When Alice finally opens her eyes, she finds herself in a slightly narrowed, navy blue hall. It leads in two separate directions. Two paintings hang on the wall. The one to the left depicts a ruby body of water; the one to the right depicts a sapphire body of water.
"Which path...?" Alice murmurs to herself. She nervously eyes the red painting. "T-that reminds me of a sea of blood... I'll go this way first..." Alice chooses the path on the right. Somehow, she is heading the right way because the walls are decorated with more text:
Come... Come... Come...
Alice stops at a vase with a single, orange rose. Orange is by far, Alice's favorite color. The college freshman cannot resist, she takes the rose from the vase. She tucks in neatly into her breast pocket of her jacket.
The table that the now empty vase is sitting atop of is seemingly blocking a blue door. Alice wants to check that room out, she might find a clue or two as to how to get out of here and find her parents. "Better move this table," she tells herself, pushing it into the corner and out of the way. She enters the door to see a portrait of a beautiful woman smiling, her teal hair hanging out of the frame. There's a notice under the frame...
When the rose wilts, so too will you rot away.
Alice doesn't fully understand this, what-seems-to-be a warning. Her azalea eyes notice something strange. There's something on the ground...
"Ah! It's a key!" Alice exclaims on closer inspection of the object, "Maybe I can use this to get out!" She picks up the light blue piece of metal. When she turns her attention back up to the frame, Alice sees that the woman in the painting is maliciously grinning at her with jagged, shark-like teeth. Fearful, Alice bolts out, slamming the door behind her with much force.
The startled freshman leans against the door, hyperventilating, all the while trying to slow her rapid heartbeat. "Ooooh man... that nearly gave me a heart attack!" Alice whines. Gripping her chest while her heart beats on, Alice tries to erase the memory of the painting woman's face. She exhales briefly before leaving, having calmed herself. She then sees that the writing in the walls has changed. It now read:
Thief! Thief! Thief!
Alice's eyes widen in confusion. She's beginning to feel unsettled and decides it best to leave. As she quickly strolls away, she is stopped by the sudden appearance of THIEF on the floor. This causes her to jump back in surprise and almost lose her footing.
"What?! What did I steal?!" she demands. The college freshman continues to run back from where she came, continuing down the red painting's path. Alice comes to another blue door. Trying the knob, she finds it locked. The art major muses, "Maybe I can unlock the door with this key."
She takes the key in her hand and puts it in the lock, turning it. Alice hears an unlocking sound and opens the door, leaving the now stuck key behind.
This new room is completely covered in a color of forest green. On one wall, paintings of a ladybug, a bee, a butterfly, and a spider adorn the length of it. They look so life-like.
Alice reads the notice next to the ladybug, "Beware the edges?" Not really thinking much of it, she continues down the open hall. Suddenly, a black hand reaches out, clawing at Alice's porcelain skin.
"Ow!" she yelps, jumping to the middle of the path as more hands reach to snag her. Alice notices that they can't seem to reach her if she sticks to the middle of the path like the notice had told her. She also notes that her rose has lost one of its ten petals and a rather large, painful gash has appeared on her arm. "Is this what that first warning was talking about? Are the rose and I really connected?" Alice pauses to think, "In any case... I better walk down the middle of the path to avoid losing anymore petals. I don't wanna think about what will happen if I lose them all..."
Alice slowly trudges down the hall, coming to a green door. Again, she turns the doorknob. It's locked...
"Looks like I can't go this way..." the college student sighs, "Hm?" She takes notice of a lone ant painting on the wall. It looks like it can be taken off the wall... Alice removes the painting, though; she has no clue as to what she can use it for. "Now what to do?" Having no idea, Alice heads back by the other bug paintings and goes down the path by them. She spots another door and jogs up to it. "Oh, a door! I hope this one isn't locked!"
Alice opens the door to a narrow hall with a gaping hole in the floorboards. She draws close to it, judging the distance from the other side. "I probably can't make this jump across..." She glances at the large painting in her hands, "I wonder..." Having no real other idea, Alice lays down the painting. Lucky for her, the ant painting fit perfectly, thus creating a bridge.
Cautiously, the freshman girl creeps across the painting. Surprisingly, and much to Alice's relief, it did not collapse under her weight. She notes that the ant in the painting has become squished. "How odd," Alice mutters while she continues through the next door. She finds herself in an empty room, aside from one of the mannequins she saw in the gallery. It is modeling a scarlet, V-neck dress. Something sparkled by its "feet." There's something on the ground...
"Another key!" Alice gasps, "Awesome!" She scoops up the green key from the floor. As she looks up at the mannequin, it moves toward her. In fear, Alice stumbles ever-so slowly backwards, landing on her backside. The creation growls once and lunges for the girl, managing to clip her face. Alice shrieks and scrambles through the door, across the painting bridge, and then slams the last door. She hears a disturbing crash come from behind the wood and relaxes. The coast is clear...
"Oh... my... God! That was... not okay! I need... to get out of here!" Alice exclaims. She gently touches her cheek but reels back as a stifling, burning sensation shoots through her skin. She also marks that her rose only has 8 surviving petals left. She heads back to the door that had been locked earlier. Alice uses the green key to unlock her obstacle and moves onto the next room.
Alice freezes at the sight of a huge cat head painted on the wall. It has wide, black eyes, making her feel quite anxious. The art student feels as though she's being watched. There's a fish-shaped hole in the wall... Alice determines that the hole must be a key slot. She'll have to find it to proceed. There's two paths... which way should she go?
