Hello my darlings! Sorry for the wait, but here's chapter 2! And thank you for the followings and favorites, but don't forget to review to!
Disclaimer: I don't own Ib, if I did I wouldn't have canceled the making of Ib 2! (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
It's so cold, lonely, and frightening
All I want is your warmth
For you to pat my head in pride
To be with you
Yet you trapped me and froze me in this timeless hell
So now I can only stand here for eternity
As you rot away and decay
While time just brushes past me with a tone of dry humor
In this sorrow filled nightmare we call life
The numerous paintings and sculptures gave off an ominous shadow that seemed to creep along the walls and floors, as if reaching out to Garry in an attempt to drag him into the depths of oblivion. Instead of succumbing to fear Garry tried to stay positive 'T-this must be the scary part of all adventures where it's supposed to test your courage or something…' Though it didn't keep Garry from jumping at every noise. There was a faint sound in particular that was making him on edge. It sounded like someone was dragging their feet, almost shuffling, along the hallway but no matter where Garry looked there was no one there, but at the same time the shuffling was getting louder…and louder. It was getting so loud to the point where Garry started walking a little faster. No matter how quick he ran the noise continued to grow louder and Garry was getting more scared 'W-what is that noise!? Is it a ghost?' So many thoughts were running through his head, mostly negative versions of the 'what if?' scenarios. Soon Garry found himself running as fast as his legs could carry him, the shuffling noise sounded like it was right behind him, but he didn't dare look behind him. Garry was practically going to be sick with fright; he was clenching his rose so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. Just as the noise got as close as possible and Garry was ready to burst into tears, the shuffling stopped making Garry freeze 'It…stopped?' Even if the noise stopped Garry didn't dare look behind him or move. He found it hard to believe that whatever was chasing him was gone; after all it was so close 'Maybe…maybe I scared it off!' In a flash of courage at that thought Garry turned around and saw that nothing was there.
"I must have scared it off ya!" Garry declared triumphantly.
His victory was short lived however when a strong force seemed to make contact with Garry and push him roughly. The force of the push was so strong Garry flew through the air, absolutely shocked. Everything seemed like it slowed down as Garry was skyrocketed into the air, the paintings turned into a blur and the air was being pushed out of him, yet he couldn't scream. Finally time caught up and Garry made his way back to the ground. Garry landed with a thud and for a moment he just laid there, feeling incredibly winded. At first Garry started getting panicky because he couldn't move, tears started to well up in his eyes yet he forced them back down, he didn't want to admit defeat, but then feeling gradually returned to his muscles 'I think I'm okay, whatever pushed must have just wanted to shock me.' Now that Garry was able to move again he sat up and looked around, and when he noticed that there was a shadow behind him he screamed in fright and then turned around to confront whatever was behind him. To his relief it was just a statue, though what freaked him out was that it was headless. The statue was also wearing a light red dress, which reminded him of a red dress his mother would wear sometimes 'That's right, my mom is probably so worried right now, I have to stop fooling around and find her!'
Garry was about to turn around when he saw a metallic object in the statue's grasp, looking more closely it looked like an old fashioned key, like those skeleton keys from those old Victorian mansions his mom always liked to talk about 'A key…and if there's a key that must mean there's a door, and if there's a door there may be a way of getting out of here! This is exactly like an adventure, where the explorer finds keys and traverses dungeons!' Garry felt the spirit of adventure swell up in his chest and he greedily grabbed the key out of the statues hands. The key was cool to the touch and was very plain looking. Pocketing the key Garry turned around and was about to search for the door that could be unlocked with the key until he heard a thump and a creek coming from behind him making Garry stop in fright. He then hastily turned around, but nothing was there besides the statue, he could have sworn he heard something…'Maybe I'm just imagining things,' Garry thought before turning back and taking a few more steps. However after the fourth step he saw something move from his peripheral vision 'T-that statue, did it move!?' Carefully turning his head Garry let out a sigh of relief, the statue hadn't moved and inch from its original spot 'Come on Garry, there's nothing there, you need to focus!' In determination Garry took a few steps forward but as soon as he took those few steps he felt a cold metal hand grab his arm from behind. Screaming in horror Garry turned around and saw that the statue had a tight grip on him 'S-statues aren't supposed to move!' Garry tried struggling out of its grasp but the more he struggled the tighter the statue's grip got.
"Let go of me!" Garry cried.
Instead of hurting him the statue grabbed his rose out of his other hand, which confused him at first but when the statue got hold of his rose it started plucking the petals from his rose, Garry gasped in pain. His whole body was on fire and he felt his energy being sapped away 'W-what's happening? My-my rose…' It seemed Garry was finally able to register what was going for when the statue was about to pick off another petal Garry made a wild grab for his rose and managed to struggle out of the statues grasp. He then made a run for it. Garry wasn't too sure if the statue was following or not but at this point he knew he had to try and get away. His feet pounding on the concrete floor and sweat was starting to form at his brow, yet he didn't stop, well at least not until he saw a door down the corridor he was running in. As soon as he got to the door he turned the nob, but his heart sank when he saw it was locked 'Come on open!' Sharply inhaling Garry looked back and saw that the statue was still indeed chasing him. After a few seconds of initial shock Garry remembered that he still had that key 'That's right! Oh please let this be the right key!' Garry than got the key out and jammed it into the keyhole. When he heard a click he cried out in relief before entering the room and slamming the door shut. After a few minutes of him standing still to make sure the headless statue couldn't open the door Garry sighed in relief and slid down to the floor. His legs felt like lead and right now he wanted to rest 'Just a little rest won't hurt….' Soon fatigue washed over him and his eyelids were growing heavy, and with a loud yawn Garry fell asleep.
"W-where am I?" Garry questioned with wide fearful eyes.
He couldn't see anything besides blackness, but soon the room started to lighten up. The sudden light revealed that he was in a red room and was surrounding by paintings and sculptors, but the pieces of art were moving. Some were dragging themselves across the floor toward him and others were staggering over to him. Garry wanted to scream in fright but he found himself unable to do so, or move at all. Pieces of art now had him surrounded and Garry braced himself, but to his surprise instead of attacking him they stood still 'What's going on?' He asked himself. Now scanning the numerous works of art Garry saw that instead of a menacing aura…they looked sad. For some reason Garry felt pity and sympathy well up in him, they almost looked like they were trapped.
Unable to really do anything Garry just sort of stood there until he heard a sad voice that seemed to be coming from all directions "H…el…p"
'Wait what? Did…did someone say help?'
"W-ho are you? What do you want? Are you in trouble?" Garry asked hesitantly.
"…Help…" The voice repeated more clearly.
As much as Garry wanted to help the voice he couldn't, his body was immobile. The room was silent for the next couple of seconds until everything started to fade, and once again everything was dark.
Garry woke up with a start 'What a weird dream….' Even after the nap he still felt tired, and taking a glance at his rose it was still missing a few petals. With a heavy sigh Garry stood up and looked around, he hadn't properly investigated this area because of that whole nap thing. What caught his eyes was a wooden table with a crystal like vase on top of it that was filled with clear pure water. It was a rather welcoming sight; after all it wasn't a freaky painting or sculpture. Still, that dream he had was rather unsettling. The paintings and sculptors seemed so sad. Trying to forget about it Garry went up the vase 'Maybe I should put my rose in here, it would be a lot safer in the vase, and flowers like water, so maybe it would heal it?' Deciding on that Garry went ahead and placed his rose in the vase that held clear and clean water. When the stem of the rose touched the water Garry felt a warm feeling course through his body, energy flowed through him and he felt fully restored, not only that but his rose was vibrant and had all its petal again. Amazed, Garry looked himself over 'Wait, I dipped the rose in the vase water and it got all healthy again, and at the same time I did to, this vase must be a sort of healing spot,' Garry theorized. This made Garry optimistic again, for he now could regain his health by just putting his rose in a vase of water. Garry couldn't help but run down the hall in excitement, but halfway down the hall he felt his foot catch on something making him immediately fall to the ground. Now on the floor Garry rubbed his head and looked around to see what could have tripped him. Looking around Garry spotted what, or should I say who tripped him. It seemed there was a person sprawled out on the floor, her hair was a mangled mess, though he could tell before what ever happened the person had smooth chocolate brown hair. She was also wearing a greenish coat with brown fur, but her right arm was outstretched and her hand was grasping something. Gerry was shocked he was a little scared 'Who is that? Is she another person? She looks familiar…'
On all fours Garry crawled toward her and gave her a gentle nudge on her arm "Hey miss…are you okay?"
The woman only groaned in response and coughed, she seemed in a lot of pain. Garry inched a little closer to her and saw that there was a few red petals scattered around her and a few splotches of blood as well making Garry gasp in horror 'Something must have happened to her rose!' Garry didn't know what to do until he saw a glint of metal in her hand that was outstretched 'What is that? Maybe it's something I can use to help her.' Trying his best not to hurt the unconscious lady he went over to her fist and tried to carefully pry her hand open. After a couple tries he finally got her hand open and saw what hidden treasure she was desperately holding on to. It was a small key, a very small key that shined dully in the lighting 'A key? I don't think a key is going to help…' Even with that thought Garry looked at the injured woman and took the key, he thought he could make some use of it somehow, like something to help him find her rose 'You know this is like the part of the adventure where the hero saves a…what do you call it…oh right a damsel in distress! I must help her, for it is my duty to help anyone who is hurt!' Pocketing the key Garry looked at her one more time, and smiled as if to reassure the unconscious stranger.
"Don't worry, I'll find your rose and make everything better," He promised her.
Garry than started walking away, only this time a flame of determination was burning brightly in his chest, he had to save her, but while he was walking he noticed a small trail of red rose petals and blood 'Maybe this will lead me to where her rose is.' Though the blood made him think of what could have hurt, but he was to determined to go back in fear. After a while the trail stopped right where a door was. Knowing that this was probably where her rose was and where whatever monster that hurt her was he tried the door knob only to see it was locked. It took a few moments for Garry to realize that this was probably what the key was for making him chuckle half nervously and half sheepishly. Taking out the small key Garry put it in the key whole and turned it which after he heard a small click signaling that the door was now open. Garry than took a deep breath before opening the door, when he entered he noticed that there was a few more red rose petals and splotches of blood scattered across the room which made him shiver. However when he looked toward the corner of the room he screamed, a painting was tearing at a bright red rose, but what was more startling was that the painting was of a woman in a red dress with long brown hair, though she only had an upper half. Her lower body seemed like it was cut off and stuck on a canvas. Though when Garry looked at it for a few seconds longer, the paintings almost seemed…desperate. Garry tried to move away and figure out how to get the rose back but at soon as he took a step the painting dropped the mutilated rose and ran full speed at Garry. The painting was surprisingly fast for it seemed like the only way it could move was dragging itself by its arms. Starting to panic Garry suddenly felt his arms and legs move by themselves and he felt adrenaline course through his veins, Garry practically threw himself to the corner of the room and rolled back onto the ground. He then made a hasty grab for the maimed rose and bolted out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
With the rose in his grasp Garry collapsed on the floor and closed his eyes, it felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest. A certain pride and sense of accomplishment was also blooming in him, for he saved the lady's rose, now all he had to do was heal it and give to back to her. With that thought Garry stood and started walking back to the vase and the lady. When he got back to the crystal like vase that was filled with water he carefully slid the damaged rose in the vase, instantly the rose went into full bloom and was back to full health. Garry couldn't help but gawk at how beautiful the rose was, it was bright and inviting, and the rose was all around lovely and had a classy sort of appeal toward it. Taking the rose back from the vase Garry than ran up to where the lady was. As soon as he got there he noticed the lady was already beginning to wake up, she looked much better now and was practically glowing with health. Garry watched as the lady sat up and when she spotted Garry with her rose she looked a little surprised but then smiled.
"You have my rose…did you get it back to me?" She asked him with a warm smile.
Garry nodded and felt a sense of pride well up in him making him stand a littler straighter as he handed her back her rose.
Once she had her rose back she smiled even more and stood up "Well thank you, it must have been quite the experience getting it back, I can't thank you enough, you must be very brave."
"I-it was nothing," Garry stammered feeling his ears grow hot.
The lady laughed and put a hand on his head, which made him think of his mother. This person gave off the same aura as his mom, which made him feel at ease.
"Well I'm also glad to see I'm not alone, gosh you must have traveled through this museum all by yourself, you've got a lot of spirit, oh I haven't even told you my name yet, my name is Ib," She introduced herself.
'Ib...' Garry thought, to him it was a very nice name, it sounded so profession but also unique
"My name is Garry," He replied with a smile, knowing that he was not alone in this weird art gallery, and that this person, Ib, was now a new friend.
