Intro part 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Ib or any of the characters

Something was off. That was the first thought that entered Ib's mind when she began to awaken from her restless sleep.

First of all, her position was very cramped. As someone who valued personal space, she was not in the habit of falling asleep in tight quarters. Add that to the fact that she was sitting up instead of lying down, and things became very disorienting.

Before she had too much time to wonder about the circumstances of her current sleeping arrangements, someone decided to start shaking her.

"Ma'am?" The voice was feminine and spoke in a quiet tone.

Groggily, Ib managed to force her eyes open to get a better idea of what was going on. She was currently seated in fairly small chair. All around her were rows of other empty chairs that looked to be exact copies of her own. Strangely enough, the room she was in appeared to be some kind of long metal cylinder.

"Ma'am?" The woman shaking her asked again. "Your flight has landed."

Her flight? Her flight!

"Oh!" Ib exclaimed, jumping in her seat. "Sorry about that, I- uh- I guess I didn't notice the plane landing." The flight attendant's patient smile did little to ease her burning embarrassment.

She quickly thanked the woman, before grabbing her carryon luggage and rushing to the front of the aircraft. She only paused for a moment to mutter a 'thanks' when another attendant told her to have a good day.

Once into the airport, and away from the scene of her little nap, Ib slowed down enough to catch her breath. She hated being put on the spot unexpectedly. She knew it wasn't all that big a deal to fall asleep on a plane ride, but to sleep through the entire departure and be woken up by a flight attendant? It seemed like the start of some cheesy sitcom.

To prevent herself from dwelling on it too long, she hurried to look for baggage claim. As it turns out, finding a room filled with moving conveyor belts isn't as easy as it sounds. She eventually managed to get there, but not before getting lost twice and almost stumbling into a men's restroom by mistake. Thankfully it seemed that the slow nature of air-travel was working in her favor today as none of the bags had started coming through yet.

What a way to start your week off. She thought. This was one of the reasons she rarely went anywhere during vacation times. Something always seemed to go wrong at the worst times. Still, the worst was behind her now. She was off the plane, she hadn't missed her luggage, and soon she would be…

Wait, where would she be?

In a moment of panic, Ib realized that she couldn't remember exactly what she was here for. Was it to visit someone? Was she going to an amusement park or something? She frowned. She knew it wasn't an amusement park, she had stopped enjoying those a long time ago, but the thought seemed strangely familiar.

"Looking for these?"

Ib's heart leapt into her throat at the unexpected voice. Looking up, she suddenly remembered exactly why she was here.

"Garry!" She darted forward, crushing the man in a bear hug so tight that it likely would have been considered a war crime in any other circumstances.

"Ib…! Please…! Can't…! Breathe…!" He choked out, his face slowly turning the same shade of violet as his hair.

With just a bit of hesitation she released her death grip on him and he slumped back, almost collapsing as he gasped for air. She couldn't help but smile.

"Sorry." She said, not feeling sorry at all. "I guess I overreacted."

"You think?" Garry asked, raising an eyebrow. "It's only been three weeks, and it's not like I haven't gotten in contact when I had the chance."

This was going to be a very special week. It had taken a lot of work, but Ib had at last managed to convince her parents that Garry was, in fact, a good person. Even after ten years of having known him, they still were just a little suspicious about him hanging around with their daughter. When he had gotten a job several states over, it had been one of the worst days of her life. He had become her best friend despite almost being old enough to be her father.

"Anyway." He said, offering her bags to her once more. "I believe these are yours. I saw them on the belt and thought I'd save you the trouble of finding them."

"Thanks for that." She said, taking them. Her belongings consisted of two suitcases full of clothes and personal hygiene products, as well as a carryon bag holding more leisure oriented items.

"Come on." Garry said. "I'm parked just out front. Let's get your stuff loaded and you can come see where I've been living."

Ib nodded, following along as he showed her the way. This was something she had wanted to do for a very long time now. Ever since he had moved away, the two of them hardly ever got any time together. Phone calls were nice, but no matter how long they were they didn't make up for actual interaction.

As they made their way into the parking lot, Ib was slightly underwhelmed by the car he pointed out as his own. It was a simply designed vehicle with a coat of dark blue paint. Seeing her expression, Garry turned to reassure her.

"I know it doesn't look like much." He said. "But the ride this thing gives is smoother than you would believe. It's like driving on ice, without all the screaming and crashing parts."

She believed, but there was still one thing that was somewhat disappointing.

"Where's the siren?" She asked. "Or did you get stuck driving the bait car?"

Garry chuckled, shaking his head. "I don't get to drive my police cruiser around during my off hours." He explained. "Technically it belongs to the department and not to me."

This was the work that he did now. He was a proud member of the police force, trained and practiced in protecting the people around him. When Ib had first heard about his new occupation, she thought it suited him perfectly. He would be protecting others the same way he had protected her during… during…

Suddenly the dream she had experienced on the plane came back to her in a rush.

If it weren't for me you would be the single most depressing person on the face of the Earth.

She saw it. Mary. Her 'sister'. Their plans to go to the amusement park. Even the robed man. What the hell had he been? A dream inside a dream? Did that even make sense?

"You all right Ib?" Garry asked, seeing her expression.

She tried to answer, to tell him that she was fine or something like that, but the moment she looked at him it happened again. The same way she saw Mary burning in her dream, she now saw Garry; crumpled in a forgotten heap and wasting away. The cruel pictures shot back and forth the same way they had before, blending into one horrible mosaic. This time she didn't wait for them to right themselves, and forced herself back to normalcy in a jarring transition.

"Whoa, hey! What's wrong?" He questioned, grabbing her shoulders to steady her. She hadn't even realized she was shaking.

It took several seconds, but Ib eventually managed to get a hold of herself.

"I-I'm fine." It was a flimsy lie and he wasn't buying it.

"What was that about?" Garry asked. "Are you sick or something? You looked like you were about to fall over."

She didn't want to talk about it right now, but she also didn't want to attract attention by making a scene. There was no easy way out.

"I'll tell you in the car." Ib said, willing her voice not to tremble. "It's a bit of a long story and I don't really want to discuss it here." He was frowning, but accepted her answer.

"I can put your stuff in the trunk." He said. "Why don't you take a seat up front?"

She gratefully handed him her luggage before making her way to the front passenger seat. Practically collapsing into the leather seat, she began taking deep breaths to calm down.

It's fine. She told herself. It was just a dream. It can't do anything. Just a dream where Garry was dead… and where you had a mentally unstable painting as a sister…

Garry soon got into the driver's seat, and started the car. The two of them were off. For the first five minutes or so, they sat in silence. Ib tried to keep track of where they were going, but the overwhelmingly unfamiliar surroundings made that impossible.

"So…" Garry began. "Any crippling tragedies that you'd like to discuss?" Someday she would have to teach him about tact.

"It's nothing to worry about." She assured. "It was just… well… I guess I just had a really strange dream on my way here." Not to mention how real it had felt.

"Weird how exactly? Was it people without faces, talking backwards? Because that would be a weird dream."

Ib rolled her eyes at his blatant attempt to lighten the mood.

"Not weird like that." She said. "More like strange. It was about… well… I think it was about Mary."

Silence descended like an iron curtain. It had been ten years, but both of them still vividly remembered the painted child that had tried to use them. For a very long time, Ib had woken up in a cold sweat when nightmares of the girl haunted her. She had often been tormented by the vicious image of a keen knife streaking towards her, but the worst was when she lay awake remembering the way Mary burned. Wondering if she had done the right thing. The girl had wanted nothing more than to live. She had been denied the basic needs that most people took for granted. Life, love, happiness…

Could she have done something differently? Surely Garry would have died if she hadn't put an end to Mary. That would have been the worse of two evils wouldn't it? Try as she might, Ib could never seem to convince herself of that. There was always a hint of doubt lingering in the back of her mind.

Garry laid a comforting hand on her knee, not taking his eyes off the road.

"She can't hurt you Ib." He said. "None of them can. We made it out, and we're not ever going back into that place."

"Thanks, but it wasn't like that." She said. "In the dream she was, at least I think she was, my sister." She wasn't able to finish with as much conviction as she had hoped.

"Your sister." He repeated. Ib nodded, not entirely trusting herself to speak.

"Well, that explains a lot." Garry said. "I'd probably have a breakdown too if she were part of my family."

She had a very hard time keeping a straight face after that comment.

"I think she was supposed to be adopted or something." She explained. "Both she and I knew about where she came from, but I don't think anyone else did."

"What did I have to say about this?" Garry asked. "Did I hold up a cross while saying 'The power of Christ compels you!' Or did I just lock myself in the bathroom?"

That elicited a small giggle at the mental image.

"No, you were…" dead "You weren't there for some reason. The whole thing was awfully strange, but it almost seemed like we were getting along. She didn't seem all that crazy, and we were planning how we were going to spend our vacation."

"Huh." Gary mused. "Sounds like it could have been a lot worse. You could have been locked in a dark room, with a lot of dolls. Dolls, who I might point out, were not cute in the slightest, despite what some others might say."

"Don't be a wuss." Ib said. "You survived."

"I'll have you know it was very traumatizing." He said, poking her side with his free hand for emphasis. "I still can't enter a dark room without freaking out."

"Do you sleep with a nightlight?" She asked, trying to hold back laughter.

"Ha ha, very funny." He replied with as much sarcasm as possible. "You've crushed my self-esteem. Now I'll have to buy a diary and write in it whenever you bully me."

The rest of the car ride continued on like that, with the two of them throwing verbal prods while trying to make light of past trials. By the time they pulled into the parking lot near Garry's apartment complex, Ib was feeling better than she had in months.

"Here we are." He said, helping her out of the car. "Home sweet home. Well, sweet until night falls. Then you have to start walking around with keys in your fist."

"Some of us prefer pepper spray." She replied.

The two of them made their way to the front entrance. It was then that Ib noticed something peculiar. The sky was unusually dark for being so early in the day, and try as she might she couldn't hear any noise from the rest of the city. That wasn't normal was it? Cities were supposed to have cars blaring at every hour of the day.

She turned to mention this to Garry when something caught her eye. Crouching near a dumpster in the alley was the largest dog she had ever seen. At least, she thought it was a dog. It was mostly hidden by long shadows, but it had the body of a large canine. She stood rooted to the spot. The beast's glowing eyes looked back at her in an unblinking gaze.

"Hey Ib, are you sure you're feeling ok?" Garry's voice distracted her for a moment.

"Yea, I was just looking at-"

It was gone.

In the brief moment she had looked away, the dog had vanished from the alley as if it had never been there at all. What's more, the cacophonous noises that the city was known for had returned.

"Uh, Garry?" She began, feeling more than a little uneasy. "Are there a lot of strays around here?"

He shrugged. "Sure, there are bound to be a few hanging around. Why do you ask?"

"I just thought I saw…" She started, but changed her mind. "Never mind. It's fine. I think I'm just suffering from jet lag or something."

"I don't think you can get jet lag from just going a couple states over." Garry replied, chuckling. "Let's get inside, and I'll show you where you'll be staying for the next week."

Entering the main lobby of the apartment building almost felt like going into a hotel. Though, hotels tended to have the receptionists smile at you. They also smelled better. Thankfully she had better things planned than enjoying the charming atmosphere of city living.

Lugging her bags, she got into the elevator behind him. It was cramped, but she didn't mind. Garry was one of the few people she liked being around for extensive periods of time.

"Second floor. You might want to hold onto something."

She barely had time to register his warning before the elevator gave a lurch, threatening to topple her over. He had expected this though, and quickly lent a supporting arm to keep her on her feet.

"Sorry about that." He said. "This place is kind of old, so the machinery tends to be a bit jerky at times."

"It's fine." Ib said, silently vowing to take the stairs from here on out.

Garry silently rehearsed the numbers on the doors they passed as he walked. He finally came to a stop in front of room 3-C.

"Here we are." He said, opening the door. "Go ahead and make yourself comfortable. The main bedroom is yours. I'll be sleeping on the couch."

"You don't have to do that for me." She said. "I can sleep on the couch; this is your home after all." She tried to move towards the mentioned piece of furniture, but he was having none of it.

"No, I insist." He said, pointing her towards the room. "You're my guest. Besides, if I made you sleep on the couch your parents would probably hunt me down."

Seeing that he wouldn't be changing his mind any time soon, she relented.

"Once you finish unpacking, we can talk about getting something to eat." He said. "I'm guessing they didn't feed you on the flight?"

"They tried to." She replied. "I knew better though. I've seen the kind of food they serve."

"Probably a good decision." He assured with a smile.

Ib opened the door to the room where she was to be staying. It wasn't the largest bedroom she had ever seen, but it wasn't all that small either. Two moderately sized dressers were pushed up against one of the walls. Upon closer inspection, she found that both of them had been cleaned out for her to use.

Where is he storing HIS clothes? She wondered. There hadn't been any other obvious storage containers in the main room, but maybe she had missed something.

A lamp and a small electric alarm clock adorned the end table near the bed. Neither were particularly noteworthy, so she turned to the bed instead.

This was Garry's bed. It felt a bit strange to know that she would be sleeping in his bed. Not bad strange, but still. She wondered what her dad would say.

Sitting down, she was pleasantly surprised to find that it was far softer than she had expected. All at once the fatigue of travel caught up with her. She wanted to finish unpacking, but at the same time she was starting to have trouble keeping her eyes open.

A quick nap won't hurt. She thought to herself, leaning into the pillow. He'll understand.

Before long, she was sound asleep.

You felt it?

Yea I did. How could I not?

Do you think it will be trouble?

Might be. I'll have to check it out first, so don't do anything hasty.

I could solve it myself you know. It would be a lot faster.

I know you could, but I don't feel like cleaning up the mess. I'll go take a look. If our uninvited guest continues to be a nuisance, then you can have at them.

Grrrr. I hate waiting.

I know you do.