Her Name

"Are you serious?"

"Bro! I swear, that's the reason why I was traumatized to paint at night. I saw her right after I painted her!"

I went inside my room to hide the painting, Luke looked scared.

"Did she hurt you?" I asked.

"Not really, but she sure scared the shit out of me. My workmate told me those things really happen here... so you might wanna stop being an all nighter."

I couldn't believe he also saw the girl. This means what happened last night wasn't a dream!

"What the hell's wrong with this place?"

"I don't know either, dude. Ask other artists here, they do the same, so you better play safe."

I sat on the floor again to continue my food. "Alright I'll just stick to the rules. I couldn't even sleep last night because of what happened."

"Me too! The same thing happened to me and I couldn't sleep for three days. But you'll get used to it, those things won't harm you."

I nodded and finished my food and beer. I decided to sleep earlier than usual. Back then, I would always stay up all night and paint. Now, I can't even think about painting again at night.

The next day, I wore a black shirt and jeans, and a pair of shoes. I fixed my hair and grabbed my things. I just brought my sling bag and went outside the apartment.

First destination for today? The supermarket. Yeah, I kinda need some stuff at the apartment. I was welcomed by the staff and I went straight to the appliances section.

I bought a microwave, electric stove, rice cooker, a water dispenser, then some kitchen utensils. I have these things at home, but I'd rather buy new ones while staying here. I paid using my credit card and told them to deliver everything at my house later.

I headed outside the supermarket and called a taxi. My next destination is at Brent's Art Gallery. There are hundreds of art galleries here and I want to go to each one of them. But for now, I'll visit this one first.

I paid for the taxi fare and went outside the car. A modern designed building welcomed me with a sign 'Brent's Art Gallery'. I walked inside and paid for my ticket. I can freely roam around the area, there are a few people here too.

Howard Brent's a famous artist, known for his sculptures and paintings. The place was big enough to display hundreds of artworks. It took me more than a minute to look at each piece, his surrealism is just... chef's kiss.

"Are you a fan?" I glanced at the woman behind me.

"You can say that." I smiled at her and looked back at the painting.

"It's beautiful, right?"

I nodded my head. "It's bizzare."

"Well it's surrealism indeed," she laughed. "Are you a painter too?"

"I am."

I moved to the next painting on the wall, she's still following me. I'm new to this place so I just let her do what she wants. I don't want to make any troubles.

"So that's why it's taking you so long to look at each painting. Some people just take pictures of it then take selfies with them."

"You can't blame them, the artworks are beautiful."

"I know, but they wouldn't understand the meaning if they don't look at them at all. Why am I even telling you these, how noisy of me," she covered her mouth to prevent a laugh.

"What's your name by the way?" She asked after following me again.

"Yohan."

"Yohan, what a nice name! I'm Hennessy, you can call me Sai."

I walked away from her to look at the sculptures. But she followed me again. I'm starting to get a bit... irritated.

"Do you work here? Or are you a fan of Brent too?" I sounded passive aggressive.

"Well... I look after this place and I guess I'm a fan of my Dad."

"You're Howard Brent's daughter?"

"Youngest daughter. My Dad asked me to look after his gallery, he's in a business meeting. Oh, and sorry for bothering you! I'm really bored."

My mouth formed an 'o', I can't believe I'm talking to a famous artist's daughter. Because of that, I let her annoy me until I reached the second floor of the building.

"My dad's canvases here were made a decade ago. So most of his past works are placed in this floor."

That explains why some frames looked old already. But they were maintained clean. There are portraits of people I'm not familiar with. There were also abstract portraits and realistic ones.

"He doesn't sell his pieces, right?"

I read from an article that he never sold one ever since his debut as a painter.

"Yup! Painting and sculpture are my father's hobby. But he also has another business where we get our financial support from. Every piece he created has a sentimental value... that's why he never sold nor gave one away."

"He was offered a million pesos for a portrait and he refused that."

She laughed. "I remember that. It's not much of a big deal for him. He said there are other artists deserving of that huge amount of money."

I stopped in front of a familiar portrait, it was a realistic art of a lady.

"Is she familiar?" Sai asked.

The girl had a long curly hair, with emerald eyes, and a pale skin. She looked like the person I painted last night, but this one was detailed.

Holy cow... don't tell me-

"Her name is Iseul. This portrait is... one of the most precious portraits for dad. That's why it's displayed here, with a glass covering it."

"W-why is it precious?"

I pursed my lips, trying to hide how spooked I was. There's no doubt this painting's the one I also painted last night.

"Iseul was said to be an artist's anima perduta. In other words, she's a lost soul wandering in the island."

Iseul, so that's her name.