?"
"Sorrow."
Really? All Sophia feels while looking at it is the creepied the fuck out. Oh well, Everyone's different.
"Oh, it looks like we found more than just the painting." Ms. Ipruk looks over Sophia's shoulder.
Huh?
Sophia, completely unprepared, turns around and lets out a shrill shriek. A man covered in blood and bandages is standing behind them. He was smiling.
It was Bradley.
When did he get here?
No one spoke for the longest moment until finally her teacher asked, "My heavens and feathers what happened to you?"
"Huh? Oh you mean the bandages?" And blood!
"Well just my shitty luck as soon as I left your shop a horrible beast attacked me!"
Oops.
"..."
Ms. Ipruk looked at Sophia, who looked away. She feels a twinge of guilt, //maybe I should have warned him after all.//
"Don't worry though. I got some scratches but I killed it! And I even managed to cook it for dinner. Oh yeah sorry about not greeting you sooner I was busy with that."
What. What?!
"Er- I apologize for that little one. I forgot to mention I was being chased by a Venom Regian Wolf. But I don't think their meat is safe to eat..."
He grins, "Don't worry about that. I took care of the poison."
Ms. Ipruk looks wary.
Suddenly Sophia remembers, "You said there would be servants but frankly this place looks like it should be condemned."
"I'm so sorry. No one lives here besides me." The nerve of this man, he doesn't sound ashamed at all!
"Why did you lie?" Sophia scolds.
He can't meet her eyes and looks down pathetically. But that only made the blood on his head drip on the floor faster. It's gross and unnerving. "I guess I just didn't want to look more pathetic than I already did. I mean like what's a mansion without servants. Haha."
Has he really only inherited this crumbling mansion? Sophia is doubtful.
"I'm gonna head back to the kitchen and finish preparing dinner for later. Feel free to look around and send these ghosts to hell!"
"Wait! What about your injuries, they look pretty serious."
"Huh? No I'm fine really. OH You mean the blood?"
What else?
"It's not mine."
Even Ms. Ipruk raises an eyebrow.
"Cutting up wolves is a lot messier than I thought it'd be... If that's all-"
Sophia stops him again. "You still have to sign our contract! Otherwise we won't be able to do our job." She conjures up the contract from thin air.
"Okay give me a pen. Hmm, here signed!"
He didn't even read it.
-
"Ms. Ipruk what are you thinking?"
"I have many things to ask little Bradley but it seems that I'll have to wait till dinner. For a meal of wolf meat that might kill us."
"Ms. Ipruk I don't eat meat. It's only your life that's on the line here."
"Haha. You're right. Well here's what we can do. I want to keep looking in the library but there's other rooms and upstairs to consider as well. I want to finish this case as soon as possible but Sophia what do you think is best to do?"
"Let's split up and search the mansion. We'll get a lot more done that way and we can meet up around 5 in the dining room."
"Are you sure? Sophie, I believe in your skills but-"
"I'll be fine Ms. Ipruk. I'm strong! I can take care of myself."
"Hm okay. But you must promise to contact me if something happens! I can't let anything happen to you here. I promised your mother I'd keep you safe."
"Hmph. I'm not a child you know." She feels slightly embarrassed now.
"I know. But you're very important to me too, dear. I will keep you safe."
"I- I will keep you safe as well because-" you are part of my family. She couldn't say those words but Cecilia already knows.
They part for now.