Being separated from Eloise was probably the worst thing Giselle had ever endured in her life. Her life might had begun as an older sister who was about to turn 11 in time for her little sister's arrival until the little bundle of joy was born about six weeks early. From the moment Giselle was able to and allowed to hold Eloise in her arms, she knew from that moment on that she would never let go and always be there because she now had a job. She was going to be a big sister and was going to be the best one there ever was... At least she had hoped so.
Whenever her mother or Nanny were busy to come tend to the baby, Giselle made it her responsibility to go and check on Eloise. She would sit in the rocking chair in the baby girl's room, feed her her bottle, play with her, feed her her oatmeal that Nanny often made, though there was one part she could've lived without: the dreaded diaper change. Nanny also introduced the family to her brother Gavin who had come to take Nanny back home to Hertfordshire. Gavin grew just as attached to the girls as his "Little Sissie" had and became an honorary member of the family, so much that Giselle was allowed to call him "Uncle Gavin".
Gavin felt like a father figure to Giselle, especially since her father left after her and Eloise's mother did some unspeakable acts. Giselle never blamed Eloise for her father leaving, she was just a baby. No matter what some bullies in school would tell Giselle just to make her life more miserable than it already was. Sometimes the boy friends she had did the same because boys often teased girls for the fun of it and there was one other girl in their group... Who was she right now? Giselle couldn't remember at the moment... The biggest moment in Giselle's life of leaving Eloise was when "Mother" applied Giselle to a special school in London to become a student. It was heartbreaking for Giselle to go, though she called as often as she could and she knew that once her mother was discovered and welcomed into the fashion industry in Paris, France, she had to see Eloise and Nanny again.
Giselle asked Nanny where they were staying these days as she knew with her mother's new job that it was no doubt expensive and off the grid... But alas, no. For whatever reason, Mother thought it would be nice of Eloise and Nanny stayed at the best hotel in New York City where she could use her name, power, and wealth to give them whatever they wanted whenever they wanted. The very idea of this sickened Giselle because she knew it would just make Eloise into a miniature version of their mother which was something she did not want. Giselle just shivered and shook, feeling more vulnerable without Eloise there especially since she promised from the first moment she laid eyes on and held Eloise, she would never leave her again and always be there for her. Always...
"You've been quiet, Giselle..." Garry said softly.
"I-I'm sorry, Garry," Giselle replied. "I just have a lot on my mind since we split up from Eloise, Ib, and Mary."
"Yes, I understand," Garry nodded. "I can tell that Eloise means the whole world to you."
"I promised that ever since she was a baby that I would always be there for her and never let her go," Giselle said softly. "Who knows what she might be going through right now?"
"I wouldn't worry about it," Garry coaxed. "I'll be right here with you."
Meanwhile, the younger girls soon used the violet key and ended up in a room with several boxes. It reminded Eloise of going down the very, very long hallway with Skipperdee and ended up inside of the Lost & Found closet where they made all sorts of special discoveries. Maybe it was not so lost because Eloise was able to find it. She did feel scared without Giselle, though ironically, not as much as Giselle felt without her.
"Looks like this would break if you hit it," Mary commented as they found a headless statue. "Way too heavy to move though."
"Uh-huh." Ib merely nodded.
"We need a big strong man," Eloise said. "Like Rico down in the boiler room back at the Plaza. Nanny says he has 'rawther' lovely muscles."
The girls explored and found all sorts of art supplies in the boxes.
"Hmm... Is there anything useful in here?" Mary wondered before gasping.
There was a palette knife deep in the current box they had found.
"Maybe this can cut those vines?" Eloise said hopefully.
"Hmm... Maybe..." Ib said softly. "But be careful in case it's sharp."
"Right," Mary nodded. "I don't see anything else that could be useful. Maybe we should head back to Garry and Giselle now?"
And then suddenly, the lights began to flicker on and off which proved to be a bit scary for the girls.
"I-It's okay..." Eloise said as calmly as possible. "We're all okay."
"That scared me..." Mary pouted.
They soon walked to the exit only for one of the headless statues to be blocking the exit. That could not be a coincidence.
"We can still move it," Eloise suggested. "If we all push together."
"Eloise is right," Mary nodded. "Let's try it... And... Heeeave!" she then called out.
The girls tried to move the statue, but even with their combined strength, it wouldn't budge. It was no good, so how were they going to get out now?
"I guess we can try to go this way?" Ib suggested as she pointed to the only other door in the room.
"Not much else we can do, but go this way." Mary shrugged.
They soon went over to the door which was luckily unlocked and they ended up into a brand new room and section of the museum. The lighting seemed to flicker again and there were bodies moving across the windows on the walls. This was getting even scarier than being locked in the boiler room on Halloween night. Some bodies even knocked on the windows as the girls felt more and more scared.
On the other side, as they walked around, a red ball was bouncing down the stairs before splattering on the floor into a mess. The girls decided not to mess with it and just kept going while making sure nothing would grab them or hurt them. Some writing appeared on the walls... Inviting them...
"I want you to come and have fun, Ib..."
"Come to a fun world without any adults..."
"We'll be together..."
"You, me, and our friends..."
They soon entered yet another room with a blue rose print which had Mary thinking to herself.
"I wonder what Garry and Giselle are doing?" Mary remarked to herself. "We kinda left them behind..."
Back with the two young adults, they were sitting together in silence as Eloise, Ib, and Mary didn't come back which proved to be concerning.
"They're taking their time..." Garry softly said to Giselle. "I wonder if something happened?"
"Garry, please, I have a very weak heart," Giselle replied. "I'm worried and scared enough as it is."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you," Garry said. "I just can't help but wonder."
"GIRLS!" Giselle soon called out. "Can you hear us?!"
There was no reply.
"Argh! They can't hear us!" Garry complained.
"I'm a terrible big sister," Giselle said emotionally. "We shouldn't have left them on their own!"
"Oh, Giselle, you couldn't have known what would happen and you can't help it." Garry said softly.
"But what do we do?" Giselle sniffled as she started to feel her sepia eyes being itched by tears. "We can't just leave them there..."
"Oh, dear, dear, dear, please don't cry," Garry said as he took out a hanky from his pocket and pinched her nose with it. "It'll be okay... Now blow."
Giselle soon blew her nose as she looked emotionally wrecked without Eloise.
"It's okay," Garry said softly. "What say you we go investigate the room a little better?"
"...Well, okay," Giselle sighed. "I just miss Eloise very much right now. She means the whole world to me."
"I know, I know, but don't be too upset," Garry comforted. "Come along now and make sure that rose is secure."
"Oh, Garry... Thank you..." Giselle nodded as she kept her rose close to her heart.
"You're very welcome." Garry smiled warmly before he let out a cartoony sounding groan about going to check out the room again with Giselle.
And so, they went back into the room which was now filled with creepy dolls that all set their sights on Garry and Giselle. It was very unsettling like they had just stepped into their own personal horror movie.
"...No matter how I look at it, this does not look 'cute'." Garry groaned at the sight of the creepy dolls.
"And I thought Eloise's Saylor doll looked creepy." Giselle shuddered as the plastic baby doll was falling apart and was even missing an eye and the legs were falling off as well as the arms.
"Dolls aren't my most favorite thing in the world." Garry mumbled.
"You don't say." Giselle said with a small giggle, unable to resist feeling tickled from his reaction from the dolls overall.
The two young adults explored the room a little bit, surrounded by disturbing dolls.
"Well, nothing here," Garry shrugged before he looked over the shelf that was in front of what seemed to be a cracking hole in the wall. "Huh?" he then pushed it away to see the fracture in the wall. "Ah, it moved! Why didn't I notice that earlier?"
"Oh, well, at least we have a way out now." Giselle replied.
"Indeed, Giselle." Garry nodded in agreement.
They soon followed the path and then came into a brand new room, leaving behind the creepy dolls luckily enough. They took a look around and a creepy doll face seemed to appear when they weren't paying attention to one spot.
"'There is no exit, There is no reason'." Giselle read something on the wall aloud as the doll's eyes followed them around.
"Looks like we still have to be careful." Garry advised as he looked to the door and tried to open it, but it was, of course, locked.
There were then cords hanging from the ceiling. Giselle and Garry took turns pulling on them to see what would happen, though they braced themselves as one wrong move would be a truly grave mistake. Something strange happened though once they got to the fourth cord.
Meanwhile, Eloise, Ib, and Mary explored another room as they were stuck with a gaping hole between them that led to somewhere else, but they had no way to pass it without a bridge of some sorts. There was no floor there and a pair of eyes in a portrait blinked at them, making their situation a lot more creepy than it needed to be. However, as though by magic, the portrait soon slid off of the wall and soon bridged the gap for the young girls so that they could cross and get to the other side.
"Look! We can cross!" Mary piped up to Ib and Eloise.
"Is it okay to cross?" Ib wondered as she stared intently.
"Guess so!" Mary piped up.
"Let's hurry then." Eloise suggested as Ib had a staring contest with the portrait.
And so, one-by-one, the three little girls crossed their new bridge, not sure how or why it happened, but were thankful that it did. They then passed by a box which had something moving inside, though Mary was unsure about them opening it.
"Guys... Let's not open that box..." Mary advised.
"Looks like it should go in the Package Room," Eloise spoke up as the box made her think of a package. "The Package Room has all these packages in it and sometimes I have to help them lift those heavy boxes and look for small packages that might be for me, Eloise. Usually Mother sends for me and Giselle during her travels, especially during the holidays or sending roses for Valentine's Day which is also Giselle's birthday."
They soon went into the next room which was a bit dark and mysterious like the Plaza Hotel's boiler room as a box with a blue triangle on it soon fell through the gap, puzzling the girls.
Giselle and Garry soon looked curious of this box before they moved it into a space in the floor with had a triangle-shaped hole before they moved it there and that soon unlocked the mysterious door. Once in the new room, as if a twist from dark and cruel fate, there was one of the infamous disturbing dolls that they ignored at first.
'Hello there, Giselle and Garry... I don't like being alone... Take me with you...!' The doll spoke in a whispering/echoing voice.
"...I don't trust that." Giselle told Garry.
Garry nodded in agreement as they soon began to walk away before they passed the same disturbing doll that somehow seemed to be following them.
'Hey... Why aren't you taking me with you?' The doll asked.
Giselle and Garry soon walked away to the end of the hallway and walked up a new path, getting a bit faster and brisker in their walking before they came to the end of one section to see the disturbing doll yet again.
'Why are you ignoring me?' The doll asked in a haunting tone of voice. 'Do you hate me?'
The two just going as their heartbeats got faster and faster within their footsteps.
'Hey, play with me!' The doll demanded. 'I know lots of fun things we can do...'
No matter where they turned or went, the disturbing doll kept on following them as Giselle began to look a little sick to her stomach. She saw flashes of her life going by...
Spending time with both her parents back when they were poor and had no fame to their names... Giving her father his cigarettes with his newspaper... The friends she used to have in the neighborhood back when she was a bit of a daredevil and roughhousing with neighborhood boys, but she did love fantasizing with dolls and playing dress-up, she was neither a tomboy or a girly girl back then... Also her friends who were all boys named Melvin Balfour, Nicky Fenwick, and Junior Harcourt... There was also someone else... But she couldn't think of who at the moment... Eventually, tragedy struck...
Giselle's mother grew unhappy with her father and wanted some excitement in her life, such as being rich and famous and living in Hollywood, but those dreams seemed to only fall on deaf ears. This then led to Giselle's father to drinking a lot more often and Giselle's mother often snuck out to meet more exciting men before she was invited to a Debutante Ball where she wore Dior and had grace... Eventually, she overdid it with her social drinking and woke up in bed with another man she does not remember to this very day.
The result was pregnancy and when it was obvious that Giselle's father wasn't the same father as this baby, he decided to take himself out of the family picture which then led to Giselle and her mother drifting apart and the only thing that Giselle clung to in her family that she had left that she enjoyed: Eloise. She found herself missing Eloise very much and tried to think of the lullaby she gave for her baby sister next to the "Feed the Birds" song that she sang to her one night that she learned from Nanny a very long time ago. She sang the song in her head to clear her mind of how her life was up until this point.
'I've got lots of friends too!' The doll continued. 'I'll introduce you! Be here forever!'
Eventually, Giselle was pulled from her thoughts as they made it to the door to go outside the room only to be blocked by the same doll.
"How long are you going to follow us?" Garry grunted. "Enough of this! We're busy here and we're not going to be your buddies!"
Giselle was very frustrated with both her inner thoughts and the doll tormenting them before kicking it into the wall and away from the door with splatter on the wall that read "TAKE ME". Luckily for her and Garry though, the door somehow was unlocked and they went into the next room just to move on.
Once they made it into the next room, the disturbing doll was still following them.
'I'll always be with you~...' The doll told them. 'My house is just nearby.'
"NO!" Giselle and Garry cried out.
They soon came into another room which had seven pedestals with a paint wheel on the wall with all the seven colors of the rainbow with seven pedestals on the floor before them. Giselle instantly thought of her Art Class back in school and just knew that her friend Ronda would love a room like this.
"Since there are seven colors of the rainbow, I feel like we have to match them with these pedestals somehow." Giselle spoke up.
"That seems likely, Giselle," Garry agreed before looking at a clue on the wall that had written instructions. "'Collect the seven balls of paint, then the room will be colored, and your bridge will be made'."
"So I was right." Giselle then nodded at herself.
"Balls of paint though? I wonder where those are..." Garry pondered out loud.
"I'm not sure, but I saw a lot of doors around this room outside, so we might as well check them all out." Giselle suggested.
"I agree." Garry nodded.
The two soon went to explore around the various other doors. One room was a bit fatal and was red which took away some of their rose petals, but they also found one of the balls of paint and collected it as quickly as possible, though it vanished once they touched it. Once out of the room, they quickly replenished their roses since they nearly ran all out of petals and sighed in relief once they were still alive.
"All right... One down and six to go..." Giselle said, healthy, but still a bit scared.
Meanwhile, the girls were still exploring their new surroundings.
"Hey, guys, can I ask you something?" Mary asked Ib and Eloise. "Is Garry... Your dad?"
"Nope." Ib replied.
"I haven't seen my dad in years." Eloise added.
"So your dad... Is somebody else..." Mary then said. "Is Giselle your mother?"
"As I've said before, Giselle is my big sister." Eloise spoke up.
"Yes," Ib added. "I do not know her well myself."
"I see..." Mary said mysteriously. "Are your mothers nice?"
Eloise then told Mary about her mother such as her travels to Paris and to Europe and how old she was like she did when she had first met Ib while Giselle didn't speak much about their mother, at least in a positive light.
"My mother is nice, but not when she's mad." Ib admitted.
Mary couldn't help but find that a little funny. "She gets mad at you, Ib?!" she then asked her new friend.
"I do hope we get out soon, I'd love to see Giselle and Nanny again really soon," Eloise said softly then. "Especially Weenie, who is my dog that looks like a cat, and my Skipperdee who is my turtle who wears sneakers sometimes."
"I want to see my parents again too." Ib said hopefully.
"Yes, yes... I want to get out soon too," Mary nodded in agreement. "Hey, guys, uh... If only two of us could get out... Then what?"
Eloise and Ib looked curious and thoughtful over that question. Eloise would want to leave with Giselle of course, but she didn't think she could ditch her new friends like this.
"It would be lonely to leave on your own, would you even see your family again?" Mary pondered. "Let's not think about this, huh? We'll leave all together! Promise!"
They soon left the room and explored more curious and amazing sights. They found a bookshelf with a collection of books, two that included stories that sounded strangely familiar. Ib found a story about a little girl who got separated from her parents in an art gallery while Eloise found a story about a little girl who lived in the big city and had adventures with new friends and new experiences. There was another book that had the paintings of Guertena in alphabetical order.
"Should we take a look?" Mary smiled as that one seemed to interest her.
Eloise and Ib nodded as they sat down and decided to check out the book together since they had nothing else going on.
"'The Lady in Red (6210)'," Eloise read aloud as best as she could. "'It was said that he based this on a lover he had at the time, but he has denied this claim'."
"'In truth, Guertena based it around the... Something women who attempted to court him for his inheritance'." Ib added, not knowing some of the words.
They also read about The (?) Fish and The Juggler, but those pictures weren't going to be the strangest ones they or Garry and Giselle would read about. Eloise, Ib, and Mary could only wonder what these numbers would mean.
Giselle looked around as she explored with Garry, looking very emotional as she was thinking back to a day back at the Plaza.
Eloise had become very sick and Dr. Hadley said that she had to stay in bed and be waited on for the next week or so. Nanny ordered special treats from Room Service after telling Phillip that Eloise would be unable to have one of her tutoring sessions and came to see her in person, not believing that she was actually sick until he realized that she was really burning up with a 102° fever and they called "Mother" on the phone for about an hour and charged it to the account before Giselle would come back after another busy school day, though she wished she could spend the day at home to look after Eloise, but Nanny reassured her it would be fine. Giselle called Nanny during her lunch hour, saying that lunchtime felt lonely for the week, but she had a surprise planned for later that she had been working on for the past week or so. She was going to wait until November in time for Eloise's birthday, but thought this would be a good treat for any time of the year just to show how much she loved and adored her baby sister.
"Eloise... Your sister is back from school... And she has a surprise for you." Nanny said softly as she came to the six-year-old patient on the couch who watched TV with Weenie and Skipperdee.
"A surprise? For me?" Eloise asked in a croaky voice before coughing. "What is it?"
"I made a song for you during my Music Class, Ellie," Giselle said as she sat on the bench for the piano in the room as she crossed her legs. "Would you care to listen to it?"
"You wrote a song for me?" Eloise smiled softly. "I would absolutely love, love, *cough, cough* ...Love that, Gissy~"
"I thought you might like it," Giselle smiled back as she turned around on the bench and cracked her knuckles. "I hope you enjoy it... I had to practice a lot of scales and arpeggios."
Nanny smiled as she soon decided to pull over the chair from Eloise's room, sinking a little bit, trying not to break it as she wanted to hear the song too. Giselle smiled warmly as she began to play a sweet little tune on the piano, sounding almost like a lullaby and a cute ballad. Eloise's head flowed to the music a little bit, as did Weenie and Skipperdee's heads.
"After the day is over... And when it's time for bed... So many things are probably... Running around your head~..." Giselle began to sing angelically. "Nanny might read you a story... I could sing you a lullaby... Sleep tight and don't you worry... El-o-ise, El-o-ise, El-o-ise~..." she then sang her little sister's name, drawing it out a bit to make it its own allegro beat.
Nanny smiled warmly and looked touched as the sound was very cute so far.
"What will you do in the morning?, Something that's never been done, Something I bet will surprise everyone~," Giselle continued. "What will you order for breakfast?, Maybe you will order a treat, Whatever tickles your fancy, El-o-ise, El-o-ise, El-oise~..."
Eloise smiled during the song, coughing a bit, but she really loved it a lot so far.
"Deep in the night, monsters appear~," Giselle continued, never skipping a beat. "Lions and tigers chew on your ears~"
Eloise began to bury herself under the blanket at first.
"Drag you away to a cave, That's absolutely black~," Giselle continued as she remembered some rough nights Eloise would have before waking up Nanny with a flashlight to the face. "And as soon as the day awakens, Before you get out of bed, So many things are spinning around your head, If you just lie in the stillness, You can hear the wind in the trees... And you can hear them calling~"
"El-o-ise, El-o-ise, El-o-ise~..." The three females sang together while Weenie began to howl as though to sing along with them. "El-o-ise, El-o-ise, El-o-ise~..."
The piano playing continued before Giselle finished and bowed her head, receiving applause from both Eloise and Nanny. Skipperdee even came out of his shell, giving a rose to Giselle as she took it with a fond chuckle before she picked up the turtle and kissed him on his face in thanks. Eloise and Nanny laughed a little from that.
"As long as you think about this song, whenever I'm away at school until our lunch in Palm Court or spending time after school when I don't have too much homework, I will always be with you, Eloise..." Giselle smiled as she hugged her younger sister. "Always."
"I'll always be with you too, Giselle." Eloise whispered hoarsely in the hug before they separated.
Giselle wiped her eyes in Present Day with tears in her eyes before she kept on following after Garry.