Eve

Garry

"Ahh..." Eve sat up and found herself in yet another quiet and cold corridor. "Where am I...*cough* *cough* " She spat out seawater and recalled herself drowning. She's alive? But where is she ? Eve struggled to her feet as her dress was still drenched and her hair smelled like salt. She looked up, expecting a hole or something but there were none. Then how did she even end up here? Eve decided to leave that aside and went on searching for an exit.

She arrived at the entrance of a new hallway, where the walls were no longer blue and gloomy like the deep sea. The walls further up were creamy white and the ceiling borders had vintage like roses painted on them. It looked welcoming and lovely for a little girl like her.

"The hall of girls." Eve read aloud. "Girls? hmm.." She took a step in and her shoes came into contact with the warm wooden floor. Her shoes made neat "Clip clop" sounds as she walked. Her dress was also amazingly dry already. 

"Wow...so it was talking about this.." Eve looked in amazement. Inside the glass showcases were porcelain faced life sized dolls. They had curled up eyelashes and pinkish red cheeks. Golden,brown,black locks slid down their shoulders. Their smiles were sweet but stone like at the same time. Eve loved dolls and was of course, mesmerized by them. Just then she heard a girl's laughter and turned around abruptly. It was only an empty hallway.

"I must had heard it wrongly..But hey...i didnt know i walked that far..." Indeed, the dark hallway she was once in was out of sight. The white walls stretched far behind her, as if she had walked a really long distance. "Oh well..." Eve shrugged and turned back to the glass showcase.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" Eve screamed and felt herself hit the wall behind her. The doll she was looking at just a few seconds ago had now its face and hands pressed against the glass,as if wanting to get closer to Eve. It smiled so sweetly yet nastily that Eve flinched. Eve dared not look at it anymore and ran quickly away from it.

*Pant* *pant* Eve had ran through the hallway, not daring to look into any of the glass casings anymore. But, the hallway seemed to have no end.

"No...it cant be. There has to be an exit!" Eve cried, she was losing her courage and energy. She leaned herself against the walls, not wanting to get near to the display dolls. "Why is it me? Why am i stuck here alone?!" She screamed in frustration.

Eve felt dizzy. Its long since she ate something. Looking at her small leather belt watch, it was 7.30pm already. The museum is closing at 9pm.

Eve took a deep breath and dragged her tired legs on.

"Where AM I ? This is ridiculous..." Eve frowned. All she was seeing was an endless hallway of dolls. Damn this Guliver man! How many dolls did he make? Out of the blue,Eve stopped walking. Something in the display made her stop. In the display marked " A girl's happy family-Parents" was her parents standing behind a small wooden chair. As if someone was suppose to be seated there.

"Mum...Dad?" Eve whispered, closing into the display case. "No...this cant be..NO! NO! NO!  " Her eyes wide in horror, tears flowing down. She kept banging on the glass display, shouting for them, but no response were given.

Eve tried to be calm. "T-That's not them right? They are just dolls..." Indeed, the two figurines seemed really human like but their skin were just made of porcelain and plaster. Their smiles were stiff and hands were frozen at their sides. "..that resemble my parents..?! But why? " She stood there dumbfounded.

"Then in the next glass casing was an elderly couple. In the display marked " A girl's happy family-Grandparents" No way..that was the elderly pair she saw earlier at the gallery. Eve could not tolerate further, she had to find a way out fast. Who knows if she would be next one in the glass display!

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After an hour walking around, she saw a man with dark blue hair, faced down, on the floor. But by the hair colour, it was clear that he was from the gallery too.

"He's still breathing..but why is he here? Most of the people I saw there were in the display case..at least the figurines looked like them.." Eve shuddered at the thought. "Hey...are you alright?" She bent down and gently shook him. The man mumbled and lifted up his head.

"AHHHH" He screamed out loud when he saw Eve's face and struggled to get up and escape.

"Hold on! You're from the gallery too, aren't you?" Eve halted him.

The man blinked and came to his senses. He recalled seeing this red haired girl.

"Y-Yes...sorry I thought you were one of them!" The man stuttered in embarrassment. Fancy screaming in front of a younger child.

"Who's them?" Eve asked, while giving him a hand to get to his feet.

"I was at the gallery..and this (pretty) young lady approached me, handing me a white rose. Then she left soon afterwards. The next thing I know, after i sniffed it, I fainted and found myself in this hallway. I heard a pair of elderly screaming for help so i rushed to help but I couldn't find them in the end..." The man explained. " The them i was referring to were dolls. Please don't find me crazy, I swore I saw dolls chasing after me. They were like the porcelain figures in the glass casings. But they could...run! I managed to escape but I was so exhausted till I fainted..i guess. Must be the smoke that got me so unfit...(maybe i should quit smoking) " He sighed. "Oh and how rude of me...whats your name? I'm Garry." Garry smiled cheerfully.

"Im Eve." Eve returned the greeting to the man.

"So...you came to the museum alone?"

"Nope. With my parents."

"How old are you?"

"9"

"Wow...its really great to be young" He joked. "My parents never took me to outings for the past 19 years..."

"So he's 19 .." Eve thought.

"Lets go shall we?" He frowned. " The museum is closing soon...if we dont find a way out, we have to spend the night here!"

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"So....you're saying you saw your parents in the casing?" Garry confirmed.

"Yes....and the elderly couple! However..they were not humans. They just looked like dolls. " Eve said. "I hope my parents are safe..."

Garry looked at the teary eyed child and stopped walking. He bent down and handed her a sweet in a yellow wrapper. "They will be aright,okay Eve? Now...take this sweet...you must be hungry right?" He smiled gently.

"Thanks..." Eve unwrapped it and popped it into her mouth. It was caramel. Sweet and smooth, it melted into her mouth and she felt much better. Her mother used to give her these when she was unhappy. "You know what Garry..I wished i had a big brother like you..."

"I will act as one now then." He smiled gently. " I will protect you until you find your parents."

Garry took her tiny hand and together they walked further down the hallway which grew darker.

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"Why is it so cold...." Garry muttered. He was not a fan of creepy places especially after seeing walking dolls. Eve was shivering sightly beside him. " Cold? Here" He took of his black jacket and placed it over Eve's puny back.

"Aren't you cold too?"

"Nah its okay...a gentleman must always place the lady's wellbeing as first priority " He winked.

Just then they heard a sound.

A sound of someone humming. It was the tune of Green sleeves.

"Hello?" Garry called out hesistantly. "Is there someone there?"

"Sounds like a girl" Eve whispered.

True enough, a tall lady in a white shoulder off dress was walking towards them. She was carrying a basket in one arm filled with white roses.

"MUM?!" Eve gasped.

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