Clair awakens in a dark purple room. The room was completely empty, with the exception of a small chandelier illuminating the room with small, bouncing flames and an interesting painting of a girl. She is smiling gleefully, with her eyes closed and face scrunched up. Her long, midnight blue hair seemed to flow so much, it popped out of the painting and real life.
Clair looked at this girl, and decided to feel the painting's hair. It felt soft. Upon closer inspection, the hair wasn't damaged at all. No split ends, well conditioned, even smelled a little fruity. This hair is... real? "Welcome." A girl's familiar high-pitched voice chimed in, happily.
Clair jumped back and fell over. The girl who seemed so still aside from her hair had her eyes opened, and looking at Clair. The sclera of the painting's eye is baby blue, and her pupil is completely black. What... is this place? Clair was so confused at this point, she never even realized what she was on when she got up.
"Keep the rose safe, sister," the painting advised. "You and the rose are unified. Know the weight of your own life." Clair said nothing. She had no idea how to respond. So, the girl continued. "When the rose wilts, so too will you rot away." Clair looked at her in bewilderment. She never imagined a painting coming to life, let alone giving advice on how to stay alive. So, she paced around looking at the girl. The girl stopped smiling and looked at Clair as she continuously searched for a reason why this painting could move. I want to think of her as an actual person, but she has no depth. After looking at her from different sides... it's completely flat. If it were an actual person behind a glass wall, she'd have depth, at least between the bronze frame and her. It's not a television either... what is this? "Who are you?" Clair cried.
"I'm one of your sisters. Don't you recognize me?" Clair thought and pondered on her question. The voice rang a bell, but I can't pin the voice with a name. Hmm... "I'm sorry... I don't know who you are. What is your name?" The girl remained silent. The room remained absolutely motionless. It was as if the room was stuck in time.
The hair protruding out of the painting slowly receded inwards. The blue-haired girl started sobbing softly. Small streams of liquid starting pouring out of the painting. Clair walked slowly towards the liquid and felt it. It felt watery. Having a small droplet on her finger, it glistened with the flame's light. Looking even closer, the once sobbing girl now looked like she was inhaling deeply. Clair looked up.
"AAAAHHHHHH!" The girl screeched. All at once, a strong gale pushed Clair into the wall, and began crushing her. Her feet weren't touching the floor either. "HOW CAN YOU FORGET ME? HOW CAN YOU FORGET ALL OF US, ALL OF YOUR SISTERS? WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS, YOUR FAMILY! HOW CAN YOU BE SO COLD-HEARTED AND FOOLISH AND STUPID? HOW COULD YOU EVEN TAKE OFF THE DRESS WE GAVE YOU FOR ANOTHER DRESS?" Clair looked down in response to the malevolently high pitched voice. She was, in fact, wearing a beautiful white dress. The white rose that Clair neglected to pick up was being pushed on to her. A petal fell off and started circulating around the room. A pain surged up her spine and into her heart. She gritted her teeth in utter pain as the girl continued to scream.
She tried breathing, but it caused the feeling of gaseous fire going through her lungs. Two more petals fell off. It... hurts... so much... What did... I do? The... the rose is... it is my... my... my life... Clair strained to cup her hand over the wilting rose. The force was so strong, her fingers were gyrating over the supremely strong force on her. One more petal flew off. Blood began spouting from her gritting teeth. However, the pain, though great, stopped growing. The demonic painting screeched even louder, and the wall itself broke, pushing Clair through. Clair was slammed onto another wall, and another petal fluttered to the floor. All at once, the hole created in the room with the girl closed itself off, and a door slowly grew in size in its place. Clair fell forward and face first, onto the maroon floor.
Clair's ears were ringing. She became light headed, and couldn't maintain her balance. She fell to the floor, still convulsing from the sheer pain that she had just been through. Her nails began digging through the plastered floor. Her breathing was unstable and irregular. Her eyes were bloodshot, and small droplets started to fall. The first droplet fell on the floor. She looked at it, and she saw herself. But only in that droplet, she also saw the girl in the painting.
She does look familiar. It's pathetic that I needed to cry to recognize her. But... who is she? Clair gulped, and got up. Her body was still in pain. She was still trembling out of agony and dread. But, she still slowly crept towards the door, and tried opening it. The door remained shut, just like the gate. There was no moving it. Clair sighed, though it came out as another erratic breathe.
"Excuse me?" Clair knocked on the door. "I'm sorry. I do recognize you. It's just that..." Clair paused. I need to think of a good way of telling her that I don't know her... Or else she might go crazy again and kill me. "I... I lost my m-memory. T-that's all." Clair's voice began to tremble again. She wasn't just scared. She was petrified.
"Really sis?" A high-pitched voice came from the door. "Did you really lose your memory?" Clair scratched her head slowly. It's either that I lost my memory, or I never knew to begin with. Might as well. "Yes. I am telling the truth. I lost my memory." Silence. For a time, no sounds were made from the room. The sounds heard were made from Clair. Her shallow but shaky breathing, an occasional cracking of her dainty wrist and fingers, even her own heartbeat. Finally, the door sounded like it unlocked. The walls surrounding her transitioned from dark purple to a midnight blue, much like the girl's sclera.
Clair reached for the handle. The painting from inside called. "Toss your rose in." Clair looked at her rose. Her rose is pure white, with a slender green stem. There isn't any thorns or leaves branching out. This rose is, in essence, completely harmless. However, the rose was slightly wilted and only had a couple of petals left. If what the girl said was true, and if she wanted to kill me, I definitely will have this rose wilted and I will... rot? But... Her voice sounds nicer again, and its like I heard this voice as a child. Why do I feel like trusting her? Clair gently threw her rose into the room, and closed the door. "This is your rose... I won't play 'Loves me, Loves me not.' Here." The door opens, and the rose plopped on the floor. All the white petals are back in place, and the flower looks healthy once more. The door clicked.. Clair checked the door, and it was indeed locked.
Funny she mentioned that. Clair began to smile. I used to pluck flowers when I was a kid just to play that game. Clair started chuckling. My fingers would just start feeling these lovely petals, and pluck them one by one... Her fingers felt the soft, white petals. ...saying "Loves me, Loves me not..." until... "Loves me..." she whispered. ...the flower was out of... The pain surged once again into her heart. ...petals. "Ow!" she yelled. She clenched her rose into her chest. Her yell echoed throughout the room. She was so carried away with thinking about her childhood, that she accidentally plucked one of her own petals. Let's not do that again... That girl pushed me into a hallway... I guess I should-
"Hello?" Another high-pitched voice came from down the hallway. Wait... that isn't the painting girl. Her voice is high pitched, but this voice sounds like it's more childish. Oh geez... not another one. Clair started looking around for something to hide behind and defend herself with. There was a tinted blue vase and a notebook on an auburn desk next to the blue door of the painted girl. There appeared to be water inside the vase. The notebook was identical to the notebook found in the reception desk. Even the ink blot in the centerfold was present. Hmm... I wonder... She placed her thumb on the ink blot and pressed hard on the notebook. Her fingerprint was on the right page. There... Now I could see if this is the exact same notebook But there's nothing else I can do. This hallway is empty. I guess I should just hide... Clair crouched behind the desk, and peeked on the side to see who was coming. She had her left hand on the desk, her right hand holding her rose.
A small, tiny figure was approaching the desk. Clair couldn't see her, let alone recognize her. All she heard was tiny tip-taps slowly growing louder and louder. Crescendo. Great... She's getting closer... Please don't check around the table. The tip-taps stop. "Hello?" The voice beckoned again. Clair hid behind the desk completely, not wanting to risk being seen.
Tip. Tap. Tip. Tap. Tip. Tap. Tip. Tap. Tip. Tap. Tip. Tap. Tip. Tap. Tip. Tap. Thud.
"Ow..." The voice cried. "That hurt... I need someone... Help! Anyone? Where is everyone?" The voice cried more. Clair heard this. She placed her now-free palm on her face. What am I doing? I gotta help. I was treating her like she was another monster. She might be another person trapped in here. I can't do this. "Hello?" Clair called out. She stood up from behind the table.
A girl, no more than nine years old, with a couple of tears in her beautiful blue eyes, was on the floor. She tripped over a small crack. Wait... is that my fault? Clair looked at her nails. Rough and jagged. Yup. My fault.
Clair walked over to the girl. Grabbing her two arms, Clair picked her up. "Thank you." The girl in the green dress said. Clair began inspecting her. Let's see... a beautiful green cotton dress, with a blue silk ribbon as a tie... I'm not good at looking at fashion. But those rolled over sleeves revealing white cotton, with brilliantly shining golden buttons. The girl looked at Clair, looking very puzzled. A completely clear face, no moles, beauty marks, cuts, scraps, freckles, no imperfections. "Um... Miss?" Blonde hair, which is in as good quality as the painted girl... This girl is... is...
"Perfect." Clair blurted out. The girl only looked more confused. Clair giggled. "Sorry, it's just that you're so pretty. I'm... I'm a little jealous. I wish I could look like that as a child" Clair remarked. The girl began blushing, and yet, she was beaming with complete happiness. "Really? You think so?" The girl asked. "Yes. You are amazing." The girl laughed. "What's your name?" "My name? Oh, my name is Det-" Clair paused. Even though she wanted to declare that she was a detective, she didn't want to just outright say that she was here for a job. At this point, both Clair and the girl were on the same boat. Oh... wait. The job... Forget it. I just want to get out now. Geez... Too bad though. Next time, I'll get everyone at the station to come on in, so something like this can be avoided. I don't think it's a murderer or a kidnapper here. We're stuck in a mythical place, and we have to find a way out. "My name is Clair. What's your's?" She looked at me, with the cutest smile I have ever seen. I think I'm going to like this kid.
"I'm Mary. Nice to meet you!" She giggled and held Clair's hand as they walked down the hallway.
A crash came from right behind them. Clair hid Mary behind her to investigate. The vase with water shattered.