Truth
The Scream
“I’m going to push the other head off the table,” Tao announces behind Yixing. Yixing shivers.
“Why?”
“Because, I have this feeling…” Yixing shakes his head at the younger.
“Just make sure you don’t hurt yourself.”
Yixing follows Tao back into the room, not wanting to be by himself in front of the prying eyes of all the white statue heads.
“!” Yixing yells.
Instead of broken china, blood spews out of the cracked head, throwing specs of it on Tao and Yixing. A strange gas is emitted, and Yixing steps back, holding his shirt in front of his nose.
“What is it?” he asks. Tao shakes his head.
“I don’t know. Nothing, probably. I don’t know what to do now…”
Yixing turns back on his heel.
“Look, maybe something’s unlocked? Let’s just go back and see. If those statue heads keep multiplying, something else could have happened, right?”
Tao thinks for a minute, and nods at Yixing’s suggestion.
“OK. You lead.”
True to Yixing’s words, something had changed. The portrait entitled ‘Fisherman’ had a new occupant. A man stands on the rocks, his rod cast out to sea, waiting. The waves lap against the rock, and Yixing feels that there must be something of a trick to this.
“What’s up with this?” Kris mumbles to himself. He’s exited the marked room, and he’s back in the main part of the gallery.
The painting has changed. There’s a hook hanging out the end, and Kris tugs at it slightly. He’s been carrying the umbrella for a while now, and it’s weighing him down. Although light, walking in and out of rooms constantly has tired him. Kris has always been fit, but with little food to sustain him for so many hours, he feels hollow.
“I suppose I could just hang it on here,” Kris grumbles.
He hooks the umbrella on the end, gasping as he hears the sound of a fish line recoiling. The umbrella handle fits perfectly on the end of the hook.
“What?” he shrieks.
The umbrella went into the painting?
“Tao!” Yixing calls, pointing to the painting.
“Look!”
The fisherman in the painting is moving, his arms moving quickly as he reels in the line. Yixing gasps as a bright red umbrella is pulled out of the waves.
“Tao, look!”
The fisherman shakes his head in disgust, waving the umbrella around, like he doesn’t know what to do with it. He seems to stare directly at Yixing, and within seconds the umbrella comes hurdling out of the painting.
“Ah!” Yixing shrieks, stepping back.
The umbrella lies on the floor beneath him.
“Maybe…” Tao starts.
He picks up the umbrella, dragging it into the other room.
“The portrait before… was of a woman without an umbrella. If it’s like the other paintings, things can come out, but also go in.”
Tao leads Yixing into the other room, holding the umbrella out in front of the woman. She smiles, her hand reaching out of the portrait. Tao gives her a warm smile as she takes it and opens it up. There’s a clap of thunder, and Yixing flinches. He doesn’t like storms.
“It’s raining!” Tao shouts, holding his hands out.
“But we’re still inside…” Yixing mumbles. This is too weird.
“I know. I don’t care, it’s nice. Don’t you think so too?” Tao asks. Yixing shrugs.
“Rain inside is weird.”
Tao pouts.
“Have a little adventure, Yixing,” he chastises.
Kris, finding nothing of interest in the room marked by a tree, is out of options. There’s still the door with the icy handle, or there’s the room with the weird fumes; he has a feeling he hasn’t finished in there yet. But the door with the ice cold handle is locked.
“I wonder…”
Things in rooms have changed in the past. The way the rabbit room became a room of depressing, freaky dolls is a good example. Kris mumbles incoherently under his breath, opening the door to the room with fumes once again. There’s a vase standing in the centre of the room, he realises. And, like outside, something is causing water to drop down from the ceiling; a light pitter patter against the quiet. That can’t have been there before.
“Maybe…” Kris utters.
He pushes onward, trying to breathe as little as possible. Like before, the gas seems to be eating away at his insides. Kris stumbles about, holding his jacket high. Once he reaches the vase, he’s quick to place his rose in. The water fills back up as water descends from the ceiling. Kris turns to the right, noticing for the first time a long chord that seems to drop down from the ceiling.
Maybe this is it?
He walks over to it, pulling it. To his excitement, air vents seem to open up above him, buzzing in his ears. The gas dissipates, and Kris smiles. He’s done it. Kris replaces his blue rose in the vase for good measure, exiting the room. Maybe this has caused something else to change?
Yixing gasps once he and Tao have exited the room, now back in the greater part of the gallery. Down to the south, where there were gas fumes, the air has cleared.
“Look, a door!” Tao calls.
Yixing and Tao walk over to it, finding it unlocked. They reveal a pathway leading out into another small room. This room has a single portrait hanging on the wall; ‘Aspiration’, as Yixing reads. There’s a headless statue that appears to be blocking a narrow passage of stairs, which seem to be heading downwards.
“That might be our escape!” Tao says excitedly.
“Can you move it?” Yixing asks.
Tao’s eyes turn downcast.
“I don’t think I can…”
“I don’t know what to do!” Kris grumbles to himself, pacing the corridors. The umbrellas gone, the gas has been dispelled, but still there are two places he has no idea what to do with.
“The door with the tree. I… I don’t know!” he yells exasperatedly. He hopes Yixing is doing better than him; he hopes Yixing actually has a chance of making it out alive. Kris believes he will die happy if Yixing is safe.
“I… I can’t think about dying,” Kris mutters to himself.
“I need to try that room again.”
Kris walks across to the marked room, pausing at the door. There are sounds, like scratching, coming from the other side.
“What?”
Kris inhales sharply, pushing against the door. The room has changed. The bookshelves that blocked one half of the room have moved, completely gone. Kris sees two small balls on the ground and walks over to them quickly, picking them up. Pink. Pink and red. How many balls are left? Two?
Kris decides that he will delve into the texts that the new bookshelves beyond the previous ones have to offer. He opens a book up to a familiar face.
“Tao,” he reads, “The last work of Guertena’s life.” he gasps.
Tao…
“While the boy appears almost lifelike, naturally, he is not based on a real person…” Kris slams the book closed, hyperventilating. Tao. He doesn’t exist? What does that mean?
“Tao… Tao is with Yixing… right now!”
Kris swallows, dropping the book on the floor. There is a thud, and Kris hollers loudly as a familiar sound resounds.
THUD THUD!
Kris stares at the ground in horror as words seep from the floor in blood.
I HEARD TAO’S SECRET
Kris makes a break for the door, slamming it shut behind him. He breathes heavily, pushing his fringe back exasperatedly. Yixing’s in danger! Kris almost screams when he notices the doll he left sitting by the painting of the hook has moved. There’s only one place left to look. The doll is sitting before the door with the icy handle. It has another note.
I picked up something good…
I’m making it my treasure!
Kris takes a closer look at it. Its stomach seems to be a little larger, and Kris presses his fingers against it harshly, accidentally tearing it open. An orange ball falls out. Kris picks it up, and the doll cries out, running into the room. Kris’ eyes widened. How?
Kris decides the only thing he can do is follow it, so he pushes the door open.
“No!” Kris yells.
They are all there; all the dolls. They arch their backs, staring at a small coloured ball in the centre of the room. It’s green. The last one.
“Don’t tell me…”
Kris takes a step forward, and gasps as they all sit there, eyeing him intently.
“I need the ball,” he mumbles. He runs forward, quickly snatching it up. There’s a strange chortling sound. Kris stalks over to the door, turning the handle feverishly.
It’s locked. A note flutters to the floor.
Let’s have another treasure hunt…
Who?
Who?
Who has the key?
A bell resounds, ringing three times.
“What is this?” Kris calls nervously.
The dolls start tilting their heads, slowly turning to face him. He sees the eyes, large and boggled, staring him down. Kris takes a step forward, and a doll shuffles from its spot.
“No!” Kris screams.
He looks around carefully, watching as each of the dolls wake up, beginning their trek along the tiled floor towards him. Kris sees one that does not move. The only problem is, it’s the farthest from the door.
“I bet it’s that one!” he shouts to the empty room.
Kris launches himself forward, getting swiped in the leg by one of the dolls. As blood pools around his ankle, Kris rips his fingers into the doll he thinks is the right one.
“There!” he shouts triumphantly.
There’s a small glint, and Kris scrambles back to the door, key in hand. He fumbles around for a bit, screaming as doll after doll pile themselves at his feet, cutting off his circulation and hindering his movement. Kris screeches as he loses three petals, each to a different doll. He’s got only one left…
“Got it!” he yells, slamming the door shut behind him.
A doll has escaped out into the hallway with him, but the second it leaves the confines of the other room, it’s life seems to drain, and it falls, crumpled on the floor. Kris crawls over to the vase, placing his rose into it gently.
“That was too close…” he mumbles to himself, still catching his breath.
He has to get to Yixing! It’s the only thing that’s left for him in this place. Kris walks over to the room with the empty pillars, placing each of the coloured paint balls in a separate space. He’s done it! He hears a click, and he walks out, finding a new door has opened itself up in the main section of the gallery.
“This must be it!” he murmurs.
He finds a short corridor, with a staircase leading up. Kris sighs. He’s having his doubts. Even though he’s come this far, what’s the guarantee that he’ll make it out of this place alive? Even if he does find Yixing, is there hope for them? He remembers Tao is one of Guertena’s creations. That must mean Tao will do everything in his power to stop them from progressing. From escape.
“I’m an idiot!” he yells at himself, taking the stairs.
Yixing needs him. Even if they do die, he should at least die with Yixing in his arms.
“Please… let him be safe…” he whispers to the walls.
Tao stands in front of Yixing, staring at him with wild eyes.
“Tao, is something up?” Yixing asks.
“Tao…?” Tao repeats, dazed.
“I’m Tao. I’m Tao. I’m Tao. I’m Tao.” He repeats like a broken record, and Yixing backs away slowly.
Something’s wrong. Something’s terribly wrong. Tao laughs maniacally, running off out of the room. Yixing watches him go, deciding to follow.
“Tao?” Yixing repeats.
He finds a new passage, that seems to have torn itself through the walls. Tao’s at the other end of it, knife in hand. There’s a statue head lying on the ground, but Tao is hacking into it with the knife.
“Tao?” Yixing questions.
“In my way! In my way! In my way! In my way!” Tao repeats over and over, running the knife against the head.
Yixing cannot believe that the head is fake anymore, for there are scars and lines of cuts that are seeping red liquid all over it. Tao has carved it up, almost past the point of recognition. Yixing turns around, leaving.
Tao’s gone crazy. He’s flinging the palette knife around in the air, and Yixing doesn’t want it to hit him. Tao is reckless. Yixing walks back through the corridor, but Tao quickly grabs his arm.
“Yixing,” he breathes threateningly into his ear. “Don’t leave me.”
Tao runs the knife against his tongue, holding it out in Yixing’s direction. Yixing screams, running as Tao follows. He goes back into the black and white room, slamming the door behind him. He fiddles with the lock. The room is no longer just black and white. Instead, a rainbow bridge breaches a gap, leading to a small table with a brown key on it. Yixing picks it up, yelling obscenities at the door.
The palette knife becomes embedded in the door, as Tao takes swing after swing at it. Yixing breathes heavily, pushing the door outwards fast. He’s knocked Tao over, and with the brown key he runs across to the other side of the gallery, opening another door as quickly as possible. He uses the key to lock it behind him. For minutes, Yixing lays on the opposite side of the wall to the door, breathing heavily. Tao traces the knife up and down, causing splinters of wood to fall to the ground. This door is much thicker than the other one.
There’s a thud, and the scraping of the knife stops. Tao must have given up.
“Where are you going, Yixing?”
Yixing shrieks as the door flies open, crawling across the floor on all fours as he tries to escape the dark-haired boy.
“Why are you going by yourself? We promised we’d be together…” Tao holds the knife out before him as Yixing scrambles away.
“Right?” he continues, his voice rising.
“Why are you running?”
“Xing!” Kris comes dashing up the stairs, flinging himself between Tao and Yixing.
“What are you doing, Tao?” Kris shouts. Yixing watches as Kris wrestles the smaller boy to the floor.
“Shut up!” Tao screeches.
“If you had only just been good and waited there…!”
“Tao, you’re-”
“Stay away!” Tao screeches. Kris pushes him violently, and the yellow rose falls to the floor, crumpling on impact. Like Tao, it was false.
“What’s going on?” Yixing screeches.
“Xing! Are you OK? Sorry I’m late!” Kris tells him, brushing his lips against Yixing’s cheek. Yixing feels tears fall from his eyes. He blinks them back, wrapping his arms around Kris.
“Woah… Xing?”
Yixing sobs into the taller blonde’s shoulder.
“Sorry,” Kris whispers reassuringly into Yixing’s ear, “It must have been scary. It’s OK now. Tao… he’s not human.” Yixing gapes.
“Not… human?” he repeats. Kris nods.
“He’s one of Guertena’s works… Just like the paintings that tried to come after us,” Kris explains.
“It’s dangerous to stay with him. Even if I had just been a little later here…” Kris shudders.
“What matters is you’re safe, Xing. Come on,” Kris takes his hand.
“Let’s get away from here.”
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