"Hey... Ib... Uh... " Mary hesitated, looking down at the carpeted ground below them. "If only two of us could get out of here... then what?" She looked at Ib, her eyebrows furrowed. She felt for the rose in her pocket, the thin paper reassuring beneath her eternally cold fingers.
"If only two of us could make it out, I'd sacrifice myself." There was no hesitation in her soft, shy voice. Her face was completely serious, not a hint of doubt.
"Wha! Really, Ib? But then you'd never see your mom again!" A pain spread in Mary's heart as she mentioned Ib's mother. She wished she could find a mother of her own. "It would be really lonely, you know?" She looked down as those words tumbled from her mouth, desperately trying to keep the tears out of her eyes. "Don't say things like that..." She didn't want to think of her new friend living alone in this cold, lifeless world. She knew the pain of the terrible loneliness this empty gallery brings. "We'll leave together!" She turned to face Ib, reaching out and clasping one of Ib's small hands in her own. "Promise!" She smiled.
Ib shivered, the icy coldness from Mary's hands coursing through her veins. She mirrored Mary's smile.
"Let's go!" Mary said, grinning. She tugged on Ib's hand, leading her down the hallway.
The rainbow bridge closed the gap in the now-colorful room. Carefully crossing to the other side, Mary glanced down at the table. There was a small, brown key resting on the wooden surface. Mary picked up the key, silently looking at Ib.
Ib held her hand out for the key, remembering the locked door next to the fisherman painting. Mary handed it to her. The key felt cold in her palm, as cold as Mary's hands.
She shivered again, looking at Mary. Something was strange about her... She had a cold, rather dark aura. Her voice was somewhat raspy, sounding like paper rubbing together.
Taking the lead, Ib walked back across the rainbow bridge with Mary following behind her. They returned to the large room that acted like a sort of hallway, replenishing their roses in the vase before walking to the large brown door.
Hesitantly, with Mary close behind her, Ib slid the key into the lock. It turned easily with a click. Carefully grabbing the cool, steel doorknob, Ib pushed open the door.
A short hallway greeted her, followed by a set of stairs heading downwards. On the wall opposite of the stairs sat a portrait of some strange creature with it's mouth open.
Suddenly, Mary gripped Ib's arm. Turning around, Ib knew from her wide eyes and pale face that Mary was scared. What she was scared of, however, was unknown.
Ib could not hear the sing-song voice coming from the walls.
"I know Mary's secret!" It said. Mary understood what that meant. Garry must have seen the book.
What would happen when he told Ib? She wondered. What would happen when both of them knew she came from a painting?
Would they accept her? Would they try to get rid of her? What would they do?
Noticing Ib's gaze, Mary released her arm. "Sorry..." She said, looking down. "I-I thought I'd heard something."
Ib turned back to the staircase. The stair way was wide and the stairs were tall, a bit too high for Ib's short legs. She half stepped, half hopped down the stairs. Mary followed close behind her. Her footsteps were far too silent. Any normal person would have made at least a little nose hopping down the wooden stairs.
There was another picture on the wall at the bottom of the stairs. It was disturbingly similar to the first one, as though the two were connected.
The door gave way to a large room, around the same size as the one they had just exited. There was a vase sitting on a table against the wall.
More out of habit than anything else, Ib walked to the vase and dropped her rose into the cool blue water.
She heard a muffled murmur coming from somewhere behind her. Turning around, she looked through the room. There was nobody nearby. The sound seemed to be coming from somewhere behind the wall.
Hesitantly, she walked towards the wall, half-expecting something to come bursting out of the wall. Nothing came out. The wall never moved. The voice got clearer.
It was then that she realized she knew the voice. The voice, a little higher pitch that she was used to, belonged to Garry. He was talking to someone.
Following the wall, she turned the corner and headed towards the door. As she got closer, she was able to understand a few words in his sentences.
"That...So?" She could hear him giggling, high-pitched and girly.
A few more steps forward. "Ahahaha... Oh sure." A pause. "Sometimes, yeah, yeah."
Before Ib could walk forward again, Mary gripped her arm with cold, dry hands. "I hear someone talking." she said, her voice barely louder than a whisper. She had been so preoccupied with her fears that she hadn't been paying attention until that moment.
"Don't see that every day, right?" Garry said. "I just ran out you see." There was a pause. Despite Mary's reluctance, Ib moved forward. "Oh, I really love it. But it takes a while for sure..." Mary's grip on Ib's arm tightened. She didn't know Garry well enough to recognize his voice.
The two had reached a corner. Turning right, they saw a purple door. The door was open, Garry's voice was louder, coming from inside the room. "Oh, you too? Why, we certainly do get along, don't we? Ohohohoh." The laughter sent a chill down Ib's spine. It was uncharacteristic and creepy.
"Is he... talking to someone?" Mary asked, her wide eyes meeting Ib's. Her fingernails dug into Ib's skinny arm. Ib's anxiousness was reflected in her dark red eyes. She too felt something was wrong.
She glanced at the doorknob, momentarily weighing her options. She could go into the room and see Garry, but what if it wasn't Garry in that room? The voice was definitely his, but...
There was no way to get out of this area, after all, the door to the stairs had locked behind them. Even if she could go back, she couldn't push the statue away from the other staircase, and the rest of the rooms offered no exit.
Sighing, she decided finding Garry was her only hope for escape. He might know of another exit, one she and Mary could not find on their own. If there was a chance Garry was in that room, she knew she had to go in.
The doorknob was cold beneath her fingers. Holding her breath, she turned the doorknob and pushed the purple door open.
The scene that was contained within the purple room was utterly baffling. Ib's red eyes widened and her eyebrows disappeared into her bangs.
There were three wooden tables on each side of the room, pushed up against the wall. On those tables sat little porcelain bunnies, white and pink with red eyes. A large portrait of a pink bunny with red eyes hung against the back wall, opposite to the door. More bunnies littered the floor.
In the middle of the bunny infested floor sat Garry, leisurely lounging in front of a green bunny, the only green bunny in the whole room. His face was paler, his silver-purple hair hanging in front of his eyes.
"Garry?" Mary hesitantly asked from beside Ib.
"Hoho! You're really quite entertaining, you know that? I feel like I could talk to you about my every worry... Ahahahaha..." The nervous laughter was the only part that sounded even remotely like the Garry Ib knew. His voice was lighter and higher than usual, the tentativeness gone. His usually polite speech was butchered and informal.
With worry clouding her eyes, Ib walked closer to Garry, her steps small and slow.
"Huh! Never heard that before... Can you give me the details?" His voice sent a chill down Ib's spine. "No, no, I won't tell anyone. Your secret's safe with me!" The cheerful tone of his words was disturbingly cold, lacking all warmth that was always in his voice.
He sat back. "Whaaa? I don't believe it!" His eyes grew wider as he suddenly leaned forward. From her nearer angle, she could see his pale blue eyes. They were glazed over, not focusing on anything. "Really?! Are you for real? 'Cause that's disgusting! Who'd do that to a girl?! If I saw that happening, I'd tell them off for sure!"
There was a pause, as though he was listening to someone's response. Neither Mary nor Ib were speaking.
"Troubled? I know the feeling. You just feel helpless sometimes. You know you can't run away, but nothing goes well either... Wonder why?" He sighed. Ib tapped on his shoulder. He didn't turn towards her. "Yeah, that works too. It's nice to not have to think. Just forgetting all the bad thing... Ahaha, oh yes! I'm with you there!" His cheerfulness was creepier than his words.
"Is this really Garry?" Mary asked, still standing in the doorway. She voice was shaky, quiet. "Something's wrong with him." She insisted. "Maybe it's a fake?" She wanted to leave and was trying to imply that in her tone. She wished Ib would agree with her and they could leave.
She knew Garry was not a fake. She also knew Garry was dangerous, to her at least. Since she had been with Ib since they separated from Garry, she knew he had been the one to figure out her secret.
"I mean, the real Garry wouldn't be here... right?" she insisted. She noticed Ib shifting. "Don't you think so, Ib?" Ib walked towards the green bunny and stood directly in front of Garry, blocking his view. He didn't seem to notice. "Ib?" She was getting desperate, unable to get Ib's attention. She wanted to leave. Garry would eventually lose the rest of his sanity and rot away in the room without even noticing. He would never be able to tell Ib her secret. Ib would never find out. They could become closer friends. They could get out of here together, after all, Garry would take her place in the painting and Mary would finally have a chance to live.
She wanted so dearly to live, to escape this gallery and truly have a life. For this, she had to get rid of Garry, either now or later. She had to send him into the painting.
She took a step forward before stopping, entranced by the scene in front of her eyes. Ib had knelt down in front of Garry, leaning forward and tilting her head to the right, looking deeply into his eyes. She frowned, really noticing how glazed over and dull they had become.
Bringing her thin arm back as far as it would go, she swung forward and slapped Garry. He didn't speak, not even looking in her direction anymore.
"Garry?" She said, her voice soft and almost fragile. Worry was threaded into her voice, very present in her red eyes. What if he didn't snap out of it? she wondered anxiously. What would happen to him if she left him here? How would she get out of the gallery without Garry? She had been fine before she'd met him but now...
Garry groaned, turning towards Ib and distracting her away from her dark thoughts. He blinked twice, the dazed look disappearing from his eyes. They became a bright blue once. "Huh... Ib?" he said, his eyes focusing on her. He looked to the side, seeing Mary for the first time since they'd separated. "And Mary too... What's going on? And where is this? Why are we all here?" He stood, stiffly stretching out his legs as he spoke.
Ib hugged him, wrapping her arms tightly around Garry. She was instantly enveloped by his warmth. She felt comforted, all hear fears melting away.
"Whoa! I-Ib?!" Garry exclaimed. Awkwardly patting her upper back, he added, "Well... I'm not too sure what happened, but you must have been worried." He looked down at her and ruffled her dark brown hair. With sorrowful eyes he said, "Sorry about that...Ib..."
Mary backed out of the room, reaching for the palette knife in the pocket of her green dress. Garry was fine. Ib had somehow woken him up from his trance.
She felt resentment deep inside her. Ib preferred Garry over her. Ib had decided to wake up Garry instead of listening to her.
But it wasn't Ib's fault. Ib hadn't done anything wrong. Garry must have been feeding her lies while they were alone together, before Mary met them. He must have been brainwashing her.
Garry must be stopped.
On the other hand, however, Garry had invited her to join them... Garry had been nice to her from the very beginning, without even knowing who she was...
Her conflicting emotions swirled in her heart. She didn't know what to think. She didn't know what to feel.
"Well... I'd like to say we press ahead, but... My memory is a bit messy so I can't remember what I was doing..." Garry said as he joined Mary outside of the room.
Hope flourished in Mary's heart. Maybe everything would be fine. As long as Garry doesn't remember finding out her secret, Ib would never find out. She could get closer to Ib until the time came for her to push Garry into the painting... In fact, she could even convince Ib that Garry was the fake. Then she and Ib could finally become real friends. They could become very close, close as sisters even, the sister Mary wished she could have.
"Well, you don't really need to remember, do you?" Mary wanted to take those words back the instant she said them. Why would she draw attention to his lost memories? Now he would be more determined to get them back because he would know she didn't want him to remember something. Hoping to divert attention away from her blunder, she cheerfully added, "At least we're back together!" She felt Ib staring at her from behind. Ib must have realized she was hiding something, something that was contained in Garry's memories...
Garry hadn't seemed to notice. "I suppose that's true... But I feel like I'm forgetting something important... I wonder what it was..."
Her diversion hadn't worked. He was still trying to remember. She had to keep them moving, to keep them distracted. "Anyway, let's go!" she said, trying to seem enthusiastic even though she was deathly afraid of what could happen. "We found some stairs."
Garry glanced at her, raising an eyebrow before replying, "All right, then. Let's give it our best shot." He glanced at Ib, who nodded her silent agreement before taking the lead. Stopping by the vase, both Garry and Ib deposited their roses, even though they had no use for it.
Mary hung back. If she took out her rose, they would instantly know. The rose would crumple in the water. She was able to block her rose from Ib's view and pretend to replenish it, but Garry was much taller and would be able to look over her shoulder. He would instantly figure out that something was wrong...
Ib had a strange expression on her face when she turned around to look at Mary. She was definitely suspicious of something.
Mary felt panic blossoming inside her. Had Garry said something? Had he been whispering in her ear while the two of them were standing at the vase? Had he only been pretending to forget Mary's secret so as to throw her off?
Garry turned around and stared at the both, a confused look on his face. He looked from Ib to Mary and back again, raising an eyebrow. If he was acting, he was very convincing.
Without uttering a single word, Ib walked past Mary and retook the lead. She walked out the door she and Mary had come through only minutes before, somehow knowing that it would be open. Garry and Mary followed close behind her.
She stopped a few feet to the right of the door, standing just between the door and the stairs. She was staring at the right-most wall. Mary stared too.
"What is it?" Garry asked, glancing towards the wall.
"The door." Mary said, pointing to an ebony door in the middle of the wall. "It wasn't there before... Right, Ib?" Standing on Mary's right, Ib nodded, almost imperceptibly.
"Shall we go through it?" Garry asked nervously, also questioning the sudden appearance of a new door.
Instead of answering, Ib walked forward, stopping a few inches from the door. She listened carefully. There were no sounds coming from the other side of the doorway. She reached out and touched the doorknob with the tip of her fingers. It was cool.
Mary stood beside her. She glanced at Ib, waiting for confirmation. Instead of expressing it verbally, she grabbed the doorknob and twisted, pushing open the new door.
The room she found was dark, so dark she couldn't see her feet.
"I don't like this." Mary vocalized what all three were thinking. "It's too dark."
Fishing through his pocket, Garry pulled out the lighter. It was old and a little rusted, it's light very weak, but the small flame provided comfort, if nothing else.
The room was small, very narrow. The light bounced off the green painted walls, revealing a strange lack of portraits or decorations.
Swallowing her fear, Ib took a few more steps forward, followed closely by Garry and Mary. Nothing moved in the darkness aside from the three companions. All were listening carefully for the telltale sound of a painting falling or stone feet scraping across the wooden floors beneath them.
Something gleamed in the dim light from Garry's lighter. They were all approaching a wall. That wall was a floor to ceiling window.
Cautiously pressing up against the window, Ib peered through. It appeared to be dark, except for a small area in the right side of her peripheral vision. Locating the small peephole of light, Ib peered through. The first thing she saw was a white reception desk with pamphlets on the left side. On the wall behind the desk there was a poster advertising a part of an exhibit. Between the wall and the counter stood a man. He was rather short and had gray hair...
Ib recognized him and the scene before her instantly. She was staring at the lobby of the museum.
A knock on her right startled her and killed her excitement. Ib, Garry, and Mary were all tensed and ready to run the moment something broke through the wall and came at them. The seconds ticked by, all of them straining their ears for the sound of breaking plaster. The light flickered.
There was total silence. On the wall in front of them, words appeared, sloppily scrawled in red paint.
"Only two may go through. The last must find their own way out."
Each of the three read the words silently. Only Ib fully understood what they meant.
Before she could explain, a rumbling sound interrupted the nervous silence. The ground shook. Nearly losing her balance, Ib clung to Garry's arm. He was ready to sprint off in the opposite direction and carry Ib with him if anything attacked.
The window shattered. Glass shards rained down and scattered on the ground. Where darkness had once been, a doorway appeared, revealing a familiar, welcome scene.
Light flooded over the three, easily overshadowing the small flicker of Garry's light. All stared in awe. The gallery was right in front of them, like two open arms waiting to embrace them.
"The gallery..." Garry voice aloud. "This is the lobby of the gallery." His wide eyes surveyed the room.
"We found the way out of here! Let's go!" Mary said, eagerly clasping Ib's hand in both of hers. She would be able to escape this gallery at last. She would find her way out. She would finally have a friend. She would finally have a life.
Ignoring the message on the wall, Mary stepped through the door, looking around the lobby. The bright lights reflected in her excited eyes. The paintings on the walls were so bright, so real. They were paintings she had never seen before.
Behind the counter, the receptionist smiled. He hadn't noticed that Mary had walked out of the wall. As far as he had seen, she had walked in through the entrance. He did wonder where her parents were, after all, children were unwillingly dragged into the museum by their parents.
Mary grinned, looking at each person in the room, glancing at every painting. A window at the other end, to the left of the reception desk caught her attention. The glass was clean, and beyond it, she could see a parking lot. Colorful cars gleamed in the sunlight.
Her steps were short and hesitant at first. Was this real? Was this a mere dream? Would this world disappear the moment she got too far into it?
She walked faster. Then faster. Then she was running. Running to the window, desperate to see the outside world. She reached the window, her fingers resting on the glass.
She began to cry. The blue sky was so beautiful. The horizon was full of hope, hope for her to escape somewhere, far away from this gallery, far from her painted prison.
Garry noticed Ib was hesitating. She looked anxious, rather scared.
"Are you alright, Ib?" He asked, leaning down and tilting his head to meet her eyes. She looked up at him with wide eyes, surprised, as though she had forgotten his presence.
"Only two..." She began, repeating the words she had just read. She looked towards the wall, biting her lip.
"Hm?" Garry followed her gaze. "Oh." He paused. "I see." His voice sounded sad. All hope and cheerfulness had disappeared. Suddenly, he stood up straight. "Go on, Ib." He said, staring straight ahead. "You should go, join Mary." He was looking into the gallery with longing, sad eyes.
"But..." Ib said, looking up at Garry. She could sense his hopelessness.
"Go."He repeated, a little more forcefully. Tears welled up behind his eyes. He was so close, so very, very close to escaping... And yet he could not go. He couldn't step through the door and leave Ib behind. He would have to keep going, to look for another exit. He noticed Ib was looking at him. "I'll be fine." he said, forcing a smile onto his face. He didn't want her to feel guilty about leaving, and he certainly did not want her to remain in this twisted world any longer. "I'll find another way out, and meet up with you two later." He could not look at Ib. He knew he would break down if he did.
"No." Ib said. Despite Garry's efforts, she could see the small tears in the corners of his eyes. She knew he wanted to leave. She was scared of this world and all the horrifying things that kept chasing after her, but she knew she could find her own way out. She could last a little longer. "You go." She kept her sentences short, unsure of how to word her feelings. She didn't want to be separated from Garry, but she was too scared to tell him that. She didn't want to say anything else, afraid that whatever she said would only further convince him to stay and make her go through the door.
"Ib..." Garry said.
"No! I'm not going!" She raised her voice, crossing her arms and glaring at him. She would do anything necessary to get him through the portal.
"Ib." The tears were gone from Garry's eyes. He felt sort of... happy. He was amused at Ib's attempts, realizing that she was trying to protect him in the same way he was trying to protect her. "I'll meet up with you two later." he repeated. "Go." He gently pushed against her back, trying to force her through the portal.
"No!" Ib spun away from his hand and took off down the hallway they had just come through.
"Ib!" she heard Garry yell. "IB!" He watched her small figure disappear into the darkness of the hallway. With one final, longing glance at the portal, he chased after her. She had intended for him to go through the portal once she left, but he couldn't do that. He couldn't leave with the knowledge that she would be trapped in this wicked world.
Mary spun around to see the portal disappearing on the wall. She ran forward, pressing her hands against the wall. She saw Garry's back as he sprinted away from her.
She turned, and, wiping the tears away from her eyes, looked around the lobby, searching for Ib. If Garry was still on the other side, Ib must be waiting for her somewhere on this side, right?
There was no sign of Ib. Mary was all alone.
Tears streamed down her cheeks again. She had lost the one friend she had finally found. She was alone and so very, very lonely.
A hand materialized on her shoulder. Spinning around, the receptionist quickly pulled his hand away and said, "May I help you young one? Where are your parents?" He gently wiped the warm tears away from her eyes. Holding out his hand, he offered to help her. This simple act of kindness was enough to blow Mary's loneliness away.
She didn't think to question why the portal closed up when only one person got through, and, as she smiled at the kind receptionist, her memories of Ib, Garry, and the world she came from slowly faded. She belonged to this world now.