The Ghostly Portraits

Imagine this. It’s autumn break and you’re back home from your violin class. You’re greeted by the smell of cookies and brownies being cooked, and the living room is decorated with fall decorations.

Elisabeth Adams grew up in their cozy house on Havelock Street and her sister freaked out and decorated the whole house. Strings of fall leaves circled the staircase railing, and a wreath with similar leaves hung over the fireplace. all the couches had golden and red pillows, and the coffee table had orange faded potpourri under its glass cover, alongside different books. The racks and tables surrounding the dining table were full of knickknacks, old and new, and in one corner were brown boxes with “Christmas” written on them, as her sister was going to start decorating for the occasion 5 months prior.

“Decorating’s the only thing helping her keep sane,” 

At the doorway of the kitchen stood Elisabeth’s mom. Her apron was covered with flour and she held a bowl with leftover brownie batter. Her brown hair was pinned up in a bun and her hazel eyes seemed tired from being in the kitchen the whole day.

“I can see that,” Elisabeth replied, plopping her violin case on a chair. “I didn’t even know we had so many decorations.”

“The local thrift store sells the best decor,”

Rosalind came down the stairs, her laptop in her hands. She’d tied her dark brown hair in a ponytail and decided to wear her glasses that day.

Rosalind had applied to a variety of Universities around the world, and after being accepted in every single, she was still waiting for either a rejection or an approval letter from Harvard. Even Elisabeth knew how big of a dream it was for Rosalind to get into the prestigious university, but the paranoia resulted in her sister decorating their house, at least it was when Elisabeth wasn’t at home.

“Any news honey?” asked their mother as she handed Elisabeth a spoon of uncooked batter.

Rosalind just sighed and pulled out a chair. “Not yet, no,’

“Chill,” Elisabeth said as she licked the spoon. “you’ll get it soon, it’s only been a few days.”

“It’s been 2 weeks, Elisabeth”

Elisabeth and her mom looked at each other, with concerned looks. It HAD been only 3 days.

“How about you and your sister go visit your cousin today?” Their mom suggested, to which Elisabeth and Rosalind groaned in reply.

“Mom, please,” Rosalind replied dramatically. “Whenever we’re with Jennie and her brother, it’s the most awkward interaction ever! Plus, they always give some excuse and go meet their friends and do the sketchiest stuff.” 

“Their best record is escaping by 45 minutes,” Elisabeth chimed in. “Then we’re left with Aunt Susan who goes on and on and on about ceramics.”

“Ceramics,” her mom replied as she set done a fresh batch of cookies. “Is an interesting topic, you just have to be interested.”

“Is her ranting about how one type of clay is worse than another which the internet has proven is the same, and not even making anything with her pottery wheel or her clay interesting?” Elisabeth countered as she took a bite from a cookie. “It’s like she’s memorized the lines for a bad school pla- AH HOT HOT HOT.” She jumped out of her chair and ran to the kitchen to get a spoon of sugar, her mother laughing while the corners of her sister's mouth began to curve. 

Elisabeth hadn’t imagined that when her mom would come up, she’d tell her about an impromptu trip, and, frankly, she didn’t know how to react.

Just three hours after the cookie incident Elisabeth had come back to her room to work on her book. After the stress of mid-terms had died down, she finally had the time (and motivation) to continue writing her fiction book about the adventures of six high-schoolers, and how they winded themselves up into a different realm. It seemed childish, but the story was based on a dream she’d had in the 6th grade, and she found it entertaining to touch back into her childhood. Their “adventures” before the finding of this different realm were just events and fun times Elisabeth hoped to have after eighth grade, supposing she made some friends.

Her room was her favorite place in the world. Her father, being an ex-naval officer, resulted in her having traveled and stayed at various places around the world, which meant she couldn’t have a room that made her feel…

That’s the thing. She didn’t know HOW to describe the feeling she got from her new room. It was everything she ever wanted. 

Her room was at the top of the house, with a bay window, and overlooked not only their neighborhood but the streets past them. It was fun, seeing the cars pass by and tourists visit shops and take pictures. The sunset and sunrise were the best part of the day, and during the winters it was just wonderful, curling up in a blanket with a crime novel and a cup of hot chocolate as it snowed. Paintings they’d bought from over the world hung on walls on both sides of her bed, along with album covers, and the wall on the left from the doorway had two bookshelves. 6 bookshelves out of 8 were filled with books - crime novels, murder mysteries, fiction, books on marine life, ships, submarines, writing, German and Spanish, all topics she’d grown to love. The top shelf of one of the bookcases contained souvenirs and figures of her favorite Pokemon (another childhood obsession she’d gotten over with but never parted with). Her collection of Reader’s Digest books was stacked next to a portrait-type box where she placed her favorite edition in the hollow part. The other top shelf contained her ice-skates she displayed along with her riding helmet. The rest of the shelf contained her snow globe collection. 

The wall to the right of the doorway had the door to her closet and her white study table. Above the wall, were 3 shelves which contained her trophies, a fourth one containing her most recent award. Beside the first shelve her mom had hammered a nail she hung her medals on. Right above her table hung another portrait with a lake cornered by beautiful plants and a willow to the left, a road infant of the lake contained an unattended bicycle, and beyond one could make out the ocean and sky. 

Her mom came into the room with a glass of lemonade, carrying the violin she’d forgotten at the dining table.

“You seem happy,” Elisabeth noted, as her mom placed the violin on her bed and sat on a stool beside her study table.

“Remember that hotel we’d seen in London?” Her mom asked, her brown eyes gleaming. “The one we found so beautiful and-“

“Stood next to the cafe Dad got his sailing vessel statue from,” Elisabeth recalled. The Hotel Chalice had been open for only 2 weeks when they’d visited London during summer break when they’d gone to meet her mom’s brother. “Yeah, what about it?” 

“Well, it turns out it got pretty popular over the past few months, and it’s been rated in the top 10 places to stay at in London.” Her mom seemed to be expecting Elisabeth to catch on to what she was trying to say but Elisabeth patiently waited for her mom to finish. 

“So?”

“So,” Her mom gave in and revealed what she was trying to say. “Your father and I were thinking, Rosalind’s been way too stressed about college and since I’ll be joining work again next week, we thought we’d have another trip to London!”

Elisabeth stared at her mom, her eyebrows raised. “Doesn’t Dad have that important meeting day after tomorrow? And don’t you have to rejoin the hospital tomorrow?”

Her mom sighed as she smiled and said, “Dad’s meeting is IN London, and I join work on the 1st of September, not on the 24th.” 

When Elisabeth took that in, her confusion turned into a smile. “How’d you convince Rosalind?”

“She’d never deny a trip, and you know that very well,” Her mom replied, standing up and placing the glass of lemonade on Elisabeth’s table. “Plus, she can check her results in Italy too, the hotel’s wifi will be good enough for her.” 

“When are we leaving?” She asked, taking a sip. 

“Tomorrow at noon.” Her mom replied as she headed towards the door and Elisabeth gagged at the lemonade. “WHAT.”

It was the next day and they’d made it to their hotel, and it was majestic.

The drive from the Heathrow Airport in London to the hotel was beautiful, they passed by beautiful streets and cafes, and it felt surreal to be back. They passed by Buckingham Palace and as they drove Elisabeth and her sister checked out some more places to visit since the majority of their last trip was spent at their uncle's place.

 When they reached the hotel, they were greeted by a massive hall, with dangling chandeliers and royal-looking ceilings, classical music playing in the background. As her parents checked in, Elisabeth walked around and marveled at the architecture, the fountain adding to the olden-time feeling. She walked up the majestic red staircase, the walls covered in pictures of the Royal family and important events in British history. She glanced at herself in the mirror that stood at the top of the staircase

Her brown hair was left open for the first time in ages, and her hazel eyes seemed golden in the rays of sunlight from the setting sun that seeped through the windows of the hotel. She wore a black turtleneck tucked in what her sister called “russet” colored trousers, with a grey overcoat. Her sister had forced her to wear something other than her brown checkered shirt and jeans, and this was the result.

She continued walking through the hallway that the flight of stairs opened up to, and came across a sign pointing towards the second dining room, the ballroom, the billiard room, and, most importantly, the library. 

She walked past the corridor, gazing at the portraits of people and landscapes, smiling at the workers, until she came across the library. 

The giant brown doors with windows helped Elisabeth see the humongous library. The brown panels and bookshelves, the vases of flowers and more portraits, the grand piano (which seemed odd in a library), everything about the library radiated so much power and wisdom Elisabeth couldn’t help but smile. But her smile faded when she saw the timings of the library.

In bold letters, the sign said “Open - 6:00 AM to 15:00 PM, 19:00 PM - 22:00 PM

“Oh come on!” Elisabeth exclaimed.

“It’s not that bad, really.”

Elisabeth turned to find a boy, about her age, leaning against a table beside the library. He had pale skin and was dressed in black jeans and a grey hoodie. He had disheveled black hair (which bothered Elisabeth a little) and his green eyes seemed curious. 

“Did you just come?” He asked. 

“Mh,” Elisabeth replied, turning to look at the library again, longing to just open the doors and step in. She sighed and looked at her watch, then realized she didn’t even HAVE a watch. 

“It’s 6 pm,” he said, “One more hour till it opens.”

“Great,” Elisabeth muttered, knowing they’d made dinner plans. 

He seemed to start to say something when they heard someone call her name.

Her sister emerged into the hallway, her suitcase no longer in her hand. 

“Our rooms are ready now,” she told her, staring at the boy and then Elisabeth. “Let’s go, or are you visiting the library with whoever this is?” 

“It’s closed,” the boy replied, smiling. He walked towards her sister and disappeared the way they came from. 

Elisabeth followed and smiled at her sister. “The library looks amazing.”

“Yeah yeah, you can tell me about it later, let’s get to the room first, I need to check the result again.”

“Okay, when we said do whatever helps you take your mind off the results to sleep, we didn’t mean this.”

Turns out their dinner plans had been shifted to the next day since Elisabeth’s parents had to visit a colleague's house who’d invited everyone who’d come for the meeting. 

On entering their suite, which was on the fourth floor of the 7-floor hotel, opened into a small living room, with camel back sofas with floral prints. One stood against the wall and the infant was at a coffee table, with similar armchairs on the opposite sides of it. A dining table was on the other side of the room, with room service they’d ordered. The couch faced a TV Cabinet, and more portraits and landscape paintings hung on the walls (the hotel really loved paintings, huh?) The rest of the room was filled with other special and priceless souvenirs. One door stood behind the dining table, and another on the other side of the same wall. The former opened up to Rosalind and Elisabeth’s room. It had a fireplace and a queen-sized bed. Soft golden lights filled the room and the right side opened into a space with a study table and closet. At the other end, the wall that faced the bed and armchair was the door to the bathroom. A little cabinet faced the bed, with drawers and a mini fridge with ridiculously priced complimentary snacks. Are souvenirs standing on it? It was a pretty room, and Rosalind had already set up camp.

Rosalind had covered herself in blankets and the various pillows that were on the bed. Her laptop sat in front of her, the light shining on her face as if she were gonna tell a story. The little elephant the hotel had made from a towel was still intact and Rosalind stroked it as if it was a little puppy. The bed was covered with about 15 paper cranes with paper the hotel had provided.

“You expect me to sleep?” Rosalind asked as she tossed another paper crane next to her. “Nice thought!”

“Dude cmon’, Elisabeth said, pushing a few cranes aside and taking a seat on the bed.

“You don’t get it Elisabeth if I don’t get into this college-“

“You got into the others,” Elisabeth reassured. “You’ll get into this one as well.”

Rosalind just sighed and fell back into the bed. 

Elisabeth decided to leave her to herself. It was a pressure that even Elisabeth couldn’t think about - at least not yet. She glanced at the grandfather’s clock. 8:00. The corners of her mouth curved into a smile.

The Library.

It was everything she’d imagined. Beautiful paintings and high bookshelves stacked books on every topic imaginable. It was like it’d been taken from a fairy tale and the best part? She was all alone. 

She’d taken a murder mystery novel - a book about a body found in a library. A woman who’d been staying at a hotel with her husband, colleagues, and family had been found dead, a gunshot to her head, her head covered with a book, and her jewelry stolen. Was it a murder? Or was it the wrong place, wrong time? 

Elisabeth sat on an armchair next to a window that overlooked the city streets. She couldn’t hear anyone or anything down below, and as she flipped to chapter 6 she couldn’t help but think about browsing some more. 

She got up and placed the book on the table. She walked towards the bookcase she’d seen containing a book on marina biology before, and the doors to the library opened. She stepped outside the walls of the two bookcases and saw the same black-haired, pale-skinned boy. He seemed to be in a hurry. When he saw her looking, he marched up to her with a concerned face. “Has anyone been here? Anyone at all?” 

Elisabeth shook her head. “No, why?”

He sighed in relief. “No reason.” He smiled. “What are you looking for?”

‘Oh, just browsing.” She swept back into the bookcase sandwich and stood on her toes trying to reach the book. 

“Here let me.” He came beside her and took the book with ease. She hadn’t noticed he was taller than her.

He looked at the title, “Marine Biology enthusiast, huh?” He asked as he handed her the book. 

“Always have been.” She said, marveling at the cover. She’d always loved reading about the ocean, or anything related to the topic. “Anything you read in particular?”

He reached his hand past her face for a book beside her. It seemed like a history book. 

“I, am a history fanatic.” He chuckled. “Always have been, Elisabeth.”

She smiled. “Your name, Sir Mysterious?” 

‘Mh, I like that.” He opened the book and stared at the table of contents. “I’d read about that guy.”

Elisabeth leaned against the bookcase, staring at him. “What’d the storyline be? Sir Mysterious wanders into a library all panicky as if he were looking for someone, but that someone didn’t exist?”

“And how’d you know that?” He replied walking past her, his finger stroking the spines of the books. “It’s nice, you know, seeing someone else interested in books.”

Elisabeth didn’t reply. Her eyes had wandered to the wall in front of them. It was a portrait of a woman. She was seated in a regal position, her auburn hair pulled back in an elegantly styled bun. She wore a red dress and a pearl necklace, a beautiful diamond brooch attached to her dress. She radiated power, that’s for sure. 

He looked back at her and saw her staring at the portrait. “The Lady in Red.” He said. 

“I’ve seen it, recently,” Elisabeth said, looking back at him. “Someone found it at the British Museum, didn’t they?” 

“Mh, just last month. Everyone’s going mad. A portrait as beautiful as this can’t even be described in words that describe its elegance enough. Shocking, really. Stored away at the back of the museum and people don’t even know where it came from. It wasn’t mentioned in any of the records, no mention who made it, its origin, who painted it, nothing at all.”

Sir Mysterious walked past her and headed to the table holding two books. Elisabeth followed, now more curious. “How’d the hotel get a replica?”

He raised his eyebrows, smiling as he sat down. “How do you know it isn’t a replica?”

She smiled and placed the marine biology book. “You seem interesting, Sir Mysterious.” 

She walked towards the globe behind him. “Glad to know you’d be interested in my book.” He replied.

And suddenly, as sudden as the plan to London was, the globe turned to golden crystal the moment Elisabeth touched it. “Uhm Mysterious-“ When he turned the crystal shattered into what seemed a million pieces. 

“What the “ He started. CRASH.

They turned around to find a lamp shattering. 

He walked up to her and stared at the painting above the table the lamp had been on. It was a large dining table, with plates full of food and glasses with champagne. But all the seats were empty, except for one. A man with a monocle sat on the closest seat to the painting. He was dressed in a suit and his face was faced down, as if looking at his empty plate wondering where HIS food was. 

“Uhh, any logical explanation?” Elisabeth asked, looking at him. 

“Malfunction maybe?” He replied, walking up to the broken lamp. 

“Yeah, a malfunction made a globe crystalize and shatter.” 

He didn’t look back at her. He stared back at the painting, and Elisabeth stared in bewilderment when she saw that the painting with only the strange man at the dining table, now had no diners. 

The plates had no food, no glasses, no person. It was just a dining table with nothing and nobody by it.

“Call me crazy but wasn’t there..” Elisabeth started but when she saw Sir Mysterious stand up and look at her with her eyes full of worry, she stopped herself.

“Somethings wrong..” He started, strutting towards her. As he made her way towards her, the lights started to flicker. The grandfather's clock chimed 10. Elisabeth tried to make out if someone was messing with the controls, though she knew it was only her and the boy. She felt a cold hand on her wrist which made her flinch. She looked and saw Sir Mysterious having a tight grip on her wrist, his eyebrows scrunched. “We need to leave.”

And that’s when everything started to fly.

Books started flying towards the two of them, and a thick book about the history of fungi would’ve hit Elisabeth in the head if her new mysterious friend who seemed to know somewhat about the happenings hadn’t pulled her down.

“Is this normal?!” Elisabeth yelled over the sound of books falling and other sounds she couldn’t make out.

The book stopped flying across the room, and the lights stopped flickering. Elisabeth was about to stand up when he grabbed her and pulled her behind a table. He put his finger on her lips and his eyes wandered past her. She turned behind her and would’ve yelled if she wasn’t under a table with a guy's finger on her lips. 

From the legs of the tables could see bright blue legs talking around the room. Soon she realised there were 2 other pairs of glowing blue legs. Flowy skirts glowed yellow as they swept the library floor. 

 

Okay, 6 people, who appeared out of nowhere, glowing just like apparitions seen in horror movies. Cool.

They stared at the “people” walking around, and after the count of 160, the glow faded away and all they could see was the floor. 

They climbed out from under the table and Elisabeth stared at the fallen books scattered on the ground. She looked at him, and his face wore a grim expression. 

“We need to go.” He grabbed her hand but she stood her ground.

“You know something.” She said, stating the obvious. “What is it? Why were the books flying out? What were those..?” 

‘You mustn’t ask.” He said looking back at her. 

“Well, I just did.” She said, taking her hand away from his grip. 

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “Please don’t make this complicated.”

“Well then don’t make it more complicated by not telling me anything.”

He seemed to consider, muttering something as he paced back and forth. 

“Okay! Fine. You win.” 

He held out his hand and accepted defeat when she didn’t take it. He walked towards the painting, the one with the dining table. “It’s hard to explain, really. But, the man that first appeared when we went under the table,” he pointed to the seat they’d seen the man at the dining table, “That was this guy.”

 “The first night I came here, I saw one. One of the people who were dining. It was a woman. She sat at the head of the table. She seemed so… life-like. She stared at me, smiling. And when the lights started to flicker, she disappeared, and the last thing I saw was her looking past that bookcase.” He turned towards the bookcase second to the left of the bookcase with The Lady in Red. 

“Every day, whenever I would come here, I’d see another person from the dining room. And after every encounter, they’d look at the same bookcase with a grim look on their face. And after the 4th person, they started talking.” He shuddered at the remembrance. “Whispers telling me to follow them, to free them from the portrait, to.. to be curious and investigate. To find out their story.”

He started fidgeting with one of the broken globe crystals he’d picked up. “They told me, that once the last one of them disappeared, it’ll open. They said to leave, but the hauntings would spread. I didn’t believe them, thought I was driving myself mad. But they weren’t lying. The things they’ve done the past week..”

He snapped out of thought and looked at her, raising the crystal. “This isn’t normal, Elisabeth.”

“Oh no, it’s just a simple magic trick,” she said. “Do you really think I’ll believe this little fantasy story of yours?”

“Any other explanation for the figures, Sherlock?”

 

Elisabeth could’ve given various examples of how he might be tricking her, and who knows how many others when the portrait - the same portrait with the empty dining table - started to glow. 

The lights started to flicker again, and Elisabeth felt she was going mad, because believe it or not, she DID hear whispers. “I’m leaving.” She tried her best to say it in a confident voice, but when she turned around, she couldn’t help but scream.

Right in front of her, stood a woman in an 1800’s outfit, holding a candle. They seemed to fly around her, and her head faced the candle. She didn’t look up.

 

“We need to get out!” He yelled, taking her hand, but as he stepped forward, the woman started radiating more light. Books and dust circled around her, and the woman faced them. 

Elisabeth back up into him. The woman's eyes were pure white. No pupils, and no expression on her face either. But her thin, pale lips curled into a devious smile. 

“Hello, Elliot.”

The woman's lips didn’t move, but the disembodied gruff, and gravelly voice came from the woman’s side of the room.

Elliot stepped in front of Elisabeth. “Why are you doing this?” He asked the woman. 

“You mustn’t stop, Elliot. You must bring your friend along with you. She seems.. powerful.”

The way she said that made Elisabeth creep in her skin. Powerful? What did she mean by that?

“Leave her out of this,” Elliot grunted. 

“Well, she must at least know the truth. What a ridiculous story! Not even an infant would believe that! Her not believing you show how much smarter she is. If she’d come before you, she’d have been… a much better pawn in this chess match.”

“Enough.” Elliot raised his hand and a surge of electric blue current burst towards the woman. Her candles snuffed out and her smile turned into a shriek. The books dropped to the floor, and the glowing yellow woman seemed to fade away. The blue light from Elliot faded as well, as he dropped to the floor, clutching his left arm.

Elisabeth caught him before he fell to the ground and propped him against the table leg. “Who are you, Elliot?” 

He chuckled and turned to face her. “Sorry I lied, but my world cannot be revealed to you.”

“You love speaking his riddles, huh?”

“It’s an awful habit.”

Elisabeth flinched at the new voice. She turned around to find a woman standing, a human, this time. 

She had chocolate skin and curly golden hair. Her blue eyes seemed to be like angry ocean currents. She wore a riding outfit, and a bow and arrow was slung across her back. “I’ll take it from here, thank you.” 

She walked towards Elliot and slung his arm around her. She helped him up, and he stared at Elisabeth. 

“Martha, Elisabeth.”

“Yeah, this is the time for introductions, isn’t it?” Elisabeth replied.

“Okay,” Martha said. “We must go. Let me erase her memory.”

“Excuse me, what?” Elisabeth started, backing away from the mysterious rider and the boy who made ridiculous made-up stories. 

“It won’t hurt child,” Martha replied in a tight voice. 

“She said she’s important,” Elliot muttered with the little strength he had left. “The Mistress.”

“Yeah, and since when could we believe her?” Martha said through gritted teeth. 

“Look, Martha.” 

He raised his good hand at Elisabeth, and purple light streamed through his fingertips. She tried shielding herself, but the light didn’t harm her, unlike what had happened to the glowing woman. 

Elisabeth was covered in bright purple light, and when she looked at Elliot and Martha, it added to her concern, since Elliot was smiling with a “I told you so” face, and Martha looked bewildered.

When the light faded, Martha composed herself again, and her eyes glowed in a green light. She smiled as a portal opened under her feet, sucking Elliot and Martha in. 

Elisabeth stood there, dumbfounded by what had just occurred. She didn’t know how to react. Should she run? Should she just go on as if nothing happened? As if, the spot the woman melted at wasn’t burning? As if the purple light hadn’t made her feel powerful? As if the red light wasn’t flooding from behind her?

Wait, what? Elisabeth asked herself.

She spun around to find The Lady in Red portrait glowing red (seriously, why was up with this library and light?)

“You must follow them, Elisabeth.”

Great. More voices.

“You must help them uncover the truth.”

Every brain cell told Elisabeth to run, but her feet seemed to be glued to the floor.

“You must understand yourself more.”

“And how will I do that?” She asked, instantly cringing, realizing she probably must be going mad that she’d talk with a portrait. 

As if an answer to her question, the painting swung open, to reveal a similar portal to the one that sucked Martha and Elliot in.

“Free us, Elisabeth. You must understand the hauntings of this library. You must find the answers. If not, your world will be crumbled to pieces, and the real world will become more of a nightmare than it is now.”

The portal beckoned her, its power pulling her forward. 

She tried to snap out of the trance, but she had to find out more. 

What did the woman mean? Who was the Lady in Red? What were Elliot and Martha? Why did Martha have Dragon’s Club etched on her riding suit? Why did Elliot’s eyes turn blue when they met in the library?

Who was she, Elisabeth?

With all these questions in her mind, Elisabeth walked towards the portal, and let the green light suck her into whatever the back of the ghostly portrait led to.