A/N: Hey, I'm back~~
Sorry for the long update, I've been working on another fic, so progressing this was hellishly difficult, I'm glad I can finished this chap though, hope you guys like it.
And I won't forget to thank you all for the reviews, sorry if I can't reply it one by one. If I was a millionaire, I would give my money to you *just kidding XDD
I do not own Ib, just the imagination.
Chapter 4: Back at the Gallery.
The weather this morning was rather chilly, a sun shimmering behind the thick cloud, doing a favor for the student who had P.E class in the morning. They would really appreciate the gloomy weather better than the blistering heat, of course. Certain brunette was sitting on her desk, which was located near the window, her hand idly playing with her pen, or in some occasion, she turned her eyes outside, throwing her gaze at the school ground which was filled with comforting scene of red. The scene of autumn.
She tried her best not to yawn, and concentrated to pay more attention on the scribble called math written on the board, but to no avail. The word that came out from the teacher' mouth just passed through her ears, not even trying to cling to her brain. After all, what she was waiting for isn't this…
Waiting for the next period was like an eon for her…
Several days had passed since her 'date' with Garry. When she told Lily about it, the red-haired friend of her squealed, hugging her furiously and kept 'congrats' ing Eve over and over, like a mother who had his daughter married to a rich guy or some sort. Her friend was obviously happy to see her finally go on a date, Lily was kind of worried about the brunette' social life. Eve didn't join any club, didn't hangout with anyone other than herself, and…she never, ever, say anything about boys except for the 'purplette prince' of her.
They discussed the matter on their sudden sleepover two days ago in Monday. With her parents gone, they surely approved her plan of bringing a friend home, and of course, Matt was in no place to object. They kept ranting on and on about the date until the clock showed 2 am, which was stopped by another sleepover guest namely the neon guy who came to her room, telling them to shut their mouth since he was trying to get some sleep.
Anyway, they were happy…Eve was happy, and Lily was happy to see Eve happy…At last her worry is now over…
True…to have that kind of relationship with her teacher was kind of preposterous, or at least, that what she wanted, to have a relationship… with Garry…She wanted him to see her they way she is to him…Garry never mentioned anything about girlfriend, and apparently, Matt approved the statement last night by saying, 'Mr. Madame had a girlfriend? Who the hell could be even girlier than him?!' So that's mean she still had hope, right…?
The only thing she needed to think right now is how to deal with her 'Garry-struck' classmates…
God, they had been irritatingly attached to him, like a parasite. They would go over him every break, constantly bothering him with relentless stupid question about their study material they just had today or silly requests such as 'Mister, let's go out sometime'. Heck, they should've known that he will reject any of that, given the circumstances that he was, in fact, just work on their high school for a week. What could other teacher possibly think of him if he ever dared to go out with his student, even before he reached a month of working?!
Oh wait, he just did…With her! Well, it's not it was a date or something…It's a promise, from a long time ago, right?
There was also one thing she didn't tell Lily about her date. Garry' last word…
'You are…the only good thing I've ever had…'
What could it possibly mean? He was smart, good-looking, not to mention fashionable, so what? He had every thing necessary to become a man, a wanted man, that is. What could he possibly lack?
According to Matt, since high school, Garry was always somewhat of a star. At first he was kind of mysterious and distant, which that alone was enough to draw the girls into him, and after a while, he started to get along really well with the rest of his class (even after they found out that Garry had slightly feminine taste). Excluded Matt, that is. He remembered that Garry freaked out the first time they met, since the neon guy was the only person with blonde hair in the class, and Eve knew too well what could cause him freaking out like that (trauma of a blonde girl who tried to kill him back at gallery). Garry was also smart, and good with art, surprisingly. He was just…perfect, too perfect to be true. Even the infamous Easthill high' occult club suspected him making a pact with the devil, which is completely not the case…
She couldn't just ask the matter to that person himself, even just trying to answer the question at the class was ridiculously difficult, as the girls raised their hand like crazy whenever he start throwing pop quiz. What a difficult world she lived in…she thought.
The bell rang suddenly, stopping the girl from her thought, realizing that she completely passed through math' material. She gotta remember to borrow Lily's note…
And at last, the second period is here. Chemistry-no, Garry is here. Eve could clearly see the girls' eyes gleamed with excitement, readying themselves to catch even the slightest attention of Westhill high's hottest teacher nominee. She sighed at the sight…
Garry gracefully entered the classroom, the girls were sure that shining light appeared from his back, a god-like light, smiling a million watt smile (the girls who were lucky enough won't faint) before he begin his morning speech, and finally go over the chemistry material. Just as usual…
Eve pondered, looking intently at the violet-haired teacher, while scribbling chemistry material on her notebook (heck, she didn't want to miss another lesson like earlier). He seemed pretty normal, in fact, he looked quite happy, with his teaching and all. Not even a sign of fatigue, let alone sorrow, was traced on his face. He probably didn't mean what he said that day, but still, it worried her. His word seemed too true to be joking…
Beside, she hadn't told him about her nightmare…
Speaking of which, she haven't get any recently. The nightmare ended, just like that. 'Poof' ed like a magic it was, but it didn't convinced her that it was just your-natural,-you-get-it-everyday-nightmare. With Mary involved, she knew something is about to happen…
She had to tell Garry about it, she didn't know why, but her instinct told her to…
The real problem is, when?
xXx
"Yo, Eve." Matt greeted her from the sofa when he heard someone opened the front door, it couldn't be anyone else than the Renner's only daughter, Eve.
"Hi, Matt. How's your day?" she said as she pulled her shoes off her toes, placing it neatly in the racks, and was replied by 'fine' by the man. She was about to head upstairs when suddenly the blonde guy called her, "Eve, do you have any plan this weekend?"
"Huh? Well…" she cupped her chin, trying to remember anything that might be labeled as 'weekend appointment', but nothing crossed her mind. "Nope, I guess."
"Good!" the blonde smiled to her, "Let's go somewhere else, then!" Eve gave him a perplexed looks, "What?"
"I got interview to do next Saturday, and Liz won't be there to go with me, so I was wondering, maybe you could accompany me?" Matt pleaded to her, "I'll treat you, promise!" he made 'V' sign with his finger.
"Uh, I'm not really sure…" since she usually spent her weekend at home, watching TV all day long, she was a bit reluctant. Her favorite drama was on every Saturday after all, she had missed it last week, and she certainly didn't intend to miss it again.
"Oh well…"he scratched the back of his head in disappointment, "Guess it'll be just me and Garry then…"
Wait…what?
"Did you just say Garry?" she asked.
"Yeah, I called him just now and he said he's fine with it. You looked like you're having a good time with him, so I decided to ask you too, but since you're-"
"I'll go! Of course! I, uh, I mean you promised to treat me too, right…?" she stammered, she had to hide the fact that she like Garry from him, imagine what he and his big mouth would do if they find out about her crush? Surely it'll reach mom and dad' ears…
"Really?" smile reappeared on his face. "Hell yeah, thanks Eve! It would be creepy if I go with only him, hahaha…" he laughed it off before he returned to the sofa, continued whatever he was watching.
'Then why the hell did you invite him….?' Eve facepalmed.
But then again, this is probably her best chance, she might be able to tell him about her nightmare. How glad she was to have Garry's friend as her ally…
xXx
"I didn't know you have a car…" Garry said to the driver, turning his face from the dark-colored glasses.
"Impressive isn't it? I spent my whole salary for this! My 5 years salary!" the driver proudly exclaimed, looking haughtily annoying as his hand held the wheel, grinned like an idiot he was.
"So, where are we going again…?" The brunette butted into their chat from her seat in the back.
"It's a surprise. You'll see soon enough." The blonde replied to her.
It had been 2 hours since they got in a black car, owned by none other than Matt. Well, car is what he wanted to say, but other people would think that it was just a chunk of horribly arranged metal. He said he bought it last Friday, just to take them to the auction, since there's no way he would take both Garry and Eve on board his motorcycle. And of course, there's no way Eve's parent would lend their Porsche for him to handle, remembering his crazy driving style.
They had to thank god it's October already, or else, they have to face the blistering heat of this not-air conditioner-provided car.
Garry and Eve had to praise him though, for his effort.
Several minutes after their last conversation, they finally arrive at a grand building, crowded by a lot people. It was freakishly huge, the white walls were decorated by expensive looking stained glasses and adorned with enormous marble pillars. The parking lot was full of a set of ridiculously expensive looking cars, shrinking the blonde' courage, and decided to park the chunk of metal he called car, far in the corner of the lot.
"What's this place?" Garry asked, as his eyes stared at the building in awe. Eve was apparently struck by the beautiful building as well, she didn't say anything and simply looked at it.
"Allison Memorial Hall." The blonde replied as his hand closed the door with a soft thud, a SLR was slung on his neck, along with his full-of-jurnalistic-thing brown bag. "They were currently holding an auction here."
Auction….no wonder there were so many rich, snobby-looking people in vicinity, auction cost a hell lot!
The three of them made their way to the entrance. And unexpectedly, the interior was far more extravagant than the exterior. Royal crimson carpet was spread like a grass, expensive-looking wallpaper solidly plastered the walls, and massive chandeliers were hung on the painted ceiling. They felt dizzy, suddenly attacked by the glamorous feeling of the room.
"Alright…" Matt turned to the two, "Gotta do the interview now. You two have fun here, okay?" he grinned at them before he waltzed off somewhere among the crowd.
And here they are…alone again…
"Shall we then?" Garry smiled to her, and she replied 'Yes!' almost immediately.
Since they had no idea of where to go, they just wandered aimlessly through the hallway. The place was sure big, and awfully crowded. Countless of painting was all over the wall. Apparently this place also displayed some of antique sculpture, which was too artsy for her to understand. But when she looked at her purple-haired companion, he was smiling, as if he enjoyed their art tour. "Excuse me, Eve, is there something on my face?" Garry asked the girl, practically startling her, her eyes stared at him longer than she needed to.
"N-no, sorry…It's just, you seemed like you're having fun…" she said shakily, how obvious she was?
"Really…?" he scratched the back of his head awkwardly, "I guess…It's been a long time since I got into somewhere like this…Aren't you having fun?"
Eve shook her head. Although she had to admit that she didn't understand any of this at all. She felt the exact same thing when she first gone to Guertena's gallery.
"Well, I sorta give up on art, and took chemistry for college instead…" he said sheepishly, his eyes wondered on one of the painting. His tone was…a bit sad? She wondered if it caused by the trauma? "Hey, Eve…Is it just me…or the painting here seemed somewhat familiar?" he cupped his chin. But Eve shrugged it off, she wouldn't know, of course.
A mob was visible in a certain part of the room. Interested, they decided to check the place out, it's probably where they held the auction. By the time they entered the room, the auction was already began.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Now, we present you, Weiss Guertena' last artwork, Mary!" the MC said behind his microphone, as the agents appeared, holding a painting of a girl on their hand.
Both of them gaped. Was that…Mary?
Horror was written all over their face. Moreover, to Garry. The images from the darkest hour in the gallery surged into their mind. He was sure as hell he burned her painting that day, leaving it no trace. That crazy blonde girl, no, ghost, should've vanished from this world.
Eve couldn't believe her eyes as well. She clutched her hand on Garry's coat in fright. She suddenly remembered her nightmare, every single episode of her nightmare. The crimson carpet, the paintingless frame, the black rose…Mary…
It was here…It was this place…
Darkness suddenly hit them. The people are panicking.
"Blackout?! What the hell?" Garry shouted out of surprise, "Eve, stay with me!" He desperately reached his arms out in darkness, and luckily the girl was still on his side, clutching her arms to him even tighter.
Then suddenly, the sound of panicking people disappeared. Silent. It was all silent. This can't be good…
Light from the emergency light lit up after several second, covering the room with dim light, an eerie dim light. And they couldn't believe what they saw…
All people…Disappeared…With no trace…The seat which was awfully crowded a couple of second ago was now empty, every single one of them. Instead, on the seat, lied a black rose.
Once again, they were thrown into the nightmare gallery…
From here on, it's gonna be serious business *evil laugh
I'll see if I can update within a week or two,
Alright people…you know what to do next…
Happy weekend ^^