Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-29270351-20160614084334

There is a museum in our town that earned different tourists from around the country. It was our prized possession when it comes to attractions. It was for preserving different Victorian artifacts from France and some parts of Europe.

With things that vary from King Phillip's old kitchenware to Marie Antoinette's cosmetics, you can be sure that it is a well-classified museum, plus, it's been in our town for 200 years now. See, our town was really into the Renaissance and European culture so our museum was a wonder.

This is a story about a painting, a portrait which is titled as Claudia's Portrait. Little was known about its history. It was from a merchant who traded along the coasts of Africa, where our city's founding father was residing at that time. The merchant was the grandson of the painter which created the said painting.

It showed a beautiful lady, standing while looking directly at the viewers. She wore a light blue wedding gown with a veil. Her eye color was also blue, and it had a prominent glare. Looking at her eyes makes you feel a certain chill. Her eyes were very distinct, it was just very open.

The story was that our founder, James Weselton, requested a trade with the merchant. James had a lot of money that time. Surprisingly, the merchant gave the painting for free. When asked why, the merchant didn't reply. He just gave the painting to our founder. James quickly coined the idea of having a Victorian museum, being an avid lover of the culture.

But, from what happened months ago, I think we already know the eerie history behind the portrait and its merchant.

Two months ago, eight security personnel who were in charge of caretaking the museum after closing hours, reported a strange occurrence happening with the painting. They said that it transformed from an image of a woman to a devious picture of a woman crying with hyper realistic eyes and a bloody gown. They said that she appeared to be screaming in pain.

Weeks after, all the security personnel who witnessed the strange happening died, coincidentally either by a car crash or fire. At least, only the ones who reported it died.

Then after the accidents, customers complained about the painting for being too crude and scary. The reason was unknown, but a huge number of people stated a similar plea. The management didn't take it away quickly since there's no reason for the painting to be scary because it only showed a standing woman.

Only after a short period of time, customers started getting insane and mindless. Everyone who got insane murmured "he left me. he was gone." The management concluded that the insanity was from the same painting which caused a lot of peculiar incidents.

Eventually, they decided to investigate the artwork. According to James Weselton, the merchant said that the painting was created by Jaime Solenn. They searched for Jaime Solenn in a certain library. According to an encyclopedia, Solenn was a notable painter and artist of different rulers and wealthy families around Europe. He was known for his very realistic portrayals of people.

Then, in that encyclopedia, the museum's staff and some investigators saw a picture of the eerie painting. Its description said, "A portrait of Claudia, a close friend of the painter. A post-mortem imagery which was very famous that time ." It meant that this Claudia was already dead when she posed for the painting. According to the book, Solenn painted the image to pay tribute to her dear friend, as she committed suicide after her husband shamed her at their wedding.

After a while, they took another look at the painting. Then it transfigured to the same beast that the personnel inquired about. This might sound very cliche, but some of the management and the investigators who examined the painting's history died. It might sound like it's just stories, but it's absolutely true.

The remaining staff asked a priest to bless the painting. After the blessing, they burned the painting to ashes. The ashes were thrown into a river near the museum.  