Seriously, I'm on a seriously serious streak. I don't think I've ever written more than three chapters of a fanfiction in a day. Maybe I AM cut out for this! This is where we start introducing new characters. This is a personal favorite of mine.
R&R PLEASE! I will commemorate the first review.
She ran down the passage, careful to stick to the walls in case something popped out. The hatch closed behind her and she was running in darkness for a moment. She touched the snowflake for comfort, and it illuminated under her fingers. The hall was bathed in a light blue light and she could see that as she ran down the hall, shadowy arms stuck out on the edges, grabbing at her ankles. She thought that as long as she stuck to the center, they wouldn't get her, but they were still very creepy. They had long, black fingernails that clawed on the wood floor as she ran down.
At this point, she was genuinely terrified. This was way too creepy and real to be a dream. She reached the end of the hall, where another door stood. She jiggled it, but it was locked. Oh great, she thought. What now?
She turned back around and saw that the hands had stopped clawing and were now stiff. They were stuck in a position that made them look like they were supposed to be holding something, but weren't. Then, something struck her: Maybe one of them has a key!
She ran back down the hall, using the light of Belle's snowflake, and searched for a gleam of any kind. As she got halfway back down, she saw that one of the hands had the key looped in its finger, resting on its palm. She hesitated at first, but then slowly reached out towards the hand. She closed her fingers on the key and slowly, ever so slowly, lifted it up off the finger. She had nearly gotten it off when the hand suddenly reanimated and lashed out, grabbing her wrist. She shrieked and almost dropped the key, but at the last second had the sense to hold on. She tugged, but the hand tugged back, and when she jerked her hand free the rest of the hands came back to life.
She raced back towards the center of the hall, but one of them grabbed her ankle. Her legs flew out from under her and began to drag her backwards. She clawed at the floor and flailed her foot, but nothing broke its iron grasp. Before it could drag her under the floor, though, she kicked it with her free foot and scooted backwards to the center. She hugged her knees and sat there, her breath coming in quick, shallow gulps. Her ankle was bleeding, with scratches spiraling up it to the middle of her shin. It clawed her despite her jeans and her wrist was dotted with bloody claw marks too.
She hugged her legs tighter and put her chin on her knees, closing her eyes. Pull it together Cassia, she thought, blowing her shiny blonde hair out of her eyes. Get to that door.
She bolted up and ran down the hall, avoiding the hands at all costs. She came up to the door and jammed the key into the lock, turned it swiftly and pushed it open. She closed it behind her and leaned against it, breathing heavily.
That was insane, she thought as she turned around and faced whatever obstacle lied before her. To her surprise, it was just a large white-walled gallery with paintings and several doors. She locked the door behind her and left the key.
She stepped out and looked around. There were more strange, small paintings, like Revere and Moreover. There was one of just grapes, and a few fell out of the portrait as she was looking at. She picked them up off the ground, and her stomach growled. She popped them into her mouth and realized how hungry she was. She opened her bag and took out the rose. It was missing four petals and was looking more like a dusty magenta. She shook her head and put the rose back.
Suddenly, she heard loud, running footsteps. Her first thought was: Oh God, the statues can run now. She backed up as something burst through the door, but it definitely was NOT a statue.
"Aaaiiiieeee!" A little voice cried from the figure that flew through the door. It was a little girl who couldn't be older than six or seven. She pushed the door closed and panted, tears streaking down her face. She slid down the door and covered her face with her hands.
"Oh God," Cassia said, rushing over to her. "Are you okay?" The girl answered her with another wail and Cassia gathered her up in a hug. "Shh, it's okay. It's okay."
"They're coming!" She cried, burying her face in Cassia's shirt. She had shoulder length blonde hair that curled at the end and green eyes. Her hair was held back in bows and she was wearing a spring green dress with yellow trim. "Lock the door! Please!"
Cassia pulled her away from the door when the banging started and bolted over to retrieve the key. She yanked it from the door just as the knob was turning. The door began to open and Cassia shoved herself against it as the little girl shrieked, shrinking into a corner far away from it all. She forced the key into the lock and turned it, falling back from it. She went back over to the girl and hugged her to her hip until the banging stopped and the creaking ceased.
Cassia looked at the little girl and said, "They're gone. It's okay."
"You sure?" she asked.
"Absolutely," Cassia said. "What's your name?"
"Holly," she replied. "I'm seven. How old are you?"
"Fifteen," Cassia said. "My name is Cassia. How did you get here?"
"The lights went out, and I ended up here with…" Tears sprang into her eyes again and she wailed. "Toby! Where's my brother? Where is he?"
"You came here with your brother?" Cassia asked.
"I can't find him!" she cried. "We went up to a weird painting, and when we touched it, all these m-m-monsters came and… and…"
"Shh, it's okay," Cassia petted her hair. "How long ago was that?"
"A few minutes. I was running from them," Her voice was getting steadier, but it became quieter when she said, "He told me to go."
"We'll find him, Holly," Cassia said. "Let's just stick together, okay? We'll do this together."
"There was a painting," she said. "Of a girl. She told me to find the girl with her snowflake." Her eyes fell to the hollow of cassia's throat where the pendant lay and said, "Are you the girl I'm supposed to be looking for?"
She met Belle? Cassia thought. "Yeah. I think I am."
"She says I can trust you," she said.
"Holly, do you have a rose?" Cassia opened her bag and pulled out her red rose. "Like this one?"
"Yeah, I do," Cassia hadn't even realized it, but Holly was holding it the whole time. It was a lustrous golden color and shimmered in the light.
But first you must find the Gold, Purple and Blue…
"Did your brother have one too?"
"Yeah, he did too," she said.
"And was it blue?"
Her face lit up. "Yes! It was beautiful! My second favorite color is blue. I like it very much. Do you know him? Do you know where he is?"
"No," Cassia said. "But we will soon."