Ib: Deeper into the Gallery

   You finish crawling through the passageway created by the lips, emerging into a  new room.  The first thing to catch your eyes is the glaringly red color of the walls.

    Once your eyes had adjusted to the harsh color change, you find yourself in a simple hallway lined with another sequence of paintings.  Similar to the green room closer to the start of this twisted place, each painting seemed to take place after the previous.  They had no name printed under them, and the image was that of a guillotine slowly being raised.

    By the time you make it to the end of the hallway, the painting had the blade raised to high it was no longer on the painting.  Simply just the wooden structure.  Beneath the painting was a staircase, though the painting was hung high enough on the wall to allow you to step under it with no problems.

    As soon as you take your first step upon the staircase, a loud crash sounds right beside you, knocking you right off your feet.  You fall halfway down the stairs before you can catch yourself.  Upon gathering your bearings and checking to make sure your rose wasn't damaged, you look up to find a massive piece of metal smashed into the floor, tearing into the ground and completely obstructing the path backwards.

    The guillotine blade.  You shudder to think what could have happened if you were a half second slower.

    With nowhere else to go, you finish descending the stairs.  The room you come out at is a noticeable shade darker of red. 

    As you continue down the linier pathway, a brief flash of something catches your eye.  You pay it no mind until you spot it again around the corner.  Quickly pursuing whatever it was, you bend the corner just in time to see a humanoid shape dash around the next corner.  You give chase, rounding the next corner.  On the other side though is simply a door, with no sign of whatever it was you saw.

    You try the door, to see if that is where he went, only to find it locked.  Whatever it was must have locked it from the other side, you think, until you spot the door's key laying on a small table to your right.  And unless there was more then one key to this door, the figure indeed hadn't escaped through it.

    You turn back around, slowly checking around for something you might have missed.  Surely enough, a small discolored spot is noticeable on the floor right beside the wall.  You kneel down beside the spot, leaning up against the wall to get a closer look, only to fall flat on your face as your hand goes right through the wall.

    You blink for a moment, trying to think about what just happened, sure enough, half your body can not be seen, still on the other side of the waterlike illusionary wall.  You quickly pull your whole self through, taking a wavering deep breath.  This place was wrong.  Just wrong, on so many levels.

    Turning around, a single painting lays up upon the wall.  Several shadowy figures stand, gathered around a tree, each and every one of them looking down at you, eyes gleaming red.  But rather then get a disturbing feel from the painting, it is almost comforting.  Like... They are protecting you or something...

    Gathering of ????

    You run your hand over the painting's plaque, though you can't make out the last word.  Looking up at the painting a last time, you hurry back off to the next room, unlocking it as you go.

----------------------(Forgot this part)

    The next room is wide and mostly lacking of paintings.  Most of the space in the room has been taken up by two large sculptures, one red and one blue, each lager then a full-grown person twice over.  They themselves look like people, first made of wax then put under a heatlamp, rendering them frozen in a disfigured horror.  You try to read the plaques beneath them in order to give some sense to the bizarre sculptures, but the words are again beyond your scope to read.

    A door sits between the two figures, and is to no ones surprised, locked.  The only other thing that sits in the room is a painting hung back in the corner.  You approach it, only to find it to be one of the paintings you first saw back in the gallery when you first came here.

    Lady in Red

    You feel a bit more secure.  If things are becoming more familiar as you go, you have to be getting closer to the exit.  Right?

    A small glint of light catches your eye, something that you wonder is even possible in the mysterious light of this place.  As you inspect it, you find the key that is inevitably to the next room.  You take it with a smile, walking briskly to the door.

    A loud crash causes you to jump.  You turn around to see what exactly it was, and are more then shocked to see,

   The Lady in Red had torn herself clean off the wall, dragging herself, frame and all, across the floor after you.

    Clutching your rose tighter to your chest, you rush off as fast as you can.  For something without legs, the Lady is able to keep pace with you, maybe even gaining.

    The door didn't seem nearly this far away when you weren't running away.

    You hit the door running, fumbling to get the key into it's socket.  As soon as you hear it click, you duck into the next room.  A loud thwak sounds a moment later, followed by a grating scratch sound as the Lady tried to claw her way in.

    You sit with your back to the wall, breathing deeply until the sound fades away.  Not long after, you hear the Lady dragging herself away.  Letting out a sigh of relief, you stand up and inspect the new room.

(End of forgotten section)--------------------------------

    On the other side lay something new.  This part of the gallery looked more like a library then an art museum, with several bookshelves lining the walls.  In the middle of the room lay a desk, with several books already laying on it.

    You browse over the titles of these books.

    The Story of Carrie Careless

    Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes

    Tales of Nairos

    A Guide to the Lifetime Works of Guertena Vol. 2

    A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

    After looking over the titles, you shrug your shoulders, heading to the back of the room where another door sat.  Somewhere in the back of your head, you are not surprised to find that is locked.

    You can't shake the feeling that those books were something mildly important, so you go back to look at them.

     Which one do you read?    ----    The Lifetime works of Guertena
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


     Placing your rose on the table, you fumble around with the books, looking for some kind of clue.  As you do, you bump the pile of books, causing the one on top to fall to the ground with a thump.

    After calming yourself from the sudden noise, you move to pick up the hefty tome.  The page that it had opened itself as it fell catches your attention though.  Across it's pages are some of the artwork you have seen up to this point around the gallery, with text beside them telling you about their stories. 

    With some difficulty, you place the weighty book back upon the table and begin looking through it.  Most of it's contents depict the paintings you have seen so far, with the adjacent page filled with text describing the piece and the story behind it's creation.  Most of these were pretty boring as far as you were concerned, and had way to many big words.

    As you continue to leaf through the pages, a small slip of paper falls out to the floor.  You pick it up out of curiosity.

    H A V I N G F U N ?

    You tear the paper in half, letting it's shards fall to the ground.  No, as a matter of fact you weren't having fun.  You just wanted out of here, to get back to your parents.

    With nothing else found in this book, you start to close it.  As the pages start to collapse down, on picture stands out.  Flipping the book back open, three paintings sit on the page.  The Ladies of Color.  One of these was the Lady in Red you just encountered, but there was three others, one of blue, one of green, and one of yellow.  On the opposite page was scrawled a tiny piece of text.

    They can't open doors.  Use that to your advantage.

    You shut the book, it's pages making a dull thump.  Maybe everything in this place isn't out to get you.

    Most of the other books in the table are to complicated for you to even start reading, save for two.

    Giving up on the books on the table for a moment, you give the room itself another quick look over.  Just like before, nothing really stands out as helpful.  The only thing that can really be noticed is that amongst the shelves, a single space is lacking it's book.  This strikes you as a bit odd, as upon further investigation, reveals that all the books on the table don't have slots of the shelves, save one.

    After a quick look, the only book that would fit in that section would be the Story of Carrie Careless.  You pick that book up off the table to return it, and a feeling shoots through your body that can only be described as darkness.

    Despite this, now holding it in your hands, the book also seems to be giving off a compelling aura.  The book wants to be read. 

    You have no idea what would happen if you open the small book.  You fidget with the book in your hands, trying to decide just what to do with it.  It would be safer to just put it back.  But then... What of the secret's it holds?

    Your young curiosity fights with your common sense over what to do.

-----------------------------------------

OPEN AND READ  OR  Close and Return   -----------  Open and Read

-----------------------------------------

     You can't contain your curiosity, and open the loose pages of the book...

#404FileNotFound

## An unexpected error has been detected by Java Runtime Environment:##  EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION (0xc0000005) at pc=0x25252525, pid=6576, tid=3752## Java VM: Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (11.3-b02 mixed mode windows-x86)# Problematic frame:# C  0x25252525## If you would like to submit a bug report, please visit:#  java.sun./webapps/bugreport/crash# The crash happened outside the Java Virtual Machine in native code.# See problematic frame for where to report the bug.#---------------  T H R E A D  ---------------Current thread (0x0cc77c00):  JavaThread "thread applet-Main.class-1" [_thread_in_native, id=3752, stack(0x0fbb0000,0x0fc00000)]siginfo: ExceptionCode=0xc0000005, reading address 0x25252525RegistersEAX=0x00000000, EBX=0x09044070, ECX=0x02838370, EDX=0x00000000ESP=0x0fbff77c, EBP=0x41585858, ESI=0x09044070, EDI=0x0cc77c00EIP=0x25252525, EFLAGS=0x00210246Top of Stack: (sp=0x0fbff77c)0x0fbff77c:   0cc6d900 0fbff780 09044070 0fbff7b40x0fbff78c:   09044738 00000000 09044070 000000000x0fbff79c:   0fbff7b0 0fbff7dc 02852e83 000000000x0fbff7ac:   02858189 04b50248 04b5c6d0 04b5c6d00x0fbff7bc:   0fbff7bc 09043fcf 0fbff7ec 090447380x0fbff7cc:   00000000 09043ff0 0fbff7b0 0fbff7e80x0fbff7dc:   0fbff810 02852da1 04b6adb0 04b502480x0fbff7ec:   04b5c6d0 0fbff7f0 09043579 0fbff828 Instructions: (pc=0x25252525)0x25252515:   [error occurred during error reporting (printing registers, top of stack, instructions near pc), id 0xc0000005]Stack: [0x0fbb0000,0x0fc00000],  sp=0x0fbff77c,  free space=317kNative frames: (J=compiled Java code, j=interpreted, Vv=VM code, C=native code)C  0x25252525[error occurred during error reporting (printing native stack), id 0xc0000005]Java frames: (J=compiled Java code, j=interpreted, Vv=VM code)j  com.sun.media.sound.HeadspaceSoundbank.nOpenResource(Ljava/lang/String;)J+0j  com.sun.media.sound.HeadspaceSoundbank.initialize(Ljava/lang/String;)V+j  com.sun.media.sound.HeadspaceSoundbank.<init>(Ljava/net/URL;)V+89j  com.sun.media.sound.HsbParser.getSoundbank(Ljava/net/URL;)Ljavax/sound/midi/Soundbank;+5j  javax.sound.midi.MidiSystem.getSoundbank(Ljava/net/URL;)Ljavax/sound/midi/Soundbank;+36J  Main.init()Vj  sun.plugin2.applet.Plugin2Manager$AppletExecutionRunnable.run()V+837j  java.lang.Thread.run()V+11v  ~StubRoutines::call_stub---------------  P R O C E S S  ---------------Java Threads: ( => current thread )  0x0cc79400 JavaThread "Thread-11" [_thread_blocked, id=3648, stack(0x0f610000,0x0f660000)]  0x0cc79000 JavaThread "Java Sound Event Dispatcher" daemon [_thread_blocked, id=664, stack(0x0f580000,0x0f5d0000)]  0x0cc78800 JavaThread "Keep-Alive-Timer" daemon [_thread_blocked, id=3784, stack(0x0f4f0000,0x0f540000)]=>0x0cc77c00 JavaThread "thread applet-Main.class-1" [_thread_in_native, id=3752, stack(0x0fbb0000,0x0fc00000)]  0x0cc77800 JavaThread "AWT-EventQueue-2" [_thread_blocked, id=7104, stack(0x0e020000,0x0e070000)]  0x0cc77000 JavaThread "Applet 1 LiveConnect Worker Thread" [_thread_blocked, id=5468, stack(0x0d020000,0x0d070000)]  0x0cc76c00 JavaThread "Image Fetcher 3" daemon [_thread_blocked, id=5252, stack(0x0d550000,0x0d5a0000)]  0x0cc76400 JavaThread "Browser Side Object Cleanup Thread" [_thread_blocked, id=5720, stack(0x0df90000,0x0dfe0000)]  0x0cc76000 JavaThread "Windows Tray Icon Thread" [_thread_in_native, id=5716, stack(0x0d920000,0x0d970000)]  0x0cc75c00 JavaThread "CacheCleanUpThread" daemon [_thread_blocked, id=7068, stack(0x0d890000,0x0d8e0000)]  0x0cc75400 JavaThread "CacheMemoryCleanUpThread" daemon [_thread_blocked, id=5088, stack(0x0d800000,0x0d850000)]  0x0cc71400 JavaThread "AWT-EventQueue-0" [_thread_blocked, id=5960, stack(0x0d770000,0x0d7c0000)]  0x0cc71000 JavaThread "Java Plug-In Heartbeat Thread" [_thread_blocked, id=3788, stack(0x0d6e0000,0x0d730000)]  0x0cc67800 JavaThread "AWT-Windows" daemon [_thread_in_native, id=3908, stack(0x0d4c0000,0x0d510000)]  0x0cc65000 JavaThread "AWT-Shutdown" [_thread_blocked, id=4820, stack(0x0d430000,0x0d480000)]  0x0cc64c00 JavaThread "Java2D Disposer" daemon [_thread_blocked, id=5444, stack(0x0d340000,0x0d390000)]  0x0cc3b400 JavaThread "Java Plug-In Pipe Worker Thread (Client-Side)" daemon [_thread_in_native, id=7156, stack(0x0d0f0000,0x0d140000)]  0x0cc35400 JavaThread "traceMsgQueueThread" daemon [_thread_blocked, id=7080, stack(0x0cf80000,0x0cfd0000)]  0x0282f400 JavaThread "Timer-0" [_thread_blocked, id=3852, stack(0x0cef0000,0x0cf40000)]  0x02829c00 JavaThread "Low Memory Detector" daemon [_thread_blocked, id=5232, stack(0x0cad0000,0x0cb20000)]  0x02825000 JavaThread "CompilerThread0" daemon [_thread_blocked, id=4184, stack(0x0ca40000,0x0ca90000)]  0x02824800 JavaThread "Attach Listener" daemon [_thread_blocked, id=4956, stack(0x0c9b0000,0x0ca00000)]  0x0281c000 JavaThread "Signal Dispatcher" daemon [_thread_blocked, id=5640, stack(0x0c920000,0x0c970000)]  0x02806000 JavaThread "Finalizer" daemon [_thread_blocked, id=1512, stac(0x0c890000,0x0c8e0000)]  0x02804c00 JavaThread "Reference Handler" daemon [_thread_blocked, id=4108, stac
(0x026e0000,0x02730000)]  0x026d9400 JavaThread "main" [_thread_blocked, id=5652, stack(0x00390000,0x003e0000)]Other Threads:  0x027ff400 VMThread [stack: 0x024d0000,0x02520000] [id=3820]  0x0282b000 WatcherThread [stack: 0x0cb60000,0x0cbb0000] [id=4324]VM state:not at safepoint (normal execution)VM Mutex/Monitor currently owned by a thread: NoneHeap def new generation   total 4544K, used 3263K [0x04850000, 0x04d30000, 0x04d30000)  eden space 4096K,  79% used [0x04850000, 0x04b7ffd0, 0x04c50000)  from space 448K,   0% used [0x04c50000, 0x04c50000, 0x04cc0000)  to   space 448K,   0% used [0x04cc0000, 0x04cc0000, 0x04d30000) tenured generation   total 60544K, used 59937K [0x04d30000, 0x08850000, 0x08850000)   the space 60544K,  98% used [0x04d30000, 0x087b8778, 0x087b8800, 0x08850000) compacting perm gen  total 12288K, used 8340K [0x08850000, 0x09450000, 0x0c850000)   the space 12288K,  67% used [0x08850000, 0x09075190, 0x09075200, 0x09450000)No shared spaces configured.Dynamic libraries:0x00400000 - 0x00424000              C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin\java.exe0x77d30000 - 0x77e90000             C:\Windows\SysWOW64\ntdll.dll0x76b80000 - 0x76c90000              C:\Windows\syswow64\kernel32.dll0x778c0000 - 0x77986000              C:\Windows\syswow64\ADVAPI32.dll0x770d0000 - 0x771c0000              C:\Windows\syswow64\RPCRT4.dll0x75d10000 - 0x75d70000             C:\Windows\syswow64\Secur32.dll
0x77460000 - 0x77469000              C:\Windows\syswow64\LPK.DLL0x76970000 - 0x769ed000             C:\Windows\syswow64\USP10.dll0x74dc0000 - 0x74f5e000              C:\Windows\WinSxS\x86_microsoft.windows.common
controls_6595b64144ccf1df_6.0.6001.18000_none_5cdbaa5a083979cc\comctl32.dll0x7c340000 - 0x7c396000              C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin\msvcr71.dll0x6d800000 - 0x6da56000             C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin\client\jvm.dll0x75770000 - 0x757a2000              C:\Windows\system32\WINMM.dll0x75730000 - 0x75769000              C:\Windows\system32\OLEACC.dll0x6d290000 - 0x6d298000             C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin\hpi.dll
0x756e0000 - 0x756f9000              C:\Windows\system32\IPHLPAPI.DLL0x756a0000 - 0x756d5000             C:\Windows\system32\dhcpcsvc.DLL0x75670000 - 0x7569c000              C:\Windows\system32\DNSAPI.dll
0x73580000 - 0x73587000              C:\Windows\system32\midimap.dllVM Arguments:jvm_args: -D__jvm_launched=104104590225 -Xbootclasspath/a:C:\\PROGRA~2\\Java\\jre6\\lib\\deploy.jar;C:\\PROGRA~2\\Java\\jre6\\lib\\javaws.jar;C:\\PROGRA~2\\Java\\jre6\\lib\\plugin.jar -Dsun.plugin2.jvm.args=-D__jvm_launched=104104590225 "-Xbootclasspath/a:C:\\\\PROGRA~2\\\\Java\\\\jre6\\\\lib\\\\deploy.jar;C:\\\\PROGRA~2\\\\Java\\\\jre6\\\\lib\\\\javaws.jar;C:\\\\PROGRA~2\\\\Java\\\\jre6\\\\lib\\\\plugin.jar" "-Djava.class.path=C:\\\\PROGRA~2\\\\Java\\\\jre6\\\\classes" -- java_command: sun.plugin2.main.client.PluginMain write_pipe_name=jpi2_pid6064_pipe3,read_pipe_name=jpi2_pid6064_pipe2Launcher Type: SUN_STANDARDEnvironment Variables:PATH=C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer;;C:\Windows\system32;C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32\Wbem;C:\Program Files (x86)\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\Core-Static;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Roxio Shared\DLLShared\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Roxio Shared\10.0\DLLShared\USERNAME=EdwardOS=Windows_NTPROCESSOR_IDENTIFIER=Intel64 Family 6 Model 26 Stepping 4, GenuineIntel---------------  S Y S T E M  ---------------OS: Windows Vista Build 6001 Service Pack 1CPU:total 8 (8 cores per cpu, 2 threads per core) family 6 model 10 stepping 4, cmov, cx8, fxsr, mmx, sse, sse2, sse3, ssse3, htMemory: 4k page, physical 4194303k(4194303k free), swap 4194303k(4194303k free)vm_info: Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (11.3-b02) for windows-x86 JRE (1.6.0_13-b03), built on Mar  9 2009 01:15:24 by "java_re" with MS VC++ 7.1time: Thu May 27 11:45:47 2010elapsed time: 2 seconds

 

 

 

    ...The book falls from your hands, your mind trying to comprehend exactly what it just shone.  Dark tendrils snake loosely out of the book as it hits the ground, moving towards the wall.

 

    By the time you finally recover from the shock of whatever came out of the book, you notice a new door sitting on the opposite end of the room.  Numbly, you approach it, grabbing your rose on the way.  Finding it unlocked, you head through.

 

   On the other side lies a hallway much like many that you haves seen up to this point.  One path heads to your right, and the other to your left.   In the center where you came out at, sits a tiny blue vase upon a table.

 

   Eternal Blessings, reads the plaque pinned to the base of the table.  The water contained within the vase practically sparkles.  Looking down at your rose, you find it looking somewhat dry looking.  Figuring there was no harm in it, you dip the rose in the water.  Much to your surprise, it immediately looks refreshed, even going so far as to quickly regrow the petals you had lost earlier.

    Feeling better already, you quickly pull your rose back out and march down the hall.

 

    As you come to the end of  the hall, it seems at first to be a dead end.  No paintings or anything either.  Given the selection of boxes in the area, it was most likely just a simple storage area.  Looking around enough though, you find there is in fact a door in this room, though it is mostly obscured behind the room's many boxes. 

    Try as you might to push them aside though, each one of them is to heavy for you to lift.  With a huff, you begin your trek out of the dead end room.

    Before you get out though, something catches your foot, sending you tumbling to the floor.  You quickly turn around to see what had got you, only to find a small twisted piece of cloth sticking out from between some boxes.  You give a irritated huff.  That which wasn't actively after you in this place still seemed to be tripping you up.

    No pun intended.

    Pulling yourself back to you feet, you follow the cloth back to it's source, only to find a ragged jacket hung over a mannequin.  Curiously enough, the garb looks oddly familiar, though you can't place it.

   As you more to inspect it closer, the mannequin shifts a bit, groaning as it did so.  You jump back quickly, prepared to run for your life again.  When it doesn't move again, something dawns upon you.  You remember where you saw this before.

    This wasn't a mannequin.  It was another person,  the young man with the odd jacket who had been looking at The Hanged Man back in the gallery.

    You try to wake him up, but he doesn't move beyond an occasional grunt.  Something gleaming in his hand catches your attention.  A small key rests in his hands, though it is a dull grey in color, unlike all the other color-coded keys up to this point.

    "I'm going to borrow this for a second, ok?"  You say quietly, just in case he can hear you as you take the key from his hand, before running off in the other direction.  If it was a dead end here, this key must go to something on the other end of the hallway.  Or at least, that is what you manage to guess.  You just hope you are correct.

     It takes a moment for you to notice it despite their sharp contrast to the red floor, but blue spots beneath your feet seem to be growing in number as you continue down.  They seem to come to a stop beneath a painting.

    Or at least, where a painting should have been.  All that sits there now is the plaque, and the loose outline of where the frame had been held against the wall.

    Lady in Blue

    You shudder a bit at the thought of your last encounter with one of the ladies.  This feeling is only intensified as you look down to inspect the blue spots.

    They were rose petals.  All of them.

    As the rose wilts, so to will your life rot away

    To your left sits a door, to a room that oddly enough has a window.  You place the key you had gotten from the young man earlier, and sure enough the lock comes undone.

   Before pushing your way in, you run over to the window to peek inside, having to stand up on your tiptoes to see over the rim.

   Surely enough, the woman in blue sits there, frame leaning against the wall smiling to herself.  In her hands lay what was left of a blue rose, with a few petals still clinging onto the stem.

    You brace yourself, walking into the room.  As soon as you do, the lady seems to lose interest in the blue rose, dropping to the ground as she scuttles after you as fast as she can.

    You dash around her, just barely managing to dodge her hands as she claws out at you.  With as much speed as your small legs can muster, you grab the rose off the floor and make it out of the room, just barely escaping in time to shut the door behind the lady.

    You breath a sigh of relief.  They can't get through doors, you recall, so you should be safe now for the moment being.  You look down at the wilted rose in your hand, and remember the vase from just a little while ago.  Maybe it could bring this rose back to life as well.

    Just as you begin to walk off, you hear a loud thump behind you.  Though you think nothing of it, figuring it to be just the lady banging on the door, the window shatters only a second later, with the Lady in Blue looking thoroughly upset.  She immediately gives chase, and you immediately turn to run.

    You barely make it to the vase with time to do what you need.  Sure enough, as you place the azure rose within, it returns to a beautiful fullness.  Unfortunately, you don't have time to admire the rose with the lady right behind you.  Quickly plucking the restored plant from the vase, you turn back to run.

    You hear something else shatter behind you as you run, looking back just long enough to see that the perusing lady had, either intentionally or accidently, overturned the small table and shattered the vase.

     Well, that would be no good to you any more.  As you come back to the previously dead end room, you find that the boxes had been shifted from in front if the door just enough for it to be opened.    The door cracks a second later, a hand reaching out in your direction.

   "Quick, through here!"  A voice yells, and you oblige.  Not a second after the door slams shut behind you does the lady smash into the now closed gateway with a thud.

    "Are you ok, little girl?"

    You look up to the source of the voice, finding it to belong to the man from earlier.

   You give a curt nod, though you have a question yourself.  "Are... you?"

   The man seems a bit taken off guard by your question, though it doesn't take long for him to realize what you meant.  "Oh, yeah.  I'm fine.  I just all of a sudden started feeling better.  It's like... Just..."

    He trails off as he notices the second rose in your hand.  "My rose!"  He practically shouts, before calming himself.  "Yes, um... Thank you, I suppose.  I take it was you who got this for me?"

   You nod timidly, offering the rose to him.  He takes it with a smile, ruffling you hair a bit, much like he did when you first met him.  "I don't get it, but it seems our life is tied up to these roses.  I assume you have been taking care of yours?"

   You hold your rose a bit closer to your chest as a, mayhaps misplaced, precaution.  Your mom had always said not to talk to strangers, after all.

   "Oh, how rude of me.  I haven't even told you my name.  I guess I was just distracted a bit.  It's good to know I'm not alone here."  He said, obviously seeing your hesitation towards him.  Kneeling down to your level, he holds out his free hand towards you.  "My name is Garry.  How about you?"

    You lightly shake his hand, trying to remain to maintain a ladylike posture.  "I-Ib."

    "Ib, huh?  Well, it's nice to meet you, Ib.  Now, how about we find a way out of here?  This place isn't good for either of us."

 CHPATER 2 - END