Painting the Roses Red (An Ib AU)

Chapter 1 - Into the Gallery we go!

Ocean's Point of View

'The Guertena gallery and art exhibit is now officially open its close three years ago, when two viewers disappeared at the gallery, only nine years of age. The other lost viewer was a young man. The only evidence found on the scene was scattered red and blue petals leading up to a painting named 'Forgotten Portrait.'

"Ha, ha! Come on, Ocean!" My young sister, Maya giggled as she pulled my hand towards a large crowd of people surrounding an exhibit.

'She always was a fan of art, painting and crafting whenever she has time. Her hands were always covered is a different color of paint each day, todays were red. Ironically, she never liked nail polish as much as usual paint, she was 7, talented for 7 years old, but she was still 7.'

'Me? I never really had much time for painting, almost family disappeared when I was 24 and Skye was only 7. I am nearly 24 and taking care of Maya was hard work; but I managed it. Of course, my friends helped me, but they had children of their own or busy.'

"Okay, okay! Calm down Maya - san!" I said chuckle calling to my sister by her nickname.

'Once when she was younger, I saw her looking at the sky while painting, then triggering our adopted family's nickname for her.'

Her hair in a long ponytail flew behind her as she sprinted up to the gate. I followed her, running a tad bit slower than her.

'She was energetic and playful, but calm and serious when she painted and crafted. Of course, she always has a goofy smile when she finished.' I thought as I looked over my sister and I for a minute. She wore a pink long sleeve shirt and black leggings, along with a green t-shirt. Her sneakers were blue and slightly worn for her speed. I was wearing a black shirt and black ripped jeans, with my black hoodie with a red paw print on it. Soon I spotted my sister's friends waving at Maya in the crowd with their parents and other relatives. I poked Maya's shoulder softly, teasingly, and pointed to her friends.

Instantly Maya's brown eyes brightened, yet again we looked almost the same; but the difference was the height of course because a lot of our family members are probably taller than me. Yet gallery opened and I let Maya go with her friends. Maya and her friends chattered endlessly and caught a few comments about the paintings.

I was friends with the parents; they always let Maya stay with them, even if it was the middle of the night, just for my sake even though I'm a youtuber. I waved at them as they gave me a warm smile towards me. Suddenly Maya and Dolly sprinted over to me.

"Hi Ocean!" Dolly grinned, her dimples showing. She had shoulder-length black hair and wide black eyes. Her eyes always crinkled when she gave her signature smile. She was more into drawing than painting, but Maya gladly colored in her drawings.

"Hey, kid!" I looked down and smiled.

"We're going to get food, okay?" Maya asked.

"Okay, don't get into trouble, ya little rascals!" I giggled. Dolly and Maya together were louder and more energetic than Sonic himself. But Virginia was the calmer and shyer one. She has auburn hair that is always tied into two braids, and was rather quiet. She liked crafting, especially origami. She has wide blue eyes that closed when she laughed and pale.

Dolly and Maya ran off to join Virginia and her parents to the café. I decided to look around and have a good look at the place. I passed a huge painting on the floor that reminded me of a deep blue sea, fish painted so as to seem like they were really swimming. I shoved my hands in my pockets, humming as I walked along. A huge statue of a rose now stood in front of as I walked on. None really caught my attention, except...

"Oh, What's this?" I said as I saw a very long painting of the gallery I was in, as if it were a mirror. But something seemed... off... about it. The white walls were tainted red and there was nobody there except for me and a few shadows of people. I... I stepped back blinking. I was in a picture, even the people behind me that quickly left weren't in the painting it was only me.

"I'm... leaving... now!" I muttered feeling chills down my neck. I took off my hoodie with my phone, handkerchief, earbuds, and candy with my name on the wrapper in its pockets and tied it around my waist. The lights flickered bit, causing me to jump.

"Um..." I started saying.

'What if Maya was in trouble?!' I thought panicking.

"MAYA!" I yelled out for my sister. I walked through the gallery, but nobody was there, no one, just me, like in the painting. Then, I remembered the shadows in the painting and shivered. The lights flickered once more, completely turning off, I bit my lip.

'Nobody here...' I thought as I started off at a walk, and then broke into a sprint in worry for my sister. I was not losing another family member; I passed the rose statue, when someone coughed.

"What?" I spun around, hoping to see Maya, but there was a painting of a... coughing man. I would've been freaked out right now, but I've seen way too much horror games already. Rubbing my eyes, I stepped back. I sprinted around through the halls; a pink statue with knives in it is frightening.

I heard a 'SPLAT' and looked over my shoulder, pressing myself against the wall, a painting was there of a fruit bowl, and an apple was splattered on the floor. I felt my teeth chatter.

'I gotta get out of here!' I thought desperately, but the entrance was locked, and this place is really creepy. I passed the 'Fabricated World' painting again, only to find blue paint leaking behind it. I walked up to touch it, when I heard loud footsteps, like someone was running.

"Maya...?" I mumbled. Instead, red letters were splattered on the floor, reading a message to me.

COME OCEAN!

I backed up against the wall, my hand feeling something wet... paint? But it didn't stain my hand at all, soon a message in tiny blue letters appeared, it says:

'Come down below, Ocean. I'll show you someplace secret!'

I had to hold my hand over my mouth to prevent a scream from coming out.

'This is all just a dream!' I repeatedly tried to pinch myself, but this was real. Creepy, but real... I walked backwards until my foot stepped into something wet, water? I looked and saw that I was stepping into the deep sea floor painting. Seeing there was nowhere else to go, I tried to run away.

But slipped and felt something pull my foot into the water, hitting my head along the way. My eyes drowsily opened to see two paths; one containing a red painting and the other with a blur. I crawled towards the blue, seeing as the walls were pale blue. I just wanted to find my niece; letters were pasted on the wall spelling out two words:

COME, COME!

I growled silently, annoyed. A blue door sat on the end of the hall, but a rose in a vase blocked it. I tried pushing it away, but it didn't budge, even with all of my weight. The red/black rose seemed to gleam in the dim light, I plucked it out of the vase, fingering the stem a bit, the vase quickly moved away. I walked through the door, a large painting of a women's face in the room, her clay-blue hair spilling out of the golden frame.

"What the **** is this place...?" I bent down, my eyes on the women, and picked up the shiny object; a blue key. I put it in my pocket just in time for the women's eyes to open, showing cat-like pupils. I shivered as I read the small print in front of the painting.

'When the rose fades, you shall fade too.' It said.

I sprinted back, my legs wobbling in fear, the letters turned to red, spelling out five letters.

THIEF

"W-what...?" I turned around trying to place the rose back in its vase. The water in it seemed to evaporate, and the vase disappeared as I felt slightly stronger. "Oh, freak it!" Is printed past the hallway and into the red one, quickly shaking the doorknob to let me in.