Disclaimer: Me no own Ib... -tries not to cry- but I do own any poems or songs unless stated otherwise. I also once got points taken off for something, and teacher says it's because I have to cite it. So, I'm like, "But I wrote it." He gave me a flabbergasted look, but then got the drift. So, I own my words!
Note: There are some OCs, 'cause the Ib cast is very small.
The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.
-Aristotle
Chapter 7
Small giggles resounded through the air in lofty play, gliding and swirling amongst the nonexistent breeze that wafted through the halls. Small shadows took to their hiding spots amongst the light fixtures, slowly ebbing their way out, leaking onto the pristine, shiny floor that never dulled. The tiny pitter patter of footsteps is what kept most back, for if you tread in the wake of temptation there is no more hope for survival. It's consumes all in it's aftermath, sparing none a lingering hope or wishful prayer.
Honestly. They are all mad here. There is no escaping from the puppeteer; not even scissors can cut the strings. All will fall into the play soon, but tonight it has fully begun. Yes, audience, it's time for act one. Here's a warning now-Tread carefully on solid ground. Legs do not walk quite so well when the earth is hollow, not even when the water is shallow. Dive deep into the unknown abyss, but don't worry now, there are always stranger things to behold.
All was silent in the hallways. The few straggling students had long since left once the clock neared eight; the time that even the cafeteria closed for, curfew. It was a strict rule that no one should wander the building after seven, only stay in the cafeteria or go back to the dorms. So, it shouldn't be a surprise that the halls were quiet or that they were empty. Yet, these halls were not void of life in the slightest, even if it was only fabricated. Yes, the human mind creates palpable, tangible images that trick their host, but are these spectators lurking around the eye's farthest corners really only a concoction of delusions?
Ib was not sure herself, but as she waited for the eight o'clock bell to chime the images of all the strange happenings reverberated endlessly in her head. However, this only furthered her confidence in that whatever was taking place had to be linked to the first time she and Garry arrived. Ib stared at her palm, which had a band-aid on it from the cut she got the other day. It was only now that she realized that the hand she had seen when the glass cut her was most likely Kate's. The girl was proclaimed missing less than twenty-four hours after Ib saw it after all.
Idly she sat in the broom closet for another three minutes until the clock rang out, the sound echoing through the building. Ib slowly opened the door a crack and checked to make sure all was clear before fully leaving the small, cleaner smelling closet behind. Garry and her had decided to meet up by the entrance to the building, a safe place if they were caught by any of the staff. Besides, they both knew where it was. Of course, the main challenge was going to be getting there since that one older lady had found them when they first arrived. In all honesty, she could be on duty at night or making rounds every so and so. Even if she was patrolling she wouldn't have to spot Ib since her loud, thunderous steps would give the girl away. Though, this was not really her fault as the ground was marble.
Ib was nearing the entrance rather smoothly when a cough caught her attention. She hesitated before turning to the left and following the erratic hacking of the lungs only for it to stop right as she laid eyes on a painting. Ironically, the plaque underneath named the art to be "The Coughing Man." Ib stood there for a few moments longer, waiting for the man to start coughing again, but it was a vain wait. After some time she finally decided to head back in the direction of the meeting area. Nothing significant happened during that walk and she found that she had arrived before Garry had.
While waiting besides a plant Ib closed her eyes, trying to relax. It was her decision to come and she wouldn't chicken out no matter what. She heard footsteps coming towards her and ducked down so that the plant camouflaged her from sight. She peered through some of the leaves, watching to see who it was that was coming; it was only Garry. Ib moved out of her hiding spot, nearly giving Garry a heart attack from the surprise. "Well, I'm not too sure on what to do now that we're here."
Ib stood there. She had forgotten about that part.
"I guess we could take a look around or something." Garry supplied and Ib nodded in agreement, "Now where to start? We should stay clear of the office for now incase that lady is here still. Hey, why don't we check on that one painting with the puddle and hands?"
With a destination in mind they set off, taking detours to avoid any areas near the office. When they finally came across the painting nothing happened, not one thing was out of place. Garry sighed as he gave up on staring the painting down. From the looks of it Ib wasn't doing much better. The two stood before the painting, thinking long and hard on why nothing was happening and if they were simply doing something wrong.
After that failure they ended up wandering about for a time, waiting to hear or see something unnatural. Still, nothing showed itself. "Maybe we just came at the wrong time." Garry suggested, moving to look at his watch. He froze for a few seconds, staring at it. Ib moved to glance at it too, and though they had been wandering the school for nearly forty minutes his watch still read 8 O'clock. Well, at least they knew something was going on.
"Maybe we just can't see them," Ib stated. Garry looked over at her curiously, "You mean they're hiding?"
"Not exactly, but it could be that they can't interact. For the last two days they could have been visual to us because they had the energy...Maybe even the means."
"Wait, do you mean that whatever these things are only appeared to us by mistake? When you put it like that it almost sounds like they were after Kate." Garry theorized, trying to wrap his mind fully around it all, "And if they're too weak then maybe we have to cross over to their plane."
"It's only a theory." Ib reminded him. "Hey, Ib, this sounds like a bad ghost movie." Garry commented. The guy was pretty sure that they probably weren't dealing with something that would end in an exorcism or demon possession...Hopefully.
They ceased walking as they came to the hallway that was closed off for construction. Ib paused, staring down the dim hallway before turning towards it and walking over the tape. Garry walked next to her, remarking on how Ib had come here earlier the day before. They passed by the canvas on the ground, only pausing to confirm that it was still blank. As they descended down the long hall both Garry and Ib noticed that the lights were no longer dim. Instead, they were nearly absent altogether and they had passed the last window some time ago. Now when they peered down the hall they saw only fluid, inky shadows weaving through the domain silently.
"Does this hall ever end?" Garry chirped nervously, casting a glance behind him. Ib did not pause, but after a few seconds she couldn't hear Garry's footsteps anymore. She looked behind her, but no one was there or even in sight. When she looked forwards the chasm had consumed her sight and the world with it. Walking was comparable to floating for she could no longer tell if gravity was present. Each step could be her last as she wouldn't be able to see anything that may be in her way. Afraid of being lost like this Ib walked in, what she believed to be, a straight line for a very long time. Inwardly she wanted to cry out for Garry, hopeful that he would respond and find that one of them had taken a wrong turn somewhere.
Ib quickened her pace more, feeling something cold moving across her feet and disappearing. It felt like mice were scurrying around, only in this case they would be dead and wet. Something moved through her hair and her arm went up to swat it away, only to hit something much too large and extremely cold. A feeling of dread sprung up in her chest and she recognized that it was those hands. They blended in with the surrounding, making them unrecognizable to her. Ib began to run, swatting the groping hands away from her, but that did not stop them from reaching out to her. Their attempts were nearly cries of anguish, mischief, and loneliness. They pulled at her hair, her limbs, and tried to make her yield so that she would never leave them, never escape from them again.
And soon, much like Alice who fell down the rabbit hole, the ground that once resided beneath her feet was gone, replaced with absolutely nothing. It nearly hurt, the feeling of her stomach plummeting and then feeling too light, as if it were not existent. It was nauseous inducing and horrifying. Ib could feel her limbs try to branch out for some form of stable ground, for something to hold on to, but the wish evaded her, mocking her desperation. Still, she panicked and searched for something to grab on to. Ib was not going to die here...wherever here was. She was going to live to see the end of this. She made a promise to herself before she was accepted to St. Rose, a wish that she would have to pray for, work at, and learn to do. She would learn to speak up and create friendships with others. And now while she was falling, Ib added on to this promise; she would not die in some school that she had only attended for two days and she was going to endure till the end of the year.
Still tense, but feeling just a speck better Ib could faintly see rays of light coming from behind her. She turned to look at the source and found that the light was coming from something below her. Without hesitation the chasm stopped dragging her down, instead allowing her to descend softly, her feet landing on something akin to a floor. Looking up she slowly approached the glowing object. It did not dim, but Ib's eyes could now clearly see that the glow was emanating from a large rose. The beautiful flower was guarded by a thick thorny stem and the vermillion petals were nearly bigger than Ib's own head. It was a breathtaking sight and Ib wanted nothing more than to have her sketchbook so that she could draw it, to imprint the sight into her mind even if only through a medium that would never be able to portray how deadly the rose was.
Consequently, Ib had been so enraptured that she had not noticed that she had reached out to touch the rose, and the thorns bit at her fingers, drawing small specks of blood that dripped only once and this single drop seemingly disappeared, swallowed by the thorns. Right before her own eyes the flower began to move, growing to tower over her before its thorns surged to take root, ripping the ground apart as if it were nothing more than flimsy paper. Ib fell forward as a root popped out of the ground underneath her. Her hands came into contact with the thorns, but even though she wanted to move away the thorns were better than being skewered by rapid roots.
Ib watched the scene before her in silent amazement, gasping in surprise when the stem began to grow, bringing her along with it. She held on tightly as it kept ascending for an unknown period of time, but that time felt much too short for soon it stopped and when Ib looked up the petals were now growing. As they grew larger the stem began to start yellowing until finally it collapsed altogether. The strangest thing happened right after that. Instead of falling back down, Ib began to fall...up.
The red petals fluttered around her, blinding her view from almost anything else. They swarmed around in a flurry as they grew darker, but then they encased Ib within their folds. It was almost comforting, like a safe cocoon. It was warm too, a gentle fire with the potential to magnify its production of heat into that of raging chaos. These feelings resulted in Ib being nearly asleep, comparable to a caterpillar's long sleep inside its life altering temporary home. But as her eyelids began to shut on their own accord Ib swore that the petals began to shine and glow.
All of a sudden Ib awoke with a start, breathing uneasily from whatever it was she had awoken from. She looked around; finding only the hallway she had started off on, but the difference was that there was a door in front of her. Ib was at the end of the hallway! Once on her feet she grasped the old knob and stared at the door for a moment, noting how there was something strange about it, before opening it cautiously. From the looks of it the room was just a link between other passages on that side of the building, but while walking through the archway into another room Ib noticed a door slightly awry.
She opened the door, but the room was pitch black. When she took a very small step inside the room to find the light switch her foot was submerged in water. While looking down at her wet shoe, Ib saw something swimming around in the navy blue water. However, before she could attempt to turn back she was pulled under.
It's beautiful; water, yet so dangerous. All the oceans in the world and seas are beautiful with ranging colours of blue and strange, dark fish that could only be imagined or that lived in the deepest reaches of oceans could be seen swimming around in such dark waters. The strangest part was that Ib could have sworn that this wasn't the first time she had seen some of these wondrous creatures, it was almost like an insistent memory just at the back of her mind.
Ib looked out through the water, knowing that there had to be an exit somewhere. She swam towards the surface for air, but she was not able to reach it. As the seconds passed Ib was sinking, and the surrounding water was growing a darker shade as if it were an abyss inside the sea. Ib was now sinking to the deepest reaches of this body of water and just as she could no longer hold her breath she was flung out into something chillingly cold. She breathed in for several minutes after hitting the floor before sitting up and looking back at where she just came from, almost gasping as a large creature's eye was staring at her from the other side of the water. The whole body of water she was just in looked like an aquarium only there was no glass, the water just stayed in that shape.
Ib stood up and looked opposite the aquarium. She was in a regular room, with the only light source being a blue hue from the aquarium. There was a door straight ahead and Ib decided to go on ahead, hoping that she would meet up with Garry if he had already made it this far. When Ib walked out of the door she was flabbergasted to see that nearly everything looked almost identical to where she had been before her deep sea adventure. The only differences was the artwork on the walls and that the walls and floors did not need major renovations. In fact the floor had a rollout like carpet look and the wood bordering the carpet was rich in colour and even sturdy.
A shiver coursed its way up Ib's spine, prompting her to turn to look down all three corridors. She stood at the intersection of the three passages, unsure of which way she should go. A small part of her wanted to go back into the other room and try to find a way back. She dismissed this thought right away, remembering that this was her idea so she couldn't back down. Ib carefully studied each passage, carefully trying to make a decision. In the end, Ib decided on going left.
As she neared the end of the hallway Ib could see a small table in the distance. Faintly Ib could make out a vase that oddly looked like the one she had seen the day prior, only that one had been smashed into pieces. Ib stared at the vase, picking it up and swirling the water inside of it. Carefully, she set it back down on the desk and turned to leave it when her eye caught a passageway on her right which hadn't been there before.
Cautiously Ib moved through the darkened doorway, unsure if it was safe to venture in or not. Her fears were quelled when she spotted something glowing on the floor; a red rose. Placing one foot in front of the other Ib made her way towards the flower. She bent down and faintly touched it, her hand hesitantly ghosting the petals. Taking a deep breath, Ib gingerly picked up the rose. She twirled it between her thumb and index finger, analyzing the flower. The thorns were nearly dull stubs and didn't hurt to touch, the petals were a ripe crimson, and there were fifteen petals in total.
Something black moving across Ib's shoes caused her to slowly stare ahead at a large painting of a woman wearing a white turtleneck. Her hair was a graying black and strands of this hair were flowing from the painting. Ib gasped in terror, taking a step back, but the strands tripped her, causing her to fall on her butt. The girl in the painting slowly opened her slitted eyes, staring at Ib as a wicked grin etched its way across her face.
When the rose rots, so will you rot away.
Ib's hand came into contact with something cold behind her. Her head swiveled to look at what it was, but was relieved to find that it was only a small blue painted metal key. When Ib looked back at the painting the woman was gone. Fearfully she looked around the room for the woman, just in case. Ib quickly stood, backing up towards the door, never keeping her eyes in one spot for more than a few seconds. Once in the doorway Ib turned around, relieved to see the desk and vase just the way she left it.
Suddenly, a hand placed itself on her shoulder. Black hairy tendrils cascaded over Ib's shoulder and she could faintly make out another hand coming closer to her face.
You and the rose are unified. Know the value of your own life.
Ib shivered at the words, but stayed perfectly still and scrunched her eyes closed. The feeling of hair on her skin suddenly disappeared as did the feeling of hands on her. Ib opened her eyes and turned slowly around. The dark room and even the archway were no longer there, as if it all was a nightmare she had just awoken from. However, Ib knew this was no nightmare. The rose and key in her hand was proof enough that it hadn't been an illusion.
'Know the value of your own life.' Ib didn't really understand what that meant, but something inside of her was telling her that she should keep her rose safe from harm. Ib now looked down at the key, deciding that the blue key would probably leaf to her next destination. Now she just needed to find the door that this key unlocked.
Ib arrived back at the intersection and went to her right, but only found a dead end with a table. Upon going straight ahead from the intersection Ib found the door that was linked with the key she had. She took a few steps in, catching some writing on the wall, but was hit by something before she could possibly read the sign.
Ib stayed on the floor, but turned her head to see what had just pushed her. Her eyes widened when she saw a black hand protruding from the wall and waving around, almost in an attempt to hit something. Ib crawled away, moving towards the plaque before standing up, wincing when her knee ached. Ib examined it briefly, deciding it was no big deal when she noticed a red petal on the floor. Ib counted the petals on her rose and realized that she was now missing one. Ib paused, thinking it over. There were fifteen petals until she was hit by the hand, which caused her to lose one. So, whenever she was hit by one of those things she would lose a petal. What would happen if she ran out of petals? Ib got the feeling that if such a thing did happen that it wouldn't be good. This means that she couldn't lose all the petals, ever.
Ib looked at the plaque and sweat dropped once she read it: Beware of the Edges. Well, that would have been much more useful three minutes ago. Ib looked back down the narrow path where the hand had hit her, thinking of the best way to go about this. The message warned of the edges, so if she stayed in the middle of the path then she should be able to avoid from being hit. Ib took a few deep breathes, readying herself to fast walk down the hallway. It wasn't a long hallway since she could easily see the other end of it. And there wasn't anything like a door on the side walls, so she wouldn't have to worry about unexpected creatures coming through the doorway.
Taking one more deep breath Ib took off down the hall, keeping her shoulders hunched close to her. Dark hands erupted from the wall, trying to grab at her. Ib was slightly relieved when she realized that the hands could only reach out a certain distance, but was not happy when something grabbed at her ankle just as she stepped out of the hallway. She slightly yelped as she fell onto the floor, putting her arms out to catch herself. Ib managed to keep her rose from being squished, thus resulting in not losing a petal, but her momentary relief was fleeting.
Something was dragging her back into the hallway. Ib could feel their cold grip on her right ankle, their desperate clawing. Ib looked back and nearly screamed. There was a large creature the colour of a chasm and it had red glowing eyes. Multitudes of hands squirmed in the creature's shadow, grabbing at Ib's leg. Ib tried to crawl away, kicking at their hold, but nothing was working. As she was being dragged back Ib could only panic and try to escape while her mind raced.
Ib had just wanted something different for herself. She wanted to leave her home where she felt like an outcast in order to discover what she really wanted to do, to gain experience. More importantly, she wanted to make sure that she had a future doing the only thing she felt talented in; drawing. Ib barely had social skills or any other talents at all. She couldn't even call out for help when she desperately needed it, but who would hear her?
Ib had no idea as to what became of Garry, and to be honest she hadn't been too concerned about him. However, now she wanted him here with her. He probably wouldn't have any idea as to what to do, but his mere presence would make her feel better. Ib didn't like to be alone, not even at night, and especially not here in this strange place. She didn't want to die alone, not ever.
Ib dug her nonexistent nails into the carpet, trying to resist the force dragging her. Not really thinking about it she lurched onto her side and swatted at the hands on her leg, "Stop!" Oddly enough the hands receded, but Ib didn't waste time in watching what was becoming of them. The first chance she got, Ib jumped up and ran away from the hall, not looking back.
Ib only stopped once she had run in circles for a solid minute, breathing harshly when she arrived at the accursed hallway again. Taking a few more steps back from it Ib looked at the two other passageways that looped around to connect again at this intersection. Feeling a bit shaky, Ib decided to just find a door that she may need to go through to continue on. She just needed to keep moving and be more careful of warnings.
After passing various paintings Ib finally arrived at a door, but this door was pretty strange. It was made of six empty frames in a straight down line. There was a knob, so this had to really be a door. Ib stared at the empty frames in thought. 'If there are six frames then that must mean something must go into each frame. Maybe it's a sequence, like a story made of paintings.' Ib carefully went through the two looping hallways, surveying the paintings carefully. There were six frames, and if she guessed right and it was a story sequence then the paintings had to have something in common.
Ib passed a bumble bee, a butterfly, a ladybug, and then a painting titled Prologue. Ib paused at the last one, staring at it and then at the others after it that were titled Chapter One, Chapter Two, and Final Chapter. Ib plucked them off the wall. Now she only needed two more. Ib walked the halls for another minute before arriving back at the butterfly. Ib then plucked the painting off the wall, feeling exasperated for not realizing that the whole sequence was that of a butterfly's life cycle. Still, she needed one more painting.
After thoroughly searching the hall Ib still could not find the last one that she needed. However, carrying the paintings was beginning to hurt her arms. After arriving back at the door Ib decided that she might as well start putting the paintings in the frames, perhaps it would be useful in seeing something she may be missing. Starting at the top, Ib placed the butterfly in the frame, deciding that it was more like the summary and because it wasn't like the others in that there was a process to them. For the next four frames she placed the Prologue, Chapter One, Chapter Two, and The Final Chapter in their proper order. However, once she placed them all in the correct order the last empty frame began to change. A strange web began to spin through it, writing out Epilogue.
Ib stared at it in question before a butterfly fluttered past her and into the web by mistake. Ib stared at the butterfly as it struggled to escape from the sticky thread in vain. Feeling horrible for the poor insect, Ib bent down and reached forward to untangle it when a long, pointy black leg that could only belong to a spider cut through a small hole in the web. Right before her eyes, Ib could only watch as the butterfly was about to be devoured by the spider. However, as Ib watched the butterfly continue to squirm in a panic she was reminded of her own struggling just a few minutes ago. In essence, Ib was much like this butterfly; both of them were caught in a web. Yet, Ib couldn't stand the thought of not being able to do anything, and if she couldn't do anything then she could only hope that something would save her...Maybe that's what she needed to do, Ib needed to save this butterfly.
To Ib, this epiphany made sense, and so she quickly began to work to try and free the butterfly. The spider bit her hand by mistake just as she destroyed the web around the poor creature. Once it was in her hands, Ib moved to the side and was going to finished taking the webs on the winged bug when the locked door buckled from the weight of something slamming against it. Ib slowly got to her feet, taking slow steps backwards as the door was repeatedly slammed against. It was silent in the hall for a mere second before the door flung open just as the spider slammed into it again.
Ib stared at the large insect in disbelief. It was bigger than a small table and it's eight legs were longer than the average second grader. It looked directly at Ib, all of its eyes nearly glowering when it saw her, and then it lunged at her. Ib dodged to the left and ran around, the spider chasing after her, its many legs allowing it to catch up with her effortlessly. Ib continued running around, trying to think of a way out of the situation. She soon arrived back at the now broken door and ran inside without hesitation.
However, the room was covered in thick, dark crates that reached the ceiling. Ib could hear the spider's legs scuttling closer towards the doorway and she hurriedly searched for anywhere to hide. Her eyes landed on a small opening in the bottom most crate that was just big enough for her to get through. Without any other options Ib got down on her hands and knees and crawled into the opening, following the narrow path. Cobwebs and dust clinged to Ib's hair and clothes. The ground was grainy and covered in dirt. It smeared onto Ib's exposed hands and knees, layering them in a spotted layer of filth that made her hands slip as she crawled.
Ib turned corners, slithered on the ground under lower crates, sneezed so loudly that some of the crates nearly fell on her, and still she had not found her way out of the labyrinth of crates, or even a section that would allow her to sit up straight. Ib would have sighed, but for one the dust would get into her mouth and two, she couldn't show her exasperation by sighing. Ib constantly reminded herself that she was the one who crawled in her to escape a giant spider, so she should be grateful...In a way.
Ib turned another narrow corner, lightly bumping into a few crates when she heard a rattling above her. Ib looked back in time to see crates starting to topple over. Without another look back Ib began to crawl faster, trying to reach the end of this labyrinth before she was crushed by a bunch of wood. She could see a light at the end of the tunnel she was in and lunged for it, scraping her hand when her torso fell a foot, causing her to somersault so that she was sitting up straight when she landed.
Ib waited for her dizzy spell to pass before taking notice of her surroundings. For one she was sitting up properly and passage was no longer narrow and low to the ground. Upon looking up, Ib saw that the crates were in straight rows that created a one way passage. Ib got to her feet and stretched her arms and legs that had been so cramped for a while. She began to follow the crates, careful to not touch them in the slightest just in case they were sensitive. As she was walking, Ib happened to look down and see something rather peculiar.
There were other footprints that did not belong to her.
AN: Late chapter is late. Anyway, Mary did not make her debut this chapter (Sad face), but this chapter was getting a bit too long for the time restraint that I'm on at the moment. However, I do believe that she will be present next chapter. Also, please alert me of any typos so that I may fix them!
Remember to ask me any questions you may have! Also, for those of you whom asked questions earlier I've decided to try and re-answer some of you after much consideration.
PLEASE REMEMBER TO REVIEW!