Lady Rebecca sprayed expensive wine from a bottle onto the painting. The painting's face hissed at her. She poured it onto the floor near the painting. Then she threw away the bottle and took out a matchstick.
"Lady Amna. So glad you could join us." Lady Rebecca told her startled friend whose face had just appeared at the doorway of the attic.
Lady Amna reluctantly entered. She wondered how Rebecca had found the key as she had given it to Mahmood for safe-keeping after Lord Saif's murder at her hands. She got the answer quickly when she saw Mahmood's body lying unconscious on the wooden floor near the painting.
Suddenly, a man grabbed Lady Amna from behind.
"What is the meaning of this?" Lady Amna struggled to break free from his grasp.
"You smell as lovely as the last time we met Amna." Lord Colin whispered into her ear. "Is it the same perfume? At least we won't have to worry about what you'll be wearing for your funeral tonight."
The painting began making moaning sounds. It did not resemble Amna at all now. Instead, it was like an aged and uglier version of her. The skin was all wrinkly and the hair was grey.
"It's just a painting!" Lady Amna exclaimed.
The painting's mouth let out another long wail of sadness.
"Does a painting do that? I beg to differ." Lady Rebecca said. "And does it age like a real person?"
"You broke our vow Rebecca!" Lady Amna shouted. "I told you not to read the envelope until I had died."
"Oh, how could I not?" Lady Rebecca replied harshly. "When you came back I got jealous of your beauty. And I knew something was up so I had hired a private investigator after Lord Saif's body was found in the river.
***
London, 1920.
Detective Farooq entered the Lady Rebecca's study.
It had been a stormy night and the investigator's shoes were soaked in mud.
"Greetings Ms. Rebecca." Farooq said tipping the point of his fedora. "I'm sorry for the mess."
"It's not that big of a mess as the one you need to clear up for me." She got up from behind her desk then walked towards the door closing it.
She motioned for Farooq to take a seat. He followed.
"As you might not know, my best friend, Lady Amna Haider has left for her village. What I would like to know is that does her disappearance on the day of her favorite nephew's funeral seem strange to you?"
"I don't believe in coincidences." Farooq replied. "I remember I told you about another similar suitcase we found many years ago. Well, it seems the production of that item is carried out at a factory owned by Lady Amna's late father."
"Yes, but I recall from your letter that the lead went nowhere. And that Lord Haider had nothing to do with the crime."
"Firstly, Lord Haider wasn't alive when we had found the body. And that was the body of a serial rapist. I have to admit I was happy that fiend got what he deserved." Detective Farooq rubbed his hands together. "Anyway, I found out the connection you were looking for. The suitcases might've been made at the factory. But the driver of them was always one fellow. A mister Mahmood Qadri."
Later on, Rebecca had insisted on Farooq keeping this to himself, but she always got a servant or two to keep tabs on Mahmood's whereabouts. There was never anything interesting to report. Except that he always had a key strapped to a locket on his neck.
So, one night, Rebecca sent a surprise gift to the Haider Mansion. A beautiful vixen, who was just Mahmood's type, and Rebecca had gotten this information after bribing the Haider Mansion's bellboys, seduced Mahmood into sleeping with her. Then she gave the key to one of the bellboys who was quick enough to check each and every lock in the house as Mahmood was busy dozing off.
The boy finally cracked open the lock on the attic door. But as per instructions, he didn't enter the room. The key was returned to the seductress who put it back in its place without the owner knowing. All Rebecca knew after that night was that it led to the attic but her enjoyment of all things mysterious didn't allow her to open the door until the moment she was ready.
***
London, 1945.
That moment had ultimately arrived. Lady Amna had made a comeback as if nothing had happened. But Rebecca's lust for her had turned into jealousy. It was that lust that made her have a one-night-stand with Detective Farooq in the first place, and she had to forcibly marry her own cousin William, in order to avoid raising suspicions about whose child she was pregnant with. But as Farooq resembled Saif a bit, so did Colin who grew up to share some of his father's trademark features, like those dark-brown eyes.
And Rebecca knew Colin would fall for Amna at first sight. She had caught him at the age of sixteen holding an old newspaper photograph of Amna and fantasizing about her often. Rebecca would further on tell stories about herself and Amna, gradually instilling the lust needed to carry out her plan.
But what she always feared was Michelle getting in the way of that plan. She was heartbroken to lose her cousin Saif, and then that forlorn idiot started seeing Madam Natasha, whose fortune-telling would ruin Rebecca's epic strategy.
So, Rebecca paid off Natasha as long as she could. But upon feeling the presence of Amna Haider return to London, Natasha informed Michelle and the young lady assembled a team to kidnap Amna and get her justice, but thankfully one of Lady Rebecca's bellboys was there to witness the assault. And when he reported back that this had happened, Rebecca had no choice but to rid her vow and finally open that door.
So, she and Colin strategically entered the mansion. And the first thing they did was inject a tranquilizer into Mahmood who was sleeping soundly but the risk of him being awaken could've been a losing factor. Colin insisted on making the servant pay as well, so he dragged Mahmood's body into the attic when they had entered it. And their eyes almost bulged out of their sockets when they discovered Amna Haider's long-kept secret.
***
"Now I know your secret." Lady Rebecca said with a proud grin. "The portrait ages while you remain young. But no one should have this power. Look what it has done to your soul."
"What has it done!?" Lady Amna shouted.
"For instance, you tried to seduce my son into sleeping with you." Lady Rebecca said. "You sure know how to make a boy's mother proud."
She lighted up a stick against the matchbox. The flame shined bright against Rebecca's face. The fire drifted across her determined eyes. She then flicked the burning match onto the area nearest to the painting.
"No!" Lady Amna screamed.
But it was too late. The fire had already reached the middle portion of the portrait. Lady Amna waved her hands at the painting hopelessly trying to extinguish the flames.
"Your blessing was a curse Amna." Lady Rebecca told her.
The painting was completely aflame now. The portrait wailed like a dying old woman. It shrieked in a ghastly tone.
Amna reacted to blowing the fire away with her breath. She swung her arms viciously but to no effect. The painting would become ashes in a couple of minutes. She backed away from it as the fire was starting to take hold of the whole room. She turned to see Lady Rebecca smirking at her from the doorway.
"Goodbye old friend." She said.
Lady Amna ran towards the doorway. But a figure leapt in front of her. It was Colin. He grabbed her tightly by the shoulders.
"How about a farewell kiss?" He mocked.
Then he pushed her backwards. She fell onto the burning floor.
Fire engulfed her dress. She tried tearing it apart but the flames had reached her entire body by then. She screamed in agony as she was being burned alive. And the portrait followed her actions. Lady Rebecca and Lord Colin gave one last sympathetic glance at the befallen beauty, and the flame-ridden painting, before closing the door on both of them.
ns 15.158.61.19da2
