I am not sure who will be reading this, but please understand I tried to stop it. I do not have much time.
If you see an ad for “Jack’s Paintings” DO NOT BUY ANYTHING.
Let me start from the beginning. I am writing this as if it were happening in real time, I hope this helps drive my warning deep into your bones ensuring you do not make the same mistakes as I did.
One year after I married the love of my life, we bought a new house. We had been trying for a baby for a couple of months and needed something to fit a family. Max dreamed of being a dad, and due to his job in child psychiatry, we had a decent income. I had a smaller salary due to the fact I was an underpaid writer for Getty Publications. But I loved to write and in my current position, if I was getting views and the content was relevant, they did not care what I wrote about.
I loved the freedom I had. It was not until we moved into our dream home, I realized the walls were bare. Thus began my deep dive into all things decoration. I quickly began to fill up the empty spaces, leaving Max’s office the last room to be finished.
“Elanor look!”
I heard Max yell causing me to jump up from my spot on the couch.
“Jesus Max, I almost had a heart attack!”
I replied while laughing. Looking back at him I saw he had a huge grin spread across his face.
“You will never believe what I found an ad for!”
He practically yelled while rushing to my side on the couch. He turned his laptop so we could both see the ad. ‘The last painting ever made by James Hughmon is now in our inventory. For the low price of $50,865 you can be the owner of the priceless piece of art.’ My eyes were drawn to the painting it depicted a young woman holding an umbrella in a tsunami. Her face was half covered by the umbrella leaving only her left eye exposed. She had long black hair that flowed in the wind behind her.
Looking at the picture I found the title. “You’re next” I had a weird feeling creep through me after reading the title. I instinctively looked over my shoulder into the now-dark hallway. Wait dark? I began to think I sat down at 11:30 this morning. Pulling my eyes away from the screen, I turned my head to look at Max, but he was off. His grin was now ripping the seams of his cheek as if he had too many teeth to fit his mouth. Something was wrong, my body was frozen in fear leaving me defenseless, something moving on Max’s shoulder caught my attention. Unable to turn my head I moved my eyes as far as they could go.
It looked as if there was a pale hand gripping his shoulder, the hand began to move toward my position on the couch. All I could do was scream. Jolting up, I realized I had fallen asleep, but it felt as if something sucked out all of my energy.
“You’re awake!”
Rubbing my eyes I turned towards the source, Max was sitting at the end of the couch, his face full of concern.
“W what happened?” I asked, my voice hoarse as if I had been screaming. I mean I was screaming but it was in my dream. Wasn’t it? Max pulled me into his chest, and I could smell the earthy scent of his favorite cologne.
“Ella are you okay? We were talking about the painting, and you just dozed off. You seemed tired so I didn’t try to wake you.”
His face and voice were both full of concern.
“I’m okay don’t worry,” I replied masking my face with a fake smile. Moving from my spot on the couch I began to make my way to the kitchen. I turned back to face him.
“Let’s have dinner, I’m making spaghetti.”
His eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas, I could not stop the laugh that erupted from my mouth. It felt like everything was back to normal. As we were eating Max dropped a bombshell on me.
“I bought it!” he exclaimed. I knew exactly what he was talking about. I tried not to let my fear show.
“Are you sure we can afford it?” I asked, knowing our current financial situation was far from struggling.
” Of course, we can!” He yelled in excitement.
“Elanor we can afford whatever we want, the days of deciding between bills and rent are over.”
With nothing left to say we finished our dinner in silence. The next day there was a knock on the door. Max had already left for work, so I checked the peephole to see who it was. On the porch stood a delivery man, I opened it and was greeted by a friendly voice.
“Hi, are you Mrs. Alder? I have a package from Jack’s Paintings.” Before I could reply he continued
“I just need you to sign at the bottom of this form please.”
He pushed the form into my hand, I grabbed it and began to sign. My signature was a mess due to my hands shaking. The delivery man just stood in the same spot smiling, what a weirdo. I handed the form back and he began to pick up the painting.
“Alright Miss, please show me where you would like this hung up.”
I was a little apprehensive about letting a strange man into our home, but he was harmless. Plus, the bear mace I kept handy was sitting in my back pocket. I led him to Max’s office.
“You can put it on the wall behind his desk.”
He got to work and within minutes the painting was up. The delivery man turned back towards me.
“Alright, Mrs. Alder anything else I can do for you?”
I shook my head no and led him back to the front door. He stopped just before he was fully out.
“You have a good day Miss and enjoy the painting”
And with that he headed back towards his delivery truck, I shut the door. It seemed as if the house had become darker. I could not stop the anxious feeling that crept through my body.
Things began to change slightly, and it was hard to notice, such as Max forgetting something I told him or looking different than the day before. But as the weeks went on huge changes were taking place, especially on the day of the incident. We had planned to visit Hawaii for years and finally got the chance to do so. He seemed paler and less outgoing, but we still had fun, although I woke up one night to him standing over me with a grin that stretched too wide for anyone normal. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, and he was asleep next to me, so I just assumed I had dreamt the whole thing. After we got home Max said he had to get a few things from the store, so he dropped me off. After going inside, I headed for our bedroom to unpack when I noticed his office door was ajar.
I saw a light flickering from inside and heard the ending theme of our favorite show. Thinking he left his computer on while we were gone caused me to enter his office heading for the computer to turn it off. When I moved behind his large monitor my heart dropped and the blood-curdling scream that came from me did not even wake him. I barely saw it but something black and long slithered back into the painting, which had now changed. The background was completely dark, and you could just make out the outline of the man. Wait a man? It was a girl or was it a woman?
My eyes took a minute to adjust to the dimly lit room, looking down my heart jumped out of my chest. Max? Why was he in here and why is he on the floor? I bent down and began to shake him, he did not even flinch, but I could hear him breathing softly as if he were hibernating. I began to shake him harder and as I was about to get up and get water to throw at him, he began to stir and sat up. He looked like a wild animal; his eyes were bloodshot, his face was blotchy, and he had small circles on his arms.
“Max, when did you get back?”
He looked at me but was dazed and confused.
“El is that you? Wwwhat happened?”
He managed to stutter out between breaths.
“What do you mean what happened? We just got back from our trip; I thought you were going to the store.”
He looked even more confused. But something moving behind him caught my eye. The painting changed, the outline was more visible, and my heart sank. It was Max, he was frowning as a large clown with a horrible grin leaned over him. Most of the clown’s body was covered by shadows. Wait, were the shadows moving? Max cried out causing me to jump back.
“Elanor go please”
He began to plead. I shook my head until he lifted his shirt, black worm-like creatures covered his body. They looked like leaches with eyes, and I saw holes where a few of the creatures had made their way inside his body. I began to scream and cry, trying to pull the creatures off of my husband. But every time I pulled one off another one filled its spot. Max pushed me back and that is when I saw the source of the creatures. They were coming from the painting. I rushed to the wall and began to pull at the painting, but it would not move at all. I began to claw at it, trying anything to get it off the wall, and that is when I heard the door. The next thing I heard turned my blood ice cold.
“Ella they only had mint chocolate chip from Barneys, so I bought a few other brands for you to try!”
How was Max in the other room and next to me, I looked down at the floor to see my husband gone? The spot where he once lay was a dark green color. I looked back once again and there he was. Wearing his favorite LOTR shirt frowning under the clown. I began to reach out when I heard a voice.
“Elanor, you know you’re not supposed to be in here. James will not like this”
James? The man who made this painting? I spun around to face my “husband” he gave me a toothy grin, but his teeth were not human they were way too sharp. I had to get out of here fast. Without a second thought, I charged at the thing pretending to be my husband and dashed for our room. I locked the doors and grabbed my computer. And now dear readers you are caught up. I can hear the impersonator breaking the door down, meaning my time is limited. Yet I feel weird. Wait the painting of the sunset above our bed has changed.
Has the girl in the painting always looked like me?