Ib, like usual, was sitting on Garry's shoulder as he searched for a way out of the World. Ib didn't know what it was about him that she liked. Maybe it was because he reminded her of her dad.
"Garry," Ib said. "Why did they bring you back to life?" She held his rose, now in full bloom.
"I'm not really sure," he replied, looking behind a corner cautiously. "I think they want me to suffer as much as possible."
"Then we need to get out quick!" Ib said. She looked down. There was a long set of stairs. "Ib has a bad feeling."
"It'll be okay," Garry said. But Ib couldn't help but feel that he was comforting himself more.
"Because Garry's here," she said to herself. Garry started down the stairs. After a few minutes, he began to get annoyed.
"How long are these stairs?" he said. Ib looked behind her.
"We should run," she said. Garry looked behind him too. Knives. Lots of them. And they were flying right towards them!
"Run!" Garry told himself. He ran at full speed, but the knives were faster.
"Left! Right!" Ib told him which way to dodge. They finally reached the bottom. He took a sharp right and ran until it seemed safe. Garry held him head and looked around. There were floating words. SKETCHBOOK.
"This place smells of crayons," he complained. "It's overwhelming." Ib sniffed the air. She couldn't smell anything.
"Not again," she sighed. More words.
NO CHANCE. LET'S PLAY. YOU'LL DIE ANYWAY.
"Shut up," she muttered. She turned her head. "Garry? Who's that?" Garry looked over his shoulder. A little blond girl was running towards them.
"A girl!" he exclaimed.
"Help me!" she yelled. "Please!" As she got closer, Ib could see Painted Ladies and headless mannequins chasing her. Garry looked to a nearby house and opened the door.
"In here!" he yelled to her. But the paintings were getting closer and closer to the girl. Garry placed Ib on the floor and ran for the girl. He grabbed her and raced for the door. He threw her inside and locked the door.
"Thanks," the girl said.
"Are you from the museum?" he asked her. Ib climbed up his coat and back onto her place on his shoulder.
"Ah! Yes!" the girl said.
"As I thought," Garry said. "I'm Garry. This is Ib."
"Nice to meet you!" the girl said cheerfully.
"…Sure," Ib said uncertainly. She hid behind Garry's lavender hair. This girl wasn't human, that was for sure. There was something strange and evil about the air around her.
"Let's get moving," Garry said. "You can come with us." He didn't realize the strange aura around this girl. "Oh, I never asked your name."
"Mary." Ib almost fell off Garry. She didn't think he saw it, but walking out of that room with the reserved painting, she looked back and saw more text on the wall: MARY WANTS TO PLAY. There was no doubt about it. Mary was Ib's cousin. A painting.
Garry walked down a few houses after claiming it was safe to leave. (What was he talking about? It was never safe.) A white house caught Mary's eye.
"There!" She pointed at it. "I want to go in there!" Garry jiggled the handle.
"It's locked," he said. Mary pushed him aside and put her hand on the doorknob. It opened.
"What are you talking about?" she asked. "Of course it's open." She went inside. It was more or less empty. "Oh! A toy box!" She ran over to it. Ib leaned closer to Garry. She opened locked doors. She saw that this was a toy box even though there was no label on it. Did Mary know her way around here. Garry didn't notice anything strange. He peered down into the box.
"I can't see down there," he said. "It's way too deep." Ib saw an evil grin come across Mary's face.
"Wanna see?" Garry was pushed forward into the toy box. Ib didn't remember anything after that. She must've gotten knocked out on the way down. She woke up surrounded by doll, mannequin heads, and headless mannequins.
"Garry!" she called. "Heeeeey!" She cupped her hands to her mouth and called again. Nothing. She ran around. She searched the perimeter of the room. It was only on her third trip around that she spotted Garry. He was on the floor, apparently unconscious. She ran over to him, her porcelain feet clinking on the floor.
"I do not want to go through this again!" she shouted at him. His eyes slowly opened. "Thank God." She really didn't want to spend her time punching and karate chopping him again.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine," she said. She looked at her right hand. It was nicked and there was an obvious crack. A darker crack than her other ones, anyway. "Is it noticeable?" she asked.
"It looks fine," he said. "As long as you aren't hurt." He looked around and frowned at the monsters in the room. "What's up with that Mary?"
"I was going to tell you, but I didn't get a chance," Ib said. "Mary's my cousin, a painting. Some dolls gossiped to me about a Mary painting, but it was only a rumor."
"Apparently not," he said. He allowed Ib to climb onto his shoulder. (She was starting to like the view from up there.) "Let's get out of here before Mary finds us." Garry exited the room. He walked down a long hall filled with paintings. One with white and black moving swirls ended up catching his eye. He stopped to look at it.
"Garry," Ib said firmly. "We don't have time for this." He jumped a little and looked at her.
"S-sorry," he said. He kept walking, but Ib looked back to see the name of the painting. "Hypnotist." She wondered what it meant. Was it some kind of made-up word? Her eyes wandered to the painting. It was pretty to look at. She would've looked more if they moved too far away.
"Where are we going?" Ib asked. She didn't think Garry knew, but it wouldn't hurt to ask, right? No answer. Garry stared straight ahead. His one visible eye looked glazed over. Ib paid it no mind. This was probably his way of coping with the Fabricated World. He stopped moving.
"What the heck?" she said. She crossed her arms. "This is no time to get scared." He plucked her from her spot and set her on the ground. She looked up at him curiously. She followed him as he walked off, but he walked much faster and was out of sight.
GARRY WANTS TO PLAY! Ugh. They're back. Ib tried to outrun the letters on the walls, but they kept reappearing. PLAY! JOIN US! STOP RUNNING!
Ib closed her eyes so she didn't have to see it. Bad idea. She ran into something and fell. She got up. It was Garry! He stared down at her blankly.
"You're okay!" Ib said. She smiled, but he kept staring. She cocked her head. From behind him, a girl came out.
"He wants to play," Mary said. "Why don't you?"
*I have no excuse for not posting a chapter. That is all. Oh, and this:*
*If Ib Took Place in Real Life (ShadowL is bored.)*
Garry: It's okay, Ib. We'll get out of here!
Ib: *blushes*
Garry: *turns around* Did you hear that?
Fangirls: GARRY!
Garry: Agh! *runs away*
Shadow: *pops out of nowhere* As you can see, girls apparently like Garry. *smiles* How cute. Isn't that right, Mary?
Mary: *grips knife* Yeah. "Cute."
Garry: *gets caught by girls* Ib! Save me!
Ib: *joins fangirls* Garry! 3
ShadowL: Well, that's all.
Garry: Aren't you gonna help me?! (Whoever you are?)
ShadowL: Nope. *disappears*
Mary: *raises knife* Hold him steady, girls.
Fangirls: Garry!
To be continued… if we ever get to chapter 4 because of Shadow's laziness.