Chapter 12 - DAWN

(DAWN)

[the emotions which each image holds are much deeper than the words you utter lifelessly.]

"Do you want to know a little secrete Nathaniel? This bookstore has a very strict system with every single customer which walks the grounds of this store, but we tend to allow the customers a little break. This store is not just for finding the perfect fairy-tale, it's also for allowing specific customers to live through their nightmares. How about we explore the secrete forest first? You might find something you like there." James spoke while keeping all his attention towards Nathaniel, and the face which looked back at him was still filled with amazement as well as curiosity. And right then grandma interrupted the two with, "I believe it's called secrete for a reason James." And with a small chuckle James stared at the Salvage room which he had recently placed the painting in, and with that Nathaniel asked, "You mentioned that Mr William was punishing himself with memories which aren't his, what did you mean by that? You seemed to be very invested in him that you saw something which most people would not have been able to notice. William could only coordinate with a book that does not have a definite ending, such that he can be able to draw himself and ending which would best suit him, not to mention the guilt he felt about his family leaving him (allowing him to survive alone). I could not see what really happened to his wife and kid from his eyes, but what rang quite clearly was the amount of hate he had for himself for not being able to protect them as he should have. Did you know the actual culprit in the murder in the novel 'Soulmates' was actually the person in the painting which dissipated? But because we believe what only seems plausible in our mind, we cannot see anything else other than what we feel is real.

William did enter the scene after the massacre, but he was already drenched in blood by then, what made him stain himself with the blood was his numerous attempts of waking up his dead family. But he only came back to consciousness after he had caught himself in a pool of blood as well. So yes, he believed to have been the reason behind his family's murder.

"Remember the dark side which I showed you in the salvage room last time, do you want to explore it with me today? Maybe that can be a way of explaining how memories really work." James spoke looking at Nathaniel's eyes which were still filled with sparkles from the amazement he felt unconditionally. James tried by all means to understand the kid in front of him in a more personal aspect as to get a gist of why the child was sent to the bookstore in the first place.

Nathaniel agreed to James's request, and right before James was ready to guide the kid into the room again grandma interrupted with, how about getting Nathaniel familiar with how the Salvage room even came to existence in the first place?" James then tilted his head with a small smile on his face and said, "How could I forget? That was the best customer I had ever encountered."