"Because you are the piece of me I wish I didn't need. Chasing relentlessly, still fight and I don't know why... If our love is tragedy why are you my remedy? If our love is insanity why are you my clarity?" -Clarity
-Ib- Age 19-
I awoke to the sounding of someone's shouts of pain. I quickly rushed out of my room, and looked over to see what was going on. It appeared a gang of a few guys were beating my parents... What was I supposed to do? Kill them? Run away?
"Where's the girl?" One of the guys asked. Oh please no... don't tell me they were looking for me... In case they were I looked for something sharp for self defense. I looked around, and found a pocket knife in one of the drawers in another room. I pocketed that, and when I looked back at my parents I let out a small gasp of horror.
They were bruised all over, blood coming from their noses and lips. They guys were searching around the house now, supposedly for me. Where to hide? I ran back to my room and closed the door, and silently called the police. I told our location, and they said they were "On their way," I heard footsteps, and quickly hid in the closet. I made sure the knife was in my pocket, and the door opened. I pretended to be asleep, and I could hear rough voices.
"What girly sleeps in the closet?" he asked.
"This one apparently," I felt a rough hand on my arm, picking me up, and in one movement, I got the pocket knife from my pocket and stabbed him in the face. It didn't matter where... it was just in the face. Stunned, he dropped me and the other one came for me, but I quickly dodged to the right with a rush of adrenaline, and stabbed him in the back of the neck. He started to choke, and the door bursted open with three other guys.
"What is-?" Then he eyed me and cursed under his breath.
"Girly, just come with us and everything will be okay," he said roughly.
"You killed my parents," I said, breathing hard.
"No we didn't... we just stunned them for a bit. They'll be okay. But we will gladly kill them if you don't come with us," he spat. I paused for a minute, thinking about this, then finally decided.
"Fine. I'll come with you, but you have to promise never to harm anyone that I care about," I said, somewhat confident.
"Done. Come on Girly," he said, grabbing my arm as I put the knife back in my pocket silently. Where was the police I called ten minutes ago? I wish I knew... I followed them to some van and when I sat in I coughed at the foul scent of smoke and alcohol.
"It's okay Girly, you'll get used to it," one of the guys said. I wondered about the other two I knocked unconscious... It was a short drive, and I made sure to remember the way... I stared out the window and tried to record every detail, and after about ten minutes, my mind was too full for conversation of any type. The guys talked to me, but I didn't pay attention. They lead me into what seemed like a giant mansion, and I followed them in willingly. There was a fancy set up, and it was a vast area.
"We'll give you anything you want... you just have to do everything we say," he said, sitting down on a sofa. I remained standing, wondering about this. Why me? There were millions of girls who were better than me, why take me? And how would I escape? I... have no idea.
"Okay, now... we takes turns during the night, and in the daytime feel free to do whatever you want," he said. Oh no... why...
Then, a guy with bandages over one of his eyes came down the stairs. The guy that had me before...
"I told you you would pay, baby," he said, "You're staying here the rest of your life!" Why did this ever happen to me? I wished Garry was here... No... I longed for Garry to be here.
-Sakura- Age 20-
"I... don't know..." I said, and went back to the staircase, and she followed me. We descended the stairs, and ended up in the rose room, but there were more roses. This time, the room changed and there were more statues. I looked to the white one, as it was still blank, and there was a black one across the room, and that was also blank. I looked to another red one, but instead of vivid, bright red, it was dark, blood red. There wasn't a nameplate for this one either...
"What are you doing?" the girl asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry." I said, "Um, what's your name by the way?"
"Vivian..." she said.
"That's a pretty name!" I said, smiling.
"Thanks!" she said, and I went to the green rose and read the nameplate. "A beautiful rose that's just bloomed. Few thorns, but you don't understand why we don't want things to last forever," Hm, interesting. I observed the new statutes, the black one, the blood red one, and a peach one, and then a really pretty exotic one. It was kind of flaming, with a pinkish hue at the bottom, going to orange and yellow at the top... it was just like a sunset.
"These are nice statues..." Vivian said, observing the rose statues.
"Yeah..." I said, and looked to the wall, for the painting, for maybe we could leap back through, but there was nothing but a wall. I climbed back up the stairs, Vivian following silently, and I started to wander where Maria ran off to.
"Can we leave now?" Vivian asked, getting tired.
"I'm sorry..." I said, "But we can try another time," We went up to the fabricated world painting, but for some reason this time the frame came off.
"Go Vivian! Jump in!" I shouted, and she was scared and backed up.
"You go first..." she said quietly.
"I can't! Just jump!" I screamed, but she didn't move, and suddenly, the frame was back on.
"Vivian..." I said, looking at the ground.
"It was scary..." she said quietly.
"Now you're trapped here forever,"
-Garry- Age 30-
"Leo, what's wrong..." I said.
"Sakura...no..." he said, wiping tears from his face. "Garry, we have to go back to the museum,"
"Huh? Why?" I asked.
"I'm not supposed to be here. Sakura is... I took her place because she pushed me in..." I said.
"Um, how come I don't remember any of this?" I asked.
"You were... asleep I think," Leo said.
"Loves me, loves me not... loves me, loves me not..." she said, and Garry felt dizzy and his chest began to ache. The whole room was spinning around Ib, and Garry tried to focus on the rose, to see how many petals were left, but his head hurt too much.
"Loves me..." Using all his strength, he focused on the rose, and there were two petals left. Garry couldn't move at all, barely breathing, and Ib stared at the two petals remaining.
"Leave," she said, once more.
"Ib... I will never leave you..." He said, mustering all his strength. He had made a promise... he couldn't break it.
"Loves me not." One petal remained on the flower. "Loves me...?"
The flashback hit me hard, and I blinked and shook my head.
"Oh..." was all I could say.
"Garry, we have to go back. If you don't want to, I'll go by myself," he said.
"Leo... I'd go with you... but I want to make sure Ib's safe... who knows what could happen while we're gone?"
"Huh... yeah, okay. But once we get Ib, we're going," he said.
"Alright Leo... but what if she doesn't come...?" I asked, full of worry.
"Then we'll find her. She can't be dead," Leo said.
"And if she is...?"
-Ib- Age 19-
"Girly! Make us lunch!" One of the guys growled. I didn't want to argue, but my cooking skills were pitiful. I looked what was in the fridge, and there was a variety of meat and bread, also microwaveable meals. I just pulled out the bread and some shredded pork, and made four sloppy sandwiches. I brought them over, and the guys ate them happily.
"We don't eat sandwiches with the meat normally, but it's actually pretty good!" one of the guys said. I didn't say anything, I just stood there and hated my life. I was probably going to be a maid the rest of my life, unless I thought about how I could escape. Most of the guys almost didn't have a brain, all they had was muscles, so it wouldn't be hard to outsmart them. I could climb out a window, or go out a door... for the rest of the day I just thought about everything, trying to plan an escape, but there weren't many options.
When night came, the guys argued about something stupid, and then one of them turned to me.
"I'm with you tonight, you should be happy," he said roughly. I cringed, and hoped that nothing would happen... until he dragged me to a large bed for two. Head hung low, I crawled into the large bed, and thankfully the guy didn't take his clothes off. He got in and tried to come close to me, but I crawled away from him. He eventually gave up and slept. Wow, these guys were as dumb as a bag of rocks. I quietly crawled out of bed, and saw a window nearby. I tried it, and it opened easily. Wow, these guys really were dumb. I crawled out the window, and hopped in one of the cars, trying not to gag at the foul scent. I drove silently back to my house, trying to remember the way, and knew I was there when there were flashing police cars stopped at a house. I parked at the curb, and ran out.
"Ib? So it is!" A reporter said, a camera aimed at me followed by a bright light. I covered my eyes.
"Ib went missing, but has came back on the same day! Intriguing! What happened Ib?" the reporter asked.
"Um, some gang beat my parents and took me to their place... but luckily they were as dumb as a bag of rocks," I said.
"Ah! We have a clever one here!" she said, too excited. "Your parents are safe in the hospital now. Anything to say about the gang?"
"Never come near me again!" I said, and the reporter laughed.
"Maybe they're watching now! We'll see you later!" The reporter said, and the cameras turned off. I sighed as the camera crew and everyone left, and tired and groggy, I walked slowly back to my apartment. I walked in, and collapsed on the bed. What if they came back? Ah, nothing mattered now. I think I was going to die if I didn't see Garry again, so I dozed off as soon as I fell in bed.
-Garry- Age 30-
The next day, I walked to the art shop, and saw a figure standing in front of the art shop. Could it be...? I bursted into a sprint as I hugged Ib.
"Ib! What happened? I was so worried!" I said, all in a rush.
"It's... a long story." she said. I opened the door for her, and she entered the art shop and I followed we went to the back, and I opened the box of cookies.
"Feel free," I said, and she took one and munched on that.
"Ib, we have to go back to the museum," I said, growing serious.
"What? Why?" she asked.
"Do you remember this girl?" I asked, and showed her the picture of Sakura. She stared at it for a while, and blinked a few times.
"Wait, isn't that..." she started, and then trailed off.
"It's Sakura... the girl who bought all the ornaments for this store..." I said.
"She shared her apartment with me... and now it's mine..." Ib said, getting some of it, then her eyes widened, and she stood up.
"She pushed Leo into the painting, and now she's still in the fabricated world!" she said, realizing what had happened.
"Yeah... we have to get her... except for one thing," I said, remembering what today was.
"What?" she asked.
"First it's Mary's trial... the 29th of December," I said, as I almost forgot about this last night.
"Oh..." she said, "What time is it?"
"In an hour. We should get going now..." I said. Ib nodded, and we hopped into the car, and drove to the court. It was pretty far away, about a thirty minute drive, but we got there faster than expected, and did all the security checks, and the trial began. The judge talked about some stuff, and then we started with opening statements. Maria was sitting chained in a chair by the judge, bandages over her eye. When it was out turn to speak, we just spilled everything out.
"Mary- Maria has been chasing us for a long time now, I've lost track of time, but more than a month," I said.
"She's attempted to kill us many times, but we're lucky we're not dead," Ib said.
"Okay, witness examination," the judge said, and Maria's side stood.
"Let's say someone killed your mother. Would you want to kill them?" one of the lawyers asked.
"I suppose..." Ib said.
"Well, you've killed someone dear to Maria. And she wants to avenge you for it," she said, and sat down. Ib and I stood up then.
"It was all self defense!" Ib said, "She was chasing us with a knife, so we destroyed something,"
"Please be more specific," said the judge.
"She was chasing us with a sharp pallette knife, so we burned her painting," I said, not knowing if they would understand at all, but Maria seemed to. The judge looked in disapproval at Maria.
"Is it true you tried to kill these people over a painting?" he asked.
"No." Maria said, "By burning that painting, they killed someone dear to me,"
"It was self defense! If you weren't chasing us with a pallette knife, we wouldn't of done it!" Ib pointed out.
"You still killed me!" she screamed.
"Well you're alive now!" I spoke up.
"To get revenge!" she spat.
"Order in the court!" The judge screamed over us. Everyone was silent, and I spoke.
"She was a painting, and we burned it. Therefore, we killed her, because she was chasing us with a knife," I said. All the authorities looked befuddled, and started to wonder what in the world I was talking about. But that was what happened...
"How does burning a painting linked with killing someone?" the jury asked.
"She was a painting, and we burned her," Ib said.
"It is clear that Maria is a human being, she is sitting here, right now, thinking and breathing. And if you killed her, how is she alive now?" the lawyer stated. Oh boy... I don't think that they would ever understand this.
"She switched bodies," I tried to explain, "She switched bodies with someone real," All the authorities looked confused and annoyed to some extent, and the judge finally spoke again.
"Closing arguments everyone," he said.
"Maria is innocent, she just wanted revenge for something dear to her, and she has gotten that so she will stop," the lawyer said, and that last part was a foul lie. Ib and I stood up, and spoke.
"Maria has been chasing us for a while, and she has hurt us several times. I don't believe she will ever stop until we're dead," I said.
"We may have burned her painting, but that was for self defense. We hope you understand," Ib said, and we both sat down. The judge turned to the jury, and spoke with them for a while, and then they went into a private room where they could discuss the matters. We sat for awhile, nervous but confident, and surprisingly it only took about an hour to decide. It normally takes a few hours, or even weeks. The jury filed out of the room, and whispered stuff to the judge.
"Everyone, the case has been closed." The judge said. Ib was fiddling with her skirt, and I was fiddling with my coat sleeve. Please, please, please say guilty. I know all the painting stuff sounded loopy, but there was reason... please say guilty.
"Both sides have a reasonable argument, but the jury has chosen which side is most logical, and has chosen whether Maria is innocent or guilty." he said, and I was just about to rip my coat sleeve off. The dumb suspense! It was driving me nuts! Did judges always have to be so dramatic? Why couldn't he just get to the point. Ib was biting her lip, and messing with her hair.
"Please, say guilty..." she whispered to me under her breath.
"I'm with ya..." I said quietly. The jury whispered to the judge some more and all, and there was another argument going on.
"I'm sorry, but please wait a moment," he said, and went back into the soundproof room with the jury. It was completely quiet through the court, and I prayed that Maria was guilty.
"What's going on?" Ib whispered to me.
"I don't know... maybe they didn't quite decide yet..." I said, and at that, the judge filed out in front of the jury.
"Alright, the case has been closed, and this is final," The judge said.
"Maria... is proved..." I bit down so hard on my lip I could taste it bleeding.
"Innocent,"
AF JAPODIHFOPIDSN FAEOFDPOAIFH NPAOIDSFHANPO! I don't know, that was all I could type after that. Next chapter might come today! I really want to keep typing so look out!