Michael woke up with a start, his body snapping upwards as his breaths became bated. He groaned as he wiped his hair out of his face, his forehead slick with sweat, he didn't realize he had fallen asleep nor did he know what had woken him up in the first place but what ever it was felt strange and unusual to him.

Unsettling.

"Ugh, hey Chrisk," he said as he wiped his face, "how long was I out?"

But he received no answer.

Michael then looked up, aquamarine eyes scanning the room for any signs of that familiar white hair or pale skin but to no avail. He started to panic. He searched the whole room for him, the closet, the bathroom, inside a weird room that was bloodied red with entrails plastered on the walls that he refused to wonder where they came from, even under the bed. But no Mr. Alabaster.

"Chrisk! Chrisk, where are you?!"

Michael felt his heart race in his chest, could have one of those monsters taken him? No, he would've put up a fight, a commotion would be heard, and he would wake up upon hearing it. But what if he got knocked out? Was he so tired that he didn't even hear the door open? He shook his head roughly and smoothed his hair back. No. He didn't need to think like that now, not when his friend was out there in the only hell God knows the inside of. There was only one possible reason that Chrisk wasn't here with him, in fact, it was the only reason Michael wanted to believe, and that was he left on his own, but why? What could've been so important that he had to leave and go somewhere in this hellhole by himself? Unless he was tricked. Yes! That must be it! There was no way he would willingly wander this place on his own unless he had no choice, but who took him?

Sans, the lazy skeleton;

Papyrus, the proclaimed brother of the latter;

Undyne, whom he's yet to see;

The anxious goat lady;

Or someone completely different?

Michael shuddered, knowing the unknown was worse than actually knowing and he wanted to know where Chrisk is. He searched around again, looking for any clue as to what happened to Chrisk or where he went until he stumbled upon familiar bowls of red soup and a sketch pad that had been written on, as he examined it appeared that someone had a conversation with another. Maybe Chrisk used it, but who was he talking to? He glanced at the bowls, they looked like the same bowls the goat woman had from before. Chrisk said it tasted like tomatoes...Hesitantly, Michael reached for the spoon and sipped from it, immediately spitting the contents out of his mouth and gagging. It was cold and tasted horrible! His tongue burned, throat itched and his eyes watered, jeez what did she put in that? And Chrisk ate it just fine!

"*cough* sh-shit *cough cough*"

He coughed harshly as he backed away from the table, his eyes burning as he tried to clear them, what the hell did she put in that? Michael cursed under his breath as he stumbled over to the door, there was nothing else in the room that would be of help, the sketch pad read nothing of where Chrisk could've gone, and the very smell of that soup was bugging him now, though before he didn't notice a scent. Maybe his taste was different than theirs. He tried to stifle his cough as he walked down the corridor, clearing his throat or wiping his eyes every now and then, he tried searching for Chrisk as he went downstairs, all the hallways looked the same. He soon found himself lost but cared not to try to find his way, even if he tried that was not his priority, Chrisk was and he needed to find him fast before something bad happened to him.

He would often wonder why he found it so necessary to find Chrisk, they've never spoken to each other before today and they weren't really that close either, he was just...there. He guessed it was because he wasn't the strongest in the group, he looked pretty thin anyway, and he was his partner after all. The Buddy System is dire in their current situation. And Michael couldn't find it in his heart to be mad at him for leaving, he must've had a very good reason for it. He didn't seem like the kind of person to just do things to spite someone.

If it weren't for those bloody creatures that wandered the hallways Michael could've covered more ground by now. They roamed every corner and new hallway he turned into and sometimes just barely missed him as he had little time to hide from them. He didn't know where they came from but he sensed a great danger when near them, they must be the monsters that damned flower was talking about earlier. They looked like something from a zombie movie. When he finally managed to find a secluded spot he sat with his back to the wall, groaning uncomfortably as his throat still itched, he closed his eyes for a few seconds before they snapped open upon hearing a conversation of unknown voices. He slowly crawled to the end of the hall and peeked around the corner.

His heart dropped when he saw two very different monsters this time, much different than the rotting walking corpses that he encountered before. This time it was the goat woman and a much larger goat person, taller than her even. This one was wearing a tailored suit but instead of long pants, he wore shorts that hugged large thighs snugly and showed hooved feet, blood splattered across his attire. His eyes were black and sullen and jaw was missing...

"My dear Torielle," a low male voice sounded but the man had no jaw so how could he be speaking? "How has the night been treating you? Are you well?"

"I'm fine my dear, I hope you are as well." The woman - Torielle - said sweetly.

"Sleep has not come to me, though I can feel my body begging to rest yet begging to resist at the same time. Have you heard? There are intruders running about, humans so I've been told."

"Yes, eight if I'm not correct."

He held his breath suddenly, they were talking about him and his friends?

"Hopefully they will be adequate for the ritual, do you not think?"

"I agree, would you like me to prepare the Soul Room?"

"Yes, if that is no trouble to you, I would like to catch these creatures before they escape."

"Very well, I shall get some maids to help me as well. I hope you find rest soon my Dear."

He bent forward just enough for her to kiss his nose, a soft giggle coming from both of them, "and I wish you stay safe, my love."

He soon walked away from her and the woman watched him leave, him turning the corner before she sighed loudly.

"Oh shit!"

The goat man was heading his way! He had to move quickly before he was seen! As the goat man came closer, his hooves clicking dully with the hardwood floors, Michael panicked and tried multiple doors before one finally opened, closing the door behind him just as the man passed, humming some tune under his breath. Michael waited until all he heard was silence again before heading back outside, picking up the pace as he rounded a different corner, he didn't know if Torielle was still there and frankly he could care less about that woman right now. The sympathy that he felt for her, however little it was before, had dwindled exponentially. He didn't like those that faked kindness. He walked and walked until he somehow found himself in the garden again, somehow, and the skeleton wasn't there this time. He was becoming quite annoyed with this house and its winding turns. He dared not to disturb the flowers there in fear that skeleton may appear, or someone else for that matter, but he did notice something that he didn't the first time he came here. A section of the garden where the flowers were withered or dying, almost dust, the grey vegetation led to an ajar gate, a dark mist emanating from the gate itself and what it was guarding.

He didn't know whether it was intuition or curiosity but Michael willed himself to enter the spooky gate, where he was immediately hit with a wave of despair and suffocating misery that it caused his chest to tighten and his heart to pulsate violently, every fiber in his body was telling him to leave, to escape this madness, but his top priority was finding Chrisk and this was the only place where he would even think of having a sliver of a chance of finding him. He will admit that the first thing that struck him as odd about the gate itself was that the plants were dying, Sans appeared to be the gardener here so why would he half ass his job and do it so poorly that a section of the garden was literally dying? If he was his boss he would be fired by now. The next area he stumbled upon appeared to be one of those tall garden mazes they have at country carnivals sometimes, only spooky and probably with the intention of killing you.

The only thing he could hear was the dirt shifting under his feet when he stepped and the wind howling through the leaves as they rustled in the cold breeze, his breath white in front of him and a harsh shiver ran up his spine. It certainly wasn't this temperature before, maybe this was why the flowers died. Michael heard a rustle behind him, not too loud, but it didn't sound like it fit the pattern of the breeze, he ignored it but walked a little faster. The eeriness of the garden maze seemed worse than the mansion itself, at least inside it was warmer, it felt like he was in a walk-in freezer, and the howling winds sounded like there were voices whispering to him, echoing in his head. But sometimes he would feel a sudden puff of air on his neck that made him think otherwise.

***

"Jesus shit, it's cold." Jack murmured to himself, rubbing his palms back and forth on his arms as he shivered tensely.

After he and Mr. Sandstone had entered the spookier part of the garden they couldn't help but notice the hanging curtain of dread and despair fluttering over the dead looking garden maze, the carpet of thick mist that laid at their feet and the constant feeling of being watched as they encountered confusing twists and turns that made them dizzy and frustrated.

"It's not very gentleman-like to curse." Mr. Sandstone said idly, keeping his gaze on the branches and leaves of the maze around them. He could have sworn he saw one of them move.

"Well if you haven't noticed this ain't exactly the place to be 'gentleman-like'." He responded mockingly.

"Every place is one to be gentlemanly, even in the Devil's Playground."

"And how am I supposed to act gentlemanly when I'm constantly being hunted down by monsters that want to kill me?"

"Firstly, you can show manners to your allies, I saw how you and Mr. Cornflower were acting on the bus." He rose a brow at him.

"Tch, I don't have to be polite to that bastard, he can kiss my ass for all I care."

Mr. Sandstone sighed deeply, "And what would you do if you had nothing else to do but depend on him? Keep up this snarky attitude and be the proclaimed jackass you make yourself look like?"

Jack looked at him in an irritated manner, "I would let the damn things kill me, he's not worth liking, and what did you just say about cursing?"

"Boy I grew up on a farm way down deep in the country, I know a stubborn fool when I see one."

Jack growled lowly as Mr. Sandstone walked on, his feet hitting the ground a little heavier than before, but the Redhead soon followed. The only conversation that was held now was between the howling winds and the rustling leaves. Just moments ago the bus driver was saying how he would give him a chance when no one else would, where was that compassion now?

***

Michael groaned as he continued to dust his clothes off, grumbling to himself incoherent words, if it weren't for this damned mist that suddenly picked up he would've seen the totally indiscreet root in the ground just waiting to trip him up, and he didn't exactly fall gracefully or make any human sounding screams as he fell either. Everything seemed to want to kill him, even the plants, or at least injure him in some way. Did humans really fuck up that bad that even plants want them dead?

As Michael continued through the maze he realized the fog and mist had become less dense, and the maze itself had branched off into a wide clearing. He didn't know which made the scene spookier, the fog wafting in the air like lingering doubt or the Blackwood trees naked of its wine-red leaves that laid strewn across the ashen floor, their branches like bony fingers reaching for the sky, for redemption from whatever hell they were trapped in, Michael suddenly felt nauseous. Falling to his knees and making very painful and distasteful noises as he heaved the contents of his stomach. There goes his breakfast, and maybe last night's dinner.

"Is that you Mr. Cornflower?"

Michael heard a familiar voice call his name but was too busy puking his insides out to see who it was, he heard footsteps come closer and a hand rubs his back.

"Are you alright?"

"Mr. Sandst-blaaargch."

"Jesus Christ Michael, the fuck did you eat? A dead rat?"

He didn't need to look up to see who that was, the sharp venom in his tone was recognizable enough, but he suspected the one rubbing his back to be the bus driver.

"Mr. Merlot, what did we just talk about." His tone made the question indistinguishable.

"We're not in danger now, are we?

"You know that's not the point."

"I don't care either way."

Michael vomited even harder.

"Shit man, you're gonna puke up your lung too?"

"I'll be sure to get it on your shoes." Michael coughed harshly, his voice strained.

After Michael was finished vomiting Mr. Sandstone helped him stand, his mouth now tasted like bile.

"Man your breath stinks."

"Will you shut up? Or I'll make sure the next round definitely lands on you."

"Boys! Boys! Please, don't fight," Mr. Sandstone put himself in the middle of the two so a fight wouldn't break out, "where's the white-haired one, Mr. Alabaster? Wasn't he with you?"

"I lost sight of him." He replied sadly.

"Wow, so responsible." Jack retorted sarcastically.

"We'll help you find him, just as soon as we get out of this maze."

But the fog itself was so thick that they could barely make out their surroundings let alone where they came from.

"That may be harder than you think."

"Ugh!" Jack groaned.

They all started to go about looking for an exit, or at least some indication of where they were, but all they found was fog, shrubbery and the annoyance of returning to the very spot they met. They searched for almost an hour before they took a break, it was gradually becoming harder to breathe. The boys sat on the ground as Mr. Sandstone continued to search, at least now he could concentrate more on their escape rather than listen to them bicker, though he knows it would be better to have one of them with him to stop the bickering altogether he didn't want to leave one by himself. He sighed deeply as he tried to clear his head, he was still pretty shaken up by the encounter with the vicious mermaids and his frequent water dunkings and his ears won't stop popping, but now he had others to worry about. He just hopes the others were okay, especially Vivi, last time he saw her she was about to be attacked by those humanoid looking things.

In an almost dazed look, he was really tired, he began to stare at the trees that were trapped here with them, he had never seen trees with leaves such an intense luscious red. Usually fall leaves were the closest to red but then they were brittle and could wither away with the slightest breeze. Though it also seemed odd for healthy-looking leaves to lay on the floor in heaps. He walked closer to the trees and noticed each of them were carved with an X on its bark, marking...something.

"You alright?"

"GUH!"

Mr. Sandstone shrieked and flinched as he heard Jack suddenly talk right beside him, holding his chest tightly as he panted.

"Please don't do that again."

"My bad." He laughed slightly.

"I told you not to scare him," Michael said as he walked to the duo, crossing his arms as he tutted.

"I didn't do it on purpose." He lied.

"Anyway, have you guys found any clues yet?"

"Nah," Jack said.

"I saw a different type of tree earlier."

"You did? When?"

"Walking over here, it looked small and it had a dugout in it."

"...and you saw this when you were walking over here?" Mr. Sandstone looked at him dumbfoundedly, Micahel nodded.

"Then why the fuck didn't you say anything earlier?!!" Jack fumed.

"Do you not understand that I just saw it?"

"Look let's just go find it, yeah? Can you show us where?" Michael hummed a 'yes' as he motioned for everyone to follow him.

"That's so much bullshit," Jack mumbled.

They all followed Michael into another creepy part of the garden, they could say it was creepier but they would also say it was better than being inside the old mansion, while he led them they couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. It wasn't long before they reached the tree he was talking about earlier, there was a very noticeable difference between this and the rest of them as it had vibrant white leaves and a reddish trunk, how they could miss the stark contrast before was unknown but now they had another puzzle before them.

"Wonder if Sans planted these..."

"What was that?" Mr. Sandstone asked.

"Hmm? Oh, there was this monster me and Chrisk met a while back named Sans and-"

"Wait, wait, wait," Jack interrupted, "you met a monster, and it didn't try to kill you?"

"Actually we met two, but he was more annoying." Michael groaned.

"Oh great, now they're playing 'favourites'." Jack stated sarcastically.

"Was he hostile?" The bus driver asked.

"Nah...well I can't really say that he just has an off sense to him. Like something's wrong with him, you'll know if you actually see him."

"Oh really? Maybe there are some monsters that were nice-...docile."

Jack rolled his eyes as he ignored the conversation behind him, how could they possibly believe that those bloodthirsty things were 'docile'? They tried to kill them for God's sake! Instead of letting his blood boil once again he focused his attention on the tree, it was definitely smaller than the rest for sure, but the square impression in it reminded him of something. He patted his pockets and took out the slab from the bathroom, doubting himself before slipping it into the impression, it fitted perfectly. But nothing happened.

"Guess that didn't work." He said to himself.

An overhead rustling brought their attention to the trees, for some reason it sounded different from the wind in the leaves.

"I think it was about time we leave." Mr. Sandstone eyed the trees warily. 

A deep rumbling that seemed to resonate in the very ground itself shook the trio and even the trees, like the growl of a feral predator, the trio could feel their hearts pound in their chest and warning bells rang in the head, a pair of sky blue eyes stared down at them with the most malice they've ever seen and a glowing blue jagged grin appeared below them. The men's faces paled.

"Well shit."