Chapter 21

I saw that the painting of "Tattletale" was moving. The lips were moving as if they were saying something. I moved to hear what it was saying, but couldn't make out the words. Then I realized that Mary wasn't with me.

She was back there, still on the blue rose drawing on the floor. I went back to talk to her. "..." Mary was silent, acting unusual. I asked her what's wrong. She spoke slowly, "...No... thing's... wrong."

Then her face took on a sinister change. "...Aha. What's wrong? Whaaat's wrrrooonnnggg?" she said, dragging out the syllables. I was getting creeped out.

"Ahahahaha, ohohohohoho..." she laughed. "I don't like him... not one bit... Ohohohoho hohohohoho..." Then she ran off. I went after her. Who was she talking about? Why?

I found her in the winding passage where she asked me who I would go with if only 2 people could leave. I was reconsidering my choice. I found Mary stabbing a mannequin head with her palette knife. "In my way... In my way... In my way... In my WAY..." she repeated. She kept hacking and slashing at it. It was bleeding from its eyes. I backed away... running from the scene.

Mary caught up to me. "Ib..." she started. Then her face turned sad. "Don't leave me..." I felt bad and decided to stay with her. I asked her what she was doing earlier. "Huh...? Oh, that was... I'm sorry, I'm not too sure either..." She had a sad look on her face again. "I was just... All these feelings suddenly... ...How do you say it? Came... gushing out? Um... uh..." Then she smiled. "Don't worry about it! I'll be fine..." I hoped she felt better.

For some reason, she was now walking behind me. I asked her why. "Huh? Why am I staying behind you?" she replied. Then she smiled. "Well, why not...? There's no real reason..." I couldn't really do anything about it so I just let her.

Mary asked me, "Ib, would you... be friends with me?" I thought I was already her friend. She continued, "I've... always wanted a girl like me who could be my friend... And I want to meet your mom, too!" That last part caught me off guard. She explained, "I mean, I don't even have a dad..." This confused me. She had... no parents? Maybe she was an orphan... In any case, I'd always be her friend.

Mary turned to me and said, "I love to draw. I've got lots of crayons. We should draw sometime! I'm pretty good, you see!" I hadn't drawn with crayons in a while. They were too messy for me. I preferred color pencils, but I didn't tell Mary that.

Mary asked me, "Ib... How's this scarf?" I told her it was cute. "Teehee... I'm glad! I really like it too..." Then she pointed at my ribbon. "Your ribbon's all big and cute too, Ib!" I blushed and thanked her for the compliment.

"Cookies and cream and chocolate and... Teehee, so much to eat! I want to eat all these sweets!" Mary said with glee. Come to think of it, it's been hours since I last ate anything...

"Ib, do you know about snow?" Mary asked. I told her I did. I saw it every year, outside my house. My family would play outside and make snowmen. "Wow, that's nice! It's really cold, right? I read in a book that you can eat it with syrup! I wonder how it tastes..." she contemplated. To me, it sounded like Mary never saw snow before. That would be quite a shame.

Mary pointed at my rose. "Ib, your flower's all red and pretty... Can I touch it?" I trusted her, so I gave it to her. "Yaaay, thanks...! It's so pretty..." Then she put on her serious face. "But as pretty as roses are, they still have thorns... ...Ah!" she exclaimed. She probably got hurt from a thorn. "Sorry, Ib, one of the petals fell off..." I was a little hurt, but I forgave her. I went over to the vase to bring my rose back to full health.

I told Mary that I'm tired, but that we should do our best from here on out. "Yeah... You've been walking around the whole time, huh, Ib?" She scolded me a little. "Don't wear yourself out! We have to get out together! We're almost there, so let's keep at it!" Her cheerful spirit was keeping me on my feet.

"I want to get out now... I'm tired of being here..." Mary said. So am I Mary, so am I. "Ahah... heehee...We passed by a painting of a clown earlier... So the thing rolling down the stairs was the clown's spit! Ahahahah..." I guess she tried to lighten the mood with a joke, but strangely, it made me feel a little uncomfortable.

"For an art gallery, there aren't many visitors, huh... I wish more people would come..." said Mary. I started to explain but she started to talk again.

Mary wondered aloud, "I wonder what Garry's doing now? Crying all alone, maybe? I hope we find him soon..." I thought that was kind of an odd thing to say. Garry wasn't the bravest person I know, but he wouldn't be... crying alone.

I talked to her and told her that I hoped Garry was safe. "...Yes... That would be...nice." Then she became serious. "But if he's not, we'll just have to leave him behind, right? Just saying..." I'd hate for it to come to that. I really like Garry. I loved him. I'd hate to leave him behind...

After all was said and done, Mary was a sweet girl. Just a little off. I was a little off sometimes. I brushed this aside. She was my friend. And I would always be her friend. Together, we checked out the gray room.

The gray room wasn't gray anymore. It was filled with color! I looked back to see Mary's face, but she wasn't in the room with me. Weird, she was right behind me.

I crossed a rainbow, bridging the gap. I picked up the key on the table and looked at the big painting. It was the spectrum. It was "Illusion." I went back over the rainbow and left the room, looking for Mary.

I used the key to unlock a door and went inside. I saw a painting. It looked like a fish spitting out a drop of water... I tried to go down the stairs, but heard a sound behind me. It was Mary.

"...Where are you going, Ib?" She walked closer. "Why are you going by yourself? We promised we'd be together..." There was something different about her. This wasn't the Mary I knew. Something changed in her. Ever since that painting told her something.

I backed off. She took a step closer. "...Right?" she said with a smile. With every step I took back, she took another closer. Finally, I was up against the wall. I was trapped.

"Why are you running?" she asked. Suddenly, I heard someone shout my name.

"IB!" It was Garry! He ran in between me and Mary. "!" Mary gasped. Garry grabbed her hands. "Wha... What are you doing, Mary?!"

Mary's voice turned sour. "Shut up! If you had only just been good and waited there...!" Garry said, "M... Mary... I knew it, you're...!"

I took a closer look and saw that Mary was holding her palette knife in her hand. "Stay away... ...Yaaah...!" she fell backwards onto the floor, dropping her rose.

Garry stood there panting. He looked dead tired. He then turned his attention to me. "Ib! Are you okay?! ...Sorry I'm late!"

I was overcome with emotion. Like how Mary said earlier, my feelings just gushed out. I ran over and hugged him tightly, not wanting to ever let go.

"Whoa! I-Ib..." stuttered Garry. Then he wrapped his arms around my shoulders. "Sorry... It must have been scary. But it's okay now..." We finished our embrace. I stepped away.

Gary said, "You might not believe me, but Mary... she isn't human. She's one of Guertena's works... Just like those painting women who came after us... I didn't spend enough time with her to really notice..." Even I didn't notice, and I spent al this time with her.

"It's dangerous to stay with her. Even if I had just been a little later there..." he muttered. Then he turned to me. "You might feel a bit sorry for her... But we need to get away now!" Garry held my hand, and I held his. We looked at each other's face for a few seconds, and knew it was the right thing to do.

I looked at Mary and her rose on the ground. "This rose... It looks real, but it's a fake." I turned around to take one last look at her. My friend. A tear fell from my eye.

Goodbye, Mary. My friend.