A/N:I couldn't actually wait a full two weeks... lol so here's Chapter 4! Enjoy!~ (There's a lot more profanity in this one... :O so beware... )
The wall in front of her was outlined in a way so that the tan wall was shaped into what looked like the head of a cat. Everything else was painted black. There were also eyes painted on the wall and a fish shaped hole right where the mouth should have been. There were also doors to her sides, one on the right and one on the left. Linda tried the door on her right first. It opened to reveal a room full of headless mannequins, boxes, and sculptures of large heads. After taking one look around the room, she turned around and walked out. Nope. I am NOT dealing with that, she thought as she made her way to the other door.
This room seemed a lot friendlier with eight pillars running throughout the room. There were four to her right and four to her left. In the back, she saw one painting of a knife chopping a fish in two. Hey, maybe I can somehow use that fish for the cat wall. Linda thought as she walked towards the painting. However, as she crossed the pillar closest to her on her right, there was a scribble sound as a stickman appeared with painted words beneath him.
"Play hide and seek?" Linda had just finished reading the quote when the stickman disappeared. Looking around, Linda noticed that each pillar, except the one where the stickman had just been, had curtains and a button underneath. So he wants me to find him, Linda thought. Alright, I'll play your little game. It's better than going back to that creepy statue room. Linda walked to the pillar directly across the first one and pressed the button. The curtains drew back with a swish and revealed a picture of a bloody knife. Then, out of nowhere, an invisible knife slashed through Linda's body.
Linda gasped and staggered back, clutching her chest. The pain was so immense. She felt like she had been cut in half, though there were no physical wounds. A petal fell off her rose and floated to the ground.
What? I didn't even touch the rose! Linda protested. Then a realization hit her. Maybe if I get injured, so does the rose… It's as if we're connected. Well, shit. Linda staggered into the pillar behind her and slid down the wall and sat there. She was too scared to move, but she kept telling herself that at the end of this, she would be out and Leo would most likely be waiting for her. If she gave up now, there would be no one to really watch out for Leo plus the fact that she could be stuck here forever. She didn't like how either of those things sounded and that was enough to give her the will to go on.
Linda got up and walked to the pillar next to the damn knife. Surely they wouldn't put two bad things next to each other, right? Linda reasoned and braced herself for pain as she pressed the button.
SWISH!
The curtain flew open to reveal a bloodied hand print stamped on the canvas.
Fuck. Linda thought as she tried to back away. However, the hand stretched out of the painting and rushed towards her, slapping itself against her face. The whole process was surprisingly painless, but after the pressure of the hand disappeared, Linda understood why. There was now a large red hand print in her field of vision making it extremely hard to see anything. Linda tried rubbing her eyes, but the red didn't disappear or lessen at all.
Giving up on that row and her vision repairs, Linda walked across from that pillar to the one next to the first one and pressed the button. The curtains showed a painting of a crescent moon. Suddenly, the room got darker as if the lights were dimmed. Really?! I can't see as it is and I just had to pick the one that make things darker?! Way to go Linda. You're a fucking genius. Linda gritted her teeth and groped her way to the next one.
After pressing the button, she was actually glad that she couldn't see much at the moment because- through what she could make out- she was sure it was a painting of a naked lady. Abruptly and, quite honestly out of nowhere, Linda heard a high pitch scream as the painting reached out and slapped her hard across her face. The curtains closed quickly afterwards as if in a final 'humph'.
Linda caressed her cheek, shocked by her situation. Now she had the 'privilege' to add violator on her list of ailments. Linda quietly made her way to the next pillar with more ease as her eyes continued to adjust to what she could see of the darkness. Numbly pressing the next button, Linda's shock and self-pity was quickly replaced with horror and despair. Though she couldn't see much, the gallery was being cruel and allowed her to see just enough to understand what the painting depicted. This sinister painting depicted Linda hanging by her leg. Her body parts seemed to be bent askew and the painting was highlighted by the crimson blood which formed the background and was splattered all over her body. Linda tried to close the curtains to no avail and decided to turn her back on it immediately. She couldn't help but hope that nothing of the sort was in the future.
Walking directly across from that painting, Linda shakily stood in front of the pillar and pressed the button. There was a painting of a music note in a circle and it was crossed out. Suddenly, she heard a sharp ringing in her ear. Then, as quickly as it came, it was gone. She almost sighed in relief. Well that was harmless enough… for once.
Linda made a move to the next, and last, pillar. Of course the stickman would be in the last pillar I'd pick, she thought bitterly. Then, all of a sudden, she realized that she couldn't even hear her footsteps. Linda tried talking, but she couldn't hear anything. Holy shit, did that make me deaf?! Linda started panicking. Maybe if I find the stickman he'll fix everything. Linda hastily pressed the last button. The curtains drew back, revealing that damn stickman, but still Linda didn't hear anything. Her eyes averted to the paint scribble that appeared on the wall next to him, but she didn't hear the actual scribbling. Linda struggled to read the words.
"Found me, you get prize," it read, but nothing happened. The room was still dark, the red hand was still in her vision, and she couldn't hear anything! The muffled silence was driving her up the wall. Linda looked frantically around the room and saw that the painting in the back was missing the head of the fish. Looking on the floor, Linda saw that it had fallen on the ground and materialized into a wooden fish head.
Rushing over to it, she picked up the item and put it in her pocket. All of her ailments were still there and she desperately decided that at least if she left the room, maybe things wouldn't be so dark anymore. However, that plan went better than expected because as soon as she walked out of the room, she could hear the door close and she could see the rest of the room clearly, no dumb hand print in her face. Linda didn't even try to understand anything, for she was sure she wouldn't be able to.
She took a deep breath and walked back into the other room.
The lights flickered a bit and Linda walked straight across the room. The statues and statue heads were freaking her out and she wanted to hopefully find the other half of the key and get out as soon as she possibly could. She walked past three statue heads in a row and couldn't help but admire the meticulous detail put into those heads. As she was admiring the eerily realistic detail, she failed to see a heavy plaque on the ground and tripped on it, falling flat on her face. Linda cursed as she spat out a mouthful of carpet and picked herself up to dust herself off.
All of a sudden there was a loud scraping noise behind her as a large head statue shook violently and slid out of place. Linda spun around, expecting the worse. She saw that the middle head statue had wriggled out of place and had begun to follow her. It slid along the floor as if some unseen force was dully pushing it towards her. It was the first anticlimactic moment she'd experienced in this twisted gallery. The noise was the scariest thing about it.
Linda placed a hand on her hip and stood by patiently waiting for it to get nearer. The thing had no arms or legs. It just kept sliding along and Linda was curious to see how it would hurt, or try to hurt, her. Taking slow steps backwards in sync with the statue's forward movements, Linda noticed that the plaque was still there. She sat back amused and wondered how it would get around the plaque to her. That question was quickly answered not a moment later when the statue hit the plaque and came crashing down. Linda's expression quickly changed from bemused to confusion and then to panic as the statue shattered on the ground. Millions of ceramic shards exploded from the statue and Linda quickly brought her hands up to her face to block them. The shards flew everywhere and one lucky shard shot through her defenses and cut a gash on her upper cheek. Linda put her arms down as the blood flowed from the cut.
Silently cursing the statue, Linda pressed her hand to her face and applied pressure to try to stop the bleeding. Cradling her face like a child, Linda walked over to the shards and noticed a stark blue color contrasted among the scattered gray. Carefully clearing away most of the ceramic, so as to not be cut again, Linda picked, or rather fished, out a wooden, blue fish tail.
I've got it! The other half of the fish key! Linda pulled out the fish head she got earlier with her free hand and when she did, she noticed that her rose had been reduced to a mere five petals. Wait, what?! When did it go down to five?! Damn it. It must've been when I was in the other room. I need to be more careful. Combining the two fish parts into one, the middle fused and the two halves became a whole. Linda couldn't really walk back the way she came in as the shards were haphazardly strewn everywhere, so she walked up towards another path when she noticed a vase just sitting there. She vaguely recalled having found her rose in a vase originally and figured that maybe if she put the rose back, things would stop attacking her. Linda reached into her pocket and pulled out the rose and placed it in the water-filled vase.
Suddenly, the rose glowed as a beam of light shot out from the vase. Linda saw the petals reforming on her rose and as they did, the pain from everything else she'd been through slowly faded away too. Even the gash on her cheek was healing itself until there was just a thin scab where a gash used to be. Linda wondered if she put the rose back in, would the scab heal too? Then, as quickly as it began, the glowing stopped and her rose had ten petals, once again in full bloom.
Linda contemplated leaving the rose there, but the more she thought about it, the more absurd it seemed. Why would she leave her rose there to be at the mercy of whatever vicious art exhibit that happens to walk by? Even when the wounds are inflicted on her, the rose would lose petals anyways. At least with the rose on her person, she would be more in control of her lifeline. Linda decided to just take the rose along with her. She picked the rose out of the vase and noticed that the vase had no more water. Maybe it's the water that heals the rose, she thought as she pocketed it.
Linda walked back outside to the cat room and put the fish key into the hole. It clicked into place and the whole room erupted into a chorus of meows. Linda jumped back, the sudden noise startling her, as the wall where she put the key in sunk into itself and revealed another passageway. Concerned about her constantly pounding heart, Linda shook her head and urged onwards.
A/N: :3 Silly Linda, getting all sorts of injured like that. And I might have to wash that potty mouth of yours with soap! D: Well, this chapter is a lot longer than the others O_o But I hope you guys liked this chapter and stay tuned for updates! :D As always, reviews are loved almost as much as you guys reading my fanfic :D I'm excited for Chapter 5! Until next time!~ lessthan3
(Oh yeah! Big thanks to InuChimera7410, or should I say Jar B Kat! XD hehe typos are the beginning of beautiful nicknames lessthan3) I guess FFN just doesn't like less than signs...