Copper followed Jack's command and ran as fast as she could, still hearing the growls of the creatures, the clinking of the chains and the angered grunts of her beloved, her lungs burned with over use as her hair and clothes blew back behind her but she ignored it. She had to run, get as far away as possible from that room. She ran down halls and another pair of stairs before she finally stopped, bending over with her hands on her knees as she panted hard, hot breaths leaving her mouth painfully as her body shook from fatigue and fear. Sweat poured down her face and dripped off her nose and chin in large warm clear drops as she fell to her knees, the keys gripped unconsciously strong in her hand as a different kind of liquid dripped off her face.

Tears.

Tears of pain, having the love of her life lost before her eyes,

Of hate, the creatures taking him away from here,

Of regret, for not telling him when she had the chance, something important,

And many other emotions she couldn't explain at the time.

She wept silently as a figure in the distance spied on her, completely oblivious to it, the figure grinned maliciously seeing her so broken, chuckling softly at her pain. Copper gradually stopped crying, wiping her eyes as she felt eyes on her, when she looked around she found nothing, the figure had hid and ran away before they were seen. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind as she stood up, she couldn't cry now, no, she had to find the others. She couldn't go back to Jack even if she wanted to, she had to find the others. With a determined look on her face she stood up on weak legs, looking at her surroundings, she was deeper in the spooky house, she could hear the house settling and other sounds in the wooden walls, creeping her out even more but with no one to comfort her she had to brave her surroundings on her own. She just hoped she could find some one soon.

Lightning flashed more violently now but no sound could be heard, she couldn't hear her own footsteps anymore, hell she couldn't hear her own breathing either, the keys unconsciously gripped in her hand like a lifeline. Though just jittery and scared, she realized something about the hall she was in, the interior looked newer than where she was before, like someone remodeled it. But why? This place is 'supposed' to be abandoned, and why the hell would people want to work there with all these creatures running around? 

She huffed as she walked more, using the wall as support, her body aching with fatigue from her sprint, her ballet classes were paying off but damn did she feel tired. As she rounded the corner she heard footsteps coming her way but the hallway was too dark to see if they were friend or foe. Her heart pounded in her chest again as fear overwhelmed her once more, she wanted nothing to do with whatever was making those steps. She went off in the other direction despite feeling rather tired, trying doors once more as she passed them. She could still hear the steps and they sounded as if they were coming closer and getting faster. She finally found another door that opened and ran inside, closing the door and locking it behind her, she huffed as she pressed her forehead against the door.

When she caught her breath she turned and looked, she realized she was in some sort of lab. It was dark and smelled of iron and medicine, monitors galore on various tables all bright with white screens, chemicals on the free tables, bubbling and smoking a weird smell, the walls were covered in diagrams and charts of different species she didn't recognize, in the middle of the tables was another with what appeared to be a body under a white sheet, dark red stains tainted it's color, she didn't dare touch or go near it. There were no windows but she could now hear the soft rumbling of thunder overhead. Cautiously she stepped forward, glancing at the different glass vials, test tubes and beakers that held different chemicals and liquids, she walked by a tall glass cabinet, squinting her eyes as she looked inside, barely able to see the silhouette of small things inside.

She soon lost interest when she couldn't see inside and she didn't bother to open it either in fear that something would jump out and attack her, she looked around some more keeping her footsteps light and her hands to herself until she found another plaque. This one was just above a monitor that was still on. She walked to the table to see if it could help in her situation, it read:

The prince and princess were happy despite their differences, they loved each other, genuine love, despite their family disputes. The King of monsters was actually rather supportive of their relationship, encouraging the Human King to see this as an opportunity to bond, but his offer was not accepted. Their relationship was then dubbed forbidden by her father and to be kept apart or else they will not be taken so lightly.

As she read the plaque malice was stirring behind her, completely oblivious to what was occurring behind her, the sheet started to slowly rise. A low guttural growl sounded from the figure as the sheet started to slide off its body and off the table, it was a good thing she was distracted. Torso torn open and leaking blood, intestines threatening to fall out, chest sliced open and showing a broken ribcage, no lungs or heart, head sliced open and half a brain showing, one eye gouged out while the other dangled by its face, lips and nose cut off, both arms gouged in several areas and showing muscle, tendons and bone, legs more intact having a few scars here and there if not for the right leg being only bone from the knee down. No genitalia either but could still be considered a man.

The 'man' sniffed the air, finding a delectable smell in the atmosphere, he turned his head to the smell finding Copper staring at the plaque, if he had lips they would be in a demented smile by now. He swung what was left of his legs over the side of the table, standing up and walking towards her. Copper started to wonder why the human king didn't let the lovers be, she was a very carefree girl when it came to love, she didn't care the orientation as long as the couple were happy but of course not everyone saw her way of things. Why didn't humans and monsters like each other, why were they after their souls now? Revenge maybe, but revenge for what? The monitor flashed off, bringing her attention to it as she looked at the black screen, her eyes widened in fear as she saw her reflection. . .and the man's.

She slowly turned around, her heart beating faster in fear, the smell of rotting flesh attacking her nose, before she could move the man grabbed her throat, hoisting her up in the air with one hand as she kicked and clawed at him. The man let out a breathy laugh, teeth chattering as he did so.

"Well aren't you a doll," he said surprisingly well, his voice low and scratchy, a hand touched her thigh and slowly travelled upwards, she flinched and thrashed even more when he reached her skirt, "such perfect skin."

Her breath got trapped in her throat as the hand travelled under her skirt, trailing her inner thigh as she fought more, the man 'smiled' as his hand went higher but that smile soon dropped as her foot connected with his jaw with ease. He grunted in pain as she slipped out of his hold, she attempted to run away but fell feeling a sharp pain in the same foot. She might've broken it. She heard the cracking of bone and looked back to the man, he had just reattached his broken jaw, she whimpered and crawled away from him as fast as she could but the man growled and stamped over to her, easily catching up to her and grabbing her hair.

"You're going to pay for that." He growled in her ear.

He slammed her face into the floor, effectively breaking her nose and leaving her dazed as blood flowed out her nose profusely, the bitter iron liquid seeping between her lips as she was flipped over. He wiped her face of blood with a finger and brought it to his, his jaw opened and a slimy pink tongue lolled out, licking his finger and he visibly shuddered. Copper fought to breath but the man was straddling her waist and using his weight to keep her down while his other hand was around her throat again.

"Even your blood is nice," he gives her neck a long lick before shuddering again, "damn you're tasty, but it would be a shame to let it go to waste. Mind if I eat you?"

Copper's eyes widened as his teeth dug into her shoulder, making her scream loudly in pain, the sound of skin ripping and meat tearing could be heard as he pulled away, a large portion of her in his mouth as he chewed but since he had no lips she could see as his teeth chomped on her flesh. He moaned and made weird noises as he chewed, swallowing a while after but, since he technically had no torso or chest, the chewed meat travelled down his throat and fell out his chest, landing between them as she stared on horror and he drooped his shoulders.

"Well that's a shame," he looked back to her with a sinister glare, "but that's doesn't mean I can't stop eating you until you're nothing but bone." He laughed.

He ripped her shirt off, throwing the torn material in an unknown corner as her bra-covered breasts bounced from the sudden jerk, he licked his teeth as he lowered his face to her chest, biting just above her left breast and making her scream and thrash beneath him. A bloody bite mark was left on her chest as he moved to her right side, doing the same there. He moved lower and bit her side, biting a chunk out and chewing that, she cried in pain as her skin burned, she felt like she was on fire, he bit and chewed several places on her body. After biting a large portion from her stomach, he would then lick the areas that he bit open, his slimy tongue sending weird painful sensations throughout her body. The pain was almost too much for her to bear, her head felt light from her broken nose but also ached from trying to fight him off for so long while crying, she yelped once more when he bit on her inner thigh, irritating the injury she had from months before and making it hurt worse.

The man seemed to be enjoying himself, torturing the poor girl ever so slowly, he then bit behind her knee, in the place between her calf and the back of her thigh, his teeth puncturing a blood vessel, blood splurted out her leg, splashing on his face and flowing out the wound like a fountain as she screamed once more. The man lapped at her blood like a dog in summer, shivering in delight as the metallic tasting liquid ran down his throat but out his open chest. He didn't care though, the liquid running down his organs felt nice to him, euphoric even, Copper on the other hand didn't look like she was to last much longer.

She could feel her heart start to beat slower, blood loss finally catching up to it, but each beat was harder than the next. It was trying its best to keep itself alive, to keep her alive, but it's efforts were in vain for she lost blood faster than its rhythm. She could feel her body get colder, the color in her sun kissed skin starting to dull, her eyes felt heavier, she couldn't stay awake anymore, her senses dulled as well, so much that she couldn't feel the man's actions on her anymore. But just then, when all hope was thought lost, the door slammed open, the man was too into his activity to notice (or care), her vision was blurry as she didn't see who knocked him off, only a swift leg kicking the man off. She saw movement of the two figures but couldn't tell who they were, she was so tired, she couldn't move, think, blink, or breathe, she could feel her life slipping away. Maybe she should close her eyes for a second, yeah, closing her eyes wouldn't hurt right?

She couldn't keep them open anymore anyway, seeing the blurred figures moving around was the last thing she saw as she closed her eyes. She couldn't feel anything anymore.

∆§∆

Mr. Sandstone gasped for air as he emerged from the grey blue water, panting hard as he tried to keep his head above the surface, he looked around and swam to the bank, crawling onto dry ground tiredly. He collapsed on his front, his wet clothes sticking to his wet skin, he groaned as he rolled to his back, staring at the ceiling. The place he was in was dark and reeked of something salty, the sound of splashing water could be heard as well as water dripping from the ceiling. He slowly raised his hands and dragged them down his face, pushing back his hair that was now wet because of the water when he was done, he realized something odd about his hands, something he couldn't place at the moment but it could be considered important. He just didn't know what.

He huffed as he sat up, taking a long look at his surroundings before taking off his shoes and wiggling his toes, tilting his shoe to the side and emptying the water, his pale yellow socks drenched and sticking to his feet, giving him a pained feeling as he rubbed his soles. He sighed as he took of the other shoe and did the same to that one.

"Aww, they're ruined." He whined, he could see the tread starting to detach from the actual shoe, the shoes were rather old anyway so he expected them to go to ruin soon. Just not like this.

He put them back on anyway, hopefully they won't dismantle on him fully yet, he just needed them to last until he didn't need them anymore, or until he found another pair (somehow), but just not when he needed to run or something like that. He stood up after a while and cracked his back, hearing those painful but well needed cracks echo in the cave like place he was in, he wasn't that old, just on the edge before his forties, he just had a spinal injury a few years ago and the injury would irritate him every now and then when he did certain things. And falling from 25-35 ft in the air into deep water was one of those certain things. He scratched his head as he looked around, what was this place? Was he under the mansion? How far under?

Then he heard a feint sound bouncing off the walls, it sounded heavenly, the sound filled his ears as he slowly walked ahead, it felt like he was in a trance, a sweet trance, and like he had to follow it. Though it was dark he could still see well enough to maneuver around the cave, walking more towards the wall to use it as a guide. As he walked the sound got louder and louder but also sweeter, it sounded like someone singing, a familiar tune as well but he just couldn't put his finger on it. In the distance he could see a beam of light cascading on a pillar-like rock about a mile and a half away from him in the middle of another pool of water, he could see a figure on the pillar but they were backing him, the wall ended and fanned out like he was in another room so he couldn't use it as a guide anymore, but he didn't necessarily need it anymore since the light was bright enough to see around him.

As he walked he deducted that the singing was coming from the figure on the pillar, but amongst the singing he could hear murmurs, soft talking, gossipping even, he looked around and found more figures. They looked like the figure on the pillar but different colors, they were shades of blues, reds, greens and oranges while the figure was a whitish color. He walked until he met the bank of the new pool where he could now see the figures clearly, they were. . .mermaids?? They had thick eel like bodies with short arms at their sides, their heads were in the shape of fishes and had fin-like hair in different styles, they all looked feminine, they murmured and giggled amongst themselves as they saw him, the figure under the light was in the same manner but unlike the others she had white scales, large spikes on her back and her hair a teal color.

"Is that a human?"

"He's male, I've never seen one before."

"He's chubby."

"He's cute."

"Me either, do they all look this way?"

He could hear what they were saying as they whispered amongst themselves, although he had some curiosity as to how come they had never seen a human before he felt rather uncomfortable under their gazes, something about the way they were looking at him. Where he was stood another pedestal but unlike the one from upstairs this one had a plaque on it. He walked towards it and it read:

Beware beware the melodic tune,
For whom it comes from will run you to ruin.
These beautiful creatures hide a dark secret,
But I don't think you'd want to keep it.
Though all these ladies are out for your soul,
One you'll find is not so cold.

Remember the keys you had up top?
Well lets just say you'll have to regain them.
To get the torment to stop,
You need to get them back from the white fish femme.
How? You maybe wondering to get the keys,
Well this time you'll need to keep on your toes.
One wrong step and it'll hurt worse than a sting from a thousand bees,
Finish the puzzle quickly to get away from these foes.

What did it mean this time? Why did he have to keep on his toes, and why were the creatures so. . .untrustworthy? The water between him and the pillar was decorated with stepping stones of different colors and sizes, the others watched him curiously as he walked to the edge and examined them. The girl on the pillar slowly turned to him, her bright white eyes looking at him curiously. She started to sing another tune and as she sung the the stones started to glow their respected colors and on the same pattern she was singing. Mr. Sandstone looked at her and the stones in amazement, she was causing the stones to glow, he also realized that as they glowed they lead to her as well. Did he have to follow the pattern? Why was she so important amongst the other that looked similar to her?

Experimentally he touched the first glowing blue stone, it making the same sound as she did, besides that nothing happened. Then he experimentally touched a wrong stone, it turned red and made a deep heavy note that didn't correspond with what she sang, she stopped and cringed visibly. Then, out of nowhere, one of the 'mermaids' from before lunged at him from below the water's surface, he barely had enough time to fall back and dodge the attack before the blue girl slashed his throat.

"Jesus Christ!" He gasped. The girl bore sharp needle like teeth in a menacing scowl before smiling, sliding back until she was underwater again.

Mr. Sandstone clutched his chest as his heart thumped rapidly in his chest, this is the second time his heart almost stopped for the day, he was not enjoying this. After he caught his breath he stood up one more time and patted his clothes, wait. The keys! He searched every pocket he had and even where he'd least expect it but couldn't find those keys, did this mean that she had them, but how? He wasn't unconscious for that long so how did they get them? He groaned and shook his head in defeat, it didn't matter how they got them but getting them back was, with determination in his eyes as he looked forward at the girl who looked back at him, she started her tune again and the stones began to glow again. He began the pattern.

Blue

Yellow

Green

White

Orange

Pink

Blue

In that order and more. Surprisingly he managed to make it to a larger stone that held no color or rhythm and it didn't seem to make the others peering just above the surface move either, a safe haven maybe? He panted as he held his knees, sweat dripping off his nose, it wasn't that far but damn it took a lot out of him.

"I wasn't made for this horse dung." He mumbled under his breath.

He huffed one last time before taking a deep breath and standing straight, he could hear the others starting to murmur again.

"He's gotten far."

"I hope he dies."

"I wonder how his soul will taste."

"How could he get so far with such a fat body?"

"I can't wait to eat him up."

"He's so fat, I hope he slips."

"Die fatso die."

He became quite ticked with the ones that called him fat, he wasn't 'fat', he just had a bit more size than normal men, and despite being that way he was still a lot stronger and faster than your average football player. He may be big but living on a farm for most of your child life does that to you.

She started singing again, this time much faster and upbeat, he started once more, picking up the beat rather quickly, he was halfway there when his foot slipped and touched the wrong stone. Almost immediately, a mermaid launched out the water and headed for him, he moved backwards just in time as she landed in the water but his hand touched another wrong stone and another mermaid launched out the water. Every time a mermaid headed for him she would offset his balance and cause him to misstep, they smiled under water seeing him struggle.

Some caught him a few times, scratching his arms, upper body and face, one got him near his eye. When he realized that following the pattern wasn't going to help anymore he just decided to wing it, when one jumped out the water he punched her in the nose and she fell in the water with a pained scream. There was silence. His eyes widened, he was screwed now. He quickly got up and ran for the pillar, following the pattern was at the back of his mind, the water rumbled loudly as he picked up speed, high pitched screams sounded as they launched out the water again, this time with more speed and ferocity. They didn't even care if he stepped on the wrong stone anymore, they wanted revenge for hurting their sister.

One caught him and grabbed him, forcing him off his feet and they rolled nearer to the edge, they fought against each other as she snapped her teeth at him and he struggled to push her back. He pushed her off and sent her in the water, quickly getting up and running to the pillar again, they got more pissed now. They flew past him at blinding speeds cutting his clothes and causing gashes on his body but he powered on, he was determined to get those keys back. The girl on the pillar watched in fear but mostly astonishment, she has seen a human once before but not one with such determination. She was even more surprised when he started to climb the pillar even though the other girls continued to attack him, he grunted and groaned in pain as he continued to climb until he managed to reach the top. The others stopped and hissed at him from below.

The pillar girl and him stared directly into each other's eyes, his face bloody and tired and hers smooth and clean. She has seen a human before but it felt like it was her first time all over again. Mr. Sandstone saw the keys on a string around her neck, right between her somewhat large breasts, but flinched suddenly when he saw her hands raise, he didn't really have much room to move unless he wanted to fall off and into the water again. She slowly and reluctantly reached out and gently touched his face, Mr. Sandstone watched with bated breaths as she held his face, her surprisingly soft hands touching blood but she didn't care. She smiled softly to him, showing her needle teeth which made him stiffen again, she started to side causing him to lean as well but it was too late by the time he realized, he braced himself as they fell into the water. The others swarming them quickly.

Muahahaahahahha!! Another cliffhanger, bwuahahahaha!

Do you think Copper and Mr. Sandstone are going to survive?

Who do you think is going to die first?

Commenting and voting are recommended and following is optional.

Until next time :3