Chapter 37 The museum
Ariel
After about a minute of the yacht leaving the dock, Derek Malone gestured for us to go inside. “Shall we?” he asked as he slid the door open and we all nodded, following after him into the lounge where the guests already seemed to have doubled.
Oh wow. The lights were now dimmer, the inbuilt speakers playing another classical song that was different from the one that had first played when I walked in—okay, I don’t know why my brain picked up on that—and Anastasia was back from the restroom. She was standing by her fiancé and looked like she would rather be anywhere else but here.
Same too.
I flinched when I suddenly felt a hand slide around my waist. It was none other than General Yuri, of course, and he steered me towards the bar area where a row of drinks was already lined up. We sat down on a pair of stools before he asked. “What would you like?” I glanced around, pondering what his reaction would be if I said nothing but I decided to go with a glass of wine anyway. It felt safer for some reason.
“Hmm, great, get me a glass of whisky then," he said to the bartender who went to work immediately.
A loud sound went through the room before we could get our drinks, though, one of metal hitting glass and everyone turned to the direction it had come from to see Derek Malone standing at the centre of the room, a glass and spoon in his hand. “May I have everyone's attention, please?” he said with a mic, because that’s the only explanation for how loud and far his voice was reaching.
The room immediately became silent, including the speakers playing the classical music. Every eye was on him. “Welcome everyone to the 67th annual soiree. It is my great pleasure to see so many familiar faces gathered here tonight. As we all know, this party was started as a way to cultivate relationships between the Malone family and associates – in other words, to strengthen the ties that bind us. But over the years, this event has become much bigger than that. It has become a space where opportunities are discovered, partnerships are formed and deals are made while still having fun, and tonight promises to be no different.”
“We’ve planned an incredible evening for all of you. The bar is fully open; the museum will be ready soon for those with access; performances will be done on the upper deck, and the highlight of today, the game, will start exactly by 12am. So please, relax, enjoy yourselves, and may tonight be as memorable as the company we keep. To a beautiful evening ahead.” He raised his glass.
“To a beautiful evening," everyone else said with their glasses raised, including General Yuri, who turned to grab his glass before the whole cheers were over. I quickly grabbed my glass too, then took a big gulp once everyone was back to chatting again.
I had quite a number of questions about that whole speech. The museum? A game? What game? And the whole bit about "...strengthening the ties that bind us..." That had sounded a bit ritualistic to me; it instantly made my skin crawl.
“So you’re an artist?” I turned to General Yuri when he asked, his drink halfway gone just like mine. “Uh… yes. "How did you know?” Did he by chance know me already, which was why he was being so nice to me?
“Victor told me.” It took me a while to remember who that was. “Oh, Mr Coleman," he chuckled after I said that. “What?”
“It’s just cute how you said his last name. So formal.” I forced a smile, actually creeped out. The scars on his face coupled with the chipped tooth he had right at the front of his mouth, yeah…
“What else should I know about you?” I raised an eyebrow. That was an angle I didn't expect. I’d expected interrogation, not an open-ended question. “Uh… I'm 26. Single. And I have a sister.”
“Oh, where is she?”
“School.” I felt sick to my stomach giving that information out, but the document Vincent had given me said to be truthful. They might do a background check. I was only meant to lie about one thing…
“Parents?”
“Dead.”
“Both?” I nodded, worried that he could hear my heart pound loudly in my chest.
“Hmm…” He took a sip of his drink and swirled the glass slowly in his hand. “How did they die?”
“My dad… a car crash, and my mom died of cancer about a year ago.”
“Hmm…” He nodded his head as he took a sip again, a blank expression on his face. Okay.
Right about then, a waitress approched us with a smile and bent slightly to whisper something into General Yuri’s ear. He flashed me with a smile after she left. “Shall we?”
“Uh…” I said sceptically as he helped me up and forced a smile yet again. “Where are we headed?"
“The museum. I like to have a first look at each year’s exhibition but tonight, you get to have the first look with me."
"Oh," I squeaked, already hating the idea. I would rather go to the restroom right now. Should I try my luck?
I could barely get the words out, though, before he was steering me in the direction of the stairs at the far end of the lounge. His arm was wrapped around my waist again and he led me down the stairs into a dimly lit hallway where a number of rooms stood on each side until one final one at the very end that had the letter M on it.
That was the one we went into and almost immediately, I was blown away.
"Wow," I exclaimed as I stared at the arts displayed before us. human sculptures. Weirdly enough, they were all in glass, but were they beautiful? Absolutely. One of them that we stopped at to admire was like a half-human body attached to a growth of forest flowers. It seemed a little disturbing at first glance considering how realistic it looked but the colours made it appealing to the eye.
The next one was an actual mermaid sculpture in water, with the lower body with the tail positioned within the water and the upper body positioned above. Her hands were stretched out to the glass, slightly shielding her naked torso and her hair was decorated with a number of flowers, including her elf ears.
I felt my stomach twist into knots when I made eye contact with her blue eyes. There was something about it. The sadness behind it, the single tear rolled halfway down her cheek.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" I flinched when I heard General Yuri's voice suddenly beside me. I turned to him, unable to force a proper smile this time.
"It's so realistic."
"I know, right? That's because it is."
It took a moment for that to register in my head. "W-what do you mean?"
"These were done using real human subjects. The art wouldn't have come out so beautifully otherwise."
"What..." I felt my blood run cold.
These were actual humans?!!!