A/N:
Helloooooooo! What? animefreakproductions5 actually posted another fanfic?! I think the term is "hell has officially frozen over."
In all seriousness, enjoy this new one guys if you've already clicked the favorite button. Another button I like being pushed is the review button. XD
I'll be quiet now and get back to my research paper... Enjoy the read!
In the afternoon, under a grey sky, 18-year-old Alice and her parents were on their way to an art gallery. There was no prediction of rain, but the dreary color made Alice a tad restless. She hated rainy days because it kept her from going outside. Her father was driving the family automobile. Hoping not to be late, they'd left their cozy home a few minutes early.
"Did you remember everything, Alice?" her father asks, not taking his eyes off the road.
Her mother quips, "Oh! Do you have your handkerchief? You know, the one you got for your birthday?"
Alice sighs, knowing her mother was going to ask her that. Fishing the white, laced fabric out of her jean-jacket pocket, she replies, "Yes, Mother..." The handkerchief is soft and silky. In the bottom-right corner, her name is embroidered in aqua.
"Keep it safe in your pocket, ok? Don't lose it!" her mother advises.
"Mother! I am no longer a child!" Alice objects with a light smile. She knows she's only being babied since she left the nest not too long ago. She is now attending her first year in college. It is good to be with her family, even if that meant she had to endure being coddled. She enjoyed the freedom college gave her, but she had been a little sheltered as a child, so she missed her parents every day she wasn't home. The 18-year-old was so excited when she learned they would be going to an art gallery together for their first family outing in a while.
Walking into that gallery, Alice can only imagine the days when her artwork will be viewed and honored. She can hardly wait.
Alice's mother gently squeezes Alice's shoulder. "Well, we're here. This isn't your first time in an art gallery, right, Alice?" she asks, knowing her daughter's answer fully well.
Alice beams with such joy, "Yep! My Art Foundations class took a trip last week to an art gallery nearby campus to experience different artist styles and explore our own personal styles."
Ever since she was a little girl, Alice loved art. She loves to paint, draw, sculpt, you name it. The azalea eyed girl could talk for hours about art styles and their differences. Her passion for art drove her to major in art at her university. Though the program brings hard work, Alice loves every second of it.
"We're here today to see an exhibition of works by an artist named Guertena..." Alice's mother smoothes out her dark brunette hair.
"We just learned about him!" Alice quietly squeals with excitement, "Oooh! I can't waaait!" Childishly, she twirls around, her aqua-dyed portion of her hair flowing behind her. In her freshman year of high school, Alice dyed a portion of her boring mouse brown hair. Her hair fell neatly to her waist. As usual, her natural colored hair was pulled back into a ballet bun.
Alice wore an ivory dress with an open back; it has a double criss-cross strap detail and capped sleeves. A floral print in shades of gold, blue, green, and rust decorate the knee-length dress. Alice accessorizes with a tan, braided belt around her skinny waist, a cropped, dark blue, denim jacket with a rhinestone button trim, and a set of four wood and ivory beaded stretch bracelets around her tiny, right wrist. On her feet are slightly-pointed slouch cowboy boots with a stocked wood heel.
Her mother laughs, "And they don't just have paintings, but also sculptures... and all kinds of other creations!" She smiles as excitement grows in her only daughter's azalea eyes, "I don't doubt you'll enjoy it, Alice!"
Her husband grins as well and motions to the reception desk not too far off. "Shall we go to the reception desk?"
"Ah, yes. Let's get some pamphlets as well," his wife nods in reply.
The group of three strides up to the desk. Alice picks up a pamphlet for herself and flips through a few pages before sticking it in her aqua backpack. She grows impatient as she watches her parents contently chatter with the male receptionist. The college student lightly shakes the static out of the bottom of her dress.
Finally having enough, Alice whines, "Motherrrr... may I please see the exhibits myself?"
"Hm? You want to go ahead? Really, Alice?!" her mother frowns. However, she is not completely immune to her daughter's doe eyes quite yet. Taken in by the quivering fuchsia eyes, she gives in, "Oh, alright. Just make sure you're quiet in the gallery, ok? Don't make a ruckus! Not that there's any need to worry about you-!"
Alice scampers off, not letting her mother finish. Staying on the floor she's on, she walks around, glancing at a floor painting depicting the vast depths of the ocean. A huge creature that looks almost like a very large anglerfish sits within the middle of the piece. Abyss of the Deep... how appropriate. She turns down a hallway, noticing an immense sculpture in the corner of the room. It's a crimson rose, towering over the average 5' 5" Alice. The college student admires the work for a minute, then takes out her sketchbook. Flipping to a crisp, new page, Alice sketches out the artwork, before adding the finishing splashes of color with her colored pencils.
"There!" Alice giggles before moving on to the exhibits on the next floor. She checks out the mannequin sculptures, however, an unsettling vibe compels her to continue on. She never did feel comfortable around mannequins and certainly not headless ones for that matter. She strays from the mannequins in the assorted colored dresses and finds herself staring at a boy who looked to be about her age, inspecting painting framed on the wall. Alice is so pleased to see someone around her age taking an interest in art.
She begins quietly sketching the boy, observing every detail. Alice doesn't mean anything by it, but his enthusiasm is Alice's inspiration, her muse. There is no stopping her, she's so focused. As she finished, wiping away eraser shavings, Alice wanders on until she reaches an enormous painting. It practically runs the whole wall.
"Fabricated World?" Alice reads aloud, "So bizarre... then again this was created by Guertena..." The lights flicker, drawing the freshman's attention from the painting. "Hmm? That was odd..." She roams back out to the main floor and discovers that she is completely alone.
Alice ponders, "Where did everyone go?" The college freshman sighs, "I should find Mother and Father. No doubt they'll be worried." She meanders down to the reception desk where she last left her parents. She is surprised to see that not only are her parents gone, but the receptionist is missing as well. Maybe he went on break. As Alice draws closer to the abandoned desk, the flickering fixtures finally give out, shrouding her in darkness.
"A power-outage? This is beginning to get quite unnerving," Alice mumbles to herself as she checks the first window to the left of the desk. It doesn't look like it's locked, but it won't open. To Alice's astonishment, a scarlet fluid leaks out, oozing down the glass. She jumps back with a small yelp, yet inspects the ominous fluid again. The 18 year old slowly breathes out in relief, "O-ok... it's just paint. Chill out, Alice... you're freaking yourself out..."
In a hurry, Alice scurries up to the second floor to see if she can locate her parents, or rather anyone. No one's around... much to Alice's displeasure. "Helloooo?" Alice calls out, expecting someone to respond. The whole gallery is eerily silent, aside from the resounding clicks of the heels of Alice's boots on the floor. She nervously jogs around the empty gallery, ending up around the rose sculpture she had sketched not too long ago.
The art student checks out one of the various paintings surrounding her. "The Coughing Man?" Alice muses, "... I don't really get this one..." She pivots to refocus on finding other gallery visitors. The already spooked girl hears a light cough sound from directly behind her. She freezes. Her heart rockets out of her ribcage. She reluctantly and tensely shifts back to look at the painting again. Alice's faces pales and her now widened eyes tremble, "D-did the p-painting... just cough?!" The college freshman pauses, then shakes her head furiously. "I probably just imagined it..." she concludes, "but still... I'm starting to get really creeped out! This is worse than walking around campus at night!"
She can't wait to put as much distance between her and the painting as she possibly can. She is beginning to run out of ideas. Alice decides to try to leave the gallery. Perhaps she lost track of time and everyone else left. She doesn't have a watch to check the time, as much as she could. But that still wouldn't explain why her parents haven't come looking for her. Did the employees make her parents leave? No, that couldn't be the case. Alice returns to the entrance and tests the door. It's locked...
"Ahh! N-no... No way!" Alice moans, frantically jiggling the door a few more times. "M-maybe... maybe there's another way out!" She runs back upstairs and unexpectedly spots a silhouette walk by the window merely feet from her.
"W-woah! Did someone... oooh man..." Alice gulps, gathering courage to approach the window. She examines it and discovers it's locked too. Huffing in frustration, she whirls to storm away.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Three explosive, threatening pounds alert Alice to the fact that she may not be as alone as she had originally perceived.
"Eeek!" she squeals, lurching away, "T-that... that scared me!" Alice shook her head in disappointment. The art major grumbles, "Oh, man up, Alice!" Tentatively, she checks the window again. It looks like someone was banging on this... Indeed, there is a fairly sized handprint smeared on the glass.
Feeling quite intimidated, Alice slinks off to the huge wall painting she'd gazed at, before all this craziness began. There's a blue liquid leaking from behind the frame...
"That wasn't there before..." Alice announces, touching the golden frame. A series of loud taps comes from behind her. She whips around, startled, and stops in her tracks, staring at the text on the floor.
Come, Alice...
"W-what?! Come where?!" Alice questions, glancing back at the suspicious liquid. Surprisingly, the liquid now read:
Come down below, Alice. I'll show you a secret!
Alice interrogates, but with a shaky voice, "D-down below? Do... do you mean the first floor?!" She pauses as if the blue liquid will answer her again. That would be too easy if it did… The art student decides to follow her assumption and heads downstairs to the first floor with the enormous floor painting. She notices two small, blue footprints leading into it. Alice, viewing it again, feels very uncomfortable as she stares at the undersea creature Guertena had created. This painting which had first been so interesting to her now has her frightened. She cautiously dipped a toe of one of her boots, jolting back in bewilderment as her toe went literally into the painting as if it were a body of water.
"Oooooh, no... Please tell me... I do not have to go down there..." Alice whimpers. She touches the water again, observing the strange ripples expand and dissipate. The brunette with dyed hair and azalea eyes sucks in a deep breath and exhales. "C-come on, Alice! Think of this as an adventure!"
That's when she closes her eyes and takes a leap of faith into the painting.