Chapter 10
"I've been waiting a very long time for the moment when we would finally be reunited" I heard a voice say above me. I tilted my head to see... Her. The devil itself, Mary.

I scrambled immediately away from her.

"Don't be scared, Ib! Your my best friend!" Mary squeaked.

"H-how are you-here?" I stammered, not wanting to admit that I was in fact, very scared of her.

"What are you talking about, I'm not!" Mary beamed.

"... What?" I questioned her.

"You destroyed me, Ib. But Guertena he saved me and painted me once again, I have new clothes, see!" Mary gestured at the beautiful flowing blue dress he was wearing. I tried to ignore it's beauty and get to the point.

"Guertena's dead, Mary." I said.

"So am I." She said, frowning... No scowling.

"You do not know how lucky you are, to be alive and breathing." She stated me down trying to find guilt in my eyes. "Come closer."

I hesitated but did what she said until I stopped right in front of her. I didn't want to but something was pulling me.

She grabbed my hand and put my fingers where her pulse should be.
There was nothing.
I jerked back out of her grasp.

"And I've had the greatest idea!" She clapped like a 6 year old. Then darkened. "I'm going to be a real person, and eat real food and best of all, your sister."

"Hah! That's crazy as if you'll EVER be my sister, I wouldn't let you." I scowled.

She sniggered. "Oh, but I will, you will have all your memories replaced. And we will have always been sisters."

"...no...no...NO!"

"And here's the even better bit. It comes at a price. Your 'friend' Garry, is my replacement painting." She grinned.

"What! WHAT! NO! No... N-he's not." I could feel tears prickling my eyes. She was going to use Garry, KILL Garry just to get her own way! To brainwash me into actually liking her, for her to be my sister! I couldn't handle it.

"That explains why he's been acting so weird lately... Because of YOU!" I exclaimed, the tears spilled over. "I didn't come all this way for him to die."

"Oh, but I think you did, Ib." Mary laughed darkly.

"Get away from me! I wil-"

"Through here!" I heard a boy shout. I turned around to see the boy from earlier, Trick was it? I had sworn to myself to kick him out, to leave him, that me and Garry were a team. Should I go?

"Who are you!" Mary cried as I sprinted to the door he was holding open for me.

"Your worst nightmare." He smirked and slammed the door when we were both through. Why had Mary made no attempt to run and catch me?

"Uh... Thank you..." I said to him. He nodded.

"I wanna get outta here as well, I'd rather not do it alone." He smiled an irresistible smile.

I looked away.

"Look, Trick or whatever... I-"

"Ib!" I heard yet another voice behind me. What is with the interruptions!
I swung around to see Garry. He was slumped against the wall behind me, holding his stomach. I gasped and sprinted over to him, Trick followed.

Garry's scruffy jacket lay beside him, leaving him in a vest top, while he sat on the ground and clutched his stomach in pain.

"Garry! Garry what's..." I trailed off as I saw Garry's arm. It was... cracked. Like before. Like last time... Like a painting would be.

"No...no no no no no NO!" I shouted, literally biting my lip to keep the tears away. Mary was killing him. How did I stop her!?

"What? What's happening to me, Ib?" He pleaded, taking my hand in his.

"Garry..." My voice broke. "I don't know how to help you." I looked down.

"Help me with what! What's wrong with me, Ib! Tell me."

"Your... Your-"

"Your dying." Trick interrupted coldly. I looked back at him, disgustedly.

"What... Do you mean?" Garry said.
I turned back to him.

"Mary.. She's back. She's trying to make you like she is so she can turn into a person like you and me..." I trailed off. I couldn't hold it when I saw Garry's face. I burst into tears.

"I'm so sorry, Garry. I'm so sorry. This is my fault." I cried. Slowly, Garry looked at his arm and then looked at me.

"Ib." He said after a long silence. "It's alright." He pulled me close and hugged me tight, I did so back.

"It... It's not... I'm gonna find a way to help you! I'll do it. Right now. Stay here, Garry don't move." I wiped my tears away and jumped to my feet.

Garry smiled weakly.
"Who said I CAN move?"

And with that I jogged away. Realising just how tired and worn I felt, I plucked my red rose out of my hair. It looked exactly the same as what I felt, tired and worn, it's colours were fading at the edges.
Trick followed me but after what he had said, I was gonna kill him. When we were round a corner, I turned back to Trick who had his hands behind his back.

"Who the HELL do you think you are?" I growled at him. "How would you like it if someone just came up to you and told you that you were straight out dying."

"... I would accept my fate."

"Oh, shut up! Accept your fate? What a load of crap! Don't follow me anymore! Leave me and Garry alone. Find your own way out, we don't need people like you travelling back with us." I snarled stepping back.

"Ib! But-"

"Go."

I turned my back on him. When I looked back he was gone. A vase of water replaced where he once stood. I froze, feeling immediately ashamed. That was what he was holding behind his back...
I stuck my rose inside and felt immediately fresh. I sighed.
"Thanks Trick." But he was long gone.

Just then a deafening clicking sound vibrated beneath me and the whole floor opened beneath me. I shrieked as the floor turned into stairs and I toppled down them, until I hit the cold floor with a bang to my head.

I groaned and pulled myself to my feet, determine to go on.
I watched as the walls turned into doors and slid open to show a huge ballroom.
My mouth turned into an 'O' shape as I slowly made my way into the room.

The roof reached up so high, I couldn't see the ceiling. It was beautiful though , with a glittering chandelier hanging from where ever the ceiling was and long, neatly-laid tables.
The only thing that was strange was a little bookcase in a corner of the room.
I carefully stepped up to one of the tables and traced my finger over the lace the covered the table.
Like my handkerchief. I had always kept it close, kept it with me at all times. It was always in my pocket but I couldn't feel it now. I panicked and tried all of the pockets in my jeans and hoodie.

I heard a clash of what sounded like cutlery.
I froze and said loudly;

"Is anybody here?"

Suddenly all over the cutlery from the neatly laid table flew into the air and disappeared as they travelled up into the gloom of the concealed ceiling.
I jumped back in alarm as the plates did it, them the table clothes, even the tables.

While one of the tables were floating it bashed the chandelier and a piece of the glass fell from it and clashed down in front of my feet.
I looked up to make sure it wasn't all going to collapse on me and picked up the glass. I didn't realise it was sharp and it cut me across the palm.

"Ouch!" I exclaimed as the pain was more than it should've been. I grit my teeth together and squeezed my eyes shut as an attempt to block it out.
I felt very strange. Like when you spin around, then close your eyes and it feels like the room around you is spinning and tilting.
But when I opened my eyes I was standing on air.
I shrieked in alarm and jumped back. But I landed. I landed on air. I screwed my face up and stuck my foot out just to see if it would work. It did. I could walk on nothing! What as I, Jesus? I laughed almost, because even at this moment and time, what I was doing was... Well, amazing!
I moved faster until I noticed a square box not far away from me. Wait... That's not a box. That's a bookcase! I ran over to it, not looking down. I tripped on something I couldn't see and fell on my belly.
The fall winded me and I winced. I felt something push down against my back. A foot? It pushed down harder until I decided to move and the foot retracted quickly.
When I turned around I saw one f the knight statues. I screamed and jumped to my feet, immediately my instinct was to find a door but I couldn't I was trapped.
Just then the knight came up to me and raised it's sword, I screamed :

"PLEASE! DON'T KILL ME!"

I saw the sword coming down a-

I was gasping for air when I woke.
Just a dream, just a dream. Or was it? I was sitting in the same ballroom, but it was empty. there was still a bookcase though.
I sighed in relief. I heard a voice from far off.

"Thank god that's over, am I right?" It was Trick.

I got up to my feet.

"Go away." I snapped, looking angrily at him. He had his head hung and he was looking at something. Some white material.

"Mean." He said, rubbing the white material in between his fingers and thumb.
He looked up at me grinning.
I couldn't believe what I was looking at. He had no eyes. Trick... He had no eyes.
I screamed and started to run away but charcoal hands shot up from the floor and grabbed my ankles, sending me falling straight down onto my face. I felt warm liquid on my lips. Blood.

I felt someone tug my at my hair and pulled my head up. Trick was standing in front of me. I tried to hold a scream in again at how horrible he looked. All he had was a mouth and a nose, but no eyes.

He laughed mockingly.

"Are you surprised?" He said. I answered with a whimper. He laughed again.

"You tricked me! I thought you would help me!"

"Oh, did you? Is that why you chucked me out of your so-called gang? Is that it, Ib?"

"I left you because I didn't like what you said plus, I had already decided to leave you. I know something was wrong about you." I spat at his feet.

He looked at me disgustedly.

"Your nose is bleeding. Here let me fix it." He bent down and shoved a handkerchief in my face. The hands let go of me and my face fell back on the floor.

"I brought you here once before, Ib. Now that wasn't very fun, was it?" Trick said.

As I got to feet and composed myself, I used he handkerchief to wipe my bloodied nose.

"What do you mean?" I growled back.

"I did it. I also painted that beautiful friend of yours. What's her name, Mary?" He smirked.

It all made sense now! Of course, the truth was hiding from me this whole time. His name wasn't Trick, he was...

"Guertena!" I shouted.
He nodded.

"I couldn't find a better name so I stick with Trick. I was surprised you didn't guess- with this name and all."

I took a few steps back from him until I noticed the handkerchief I was holding was lace. I looked harder at it only to see words. My mothers handkerchief!

"My mothers... How did you...-"

"I found it." Guertena said simply.
He stepped forward more.

"Are you going to kill me?" I asked.

"Well I was considering since your not much fun anymore. But then I realised something better. We haven't had a pretty doll in this place for an age, have we?" He said, a thousand whispers responded.
I felt a chill go down my spine.

"You would make a pretty doll Ib." He said.

I backed away. "No!" Then I ran for my life, through the door I'd came through and all the way up the stairs back to where I'd came from. I could hear something at my heels but didn't look back. I reached the corridor and was relieved to see Garry. He looked worse than before.

"Garry!" I shouted. I was greeted with his wide eyes and he raised a hand weakly up at me.

"Get away from me!" He shouted.

"Garry? It's me! Ib!"

"No! No it's not! I know it's not! Get away! I'm not afraid of you!" Garry exclaimed.

"Garry?" I said, I could feel tears burning at the back of my eyes. "Garry, are you ok?"

He curled up into a ball. "Go away. Get away."

What had they done to him? All I knew was that I was not leaving until he knew it was me.

"Garry." I said softly. "It's me. I'll prove it. We came here before, I was freed and you were not. I came back accidentally and saved you. Mary's back... And my favourite candy is lemon candy because you have it to me when we first came here."

Garry looked up at me immediately.
"Ib! I'm so sorry, I didn't-" he was stopped when he had to cough. I ran over to him and took his hand. I could feel a dark presence near.

"It's okay. It's okay. Your gonna get out of here." Ib threw her arms around him. "It's okay. I'm here."

Heyyyy, so I have finally revealed (a little bit of) the truth muahahahahah! Thanks for reading anyway, it's appreciated I'm going to be annoying and update due to the amount of reviews because I've never done that xD Anyway thanks and please review!