Mary eyed Garry as she walked down another dark hallway with Ib and him. The knife tucked in her pocket, she was tempted to take it out and stab him in the back right there. Of course, she couldn't do it. Not yet- Ib was with them. If she wanted Ib to stay with her, she would have to separate her from the trio. Ib was holding Garry's hand tightly, nearly squeezing it. Mary viewed this as disgusting. I want Ib to hold my hand that way, she thought as she tightened her grip on the knife handle. Shadows flew past on the walls. Ib then pointed ahead of them.

"Look! What is it?" she asked as she ran up to it, then stopped, taking a step back.

"What? What?" Garry asked as he and Mary joined her. A grimace crossed is face as he looked at the floor. Bobbing in the floor like apples in a bucket of water, eyeballs floated lazily, lining a small hallway in a zigzag pattern. The irises were all different colors and flitted their gazes everywhere as Ib hesitantly took a step forward. Garry grabbed her arm, holding her back.

"What?" Ib asked, "what's wrong?" His face had a look of fear, his forehead sweating. He wiped his brow with his sleeve. Gulping, he let go of her arm, not taking his eyes off the eyeballs.

"Nothing…." he said shaking his head, "nothing, never mind. Let's just go." Mary rolled her eyes.

"No, something is up," Ib said, "are you okay?" Garry gulped, nodding his head.

"Y-y-yeah," he stuttered. Mary then grabbed Garry's hand as she walked past. Dragging him, she darted through the maze of eyeballs, Garry's face red with panic as he shuffled his feet in order to keep up. Ib followed them hastily, jumping around them. One of the eyeballs was red, as if something was bothering it. Once they got to the other side, Mary flung Garry to the ground, glaring at him.

"There," she spat at him, "you're safe now. Let's go." She staled off down the hallway as Ib finally joined them, running to catch up with Mary. Garry was a bit slow to follow. He didn't really like Mary very much, although she was trying to get out of the gallery as well.

"W-w-wait for me!" he shouted after them, scrambling into a run as Mary and Ib turned a corner. Something on the wall caught his eye as he ran, and he stopped, staring at it. A pairing of a black canvas with a blue face stared back at him. The eyes were facing different directions, and the teeth were all jagged.

"Heh heh heh…." the painting laughed, a sinister boom filling the air, "the flower…. what a pretty thing…." What is it talking about? Garry thought, then it struck him: his rose. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the blue rose, which still had only three petals on it. He held it in front of the painting.

"This?" he asked. It looked as if the painting was smiling, the yes rolling around.

"He heh heh… yes….." it said, "can I eat it?" Garry blinked. Did it just say it wanted to eat his flower? He tightened his grip, the thrones plunging into the palm of his hand. Shoving it in his pocket, he ran after Ib and Mary, the painting laughing as he ran away.

"Ib! Mary!" Garry called, "Where did you go?!" His voice echoed in the hallway as he ran frantically, not wanting to be alone in the gallery for a second time.

"Ib! Mary! Where did you go?!" yelled a voice. Soul and Liz froze, trembling. The entire group was a bit nervous- they had been hearing voices everywhere ever since they ventured into the gallery. Black Star was hugging Tsubaki tightly, nearly crying as Tsubaki petted his spiky blue hair.

"There, there," she consoled him, "I'm right here, don't worry."

"What was that?" Maka asked as she ten heard a sinister laugh fill the air.

"Correction," Kid said, "Who was that? That would be Garry. We must catch up to him. And quickly- we don't want her to find us first." By 'her' he mean the woman in the painting that was ripped. If she was walking around freely, who knows what she would do if she found the two people first?

"How did you knw it was Garry?" Maka asked, "that's a bit of a hunch."

"Well, if you think about it," Kid started explaining, he and Ib are the- GAAAHH!" Kid dove for the floor as something swung through the air. Hand dover his head, he shook with fright.

"It's just a doll!" Patty exclaimed as she helped Kid up. He sighed in relief and dusted himself off. A rope tied around its neck, a doll with blue yarn hair wearing a green piece of cloth for a dress dangled from the ceiling. Its red eyes bulged from its head. Liz hid behind Patty, who gazed at it with curiosity.

"I-I knew that," Kid stuttered, inspecting the doll. The cloth was dirty, the yarn hair short. The rope around its neck was frayed. The doll swung lazily side to side. He wiped his forehead. The doll was a bit creepy to him, the eyes slightly glowing. And it wasn't symmetrical- at all. One was bigger then the other. He turned away, burying his face in his hands, "I can't look at it!" He pointed at the doll, his arm flailing everywhere.

"Your OCD is such a problem," Maka muttered as she looked at the doll closely. Black Star whimpered as Tsubaki continued calming him down. A pice of paper was taped to the back of the doll's dress. She took it, squinting her eyes in the dim light. She waved them over and they reluctantly crowded around her, trying to get a good look.

"A letter?" Black Star sniffed.

"No, numbers," Soul pointed, "Six… nine….. and eighteen."

"What are they for?" Black Star asked, "the door we saw back in the other hallway?" Maka shrugged.

"Don't know. I think so, It was asking for the numbers, right? But we didn't know what they were," she said, "I think these are it. How about we go back?" Kid jumped up, shaken this head.

"No! Absolutely not!" he said, "I am not going back there!" The hallway with the door was lined with mannequin heads, the eyes black and lifeless. The paintings on the wall stared at you a s you walked past them too, which really creeped Kid out. And at the end of the hallway, one of the heads was cracked, blood staining the floor in a big puddle.

"But we have to go back!" Maka said, "we have to complete the mission!" Maka didn't mention that the broken mannequin head creeped her out too- were Ib and Garry in that hallway already? Liz gulped.

"What about Mary?" she asked.

"Who's Mary?" Maka turned to face Liz, "the mission only mentioned two people. Not three." Liz jerked her head to where they heard Garry's voice.

"You know, when he was yelling for Ib?" there was a nervous titter in Liz's voice. Lix was a major scaredy-cat, and Maka could tell this was really freaking her out. He did yell out another person's name, Maka thought, maybe….

"Is Mary the woman in the painting?" Maka asked herself.

"What was that?" Liz asked, "Did you just say this Mary might be the woman int eh painting that was ripped!?" Maka nodded.

"Don't you remember when we were walking in the maze of those velvet ropes, frantically pushing the buttons not eh wall for a way out?" Maka asked. Everyone nodded. Maka continued, "Well, when the woman jumped out at us, her frame was still attached to her. That means everything here can come to life at any moment and attack us. If the woman in the ripped painting is Mary, and if she was with the two of them, then she may have tried to kill them already." Kid fiddled with the collar of his shirt.

"Good detective work, Maka," he said, "but how did Mary keep her frame on the wall if she is one of the women in the paintings?"

"She used a knife," Maka stated, "each time we saw a woman in a frame, she had a knife clutch dn her fist as she crawled after us."

"True," Kid said, "so let's go!" He ran toward the hallway with the mannequin heads, and everyone followed, watching closely at the walls in cad any hands decided to pop out and grab them. Soul eyed the painting of the head on the wall. The black eyes followed them as they ran safely through the hallway and to the door, which was slightly ajar.

"Someone was already here," Soul gulped, pointed to the door. A shadow of darkness was cast on the floor. Maka ripped up the paper with the numbers.

"Looks like we won't be needing these then- Garry Ib and Mary must have been here already," Maka put her hand on the doorknob and pulled open the door. It was completely dark, empty.

"I'll give you a dollar if you go first," Soul leaned over and said to Black Star. Black Star jumped.

"No way, man! You go!" he cried. Maka rolled her eyes and pushed open the door, ready to go in.

"Girls," she muttered. Just as she was about to step inside, Patty tapped her on the shoulder.

"Look! Look!" she laughed, a big smile on her face. She was pointing behind them, the mannequin heads lined up on the walls. Instead of facing the opposite wall though, all the heads were turned towards them, red lines drawn on their faces to represent tears. Maka heard footsteps.

"What is it, Patty?" Maka squinted as she stared down the hallway. The footsteps grew louder.

"Someone is coming!" she giggled. Indeed, someone was. Shadows splayed on the floor as the person- or two people- got closer to them. She saw the silhouettes of two girls.

"Mary! Mary!" cried a voice- Was that Ib?- "Where's Garry?" Everyone turned toward the sound, watching as a little girl in a green dress and brown loafers ran towards them, looking over her shoulder. Her blond hair flew behind her as she ran, the hem of her dress stained with blood.

"I-I don't know, Ib!" cried Mary, "I saw him turn a corner, maybe he's in that room we were in earlier!" A little girl wearing a red and white schoolgirl's uniform was behind Mary, long brown hair and bangs in her face.

"Is that…." Soul was squinting, "Is that Ib?"

"I think so," Maka answered, "and with her is Mary." Mary began to ten her head, and everyone braced themselves for the impact- the two girls were much closer now. Mary's blue eye widened as she saw Maka, Soul and the others and she stopped abruptly, gasping. What the hell? Mary Thought as Ib crashed into her, knocking both of them to the ground at the group's feet. Ib looked up at Maka, who stared back intensely with green eyes.

"Mary, who are they?" Ib asked, "are they part of the gallery?" The little girl sounded scared and confused. Well, she is only nine years old, Maka thought as she knelt down.

"Uh, no," Maka said, "we were just visiting the gallery, and we got lost. Are you two visiting the gallery too?" Mary and Ib exchanged glances before answering, "Yes." Maka smiled as they stood up, sticking out her hand. Ib took it and shook it gently. Mary took her hand and squeezed it. Maka jumped- Mary looked as if she wanted to rip Maka's arm off.

"Well, I'm Maka, and this is Soul, Kid, Liz and Patty, Tsubaki, and finally Black Star." She gestured to everyone as she went through their names.

"I'm Ib, and this is Mary," Ib introduced. Mary crossed her arms, looking a bit annoyed. Mary then noticed that each of them were carrying flowers too. Now I have to try to get rid of these losers too? she thought, what a pain. Ib continued as she twirled her red rose in her fingers, "We were with someone named Garry too, but we got separated after he was attacked by the hands, and the dolls-" she sounded as if she might cry right there- "and I don't think seeing the mannequin head with blood helped. Or being dragged through the eyeballs on the floor for that matter." Ib looked at Mary when she said this.

"What?' Mary asked, "if you ask me, he deserved to be dragged through the eyeballs, like, come on! He was being such a baby!" She tossed her blond hair over her shoulder. Ib's eyes widened. Maka raised her eyebrows.

"Why would you say that if he was trying to help you out?" Soul asked. Mary shot him a look.

"How old are you anyway?" she asked haughtily, crossing her arms. A knife was clutched in her fist.

"What do you mean?!" Soul asked with astonishment, "I'm fifteen! What does that have to do with anything?!" Mary shrug, staring at her reflection in the blade of her knife.

"You can't be fifteen- you have white hair," Mary said, pointing at him with her knife. Soul jumped as she did this, hoping that she wouldn't stab him.

"Are you saying I'm old?!" Soul exclaimed. Mary ignored him, looking at her knife instead. Black Star and Patty then laughed loudly, receiving a punch from Soul.

"Um, Mary, right?" Tsubaki stepped forward, "what does Garry look like?" Mary rolled her eyes.

"You look pathetic," Mary commented as she looked Tsubaki up and down, "I mean, who only wears one sock?" Tsubaki's face went red as she played with the end of her ponytail.

"Uh…..um…" she looked for something else to say. Kid pointed at the hem of Mary's dress.

"What a nice dress," he complimented her. Mary raised an eyebrow.

"Are you gay?" she asked. Kid went red as Tsubaki had, but continued, "My sexual preference is none of your concern. Now what happened to your dress?" Mary looked down at her dress. specifically at the blood stains. Everyone glanced sideways at the destroyed mannequin head.

"She destroyed one of the mannequin heads," Ib chimed in, "with her knife. Garry was freaking out after the situation with the hand and the hanging doll, so Mary decided to break one of the heads and blood started to come out of it." Everyone gave each other confused glances at this remark. So they were already here, Maka thought, and why does Mary seem so…. uptight?

"Do you know where Garry might have gone?" Kid asked Ib. The little girl shrugged.

"I-I-I don't know!" Ib plopped herself on the floor and began sobbing. Tsubaki knelt down and rubbed her back, consoling her as she had Black Star earlier. Maka eyed Mary, who glared back. Her blue eyes looked cold and mean.

Garry walked briskly through a hallway, eyeing the floor and ceiling carefully in case anything popped out at him. His entire body shook and trembled. He called out for Ib and Mary again, to see if they would answer, to see if they were still alive, even.

"Ib….?" he called, "….. Mary?" He gulped. He heard his voice echo off the walls. Running his fingers along the wall, he walked faster. The wall was cold against his skin as he then broke into a run, panic setting in. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a black blur at the base of the wall and jumped forward, missing a set of fingers by a few inches. Sighing with relief, he ran ahead, trig to focus only on the…. was that a door? Yes! It is! Garry thought excitedly- and above the door was a glowing red sign that said the one thing he'd been wanting to do for the past three months.

EXIT

Not even bothering to watch if any hands reached for him or if dolls swung at him from above, he ran towards the door, hands out in front of him. Because he wasn't looked at where he was going, a painting on the wall spit at him, the saliva splashing him in the face. Garry wiped it away hastily, holding his blue rose in his hand, nearly dead and wilted. He didn't care. He was finally going to be free, free from the gallery, free from the hands that shot out of walls. He was going to be free of dolls swinging by ropes. He was going to be free of paintings that spit and eyeballs in the floor. He was going to be free of women in frames that scrambled after him with knives. Finally, he would be able to put behind him all the strange messages, the mannequin heads popping up out of nowhere. He would finally be able to live a normal life again…. But what about Ib? The thought stopped him dead in his tracks. What about her? She's only nine years old, Garry thought, she might not be able to fend for herself if she yes attacked by surprise. And she was with Mary. And Mary had a knife…. Spinning on his heels, he ran back. Suddenly, he slipped, crashing to the ground. Almost immediately, a hand shot from the wall and grabbed his arm. Three more grabbed his limbs until he lay on the floor stretched out. The fingers were digging into his skin. Gotta keep my rose, he thought as he made sure to keep a hold of it. His chin hit the floor with a loud crack. Garry watch as blood dripped from his chin to form a puddle. As best as he could, he peered over his shoulder and screamed, his eyes widening.

The door was ajar, and a doll was sticking its head out- this one was not like the small ones hanging from ropes, but looked to be about his size. The red eyes stared blankly at him. The stitches made to look like a smile ripped, the sound of fabric tearing echoing in the silence. Soon, there were two jagged lines to represent an open mouth. The doll was bobbing up and down, looking as if it was laughing. The doll then opened the door all the way and advanced toward him. Like a newborn, the doll was unsteady on its stubby legs and looked as if it were about to fall over at any second. Taking small steps, it teetered over to where Garry lay, then reached down, but with such momentum, the doll fell over on top of Garry instead. He struggled to break free, but the hands only gripped him tighter, and the doll started to laugh maniacally, reaching its stubby arms around his neck.

"IB! MARY! HELP ME! HEL-" he started screaming, but the doll shoved one of its hands in his mouth, muffling his cries. He felt tears form and start to fall down his face- Will Ib find me? he thought. One of the hands on him squeezed his wrist so severely he thought he heard a crack, and he emitted a muffled cry of pain. His blue rose fell from his grasp. The hands let go of his wrists and he fell to the ground, his face smashing into the floor. His write wrist hung limply, useless and broken. The doll stood up, grabbing his legs. Garry lurched foreards to get away, but it was no use- the doll had started dragging him towards the door. Grabbing his rose, he clawed at the floor, trying to get a hold of anything that would stop the doll from pulling him to his doom. As the doll dragged him through the frame, it tried shutting the door, hitting the hand that held the rose. it fell from his fingers an onto the floor as the door closed with a click.

There was only one petal left on his rose, wilting on the already dead stem.