Chapter 13

I had a terrible nightmare. I dreamt I was running, running away from the horrible banging sound on the door. I walked backwards, searching for a way out. I found the door, and ran through. Rooms upon rooms, endlessly searching. I finally came upon a door that wouldn't open. I began to hear heavy, pounding footsteps behind me.

I was too terrified to speak. My mind was wracked with terror and fear. Please oh please open up please god I kept thinking. The doorknob just wouldn't twist. The footsteps drew nearer and I began to get even more desperate. I willed with all my heart to escape. There was a sound, and the door opened. I gratefully ran through.

My eyes saw something that made tears start streaming down my face. My heart sunk and my legs collapsed. I was surrounded by a lady in red, a headless statue and a mannequin head. I gave up. They converged on me, and I could only close my eyes...

When I woke up, I shot straight up and looked at my surroundings. I was in a small room with a few bookshelves and a large painting. Garry must have heard me wake up.

"...Ah," he said and walked over to me. "Morning, Ib. How are you feeling?"

I told him I had a nightmare and his expression changed to concern. "I see... You poor thing... I can't say I'm surprised... Being exposed to such frightful sights... you know?"

"I guess it's good you woke up," he told me. He looked a little ashamed and said, "I'm sorry I didn't notice earlier..."

Brightening up a bit, he said, "... Ib, would you take a look in the pocket of that coat?" I realized that he had given me his coat to use as a blanket. I looked in his pocket and felt something hard. It was a piece of candy.

"You can have that. Feel free to eat it," said Garry with a smile. He stood up and said, "Let's rest here a while longer before we set out again."

I got up to explore the room I was in. The large painting was "Untitled." I really couldn't figure out what it was. A notice on the wall read, "Rules of the Art Gallery." "No loud conversation, No photography, No food or drink, No touching the displays, No fountain pens, No leaving ever." The last one made me feel trapped. But I looked at Garry and thought maybe being trapped with him isn't such a bad thing.

There was a book called "Fun Pictures" that had lots of drawings in it, but I didn't spend too much time on it. There was also a vase filled with water. I placed my rose in it, and felt refreshed.

I didn't even realize that I left Garry's coat on the floor. I went to pick it up. It was really tattered, but I felt safe holding it. I went to give it back to him.

"Oh, my coat... Thanks, Ib," he said with a nod of thanks. I looked at him and pointed out his coat's appearance to him. "Hm? My coat's all torn and ragged?" He flashed a smile at me and whimsically said, "No, no, that's on purpose! That's just the design!" His expression turned serious again and he said, "...Though to be sure, I have been wearing it for many years now as well..."

"... Hm? What is it?" I asked him why talked like a lady. "'Like a lady'...? Perhaps so... But hm... I can't quite remember," he said with a slight frown. But he turned his frown upside-down and replied, "I just took to it, I suppose. After all, it's preferable to be gentle than rough, hm?"

I liked that Garry was a nice person. I decided to keep talking with him. "Say, Ib... You've got pretty good fashion sense, huh? I mean, your clothes... They use some fine-quality cloth, don't they?" he asked awkwardly. I told him it was my mother who picked out my clothes. "Hm? Your mother picks them out for you? ...Well, I don't believe that changes the fact of being a girl of good fashion."

He turned to me and asked, "Oh, Ib. How old are you?" I told him my age. "...Nine? Wow, that's quite young..." he said with astonishment. Then he smiled and put on a happy face. "But art galleries are really enthralling at your age. I'm a bit bored of them myself..."

Garry said to me, "Now that I think about it, you were traveling all alone until you met me..." He gave me a pat on the back and said, "That's nothing to sneeze at. I mean it, that's brave." I... I guess I was brave.

Noting my condition, Garry asked me, "Ib, can you walk? If you're tired, make sure to tell me right away, okay? Don't be shy about it! I'll completely understand!" I felt like I could really trust him. He was like a big brother and parent. A big... parent.

With a look of guilt on his face, he said to me, "I was so focused on getting out of here... I didn't really look after you. Sorry, Ib." I assured him that he was doing the best he could and we smiled at each other.

Garry came up to me and asked me, "Ib, do you remember how you got here from the gallery? I'm having trouble remembering exactly..." He scratched his head and said, "I was about to leave... But then I looked around, and didn't see a soul... I panicked when I saw the entrance locked, but found stairs where there had been a wall... Then I was in a red passageway... ...You know the rest." I was reminded of my own experience and how I dove into the depths of the fish painting. I also remembered Garry lying on the floor. Thank goodness I found him.

Garry sighed and said, "...I got up early today, so I'm feeling a bit sleepy now. I was looking forward to going to a gallery... and then this." Yawning exasperatedly, he said, "Honestly, I think I've had enough of art galleries at this point..."

To lighten up the situation, Garry made a joke. "Ah, I'm a little thirsty... Think I should drink from the vase?" When I kept my face serious, he quietly said, "...I'm just kidding." At least he tried to humor me.

I decided to make my own little joke with Garry and decided to stare at him. "... ... ... ..." The silence between us confused him. "...Huh? U-Um, Ib... Did I do something? You're kinda freaking me out..." I laughed to myself and continued bothering him.

I suddenly felt bad and apologized for troubling him. He said to me, "Why apologize for that?! You didn't do anything wrong, Ib!" with a little sternness. He turned around and said, "I mean, no one could have predicted that things would end up like this." He turned back to me and said with a happy disposition, "Come on, be cheery! It's a disservice to your cute face to do anything else." I giggled and blushed a little.

He looked around the room and said, "This place... It must be connected to the art gallery, don't you think? I wonder where everyone else in the gallery went..." He seemed a little hopeful when he suggested, "For all we know, there might be others lost in this place. If there are, I hope we can find each other..."

I was ready to leave. Strangely, I didn't feel so scared anymore. I guess it was because of Garry. Because I knew he would be here for me. Sure, he gets easily startled. But I know in my heart, he would never leave me to be claimed by Guertena's art.

Garry asked me one final time, "Ib, are you ready to set out again?" I told him I was ready.

He smiled and said, "Okay! Let's get going, then!"

And with that, we set off on our next adventure.