Henry helped Marie up from the couch, put her bra back on and put his pants back on and they cautiously looked around. Once the dust settled and they moved away from the broken wood pieces, they saw something that shook them to their core. Besides the ominous He Will Set Us Free message scrawled in the same manner as the message on the first floor, there were upside down pentagrams everywhere with lit up candles at each point. Upon further inspection, there were a lot of cut outs of that impish cat they saw earlier. The candles made his smile look more creepier than ever. Once they went through a few hallways and passed some strategically placed coffins, they saw they were in what was once a functional music department. The wall even had designs of music notes and records and a speaker on top. While they were (trying) to admire the artwork, they suddenly heard backwards music playing from the speaker. “The hell…!” Marie gasped. “I think someone knows we are here.” “Shh, quiet,” Henry said hurriedly. Footsteps, followed by a voice: “Sheep, sheep, it’s time for sleep. Rest your head, it's time for bed.” Someone was saying this rhyme over and over again like they were in a trance. It definitely wasn’t coming from the speaker either. They looked around, but couldn’t see where the disembodied voice was coming from. “We need to get away from whoever is singing that..rhyme or whatever that is.” Henry said. Marie glanced around. “Look! Stairs!” She pointed. They both hopped up the short flight of stairs only to be met with a projector facing outward over a balcony to a big screen. When they looked below, there was an orchestra set up and some musical instruments off to the side. They saw a piano, bass, banjo, drum, and violin. “Sheep, sheep, it’s time for sleep. Rest your head, it’s time for bed. In the morning, you may wake. Or in the morning, you’ll be dead.” they heard from the bottom of the stairs. “That thing for sure wants to kill us.” They heard the creaking of footsteps coming up the stairs. Henry and Marie huddled close together. They knew they couldn’t jump from the balcony without breaking their ankles. They were just going to have to deal with whatever was coming for them. What they saw got them awestruck; they were greeted by a 6 foot overall, no shirt wearing, masked...creature. The mask was of that same impish cat they saw earlier, but this...creature’s mask had a hole punched out where his mouth was presumably at and the ink was smudged on the mask. Also, this creature’s skin was all...inky and tarry looking. Henry and Marie would have gawked a little longer if it weren’t for the ax that the creature was wielding. The creature looked between the two cowering humans. Then he spoke with a certain rhythmic cadence, “Ah, two sheep ready to be put to sleep.” He raised his ax. “My savior will be pleased. Love requires a sacrifice...can I get an amen?” He wielded the ax even higher. “I said, can I get an amen?” He asked adamantly. The creature was about to put down the ax in Henry’s head-”Wait!” Marie bravely stepped in front of Henry. Surprisingly, the creature stopped midway. “You can’t kill him. I love him.” Marie continued. “It’s not fair. We accidentally fell down here while we were uhh...sitting on a couch. We don’t know where we are. We were trying to leave. And now you are here about to kill us.” The creature stood and listened. “Please just let us go. Tell us how to get out and we will never tell anyone about this place.” Then the creature unexpectedly laughed which made both of them very uncomfortable. “Ah yes, true love is it then? Then that gives me more of a reason to sacrifice the both of you to my inky savior! He WILL set me free! He will-” But then the creature stopped his tirade. He looked at Marie up and down. She reminded him of someone he liked long ago….before his transformation. What was her name...ah yes, Susie Campbell. He had always wanted to go out with her, but the owner, Joey Drew, was sweet on her and he always had her in his office talking about “new projects”. Bullshit! The thought made him enraged...but he had an opportunity here. Since his transformation, he, Sammy Lawrence, hadn’t really thought about women or the last time he actually held a woman in his arms. This lady was the same height as Susie too, short in stature. And she displayed bravery. He remembered that feistiness that Susie had. That’s why he was drawn to her. And now...he felt drawn to this woman in front of him. But what of the ink demon? He must sacrifice the two! No! He had urges to fulfill. He had been in this inky body for so damn long! He was hideous! He used to look decent. He always caught quick side glances from Susie before. Maybe this human woman in front of him can make him feel like the man he once was? “You!” Sammy pointed to Henry. “What?” Henry said, a bit irritated. “Follow Me! Now!” Sammy poked the ax handle in Henry’s back. “You,” Sammy gestured to Marie,”You stay here! If not, he will meet the other part of the ax.” Marie put her hands up in submission, “Fine, fine!” Sammy closely followed Henry to a nearby coffin. “Oh, no, I’m not going in there!” Henry argued. “Yes, you are!” Sammy growled. Without hesitation, Sammy hit Henry over the head with a dustpan from the janitor’s closet and pushed him into a wooden coffin. It had a tiny area to look out (or breathe) from. The coffin was locked up nice and tight. Then the coffin went from an upright position to a flat position, that Sammy dragged across the creaky wooden floor. The dragging felt like forever, but then it stopped in the sacrifice room unbeknownst to a passed out Henry.
Sammy took Marie firmly by the hand, still wielding the ax over his shoulder. Marie focused her gaze above her. She saw a sign that read Office of Sammy Lawrence: Music Department Director. Music Director? Sammy glimpsed at Marie looking at the sign. “I...used to be one here. I haven’t picked up an instrument in a long time. The banjo was my favorite instrument, but I can play all of them. At least I used to anyway.” There was a hint of sadness and regret in his voice. Marie was still scared, but she had always had a good heart and she felt a bit bad for this...inky guy. “So, where are you taking me?” Marie said with a lump in her throat. “You’ll see. Wait. Let me get something.” Sammy disappeared from view for a second and then grabbed a banjo. Marie stiffened for a second. Is this dude going to serenade me to death or what? “Come”, he grabbed Marie’s hand. She noticed he only had 4 inky fingers. Weird. She soon saw they were going into his small office. Inside was the same scrawled inky writing they saw earlier, but this time it read, It’s Time To Believe. This guy was really creepy. He seemed to be obsessed with some..thing! “Please..sit,” Sammy gestured to a wooden chair. Marie did so carefully. Sammy sat across from her with the banjo in hand. He played some snippets of old songs she had never heard of. She just sat with her legs and arms crossed half intrigued and half wanting to run away. He inched his chair closer which caused Marie to recoil back ever so slightly. Sammy seemed taken aback by her action. For some reason, it brought back some guilt from memories past. Poor Susie Campbell, when she was replaced by Allison Pendle, she was pissed and she wasn’t having it. When Susie saw Sammy with Allison talking about Alice Angel’s character and voice, Susie was awfully heartbroken...and angry. Shit. Horrible memory. “I...uh...did you like the songs?” Marie wanted to say yes, but she was worried about Henry too much. As she glanced around-“I’m sure, he’ll be fine, if not the ink demon will take care of him.” Sammy said casually. “What?!” Marie asked angrily. “Who is this ink demon? What do you mean take care of him?” “Answer me!” Now Sammy stood up towering over her. Overshadowing her. “You wouldn’t understand!” He hissed. “The ink demon requires a sacrifice and he’s coming soon! He’ll know what coffin he is in!” Marie screamed,”Coffin?! You put him in a coffin?! What kind of sick bastard are you?” Then, Sammy grabbed Marie and flung her over his shoulder. He went straight to the infirmary. “Put me down, put me down now!” Marie pounded on his cool, tarry skin. When she saw they were going to the room with the old cots, it dawned on her; this creature, this dude, might want to do some sick shit to her. Crap!
Meanwhile, after Henry woke up from being knocked out for a bit, he recognized his predicament and started pounding on the coffin, making the sides of his fists bleed. It was no use. What the hell was he thinking about taking his soon-to-be wife to this place? How stupid could he be? Who knows if that creature hacked her up. No. He couldn’t think about that….too dark. He had to keep his hopes up or else.... Then he heard it. Some other kind footsteps not from the heavy boots of the masked creature. Low growling. Could it be those old pipes? It felt different. Evil even. Like something that would want to tear you apart in a moment. Henry closed his eyes and waited for whatever it was to rip open the coffin and consume him.
Meanwhile, in the infirmary, Marie was struggling on the cot against Sammy’s weight. “Please stop moving, I just, I just want to look at you. Hold you. I haven’t held a woman in many years.” Marie defiantly yelled, “It’s because you’re a monster. No one would want to hold you back ever. You put MY Henry in a coffin to die! You’re a murderer.” Sammy turned his masked head and said, “You don’t understand. There was a reason you guys came here together. I needed a sacrifice to get out of this inky, dark abyss I call a body. I asked the ink demon many times to hear my prayers and He did finally. Your guys love is the perfect catalyst for my transformation to be complete. Once your man is out of the way, I will be a human being once again and then...and then...I will have you.” Sammy said almost breathless. This is madness. No way was this 1930’s railroad worker looking, banjo playing monster, going to “have” her. Marie, in vain, tried to push Sammy off of her, but it didn’t do very much. Sammy felt enraged for a moment, but he got an idea. He grabbed some old bandages from a first aid kit nearby, and started tying the bandages around her hands and to the cot’s metal posts. Oh no, perverted monster got me tied up. Shit. Shit. But, something else was happening. The way the bandages felt, her fingers pressing up against the cool rods of the frame of the bed, the yellowish light illuminating the room, this scenario...turned her on? What?! Why? Sammy started noticing her demure attitude. He lifted up her dress over hips and was breath taken by her lacy underwear. With an inky hand, he traced her stomach and hips. Marie’s breath was getting irregular. She was trying very hard not to get turned on. She had a fiance after all...in a coffin. The thought kind of made her snap out of her erotic state, but Sammy kept drawing figure 8’s around her hips which drew her attention back. She sharply drawed her breath in and closed her eyes. She was feeling her body betray her. For some reason she thought that if she closed her eyes, she could hide her lust. Obviously, this was not working as he lifted up her dress all the way up over her bra. The in and out of her breath caused her beautiful breasts to rise and fall. Sammy put his inky hand on her boob and then carefully put her nipples between his fingers. He was kneading them ever so slightly, but Marie being so sensitive to touch, felt electricity all through her body. She still had her eyes closed, she didn’t want to feel so horny now, it felt wrong. Yet, she found herself gently caressing her fingers over his abs and chest. For some reason he had abs that felt harder than they looked. His masked face seemed to look at her with longing. “I-I can’t do anything...more. I’m made of ink ya know. I wish I could please you more. If only I could-” Then, something happened.
