Disclaimer: Me no own Ib... -tries not to cry- but I do own any poems or songs unless stated otherwise.

Note: There are some OCs, 'cause the Ib cast is very small.

Wherever art appears, life disappears.

-Robert Motherwell

Chapter Eight

They were there. Small, unheard wisps of incomplete conversations were inscribed here, there, everywhere. The void of nothing was once before broken, shattered into bits, but for how long has repose waited? How long has it been since the wisps died, that the void grew back like moss on a stone? Perhaps forever ago, or even none at all, but one thing is inevitably true: souls once ascended here on a journey much like Ib's own. Perhaps, they too searched for a way out through here, but did they ever reach the end of the lonely labyrinth's grasp?

Perhaps.

Ib followed the footprints forwards, hoping that they led to a way out. As she walked Ib took notice that most of the footprints were bigger than her own or just about the same size. A part of her wished that this meant she was not alone, but a larger part of her was ashamed that she wished such a thing on anyone. Still, Ib, admittedly, did not like to be alone. Not one single bit. Of course, Ib had grown used to being by herself, but others were always around her or in the vicinity whether they be downstairs or in the same room as her.

No, Ib did not fear being alone. She feared isolation. Which may be better or even worse than just being alone since no one was around. Another human's presence was missing, gone. This is why Ib took such comfort in these footprints. They symbolized that others, even if they were gone, had once been where she was. Besides, Ib still did not know where Garry had gone, but she was not vain enough to believe that only she was meant to be here. No, Garry was probably somewhere in this strange place or...Well, Ib did not know. Perhaps he was still back in the hallway where they had somehow gotten separated from one another.

In any case, Garry was not here with her at the moment. Meaning Ib would have to carry on until she found a way back. Which probably would take some time seeing as this place was like a large maze. Ib sighed inwardly as she reached a crossroad. The tracks extended in both directions, which means that one passage had to lead to a dead end, but which one was it? Ib analyzed the tracks for any indication of which path she should take, but it was a vain attempt. Ib considered herself to be moderate if not proficient in her knowledge, but that did not require learning how to hunt in this day and age. Instead, she chose the wisest decision and went with the path that was eroded with the largest amount of footprints.

Ib continued to follow the path, making sure not to bump into any of the crates on some of the more narrow turns. However, she soon reached a dead end. The footprints ended at the base of a large wall made of stone. How peculiar. It was much taller than Ib was, but did not reach as high as the crates. Ib looked back at the footprints, noticing how they all reached the wall and disappeared. Ib looked behind her at the footprints. She had noticed that as she grew closer towards this dead end that the footprints weren't so heavily predominant. There were also no footprints leading back to the way she came from.

Looking back at the wall now Ib moved in front of it, slowly taking her hand and placing it on one of the stones that jutted out. She pulled on it, testing how sturdy it was. She looked up, eyeing each of these stones wearily before standing on her tiptoes so that she could grasp a few of the jutting stones above her. She clung to them as she moved her feet so that they too rested on the stones. Tentatively, Ib began to climb up the wall, trying her best not to look directly down. As she was nearing the top of the wall when her foot slipped. The sudden lurch threw Ib off balance and she would have plummeted to the ground if something had not grabbed her hand at that moment.

Red met blue. "Hurry, you are really heavy." The girl grunted out, trying to pull Ib over the wall. Snapping out of her stupor Ib grasped the edge of the wall and pulled herself over. The two fell into nothingness, the other girl laughing for some reason, before landing in a strange cushioned chair. Ib felt the wind knocked out of her as the seat literally began to swallow her, the red cushioned fabric closing in on her.

A hand grasped her own and pulled her out before she could suffocate. Ib took a few breathes, glancing away from this Wine Sofa, if the plaque was correct, to look at the blonde girl before her. Ib was quite surprised to see that it was a young female child with blonde hair. Ib couldn't help but notice that the hem of her green dress was singed in some areas, and her blue ribbon was too. Ib looked back at the girl's face and met the girl's blue eyes, which were analyzing Ib also.

They stood there in silence, nearly in complete awkwardness before Ib decided that, being the older one, she should probably start of a conversation. "Hello, I'm Ib."

The young girl's eyes widened a fraction before she quickly covered her slip-up with a large smile, "My names Mary!"

"What are you doing here, Mary?" The girls faced morphed into puzzlement and Ib swore something else flashed across her face, but it was too quick for her to see what it was.

"Well, um...I'm stuck here." She replied, frowning slightly.

'Stuck here?' Ib thought to herself, wondering just how such a thing was even possible. Perhaps Mary was also lost like she was?

"Are you looking to leave, huh, Ib?" Mary asked curiously, staring up into the girl's blank face. Ib nodded in response. Mary turned around, hiding her frown as she put on a faux enthusiastic tone, "I know where an exit is," Mary put on a smile as she turned towards the other girl, "I can take you there."

Ib stared at her. "What about you?"

"I can't leave here, yet." Ib wasn't too keen on why but she shivered at the girl's words, something telling her that they were foreboding.

Mary began to start walking, leaving Ib no choice but to follow her. However, Ib was surprised to learn that Mary really did know her way around the strange place. She would point down certain halls and worn Ib of things that would attack her or if there were just dead ends. Mary also tended to ask Ib a myriad of questions, such as what colour of blue the sky really was, the colour of houses, and about food for some odd reason.

However, only one question really stood out to Ib. They were ascending a few flights of stairs when Mary suddenly turned towards her, nearly causing Ib to bump into her. "Hey, Ib, did you come here with someone else?"

Ib looked up at her and nodded.

"Who was it? Were they a boy or girl?" Mary inquired curiously.

"A boy named Garry." Ib missed the way Mary's eyes narrowed and the dark expression that crossed her face.

"Oh, that must be nice. Having a friend. Do you know where he is right now?" Ib was oblivious to the edge in the younger girl's tone, for the brunette had just realized that she should ask the girl about Kate.

"No, not currently. Mary, have you seen a girl named Kate here?" The girl began to think about it, tapping her chin with her index finger. Ib waited in the deafening silence until Mary's face lit up with recognition, "Yeah! I think I heard it once or twice, but I don't know where she is right now. Maybe your other friend has already met up with her."

"Perhaps..." Ib started, but she was interrupted by Mary's giggles. "Come on, Ib!" The girl began to run up the remaining steps, "Last one up is a rotten egg!" Ib gave a faint smile at the child's antics before following right after her.

They had reached the top of the stairs where a door was waiting. Mary took out a key from her pocket and was about to unlock it. "Mary, why are you stuck here?" Ib asked, the question bothering her. Mary froze in place, but didn't turn around when she responded, "I want to tell you a story. Will you listen, Ib?" Mary didn't wait for the girl to respond before launching into her story.

"Once upon a time there was a girl who was born in a small country house. Her father was a very passionate painter who cared very much for his children, and he created a place for all of them to live, but as time went on he became more and more distant, wanting fame more than anything else. He began to visit his children less and less, and at some point he disappeared. His children were taken away and his daughter was separated from the others, forced to remain concealed from everyone else. However, the children still had the place Father created for them, but it slowly began to change. Isolated and alone, the young girl grew more curious about the outside world, but she could no longer leave. However, she was able to reunite with the others by mere coincidence, but she was different from them. She wanted to leave that place for the outside world."

At this point Mary placed the key in the lock, "And it just so happened that she got what she wanted. Two others had happened across their place and befriended the girl, but in the end they betrayed the girl and left her alone, among other things." Mary flicked her wrist, unlocking the door.

"What happened to the girl, Mary?" Ib quietly asked. Mary giggled from before her, "Silly, Ib. Don't you know? She burned."

"That's terrible." Mary paused, looking back at Ib silently. Ib took this as a push to explain herself.

"That they burned her. I do not know the circumstances which they were in, but why would they do such a thing? Maybe they had a reason, but to do something so awful..."

Mary turned back around, silently fidgeting with the door knob. In a small voice she asked, "Do you really mean that, Ib?"

"Yes," Ib stated. She wasn't too sure as to what was going on, but Mary seemed terribly troubled by something. Ib gently reached out to touch Mary's shoulder when she saw flames lash out from the girls body. Ib gasped, watching in horror as the girl was completely consumed by enormous flames that racked her small body. "M-Mary..." However, Ib blinked and the entire image was gone, a mere fabrication that possibly had stemmed from the girl's story.

Ib, in her panicked moment, had not heard Mary muttering until then, but she could only catch the very ends of the words. "Are you alright?" Ib asked, unsure of what to do.

Mary kept her back to Ib, "It's not fair. It's not fair!" She shouted, one fist banging on the door before she turned to stare at Ib, her blue eyes filled with anger, her face pinched. She screamed and cried, stomping her foot as she wailed. Ib could only stare in absolute horror at the girl's unprompted temper tantrum. Not sure as to what to do, Ib awkwardly could only stand there. However, as she stared at Mary's crumpled formation of a ball she was reminded of herself. Ib, when alone in her house, would curl in on herself in silent fear. She had been lonely, and Mary, if she was stuck here like she said, was also probably lonely.

Ib sat down besides Mary, letting her back rest against the door as she watched Mary. Once seated close enough to the girl for both their comfort, Ib hesitantly reached out a hand to pat Mary's head. The girl's crying slowly died into sniffles and then she leaned back against the door next to Ib, her eyes still puffy from crying. Slowly, the girl leaned against Ib in silence.

"Another girl did this for me not to long ago," Mary confided in a small, unbalanced voice as Ib soothingly ran her fingers through Mary's hair. "She was taller than you and she sang me a song, which made me really happy. She was really nice, but I'm afraid of seeing her again."

Ib felt obligated to ask why, but she needn't for Mary continued on anyway, "She was hurt while she was here and someone else got hurt. I was too late to help her any." She paused for a few minutes, staring off at something Ib could not see. When she did speak again her voice was stable, but still rather small and sad. "If you want, Ib, I can still take you to the exit."

"There's no need for such a rash decision."

The two girls froze at the voice, a dark shadow crossing over Mary's face as she jumped to her feet. Ib looked ahead of her at the staircase where a cloaked figure now stood, also getting to her feet, only slowly.

"So, this is Ib, huh?"

Ib was frozen as the cloaked figure was suddenly in front of her, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look up at him. "Ib! Let her go!" Mary yelled somewhere behind her. The figure chuckled darkly, "Oh, Mary. You no longer call the shots. Now, be a good girl and stay out of my way. Unless...You want to be punished." Ib felt herself shiver at those words even though they weren't directed at her. She could feel herself slowly start to panic, but she forced herself to swallow it down. Slowly, her brain began to send her images and messages of expressions her father and mother once told her that she should do when faced with a situation akin to this one. However, screaming was not really Ib's thing, so instead she shut her eyes, scrunching them up, and pulled her leg back before swinging it forward and up.

The creature before her hissed and let go in horrendous pain. Ib didn't spare the mystery man a single glance as she turned around and ran with Mary through the door, the younger girl locking it behind them. They continued running through the halls, Mary leading the way, but when trying to follow the girl around a turn Ib slammed right into a desk. She flopped over it, plopping onto the floor with no grace in the slightest. When the sound caught up with her she heard something shatter and for some reason water was dripping from her head. Ib sneezed loudly before standing up, wiping imaginary dust off of her. Quietly she turned around to stare at a broken vase that had once been full of water, but that substance was now dripping from her head. She sighed heavily, before remembering her rose. She spotted it on the floor and was about to pick it up when a drop of water hit it. Ib stared in awe as the missing petals grew back. Carefully, she picked up the rose and examined it, but the flower was as good as new. Ib looked back at the now broken vase, making a mental note to keep them in mind. It seemed the water here had some special properties.

Ib turned back into the direction she last saw Mary, but the green-clad girl was no longer in sight. Without another choice, Ib began to walk down the hallway, looking out for the child, but when she reached a fork in the road she knew that she was screwed. While debating on which was to go Ib heard a crash from her right. A part of her was suspicious of this and wanted to go left, but then she began to think that it could be Mary. Skeptically, Ib briskly made her way down the hall, nervously looking behind her when she felt that she was being watched. However, looking backwards while walking was never a very smart idea.

Ib tripped and was not able to regain her balance as she landed on something, which turned out to be a familiar someone. Ib lifted herself up in shock, staring down at the lavender haired man. Strangely, he hadn't even groaned when she fell on him. She shook his shoulder and then harder when he still didn't respond. Now afraid, Ib decided that drastic means were necessary. She shut her eyes and had lifted up her hand, sending it on a clear path to the boy's fair face when her hand was grabbed.

"W-Woah! I-Ib, is that really you!?" The boy lurched forwards and dragged the girl down, hugging her in both relief and enthusiasm. "Oh my God, I'm so happy that you're okay! We somehow got separated and I ended up with this weird blue rose before I ended up here! Then these things kept attacking me!" Garry sputtered out before pausing and taking a lustrous blue rose from his breast pocket. "That's weird. All the petals were gone a second ago, so how did..." At that exact moment, as if it knew that proof was needed, a small water droplet dripped off of the tip of Ib's bangs, landing directly on the blue flower.

"The water here restores them." Ib stated, catching a droplet in one hand. She looked at the drop before returning her gaze to Garry who, for some reason, had gotten extremely red in the face. Ib peered at him closer, leaning in, remembering that redness in the face could mean fever. "Uh...Um...I-I..er...Ib, c-could you umm..." Ib stared at him, not at all able to understand what he was trying to get at. Garry then began to gesture so Ib looked down, taking notice of her position on his chest, legs on either side. Perhaps he wanted her to get up? The floor really didn't look all that comfortable...

Ib got to her feet and offered a hand to Garry who willingly took it. Once on their feet Ib began to backtrack to the fork in the road, deciding to take the other passage in an attempt to re-encounter Mary. While on the way Garry asked to be informed of all that she had experienced so far, and so she did, but only because she felt that he deserved to know.

Once she was finished Garry remained silent, processing it all. "Well, it sounds like we entered this place from two different locations, but that might be because of these," He held up his own rose, "But your experience sounds different from mine. I didn't fall or anything. I just kept walking and walking in the dark until I found it, but there were these thorns covering the glass cage it was in. I managed to get it out, but it didn't grow any bigger. I heard something behind me and just ran until I reached this door, and when I opened it I was in this place." He summed up, shivering at the memory of it all. Ib just nodded, only faltering in her step when she spotted a painting she remembered. The plaque underneath read: The Red Lady.

The two stared at the painting, remembering that they had seen it by the office on the first day they had arrived. The portrait was remarkable, and the brunette woman was indeed very pretty, her eyes mysterious and yet were spotted with other emotions that Ib did not know how to describe, but some of them were perhaps lust, softness, and a temptation. "Wow, this is amazin-Ahhhh!" Garry screamed when the woman's hands reached through the painting.

The two jumped back, watching as the woman growled at them, like some feral beat! After her arms came her head and then torso. The painting began to teeter in place before falling to the floor, and then once she snapped out of the small shock the woman stared up at them and smiled like she were hungry, and then raced towards them. Garry, screaming like a trooper the whole entire time, grabbed Ib's hand and so the two of them raced away from the feral, possibly hungry painting of a woman who could be nothing but mad in the head! However, the painting was singing for her dinner and was hot on their trail.

Ib, seeing as how Garry was screaming away yet still somehow running, felt unexpectedly calm. Perhaps it was due to Garry. Perhaps she was just tired of things trying to attack her. Whatever it was Ib didn't care. When she saw the opportunity she took it. Ib changed directions and dragged Garry down another hallway, grasping at door knobs until one opened, before shoving them both inside and closing the door. They leaned against said door, breathing heavily. Garry sunk to the floor, his arms limply hanging onto his legs with his head in the middle. Ib leaned against the door next to him, her mind wrapped up in what happened before she heard something like a clicking. Her eyes snapped to Garry who was holding a lighter in his hands, his eyes glassily reflecting the warm light of the small fire. Ib stared at it too, silence engulfing them.

The longer Ib stared at the lighter the greater her headache became. It was as if a woodpecker were drilling a hole into her brain, so she turned away from the fire and surveyed the room instead, noting that there was only a door on the other side of the room. Ib walked over to it and found a small key in the keyhole. She unlocked the door, but was disappointed when she found that the door had many locks on it and the key, unfortunately, did not open all of them. Sighing, Ib put the key in her pocket with the rose and walked back to Garry, bending down in front of him. They stared at the other for at least thirty short seconds before Garry flipped his lighter closed.

"Sorry about freaking out. I just-this place is so strange. It's almost like its familiar, but I don't know how that could be possible." Garry pocketed his lighter, "I don't know why but there are only two things that really calm me down, and one of those things is my lighter." He got to his feet when Ib did, giving her a reassuring smile, "Sorry for worrying you." Ib only nodded, more surprised than anything that he knew she was upset, but this wasn't the first time he had noticed, "After All, we're partners so I shouldn't be the one screaming every time."

Garry began to mutter something under his breath about how he needed to get a grip, not realizing that Ib was now blushing. Garry had stated that they were partners, and that was something that she wouldn't mind being repeated. Ib had never had a partner before, or at least a willing one. When she was partnered up in school most kids were reluctant to have her in their group, but here this boy was, a guy she had somehow befriended, who was partnering with her on his own free will. If it wasn't for the situation Ib would have cried in joy.

"Thank you." Ib quietly said, prompting Garry to shut up and stare at her in puzzlement. "For what?"

Ib only turned back towards the door and opened it, smiling, leaving Garry somewhat confused, but the boy just shrugged it off as a girl thing, but in all honestly he had a good idea of what Ib had meant.

The two walked through the halls quietly, keeping an eye out for The Red Lady incase she was still hunting them. They had just come to a strange spiral staircase when Ib noticed that on the base of the steps was a key much like the one she had seen Mary with earlier. Picking up the key the two made their way to the top of the staircase where there was a door, Ib placed the key into the lock, unsure if it would work. However, it did unlock and they were about to walk through when Ib heard her name being called. The two turned to see Mary at the base of the steps, looking up at them. "Ib! Please, don't leave me here!"

Ib felt herself falter, remembering that the girl was stuck here, but her and Garry needed to leave. They had to go back to the school so that they could rest and come up with a new plan of action. Garry, realizing Ib's predicament, looked her in the eye seriously, "We'll come back for her. We need to find Kate still and we can figure out a way to rescue Mary also." Ib nodded sadly, looking down at Mary. "We'll come back!" Garry yelled to the blonde just as the staircase began to creak and wobble. The whole building seemed to be quaking beneath their feet, "Come on!" Garry yelled, pulling Ib through the door.

The blinked as darkness enveloped them, but they were still aware of themselves. The two were a bit squished together, and Garry's hand moved across the wall trying to find some form of a light fixture or switch, or even a door knob! He finally grasped something that felt like a knob and turned it, allowing blinding light to enter the room. The two collapsed, falling out of the small closet that smelled of cleaner, and onto the cold hard floor. They scrambled to their feet and looked around; they were back at the school!

Garry looked at his watch, collapsing back on the floor when he read that it was 8:10 PM. Ib too was relieved, but could hardly believe that they had only been gone for ten minutes! However, they faintly heard shoes clicking in the distance, coming closer to them rapidly. They scrambled up, shutting the closet door quietly, before taking off down the hall. They ran into the cafeteria and raced through the exit, not stopping until they were at the crossway between the dorms. The two were hunched over, hands on their knees, as they tried to catch their breath.

Garry began to chuckle, plopping himself on the ground in relief. Ib smiled down at him, feeling utterly exhausted. They both decided that they could wait to talk about anything until tomorrow, but they promised each other that they wouldn't go back to that place without informing the other first, just to be on the safe side.

"Goodnight, Ib." Garry stated, waving as he began to walk towards the men's dorm. Ib waved also, "Goodnight."

Ib arrived back at the dorm extremely exhausted in both mind and body. All she wanted to do was to get some sleep and think about all that just happened later, but as she was heading towards her room she paused, her eyes catching movement on the stairs. "Ib?" A loud voice that could only belong to one girl called out, "What'cha doin' up? Can you not sleep? Why is your shirt ripped in the back?" Amelia was upon Ib in mere seconds, scanning her over. Suddenly, a smirk began to spread over her face. Ib was sure that whatever the girl was thinking was very wrong.

"Ib~ Tell mama Amelia the truth now, were you just out with some boy?" She waggled her eyebrows suggestively and Ib sighed, but didn't deny it...She had been out with Garry, but probably not in the sense Amelia was thinking of.

"Yes." She admitted, causing Amelia to sputter and let out an unladylike "HUH?! What, seriously?"

"I was with Garry and-" Ib was going to tell her that they had just happened to meet up, but Ib didn't want to lie to the girl and Amelia interrupted her anyway by hugging her to her breasts. "My poor baby! Those horrible men are trying to ravage my lil' Ib! I'll have to sick Gilly on him later...Tell me, did he do anything weird or touch you?"

Amelia was only being melodramatic and was kidding around. She didn't expect for Ib to admit anything! The worst part was that Ib was asking why Garry looked so red when she fell on him! Amelia only laughed and hugged Ib, leading the girl to her room. "Ib, let me start you off on a brand new course. It's called Boys 101: The Do's and Don'ts. Mama Amelia will explain all."

AN: Wow, this was a pretty quick update. I should have been writing my research paper last night, but finished this instead. I don't know why but this chapter just spewed out of my fingers within an hour and a half. Well, does a speedy update deserve reviews? YES? YeSSsSssS?

Review or the cloaked guy and The Red Lady will eat you~