Deadly Visions (Nightmare Hall) by Diane Hoh Read Free Book Online Page B

the work of art, something that no one else had seen, why had the painting been delivered to her? And why were the letters M.Y.O.B. painted onto the canvas?
    “If you paint something in oil and then change your mind about it,” she asked, looking up at Aidan, “can’t you just paint it out? Cover it up with another color?”
    He nodded and got to his feet. “Sure. But that’s not what happened here, Rachel. The painting looks exactly the way it always did.”
    “Then why,” she asked, standing up and facing him, “was this sent to me?”
    “Maybe the artist saw you admiring it at the exhibit,” he said matter-of-factly. “Since no one else seemed to like it, he very generously decided you should have it. Don’t you remember that old saying about not looking a gift horse in the mouth? You do like it, don’t you? Just hang it somewhere and appreciate it. That’s what art is for.”
    “But the initials,” Rachel protested, waving a hand toward the painting. “You really think that’s just a joke? Telling me to mind my own business?”
    “You don’t know that’s what it means. Maybe those are really the artist’s initials. Or maybe they stand for something else. Here,” Aidan strode over to the painting and hefted it, “let me help you hang it. Where do you want it?”
    Rachel shook her head. “I’m not sure I want to hang it at all. This whole thing is just too weird. Slide it under my bed for now, okay?”
    Still holding the painting, Aidan hesitated. “You sure that’s what you want?”
    “Yes. I’m sure. I’ll think about it tomorrow.”
    Shrugging, he bent to slide the painting under Rachel’s bed. When he straightened up, he said, “Seems kind of rude, hiding it like that. But it’s yours now, so I guess you can do whatever you want with it.” Then, in a totally different tone of voice, he added, “Party at Nightmare Hall tonight. Feel like going? I’m not an atrocious dancer.”
    Struggling to push the painting from her mind, Rachel forced a grin. “Have you been dancing since you were eight, too?”
    He returned the grin. “Twelve, but never with my brothers. So, how about it?”
    Nightmare Hall was actually Nightingale Hall, an off-campus dorm in an old house. Sitting at the very top of a wooded hill, the house was old and creepy, so shrouded by tall, black oaks that its faded red brick seemed charcoal in color. It had been nicknamed “Nightmare Hall” after a suspicious death in the house. The name had remained long after the mystery had been solved.
    The gloomy old house didn’t appeal to Rachel, but she couldn’t turn down a night with Aidan. “Sure. Sounds like a good time.”
    “Great. I’ll give Sam and Joseph, maybe Paloma, a call, see if they want to join us, if that’s okay with you.”
    Oh, peachy. “Sure. That’d be fun.” Especially having Samantha along to steal Aidan’s attention. Maybe she wouldn’t be able to go.
    But Samantha and the others were with them later as they drove up. It was the gravel driveway leading up the hill to Nightingale Hall.
    Rachel’s spirits lifted. The house didn’t look nearly as threatening up close as it did from the highway. It was alive with lights and music. Several people sat on the porch swing laughing, others wandered the grounds. It looked pretty much like any other Salem U. party.
    Once inside, however, Rachel viewed the steep, winding staircase leading from the foyer up to the second and third floors with alarm. It would be so easy for someone to trip on those stairs and take a terrible, bone-breaking fall.
    Just like the image in the still life.
    No. She wasn’t going to think that way. Not tonight. She was there to have fun. Now, if only Samantha would meet a guy and vaporize for the evening.
    “Does Sam have a boyfriend?” Rachel asked Paloma in a whisper as they moved through the crowded foyer to a large library, cleared now of all furniture except the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, the carpet rolled back for