However, Tom noticed his father had become very distracted in the past weeks, often cooping himself up in the study for stretches of hours, sometimes even spending the night inside. There were a few occasions he saw his father talking to himself and he heard the name "Helene" being mentioned several times.
Tom was dying to ask his dad if this name belonged to the mysterious woman in the picture but did not dare to, as he remembered how his father had snarled at him while warning him to keep mum.
When his father said they were to keep it a secret, Tom was not actually sure what he meant. Did he mean the picture or the message carved into the wood? Or did he simply mean to ignore what had happened?
Seeing how strangely his father was behaving of late, Tom decided to err on the safer side and kept everything to himself although the face of the mysterious woman had been showing up in his dreams almost every night.
She had dark brown eyes that looked kind, and her thick auburn hair fell across her chest beautifully. Tom remembered every action of hers vividly, with her repeating the same message: "Tom, help me", before raising her right hand up and pointing behind him. Each time, he would turn around to see what was behind and when he turned back, she would have disappeared.
"Why me?"
"Who am I to her?"
"And what does she want me to do?"
Tom desperately wanted answers to his questions and it truly looked like there wasn't going to be any until his uncle showed up unexpectedly at his house again.
It was very unusual as Aloysius Radnog rarely came over, unless Tim Radnog had just returned from a long business trip, or on special occasions such as New Year's Day or Christmas. None of all these took place recently, especially not in Tim Radnog's current state of mind.
Tom was in the kitchen, helping himself to a soft drink in the refridgerator when Aloysius came up to him silently.
"HOLY BALONEY!!! Uncle Aloysius! Why didn't you knock and please mak-" Tom exclaimed in shock when he turned around, almost kissing his uncle full on the lips, given that both of them were of similar height.
Aloysius waved his hand flippantly, cutting Tom short as usual, saying: "Oh come on Tom, there's no need to be so uptight around here." His tone was surprisingly light and that was a cause of concern for young Tom, as it was somewhat reminiscent of his dad's sudden moodswing in the study.
"Now sit down, Tom. We need to talk about the recent events that happened." Aloysius Radnog pushed Tom toward a chair as he spoke.
"W-what are you talking about?" Tom stuttered, as he was caught off guard by his uncle's knowledge of what had happened.
"I know. And it is time for you to as well."
As Aloysius Radnog spoke, Tom noticed he seemed kinder and this time, his gaze was soft, albeit a little sad.
"For me to know what? So... You mean you know who Helene is?" Tom couldn't help blurting out anxiously.
"Yes. But before that, you need to see this." Aloysius replied and brought out something from his pocket that did not belong to this world.
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