Being Used as a Pawn

Liam's car had been gone for ages, but Ava was still rooted to the spot, staring down the road where he'd disappeared.

She couldn't quite put her finger on what she was feeling. A weird emptiness, like she'd lost something.

The wind whipped up the fallen leaves, swirling them around her feet.

After standing there a while longer, Ava finally turned and headed back to her grandfather's place.

She pulled out her key and went into the east side room. It was her grandfather's oil painting restoration workshop, the place she'd spent most of her childhood.

The room was exactly as she remembered, with paintbrushes, scrapers, cleaning cloths, and all sorts of restoration tools scattered on the tables.

It had been a while since anyone had cleaned, and a thin layer of dust coated everything.

Thinking of her grandfather, who'd died of stomach cancer, Ava's nose started to sting, and her eyes welled up.