Work Text:
When a little girl saw the man’s silhouette, lying on the floor motionless, tears came to her eyes. She ran like hell was chasing her, dropping on her knees. Was he… dead? No, it couldn’t have been!
“Oww…” he groaned ”Ib, are you okay?”
“Garry, you just have been unconscious and you ask ME if I am okay?”- she cried tears of joy and hugged him tightly. He measured her with his eyes anxiously. “Yes, I am okay! Just a bit.. dusty.”
He breathed a sigh of relief, returning her hug.
“Don’t scare me like that!”
“How could I, mother?” girl chuckled.
“Ha, ha, ha, still not funny,” he said with a small grin on his face, pulling himself up and shaking off the dust from his coat. “At any rate… This place is full of scribbles. Is that the toy box?”
Ib nodded.
“Mary pushed us from the upper floor” She reminded him. ” I am sorry I didn’t believe, Garry. You were right all along. Mary is definitely… not human. I should have believed you sooner.”
“Ib, it is okay. I know, how… Realistic she looks. Just like a little girl” he shuddered. “I also can’t believe that sometimes. Well, let’s look for the key and get out”
After a few minutes of searching, they heard a high-pitched voice.
“Yaaay, it’s so pretty! Can I have it? Oh, thank you!” On the other corner of the toy box, Mary blushed almost bashfully, looking at the creepy blue doll with red eyes.
When she saw Mary her first instinct was to run to her and hug her. But she was no longer her friend was she?
Garry opened his mouth and Ib quickly closed it with her hand. She gave him a reprimanding look and put her finger to her lips. She started sneaking to her slowly.
“Ib and Garry, I see you, dummies! Did you find what you were looking for? But anyway, lookit! I just got this! Pretty, isn’t it!”
“Mary… that rose…”
“Huh?...Ahh! You mean this is Ib’s! I thought I’d seen it before!”
“Mary, please...Give it back to Ib.”
“Ib… Do you want this back?”
She stormed to get the rose, but Mary dodged her.
“I see.” Mary’s cold eyes narrowed. “Let’s get to business, then. Garry, how about trading for your rose?”
“Garry’s rose is blue right? I like red and all, but I like blue so much more!”
“Garry, don’t!” Ib screamed.
“Understood. Please, give us Ib’s rose in exchange for mine.” Garry’s voice was trembling.
“Really? Are you sure? But your little friend seems to disagree” Mary mocked with a devilish grin.
He slowly approached Mary and they exchanged their roses. Ib was rooted in the ground, speechless. Gary came back to her with a fake smile.
“Be careful with it…” he smiled sadly as he leaned to give her the rose. “Are you mad?” his eyes widened with concern.
“I’m sorry!” Ib couldn’t hold back her tears and grabbed his hand with a strength disproportionate to her age, pulling him to her. She ran after Mary, holding his hand as if it was her last day.
“Ahaha… Why are you apologizing? You didn’t do anything wrong, Ib.”
“Garry, please! We have to hurry! No time for chit-chat” she hurried him with desperation in her eyes. “You mustn’t give up! I would never forgive you that!”
“Loves me! Loves me not!” singed Mary happily from upstairs.
Blue petals lying everywhere…
“Sorry, but.. could you go ahead? I’m sorry… I don’t…” he gave her his best fake smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
“Don’t apologize for something that is not your fault” the little girl repeated what he said to her a thousand times. “Don’t you dare say goodbye to me! Wait for me!”
It was painful to let go of his hand. He was so important for her, too precious. But she had to let him go, just once. She held her hand, warm of his touch next to her heart. Her heart was beating so fast…
She knew better than to run after Mary. Somewhere there must be her painting. Somewhere near.
The door was covered with some creepers. Gotcha! The door that secured must be important. Ib grabbed Garry’s lighter, picking it from his pocket. Her hands were shaking, she tried to lit it. Finally, the creepers had caught fire. A lot of smoke, but she pushed Garry into the room and followed him.
And then she saw it. The canvas of Mary smiling happily.
Mary entered the room with the last blue pental on the stalk of rose.
“Don’t take another step! Leave right now!” Mary shook with anger.
“I won’t” Ib assured with a steel look in her eyes. “But you mustn’t too.”
“Sweet little Ib burning my painting? You must be kidding me.”
“Thanks for the hint.” she smiled devilishly. “Another step and I will burn it! I won’t even budge, you are not even human after all” she lied.
“You must know… I wasn’t always a painting!” Mary burst desperately.
“Yeah, and I am Abraham Lincoln” Ib snorted.
“Listen to me, Ib! I will tell you why you got in there. You see… I will start from the beginning. Guertema was a painter, drawing figures from his imagination. And like Pygmalion, who fell in love with Galatea, he fell in love with one of his paintings.”
“I don’t believe you.” Ib held her rose tighter, blood slowly dripping from her hands.
“Well, not exactly. His magnum opus was the woman dressed in red, drawn after his dead wife, who left him a daughter. She was gorgeous like no other, real women could have never match up to her. Magnificent red eyes, brown hair, just like you.”
Ib’s eyes widened at the realization.
“Guertema became obsessed, he did neither eat nor sleep.” she continued “He poured all his love into the painting, forgetting and neglecting his little daughter. One night he was trapped with his daughter in this world.”
“When he finally found the Red Lady it was like a dream came true. He was so in love, that he failed to realize she was nothing like his late wife, but his daughter did” she explained with a strained voice. “When she slept, not only did he escape but also he took the impostor with him, leaving me all alone. So I cried and wondered, what happened. I looked for him everywhere. Years were passing by and I still foolishly waited for him to return.”
“Dolls told me, that two came into this world, so only two could leave it. After years and years, it finally hit me. I was just a bargaining card for him, a mere puppet. He chose canvas over me” she snuffed.
“Until I saw Garry.” she looked at Ib with clenched fists. “Looking exactly like HIM. I couldn’t believe my own eyes. Not only did I have a chance for revenge, but also getting out of this hell. Why should I be good for him when my own father left me here to riot? He as his son should have been trapped here, not me.”
“You shouldn’t punish him for the sins of his father.” Ib looked terrified by her sudden change of expression.
“Maybe” Mary admitted. “Back to the story… I think that is why you were sucked here. Garry must be the son of Guertema, you may be the daughter of the Lady in Red.”
“I-I think that is right. At least on my side. Mother had some delusions when she was younger, connected to this museum. She wanted to take us here because it was a big part of her life. If she didn’t have them, she would have never met my father, who is a doctor.”
“Hahahaha!” Mary started laughing uncontrollably. “She ditched him! Ha! After everything my father has done for her, she doesn’t even remember him!” she wiped off her tears, still laughing coarsely. “He got what he deserved.”
Ib gathered herself together.
“Ib, let’s get out together!” Mary started to cry. “I know I don’t deserve it… but please reconsider. It doesn’t have to end that way”
She threw the blue rose on the ground, raising her hands up with a sorrowful expression.
“See? I am defenseless. Please, Ib!
Ib was speechless, shaking, too afraid to want the reunion, but also too afraid to refuse. She lowered her hand, getting the lighter away from the painting.
Mary grinned, taking a step towards Ib and… She stepped over Gary’s rose. Her eyes widened, but she failed to hide her wicked smirk.
“Ups! Ib, please forgive me!”
Ib has had enough. She rose her hand and set the painting on fire. Mary fell to her knees, screaming as she burnt to ashes. Ib was glad that her smirk has been finally wiped out of her face, nevertheless, she did not look. The scent of the burned body would be hard to bear, but there was nothing. It comforted Ib more than a thousand words ever could. In her mind she mustered some apology to Mary, running to the blue rose. Her knees fell on the ground. How? She killed for him! She did all of this and…
His last pental was hanging so loosely that the slightest wind blow could rip it up. Picking it up would probably cause the pental to fall off.
“No, no, no!” she shrieked, terrified.
The vase, where was the vase? It must have been somewhere!
She stood carefully, leaving the rose on the ground, promising to come back quickly. If she wasn’t fast enough, everything will be lost. HE will… Perish from her life, just like that.
Everything was hazy as she ran. Was the floor trembling or her legs? And then she saw it. The vase. She grabbed it, crying tears of joy. Her hands were shaky and sweaty, but she did not drop it.
Ib picked up the rose and carefully placed it in the vase. Her eyes were so itchy from crying, she hardly saw anything. But a rose was miraculously healthy again.
The little girl was so exhausted. She could not get up.
Then she felt a comforting hug from the back.
“I told you I will come back, Ib” Garry whispered softly and she turned away just to see his loving face and his funny hair.
They rejoined in the long, passionate hug.