Riya stood back, admiring her work as the sunlight danced across the room, casting shadows that seemed to breathe life into her paintings. Her heart thrummed with the thrill of creation, yet her eyes were drawn to a forgotten corner, where a covered canvas leaned, untouched by time.
"What's this?" Riya asked, curiosity piqued as she tugged at the dusty cloth.
Her teacher glanced over, a frown creasing her brow. "Oh, that? It's an old painting. No one knows who painted it. But... there's something odd about it," she replied, her voice trailing off into the silent room.
The canvas revealed a grand castle, its towers piercing the stormy sky, dark clouds swirling ominously around it. But what captivated Riya was the tiny figure at the window—a girl in a white dress, her eyes seemingly alive, following Riya wherever she moved.
That night, unable to shake the eerie feeling, Riya lay awake, her mind replaying the image over and over. When she returned to the art room the next day, her heart skipped a beat.
The girl was gone.
Riya's heart pounded as she noticed the wet footprints trailing across the floor. "Am I imagining things?" she whispered, her voice barely audible over the thundering silence.
She followed the footprints, each step echoing in the stillness, until they stopped at the storage closet. Taking a deep breath, Riya pushed the door open.
Inside stood a pale girl in a white dress, her eyes wide with fear.
"Who... who are you?" Riya asked, her voice trembling.
"I'm [@ch_2]Lila,"[/@ch_2] the girl whispered, her voice a mere breath. "I was trapped inside the painting… for years. The artist cursed it. Every night, I escape, but at sunrise, I am pulled back in. You're the first person to see me."
Riya's mind raced with the impossibility of it all. A cursed painting? A trapped girl? It was like stepping into a fairy tale.
"How do I help you?" she asked, determined to free Lila from her prison.
"You must paint me a door. A real door. If you do it before sunrise, I can leave forever," Lila urged, her eyes pleading.
Riya grabbed her paintbrush, her hands steady as she painted a bright red door next to the castle. As the final stroke touched the canvas, the door glowed, a shimmering portal of hope.
Lila stepped inside, her form dissolving into the light. Then, just like that—she was gone.
The next morning, Riya rushed back to the art room, her heart pounding with anticipation. The painting still showed the castle, but now, the window was empty... and the red door was slightly open.
Had Lila really escaped? Or had Riya just opened the door for something else to come out? She would never know, the mystery lingering like a shadow over her thoughts, a whispered secret in the quiet corners of the art room.
