The Painting

It was that twilight time between late spring and early summer. The sun didn’t set as early but it wasn’t warm enough to wear light clothing during the evening, thus I was stuck carrying my jacket with me as I headed to Professor Wiseman’s house. I normally arrive on time but today I was early, accompanied by two other students: Mackenzie “Alex” and Arthur (sans nickname). Since we were early we decided to take a small peek around the mansion and property. As long as we didn’t touch anything it was sure to be alright. The Professor made it clear that he didn’t like students disturbing his garden, or ‘research’ as he called it. He had plants from all over the world, all in various states of bloom. I wasn’t a horticulturist so I didn’t recognize some of the plants, and only a few were marked with understandable names, the rest had some kind of bizarre alphanumeric naming scheme.
 After a moment, we entered the mansion. The Professor wasn’t there to greet us but Bruno was, his servant. He informed us that the Professor was busy with an experiment of his at the moment and that he would join us later and that we were free to make our way to the winter garden. With that, he left us, saying that he had to return to assist the Professor.
 “Why don’t we take a quick peek around the house, we’ll just say we got a little lost if the Professor scolds us,” Arthur suggested.
 “Ooh, I like that idea,” said Alex.
 I suppose I didn’t have much of a choice in the matter so I reluctantly agreed. The Professor normally conducts his experiments in the west wing of the mansion, so we decided that we shall explore the east wing. It was a quiet area that seemingly had little natural light. The gilded seams on the wall spoke of a regal heritage that was passed down in the Wiseman family, the walls– adorned with familial portraits–also denoted this. So far, none of the doors we tried to open would unlock. Alex was steadily losing enthusiasm as we tried yet another door that didn’t open.
 “Ugh, this isn’t as cool as I thought it would be. It’s hardly any different from the hallway to the winter garden,” she bemoaned.
 “Let’s just try a few more before heading back,” Arthur said while turning another doorknob.
 I went a few doors ahead and took a peek through one of the key holes to see inside the room. There was a decent amount of light so I was able to partially see a painting standing in the room. It was much to wide to see the whole thing through the hole, but what I could see was absolutely captivating. The central figure of the painting stood noble and upright, a piercing gaze that I’m sure seemed to follow you, and adorned with contemporary clothes. He had a striking resemblance of the Professor, no doubt a relative. I couldn’t take my eyes off the painting, it had an unnatural hold over me. I braced myself to look away but my body disobeyed my command. I gave myself a moment before trying again.
 “Hey, what do you see in there?” Alex said, brushing up next to me, breaking the curse laid upon me.
 Her hair smelled like apricots.
 “Woah, it’s the Professor!”
 “Really? Let me have a look,” Arthur said.
 I realized I hadn’t tried to open the door yet. I placed my hand and began to turn the doorknob. When it was half turned Arthur said: “Alright, let’s head back or it’ll look suspicious if we’re the last ones there.”
 It was lucky for us that we arrived when we did. Only a few other students had wandered in between our initial arrival and snooping. We went about the usual pleasantries with each other before the start of the main event. When the Professor arrived I felt my body go cold. Ice cold. As the Professor hobbled in, he wore the same clothes as the one from the figure in the painting. He gave us all a warm look. His eyes finally resting upon mine. The same gaze that I saw from the painting was here again but was not just a mere representation. He then announced: “Now then, shall we begin today’s story?” I have no memory of the rest of the night.