1 Caede
After his uncle had passed, all that was left is the painting that his uncle gave to his father.
His father doesn't know anything about paintings. To him, it was nothing but a painting worth millions, that's why his father hung the painting in his study, just to show-off when visitors came.
"This painting is only worth a lot of money and goes well as a decoration, other that that its just nothing." he thought to himself.
Looking at it closely, on the painting, there is a young boy who is almost fifteen. The boy was wearing a bright red t-shirt, it was easy to notice the boy since the background is all in dark blue.
The boy's head was bigger than usual, he was as pale as paper, his expression looks like he was smiling but not really really smiling at the same time.
He can hardly say what expressions that was even after staring at it after a long time.
"This guy is not simple, his heart is as dark as a void" this thought came across his mind.
The longer he stares at the boy, the more he felt that the painting has some kind of evil.
He wanted to know more about this painting, and who is the boy in the painting.
He only know that the painting is called Caede, that is written on the back of the painting along with the artist's name.
He searched it up online, but only found that Caede is a man's name. Nothing was found other than that.
Curious, he dailed a friends number who knows a lot about paintings, pleasing him to find information about this painting.
After hanging up, there was a incoming call.
"Can you accompany your cousin to the doctors?" it was his mother on the phone.
"What's wrong with cousin?"
"After he got the news of your uncle had passed in the house, he is still terrified until now, so he need someone to accompany him."
"Okay, then. I'll go with him" he agreed without think twice.
On the way, his cousin stayed silent. They had nothing to talk about.
He wanted to ask about the whole process, but it was not a good idea to talk about such things, so he kept silent.
In the middle of the traffic, the car slowly move forward inch by inch.
Out of nowhere, his cousin cousin started talking, "got the painting already?"
"Yeah." he answered, "my dad likes it very much, so he hung it in his study"
"Hung it in his study?" his cousin was laughing quietly.
He knew the meaning to the laugh, he also agreed to it, so he didn't say much, his father was truly a nouveau riche.
"What do you think?" his cousin continues to ask.
He wanted to say his honest opinion about the painting, but since his cousin was a professional at paintings, he was afraid of his cousin laughing at him. So, he just said "I don't know anything about painting. What do you think?"
"The painting is great. Techniques and composition are very good. The atmosphere in the painting was great. When we first bought it, it was millions, I heard that the price has gone more expensive this year."
Without thinking twice, he asked, "why does uncle say that this painting must be passed to my father?"
After realising that he had just asked about uncle, he quickly regretted it.
His cousin took a deep breath, and answered, "when my dad bought that painting, he told me that the boy in the painting looks just like a playmate in childhood. They both had a deep memory of that person. He said, if he's not here anymore, the painting must be passed to your father."
He nodded.
He thought to himself, Father has never told him anything about this, maybe he had long forgotten about this person.
At night, he sat in the living room, waiting for his parents to come back, and eat dinner together. However, the electricity had suddenly stopped.
He remembered that there was a torchlight inside the drawer in the study. The house was pitch black and he couldn't see anything, but he slowly made his way to the study. He entered the study and searched for the torchlight. He soon found the torchlight, but there was no battery inside.
He could only open another drawer to the candles and some matches.
He lit the candle, and placed it on a candle holder.
At this moment, his stomach started grumbling.
He held on to the candle holder as he went into the kitchen and took an apple.
He started to peel the skin of the apple. As he was peeling his apple, he felt that there was something or someone standing behind him.
He turned around and saw nothing but the pitch black house except the small candle light lighting the kitchen along with his own shadow.
"Coward! How is it possible for other people to be in the house?" he scolded himself.
After peeling half of the skin of the apple, he noticed that the apple had gone bad, there were some black spots on the apple. From the looks of it, it cannot be eaten.
He sighed as he took another apple, and started peeling again. He felt the same feeling of someone standing behind him as he was peeling the apple. This time, he didn't look back. He kept his head down and finish peeling the apple. He felt breathing behind him. The breathing was in order, and it was getting closer and clearer.
He can't stand it any longer, so he turned around. He had prepared for what he might see, a person standing behind him. Again, it was only him and his long shadow in the dark leading by a small and weak source of light.
"This house is so big, even the wind could sound so loud! " as he said to himself.
Peeling half of the skin of the apple, he once again found that the apple had gone bad. He impatiently threw the apple in the bin, and took out another apple.
This time, he was not going to peel the skin, he was just going to eat it after washing it.
"Hm? Why is this apple so tasteless?" he frowned, took the candle holder and left the kitchen.
He came to the study, opened the door and went in. Holding his candle high.
He saw the painting.
The boy, his eyes were wide open, with his big opened mouth, but couldnt make any sound.
The candle from his hands slipped and fell to the ground.
Before the candle had gone off, he saw it clearly ——the boy in the painting was gone, what's left was the dark blue background!
He could hear foot steps coming from the corner of the study.
He immediately got down, and slowly crawl beside the table.
He felt his heart was pounding so fast it feels like its going to pop out from his chest.
He reached out his hand and begin searching for his phone, and hid back under the table.
The footsteps had left the study, further and further.
He was too shocked to move, so he stay hidden under the table.
He was also afraid he might knock into the boy if he go out.
He took his phone and sent a message, asking his parents to come home as soon as possible.
After sending the message, he received a message from his friend. Those few words is enough to make him terrified.
Caede's Latin explanation is, "there's a slaughtering"
He remembered his mother's description of uncle's death. One by one hands and feet were tied, the arteries of the neck were severed, and the blood flowed all over the floor, as if to be bled to death! A big hole in the stomach, organs stolen.
There are more shocking words in the email "Although the painting is of high value, many collectors Reject the painting. It is rumored that several collectors have acquired the painting After that, they were slaughtered for no reason at night!"
His friend even warned him to get rid of that painting, to prevent the same thing happening to him.
His hands, trembling.
Uncle's death, does it have something to do with this painting as well?
There it is again. The footsteps, faster, and louder.
Out of nowhere, a big, wide face appeared from beside the table!
He screamed, feeling the chill down his spines.
Then, the electricity was back on. The whole house was lighten up, and that "person" was no where to be seen.
He sat down under the table, unable to move.
He didn't want to leave, he just sat there.
Until his parents finally came home, they found him under the table and pulled him out.
His mother thought that he got scared because of the electricity cut, laughing at how old he is and still acting like a coward.
He didn't care about his mother's tease, he looked at his father and asked, "the painting in the study..."
"it's still there hanging on the wall. No one had stolen it while the power went out." without waiting for him to finish asking, he answered.
"That's not what I meant." he hesitated, and asked, "is the person in the painting... still there?"
"Son, have you frightened your brain off?" his father teased. "Of course the person in the painting is still there! Or what, the person came out from the painting?"
His parents starting to get worry and looked at the son behaving weirdly.
"Do you recognise the boy in the painting?" he continued asking.
"No. I don't" his father quickly answered, but his expression seem to have changed.
"The next thing that I'm telling you, you might think it's impossible," he said "but it's true."
Then, he told his parents about what happened and the message that his friend sent.
After hearing what happened, their expression kept getting more and more serious.
Withous thinking twice, his father went into the study, grabbed the painting and went into their backyard.
Pouring gasoline on the painting and lighting it on fire.
When the fire was burning the painting, his father saw the boy in the painting frowned and disappeared from the painting, leaving the only thing in the painting was the dark blue background.
Years later, he met his cousin.
"The night when uncle died, was the electricity cutted off?" he asked his cousin.
"Not sure. But, on the floor, there was an overturned candle on a candle holder." said his cousin.
