Chapter 5
Paul was wondering if he would ever find an answer to what was happening to them. Caryn’s room was identical to Paul’s, minus the Bible. They had ascended a short spiral staircase to her room. A stairwell like he had seen before when he was exploring rooms on different floors. The Bible? Was it a clue? Why did he have a Bible in his room, and she did not? He decided not to pursue the fact at the moment, remembering her confused look when he mentioned it before.
“Everything seems identical to my room,” Paul said as he turned from his visual inspection to Caryn. “No clues here. I wish I could find something, anything. I’ve no idea if we’re prisoners of some kind, or just lost somewhere.”
Caryn looked around nonchalantly. “I don’t feel like a prisoner.”
“Neither do I.” Paul reached for her hand, which felt so warm in his own. “Let’s go back to the dining room and search it. There seem to be no other rooms, at least yet.”
They left her room and descended the stairs back to the lounge area. As the door opened for them to enter, Paul noticed a difference immediately. The table and food had returned to their original state. No dirty plates or partially filled goblets or used napkins. It appeared as it had when he had first seen it.
“I guess there will be no shortage of food and drink,” he commented as he nodded toward the table.
Caryn smiled. “And I don’t have to clean the table after we eat or wash dishes.”
He chuckled, noting she was very calm and collected for someone in their situation. He could not shake the feeling he had known her for years, he felt so comfortable with her — almost intimate in a way. He did not feel they were in any danger, but there was still a puzzle he needed to solve.
He started thinking about the whole experience. He remembered his original panic, finding he had no pulse, wondering if he had died. Then while he slept, things changed. When he last woke up, he had a pulse and felt hunger. Then he found the lounge and the food. He thought about being alone. Then he found Caryn. He was beginning to see a pattern.
He looked at Caryn again. Was she created like other things seem to be because he thought about them? Was she real, or part of the tower’s illusions — if they were indeed illusions. The food tasted real enough. Perhaps, she was a clue.
“Why don’t we relax a bit and talk. See if we can’t figure out what might be happening.” Paul gestured toward the divan.
Caryn smiled and nodded, releasing his hand and sitting. Paul sat next to her and looked at her. She turned her green-eyed gaze upon him, and he noted there was a look in her eyes which reminded him of how his mother used to look at him when he was young. Her smile was subtle, and it pulled at him — tugged at his insides. His heart maybe? He could not help but smile back.
“Tell me about your first experiences when you arrived in the tower,” he said.
She thought a moment, then replied, “I woke up in the bed in the room. I saw the lightning outside, the desk, and chair. I remember opening the desk and seeing the pens and paper. I looked in the mirror and saw I was in my clothes, not my nightgown. Then I went to the door, and it opened. I went down the stairs and another door opened, and there you were.” She shrugged, then returned to smiling at him as before.
Paul had to use force to tear his gaze from her so he could think. When he was looking into her eyes, seeing her smile, his mind could not focus on anything but her. He felt drawn in, like falling into a hole. Her description indicated she had arrived a short moment before they met.
“I wonder why my room has a Bible, and yours doesn’t,” he said thoughtfully. He looked back at Caryn and noted the confusion on her face.
“I don’t know. I didn’t think…” she stopped abruptly, then smiled at Paul. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t see how it could mean anything.”
Didn’t think? He wondered what she meant, but did not press the issue now. He did not want to make her uncomfortable. Though it seemed suspicious, he could not help feeling it was unimportant for now. She was so... captivating was the word that leapt into his mind. He decided to change the subject.
“So, you’re an artist. Tell me about yourself. Let’s get to know each other.” He flashed a warm smile.
She shrugged. “I’ve always drawn things. Always created things. It’s so wonderful to create new things, pictures. I started with pen and paper, of course, but when I started going to college, I started learning to do computer art. It’s so fascinating,” she said with excitement. She looked around the room and pointed to the abstract drawings on the tapestries hanging on the walls. “I don’t know how, but these are my drawings, from my childhood. Do you like them?” She looked back at Paul with pride and smiled.
He glanced around the room, a little surprised at this declaration. “Your drawings?” He has a Bible, she does not. The paintings are hers. This is a clue. “Yes, they’re very nice. Relaxing in a way.”
She smiled with satisfaction. “I’m glad you like them. When I first woke up and saw this place, it made me think of my drawings, and there they were. Except, they were somehow on these tapestries.” She stood and walked over to one of the drawings. “This one I drew when I started grade school. I was 6 years old. I was so nervous about going to school. Not having my mother or father there with me.” The drawing did a good job of representing the nervousness she described.
She looked at him again, those eyes dancing in his soul. Why was she so attractive to him? She was beautiful, yes, but his interest was rooted deeper than mere physical attraction. Was he in love with her? Is such a thing even possible in such a short time of knowing each other? Yet, he felt he had known her all his life. And the way she looked at him... almost like love for him in her eyes.
Paul smiled and nodded to the other tapestries. “Tell me about them.” He thought there might be a clue here, and he wanted to know more about her. She walked over to the second tapestry and looked at it, remembering.
“This one I drew for my father, for his birthday. I was ten, I think. He was so pleased when I gave it to him. I’ll never forget the genuine smile and hug he gave me, and how he told me how proud he was of me. It was at that moment I decided I wanted to be an artist.” She wiped a small tear from her eye, remembering, and smiled back to Paul.
Paul returned her smile, and found his interest growing. “Please, go on.”
Caryn walked to the third of the four tapestries. This drawing was more chaotic in design than the others. Paul had never paid much attention to art, so he was not aware of how art could be a translation of the artist’s heart and soul, but he was starting to realize this as she described the third drawing.
“This one was not a happy memory,” she said as she looked the tapestry. “It was my senior year in high school. I’d discovered my boyfriend had invited another girl to the prom instead of me. I was devastated and heartbroken.” She spoke with sadness at the memory, but then turned to Paul and smiled. “But it turned out to be for the best. I understood later I wasn’t meant for him.”
She walked over to the last tapestry. This one was a happy and pleasant splash of colors and shapes. Caryn smiled at her memories as she looked at the drawing. Then she looked back at Paul and smiled with joy.
“This one is my favorite,” she said. “I drew this when I surrendered my life to Jesus. I was so full of peace and joy after confessing and repenting at the altar in church. I’d gained a hope and joy I would never again be without.”
Paul was not surprised by her declaration. Hearing her, he could now recognize what he had not before. Joy radiated from her like a light in the darkness. The feelings he was having toward Caryn were like giant hands grabbing at him, pulling him towards her, or perhaps towards something inside her.
He decided to surrender to these feeling for now. It was a new experience to him. He had girlfriends before, but he had never felt as he did now for Caryn. He liked the feeling. They sat there for what must be hours talking, as he fell deeper and deeper into the spell she had t
hrown on him. But all the while, there was his logic pulling at the corner of his mind. He decided to ignore it for now since logic was not providing any answers.