Woo! I finally got a new chapter written! It took so long...but I finally got some motivation back! Now let's get back to the story!
Ch.7
As Ib slept she had another nightmare, though this one was different than before. Ib found herself wandering the Art Gallery, but all the lights had gone out. There was only a slight bit of light coming from some skylight windows, but other than that it was rather dark.
"Hello?" Ib called out as she walked around. "Anyone here?" She didn't hear anyone or anything, nothing besides the sound of her own footsteps.
Soon Ib found herself in front of a familiar large painting. It was the painting that was "? World". Ib stood in front of it, staring into it and Ib thought she saw something moving. She stepped closer to get a look, but as soon as she did several pairs of mannequin arts popped out of the painting, trying to reach for Ib. Their hands like claws, sharp and ready to grab.
Ib gaps as she stepped backwards. She then turned and ran as quickly as she could. But in a matter of seconds she found herself near an edge. Ib managed to stopped herself before getting to the edge. Ib looked over the edge, it was a few feet of a drop, but what Ib saw below made her freeze.
It was a large, square floor painting that had a large creepily looking fish creature on it. Ib stared down at it with wide eyes. She could a strange echoing, eerie, sound coming from it.
"I remember...something about this…" Ib muttered as she continued to stare down at the painting.
Suddenly the ground started to shake causing Ib to fall backwards to the ground. When Ib tried to stand up, she saw two large shadowy hands rising out of the painting below her. Ib screamed as she turned around to try and run. She started to run for a bit before she saw a wall blocking her way. She looked around to see that there were walls all around her. Ib realized that she was now trapped.
Ib started to pound on the walls, "Is anyone out there? Someone help!" She shouted as she turned to see the shadowy hands coming closer. "Please someone!"
In the next moment Ib felt the hands wrap around her ankles, in the blink of an eye she was pulled to the ground by the hands and was starting to be dragged towards the ledge. Ib tried to get the hands off her, but it was no use. No matter how hard she tried, she just kept getting closer to the painting. Soon she was at the edge and the hands pulled her over, and Ib closed her eyes just as it seemed she would hit the ground.
Immediately Ib awoke, letting out a small scream as she sat up. Ib looked around to see that she was still at Garry's, and she could still hear the rain pouring outside. Ib gripped the blanket tightly in her hands and she took some deep breaths.
"Hey Ib, are you okay?" Garry asked as he rubbed his eyes. After Ib had fallen asleep he had dozed off on the couch as well, but Ib's scream woke him up.
Ib turned and looked at Garry, "I had a nightmare…"
"That's terrible," Garry said as he placed a hand on Ib's shoulder, "I'm sorry, I also fell asleep. I would have woken you if I had know," Garry said spoke kindly, and in the back of his mind he felt like he had been in a situation like this before.
"I've never… had a nightmare that scared me that much." Ib said as she sniffled.
In the next moment Ib felt Garry wrap his arms around her and pulled her into a hug, "It's okay. Just relax, I'm here for you."
Ib started to relax a little more, "Thank you."
"Hey, are you hungry now? Would you like something to eat?" Garry asked as he stopped hugging Ib.
"Yeah." Ib responded.
"Alright then," Garry said as he stood up, "What would you like? Pasta? Or maybe a grilled cheese?"
"Grilled cheese is good." Ib answered.
"Okay, I'll get it started then." Ib said as he started walking to the kitchen, and Ib stood up and followed him.
Ib sat down at the kitchen table and watched as Garry got out the ingredients for a grilled cheese.
As soon as Garry started to cook the bread Ib spoke up. "My nightmare… it was about the art gallery."
"Oh? Did you remember something about it?" Garry asked.
Ib shook her head, "No. Not really." Ib then went on to explain what had happened in her nightmare.
A moment after Ib finished explained Garry placed the grilled cheese on a plate. He then grabbed a napkin and brought it over to Ib. He sat down in the chair next to her placing the plate and napkin down in front of her, "I see, so the paintings you talked about, the large one of the wall is called 'Fabricated World' and floor one is called...oh what was it...something 'of the deep'. Hmm," Garry thought for a moment before remembering, "Oh, it was 'Abyss of the Deep'. So do you think those two painting have some importance?"
Ib nodded, "Yeah. What I remember most from when I was at the art gallery was standing in front of that large painting shortly before leaving."
"Was that before or after you ran into me?" Garry asked.
"Before." Ib answered as she picked up the grilled cheese and bit into it.
"Hmmm…this is all so confusing…" Garry said as he leaned back in his chair.
"Do you think we will ever remember?" Ib asked.
"I don't know...I mean it's been several days since we saw each other at the gallery. But maybe one day…" There was a pause before Garry sat back up straight in his chair again, "How's the grilled cheese?"
Ib smiled as she took another bite. "It's really good."
After that Garry went back into kitchen to clean up some dishes and Ib continued to eat her sandwich. As Garry started washing them he looked out the kitchen window, "Looks like it's stopped raining. Your mother might be coming over soon to get you."
"Oh…" Ib said as she looked down at the floor.
"Hey, don't be sad. We at least ran into each other today. Maybe we'll see each other again and we can try to figure out more about the art gallery." Garry said.
Ib smiled, "Yeah."
It was true that Ib was happy to have found Garry. Though she was a little sad that Garry also couldn't remember anything either, but she hoped that they would be able to remember eventually. Once Ib finished her grilled cheese she brought her plate over to the kitchen and handed it to Garry. After that Ib washed her hands and walked back to the couch, and looked over at the lemon candies.
Soon Garry was standing next to her, "Would you like one? I know you said you already have one, but no harm in having two."
Ib looked up at Garry and smiled with a nod. Garry then opened the jar and picked up one of the candies and handed it to Ib.
While holding it in her hands Ib had a thought, "I almost don't want to eat it… But I do still have the one at home, and Garry has many more. I guess I could eat it." Ib then unwrapped the candy and popped the candy into her mouth. The sweet and sour lemon taste made Ib smile.
Seconds later there was a knock at the front door. Garry started to walk towards the door, "That must be your mother."
Ib followed next to Garry to the door, and once he opened it, Ib's mother was standing there. Her mother looked at Ib and locked eyes, a stern look spread across her face. Ib knew that her mother was not happy.
"Hello ma'am, you must be Ib's mother." Garry said politely.
Ib's mother nodded, "Thank you for finding my daughter and keeping herself during this storm."
Garry smiled, "You're welcome."
"Now Ib, don't forget to thank this man for being nice enough to help." Ib's mother said.
Garry squatted down so he was more eye level with Ib, "It was nice getting to know you Ib."
Ib quickly threw her arms around Garry giving him a hug, "Same here. Bye Garry."
"Bye Ib."
Ib heard her mother clear her throat, meaning that they should get going. Ib let go of Garry and walked over to her mother. "Go wait in the car Ib, I'll be there shortly."
Ib nodded and walked out of Garry's house, as she walked to the car she looked back at Garry once more and waved, and Garry also waved.
Once Ib was in the car her mother spoke again, "Thank you again for finding her, I was so worry. I hope she didn't cause you any trouble."
"Not at all. She was very well behaved." Garry responded.
"That's good...thank you again. Goodbye." Ib's mother said as she turned to leave.
"Bye." Garry said before closing the door.
Garry walked over to one of the windows and looked out at the car, he could see Ib sitting in the back seat, looking in his direction. He smiled and waved again, and he saw Ib waved back. Then Ib's mother got in the car, and then drove off.
In the car Ib's mother spoke to Ib, "You know Ib I am still not happy that you ran off."
Ib lowered her head, "I know…"
"I won't let you off the hook that easy, for the next few days you'll be grounded."
Ib slowly nodded with a small sigh, "Okay, I understand."
Ib then started out the window on the drive home. To her, she didn't care if she was grounded, she was at least happy that she finally got to meet Garry.
Hope you all enjoyed that. I still got more to write for this story. So see you all when I post next.
I will try to write as soon as I can, but I am busy and also gotta try to keep the motivation going. But I know I can do it! :D
