Garry felt weak. His blue rose was clutched in his fist, the thorns digging into his skin. There were only three petals on the flower now- the other two lay on the floor next to him. His eyes searched frantically around the room. Where was Mary? Where was Ib? Garry remembered being in the gallery with them….eyeballs on the floor….hands popping out of the walls….women jumping out of paintings, scuttling after them….mannequin heads appearing out of nowhere….
No, no, don't think about it! Garry thought. He was out of the gallery. He had to be….. Looking around, he tensed up. A doll was hanging upside down by a rope, stopping a few centimeters above his head. Trembling, he tightened his grip on the flower- his lifeline. If all the petals fell away, he knew he would be a goner. The doll's eyes bulged from its head, its yarn hair stringy and frayed. The cloth that served as a dress folded over exposing the little stumps for legs. His eyes widened as he noticed, out of the corner of his eye, a hand glide swiftly from the wall and creep along the floor to where he lay. Garry tried moving as fast as he could, but ended up staying rooted to the spot out of fear.
"AAAGGGHHHH!" Garry screamed until the hand clamped itself over his mouth, silencing him. Suddenly, he heard footsteps and saw a shadow around the corner splayed on the wall.
"Garry?!" came Ib's voice. He then heard two pairs of feet running, and a pair of red loafers as well as brown loafers came into his line of vision. Garry squirmed, trying to get the hand off him, but it was no use, as the hand tightened its hold on him.
"Mary! Help me get this thing off him!" Ib cried as Mary fell to her knees and clawed at the hand. Her blond hair tumbled over her shoulders as she bent over him, her blue eyes filled with tears. But her eyes quickly had a look of glee, a sinister smile spread across her face- as if she was enjoying the sight of Garry in pain. He squirmed some more, trying to get away from Mary, but he was scared of upsetting the doll that hung right above him. Mary looked back at Ib, and her face went back to being scared and tearful.
"Ib! It won't budge!" Mary cried in defeat. Ib fell next to her and scratched at the hand as well, but her small fingers couldn't get a good hold. She then started patting at Mary's green dress.
"Ib, what the-?!" Mary shouted, "GGGAAAHHH!" She dove for the floor as the painting on the wall spit at her, its red tongue hanging in out of its mouth. Ib then drew it from Mary's pocket- the knife. With swift determination, she began sawing at the hand. The black skin writhed and twitched as she cut into it. She managed to cut off the arm, but the hand stayed where it was. Ib threw the knife down in frustration, the blade clattering as it hit the floor. Ib had a red rose in her hand, Mary had yellow. Both were in full bloom, completely healthy.
"Crap!" she muttered as the painting went to spit at Mary again. They dodged it by rolling like logs across the floor. Garry shook his head as they rolled toward the wall, where another hand lay in waiting. No! No! Don't go towards the wall! his mind screamed at them- if only they could hear his thoughts! Thankfully, they stopped just short of the hand, just out of it's reach. The lamps on the walls flickered, the already dim light growing dimmer. Garry stared up at the hanging doll. It's red eyes glowed brightly in the almost darkness. Garry shivered as the hand's fingers wiggled slightly.
Were they ever going to get out of here?
Maka moved her bishop diagonally across the chessboard, knocking out one of Shadow's tower shaped pieces. She placed it triumphantly on the small black square. Shadow banged his fist on the table, making the pieces jump slightly.
"Damn! You're gonna beat me again!" Shadow said. Maka smirked.
"I know," she said, flipping one of her brown pigtails over her shoulder. There was a sudden knock on the door, and Tsubaki walked in, Black Star with her as well. She gave a meek wave.
"Hello," she said, "do you mind if we join you?" Black Star rolled his eyes.
"Tsubaki! You're supposed to say 'Allow us to grace you with our presence' not 'Do yo mind if we join you! Get it right next time!" he exclaimed. Tsubaki nodded, "Right, right, of course." Maka pointed to the couch, "Have a seat and join us." Tsubaki took a spot next to Maka while Black Star plopped himself on the floor next to Soul.
"Is Kid here yet?" Black Star asked. Soul shook his head as Maka took out his king, ending the game.
"No, he said he and Liz and Patty might be late- Lord Death called them down to his office earlier," Soul explained. Lord Death was Kid's father, a very lovable man as well, he wore a mask and pair of hands that looked as if they came straight out of a cartoon.
"Oh," said Black Star, "but why? It's vacation. He shouldn't have to go on e a mission!" Soul shrugged.
"I guess it's because he's the Headmaster's son that he has to do more work?" he asked. Maka shook her head.
"No. I think it would be the other way around," she said.
"Yes, it would make no sense if he got more work just because he was his son," Tsubaki agreed, "in reality, he should be getting less work because he is the Headmaster's son." Black Star scratched his head.
"Whatever," Black Star said, "I'm hungry- who wants pizza?" Everyone agreed to this and Maka took a notepad from her pocket along with a pen. Flipping the book open, she clicked the pen and said, "What toppings?" Soon they had a list and were on the phone, Black Star talking loudly at the speaker. As soon as they hung up, Kid walked in with Liz and Patty, the door creaking on its hinges.
"Hey guys, what's up?" he asked as he walked in and plopped himself on the couch next to Soul. He ran a hand through his black hair, which had three white strips on the left side of his head. He was carrying a package under his arm. Liz and Patty waved at Tsubaki, then stood by the couch, silent. There were looks of nervousness on their faces.
"Just ordered a pizza," Maka said, then gestured at the package, "what's that for?" Kid put the package on the table, untying the red string on it. He ripped at the envelope, taking out a bunch of papers. He placed them on the table.
"This," he said, "is our group mission." Maka picked up a sheet of paper. It had a photo of a little girl clipped to it. In the picture, the little girl had her dark brown hair long down her back, thick bangs in front of her forehead. The irises of her eyes were red, and she wore what looked like a school uniform, a red ribbon at her neck. Putting it down, she picked up another photo. A young man smiled back at her, his purple hair swept over one eye, looking messy and were four darker purple strands that were crimped at the top of his head. His purple eyes looked kind and sweet. He wore a green tank top and a navy-blue coat that had a long collar cut to look like fringe or feathers.
"What do you mean by group?" asked Black Star eyed the papers with the little girl's photo.
"Father said you and Tsubaki still haven't collected even one soul," Kid explained.
"Oh, yeah," he said. Soul snickered- he and Maka had collected at least 97 souls by now. The trouble with Black Star was that he let his ego get in the way of his work- which often cost him and Tsubaki major points on exams and missions.
"So my father decided to let all of us do this mission together," Kid continued, "the mission-"
"What's the mission anyway?" Soul interrupted.
"I'm getting to that!" Kid snapped," now, as I was saying, the mission involves these two people." Maka picked up the little girl's papers again and started reading.
"It says here this little girl's name is Ib," she read aloud. She then picked up the boy's photo. There were no papers accompanying it, but on the photo was a name.
"Garry," Tsubaki read over her shoulder, "Hmm. Interesting way to spell it, no?" Kid gestured towards Ib's file.
"Ib was visiting an art gallery with her parents the day she went missing- her parents as well." He picked up Garry's photo and passed it around, "Garry had been missing for about three months around the time Ib disappeared."
"What's the connection between the two people?" Soul asked, "it sounds like two different missing persons cases."
"They were visiting the same art gallery," Kid said.
"Do they know these people's ages? Personal info?" Soul asked, "we're gonna need more to work with, you know?"
"The file says Ib is a nine year old girl. She's about four feet five inches tall, attending Seika Academy in Tokyo, Japan," Kid explained. Soul pointed at Garry's photo, "What about him?"
"Father said he must be at least nineteen or twenty years old, by the looks of him," Kid said, "but other then his name, time of disappearance and a possible age, he has no known background information."
"That's weird though," Maka said, "wouldn't he have had any close friends?"
"Like I said, no one knows," Kid rubbed his head, "the gallery they were at was for some European artist named Giovanni. Here's a list of the rules needing to be followed when visiting." He reached into another envelope and pulled out single sheet of paper with crisp black letters. Everyone leaned in to scan the paper:
Rules of the Gallery:
1. Please do not touch the art ever
2. No food or drink in the gallery ever
3. Please refrain from taking photos of the art ever
4. No lighters, matches, or light source of any kind is allowed in the gallery ever
5. No leaving ever
Maka felt sweat form on her face. The rules all had the word 'ever' at the end- and what was with the last two? She figured number four would be for safety purposes, but number five? No leaving ever? Does that mean whoever goes in never comes out? she thought as Kid pulled out another sheet of paper.
"They found a shred of Garry's coat at the door of the gallery. In the pocket was this letter," Kid said.
The use of a lighter, match, or any other light source is strictly prohibited in the gallery. If we find out that there was use of a lighter, match, et cetera, the staff will be immediately notified of this use and will confiscate the item immediately. Please refrain from using a lighter, matches, et cetera. Thank you and enjoy your stay.
"So, did he have a lighter with him?" Soul asked. Kid nodded. He then handed him a few other photos of Gary they found- Ib was in these as well. The first was written all over with red ink the words "NO FIRE" in big capital letters. The second had Garry's head missing, colored over with thick black marker. A third had Garry and Ib's eyes colored out with the same black marker, "Eye?" written all over it. A fourth had the question "PLAY?" in big red letters. Kid then said, "They were in a hallway of the gallery when these were taken by someone who we think trapped them there. They're standing in front of a mirror, so if you look closely, you can see a bit of a young girl's silhouette in the shadows there." He pointed to where the form of a little girl could be barely seen. From the look of the shadow, she looked about the same age as Ib.
"But they didn't confiscate it. It's believed he still has it on him, considering it was not in the pocket along with the letter and these photos."
"Are they still stuck in the gallery then?" Black Star asked.
"No duh," Kid teased, "why else would I be showing this stuff to you?"
"So, where are we going for this mission? Japan?" Maka asked.
"Yup," Kid said, "so let's go." He gathered up all the files and photos, putting them carefully back in the envelope and retying the thin red ribbon. He then took a bought of roses from his pocket and gave everyone one, "Father said we'll need these with us at all times once we're in the gallery, so make sure you don't lose them." Everyone tucked their flower somewhere safe and followed Kid out the door.
"Aw, man! Now we gotta cancel the pizza order!" Black Star whined. His stomach grumbled loudly.
"We'll get another one when we get there!" Kid chastised him, "now come on! Let's go!"
Patty punched the air, "Woo-hoo! Road trip!"
Lord Death watched all this play out before him through his full length mirror. Next to him was Spirit and Dr. Stein. Stein was rifling through copies of the evidence and files they made for themselves, staring intently at the photo of Garry. Spirit peered at the picture over his shoulder.
"And you think this kid is nineteen? Possibly twenty?" he asked him. Stein shrugged.
"That's what it looks like," Stein answered, "the little girl is nine years old. If they were able to find each other, he could protect her from the curses of the gallery. But what I don't get is why there was the silhouette of another girl in the other photos." Spirit then started panicking.
"Lord Death! You're sending my Maka to a cursed art gallery?! Why?!' he whined.
"Oh, get a hold of yourself," Lord Death scolded him, "Maka and the others should be able to handle the situation just fine. After all, they helped save the school last year, no?"
"Oh, right," Spirit murmured, then with a bout of energy yelled at the mirror, "YOU GO MAKA! DADDY'S PROUD OF YOU!" Lord Death rolled his eyes. Stein payed no attention, still staring at the photo of Garry.
"Honestly, I don't know what to do with you sometimes," the Headmaster commented, setting his gaze back to the mirror. He was still nervous thought. He had told Kid everything there was to know about the gallery, except for the one small fact when he gave him the flowers: once they were in the gallery, the roses would be their only life source