Dungeon

CHAPTER 14 - BLOOD TIES AND BETRAYAL

"Jayden! How many times have I told you not to cross over the altar during prayer?" A woman in her forties scolded the boy in front of her.

The boy was covered with mud from head to toe. He looked up at his family on their knees, closing in on their final prayers, and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah...yeah, whatever." Before his mother could respond, he jolted back upstairs and looked for the person whom he most loved in this world. "Jessica? Got your favorite Halloween candy!"

"Jay!" A voice cooed from behind a room, and the boy opened the door, picked up a one-year-old girl in his arms, and played with her fondly. He took a small candy from his pocket and fed it bit by bit to the girl in his arms.

"Jayden! Don't you touch the child with that dirt all over you!" His mother barged in through the door and picked up the child, to which the child cried out loud. Jessica didn't want to leave the solace of her brother and clung onto his school bag, to which a packet of cigars fell from the side pocket of the bag.

"Shit! I'm effed up!"

Before the boy could react, his mother picked up the cigars and threw them outside the window with a look of disgust and shock, as if they were possessed. "Oh! So now you started smoking too, huh? Give me your school bag!"

Jayden held his school bag closely, but his mother wouldn't give up either. She placed the child on the ground and pulled hard on the bag, which tore into two pieces, from which a book, a lighter, and a dozen medals fell.

She picked up the book and shot a fiery look at her son. "The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins...so this is what you are reading? James, would you mind coming up here!"

The boy shot a worried look over the door. His father was the last person he wanted to see at the moment. He felt like he was standing before God and the council of angels on judgment day. "Mom! Please stop! I just don't believe in things that I don't see; that's as simple as that! And it's just a book!"

His mom gasped, strode over, and beat the boy hard on the face. The girl was scared and started crying out loud. Suddenly, a man appeared in the room and took a moment to read it. He gave a grim look to his wife, held the boy by his hand, and dragged him out of the room.

"If you want to behave wayward, then do so outside my house!"

He shoved the boy outside the house and locked the door. "Pretend that only a daughter was born to us!"

A loud, blaring horn jolted Jessica back to attention, and she realized her Tucson was just inches away from colliding with a truck. "Shit!" Her reflexes took over, and she averted the car, which hit a tree trunk. She gasped for air and rolled her eyes. So much for discretion

"Usted está loco?!" A man's voice bellowed from some distance away. Jessica got out, slowly gave a sly bow, and flashed a wide smile. "Lo lamento!" I'm sorry

The man gave a weird hand gesture and drove away through the street of Carrer de Montcada. Jessica looked up and was wonderstruck at the awesome building before her. Built in 1963, the museum became the only one dedicated to the greatest sculptor of all time, Pablo Picasso, and the only one that was built during his lifetime. The entire palace was built in a Catalan civic gothic style, which occupies five large palaces carrying a scent of history within each and every wall.

Jessica walked up to the entrance and found herself submerged in a group of bustling tourists. Guides were stopping by and trying their best to persuade the tourists to choose them to get a fair share for the day. There was an enormous sign board nearby that contained information about the location and details of each painting inside the museum. She started reading the board and found all the way to the painting that she wanted. Science and Charity!