So here's the next chapter, the Green Room :) Hope you enjoy it...

I opened the door to be greeted by the colour green, an unnatural amount of green at that. It also appeared I was at the point of a L shaped room. There was a pillar in front of me, with a sign stuck up. To my right were four pictures that I could see, of various creatures. I limped closer and saw the pictures depicted a ladybird, a wasp, a butterfly and a spider. They looked so realistic…that I stepped away in case they reached out of their frames for me.

"Hey!" a squeaky voice snapped, "watch where you're walking!"

I screamed and turned on the sole of my foot before falling to lean on the wall, only to see nothing. What had spoken? Was it like the Woman Of Turquoise?

"Who's there?" I asked, my voice rather shaky.

"Down here," it said, "give me a moment."

Something jumped, the size of my earring and sat on my knee. It was only because it was a light grey colour that I could see it on my black tights. An bug; that was what had spoken? I was certain I was losing my mind.

"What are you?" I asked as I rubbed my eyes.

"I'm an ant," the voice replied, "I love paintings and my painting is really cool. Better than these…imposters," he answered.

"Imposters?" I whispered…only to feel something on my shoulder.

I turned to see a leg…and looked up to see seven more reaching out to me. I screamed and pushed myself away, and the ant clung to my knee as I pushed myself against the other wall to watch the spider as it tried to reach the bottom of his frame.

"Spider!" the ant snapped, "this is her friend!"

"She looks so pretty…I wanted to see her up close," a breathy voice replied, which I took to be the spider.

"She looks like a fresh flower!" a high-pitched female voice said, "and I should know, since I'm the butterfly."

"Butterfly, be nice," the ant said.

"Where's…your painting?" I asked and the ant sighed.

"My painting is past that corridor, and I can't reach it with my legs. I would love to see it again, at least once more," and the ant sighed once more.

"Maybe I could get it for you," I whispered.

"Would you? That would be so nice!"

The ant jumped off my knee and I stood slowly, taking weight off my sore ankle. I looked to my right and then to the pillar, wondering which way was this painting.

"Go past the pillar, sweetie," a softer female voice whispered.

"Thank you…"

"I am the Ladybird, our dear friend the Wasp does not speak often," she replied.

"Your ankle…?" the ant said.

"I fell down some stairs," I replied.

"There's statues and mannequins, remember to take some cloth and wrap it," Butterfly said.

I nodded and walked to the pillar and the sign to see what was written.

"Beware of edges," I whispered.

I stepped around the pillar and took to my right, hugging the wall, thinking the edges had to be the corners. I kept walking…only for a hand to reach out and pull two petals free from the rose. I screamed, and pulled away to land on the floor in the middle of the corridor painfully. My heart was racing, and my ankle was throbbing. Somehow, it had gotten worse. Was it because of the missing petals…or was it because I was putting weight on my ankle?

I decided to crawl, with hands reaching out for me before I made to the end. Four more hands reached out to grab petals before I made it to the other side of the room. I got to my feet slowly, my ankle was pulsing so I braced myself against the wall. A small book, like the ledger, was on another table. I limped to it and saw Ib was written again. So who was this person?

"Can you see my painting?" a voice called out and I was reminded of the ant's request.

I looked to the walls and spotted one of the ant. It was the same colour as the creature I had spoken with so I looked closer. The painting was barely hanging from the wall so it was easy to remove. I took it off, only for the wire holding it up to take a petal. I screamed, tears dripping down my face as the pain increased by another degree. If this was after three petals…how would it be after I lost nine? Or even ten?

I held the painting close and returned to the reaching hands and made sure to limp between them. They couldn't reach me and when I reached the pillar, I leaned against it to take a breath. I then took the right and went to the ant. He was talking to the Butterfly and the Spider while the wasp buzzed away happily. I stood for a moment before falling to my knees, and the chatter stopped.

"You found my picture!" the ant enthused.

"What happened, sweetie?" the Ladybird asked.

"Beware…of edges," I croaked.

"Oh those foolish souls," the Wasp finally spoke, "can't appear to keep their hands to themselves."

The ant moved closer to inspect his painting and I was certain he smiled that it was still pretty. But I couldn't seem to smile, as the pain in my ankle spread to my knee.

"There's a hole in the floor, up past our paintings, use his painting to cross," the Butterfly whispered.

"Hey!" the ant muttered.

"You owe her that much for retrieving it to begin with," Wasp stated.

"Fine," the ant conceded before I got to my feet, "remember to find something to wrap your ankle."

I limped past their paintings and came across four new ones, depicting a story rather than a person. The prologue, chapter 1, chapter 2 and the final chapter. I wondered if that was to illustrate this artistic nightmare. There was a green door so I went to it and opened it slowly, only to see a small additional corridor. I stepped in and saw what the Butterfly had hinted at. There was a hole in the floor that appeared to go on for a while. I put the painting down and made sure it was secure before I stepped on it. It ripped under my weight as I got across, only to see a small tear forming where the ant's right middle leg would have been.

Another door led to a different room so I opened it and stepped out. At the wall as another picture and a headless mannequin wearing a red dress and red heels. At her feet was a green key. The Butterfly's words echoed around me as I stepped closer and reached the mannequin. She didn't move as I ripped parts off her dress so I could wrap my ankle. I undid one stocking to wrap my ankle, and then used the stocking to wrap around the dress. My ankle eased, but not completely. I got to my feet slowly and reached out for the key, feeling how cool it was to touch.

"Thank you," I whispered before holding the key to my heart.

I turned my back on the mannequin and limped to the door.

"Give…it…back…" a disembodied voice called out, "thi…ef…"

I turned around to see the mannequin raise her arms to grab me, and I screamed before limping away. I pulled the door open as the mannequin picked up speed and I threw myself over the ant picture only to hear it rip more. I braced myself against the wall, tears streaming down my face as I held the key. I didn't want to die, I wanted to go back to the art gallery…I wanted to be with Jamille.

The mannequin moved closer, putting her foot on the painting. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see her pull the petals free, scatter them around me as the pain increased in my already sore body. I didn't want to hear her voice as it grated in my ears.

A scream echoed in the room and I opened one eye before the other. The painting was destroyed, and one kick from me removed it from the bridge. It was just another hole in the floor. But the mannequin was gone, and…she must have fallen down the hole.

"I have to get out of here," I croaked as I left the room and limped faster to the creatures. The ant was mumbling as I walked by them and to the pillar. I needed some of that elixir or I'd never be able to make it to the child. I needed that security. But no vase stood in this green room, so maybe in the next room.

"Where's…the way out?" I asked.

"Where you retrieved the painting, sweetie," the Butterfly replied.

"Thank you," I whispered as I crawled past the reaching hands and to the ledger.

Ib's name still shimmered in a pretty red as I got to my feet and walked to the door. It was as green as the room, and now I felt ill. I really wanted to get sick. I put my forehead on the door, and put the key in the lock. If there was something waiting for me…on the other side, I wanted to know now. But nothing but darkness greeted me. I opened the door wide, and saw it was a corridor leading to another room. So I limped forward, grazing the wall with my fingers before they came into contact with something hard. I lifted it up, and saw it was a sword, like from a statue. It had a sharp blade with ribbons around the handle and black roses. But these roses were dyed black from their original deep red. But I had a weapon, to keep me safe.

I continued walking, and opened the next door, to find myself in the room of the yellow cat…

So what do you all think? The creatures/insects were pretty helpful and the mannequin? I'll update the story as soon as I can, but I hope you enjoyed it up to now, and please remember to review it. I like to know what people think and also that you enjoyed reading the chapter. Or if there's anything you think I was missing... :)