Mona Lisa

This story is told in the perspective of a graduate student of the United States Naval Academy, who decides to take on the occupation of being a security guard at The Louvre in Paris.

It has always been a personal dream of mine to live overseas after I finished studying at the Academy, but I had always thought this dream was a bit far fetched. However, my perspective on that all changed when I was offered the occupation of a security guard at The Louvre in Paris. As soon as I saw the offer, I packed my bags and left. I rented a decent apartment on Rue Brey. Instead of taking the average Eiffel Tower tour, I spent my first day exploring the province. The streets were filled with sophisticated faces, a beautiful park, and half a dozen cafés. As soon as I got home that night, I felt that I truly belonged in Paris.

On the second day, I took the metro to Louvre-Rivoli. After pushing through a crowd of jittery tourists for what seemed like an hour, I finally found the place where I was supposed to meet the head of the Louvre security guards. He greeted me with a friendly smile.

“Bonjour, do you speak French?”

“Not very well sir, my apologies.”

“You do not need to apologize. You’re the new night gaurd correct?”

“Yes, sir. I’m very excited to start tonight!”

The security guard looked at me with this eyebrow raised. I must have said something wrong, but I kept quiet.

“So,” the guard walked over to his desk and handed me the morning paper, “I’m guessing you haven’t read last month’s La Croix?”

On the first page, there was a photo of a security guard lying on the floor near a painting, dead. I didn’t know what to say, I only looked up at him in horror. The guard noticed my facial change.

“Things have been a bit crazy at the Louvre. I bet you noticed that the tourists were a bit more apprehensive than usual. The forensics team had a look at the body and could not find the cause of death. However, things have changed. We have doubled up on security, which is why we hired a man such as yourself. Anyway, you will start your shift tonight at 9 o’clock sharp. You should use the day to get some sleep, for you have to stay up all night.”

“Sir, you have no need to worry. The Academy has trained me to work in high-stress environments, so I think I’ve got you covered.”

At 9, I started my shift. I was given a handgun, a small club, and some pepper spray. I was assigned to guard the Denon Wing, the most popular part of the museum because that was where the Mona Lisa resided.

When I walked into the wing for the first time, I didn’t notice the Mona Lisa first, I noticed the other paintings. They were intricate and enormous; it probably took the artist’s entire life to paint one mural. I found it so ironic that such a small painting could overshadow other paintings that were a thousand fold its size.

I sat in a chair across from the wing. Minutes seemed like hours, and nothing was happening. My eyelids grew heavy and I fell asleep, only to be awoken by a scream.

I immediately woke up. I ran to the source of the scream, which happened to be in the Denon wing.

A security guard laid on the floor, unconscious.

I turned him over. There were hand marks on his neck, proving that the man was strangled to death. Not only that, a huge chunk of his neck was bitten off.

I looked around and checked my four corners. When I checked the fourth corner, I noticed footprints. They were glowing in the dark and making their way towards the exit. I started pursuing the footprints. Before I knew it, I found myself locked out of the Louvre. I called an emergency hotline, and noticing that I had finished my shift, I ran back to my apartment.

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Things only got more chaotic at the Louvre. The Forensics team was going ballistic and being that I was the only witness, I was called in early for an endless amount of questioning. I only told them what I saw-the dead, chewed up security guard and some glowing footprints. The police told me they would let me go, but they told me that if they found out I had anything to do with the murder of the guard, they would make sure that my diplomacy wouldn’t save me.

That night during my shift, I was so scared that I didn’t fall asleep. Instead, I decided to complete my own investigation. I kept walking in between wings to keep myself awake.

I was intrigued by the beauty of the murals and statues that embroidered the halls. I found this painting that I recognized from when I was a little boy. I went on a trip to Paris with my family. We spent half a day at the Louvre. The only painting I could remember was the painting I was staring at. Why was I once so captivated by an emperor being coronated?

My musings were interrupted when I heard another bloodcurdling scream, coming from the wing that I was supposed to be supervising. I carefully made my way over, with my gun in my hand, ready to shoot at any moment.

It was the same enigmatic scenario all over again. Another security guard strangled to death and chewed up and the footprints trying to escape from the crime scene.

My reflex resulted in me shooting at the invisible figure. The bullet had no effect, but the figure did change its direction. It started running towards the Mona Lisa painting. In pursuit, I sprinted towards the painting. The figure was gone.

I looked into the eyes of Mona Lisa. How did Da Vinci manage to paint such a beautiful smile?

Her smile seemed to have heard me, because at that moment, the smile started growing wider and wider, until her teeth started to show, which were razor sharp.

All of my training from the Academy seemed to have deactivated at that moment. I knew that I couldn’t shoot at the Mona Lisa because I would be destroying a priceless fragment of human history. My only choice was to run, and I did.

I ran all the way to my apartment, only stopping while I was on the metro.

After locking the door, I breathed a sigh of relief and started to make my way towards my bed, only to be stopped by it.

It was Mona Lisa. Same smile, same dress, same beautiful woman. Only she was translucent and had hand marks on her neck. I had to physically stop myself from screaming.

“Please sir, do not be afraid. I am the victim in this situation. The monster has sucked out the majority of life within me and I only have moments to tell you this. Do not be fooled by the monster, it looks exactly like me. That thing lives on the blood of its victims and it only comes out at night. Depart from that twisted place! Save your-”

Before she could finish her sentence, she broke into a thousand pieces like a vase of roses crashing onto the floor. The only difference between the two was the fragments disappeared.

I stood still, trying to contemplate whatever just happened.

I tried to go to bed, but I was too overwhelmed. Instead, I started doing some research, which all started by Googling, “How do you kill a vampire?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was called in for questioning once again. The only difference between my first interrogation and this one was how the French police treated me. Knowing that I was not a cannibal, they let me go, and the head security guard gave me a few days off so I could recover.

“Use this time to fall in love with Paris. You know what they always say, what is it in English? ‘Paris is always a good idea’.”

My short vacation passed as quickly as my last love affair. But I was ready for whatever was going to try to come at me.

The time for my shift arrived. Time flew, leaving my memories of that night looking like a blur.

I only had one other security gaurd with me and we spent every minute checking every nook and cranny in the museum. I didn’t even stop to look at my favorite painting.

Then I heard a scream. The monster had awaken.

I started running away from that twisted room. I locked the door and rested against it. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, a pair of nails slit through a part of the door. I peered into the newly-formed hole, only to see some eyes looking back at me. I backed away from the door, which quickly exploded into pieces.

The monster matched Mona Lisa’s description. It looked the same as her, only she didn’t have any hand marks or teeth marks on her neck.

I told myself to relax and stick with my plan, but it wasn’t really working because the monster was floating towards me.

Before I could control myself, I threw the onion concoction on the beast. The concoction paralyzed the monster and the monster started to disappear. I took out my camera and I managed to get a photo.

It was gone.

And so was my energy.

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It’s been a decade since this “incident” happened. The day after this experience, I told the French police what happened.

“Sir, you’re mad. Please go home.”

No matter how much I tried to tell them, let alone anyone, I would always get the same answer.

Out of frustration and my love for Paris, I saw protecting the Louvre as my duty. I decided to become a French citizen and continue working at the Louvre. The cycle just kept on continuing. New security guards would be hired. I would try to tell them to be careful, but they would only ignore me. But every couple of years, the monster would strike. The monster has tried to come after me once again, but I defend myself the same way and I always came out alive.

I still carry the same materials with me, my onion concoction and the 10 year-old photo of the monster. I sometimes show the photo to people, but no one ever believes me, saying there is too much flash in the photo and that the person in the photo could be anyone. No one believes me and I don’t know how I can continue doing my duty as a security guard.

I know, maybe you will believe me.