I Are Cat

Leta arose from the bench to stand beside him. Her head barely came up above his stomach. She'd always been small. "Tell me Mr. Matthews," She said tucking a soaked strand of white behing her elfish ear, "Where is it we'll be going?". She blinked a few times to clear them of the raindrops that had settled in her long lashes. She held tight to his hand as they both began to walk down the paved street of the city. It could get dangerous at night. But it seemed that that time was passing for in the east, just over its horizon, you could see the first rays of the sun peeking out. It was as if the world was waking from a sleep. Even the rain was even beginning to lessen.

Leta raised one eyebrow. She knew very well how limited her options were. Her fingers played childishly with the ends of her hair as she thought. She could go back to her house and live out her days in misery there. Live here in the park where she would suffer for the rest of her life, less so than her home. Or she could take this strangers hand and travel the world, see new and strange places. But he could also be dangerous. She'd always been a very clever girl. She didn't trust very easily. Perhaps this man wished to kidnap her and do with her as he would. Could she really trust him not to do that? Yes. Of course she could. This man was her hero. He'd already been so kind to her. "I'd say yes." She looked up at him her bright blue eyes filled with her decision. It was one she'd thought through and had made whole heartedly. Now all she had to do was follow through. She gave him a small smile. It was a weak one that was full of pain, yet still it was a beacon of hope in the girls dark world.

"Thank you" She said looking down at his hand clasped around hers. It was nice and dry. She looked back at him watching the movements his mouth made as he asked her another question. She thought back to how a lamp had barely missed her face as she ran from the door. Trying to escape the horrid screaming and yelling of her so called parents. They were spiteful people without and ounce of love in their heart other than the love for themselves. "I....I cant go home..." She looked away from him ashamed of her cowardice. "These conditions here are better than the ones back home." She sneezed a few times before having a bout of coughing. It nearly drove her into a fit. Surely by now shed caught herself a good cold.

The young girl stood from the ground. Not bothering to wipe the dirt and grass from her rain soaked pants. She placed a soft palm on the mans cheek as if to prove by some means of physicality that he really existed. "Oh Ceres speak again for I truly believe that I am looking at a ghost now. For if you are real then perhaps you would hear me and reply. Otherwise I must believe that I have gone far past madness." She hadnt yet dropped her hand and decided to do so now. She looked deep into his grey eyes looking for that spark of life that shed always seen in her dreams. There it was clear as day. As if something within him just shone out of those fogged windows to the soul. "I am Leta, Leta Saunders." She said with a steady voice. It was clear and musical. Unlike the shy shakiness it had exhibited before. It made her seem more...divine.

The girl sat up so quickly that the water on the bench caused her to slide off into the dirt and grass. "Who are you?" She asked her blue eyes wide with terror. There were no such thing as friendly people in her world. Here everyone wanted something from you and would use any means to get it. She searched the mans face for any sign of his ulterior motives. She looked into his eyes. Blue against grey. Her faced turned from terror to complete horror. "Blind man." She whispered her breath a cloud in the cold weather. Was this possibly the act of god answering her? Could this possibly be her way out? Or was this simply the hallucinations from a case of hypothermia that shed most likely developed by now? The young girls head was swimming around, more like drowning, in a pool of wich all the answers were on a far away shore.

The young girl looked over to the small bench in the center of the park. Shed slept there for many nights. Perhaps she should spend the night there again. Or maybe she should return to the raucous house and face her punishment as it was. After all no one could run forever. Not even the blind man. Now when we say the blind man were quite positive he isnt truly blind. In fact we have reason to believe that this man actually saw a lot more than most people do in their life time. the young girl had often dreamed of him. His slender black coat and green hair. She had often written stories of him. How he would traverse the galaxy, he was always searching, always running. Perhaps she was a lot like him in that way. Always a runner. The young girl made it back through the rain to the small bench. She flopped onto it exhausted. Further drenching herself in water she curled up onto its metallic green surface. She wished so much that the blind man would come for her, take her away with him. She wouldnt miss this place. With its filthy people and worn streets. Yes, she wouldnt mind a little adventure.

The rain was a soft patter on the grass. All things silent throughout the park other than the drum beat. It was amazing how quiet it was here. Much better than the horrific yelling back at the small house a few blocks away. In fact amongst the silence you could faintly hear it. A new sound had joined that of the rain. The sound of footsteps. Little blue trainers splashed in the puddles as they made their way across the street. Soaked was the girl who wore them. Her white blonde hair was plastered to her head and her navy hoodie was no protection against mother natures tears. Perhaps she was running from something. Theres no guessing what. But theres a large chance that she knew the harshness of that loud house a few blocks away. Among the drops of rain, tears also ran down her fair cheeks. Blue blood shot eyes rarely opened as she ran. She cut through an alley way in some hope of dry air. She found no such protection but stopped anyway. She was growing weary and if she couldnt find protection from the rain here then she wouldnt find it anywhere. She tried to wipe her face with the soaked sleeve of her hoodie. It was no use really. She looked up into the smoke filled sky with hope in her heart and a prayer on her lips. "Please, Make this pain end. If youre really out there God. If you really exist. Please send me some hope, some power, some strength to get through this." She looked down at her shoes in an utter and hopeless defeat.

Ib was confused. Mary sure did say her own name an awful lot. Ib looked at her from Garrys other side. Yes she was weird indeed. She allowed Garry to drag her along. She was getting tired. Being a kid she needed sleep.

Ib looked at her. "Your dress is pretty." She said gripping Garrys hand. Really the dress looked completely wrong. It looked older. Like it was from an earlier time. Maybe she was over thinking it. There was a banging coming from down the hall. That usually meant danger.

Ib smiled. She'd always liked the name Mary. "Im Ib. And hes Garry." She said introducing the two of them to Mary. The blonde girl had a strange palor to her face. She was a strange peachy white color.

Ib felt wary of the girl. She shrunk behing Garry like most children do when theres strangers. "Uh, Hi." She said peeking at the girl. She seemed madder than Garry had first seemed. Maybe it was just the oddity of finding other people in sich a terrifying place. She looked at the girls rose. It was a pretty yellow color.

Ib squealed and jerked backwards from the disgusting eyeballs protruding from the floor. Her own foot crashed into one. "Garry!" She shrieked. She was trying to climb up him like most children do when children are frightened by something on the floor. In this case it was eyeballs. She tried to rush on ahead of the eyeballs but Garry seemed intent on going at the speed of a snail.

Ib had been trying to peek over Garrys shoulder to look at the book too but he seemed to be purposefully keeping it from her sight. Hearing the click of the unlocked door Ib was confused. "How could reading a coloring book unlock a door?" She asked wishing she'd gotten to read the coloring book as well. But as soon as Garry had set it down it vanished. She wanted to pout the way that most children do but Garry was already pulling her through the door.

Ib slipped her hand out of Garrys and walked over to the table picking up the coloring book. The cover itself was horrifying and demented. She didn't even want to peek at the pages. "Garry, I dont think we should open it." She said fearfully. Though she was curious. She gave him a questioning look. "Should we? It could help!" She offered. The need to open it was quickly overgrowing the fear of what it might contain.

Ib nodded allowing him to go in front of her. Were the walls growing closer? The two of them could barely fit in the hallway now. "Garry...Why are the walls getting smaller?" she asked squeezing his hand she could feel herself beginning to panic as the black hands began to slither out. There was no possible way of avoiding them.

The door opened into a long hallway. Remembering the hands Ib tried to stick as close to the middle as possible. She gripped her tiny hand around his. She wasnt as scared now that Garry was here. Sure he was a stranger but it was still better than being alone. The hallway turned into a small room at the end. The only way through was behind a large statue. One that was refusing to move or budge. It was creepy. It was headless and wore a draping red gown. Immediately her thoughts flashed back to that of the painting of the lady in red.

Ib nodded. She got herself into a standing position and wiped the tears from her face. She really did feel better after that sobbing spell. They needed to get going. That was if they intended to get out of here soon. She pushed her chocolate brown hair behind her ears. It almost instantly fell back into her eyes. Her mother was going to take her to get it cut after they went to the museum. She almost started crying again but this time she pushed it back. There was a banging coming from the door they'd just entered through. It was time to get moving. "Garry, do you mind if I." She paused and looked shyly at the ground. "Do you mind if I hold your hand?"

Ib started crying scooting closer to Garry. She had felt so alone for the past few hours. Had it been hours? Or had it been days, weeks months, possibly even years? Who knew. But either way she had been terrified. She needed something to reassure her. She wiped the tears from her face sniffling. "I came here with my mom and dad. Then the lights went off and everyone was gone! Then I fell into that creepy fish painting." She was furiously trying to keep herself from crying. This was no time for tears.

Ib raised one eyebrow at the strange man. Her earlier impression of him being crazy came back to her. "We've got to get moving. Theres a painting dragging itself this way!" She said pulling on the mans sleeve. It was obvious that he was hurt but they had no time to waste. There was a door only a few feet away. She helped him hobble through the door slamming it as soon as they were through it. There was a small end table with a vase and a note."Often if you'll water a flower, in time it will heal itself" To Ib the note didnt make much sense. She took it over to the strange madman. "Im Ib by the way." She said gesturing to him with the paper for him to take it.

Ib had been wandering aimlessly for hours. Devoid of all possible hope she continued to press on. She just wanted her mom. SHe was tired, alone, hungry, afraid. What was even happening here? Was this all some terrible nightmare or was it real? The rooms had become as red as the rose in her pocket. It made everything seem more sinister. She stopped to read a painting. It depicted a beautiful lady wearing all red. She leaned closer to read the plaque but jumped immediately back to see that the painting was coming to life! It fell off the wall and there was a ripping sound as the woman began to pull herself after Ib dragging the frame behind her. Ib ,as anyone would do, ran for her life. She turned without any direction down the twisting maze of hallways. She ended up tripping over the body of a man. He looked oddly familiar. That purple hair, the strange blue jacket. "Mister? Are you alright?" She asked bending down closer to him. Se could hear the scraping of the crazed painting. but she was sure that she had time. The halls were narrow and the painting would have trouble with turning. "Mister! You need to get up!" She said shaking him vigorously.

Ib Walked through the room. There were two doors. But she could only reach one of them. There was a gaping hole in the middle of the floor. It was too big to jump. So she decided the rational thing to do was to go through the closer door. Inside was a bright room filled with paintings. All of them were bugs. She absolutely hated bugs. She tried searching the paintings for a hint of some sort on how to get out of there. In the process she had removed the painting of an ant. It was extremely lifelike. She decided that it was sturdy enough to use as a bridge. She returned back to the other room and placed the ant painting over the gap. It was perfect. She took a step onto the canvas and heard a squishing sound. The ant looked like it had been stepped on. That was creepy. She decided that it was best if she just focused on the door ahead. She opened the door with ease and passed through.

Ib stood up. Her side was sore from the fall. She looked around. Everything had a green coloring to it. There were paintings here too. Maybe she'd only fallen down some stairs. She looked all around her. No, there weren't any stairs. And the roof was solid. She stepped forward. There was a small red rose in a vase on a side table. She picked it up. She decided she should keep it. It just felt right to have it. Then angry red paint splattered on the wall, "THEIF! THEIF! THEIF" It was scrawling itself up the wall in her direction. She backed up running down the hallway directly behind her. She could hear different paintings screaming at her. And black, twisted, monstrous hands reached out of the walls at her. She was crying now. She blindly continued forward hoping for an escape while the screams continued behind her. She found a door just ahead. It was locked to her disdain. SHe beat on it jerking at the knob sobbing. Then all noise ceased and it was quiet. She looked behind her. Had she imagined it all? The door creaked open behind her. With fear in her heart she slowly stepped through. Keeping one eye on the hallway behind her. Just in case.

Ib gave a slight cry as the lights went out completely. There was writing on the floor now "Come below Ib. I'll show you a secret." Ib hardly dared to venture down the stairs but it was better than staying up here. Perhaps she could find her mom and they could all leave. She searched all around the museum. It was empty. There was no inhabitants. Not the slightest sound. She made her way past another exhibit. Seeing a giant rose she stopped. It was a beautiful almost lifelike shade of red. There was a coughing noise behind her. It sounded almost like it was coming from the painting. She was terrified now. She had to find her way out. She made it back to the main lobby. But the door to the outside world was locked. There was more writing scrawled across the wall. "Come to the water Ib. Your family needs you."​ Ib walked back to where shed see the painting of the big fish. She searched all around the railing. There was still no one to be seen. She took a step back and slipped. She could feel herself falling. Almost like she was sinking ever so quickly. Finally she ended her fall with a hard thud. This was no longer the museum....

Ib leaned up against the golden rope that was made to use as a railing. There was a creepy painting of a fish on the floor. She read the description, ??? of the Deep. Ib wasnt sure what the first word was. She even tried to sound it out but to no avail. She finally just gave up and moved on. Some of the paintings had even weirder titles. She found a second staircase going up to another level. She slowly climbed up. She could feel a wariness in the pit of her stomach but curiosity got the best of her. She looked to see a grand painting that stretched across an entire wall. She couldn't make out the first word of this painting either. She just decided she would call it world. She looked to see that there was blue paint dripping slightly out of the frame. Quite curious. She started to head back down the stairs when the lights began to flicker. Odd.

Ib stood behind her mother. Shed never even entered a museum before. Never had really thought to. Now that she was here she wanted to look around. She knew though that her parents wouldnt want to look at any of the cool stuff. She pulled lightly on the back of her mothers coat. "Can I go on ahead?" she whispered. Her parents were often strict. She was glad though when her mother nodded and shooed her off. She smiled walking up the grand linoleum staircase. It was almost as white and pure as the walls. She glanced behind her to see a man at the counter. He looked so strange with a long blue coat and purple hair. He looked like one of those mad men who often rambled to themselves. She walked a bit faster until she was sure she was out of sight. Colors. They were everywhere as she approached the gallery exhibits. She liked colors. The bright and cheery ones. Though her parents were usually ones to pick the scarier darker colors.