Author Note:

Thanks so much to my faithful viewers! :D I really appreciate your help in getting me this far! Anyways... on to chapter 11! (Oh, and also, I'm wondering how many chapters I should make this... I'm thinking 20 or 21 for now)

Love chu all~ Keep Reading :)

~Scar

Chapter 11:

When Garry awoke, the first thing he noticed was the red. It was everywhere, every wall was covered with it; and yet, he still didn't recognize this part of the gallery. The second thing he noticed, was that Ib was gone, quickly followed by the realization that his rose was absent also. He surveyed the room slowly, his eyes trailing across the red.

"Garry?" Ib's voice asked, coming from behind him. His muscles clenched with surprise at first, but then relaxed as he sighed with relief.

"You scared me." Ib nodded at his words, coming into view with his blue rose in hand.

"Here," she nestled it into his fingers, and he closed them around the rose and her hand. Butterflies exploded in her stomach, but she just smiled. Garry stared up at her face.

"Thank you," was all he said. Neither of them moved their hand away, and they just stayed like that for a while, staring into each other's eyes like some kind of cheesy drama show. Crack. Tinkle, Tinkle. The sound of glass shattering was heard in the room next to their's. Ib turned, and Garry pulled his hand away from hers, the blue rose clutched tightly in his fingers. He motioned for silence, and slowly stood; Ib followed his lead, standing in the best way to allow for the least possible ammount of noise. Garry held switched his rose to his left hand, and grabbed for Ib's right. She let him, their fingers intertwining quickly, almost as though they had done it before... he pulled her down the corridor, his dark coat fanning out behind them. When did I put this back on? He glanced at Ib, and shrugged to himself.

His fingers were cold, and she had shivered slightly as he took her hand in his own; after the initial shock though, she realized how much she actually liked it. The temperature was soothing, and felt natural, she gripped tighter, letting herself be pulled away. Even though I've known him for most of my life, I really don't know anything about him... She looked up at his determined face, taking in the sharp angles and smooth alabaster skin, the eyes that never stopped flickering around for one second. He was scanning the walls, searching for something.

"Here," he squeezed into a small corridor that was hidden within a fissure in the wall, and pulled her in with him. It was very narrow, they ended up pressed against each other. His breathing was shallow. She calmed her own breaths, and looked up at him. Warmth spread through her body as she realized his gaze was already on her. He looked away, towards the outer corridor. His breath silenced suddenly, his eyes widening with shock and terror. Because there, stumbling through the hallway, was an unmistakenly mangled, twisted, and grotesque face.

But it was so familiar...

/\-*~*-*~*-*~*-/\

Mary walked through the hallway of red, cracking her neck and back. She looked like hell, covered in stitch marks, with one eye missing and a deformed, stitched smile. But she was alive, and that was all that had mattered. She continued, stumbling slightly on her missing foot. They headn't patched her together very well. She frowned. Her elongated fingers curled around her Yellow rose, which was now dripping with black. She breathed out a cloud of dark purple, signifying the evil intent in her heart nicely. Ib. She was going to kill her, slice her pretty little throat open with one flick of the claw. She smirked, the stitches stretching painfully across her face, drawing blackish blood. But she didn't care; she was done with pain now. Revenge. It was the one and only word that burned through her mind and heart with a strong clarity. I'll kill her.

Even if it's the last thing I ever have the pleasure of doing.

/\-*~*-*~*-*~*-/\

Garry covered Ib's mouth with his hand, and gently turned her face in the direction Mary was walking. She bit back a scream, looking up at Garry with fear in her eyes. Mary continued forwards, with a sickening smile on her once girlish face. Ib buried her face against Garry's chest, letting herself act like the eight year old she once was. Mary placed a hand against the wall, her fingers brushing against the small fissure in the wall that led to where they were hiding. Her nails were sharpened to long, needle-like points, they dripped with black. Garry held Ib closer, wrapping his arms around her protectively. I won't let her hurt you. He held his breath until Mary passed, and even when she did, did not let go of Ib. He felt her arms wrap around his waist at one point, but could not recall anything else at that moment. The shock of seeing Mary like that had shaken Garry to the core. "Ib," he finally breathed. "She's gone. It's okay now." She looked up at him, her eyes full of tears.

"I'm so sorry," she sobbed. Gary brushed away the tears that fell with his thumb.

"For what? You didn't do anything wrong." He hugged her closer to him. She squirmed out of his grasp.

"Don't you get it?! I KILLED her! I killed her to save you..." She looked up at him. "Because I couldn't lose you! Not after I'd lost everything else!" Garry looked at her for a moment, his eyes dark. "I couldn't lose-" he silenced her with one word. One word that she never thought would silence her like that. His lips pressed against hers softly. It was quick, brief; meaningless. But it silenced her. He looked down at her, shaking his head.

"I'M the one who's sorry here," and with that, he slipped out of the hidden passage, and down the hall. Not waiting for her to catch up.