Chapter Seven: Art in the Eye of the Beholder

"My friends wanted to go to an art museum, and that is where I met Ana. We looked at the same painting together as she started talking about how traditional art is the best and what began so many things.

I told her that now there is digital art, it is the best. There is no reason to live in the past with traditional art when you can do all the same things, but better, in digital. She did not like my answer, and we both ended up in an argument.

Along the way, the argument went south, and I called her a b*tch. She did not appreciate that as she started to tear me down in a psychological way. I couldn't handle it and told her. I told her. I-I." Elrick explained before he started to trail off.

Guilt started to fill Elrick as he remembered what he told her. He didn't mean to, and he was usually a calm person, but the way Ana told him about himself made Elrick lost it. Well, he lost it beforehand by calling her a name, but this was different.

"Well, go on, what did you say?" Catherine asked, breaking him out of his thoughts. She wanted to know already; she hated being left in the dark or on a cliffhanger. Those are not fun.

"Catherine," Lilian scolded before turning to Elrick and talking with a softer tone, "It is okay; you can tell us."

Elrick took a deep breath as he stared at the other people in the room before saying, "I told her that I hoped that she got hit by a car."

Even though the guilt of ever uttering those words will forever be with him, Elrick did feel a bit relieved about finally telling someone what he said; it has always been in the back of his mind, gnawing at him every time.

The green light with 'truth' in it appeared above him.

After he spoke those words, everyone was silent because they did not know what to say, while a tiny few did not care. Kevin whispered with surprise in his eyes, "From a man who seems calm, I did not expect you to say things like that."

"Not everyone is always calm. There are times when we say the harshest things in the heat of the moment." Elrick answered.

Catherine agreed with that before opening her mouth, "I will go next."

Everyone turned towards her, taking their attention off of Elrick. "It was during one of our sessions. She wanted me to write a poem or draw a picture of what I felt when I got high." Catherine said, her voice cracking at the word 'high.'

The girl started to play with her fingers. "I was on ecstasy during the time because I was going to the club with some friends. I planned to sneak out, but my parents caught me and took me to Ana even though I was not in my right mind.

So when she told me to do it, I got angry, telling her it was pointless. I was irritable, my leg wouldn't stop shaking, and I wanted to leave. But she told me it would help because art calms the mind and will allow me to see my drug abuse's main problem.

I told her that it was stupid, throwing the stuff to the ground, and when she went on the floor to pick it up. I thought it was funny to kick her, so I did, right in her face. I kicked her three times before running out of the building and from my parents.

I disappeared for two days before coming back with a clear mind. I was lucky Ana did not press charges on me because I did break her nose, bruising most of her face. My parents were also relieved, saying they will pay everything off, like usual." At the end of her last sentence, Catherine sounded bitter.

The green light with 'truth' appeared above her.

Once again, the silence hit, and Catherine kept looking at her podium instead of everyone else. She hated talking about her drug problem. It was a stain in her life that almost ruined her sports career and college scholarship; she only wanted to forget those days.

Kevin coughed, getting everyone's attention before he started to speak, "Ana knew my robotics teacher. It was after school when she came to visit him. I was the only student there since my parents were still at work.

So, when she came, and after speaking with the teacher, Ana made her way towards me. During that time, I was working on one of the cars we would use for the competition.

It started as a friendly conversation about my work, and then it turned into her recommending me different things to do to make the car better. Now, when it comes to robotics or academics, I tend to get arrogant, and I hate when others would tell me what I can do when I know my way is right.

I am at the top of the school, with the highest scores, for a reason.

When she told me what I could do, I got irritated with her and said, 'Just because you are f*cking my robotics teacher, it does not make you knowledgeable on the subject. Having sex with any person that tells you a bit of what they know does not make you smart, but a sad person.'

She took offense and left." Kevin stopped talking after that; he had nothing else to say. He was not sorry for what he said because he did not feel guilt. Kevin knew what kind of person he can be, and he learned to accept himself for who he was.

A green light with 'truth' written inside appears above him.

"I see you do not feel guilty for saying that, huh?" Catherine answered as she looked at Kevin's face; it was clear like he did not care for hurting someone's feelings.

Kevin only shrugged, not giving a verbal response.

"I can go." Taylor silently spoke, but since the room had an echo, they all heard her words. "It was during a session when I was still going to see her. We were talking about what we see in a particular picture. She saw someone overcoming their obstacles, and I said I saw someone depressed with the worst thoughts in mind.

She did not like that with the way she frowned, so she tried other positive pictures about overcoming challenges. I made it negative in the worst way; I did it so often that we ended up going back and forth with each other.

Getting tired of it, I started to paint a picture for her, in words, about death. I freaked her out so much that she ended the lesson." After that, Taylor went quiet again, staring at the wall.

A green light shone above her.

A few of the people shuffle their feet at that; Taylor could be creepy at times. Does that make her the killer or just a weird teenager?

They pushed the thought to the back of their mind before turning to the last two people who have not spoken yet. They first turned to the little boy who did not look at any of them.

He was silent the whole time as minutes passed, so the others gave up and turned towards Lilian, but before they could wait for her to speak, the child said something.

"She did not like my drawings, and I told her I didn't like her." The child gave a short answer before looking down again. He made himself smaller, not wanting the others to look at him.

Even though his answer was one sentence, the green light still showed above him.

"It was high school. I knew Ana in high school, but only for one year before I had to move. I do not know how the person can take away an old memory, but they did. We disagreed about an art project that ended in a fight." Lilian swallowed after she started talking, because she was not telling the whole truth and being very vague.

The child was vague, and the person took it, so maybe it would work for her, even though she did tell a white lie. But, her luck has always been terrible, so when she saw the red light shining above her, her stomach dropped.

The others' stomachs dropped too when they saw the red light above her. Catherine felt anger coursing through her as she growled at Lilian, "Are you freaking stupid! Why did you lie? Did you forget what happens when we lie!"

The Watcher smirked as their hand hovered over the 'consequence 2' button. Oh, how they love when humans still lie even when they know what happens if they do. People always say the human mind was a complicated one, but it is the most predictable.

"Have you ever seen how beautiful underwater pictures are? I want you all to experience it with me. Please, create a masterpiece for me." The Watcher pushed the button as they saw the people's face turning pale.

{Consequence Two: The Art of Drowning}