The Monster Multiverse

The Entrance

He had to keep walking. He had to if he wanted to make it out of here.

In the dying forest far from civilization, we see a man wandering through the cursed woodlands seeking for a way to escape this nightmare. Daniel was a simple man, with simple needs. When he was offered a job transporting goods between the city he called home and the neighboring one, he thought it was a stroke of good luck. He had wished he had stayed with his old job…

He had been lost in these woods for days now, ever since a a group of bandits ambushed him on the road. He was certain they would’ve killed him, so he did what anyone else would’ve done in his situation. He took what he could and ran as fast as he could. He wished he had stayed now, maybe if he had begged them they would’ve let him go.

His stomach growled loudly, making him clench it tightly. He hadn’t been able to eat much, since he was forced to use the little supplies he had in order to escape the horde of Beelzebubs that had begun to swarm around him on the first night. Now he was afraid of going to sleep, worried that those giant bugs would get him if he stayed in one spot too long.

He had run out of water this morning, and had eaten the last bit of fruit he had managed to keep with him yesterday. There were no fruits in this forest, no creeks, no ponds, no game, no bugs, there weren’t even leaves in this goddamn place. What in the world were those monsters eating? The bark on the trees?!

It didn’t matter. He was starving, he was certain he had lost some weight since the time he left his home. He didn’t consider himself skinny before, but he was sure that he was now.

’Is this it?’ he asked himself, pushing the short black hair out of his eyes before looking up at the gray clouded skies. ‘Is this where I die?’

The damned skies. They had been blocking the sun here for months now, it was no wonder this forest was dying. He wished he could find somewhere he could rest, even if just for a moment. The sleepless nights and exhaustion were too much for him, he just wanted to sleep without the worrying about the dangers of the forest, someplace that made him feel… safe.

“Isn’t there anywhere I can stay?” He sighed, “At least until I can get out of this place?”

His gaze returned to look forward, and in his eyes hope had formed. On the far side of the hill, he could see something that didn’t belong in this wretched place. A chimney, a white stone chimney was peeking just barely above the hilltop, almost blending with the grey ash colored trees before him. Finally, something good was happening! He thanked the Chief God, he thanked his dead parents, he even thanked the Fallen God and the Demon Lord if they were responsible for it, he didn’t care who it was from he was just happy to see he would live to see another day.

He ran up the hill as fast as his fatigued body could take him, stumbling on the roots and fallen branches that littered the forest floor. When he made it to the top, he wished he had never seen the damned thing. The cottage, his only hope for surviving another night and make it home, was in ruins. The ceiling had fallen in on the tiny home while two of the walls had broken down into the abandoned home, reducing it to rubble. The only thing left standing was the wall that held up the chimney and half of the connecting wall that still held the door. At the bottom of the hill was a broken down workshop with a giant wheel in the dried up riverbed. Whoever lived here must have left ages ago when they couldn’t run the mill anymore.

He dragged himself to the door of the probably once cheery home, and banged his head against it with a light thud. If he wasn’t so tired and dehydrated, he probably would’ve cried.

“Isn’t there anywhere I can stay?” he repeated to himself almost under his breath.

He raised his head, and took a step back when he saw something that was not there before. Just above where his head was resting on the door, a copper plaque was nailed to the wood. ’That wasn’t there before.’ he thought as his eyes fixed on to what was written on it.

“All one has to do is ask…”
-Gramps

He lifted his hand, stretching out his index finger towards the new item, tapping it once, and then a few more times to verify its existence.

It was metal, definitely not wood, and unlike the rest of the building it looked brand new, as if though it was put up just the other day.

He took another step back, not believing that something had just appeared before him, only to notice that another change had occurred. His eyes shifted to the door handle, for just above it there was a small sign made of copper as well that was also nailed to the door. On it was written ‘PUSH TO OPEN’.

He blinked several times and rubbed his eyes until the world was blurry just to make sure he hadn’t fallen into delirium, but the sign was still there.

Turning where he stood, he looked at his surroundings, certain that there must have been a pixie involved in this unusual prank of theirs. But there was not a soul to be found. He let out a tired sigh, turning around once more to face the mysterious door.

’What do I got to lose?’ he thought, ‘I’m as good as dead anyways…’

With those final thoughts in mind, he reached out his hand to grip onto the cold door handle. He closed his eyes and pushed the door open. Stepping through the doorway before closing the door behind him.

’It would be funny… if I did find something… he thought, as his eyes slowly opened.

The Lobby

The sight that awaited Daniel would have surprised just about anyone, especially a lone weary wanderer who had been lost in a forest for days. The vast scarlet rugged floors, the high hanging crystal chandeliers, the variety of artworks that were mounted onto the walls, the decorative low tables with their own arrangements of seats and sofas to match. At the very end of the extravagant room was counter with a service bell on the right.

There was no conceivable way this could be real, it wasn’t possible, he simply had to be hallucinating at this point, or maybe he had fallen asleep on a tree stump and this was all just an incredibly vivid dream. Daniel raised his hand up to pinch his cheek, wincing slightly from the pain he caused himself. Never in his twenty years did he ever feel pain from pinching himself in a dream… so much to his disbelief, this was indeed real.

A million questions went through his tired mind. How did he get here? Where is here? Am I dead? Am I still in the woods? Is this an illusion? Is this a pixie’s doing? What was going on?! Even with these questions racing through his mind, he could not help but marvel at the spectacle that lay before him. The calm and welcoming atmosphere, the craftsmanship of the furniture, the lighting without the use of candles, there was so much to take in that he failed to see someone walk up to him, until-

“Hello.”

He turned in place, looking towards the direction of the voice but saw no one was there. He must be going mad, first hallucinations and now he’s hearing voices too.

“Down here…” stated the tender voice.

He shifted his gaze downward until his eyes were met with a sea of blue. A young girl with eyes as blue as the clear skies was looking up at the confused man. She looked no older than ten, wearing an impeccably clean blue dress with ribbons in her long blonde hair to match her eyes. A white pinafore with a small pocket in front was worn above the dress, that seemed to be as clean as she was innocent. What caught his attention was her pointed ears. An elf perhaps? But here?

“Pleasure to meet you, I’m Lilly.” she said as she gave a curtsey with a smile so sweet that it could melt anyone’s heart.

“Umm… Hi, I’m Daniel.”

“You must be checking in, follow me.”

The young girl grabbed Daniel’s hand and led him across the room towards the counter.

‘Where am I? How did I get here? Was it the door?’

Once again, questions raced through his mind, even if he was exhausted he was still maintaining his rationality. It wasn’t until he felt something slide past his foot that he stopped asking questions and looked down.

‘What the…

“HOLY SHIT!”

The tail quickly recoiled back to its owner, her wings fluttered a bit before she quickly turned around.

“What is it?! Is it a mouse?! EEEEEK!!!”

Lilly jumped onto Daniel’s left arm and held onto it as if it were a matter of life or death, her face buried into his shoulder as she screamed for someone to kill the mouse. But Daniel was not able to process any of it, for the world had suddenly turned black for him.

Daniel had fainted.

***

“Uggghhhh…..”

“Gramps! He’s waking up!” yelled a girl’s voice.

“Is he?!” a gruff voice said in the distance.

Daniel’s head was spinning, and he felt like he was going to be sick, along with the fatigue and exhaustion he could easily say that this was the worst he had ever felt in his life. Whatever he was on was incredibly comfortable, and he probably would’ve fallen asleep if it weren’t for the rough hands that were lightly slapping his face.

“Kid, you alive?” said the deep voice.

“Ugh...I wish I wasn’t.”

“Oh thank goodness.” the sweet girl’s voice stated.

He wasn’t sure what happened, nor was he sure why the forest was so bright suddenly, but he began to open his eyes to be greeted by an old man who could’ve been his father.

Once he had opened his eyes, the gray-haired man let out a sigh of relief, leaning back and out of Daniel’s view. He turned his head towards where the old man had disappeared to, only to be greeted by a familiar pair of blue eyes that were filled with worry.

That alone would’ve surprised him, but what made him jump were the pair of short horns that were previously hidden under her ribbons. He sat up and pushed himself against the far edge of the sofa he was on so quickly that he almost flipped over it.

“Lilly! What did I say! Don’t sit so close to him, you already scared him half to death with that screaming earlier, the kid needs some room to breathe.” said the bearded man who was seated on the low table across Daniel to the young Alice who was previously only a few inches away from Daniel’s face.

“I didn’t mean to Gramps! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you! I was just scared when you screamed, so I screamed because I thought you saw a mouse and then- then- you just fell down!” the young demon told him, her hands held against her chest, obviously agonizing over what had happened moments ago.

But that was all she did, she didn’t tackle him to the ground, she did not ravage his body like many would say demons did to men, she simply sat there on the floor by the sofa feeling guilty for what she believed she had caused.

“Of course,” sighed the supposed Gramps, “please try to explain it to me. Your best friend is a Large Mouse, but somehow you’ve managed to retain your fear of mice…how?”

“That’s not the point!” she lightly yelled at the old man, “He screamed first!”

Gramps simply sighed again while he shook his head, knowing this would lead him nowhere before returning his gaze onto Daniel.

Daniel took in a deep breathe, eventually relaxing himself down onto the couch, but still keeping his distance from the overly young looking succubus.

“Take it slow,” Gramps told him.

He was wearing an old white shirt that seemed as aged as the wearer under an equally faded jacket. On his jacket was a nametag that was sewn onto it with a word that was smudged on it. If Daniel squinted he could read that it said ‘Gramps’. He also wore a pair of blue pants that seemed to have been made of some odd material. The man seemed to be in his mid-forties, a full beard, and was somewhat built for a man his age, at least compared to Daniel, especially now.

“Here.” said the man, reaching behind him to grab what seemed to be a small mostly cylindrical bottle of milk. He uncorked the bottle and handed it to Daniel who simply stared at it for a few seconds.

“Go ahead, drink it. You look like you need it.”

It was probably because he hadn’t had anything to drink all day, but with little thought Daniel raised the bottle up to his lips and gulped it down in one swing. A few trails of milk ran down his beardless chin as he swallowed the blissfully cold liquid. He wasn’t sure if it was because he was dying of thirst, or if it was because he liked milk to begin with, but this bottle was possibly the best milk he had in his entire life.

“Woah! I said take it slow!” Gramps said, but Daniel had already finished the bottle with a satisfied sigh.

“Sheesh… I guess you really did need that. Here, but this one, actually drink it slowly.” Gramps took the empty bottle from Daniel and placed it in the box located behind him, only to replace it with a taller bottle filled with what seemed to be water.

“What was in that milk?” Daniel asked, sipping the water while gripping the bottle in both hands.

“Nothing. It’s Holsty milk. Both a tasty and nutritious drink guaranteed to extend life, restore stamina, reduce fatigue, and build strong bones. Or at least, that’s what the guy who sold me the box said.”

’Holsty milk?’

At this point, Daniel didn’t care. Whatever it was, the salesman didn’t lie about its effects. Daniel already felt much better than before, his body didn’t feel as heavy as it did when he walked in and his mind was much more awake than it was. His body was still sore and tired, but it felt more like a hard day’s worth of work rather than the hell he had gone through.

“So!” Gramps clasped his hands together causing the keys he carried on his side to jingle, “Now that my nap has been interrupted and you’re not dead. Welcome to the Covet Corner Hotel, where we will tend to your every need! Are you planning to stay just a night, or do you plan on staying a bit longer?”

“Wait. What?!” this was probably the only sane response Daniel could come up with. “What the hell is going on!? A few minutes ago I was going to die, now I’m in a hotel being asked how long I’m staying? I don’t even know how I got here!”

Gramps chuckled at the young man’s remark, obviously used to this type of reaction.

“Let me guess,” Gramps began with a raised hand towards Daniel, “You were probably lost in the woods or something for a few days, and you were looking for some kind of shelter. Right?”

Daniel was surprised that the old man knew this much, but nonetheless nodded at his question.

“And then, you found a door. But you didn’t just walk through it, you said something. What was it?”

Daniel was still a bit shocked at how this man had guessed what had happened so far, how could he have known? Daniel tried to remember, it was just a short while ago, what did he say…

“Isn’t there anywhere I can stay…”

Gramps chuckled before finally responding.

“All you had to do was ask, so we responded.”

“Wait, how is that even possible?”

“Well, that a story best left for another day considering how late it is. So, would you like to stay the night?”

Daniel was still confused, how did end up here, who in world are these people, why did Gramps know so much, but one thing was certain…he was tired. He didn’t have much of a choice; if he went back he’d probably die…or get raped and then die. Not only that, but they are offering him a room, so it would be rude to turn it down.

“Sure, I’ll stay a night”

The Hotel

“Perfect.” replied Gramps as he reached into his back pocket.

He frowned, switching hands in order to check his other back pocket, but whatever it was he was looking for, it was not in either.

“Must’ve taken them out when I took a nap…” he grumbled, standing up and heading towards the counter.

From where Daniel was sitting, he could hear Gramps murmur to himself as he began to search the counter for what he wanted, and probably making a mess in the process of shifting everything around. But Daniel wasn’t really concerned with what the old man with the odd nickname was doing, for he was concentrating on the young Alice named Lilly who was now standing near him. He was still cautious of the demon, even if she seemed harmless enough, for this was the closest he had ever been to a mamono.

“I’m sorry…” she finally said in a somber tone, looking down onto the floor.

“Um… for what?”

“For scaring you when you woke up. I was worried since you fell when I got scared and wanted to be sure you were okay.”

“Oh… hehe… don’t worry about it. I was just surprised to see someone that close to me.”

He wasn’t lying, but he didn’t have the heart to tell her that it was because of her horns, wings, and tail.

“That’s why I’m sorry… BUT!” she said, raising one of her small fingers to him, “Why did you scream? Was it the mouse?”

For a ten year old, this girl was sharp. But then again, most children were if you paid attention to them.

“Ugghhyeeesssss…. Yeah, I thought a mouse ran by my foot and I yelled. I’m really scared of them.”

“You too!?!” Lilly gasped, her face in awe as she leaned towards Daniel, her hands pressing against the empty side of the sofa to keep her from falling. Daniel instinctively leaned back a little, but seeing as she wasn’t doing anything else, returned to his original position.

“Yeah, I pass out whenever I see one that close.” That was a complete lie, but he was too far in to say otherwise, “But don’t tell anyone, it’s embarrassing.” he told her, raising a finger to his mouth.

She stood up straight, both of her hands clenched up to her chest, as she nodded to him. Her face seemed determined to keep this fact a secret, as if though it was the most important secret in the world.

Gramps was finally returning to the sofa with something in hand. It a clear card, that looked like it was made of glass.

“Here you go.” Gramps said, holding out the card towards him.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“It’s your room key.” Lilly responded.

’Room key?’

Daniel took the supposed ‘room key’ and held it between his fingers. Although it looked like glass, it certainly didn’t feel like it. Daniel eyed the card, and put some pressure on it between his fingers to see if it would break so easily, but nothing happened. How in the world was this thing a key? It had no holes, no markings, nothing, it was just a clear card. He brought the card up to his face, maybe he had missed something.

‘What do I do with this?’

As if though on cue, the card began to rapidly change colors, first blue, then red, later orange, and just about every color that Daniel knew, even a few Daniel didn’t know. He almost dropped it, being surprised by its sudden change, but somehow managed to keep it in his hands. After a few seconds of watching this, the changing of colors began to slow down until it finally turned brown, and stayed brown.

‘What in the world just happened? This must have been magic? But why is it brown?’

While these thoughts were going through his mind, he noticed that the card was still changing. Something began to form on the top of the card, what began as a few dots eventually began to take form into something else. When enough of them had formed, he could read a number at the top of the card.

“641? What’s that?”

“That’s your room number silly.”

“There’s six hundred rooms in this place?” Daniel asked in astonishment.

This place must be huge to have over six hundred rooms. This place must be the size of a castle to have that many rooms with people living in it.

Lilly was about to say something, but Gramps simply waved his hand to her and shook his head. He would eventually figure it out. Daniel hadn’t really noticed there silent exchange as he was trying to guess the size of the hotel.

“By the looks of it, you got floor B1.” Gramps stated.

“B1? What floor is that?”

“I’ll explain in the elevator. Lilly, man the counter until I come back, alright?”

Lilly looked up and pouted at the middle aged man who just gave her the order.

“No fair, I wanted to show him to his room, why do you get to do it?”

“You know I’m in charge of all B levels during the night, and who else is going to manage the customers if I’m not here…”

“Fine” crossing her arms and looking away, she said goodbye to Daniel before flapping her tiny wings and flying towards the counter.

Gramps stood up and held his hand out to Daniel, offering to help him up. Daniel placed the bottle of water he had onto the table before taking a hold of his hand to stand up. He was surprised by how firm of a grip the old man still had.

“Alright, follow me to the elevator.”

The elevator? They had one in here? Daniel had heard of an elevator, there had been one built in his city just before he left and it had been the talk of the city for a while. One of the local lords had funded its construction onto the city wall, in order to easily transport heavy equipment up to the top. The lord was an oddly generous man, for after they built it he had allowed the locals to get on it and ride up to the top of the city walls with it. They weren’t allowed to walk around on the wall, but the view from the moving platform once it reached the top was one that would be hard to forget for many. Daniel wasn’t able to get on it, but he did see the wooden contraption being powered by oxen.

But even with those images in mind, he was almost shocked when he entered this hotel’s version of the same device. Although this elevator was much smaller than the one built in the city, it was significantly more refined and elegant than the other. The hotel’s elevator seemed to have been designed with people in mind, although it seemed a bit tall if it was just for people. The smooth floor and walls that seemed to be made of tile blocked any sort of view, but it was definitely safer than having one that was open. It even had flameless lights inside, just like in the lobby. This thing must have cost a fortune to build, considering it took a lord to fund such a shabby looking one in comparison.

While Daniel was admiring the insides of the elevator, Gramps pressed one of the several buttons labeled B1 on his side of the elevator, with the doors soon closing on their own. The elevator began to slowly move downward.

“We’re going down?” Danny asked.

“Yeah, we’re going to B1.”

Daniel simply gave a confused face to Gramps, since he didn’t really understand what B1 stood for.

“Oh that’s right. B1 stands for Basement Level 1.”

“You let people live in the basement?”

“Well… yes. But mostly because they prefer to live underground and whatnot. Otherwise they’d be upstairs instead.”

“Who in the world would want to live underground?”

“A lot of people actually. But, most of the people here aren’t exactly… human.”

Daniel raised an eyebrow, but already had an idea where this was going.

“In fact,” Gramps continued, “most of the residents are different types of mamono. The floor we’re going to are used in particular for those that prefer to stay underground or live in caves. But don’t worry, as long as you’re with me then no one will try to take you.”

He had to be joking.

He had to...

He wasn’t.

Great… now not only was Daniel tired and worn out, but he was now going to sleep next door to a bunch of sex-crazed monsters that could easily overpower him within a matter of seconds. He could’ve understood if it were a few monster, and even then maybe if they were like Lilly, since she didn’t seem to act very much like a succubi. But to have this place be full of mamono, he might as well have been caught by the swarm of Beelzebubs if he wanted to get snatched. The worst part was that the only line of defense he had against these monsters was a middle aged man that believed he could take them.

“By the way, in case you didn’t catch on, the name’s Gramps. Or at least that’s what people call me.”

“I’m Daniel…,” he responded, still wondering if he should just go back, “but everyone calls me Danny.”

“Alright Danny-boy, prepare yourself.”

“For what?”

*DING*

They had reached their floor. The doors slid open by themselves to reveal the floor Danny would be staying at. But he could not see anything. There was only darkness to greet them.

“Great… someone must have turned off the lights again.” Gramps said while leaving the safety of the elevator and dragging Danny with him. “Just give me a second to turn them back on. Stay close.”

Gramps turned left, and began to run his hand against the walls, searching for whatever it was that would turn on the lights in these halls. The doors of the elevator closed, taking what little light it offered with it, while Danny just stood there. He knew Gramps was nearby, he could still hear him mutter under his breath while hugging the wall, but he couldn’t see him, even if he was only a few feet away. How anything was able to live in complete darkness was beyond him, but hopefully he wouldn’t have to meet any of them anytime soon…

“Found it!”

*Click*

Danny was blinded by the sudden burst of light that hit his eyes, closing his eyes shut until they could adjust by the sudden change. It wasn’t that the lights were incredibly bright, but he had the luck of standing directly next to the light source. When he finally opened his eyes, it seemed that both he and Gramps had left the hotel and ended up in a mineshaft of some sort. The ground seemed to have been made of various plates of bedrock that had been levelled to make it easier to walk through. While the walls looked like varying layers of dirt and stone that reached up to the ceiling.

The tunnel was lined with heavy looking wooden doors, with a wooden support beam every three or so doors. And just at head head height, on both sides of the hall were the miner lights that seemed to have been lodged into the walls. Miner lights were usually a type of crystal that were capable of glowing and required very little mana so even a child could use it. It was also known for being fairly inexpensive; although they weren’t very bright, they were much safer than bringing an open flame underground and a lot more difficult to put out, or so Danny had heard.

Danny took in the surroundings, not entirely sure how they had appeared here.

“How in the world did we end up in a tunnel?”

“Easy,” replied Gramps “we’re not in a tunnel. The walls here were specially made to look like any environment of the owner's choosing. This entire floor is made to look like a giant tunnel system.”

“Why would you make an entire floor look like tunnel?”

“Residential requests, mostly.” Gramps shrugged.

At this point, Danny was about ready to believe anything the old man told him.

“So, which room was it that you got?”

“Oh… let me check” Danny looked down at his hand that still held the odd card Gramps had given him, “641.”

“Let’s see, and we’re by room…27…this may take a while”

The Ant and the Grass…err, human

This floor had more than six hundred rooms…

HOW?!

Danny couldn’t help but wonder how large this place was. Both he and Gramps had been walking down the halls of this floor for a while now. This place must have been able to hold enough people to make a small city if they wanted do.

Curiously enough, and possibly luckily enough, they had yet to bump into any other mamono whilst wandering through the expansive tunnel system.

‘Everyone must be asleep, lucky me…

Eventually Gramps stopped in his tracks and turned towards the door to his left.

It looked like every other door in this hall, a large wooden door with nothing too interesting about it. If it were just slightly darker, Danny might not have even noticed the doors, save for the reflective silver colored plaques on each door that had the room numbers written on them. On this particular door though, the numbers ‘641’ were engraved into the plaque, showing that this was his room.

“Alright, this is your room.” Gramps said, before pointing at a small slit above the large iron door loop handle, “To open the door all you need do is put the card in this slot here. You’ll hear the door unlock and you can push the door open after that. If you need anything else, just ask.”

“I will, Gramps.”

’Like hell I will…’

Gramps nodded with a smile before walking down the hall from the direction the came. Just as he was about to turn the corner, he turned his head to Danny.

“Oh! Almost forgot, say hi to your roommate for me when you see her.”

‘Yeah, yeah, say hi to the…wait, did he say…

“ROOMMATE?!”

Danny spun to face Gramps and confirm what he heard, but Gramps was already out of view.

‘GREAT, now not only am I sleeping next door to a bunch of sex-crazed monsters, but I’m sharing my room with one, how could this get any worse?

“WHO THE HELL IS MAKING ALL THAT NOISE!” boomed a feminine voice coming from one of the rooms down the hall.

‘Shit

“If I find out who the hell is made that infernal noise…I swear I’ll make you regret it!”

Danny knew he’d be in deep trouble if someone found him, especially a mamono after waking them up. He frantically tried to open his door, but it remained locked no matter how many times he jammed the card into slot. He could hear his neighbor beginning to unlock her door, making him panic even more. He didn’t know why the door wouldn’t open, was it broken? When he heard his neighbor unlock the door, he was sure he’d be a goner. He took his card out of the slot.

‘WHY WON’T YOU…oh.

He quickly flipped the key and rammed it into the slot, and to his great relief he heard his door unlock. With little time to lose, he pushed himself into his room and slammed the door just in time to evade the possible encounter.

Out in the hallway, an Echidna’s head can be seen peering out of her room in search of the possible source of the noise. Seeing that no one was around, she gave a triumphant smile at being able to scare away the troublemaker.

“Well honey, since we’re both awake now, how about we get started on round 6?” She asked as she closed the door.

***

Danny was sitting on the floor, breathing heavily whilst gripping his chest as his heart was still racing from the ordeal.

‘Phew, that was a close one.’

As he began to calm down, he listened to the silence of the room, seeing if his roommate would reveal herself after his noisy entrance.

‘No sign of the roommate, she must be out…or hiding…’

With that in mind, he began to quietly sneak around the dimly lit room, looking for his hopefully missing roommate. As he searched, he noted how the room seemed to follow with this floor’s theme.

Just like the hallways, the ceiling and walls were made of stone and earth, while only a section of the floor was made of bedrock. Only the kitchen had a stone floor, while the rest of the room seemed to have some soft dirt instead. Upon stepping on it, he realized it was a dirt brown carpet, and not actual soil. At least something made sense in this place…

’This place has a personal kitchen? Man this is too fancy…’

In what seemed to be the living area, there was a table looked as if they had been carved from a boulder along with a pair of wooden stools by it that appeared as if though they were ready to break due to their grayish color.

Seeing that there was indeed no one here, there was only one room left to check… the bedroom.

Danny tiptoed up to the door, cracking it open to peek inside.

The miner lights were also already on in this room, so to his great relief he could see that there was no one inside.

‘Maybe Gramps was lying, trying to scare me a bit.’

He let out a sigh of relief with that thought in mind, fully opening the door and walking into the bedroom.

Much like the rest of this place, this room was equally odd in design, the bed in particular. It seemed as if though a small crater had impacted the center of the room, the rim just reaching below his knees, and someone decided to fill in the giant hole with a large circular bed that could comfortably fit four people. He was almost surprised that the bed wasn’t made of dirt or stone. The nightstand and the drawer that were in the corners of the room were made of a similar ashy grey wood like the stools.

He wasn’t sure who decided to make a bed like this, or if mamono actually liked sleeping in these odd arrangements, but at this point he didn’t really care. He was tired, and just wanted to sleep so that he could leave once morning came. Closing the door behind him, he took a few steps forward until letting himself fall onto the surprisingly comfortable mattress. Maybe it was just because he hadn’t slept on anything soft or cozy for the past two nights, but this bed felt like a cloud to him. He hadn’t even taken off his clothes, it would probably feel even better without them on… but he was already lying down and could feel himself drifting blissfully into… a nice, calm… safe... sleep…





*CLICK*



‘What was that?’

Danny instantly opened his eyes and turned to his side at the sudden sound. He wasn’t sure what the sound was, but he had a creeping suspicion that it was…

*CRREEEEAAAAAKKKK*

...the door.

He froze.

There wasn’t anything else he could do. He could not hide, not under the bed since there was no under to hide in, and not behind the furniture since they were against the wall. Leaving the room? Impossible with whoever it was walking in from the only exit.

Not knowing what else to do, he just laid there, waiting as he heard the door shut along with the scurrying of feet. He could hear his roommate slowly getting closer and closer to the bedroom where he waited. He could scarcely see the shadows moving from under the door. The only thing safely separating him from his roommate was an inch thick slab a wood he considered a door. He stared as the door slowly, and noisily, opened to reveal whoever stood on the other side.

A woman.

She stood there, staring at Danny, who just laid there, staring at her in both amazement and horror. Before him stood a beautiful young woman, short black hair that could barely reach her shoulder, a nice slender body, and clear blue eyes that could even mesmerize the blind. Of course, even these ideal looks could not prevent him from being appalled from the rest of her features. The two antennas prodding from her head weren’t too odd, but the lower half of her body from the waist down did leave him a bit stunned. There was a large thorax protruding from where her bottom should be as well as six long thin legs coming from said thorax.

“Hi, you must be my new roommate,” greeted the Giant Ant as she approached the bed and sat next to the still lying Daniel, “I’m Melissa.”

She spoke in such a soft sweet voice, it seemed to have belonged to an angel; such was the voice that he felt obliged to reply.

“Hi, I’m Danny…”

“Yes, Gramps told me when I passed him in the hallway. He said you going to stay the night, is that true?” she leaned in, her eyes almost glistening in the low light of the room.

“Yeah…that’s right, I’m gonna stay just for the night.” he gulped.

If it were any brighter, she might have seen his face turn a slight shade of red. Even if she had some disturbing features about her, she was still incredibly beautiful to him, and it was making him nervous.

“Well then,” giving him a sly look while licking her lips, “we’ll have to make this a night to remember.”

Before he knew it, Melissa had grabbed Danny and pulled him towards her with such strength that he thought he would fly across the room. Instead, he was met with a soft pair of lips being planted forcefully onto his. Her tongue crept into his mouth, slowly rubbing against anything within its reach until began to wrap itself around his. Danny was overwhelmed with a mixture of both fear and pleasure, but what frightened him even more was that he was starting to kiss her back, wrapping his arms around her in hope of bringing her even closer.

At that moment, Melissa seemed to be the uttermost form of perfection to Danny; the way she looked, the way she spoke, even the smell of sweat and dirt on her was simply…intoxicating.

Feeling this, Melissa loosened her grip on him so that she may too entwine him within her arms, all while slowly bringing her left hand further down. Upon feeling something slowly rubbing against his groin, Danny broke the kiss to release a groan of pleasure.

“So you noticed?” replied the Ant with a sultry smile

Pushing him back down to the bed, Melissa began to remove his clothes to reveal his stiffening member.

“Still not there yet…I’ll fix that.”

Without a moment to spare, she began pumping his cock, slowly at first but quickening as it grew harder. When it had reached its peak, she stopped, bringing her head closer as she stared at the stiffened member as if wondering what to do. She stuck out her tongue and steadily began licking it from its base to its tip, enveloping it in her saliva. Danny could not keep himself from moaning as her tongue moved wildly about his stimulated member. Just as he was about to reach his climax, it was cutoff when Melissa stopped and sat up. Danny sat up as well, confused by the sudden change.

“What happened?” asked Danny, whining from his denied climax

“Nothing…I just want to try something...”

She gradually began to remove her shirt, revealing her curvaceously ample bosom. With a mischievous look in her eyes, Melissa gently nudged him to lie on the bed once more. She edged herself towards his now well lubricated cock, courtesy of Melissa’s saliva, and enveloped it between her breasts. She then began to massage his cock with her breasts. They were so warm and soft…Danny had never felt such-

“AAggghhhh”

He let out a sudden moan when Melissa unexpectedly began to suck the tip of his member, all while still massaging his cock. Correction, NOW he had never felt such pleasure before that was anywhere near as good as the one he was enjoying right now. Every now and then she would playfully flick her tongue the tip of his cock, making him moan. Soon enough, he could feel himself nearing his climax, his member began to twitch, and finally he unleashed his load into her mouth. She hungrily swallowed his seed, continuously sucking on his cock as if to milk him for all he’s worth. The Giant Ant sat up once more, licking her lips as if though trying to savor what she had just finished consuming.

“Delicious,” she said with the same sultry smile from before “now it’s time for the main course.”

She climbed on top of him, revealing her womanhood that was dripping with anticipation. She took hold of his member, and positioned herself on top of it, occasionally teasing it with the lips of her nether regions. Once she was ready, she gave Danny one last lustful stare before impaling herself with his cock. She arched her back and let out a moan of pure ecstasy as she reached the base of his throbbing member. She then carefully began to ride him, starting off very slowly as if trying to enjoy every tiny moment of it, then picking up the pace little by little.

Both of them were giving off moans and gasps of euphoria, just screams of sheer absolute enjoyment could be heard within the room. It wasn’t long until they began nearing their climax, Danny gripping onto the bed sheets as Melissa pushed against his chest for support. He couldn’t take it any longer; when she thrusted herself one final time against Danny, he shot up, wrapped his arms around Melissa, and planted a deep passionate kiss onto her. At that point, she climaxed and let out a groan of sheer pleasure, never breaking the kiss as she grabbed onto Danny. He had climaxed along with her, tightening their embrace. Both collapsed onto the bed, neither of the letting go of the other.

After a few moments of silence was shared, until Melissa looked up at Danny, a look of sorrow evident in her eyes.

“Is it true?” tightening her embrace around him “Is it true that you’re leaving tomorrow?”

Danny had almost forgotten about that, was he really going to leave? He had nowhere to go…and no one really cared about him, at least not like her. What should he do?

“I guess…I could stay…just a bit longer.”

Her face radiated with obvious joy, she closed her eyes and rubbed her head against his bare chest.

“You can stay as long as you like, as long as you’re with me.”

Danny simply smiled.

‘I just may take you up on that offer.’

Both lovers now just laid there, waiting to enter a blissful sleep in each other’s sweet, sweaty embrace.

END OF CHAPTER 1

Friends don’t let you do stupid things…alone

Today started just like any other day at The Covet Corner Hotel. The guests were waking up, wives and girlfriends were helping their man up after last night’s ordeal, men trying to remember what in the world was last night’s ordeal, and singles complaining about not having a roommate.

Everything was the way it should be… well, mostly everything.

As Gramps continued with the regular guests who had complaints about their rooms, or lack thereof a roommate in these rooms, he noticed that something today was indeed different from the others.

No one had checked in yet.

Certainly, there were those who were leaving and checking out with their newfound lovers or families, but by this time of day at least one person would have checked in. It was almost lunch time, and neither human nor mamono had come in to stay. It seemed like today would be a slow day for the lobby. Not for him though, he had to push those thoughts to the back of his mind in order to handle the complaints of the current guests in front of him.

Lilly had also noticed this.

As the hotel greeter for newcomers, she was left with absolutely nothing to do for the time being. She watched as people continued on with their day doing their everyday tasks as if though nothing odd had happened in their lives. It bored her. She sat down in her comfy little chair near the entrance that seemed to have been made for children her size and began to stare at the several doors, hoping for something to happen.

While she watched current guests return and former guests leave for their respective regions, something did eventually catch her eye. In the bustling movement that was the several doorways of the hotel, was something that stood still causing others to go around it… better yet, it was someone.

A young rough-looking man stood still for a moment, astounded by the scenery and various mamono that lay before him. A smile that stretched from ear to ear formed on his face, quickly followed by a light chuckle as he turned to face the door he came through. But he did not move from where he stood, he simply waited as he faced the door. Soon, another one came in through one of the doors, a smaller thinner man walked up to the first one. Much like his friend, he too was caught off by the sight of such a scene. They both eventually looked at each other for a moment before sharing a laugh from their discovery.

Lilly watched in disbelief as the two friends continued to laugh while they patted each other’s back. It was odd to see a human react so well when they stepped into the hotel, let alone two of them. Nonetheless, it was time to get to work.

Lilly quickly stood up, lightly brushed her dress with her hands, and with a little hop took flight above the crowd as she headed towards the newcomers.

The fresh arrivals were still taking in the sights the hotel had to offer, taking note of a group of succubi seated across the lobby. One of them, a red-headed beauty, noticed the boys staring and winked in their direction. Their faces quickly reddened before both of them looked in opposite directions as if though they hadn’t noticed her. The Succubus simply giggled at their reaction as she returned to her conversation.

Lilly had managed to catch a glimpse of the scene, but she didn’t quite understand what had happened as she landed right behind them. Clearing her throat in order to grab their attention, she began her usual greeting.

“Hello and welcome to The Covet Corner Hotel,” she announced as she gave them a curtsey, “I’m Lilly.”

Both of the men stared at the Alice for a moment, a hint of disbelief still visible in their eyes after she had greeted them. Did she say something wrong? Was their something on her dress? Lilly wasn’t sure what had happened.

“Is everything alright?” She asked, tilting her head to the side with a slightly worried look on her face.

“No, no.” said the slender one as he waved his hands defensively, “We’re just surprised that this old place is a hotel is all. Sorry about that,” extending his hand towards her, “I’m Joe.”

“And I’m Luis.” said the other, as he too extended his hand.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both” still slightly confused at their statement as she shook their hands, “Are you checking in?”

Both men looked at each other in bewilderment, neither sure of how to answer the small demon. They had not considered staying a night here. In fact, they didn’t know this place was a hotel until the young Alice had told them it was. Neither broke eye contact with the other, as if though having a mental conversation as they considered whether or not they should take the risk. In the end, Joe simply shrugged as his friend smiled contently.

“Yes, we’re checking in.”

“Perfect, follow me.” Lilly gestured as she began to walk through the crowd.

The bustling crowd made sure not to get in Lilly’s way as she led the guests to the end of the lobby, most of the residents already knowing that they were new since they were following Lilly, but only the single mamono followed them to the counter.

“Does this happen often.” Joe asked, looking over his shoulder and seeing the small group they were forming.

“Don’t worry, they’ll leave as soon as they find out what room you have.”

“Why do they want know which room we have?” interrogated Luis, eying the Succubus from before who had entered the crowd that followed the group.

“They want to know whether or not you’re their roommate.”

Both Joe and Luis looked at each other in confusion before replying in unison.

“Room...mate?”

“Yeah.” Lilly replied with a smile, “We’re here.”

The herd of people that were originally at the counter had already left, allowing Gramps to casually lounge around in his seat behind the counter.

“Gramps, we have two guests who want to check in.” she said in her sweet-tempered voice.

Gramps looked up at the two newcomers and gave them a friendly smile.

“Hi there, I’m Gramps. So, you two are checking in?”

“Yeah,” replied Luis as he looked over the crowd behind them once more, “I didn’t think this old place was a hotel though.”

“Hmm?” Gramps asked, raising an eyebrow at the comment.

Joe scratched his head before responding to Gramps.

“You see, there had been several rumors around our town that this abandoned estate had been housing mamono for quite some time now. The townsfolk have been getting all kinds of worried about it seeing if anyone would check it out, so me and Luis here decided to volunteer. Of course, neither of us expected to actually find anything, let alone something as grand as this.”

“Hmm...is there anything else to those rumors?” Gramps inquired while searching for the clear room keys.

“There is!” Luis excitedly responded, “They say the door is charmed with some sort of magic. It won’t open unless you ask to stay a night or something like that.”

Gramps chuckled when he heard this. It seemed the rumor of one of the hotel’s portals was mixed in with one of the town’s rumors. Well, that’s one of the problems with rumors, you couldn’t control what people added or took away from them. He straightened himself up, holding two clear cards in one hand before handing them over to both of the guests. They held up their keys, having no idea that they were keys to begin with.

“What is this?” Joe questioned.

“IT’S YOUR ROOM KEY!” a deceivingly small pixie yelled from the crowd behind them.

They turned to see who it was that had answered, but they were instead greeted by the eager stares of mamono. Each pair of eyes were fixed on the two room cards, hoping that their room would show up, as if though this were some sort of lottery.

Neither Luis nor Joe had noticed that their cards had already begun to change colors, quickly at first but gradually slowing down to a steady and visible pace. Both friends stared at their room cards, then at each other, down at the other’s room card, until finally looking again at the crowd of mamono. Luis eventually followed the examples of the others by simply staring at his card, but Joe’s gaze constantly shifted between his card and the crowd.

Many of the mamono had their room keys out as well, some being white or brown, while most were green. Of course, there were a few unique colors that stood alone in the crowd. A hulking creature known as a Minotarus was the only one who held a golden key card, while the sultry Succubus with hair as red as fire held the only purple card.

Joe’s card was the first to stop, suddenly shifting from a forest green to a dull gray. A disappointed groan could be heard as nearly half the crowd left, it seemed that no one in the entire crowd came from that floor.

Luis’ card on the other hand, seemed to have been toying with the crowd, removing only one color at a time before showing the available colors. It had long since stopped procuring green, but slowly it whittled the crowd down until there were only two ladies left. The Minotaurus and the Succubus. The card was jumping back and forth between gold and purple, decreasing in speed with each passing moment. The two mamono were staring intently on Luis’ card, the Minotaurus was practically shaking in anticipation, whilst the Succubus stood their with a calm certainty in her eyes.

Finally, the card shifted to purple, making no indication that it would return to its occasional golden color. The Succubus smirked at the outcome, glancing over at the Minotaurus who clenched her free hand into a fist at her side as a response. But the smirk disappeared in a few mere seconds, as the card seemed to have been engulfed into the void, leaving no trace of the radiant purple color it once had with that of pitch black.

Everyone was left speechless at what had just happened, even Gramps gawked at the unexpected change. The darkness the card held subsided only slightly, closer to a charcoal black, as if though to show it had finalized its results. The Minotaurus gritted her teeth, muttering something to herself just before marching away from the scene. The Succubus stood still for a moment, still stunned by the scene. In a single smooth motion, she put her card away behind her, somewhere in her skimpy outfit. She took a few steps towards Luis, latching onto his shoulder, and drew him towards her so she could whisper something into his ear.

“My room is always open, especially for you. Room 616, Basement Level 5… I’ll be waiting…”

She released herself from his shoulder and walked back to the arrangement of chairs where the other succubi were waiting for her, swaying her hips with each step to ensure Luis was watching. Just as she was about to about to reach her chair, she turned her head and winked at him one last time before rejoining the other demons.

“Don’t listen to her.” a gruff voice interjected.

Snapping back into reality, Luis turned to the source of the voice, Gramps, who wore a stern expression across his face.

“What?”

“Don’t listen to her. She’s just being impatient because she hasn’t found anyone... ‘suitable’ for her ever since she moved in. Whichever roommate you got is the best you’re going to get. So don’t get mixed up with others. Got it?”

Luis was still confused by what just happened, but nodded at Gramps. The old man turned to Joe with an unchanging face.

“That goes for you too.”

“Don’t worry, I got it.”

“Alright then,” his grim expression was replaced by his usual casualness, “well… at least not until you know you’ve got your own room. Then it’s fair game… but I still wouldn’t recommend it.” Gramps lightly hit his hands against the counter, “So, what rooms did you two get?”

“Huh?”

Luis and Joe hadn’t realized it, but their room keys had already given them their room numbers across the top half of the card. Joe’s card was written in a brownish sludge color, while Luis had his form in an elegant but ghostly white. Both took a look at their respective cards in order to find out where it was they were staying tonight.

“I have 135, what about you Luis?”

Luis squinted a bit as he tried to read his card, but it was not because he could not see it.

“Four… hundred...eeiiighty...seven?” He turned the card to his friend, who gave him a quick nod after confirming what he had read. Luis smiled in response.

Gramps raised an eyebrow… but something else was on his mind. He turned to Lilly, who was too busy playing with her hair to have noticed which floor either of the guests had gotten.

“Lilly...Lilly!”

“Huh?!” Lilly gave a small jolt and blinked before looking up at Gramps who had managed to get here attention.

“Could you be a dear and fetch one of the Golems in the back to handle the counter? I’ll be showing Joe here to his room, and you’ll have to show Luis how to get to his. Alright?”

“Okay.” She said with a smile, hopping off the chair she was sitting on and heading through a door behind the counter.

Gramps jumped over the counter, surprising both Joe and Luis at the sprightly senior, before he grabbed onto Joe’s arm with a mischievous grin across his face.

“Hurry, before she notices.” He whispered, dragging Joe away from the counter and towards a lone elevator.

Lilly came back out of the room, followed by a taller tanned woman who bore little to no expression on her face. The stone-faced woman walked up to the counter, turned her head to Luis and nodded, before returning to face forward without ever blinking once. She was quite the looker, at least better than most of the women in the town, but before Luis could question her about the odd markings she bore, he felt a tug on his arm.

“C’mon. One of the elevators are free. Let’s get it before someone else does.” Lilly told him, continuing to tug at his arm in the direction of what to him seemed to be an oddly well-lit and empty closet.

As the two entered the elevator, Lilly faced the series of buttons that were on the side looking slightly confused before looking up at Luis.

“By the way, which floor did you get? I stopped paying attention when half the crowd left.”

“I’m… not really sure…” Luis stated, showing her his blackened room card.

Her eyes instantly widened when she saw the room key. She blinked several times, hoping she was seeing things. She quickly jumped out of the elevator and faced the counter, only seeing Petra the Golem standing there. She scanned the room, until she spotted Gramps on the other side. He was already inside the elevator, waving goodbye to her with wide grin on his face just as the doors closed in front of him.

Lilly stood there for a moment, still staring at the now closed doors of the elevator. Her head dropped, facing the floor to hide the obvious anger in her eyes. She clenched her small hands into fists, trying to hold herself back.

“You...you… POOPY-FACE!!!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, making several guests turn their heads in concern.

She quickly re-entered the elevator with a confused Luis waiting inside, and proceeded to press a button that was barely within her reach.

It was labeled FL 9.

The Sewers

Gramps could be seen snickering on the way down to Joe’s room, while Joe was let completely oblivious to what he had done to the poor Alice.

“What’s so funny?” Joe inquired, hoping to understand what had occurred.

“Oh nothing,” Gramps answered, wiping a tear from his eye, “it’s just that she really hates that floor I just sent her to.”

*DING*

‘What was that?’, Joe thought, looking towards Gramps for an answer.

Gramps, seeing the obvious confusion in his face, was about to answer him, but the doors to the elevator had begun to open, revealing two young women holding a shovel each who were waiting to enter.

“You guys going down?” asked one of the Giant Ants, pointing towards the ground.

“Yep.” answered Gramps, moving to the side in order to make room for the two to fit with them.

Both of the Giant Ants barely managed to make it within the elevator, mostly due to their thorax taking up half the space. The Ant besides Gramps leaned towards the buttons in front of him, pressing the button labelled BL2.

“Something happen at Level 2?” He asked, eying the shovels the two women were carrying.

“Yeah.” the Ant near Joe answered, “Some Minotaurus got pissed that one of the new guests didn’t turn out to be her roommate. When she was trying to get into her room, she overheard one of the other residents bragging about how great their roommate was. She ended up punching a hole in the wall.”

Joe slightly twitched as he heard this, wondering if it was that giant bull-woman they had seen earlier. He turned to face Gramps, who just stood there, completely unfazed by the information that was just given to him.

“Then what are the shovels for?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh,” the Ant by Gramps answered this time, “well the resident that lives in the room the room that the Minotaurus punched through is an Echidna. Since we’re going to be there anyways, she wanted us to make a secret compartment under her bed to hide some of her treasures.”

*DING*

“Well, off to work! See you later Gramps.”

The doors slid open, allowing the Giant Ants to walk out into the stone corridor lined with jars. Just as the doors were beginning to close, Gramps stuck out his hand, causing them to open again.

“Before I forget… Melissa!”

The Giant Ant that was by Joe turned her head to Gramps.

“Yeah?”

“Say hi to Danny for me.”

She smiled, giving him a thumbs up.

“Will do.” she said, before continuing down the hall.

The doors closed, and the elevator continued on its downward descent. Joe couldn’t help but wonder, as his mind usually did…

“So… who’s Danny?”

“He’s a new resident that moved in not too long ago… A little over a week I think. He got lost in some forest and got lucky when he found one of the doors to this place. Swear, that boy he looked like was gonna die when I saw him passed out in the lobby.” Gramps told him, as he rubbed the back of his neck, “Either way, that Giant Ant, Melissa, is his roommate. And he seems to be liking it… probably going to be with us for a while...”

“Wait…” something Gramps said threw him off, “He found ONE of the doors to this place? There’s more than one?”

“Oh yeah, you still think we’re outside of your town, don’t you? Well, I’m sorry to tell you, but you’re not. That door at that house, mansion, or whatever it was that you opened, was actually one of our portals. And that portal, brought you here to us. Whether or not there actually are mamono hiding wherever it was you were looking was just some rumor that got mixed in with one of ours. Or maybe there are mamono hiding there, which would be one heck of a coincidence.”

“Wait… what?!”

*DING*

“I’ll explain it on the way to your room. What was it by the way?”

“135, but…” Joe was cut short as soon as the elevator doors slid open.

There were many things that could make someone lose their train of thought when they reached this floor. Like many before him, it was not the poor lighting, the sound of flowing and dripping water, nor was it the drastic change in scenery, rather it was the stench. The smell of trash, dung, and rotting food flew past the doors, onto his face, and into the inner recesses of his nose. He choked on the odor, coughing as the putrid smell filled his lungs with its horrible aroma. He covered his nose, hoping to get rid of the stench, or at the very least filter it out.

“Always happens when we get to Level 3.” Gramps hadn’t even moved in the slightest when the foul odor invaded the elevator, while Joe was barely managing to keep himself from falling. Gramps had apparently gotten used to odors of this floor long ago.

“Well,” grabbing a hold of Joe to keep him from falling, “let’s get to your room.”

Several minutes later...

Joe can be seen walking perfectly by Gramps, he had also gotten used to the rotten smells of floor. The stone walls and ceiling, mixed with the poor lighting, along with a stench that could raise the dead, this floor had rightfully earned the nickname ‘The Sewers’. There were even areas where streams of filthy water was flowing beside them. Although Gramps guaranteed that it wasn’t really there… it seemed and sounded too real to believe otherwise.

“So let me get this straight. This hotel has hundreds…maybe thousands of doors around the world, all of them leading here.” Joe interrogated

“That’s right.”

“And the only way to get here through those doors is to ask if you can stay a night.”

“As long as you ask and don’t plan to cause any trouble, you’re welcomed to stay a night.”

“Okay…and the room keys pair you up with the best roommate possible.”

“Exactly.”

Joe had finally gotten the idea of how things worked here, courtesy of Gramps. Luis probably thought that they were inside the mansion, near their town; but in reality, they were hundreds of miles away from where they originally thought they were. Hopefully none of the townsfolk will overreact when they don’t return by nightfall; the townsfolk would probably make a story out of it to warn the kids to never go to the mansion... or burn it down.

“By the way,” Gramps stated, “you’ve been asking me all these questions, do you mind if I ask you a few about you and your friend?”

“Oh! Sure, I don’t mind.”

Joe had been voicing his questions ever since he left the elevator, starting with the elevator. It was only fair that Gramps to ask of his own.

“Well, this has been bugging me ever since I spotted you two walk into the place, but I wanted to know, how you’ve been managing to stay calm after seeing all these mamono all in one place?”

Joe was a little surprised, he wasn’t exactly expecting that as a question.

“Why do you ask?”

“Hmm… you see, I’ve been in this hotel business for quite some time now, and I’ve seen more people walk through those doors than I can count. In fact, I’ve seen more than a handful of battle-hardened warriors give out a shriek when they somehow end up here. And from what little I know about you, it seems that you two come from a town that is probably afraid of mamono. I mean, why else have people volunteer to check if there were any at mansion you mentioned? What was going to happen if there were any there, give them a pie and welcome them to the town?”

Joe could tell that the final line was said in a joking manner… but it held some fairly serious undertones.

“So… you can see why I was a little surprised to see how you two showed up and managed to laugh it off.”

Joe scratched the back of his, wondering how he was going to word his response.

“Well… if we had decided to show up a few months ago, at the very least I probably would’ve shrieked and passed out.” Joe told him.

Gramps raised one of his brows, but stayed quiet.

“But… a few months ago, something interesting happened. Luis decided to visit his cousin to check up on him, and when he got back... he had to tell me everything that happened.”

Joe let out a sigh as he tried to remember the details before continuing.

“You can probably tell that Luis is a farmer, and so is just about everyone in his family, including his cousin. Problem with his cousin was that his farm wasn’t doing all that well the last time Joe saw it, and he just wanted to see if he could help out. You know how it is with family. Either way, Luis finally sees him, and his cousin is just overjoyed, practically breaks him in half with a hug. He told me that he took a quick look around, and saw that the farm was doing great, better than ever in fact. But the real surprise was when his cousin told him that he had gotten married with some woman that had saved his farm.”

Gramps could already where this story was headed, but it was rude to interrupt a story halfway, so he let Joe continue.

“He said she was in the barn, and that he wanted to introduce Luis to her since he would be the first in the family to meet her. At this point in the story, I joked with Luis saying that he probably married a cow and… well… I wasn’t completely wrong…”

Gramps couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.

“Yeah… she was half cow… I think he said it was a Holst- something. A Holestory? A Holstar? Cow. She was half cow. I don’t know how she looked, but Luis said she was better looking than any of the girls in town, and the sweetest person he had ever met. Apparently, ever since she showed up, his cousin has been having trouble keeping up with demand, and needed some help making more cheese and butter. Not exactly what Luis was expecting, but he was glad to see his cousin doing well and helped him out where he could.”

“And?” Gramps asked with a smile on his face.

“And? Well… after that story, I wasn’t sure about monsters anymore.”

“So, is that why you volunteered? You wanted to be sure if mamono were monsters? Or if they were like your friend Luis said?”

Joe looked up at the stone ceiling as he walked with Gramps before letting out a sigh.

“Yeah, probably. Luis on the other hand, I think he just wanted to find himself a girl like his cousin’s. He’s probably into girls with horns now.”

Gramps lightly laughed, patting Joe on the back.

“If he is, this is definitely the place to find one.” he said as he slowed down his pace to a stop.

“Oh, look at that, we’re here.” he told Joe, pointing at the wooden door.

Joe’s Apartment

The light-hearted atmosphere that had previously surrounded the two quickly dissipated as Joe inspected the door to his room. It was an old wooden door that seemed as if though it should’ve been torn down and replaced ages ago. Sections of the door were warped and made uneven due to the moisture in the air, along with what seemed to be mold forming at bottom near the hinge. Not only that, but the door was decorated in a series of smudges and claw marks that made it seem as if though it had been used to keep out wolves. The only area that seemed decent was the door number, which had been carved into the top area of the door frame.

When compared to the neighboring doors, it seemed that his was the only one in such a horrid state.

“Key.” Gramps demanded, his hand was laid open as it waited for Joe to hand him the key.

Joe was having second thoughts about staying here… but he was hopeful. Placing the key in Gramps open hand, he couldn’t help but wonder what had caused these marks or how long they had been there. Gramps slid the card into a hole between the bricks in the wall, causing the door to unlock with an audible click.

Gramps handed the key back to its owner and began to open the door.

*CREEEEEEAAAAAAAKKKKKKK*

The room was filled with darkness, all that could be seen was a clear stone that was barely hanging on a frayed string from the ceiling. Joe was stunned, this seemed more like a prison cell in a dungeon than a living space.

“Sorry about the lights, some of the residents on this floor prefer to stay in the dark. But I guess they won’t mind if you turn on the lights for a few minutes.” gesturing him to enter the room. “All you have to do for the light is to tap on that hanging rock there.”

Joe walked into the room, the light from the hallway being his only guide in as he headed towards the odd stone. Once he was within reach, he extended his arm towards it, extending his index finger, ready to illuminate the room.

“By the way, you’ll be sharing this room with more than just one person.”

Joe spun around to face Gramps.

“What! How many roommates do I have?”

“Six-”

“SIX!!! YOU’RE SHOVING SIX PEOPLE INTO A SINGLE ROOM!!! ARE YOU MAD!”

“teen. Sixteen”

“WHAT!!!”

“Remember, I didn’t choose the room, you did.” He indicated as he shut the door, leaving Joe in complete darkness.

Joe couldn’t believe it. He had to share his room with not one, not two, but sixteen other people that he
had no idea about. He swung his hand a few times in the until he managed to lightly hit the hanging crystal, finally filling the room with much needed light. The walls were a dull gray, filled with cracks and holes, mold growing in the corner, a sink and chamber pot at the other corner.

‘My god…I have to stay the night here with sixteen people…maybe I can find my way back to
the elevator.’

Just when he began to turn towards the door, he heard something. It sounded like something was scurrying around the room, maybe a mouse, maybe… a roach. He decided not to find out and began to head towards the door- only to bump into something. As he looked to see what had appeared in his way, it felt like something flew into his face.

By reflex, he took a step back and lightly swatted at whatever it was that got to him, but whatever it was, it was incredibly persistent. When he felt that he had swatted away the fly, he could feel it return to his face just where his eyes were a second later. Eventually, he had taken so many steps backwards that he ended up with his back against the wall, and the fly still in his face. It was starting to get annoying, and even though he doubted that he would succeed, he attempted to catch this pest in his hand with his eyes closed.

Much to his surprise, Joe did in fact manage to grab something, but immediately realized that it was not a fly that was obstructing his vision. He opened his eye to see saw what it was that he held in his hand, and he was surprised, to say the least. In his hands he held two long antennas, both of which drooped downwards just above where he grabbed. The antennas were attached to the head of a small girl who was struggling to get herself free.

Joe instantly let her go, he couldn’t bear the thought that he might have hurt her, but where did she come from? She looked no older than her late teens, she wore short brown hair and had dirt brown eyes, but something about her kept bugging him. It was her forearms, they were covered in some sort of sort of odd plating. Her hands seemed to have been replaced by claws, and her legs looked as if had been fused with a cockroach.

What in the world was she, Joe could tell that she was a mamono, but it was none that he had ever even heard of before. The Devil Bug tended to her sensitive feelers, gently caressing them after the rough encounter with Joe. He didn’t know what to do, this was probably one of his roommates, and he was already hurting them…maybe he should-

“Are you okay?” asked Joe, guilt seizing control over him.

The Devil Bug looked up, a blank expression on her face that seemed that she had already forgotten about the pain. She tilted her head to the side, as if though she had no idea in what he was telling her, no idea at all.

“Are you okay?” he repeated, only to have her tilt her head to the other side, the same blank expression still visible on her face.

‘She must be toying with me,’ he thought ‘either way, I’m leaving’ as he went around the Devil and towards the door.

He began to walk around her and head towards the door, only to have the young girl sidestep in front of him. Joe tried to go the other way, but she got in his way yet again; her blank expression changing into a mixture between hunger and determination.

“Let me leave.” Joe demanded to no avail, she simply responded by beginning to breathe heavily.

Within a few mere moments, she grabbed him by the arms and pinned him against the wall. Joe was surprised by the unexpected strength of the young girl, she was only up to chest height with him, and she was managing to keep him in place with almost no visible effort.

While he struggled to get out of her iron grip, she seemed distracted, as if though concentrating on something else other than her catch. With little to no warning, she pulled him towards her and onto the floor while maintaining her grip on one of his arms so that he would land on his back. Luckily, she let go of his arm a second too late, making him land on his shoulder instead of letting his head hit the ground.

“Owww…”

Distracted by pain, Joe missed his one opportunity for escape, as his captor immediately jumped onto him and pushed his shoulders against the floor.

Soon after perching herself atop of Joe, the Devil Bug drew in a deep breath, arched her back, and let out a high pitched screech. Joe winced in pain, wishing he could cover his ears with the hands that were being held down as the screams bounced around the tiny room. And just as quickly as it started, the scream died out, with Joe’s ears still ringing from the sheer volume of the sound.

When he finally opened his eyes, he couldn’t believe them, he watched as he slowly became surrounded by Devil Bugs. He struggled to set himself free, but his captor easily overpowered him; how was this even possible, Joe knew he wasn’t very strong to begin with…but to be taken down so easily by such a young girl…impossible. He watched as they began to circle them, all of them shared the similar appearances; the long drooping antennas, the plated forearms and claws, the set of wings on their back, with the seemingly mutated legs… and the eerie stare of lust and hunger.

There were some minor differences between them, some had darker skin or longer hair while others seemed older and more developed than the others. The oldest seeming to be a much more full-figured woman in her early thirties had the longest antennas amongst them, dangling all the way to her hips, while the others had varying lengths to match their age. By the looks of it, the one sitting atop of Joe was the youngest amongst the group.

He counted each one as they passed in front of him…there were fifteen, and with the one sitting on top of him, that would make it sixteen…

‘Wait, THESE ARE MY ROOMMATES!?!’

Joe tried again, struggling to set himself free, and seeing that it was futile, he began to panic. Sweat began to flow down his forehead, making several of the Devil Bugs lick their lips in anticipation.

‘They’re going to eat me… I was wrong! Mamono are monsters! That bastard Gramps knew it too!…what do I –’

“Aggghhhh….” A tingling sensation went through his spine

Apparently, one of the Devil Bugs couldn’t wait any longer…she kneeled beside Joe and began to lick the sweat off his forehead.

‘Great…she’s tasting me…what do I do…’

Soon several others began to do the same, ripping his clothes off and licking the sweat off his body. The bugs that weren’t licking him began to curiously look through the remains of his clothing, sniffing it as they searched them. One managed to find a few coins he had, nibbled on them, and proceeded to throw them over her shoulder as it was not edible.

“Hey! That’s m-” he was cut off as the Devil Bug sitting atop of him forcefully planted a kiss upon him.

His attempts to scream for help were muffled as the Devil Bug continued to kiss him, her tongue moving wildly around his mouth, tasting everything she could as his tongue laid submissively. Suddenly, he felt a new sensation crawling up against his arm, he watched in horror as he saw what his captors were doing to him from the corner of his eye. One of them had grabbed a hold of his arm, and began to gradually grind herself against his arm. He tried to shout in protest, but could only muffle in protest due to the Devil Bug. Soon several others began to follow her example, using his arms and legs to pleasure themselves as they saw fit. The eldest began to use one of his hands, licking and suckling on it first before nearing it to her nether regions. She let his fingers wander along her lips for a moment, before jamming them into her, using his hand as a makeshift sex toy.

Soon enough, the Devil Bug on top of him broke the kiss between them, standing up for just a few moments; still trapped under the weight of the others. Joe looked around, no longer limited by the forceful kiss; as he scanned the room, he noticed that not everyone was using him to satisfy themselves. Those that had been searching his clothes were off in the other section of the room pleasuring each other…he couldn’t help but stare. The very same Devil Bugs that were circling him before were now having an orgy of their own right next to him. He watched as they licked at each others nether regions, rubbing up against each other in all manner of positions… he could feel his loins beginning to stir.

He wasn’t the only one to notice this.

The Devil Bug that was standing over him saw as his limp member slowly began to rise…many of the others noticed as well. She turned towards his member, kneeling above Joe to be at about head height with it. Her womanhood was now within Joe’s view, just mere inches away from his face…he could almost lick it if he tried…

‘NO!’

Joe tried his best to suppress his thoughts…with little success. He was literally surrounded by sex; an orgy taking place right next to him, several women were using him as a group sex toy, and now one of them had their pussy hovering just within reach.

She paid no attention to his stares, she was much more captivated by what she was about to do. She watched as his limp member gradually began to harden, and began to lick it experimentally. Joe gritted his teeth to keep himself from moaning as she suckled at his tip, unlike the ones beside him. Many of the Devil Bugs on him had already climaxed, smearing him in their juices, but showed little sign of stopping since they continued to grind up against his limbs, moaning even louder than before. He couldn’t help it; the smell was clouding his mind, the sensation that was enveloping his entire body, his sexual desires now running loose within his own mind…he was losing himself to his captors.

’Maybe… if I prove I’m good enough… they won’t eat me…’

Joe was trying to reason with himself why he should give in to his desires; as much as he didn’t want to admit it, he was enjoying this.

After preparing herself, the Devil Bug on top of him pushed herself onto his cock, taking it entirely into her mouth in a single push. She quickly began bobbing her head up and down his shaft, making Joe let out an audible moan. He steeled his resolve, deciding he would prove himself worth keeping rather than be made food, and that in no way was influenced by his lust… or so he told himself.

With absolutely no warning, he plunged his face into the pink folds of the Devil Bug, causing her to arch her back and let go of his cock so that she could let out a moan of her own. As if though to repay him for his sudden change of heart, she plunged herself down onto his member, reaching his base in a single push, and massaging his rod with her mouth even faster than she had been before.

Joe was licking her so vigorously that she began to dribble from excitement, quickening her motions the more he pushed his tongue against her. Soon enough, he could feel himself nearing his climax as she too was nearing her own. She could feel his member beginning to twitch within her mouth, as he felt her contract with his tongue. Both climaxed into each other; the Devil Bug released her juices into his mouth, causing much of it to spill onto his face, but nonetheless he swallowed the most he could. Meanwhile, Joe released his seed into her, causing her to create many slurping noises as she tried to hungrily swallow it all down…and failing to do so. The two Devil Bugs on his legs saw the spilled seed and quickly lied down to lick up any of the excess that was spilling out. She suckled at his tip to make sure she had gotten the last of it before rising above Joe.

She stood over him over him for a moment before gradually beginning to descend onto his still throbbing member. Lining herself up with him, she teased him by letting his head touch the lips of her folds that was waiting with anticipation. He tried to enter her by lifting up his groin as high as he could, being futile with the weight of everyone on him holding him down. Without warning, she slammed herself onto him, taking in the entire length of his shaft into her wet folds. Both arched their backs and moaned in sheer pleasure at the sudden move. She began pounding against him, slowly rising after each fall in order to slam herself onto him once more.

The oldest looking Devil bug, which had been using his hand as a toy, leaned down on his arm with her comparably larger breasts rubbing against his shoulder and began to lick the juices of her roommate mixed with his sweat off the side of his face. Joe didn’t realize it, but he hands kept moving without her, rubbing his fingers along the insides of her moist pussy as she did so. She reached her hand around the other side of his face, turning his head to her before she planted a deep kiss just like the one the Devil Bug riding him had done so earlier. Her tongue moving wildly around his mouth, tasting his saliva, but this time he reciprocated, letting their tongues dance around each other. After a few moments, she broke the kiss, only to start licking the other side of his face that still had the mix of sweat and vaginal fluid on it.

It seemed that the Devil Bug on his other arm grew jealous at the display, as she too soon followed in the example of the eldest amongst them, leaning down to lick Joe’s neck and proceeding to kiss him so as to properly savor him. She did so while continuously rubbing the lips of her folds against Joe’s forearm, occasionally letting out a moan as she rubbed against her clit.

After being senselessly pounded upon for what seemed to be hours, Joe could feel himself reaching his second climax; he knew he wouldn’t be able to last this for much longer. In the moment that followed, the Devil atop of him climaxed, contracting the inner walls of her folds, pushing him over the edge and making Joe climax with her. Both moaned in their state of pure ecstasy, the others watching with mixed faces between longing and jealousy as the two began to quiet down.

Joe’s head cleared once he had alleviated his pent up desires, he was now in control of his thoughts once more. He watched as the Devil Bug sat on his shaft as her pussy tried to attain every last drop of semen that he released into her before rising. She got off of him and headed towards the orgy as one of the others headed towards him.

The Devil Bug on his leg began to lick his limp member until it rose up before getting off his leg to align herself with him. Joe’s eyes widened in terror as he realized what was happening; each one of them was going to have a turn with him until they were all satisfied. And if he didn’t succeed… who knows what would happen to him.

He attempted to escape once more, only managing wave his free leg around wildly until the Devil Bug from the orgy latched herself onto it.

“HELP Mmmmppphhh-” cut off as another Devil Bug forced a kiss on him

He knew there was no chance of escape, as the Devil Bug began to ride him.

TO BE CONTINUED

The Night-Time Suites

Both Lilly and Luis could be seen in the elevator, an awkward silence being shared between them after the scene caused by Lilly. They stayed like this for a moment, making Luis think that his breathing was too loud. Lilly just stood there, not moving a single muscle; a grim aura of humorless seriousness seeming to have completely overtaken the young sweet girl from before. Luis was hesitant about asking what was wrong, worrying that he may regret the answer. He waited, deciding that it would be better to ask later… but his curiosity was prying at his mind, wanting to know what had caused such a reaction. Until, finally…

“What’s wrong…with Floor Nine?”

She flinched at the question, snapping back to reality from her contemplative state by his question. Luis had cringed a bit by her reaction, as if though expecting her to attack him for no reason.

“I’m sorry, did you say something?” looking up at him with her wide smile stretching across her face.

“Umm…” still uncertain if he should be asking but determined to find out, “what’s wrong with…Floor Nine?”

Her smile faded away, replaced by the earlier grave look she wore seconds ago. Her hands that sat by her side balled up into a fist, as if though trying not to admit something. She turned her head back towards the elevator door, looking straight ahead, never shifting her gaze anywhere else.

“I don’t like the Ninth Floor, especially at this time when they are about to get up.”

“Wait...” he responded, remembering how late it was when he came in, “Who wakes up at this time?”

“Floor Nine is known as the Night-Time Suites. Do you know why?”

Luis wasn’t exactly sure himself, he thought that it was meant for couple on their honeymoon or something of that nature, but stayed quiet to let Lilly continue.

“It’s because the residents on that floor are nocturnal or live better in the dark. They’re going to be waking up soon…and I don’t like some of the residents up there.”

“Wait a minute,” Luis replied, confused by the explanation, “the sunset isn’t for another few hours.”

*DING*

They had arrived to the ninth floor; the elevator creaked to a stop before sliding its doors open to the floor awaiting them. The orange glow blinded Luis for a second, having to shield his eyes until they were able to adjust. He removed his hands, his jaw almost dropped as he saw the source of the orange glow; off in the distance, he saw the sun beginning its downward descent to welcome in the darkness of night. Lilly tugged at his hand as she begun to walk forward and out of the elevator.

“Not on this floor, the nights here start early.”

*****

Lilly and Luis had been traveling through the hallways for a few minutes. Lilly was flying ahead, her tail swinging in the air as her dress fluttered from the wind; Luis was behind her, jogging to keep up with her and listen to her explanation.

“So…most of the residents here are Zombies and Skeletons that like to roam the halls at night, and that’s why you’re scared of this floor.”

Lilly reddened as she heard him, she didn’t want to admit it, but it was true, she was afraid of the undead. Luckily, she stayed ahead of him to hide her face from him.

Luis was barely managing to follow Lilly as she flew down the halls, making quick turns at the last second. As if it wasn’t bad enough knowing that most of the residents her were dead…or at least undead, but the fact that this place looked like a giant graveyard didn’t help at all. Giant tomb stones lined up side by side, each one were probably the size of a small wall; all of them had a single door on them, and together formed almost a hallway for them to go through.

When he had exited the elevator, he didn’t quite believe his eyes, it was as if though he had ended up being transported to another land. Although he wanted to ask countless questions about where they were or what had happened, Lilly was in a rush to get him to his room and took flight almost immediately. Even so, he did manage to sneak in a few questions while he jogged close enough to hear Lilly’s response. Many of the answers were quick, like what was the name of that tiny room that took them here or how did we end up outside, but most of his questions usually had the same answer…

Magic.

That was the only explanation for everything in this place as far as he could understand.

If we’re not outside, why does it look and feel like it? Magic.

How did that elevator thing take us up here? Magic.

How are you able to fly with such small cute wings? Magic.

This place made no sense to him, but many things didn’t for him. Joe had probably figured out everything by now… Luis wished he was here so that he could explain it to him.

The sun was still on its downward descent; only half of it could be seen peeking above the land as it continued to slowly sink out of view. From the looks of it, they probably had a few minutes left before the night begins.

“What’s your room?”

“Huh?” not realizing that he had just been asked a question

“Your room number, what is it?” Lilly repeated to him

“Oh, 487 I think.” He said, while trying to take his room card out of his back pocket.

Luis had failed to notice that the small Alice suddenly broke to a quick halt, flapping her wings wildly to slow down until she finally stopped. By the time he did notice something in front of him, it was too late, and he ended up crashing his face against Lilly’s back, sending both of them towards the ground.

“Oww…” both of them muttered as they tried to sit up after their collision.

“Why’d you stop?” questioned Luis, rubbing his nose with the palm of his hand.

“Sorry,” she replied in a voice that made Luis nearly apologize from sudden guilt, “but we just passed your room.”

Luis blinked a few times in disbelief before turning to his left to look for the room number. It took him a moment to read it, but upon the side of the door was engraved three numbers, ‘495’, they had passed his room without even noticing. He shifted his gaze back towards the Alice, who was already at her feet, rubbing her back where Luis had crashed into. He felt horrible that he might have actually hurt this young girl, who had been nothing less than kind to him and Joe…

‘Joe must be in his room by now…chatting with his neighbors or his roommate...’.

Lilly finally straightened herself up and began to walk towards Luis’ room.

“C’mon, you’re room is this way” she told him, tugging at his shoulder

As if though unconsciously, Luis quickly stood up and began to follow the tender Lilly. They walked, passing by each door; 494, 493, 492…and kept going until they had reached his door. Once they had reached his room, she flapped her wings until she was at head height with him.

“Just slide your key card into that slot above the handle to unlock your door, I hope you enjoy the night here.” bowing slightly at Luis before heading back to the elevator.

Once she had turned the corner, Luis shook his head and blinked several times, slightly dazed as if though he had just been released from a trance.

‘Whoa…what just happened?’

Instead of pondering on the question, he decided to set it aside as if it was nothing and enter his room. He took out his room key and pushed it into the slot, the clicking sound telling him that he could now enter.

The room was dimly lit, the only source of light was the open window that let in the light of the setting sun. Throughout the room, there were several unlit candles, both mounted on the walls and standing on whatever flat surface there was. At the center of the room was a large red pentagram painted onto the floor, it seemed as if though this room was used for some sort of ritual. Luis was already wondering whether it was too late to head back to the elevator as he continued to look around.

The room itself seemed to have been made from several large grey stones, making it seem as if he had just entered a tower without noticing. A large wooden table stood in the corner, a variety of books, paper, and writing utensils covered it with a small empty space just big enough to work on. In the corner of the room was a large closed chest.

Luis approached the desk, being one of the only actual pieces furniture in the room, and sat down in the stool beside it. He turned himself to face the table, picking up one of the books near him and opened it to see the contents within.

Luis knew that he wasn’t a very good reader, but he could recognize a few common ones and sound most of them out when he needed to. Of course, that was only true for one that was written in his language, and this book was not. This book was filled with glyphs, scribbles, and symbols that he had never seen before, let alone be able to read. Joe had learned how to read in a few languages, but Luis doubted that even his friend would be able to understand this confusion of lines. He flipped through the pages, going through walls and walls of text that filled the tome, until stopping at one of the few pages that had a picture sketched onto it. It was a large detailed image of a pentagram, almost identical to the one that was painted on the floor. Luis looked back and forth between the two before deciding to close the mysterious book and place it back onto the table. Whatever was written in that book, he felt that it would be better not knowing.

He turned in his seat to face the window, the sun was barely visible, all that was left of the bright orb was a small sliver that was barely above the horizon. He watched as the sun finally disappeared, and the skies darken to welcome in the night. Without any warning, a sudden gust of wind flew past him and circled through the room. The various candles around the room burst into flames before the fire quickly shrinking into the size of a regular candle light.

Luis had nearly jumped when he felt the odd breeze, but the sudden lighting of candles made him freeze on the spot. He had never seen anything like this before. It was probably magic, but how in the world did it happen? Did someone cast it or was this ‘normal’? He decided it would be better not to find out as he headed towards the door, hoping that he’d be able to find the elevator.

He went towards the door, trying his best to remember which way he had gone with Lilly so that he’d be able to return to the Lobby. Luis wasn’t quite sure which way he had came from, but he knew that if he’d stay any longer that he would end up being locked up in a room that was steadily creeping him out the longer he stayed here. He decided to take the risk, swinging the door open and stepping out of his room.

The hallways were still empty, the sky was dark, and the moon could be seen almost hanging loosely in the night sky.

He closed the door and began to return in the direction that he came, hoping that he would not lose himself in the process. Luis wandered the desolate halls, not a soul in sight…he could’ve sworn that this place would be practically impossible to escape from…he was happy that he was wrong.

He wasn’t sure how long it would take for the undead to rise, or if there were any that were already up, so he tried his best walk as quickly and quietly as possible. He constantly turned his head just to make sure no one was behind him as he reached the end of his hallway and into one of the main halls of this place.

The ‘main’ hall as Lilly had told them that they were called, was a space that connected all the nearby hallways together, so as to make it easier for guests to go from one room to the other. It was a simple yet effective design, but only if you knew how the numbering system worked. Lilly was in such a rush, that she made more turns into the wrong hallway trying to find his room that to Luis it seemed more like a maze than a series of organized paths. If it seemed safe and he had no idea where to go, Luis told himself that he would try to read the door numbers to see if there was a pattern that would hopefully lead him out.

Before walking directly out into the large open area of the main hall, Luis peaked his head out from his hallway and checked to see if anyone was out here yet, he didn’t want to just barge into anyone mid-escape.

Out in the main hall was no one, to his great relief, as he turned left and began quickening his pace across this area. The low stone walls that lined the sides of the hall were covered in patches of overgrown vines with a similarly built walkway filled with grass and weeds between it cracks. The sight mixed in with ever growing darkness gave this floor a haunting atmosphere that one would expect to hear from an old wives’ tale. The only sources of light were the moon and the occasional lantern post that were sparsely scattered along the walls. It was odd though, the lanterns did not give off a usual red-orange flame that one would expect, but rather a white flame tinged in blue that would grow in intensity as he passed near them. This floor was making him nervous, he could feel his hair stand on end. It was still hard to believe that he was inside a building after all this, it might have been easier to tell him that he was halfway across the world.

He passed the stone benches and the occasional potted plant, some looking as if though they had long since expired, until he made it to the end of the main hall and turned right into one the last hallway without checking.

He should have.

At the moment he had turned into the hallway, a young woman in tattered clothes was exiting it, causing him to bump directly into her.

He was instantly overcome by a mixture of shock and despair… shocked that he had crashed into a small woman on the way out, and despair because he had been caught in the act of escaping. Luis took a few steps back from the girl, who did absolutely nothing, as if though she had not noticed that he had walked into her. Eventually, she looked up at him, with a blank expression in her eyes that revealed nothing. Luis was frozen on the spot, unsure of what he should do as the girl continued to stare at him with her lifeless eyes.

She was in a terrible state of being, her clothes were practically rags that were caked in dirt, and probably hadn’t been washed, if ever at all. Her skin bore an unnatural tinge to it, it seemed to be turning as gray as stone, while her body seemed to show that she had been eating much recently. Was she one of the undead? Not knowing what else to do, Luis did the one thing he could think of.

“Ummm… hi?”

The girl tilted her head at the question, not knowing what he had just asked. Luis noticed a large scar that was crudely stitched together that went down her collarbone.

“Huh?” She replied, with the never changing expression of emptiness in her eyes.

“Sorry about that,” Luis said, trying his best not to stare back, “I didn’t see you.”

The Zombie didn’t respond, she simply stood there motionless as Luis waited for a response.

’Is this what Lilly was afraid of?’

Luis almost laughed at his ridiculous notions from before. If this was how the undead on this floor were, then he could just stroll through the place without a worry in the world, for it would take them too long to even notice that he had passed them.

He excuse himself out of habit, and began to walk around the still stationary Zombie in order to get passed it.

Just as Luis passed directly next to her, her eyes had widened, and if he were still in front of her he could’ve seen that a spark of life had shown through them. With almost no warning, she turned her head to face him, one of her arms grabbing onto his shoulder as the other grabbed his pants to pull them down.

“HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!” Luis yelled as he pushed her back after being caught by surprise.

It didn’t much to make her let go, but Luis felt a bit guilty after seeing that he had pushed her onto the floor.

“Oh I-…are you alright?”

The Zombie had fallen in a sitting up position, but had somehow managed to maintain her hand in the same spot as it was to her when she had grabbed Luis’ shoulder. She did not make any movements, and simply sat frozen, very much like she had been doing before.

Luis was feeling significantly less comfortable now than he had been a few seconds ago, turning away from the girl so as to walk away as quickly as possible before she tried something else.

Suddenly throughout the hall, several of the doors began to open, and through each of them walked out women of varying ages, each wearing the same blank expression as the Luis had pushed wore. All of them walked out of their rooms, they all began to look around until each one of them set their eyes on a now frightened Luis standing at the end of their hall. Step after step, they all began dragging their cold gray bodies towards him.

“What are you doing? Stay back!” warned Luis as he edged away from the forming mass of Zombies in front of him.

The girl he had pushed was already getting up after a few of the others passed her, and she too began to head towards him as they all began to moan incoherently. The one closest to him actually leapt towards him, managing to latch onto his shoulder. Luis panicked and quickly tried to push her off of him, but she refused to let go as she began to grind her hips against him.

Luis’ eyes widened in terror as he tried his best to pull her off of him until finally his sleeve gave in and tore. Luis didn’t decide to wait to give her another opportunity and ran back the way he came through the main hall.

Once the girl noticed that Luis had disappeared, she dropped the torn sleeve and began to follow the mass that was headed towards him.

As he ran through the main hall, he could see that the other hallways were also filling up with Zombies of their own, all of them suddenly fixated on him as they all began to walk in the masses in his direction.

Luis ran for his dear life, getting further and further away from the large crowd forming at the end of the hall while many other began to follow him as they left their halls. He didn’t bother looking back to see how far behind most of them were since he could see that many were leaving their hallways just as he ran past them.

If any of the halls were empty and if he continued to run at this pace, he might actually have a chance of escaping… assuming he could find the exit before he tired out. His optimism was short-lived though, for as he reached halfway down the main hall, he could could see the halls ahead of him were beginning to let loose their Zombies. They seemed to have been wandering aimlessly at first, but upon hearing his footsteps and seeing him, they moved to approach their new target.

He was trapped, and he knew it. No matter where he would go, the Zombies were already there. He began to panic, frantically looking around for a way to escape from the nearing horde. Amidst his panic, he spotted an escape route, there was still one passage left that had yet to spew out any undead. It could have been that the Zombies in that hall were just slow, or maybe that they would come out while he was going through it, but he didn’t have much of a choice at this point.

He ran towards the empty hallway, pushing and shoving the few Zombies out of the way as they tried to grab him. One grabbed his shirt and hung on to him, letting out a groan as she was dragged by him until she tore half of the shirt off of him as he made his way to the hallway.

To his great relief, it was still empty, so he made every effort to sprint to the end and make it to the next main hall. But, to his great dismay, just as he entered the hallway the doors at the end began to open and let out their undead. Surprisingly though, it was not another group of Zombies like before, instead it was much more frightening… Skeletons.

Luis froze up in sheer terror, he had never seen anything like this before, it seemed as if a young girl had her limbs removed and replaced with bones while half of her face was that of a skull.

They looked at him for a moment, with a similar blank stare as the Zombies, before beginning to slowly pace themselves towards him. They seemed to be able to react quicker than their fellow fleshy undead.

Luis turned only to see the other end already blocked by the several Zombies from before, all of them heading in his direction. He looked at Zombies as they neared him, then the Skeletons…and back at the Zombies.

There was no chance of escape, and he knew it.

Luis didn’t know what he could do, constantly shifting his view between the Zombies and Skeletons as they neared closer to him, there was no way that he’d be able to…

‘Is that my door?’

Sure enough, Luis had somehow managed to end up back where he started, in front of the door labeled 487. He was overwhelmed with frustration and joy when he realized that it was indeed his door, since he had failed leave the very place he was entering, and had found escape from the undead. He quickly searched for his room key as the Zombies moaned while the neared him. Once in hand he desperately attempted to open his door, missing the slot several times. The Skeletons were within a few feet of him, their arms extended, ready to grab onto their new prey.

‘Hurry up…’

*Click*

The Man and the Statue

Not a moment too soon, Luis immediately slipped inside and slammed the door just as one of the Zombies tried to grab him.

Luis just sat there by the door, panting as he listened to the Zombies moan, scratch, and knock at the door while the Skeletons did the same. After a few minutes, the sounds died out, and nothing could be heard, except for the occasional sound of footsteps as one of them passed by.

Luis let out a sigh of relief, glad that he was able to escape from them just in time. Although he was slightly annoyed that he was unable to make any progress on his escape, it seemed that there was no way he’d be able to get until morning… whenever in the world that was in this place.

The room was just the way he had left it only minutes ago, the candles were burning, the pentagram was in the center of the room, and books still seemed confusing. What in the world was he going to do?

He looked around the room before deciding to go to the bedroom and try to sleep till morning since he wasn’t going to be able to leave. He wasn’t tired… but there weren’t many options available to him. He was just thankful that he eaten before arriving here, since he doubted that he’d find food in this place.

Luis walked around the room, stumbling onto the bathroom and closet before finally reaching the bedroom. The door creaked loudly as he opened the door and peered inside. In front of him stood the rather large wooden framed bed along with a small desk and mirror with a similar design just off in the corner. The headboard of the bed was carved with an odd writing that seemed almost identical to the writings from the book Luis had seen before.

He walked towards the desk and sat down in the small wooden stool that lay in front of it. Before him stood the tall oval mirror with the odd ancient text etched upon its frame. On the side could be seen a chisel along with a small bag of gray sand and clay nearby, Luis picked up the clay and chisel to take a closer look at them.

“Why in the world would anyone keep this here?” he asked himself aloud.

“Maybe some of us like to look nice sometimes.”

Luis got to his feet and spun around, the chisel still in hand, his eyes searching the room for the source of the voice.

“Now if you don’t mind, could you put that down before you hurt yourself?” said the female voice.

Luis looked around, unable to locate the one who was speaking to him, but he eventually did as she said and left the chisel to rest back atop of the desk.

“Thank you…now who are you?”

Luis continued to search around the room, his eyes shifting left and right as he scanned the room for whoever was speaking to him as he stepped away from the mirror. He was hesitant to respond, but at least he wasn’t stuck in a room with a Zombie…

“I’m Luis…I’m a new guest of the hotel.”

“Oh, you must be my roommate. I was wondering when you’d be arriving.” announced the now thrilled voice as a sudden gust of wind rushed past him from behind accompanied by the light rattling of chains, “It’s nice to meet you Luis, I’m Claire.” said the voice by his ear.

Luis jumped at the sound of her voice before taking several steps forward and turning around, finally getting a view of the speaker. Before him stood a woman of about his height, her skin as grey as the stones that made the room, her scarlet red eyes staring intently on him as she smiled at her new roommate.

Luis was stunned by the beauty that stood before him, doubting in his mind whether she was real or not. Claire stepped forward, the sound of her claws tapping the stone floor with the jingling of the few chains left on the one shackle she wore on her leg echoed throughout the room as she approached him. Not once did she remove her smile or stare from Luis.

As she drew nearer to him, Luis noticed her tail swinging side to side with each step she took, the horns that protruded from her head, the familiar markings written across her arms, her curvaceous body… he shifted his gaze back up towards her horns, trying his best not to stare at her well-crafted body. He knew he should probably be running… but it was difficult to tear himself away from the view before him.

Claire had started to walk around Luis, inspecting him all around as if though he were some kind of new product. He could hear her murmur something to herself as she walked around him, her eyes constantly surveying him as she did so.

After an approving smirk, she surprised him by wrapping her arms around from behind him, pushing her breasts against him as her tail wrapped his ankle in its embrace. Luis grew tense, unsure of what he should do. He could not run with Claire hanging to him; and even if he did, the zombies outside would surely get him.

Claire had begun to nuzzle his neck happily, sending a shiver down Luis’ spine when he felt her cool stone skin as she started whispering something into his ear.

“It’s so nice finally having someone around to be with…you don’t know how lonely it gets spending the cold nights up here…alone…” she murmured as she began to nibble his ear, her hand slowly rubbing his chest as it began to slither down his body.

Luis’ heart was racing, his breathing had quickened, and a slight hint of panic was visible in his eyes as her hand neared his groin.

Claire mistook this for excitement, and slowly began to massage his crotch with her fingers while a sultry expression overtook her face. Luis let out a small gasp as she did so, but was quickly silenced when Claire turned his face towards hers and planted her lips against his. She had forced a kiss between them; her tongue had already taken advantage and had begun to wrap itself around Luis’. Before he even realized it, Luis was returning her kiss with the same passion she was pouring into him.

Luis was forgetting everything from before, the zombies, the floor, the hotel, even Joe and how they got here; all that mattered at that moment was Claire. They continued to kiss each other for another minute before Claire broke their kiss. Her lust-filled eyes stared hungrily into his, a small coy smile formed onto her face as she felt the stiffened member through the fabric of Luis’ pants.

She released him from her grasp and walked towards the bed, her hips swinging side-to-side along with her tail before ruffling her wings. She laid down across the bed, revealing her voluptuous curves as her hand extended towards Luis, inviting him to join her. As if though under some form hypnosis, Luis slowly began to head towards his new lover, removing what was left of his clothes as he approached her.

He arrived at the side of the bed, naked as the day he was born, taking Claire’s hand as he lay beside her. She gently pulled him closer to her and kissed him once more before beginning her downward descent on his body, kissing and licking everything she passed until finally reaching his throbbing member. She swung her leg over him so that her body lay atop of his; she was staring intently upon his cock with a mixture of lust and wonderment. She continued to so until finally sticking out her tongue and experimentally licking the member from base to tip.

Luis moaned slightly as Claire did so, the cold sensation ran through his body with a mixture of ecstasy, his cock twitching each time she reached his tip. It was an odd sensation he should have expected, but as odd as it was, it was still a wondrous sensation. She then grabbed the base of his shaft and slowly began to pump it as she suckled on its tip. Luis groaned in pleasure as she pleasured him, feeling her massage his balls as she did so. He looked up and saw her glistening pussy mere inches away from his face, slowly nearing closer and closer towards him until he couldn’t resist it.

“Aaah!” yelled the Gargoyle in delight as her lover dove into her awaiting folds.

Luis continued to lick her pussy, reaching as far as his tongue would allow him as his thumb rubbed against her sensitive clitoris. Claire grinded her teeth together to keep herself from screaming before falling back onto his stiffened member, taking it all into her in a single push.

She quickly began bobbing her head up and down the length of his shaft as Luis quickened the pace of his licking, occasionally rubbing his tongue against her sensitive G-spot. With each of Luis’ licks, Claire could feel herself draw nearer to her climax, increasing her speed and pushing herself deeper onto his cock so that she could share the pleasure she was feeling.

Before she knew it, she climaxed, squirting her fluids into Luis’ mouth, causing some to spill over his chest. And like that, Luis released his warm thick seed into Claire’s mouth, which hungrily swallowed it, the symbols on her arms glowed red for a moment as she continued to suckle on his member to make sure that she had gotten the last drop.

“Mmm… delicious!” She giggled as she sat up and turned to face her lover, “Did you like it?”

“It was incredible.” Luis managed to say.

“Good, cause we’re not done yet.” She replied as she began to rise and position herself atop of his still hardened cock.

Claire teased his throbbing member as the tip rubbed against the lips of her anticipating folds. She gradually began to descend down the length of shaft, slowly taking it into herself, little by little until finally reaching the base. She steadily began to ride him, moaning ever so softly as she rose to the top and pushed down until her groin rubbed against his. Her hands pushed against Luis’ bare chest for support as her tail wrapped around his leg, hugging it tightly each time she descended. Luis held her by her thighs, helping her guide her way down his cock until it was as far as it could reach within her.

The slow passionate love making went on; increasing in speed with each deep thrust they pushed into each other. As they did so, Claire grabbed Luis and pulled him towards her, pushing his face into her breasts as she held him in her embrace, neither ever stopping their motions. She held him closely as she whispered something into his ear.

“Luis…don’t stop…I’m so close…” she managed to say between her panting.

Luis tried to replied, but was muffled by the large breasts; instead, his hand went around her and grabbed onto her tender ass cheeks, helping her ride his cock even harder.

“I’m…I’m…I’m…aaaghhhh!” Claire screamed as she climaxed onto Luis’ cock, her folds quickly contracting over his member causing him as well to climax into her.

Claire held Luis tightly as she climaxed, her wings spread out as wide as she could, and the symbols on her arms glowed a bright red, until she finally collapsed onto the bed with her on top of him. Both laid on the bed, panting after their act, neither saying a word to each other. Claire rubbed Luis’ head and smiled at him.

“That was amazing, but don’t get too comfy, the night is still young…” she told him

“Well then,” Luis replied, “I hope morning never comes.”

She kissed his forehead and held him tightly as she thought of the ways they would spend the night, never ceasing to smile now that she had found her lover.

Choices

Joe woke up, panting and covered in sweat as if he just woke up from a nightmare. He looked around and saw nothing but darkness.

‘It must be the middle of the night’ he thought as he sank back down.

He had dreamed that he was being raped by countless women for hours, each one of them having a turn at him no matter how much he pleaded.

“Thank goodness that was all a dream” he mumbled to himself as he reached for his blanket…feeling some sort of fur instead…

Joe immediately sat back up to look at what he was feeling. To his shock, he had grabbed the hair of one of the Devil Bugs from before, sleeping just a few feet away from him. There was a sound of grumbling as Joe felt the floor move; he looked down to see that the bed he was on was actually a pile of the very Devil Bugs from his dream.

Joe was beginning to panic, unsure of what to do…not noticing that the Devil Bug he mistaken for a blanket had woken up and was watching him. When he did see her, he froze, scared that she would wake up the horde and continue on from where they left off. The Devil Bug just stared at him for a moment before giving him a sweet smile and hugging him.

Stunned at the sudden change, Joe just sat there as the young Devil Bug held him in tightly between her arms before bringing him down back onto the bed of Devil Bugs. She nuzzled his chest for a minute before returning back to a blissful sleep with Joe safety tucked in her arms.

Joe laid there on top of the pile of sleeping Devil Bugs as one held him tightly within her arms. He spent the night thinking of how he would escape before falling asleep…even though deep inside…he knew he didn’t want to.

***

The next morning, Luis was woke up in the bed, completely naked, and smelled like he desperately needed a bath. He got up from the bed and turned to see Claire lying on the bed, just beside where he was. Luis smiled and leaned in to kiss her forehead before noticing a small piece paper on top of her. He picked it up and read what was written on it.

“Dear Luis,

I’m sorry I can’t be with you in the morning, I can’t move around much when the sun is up. But I’ll be free once the sun sets and I’ll be waiting for you.

Love, Claire P.S Gargoyles turn to stone when the sun is up in case you were wondering.”

It took Luis a moment to read the few lines of the letter, although he was skeptical of what he had managed to understand and turned to face Claire. Sure enough, Claire was made of cold hard stone, never moving from her spot no matter how many times Luis poked her. He decided that he might as well go back to the lobby and tell them he was planning to stay longer.

So Luis went to the bathroom, took a quick bath after figuring out which knobs to turn, got himself dressed in what was left of his clothes, and headed out the door. The sun was shining brightly as Luis strolled through the halls, as if forgetting about last night's events, but Luis still had no idea which way the elevator was. He wandered the empty hallways searching for a way down, even if it were the stairs, but had no luck in doing so.

‘Where in the world is the dang elevator…they should put a map somewhere in here…’

As he turned the corner, he saw someone wearing an odd uniform standing at the center of the hall inspecting the nearby flower pot and rearranging the plants in it.

‘Maybe they work here.’ he thought as he headed towards the stranger.

Just as he headed towards the person, her ears shot straight up as she turned to face Luis. She stared at the oncoming Luis with her golden eyes, her ears twitched in his direction with each step that he took, and her tail wagged ever so slightly as he finally reached her.

“Umm…hi…do you work here?” Luis asked, somewhat timidly.

“Yes I do. How can I help you?” asked the werewolf.

“Well…I’m trying to head towards the lobby to check in for another night…but…I’m kind of lost. Do you know where the elevator is?”

The werewolf looked at him skeptically at first before noticing his ripped sleeve.

“Were you the new resident that came in yesterday…that stirred up the zombies?”

Luis was surprised that she knew this, but nonetheless nodded.

“So you’re Luis…well we better hurry, residential orientation already started.” She said as she grabbed his wrist and began dragging him through the halls.

“Residential orientation? What in the world is that? I’m just looking for the lobby!” He exclaimed as she pulled him through the turns.

She simply ignored him, dragging him through the halls until they finally reached the elevator. Once inside she quickly pressed the button labeled ‘L’ and the doors closed to begin the downward descent. They both stood there in silence for a moment, until Luis finally decided to ask once more.

“Okay, what in the world is Residential Orientation?”

“Hmm? Oh that’s right, this was your first night here. Well, after the guest stay here for one night, they have to attend the residential orientation that’s held each morning.”

“Okay…why do we have to do that?”

“Well…most guests tend to stay here a lot longer than one night, in fact most of them actually live here after they spend a night. The orientation is essentially to find out how long you plan to stay, and get all the legal issues over with if you decide to live here instead.”

Luis wasn’t really sure how to react to this information, so he simply nodded to what the werewolf was telling him.

*DING*

The elevator doors opened to reveal the bustling Lobby, mamonos checking in, men being aided by their wives after the ‘ordeal’ from last night, another average day for the hotel. Luis didn’t have much time to watch the guests do their daily routines because as soon as the doors opened, he was quickly dragged through the lobby by the werewolf.

“Before I forget, my name is Aisha. I’m the floor manager of the Night-Time Suites.”

“Wait…you’re the manager?!” Luis replied

“Yes, and you better remember it if you’re planning to stay here much longer.”

Just as Luis was about to respond, Aisha made a quick turn towards a door and rushed Luis inside. Once inside, Luis gazed in amazement by the room in which he had just entered. Luis was at the entrance of the grand hall, it was even larger than the lobby itself, and scattered throughout the hall were several tables surrounded by newcomers asking information about the hotel. At the end of the hall were several tables serving breakfast to everyone, crowds of humans and mamono were surrounding this table before going out to see the others as some sat down and enjoyed their breakfast. High above the people was a large banner with the word “WELCOME” written on it.

“Welcome to the family.” Aisha told Luis before leaving him to head towards the exit.

Luis tried to take it all in at once, not sure of what to do in the situation. He looked towards the nearest table in which a single man was seated behind, pointing at other tables and directing other guests where to go. Seeing that he had no other option, he approached the crowd surrounding the table to find out what was going on. At the moment that he reached the front of the table, he felt something tug his arm from behind the crowd.

“Luis, wait up!” said a familiar voice.

Luis turned his head to be greeted by the only other person that knew him.

“JOE!” he exclaimed as he turned around and gave him a hug as if though he hadn’t seen him in years.

“Alright, alright, calm down. I’m guessing you were dragged here too.”

“Yeah I was. What in the world is going on?”

“I’m not so sure myself. I was heading towards the table over here when I saw you. What in the world happened to you?” He asked, pointing at Luis’ torn up shirt.

“Oh…just an incident with the neighbors…but what happened to you?” he replied as he gestured towards Joe’s shredded clothing and his ripped pants.

“…Let’s not go there…” He told him, looking down at the floor.

“So are you two just gonna stand there or are you going to ask a question.” beckoned a man from behind the table.

“Huh?” Both Luis and Joe had forgotten where they were for a moment until the man had addressed them.

“Yeah,” Joe answered, “what in the world is going on?”

The young black-haired man smiled at Joe as he repeated the question that everyone kept asking him.

“You just spent a night at the Covet Corner Hotel; we’re just here to make arrangements in case you want to stay a bit longer.”

“What do mean ‘arrangements’?”

“Well, here at the CC hotel, the first night to all guests, both mamono and humans alike, are free of charge. But, after the first night we do require some form of payment or service for you to continue your stay here.”

“Wait…what exactly do you mean by service?”

“By service, we mean some form of contribution from you to the hotel. For example, the Arachnes tend to be in charge of making the uniforms for some of the staff as well fixing and mending some other articles of clothing. Another example would be my girlfriend, she’s a Giant Ant. Giant Ants are in charge of anything that’s related to construction, demolition, remodeling…anything of that sort.”

“Alright,” replied Luis, “what about us? We’re not mamono, what can we do?”

“Well…just go to that booth over there,” the man replied as he pointed to a table just across the grand hall where several people were gathering, “that booth shows the available job for us humans. Of course, you don’t have to work for the hotel, it’s just the most convenient option. If you have another way to pay, then you can do that.”

“What did you choose?” asked Joe as he turned to see the booth.

“I man this table everyday for the daily Residential Orientation.”

“So all we have to do is get a job, and we get to stay here as long as we want?” questioned Luis.

“Exactly, if you have any questions, my name is Danny.” said the man.

Just as Luis was about to head to the other table, Joe grabbed his arm and stopped him.

“Are you seriously thinking about staying here?”

There was a moment of silence amongst the two friends, Luis staring at his friend as if though he was joking about the question. Joe never changed the expression of seriousness on his face as he waited for Luis to answer him.

“Umm…yes. Why do you ask? Aren’t you?” replied Luis.

“Ar-” Joe cut himself off from what he was about to say, taking a moment to form a response. “No!”

Luis stared at his friend, wondering what he meant.

“Why not?”

“I… just can’t… I can’t just leave the town, they need me.” Joe said.

It was true, Joe was one of the few who could read in town, and he was the one responsible for all the records that were kept, ranging from crops yielded on the farms to monetarial investments. His grandfather used to be the one who held this responsibility, but it was now his turn to do so. Luis on the other hand was not tied down like his friend. Luis did not own any land, he worked as an extra hand on other people’s farms, and his closest living family member was his cousin who he would surely visit even if he lived here.

“Are you sure you can’t?”

“I’m… I’m sure.” he hesitated.

“Well…” Danny tuned in, “we’re sorry that you can’t stay with us, but we understand. In order to check out, all you have to do is talk to Gramps and he’ll just have you sign out. You can come back whenever you want to if you ever change your mind though.”

“And where is Gramps?” asked Joe

“Over there” Danny said as he pointed to the exit of the grand hall where right beside it Gramps was leaning against the wall talking to a group of mamono all wearing some odd uniform, including Aisha.

Seeing that Danny was no longer speaking with the two, other guests began to surround the table and ask him questions about the hotel. The two friends looked at each other in a moment of silence once more.

“I guess this is goodbye…you sure you don’t want to stay?”

A small part of Joe did want to, as much as he did not want to admit it, but he knew he couldn’t just up and leave.

Joe stared at his friend for a moment before nodding back at him. Both of them shook each other’s hands before Joe headed towards Gramps. Luis stood there as he watched his friend walk away and spoke to Gramps. Joe began to explain things to him; he wasn’t sure what it was since he was too far away to hear them, but Joe seemed have been making an elaborate explanation as Gramps simply nodded to him. After about a minute or so Gramps finally replied, it must have been something important because Joe suddenly froze up once he heard this. Gramps went on for about a minute until Joe finally nodded his head before both headed out the door.

Luis wasn’t sure what had happened, but something told him that everything was going to be fine and that it was nothing to worry about. With that feeling in him, he continued on towards the Job Booth…until his stomach grumbled. ‘Maybe I should eat something first…then I’ll pick my job’ he thought to himself before heading to the breakfast table.

***

Two Months Later

‘Where are they’ Joe thought as he took a bite of his bread with cheese while looking out the window of his small home. It had been a while since he had left the hotel where his friend decided to stay. He was able to convince the town that he and Luis had left to visit Luis’ cousin to help him out again after checking out the mansion since he lived a few towns over in that general direction.

On the way back, Luis had found the girl of his dreams and decided to chase after her. Many of the neighbors said that the girl must have been a Succubus that surely tricked poor Luis into chasing her, but most of them believed his story and went on as if nothing had ever happened.

In the time between then and now, he did in fact go to visit Luis’ cousin.

It had been a while since he had been dragged to his farm, but he eventually managed to find it after asking the locals about it. There he was greeted by a familiar face, and the girl he had heard so much about known as a Holstaurus. After seeing her shapely figure, he could see why Luis wanted to check the mansion for mamono…

Joe told him what had happened, about the mansion, the hotel, and how Luis had decided to move over to this odd place. He thanked Joe for telling him, giving Joe a few pounds of cheese and butter to show his gratitude before telling him that he would go to see Luis once the season had ended.

’Damn… this stuff is good…’ he thought as he ate the last bit he held between his fingers.

Joe had also gone back to the mansion.

He had managed to snag most of Luis’ belongings from where he lived and delivered it to him, but he also had a little chat with Gramps before leaving again.

‘He said it wouldn’t take any longer than a month for them to get here’ he repeated to himself as he reached for another slice he had already prepared.

He felt around the plate for a second until deciding to turn towards it to see that his food had gone missing. He shifted his gaze around room, wondering what happened to his bread and cheese. His room was nothing less than a complete mess; clothing scattered throughout the entire area, keeping anyone from seeing the dusty hardwood floor that lay under the mounds of old shirts, pants, and socks. Off in the corner was a pile of dirty rags, old notes, and such.

His desk that stood across from his bed was probably the most organized compared to the rest of the room. On it was a scrambled bunch of old papers with dark blotches from a spilled ink well, many crumbled and left in a heap at the corner, along with a pile of dirty plates from the previous meals Joe had eaten throughout the week. Luckily, he didn’t keep any of the important documents of the town in here, for they would’ve been lost or ruined before becoming of any use.

Just then, he heard something scurry through the room, only catching a small glimpse of it from the corner of his eye. He looked around the room once more, nothing had changed save the heap of clothes on his bed seemed to have tilted. Joe cautiously inched his way closer to his bed, trying his best not to make a sound. He finally reached the mound that stood at the edge of his bed; he slowly drew his hand closer and closer to throw the mound to the floor in hopes of finding the possible intruder.

When his hand took a hold on the mound, he suddenly felt something wrap around his chest from behind him. Surprised, he quickly turned his neck to see a young Devil Bug hugging him as she nuzzled his back.

“You finally made it!” he happily exclaimed as he turned towards her and returned the hug.

Behind the small Devil Bug stood the fifteen other Devil Bugs, many of them were smiling at him as the others made approving nods while they looked around the room. One was busy trying to pick the crumbs off her face as she picked up and examined one of the dirty plates on Joe’s desk.

“I’m so glad you all made it.” Joe told them as he held the young Devil Bug closer to him.

As much as he didn’t want to initially admit it, he could not stop thinking about them ever since he had left. Even so, he felt that he had a responsibility to fulfill for the town thus he made excuses so that he wouldn’t have to stay.

“You don’t wanna go…but you don’t wanna stay either. Why not just go and bring‘em with you? I mean, I don’t think they’ll say no, so why not?”

Joe hadn’t thought of that, and was glad that Gramps told him. He also told him that Devil Bugs were exceptionally good at hiding, and that he wouldn’t have to worry about others finding out about them if they weren’t the type to take kindly to mamono. Joe wasn’t entirely sure about it when Gramps told him this after his first night… but…

Then, without a seconds notice, Joe was suddenly thrown back onto his own bed, being held down by the small Devil Bug. The others slowly approached the bed, a mix of lust and hunger visible in their eyes as several of them licked their lips in anticipation. Joe looked down wide-eyed; he had almost forgotten how strong this little girl was. She looked up at him and smiled before moving up and planting a kiss onto him. Joe returned the kiss to her with the same passion she was to him. He thought back for a while as the Devil Bugs began to rip clothes off of him once more…he knew that this is what he always wanted…

END OF CHAPTER

The Newcomer

Gramps woke up at the sound of the Sirens singing their songs at the dawning sun once again. He got up from his bed and stretched his arms out as he looked around the small confines of his room. It wasn’t much, just a desk with some loose papers off to the side, a small kitchen with just enough room to move, his small yet comfy bed, and the bathroom. He could always change and get a much better room in the hotel, but he never saw any reason on why he should, the room may have been tiny but it was all that he needed. Not only that, but he loved to wake up to the sound of the morning Sirens.

He got himself dressed in his usual get up, a plain white shirt, his old weathered staff jacket, and the pair of pants closest to him before heading out the door. Gramps started off his daily routine, walking down the staff only halls and ‘waking up’ the Golems one by one so that they could start on their daily tasks as well. He went down to the staff room, poured himself a mug of some leftover coffee from the steel kettle, grabbed a small snack that was left for the staff, and checked the board on the wall to see if any of the floor managers left him anything to do or if anything had crucial happened before walking to the counter.

“Morning Lilly,” he told the young Alice who was already at the counter, “anything new going on?”

“Good morning Gramps, so far we haven’t gotten anyone new. Just a few people who wanted to change rooms and things like that. Ooh, but we did get invited to a wedding.” replied Lilly, showing him a pair of decorated envelopes.

“Wedding?” questioned Gramps taking a sip from his mug as he grabbed one of the invitations, “Who and which floor?”

“Do you remember that guy who came in a few weeks ago, the silly one that thought he was dead? He’s getting married to Julie the Unicorn next week on the fourth floor.”

Gramps chuckled as he heard the good news; it had been a while since the hotel had held a Unicorn Wedding.

“I guess we could get a few of the Golems to cover our spots while we’re there. So, is there anything else?”

“Nope,” Lilly replied in her usual sweet toned voice as she got off from her stool, “I might as well get ready to greet any new guests.”

And with that, Lilly took flight towards the entrance before landing softly onto her chair to await the guests.

Gramps sat down on his chair, finishing his snack, and readied himself as the rising guests gradually began to fill the lobby. Several husbands and boyfriends were being helped by their wives, one walking in covered in several bandages as his Jorogumo wife helped him towards the infirmary. The succubi sat down in their sofa chairs and shared their usual gossip and new sex-tips that they tried last night. And the nightwatch werewolves were finishing their rounds while deciding what (or who) they would do as they strolled through the lobby.

Gramps watched as the lobby was filled with its usual guests, and the crowds of mamono forming around his counter to start the daily cycle once again.

Today started off like every other day, the mamono were either complaining about their rooms, complaining about the lack of a roommate(s), or were simply checking out of the hotel with their new lovers.

Hours passed as the usual events occurred, new guests checking in, some thinking they were dead or dreaming, mamono peering over their shoulders to see if they had gotten a roommate, men falling for the charms of the hotel greeter, and the continuing rivalry between a certain succubi and minotaur.

‘Yep, just another day at the hotel’ Gramps thought…but something was wrong.

For some reason, the area surrounding the counter gradually began to grow quieter and quieter with each passing moment. Silence was a rare occurrence to happen around the counter of the lobby with so many guests, usually there would be some sort of excited whispers or murmuring that accompanied the drop in volume, but instead only allowed for an eerie tension to fill the air. The crowd parted through the middle as a young blonde girl with an eyepatch over her right eye walked towards the center, a slightly worried expression on her face as some mamono looked at her in disdain while others watched her with keen interest.

“Hi there, welcome to the Covet Corner Hotel. How can I help you?” Gramps exclaimed as he broke the silence.

“Um…hi…ummm…where am I?” the young girl asked.

Gramps simply chuckled at the question, relieving much of the tension in the air as he answered the newcomer.

“You’re in the CC Hotel, where we’ll tend to your every need up to the point where you’ll never want to leave. What brings you here?”

“Well…umm…I was trying to find a place to rest…after being kicked out of an inn…for talking back at the owner…”

“WHY IS SHE HERE!” yelled out a small pixie from the crowd who clearly did not care for the girl.

“WHO THE HECK BROUGHT YOU INTO THE CONVERSATION!!!” exclaimed the newcomer, surprising everyone, even Gramps, at the sudden outburst.

Everyone in the vicinity stood there in shock, even the pixie that yelled in the first place wasn’t even sure how to answer. For a moment, time seem to have stood still, until the newcomer turned towards Gramps with her face looking down at the counter instead of his face.

“I’m sorry…” she muttered under her breath, just loud enough to let Gramps hear it.

“Don’t worry about it; I just wasn’t expecting someone your size to be able to scream like that.”

Several mamono from the crowd quickly dispersed and went on with their daily tasks as if the newcomer never arrived, the pixie just hovered in place for a second before doing the same. Only a handful were left, some wanting to talk to Gramps, others waiting to see what the newcomer would do.

“Well then, would you like to stay the night Miss…?”

“Vanessa…”

“Miss Vanessa, would you like to stay the night?”

Vanessa looked back at the entrance which she walked just minutes before, thinking of whether or not to take the offer as some of the mamono casted odd looks at her.

“Sure…I’m better off here than where I just got from.”

“Perfect!” Gramps said as he clasped his hands together

Gramps reached down and shuffled through a few papers before reappearing above the counter with a small box of clear cards. He gently picked one out from the edge and handed it to Vanessa before shoving the box to the corner of the counter for future use.

Vanessa inspected the glass-like card skeptically, as if though looking for a hidden number engraved in it before looking back up at Gramps.

“Sooo….what now?”

“Just wait, you’ll see.”

Once those words escaped from his mouth, the card frantically began to shift between various colors. It started on red before changing to blue, then green, and suddenly purple. A few of the mamono that were still around the counter took out their own respective cards which varied in colors as they awaited for the results. The mamono that weren’t interested in events simply continued on to the counter so that they could talk to Gramps, since it would take a moment for the card to decide which room the newcomer would stay in.

The card continued to revolve between the colors, gradually slowing down in its changes until finally managing to stop at beige.

A collective sigh could be heard from the small group, with only a single lamia being amongst them who held a card of similar color who instead interjected with interest.

“Hmm…,” the tanned lamia began as she approached Vanessa, “It looks like you’re on my floor cutie.”

The lamia slid up by Vanessa and brought up her own similarly colored room card beside the one she held. The snake woman's card already had the numbers ‘014’ visible within the top half section of it, but Vanessa was distracted by the hand that had landed on her shoulder opposite of the Lamia, causing her to tense up.

“Let’s see if a pretty girl like you ends up with little-old me.” she whispered into Vanessa’s ear.

“Uhhmmm…” Vanessa uttered as her cheeks gained a hint of pink, unsure of exactly what she meant.

Within moments, snake-like images slithered throughout the card, each of them heading towards the top end of it. The lines continued to do so until they formed the number ‘846’ in a bold-like font on the top of the card.

“Aww, that’s a shame. You’re not even close to me.” announced the lamia, removing her card from beside Vanessa’s but not doing the same with her hand. “But… if you do feel like paying me a visit or just need help with something, you know where to find me cutie.” She winked, before finally sliding her hand off of Vanessa and slithering away.

Vanessa’s heart was pounding during that interaction, and it still was as she watched the smooth skinned beauty leave her at the counter. Gramps was quietly chuckling seeing the newcomer’s face turn into a rosy color from the corner of his eye, but didn’t make any mention of it as he quickly finished with the mamono he was helping. He took a quick glance at her card afterwards as he turned his attention back to her.

“Seems like you’re on the eighth floor, we better get there quick before it gets too hot.”

Vanessa face changed from that of embarrassment to that of confusion as she raised an eyebrow and looked at Gramps face.

“Too hot?”

“Yeah, we better hurry before noon gets here. Lilly!”

Within a few seconds the young Alice dropped down from above and landed right beside Vanessa, Lilly politely gave Vanessa a small courtesy before looking up at Gramps.

“What is it?”

“I need you to be in charge of the counter while I take our new guest up to her room. You think you can handle it?”

The small blonde succubus gave him a small pout before jumping up and gliding over the counter to land on her stool, spinning around in it before finally stopping to face the counter.

“Weeeeee…of course I can silly.” She told Gramps as he left the counter.

“Good. Now if you don’t mind Miss Vanessa, will you please follow me to your room?”

Vanessa nodded as Gramps lead the way through the lobby. Many of the residents cleared the path as they went towards the elevator, some giving her confused looks while a few of them…looked at her with odd interest.

“Don’t worry, they won’t do anything... unless you want them to.” Gramps said as he pushed the button for the elevator.

“Wha-, how’d you know what I was thinking?”

“How?” Gramps chuckled, “It’s written all over your face.”

Vanessa quickly blushed and turned her face to look elsewhere.

*DING*

The elevator doors opened, letting out a cold breeze as a man and his blue-skinned wife walked out together in each others embrace. They both greeted Gramps and walked through the lobby as several of the other residents congratulated them.

“What’s going on with them?” Vanessa asked as she and Gramps stepped into the elevator.

“Oh nothing…” Gramps said with a smile, “they just found out that they’ll be getting a yukiwarashi of their own pretty soon. And news like that travels pretty quickly here.”

“A what?”

“It’s a baby Yukki-Onna.”

“Oh…what’s a Yukki-Onna?”

Gramps closed his eyes and lightly slapped the palm of his hand to his forehead before giving out a heavy sigh.

“That’s a Yukki-Onna.” Gramps replied, pointing at woman from the happy couple just before the elevator doors closed inches away from his finger.

“Oh…” Vanessa said, slightly embarrassed at the fact that she didn’t know that.

Both of them shared a moment of awkward silence as the elevator slowly rose, ringing a small bell with each floor that it passed.

“So…why do we need to get to my room before noon?”

*DING*

Just as the young Vanessa finished uttering her question, the doors of the elevator split apart and allowed the baked arid air to overtake cool atmosphere left behind from the Yukki-Onna. Vanessa coughed as the dry air filled up her lungs. Gramps must have had lungs of steel, since he did not show even the slightest sign of discomfort from the overwhelming shift as Vanessa nearly suffocated for the first few seconds.

“Because,” Gramps said as he walked out of the elevator and onto the sand filled hallways, “this floor is as hot as a desert at noon.”

The Scorching Desert

Vanessa stood there, wide-eyed with her jaw dropped as her eye were fixated on the floor in which she was staying in. The halls were filled with a sea of sand; the walls seemed to be the leftover of some old village that was barely managing to stay up. The stone slabs balancing on top of each other, weathered by the sandy winds that have blown past it through the ages. Up above the walls was the sun, pointing down at them as if though trying to cook both of them on the spot.

“Welcome to The Scorching Desert, the hottest floor in the entire hotel.” Gramps announced as he turned around to face Vanessa.

“WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD YOU PUT A DESERT IN A HOTEL!?” yelled Vanessa.

“It’s to accommodate the guests.” Gramps replied in his usual manner

“Who in the world would be crazy enough to live in this heat?”

As luck would have it, when those words managed to pass through her lips, a mummy had begun to cross the hallway right in front of them, making them stop in their tracks. Vanessa froze up, this was the first mummy she had ever seen; she stared at the mummy as it turned around to see the only other two in the hallway. At first it seemed like a regular, if oddly-dressed, human woman, but a patch of skin that was visible on her waist seemed to have dried out to the point where they could break off at the slightest motion. The mummy tilted her head in confusion as she looked down at Vanessa and attempted to greet her before doing the same with Gramps, even though all that could be heard was a bundle of muffled words escaping from her bandage covered mouth. Vanessa couldn’t understand a single thing from the mummy, but what surprised her even more was that Gramps was actually able to hold a conversation with her.

“Hi Isis,” Gramps greeted back, “how’s it going?”

“Mmph mph mmmph mph mmmph mmph.” the mummy replied

“Why’s that?”

“Mph, mphmm, mmph mphmphm mmm mbhmm mphmmph mph mmph mmphmphmph, mph mm mmph mmph mph mm mmph.”

“What’s it called?”

“Mph mmmphmmph.”

“Oh that’s a tough one.”

“Mph mph mmph mphmm mph mmph mphmm mmph mph mmphm mmph.”

“But what about using something else…like a chair?” Gramps was apparently suggesting

“Mmph mmmph mmph mph mph mmmph mmmph.”

“You’re right…not enough space for three…well you can always try the sofa…”

“Mmmph mph mmph mmph mmmph mph mmmph.”

“Well, it might get a bit uncomfortable, but nothing you can’t handle.”

“Mph, mmph mph.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

The mummy then politely waved goodbye to both Gramps and Vanessa before leaving them in the hallway.

Vanessa stood there, wondering what in the world had just happened. She saw the entire scene before her very eye, but could not believe them even if it was to happen another hundred times in front of her. Gramps turned towards her with the usual expression on his face and waited as she took all of this in.

“You okay?”

Vanessa took a moment before finally nodding back to Gramps.

“Good, your room isn’t too far from here, so let’s hurry up.”

Vanessa nodded once more before following Gramps down the hall and further into this odd floor. She wondered how they managed to keep all the sand in this floor without it being accidentally swept into the other floors. That, as well as how in the world they had gotten all this sand in here to begin with.

Of course, she asked Gramps how this was possible after questioning how they had made it seem like they were outside and in the middle of a desert. She had heard of extravagant places that used exotic themes and decorations in order to attract all kinds of folks, but this was ridiculous. Gramps told her that it was mostly illusions and whatnot that only gave the appearance, otherwise it would look like a very boring hallway filled with sand. It didn’t explain the gusts of wind and the heat, but knowing that it was all being done artificially put her mind at ease… somewhat. But he refused to answer how they had gotten the sand on this floor to begin with for some reason.

They continued through the halls, seeing all sorts of other guests, one was in fact another human woman covered head to toe in long loose-fitting clothes. Vanessa thought she would probably burn up in all that, but she seemed to make no indication of it as she greeted them and continued on her way. Seeing that she was curious, Gramps told her that the clothes actually kept her quite cool in the intense heat without having to use any sort of magic, and that it was fairly common in actual desert regions. Vanessa made note to eventually get herself something like that, because she felt like she was boiling with what she had on right now. She couldn’t understand how Gramps was managing in this heat with a jacket on… was he using magic?

After passing some sort of werecat in expensive garbs conversing with a naked woman who was literally on fire, the two took a left turn into a hall, stopping by a rather large rock.

The boulder was almost as big as Vanessa, and no doubt weighed too much for the two of them to be able to budge it. Oddly enough, the boulder looked amazingly as smooth as it was round, save the crack on the top that made out three numbers.

“8…4…6?”

“Well, that’s your room number isn’t it?”

“Yeah…but where’s the room?”

Gramps chuckled as he neared towards the large boulder and placed his hand on the side of it. There was no way that he’d be able to move it, the sheer size alone was enough to say that he wouldn’t be anywhere near being able to do that. She looked down the hall to see that it was the only one in the entire hall, the other rooms had what seemed to be old thin doors that had aged in the sun. Why in the world was this the only one with a giant rock? If there was a room behind this thing, she had no idea how they were going to get to it. After a few moments of Gramps moving his hand around the side…

*CLICK*

…he revealed a small slot from the side with a slit no bigger than the size of a card in the center of it. Gramps then held his open hand out to Vanessa as if though expecting something.

“Your room key please.”

“Oh.” Vanessa quickly pulled out her room key and handed it to Gramps.

Once the card was in his hand, he pushed the key into the slit for a second before pulling it out and handing it back to Vanessa. He took a few steps back besides Vanessa as the boulder began to creak and groan loudly. Just then, the boulder began to move on its own, slowly sliding across the sand covered floors. It creaked and groaned until it finally managed to stop, revealing a small set of steps with a door at the end.

“Welcome to your room, hope you enjoy your stay. Oh, and try not to go out for the next hour or two unless you know where you’re going, it’s almost noon.”

Vanessa nodded before going down into the small room and stopping in front of the door. The boulder above began to creak and groan once again as it slowly closed above her head, before Vanessa realized-

“Wait, how do I get the boulder out of my way if I want to get out!?!” She yelled out as she turned around to look up at Gramps, but he had already left.

The boulder had sealed shut just above her, showing no sign of moving to let her back out anytime soon. Vanessa cursed her luck, but seeing that she had no other option at this point, Vanessa turned back towards the door as she prepared to open it. The door had a scarlet color painted on it as the numbers labeled ‘846’ were mounted on it in gold lettering. It was in a much better condition than those that she saw in hallways.

Her hand cautiously reached for the handle, pushing it forward ever so gently until the door was cracked open.

“Hello, is anyone here?” Vanessa nervously asked as she poked her head inside the room, only to be greeted by emptiness.

She gave out a heavy sigh of relief as she stepped into the luxuriously adorned suite that she was given. Atop of the cream-colored rugged floor were several small satin pillows enlaced with a golden trim that glistened in the light. The room was lit by what seemed to be several oil lamps that hung from the walls and one chandelier-like lamp that hung from the center of the ceiling. Placed upon the vermillion walls were large portraits of the desert, an oasis, and a battle between two scorpions…

‘Who in the right mind would put that here?! It doesn’t even match the feeling of this room!’

Even though from a distance Vanessa thought that the picture was out of place, she couldn’t help but get a closer view of it as she walked across the exceptionally soft carpet towards it and ignored everything else in the room. She walked passed one of the doors that connected to other rooms as she approached the painting. Something about it made her want to stare into it. The scene between the two creatures was one of an epic deadlock; both had a hold of the other’s claws as their tails crossed each other, attempting to push their stingers beneath the enemy’s shell and end the other’s existence. Vanessa couldn’t tell who was winning in the fight between the two desert creatures, but she couldn’t stop staring into the scene.

“It’s a rather nice painting, don’t you think?” a voice asked.

‘Huh?’

That was the last thought that went through Vanessa’s mind as she turned her head to look behind her when a sharp sudden pain pierced the side of her neck. Her body grew numb as her body fell to the ground, and her vision became blurry. All she could hear as her mind drifted into unconsciousness was a light but amused laugh from the voice before everything went blank.

The Scorpio’s Chamber

‘Ugghh…why do I feel like this today? And why is it so hot?’ thought Vanessa as she tried to rub her eye…but couldn’t.

She tried one more time, but still could not manage to do so. Instead, she tried to sit up from her spot, but her body refused to react to her commands. Suddenly, her eye shot open as she remembered what had happened; she was attacked by someone. Vanessa desperately struggled to get out, but in vain due to her paralyzed body. After several seconds, she finally gave up, only managing to move her eye, fingers, and toes. She looked about the room, seeing that it had the similar ceiling lamp to the room she was in before…and walls…and paintings…and…

‘I’m still in the same room from before? What the heck happened to me?!’ she thought whilst letting out a groan.

“Oooh, you’re awake!” a voice spoke out beyond Vanessa’s vision.

She couldn’t tell where the voice was coming from, but she knew that someone was walking towards her since the voice was steadily getting louder.

“I’m sorry about the whole sneak up behind you and poison you while you weren’t looking, but I didn’t know you were my roommate. Never can be too careful nowadays, now can we?”

Vanessa couldn’t respond, her jaw was still paralyzed along with the rest of her body.

“That poison I stung you with will take a few hours to wear off, so I tried to put you in a comfy position so that you wouldn’t cramp up or anything. By the way, I’m Kalila, but you can call me Kali.”

While the voice introduced itself, its owner's head popped up above Vanessa, looking down at her with an innocent childish smile.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

It was a bronzed-skin woman who was smiling down at Vanessa, with long emerald hair tied up in a ponytail. On her forehead she bore a small tattoo similar to her hair color with a heliotrope tear-drop shaped jewel at its center. Kali stood up straight again and walked back to where she was before, the sound of pots and pans moving followed soon afterwards.

“Again, sorry about poisoning you, I thought you were trying to break into my room and steal some of my valuables. I had made a special order for the door of this place to make sure that didn’t happen, so I was quite surprised when I saw you in here. At least Gramps called in soon after I got you and told me that I had gotten a roommate; I was gonna leave you out in the hall and let everyone else deal with you.”

Vanessa’s body felt warm enough as it was, but the heat in the halls alone was unbearable for her, and to have everyone else on the floor think she was a thief in the state she was in would be even worse. Once again Vanessa tried to respond to her roommate, but only managed to grunt

“Nngh…”

“Still not able to talk yet? Don’t worry, I know how to fix that.” Kali said as she rummaged through more of her kitchen items.

Vanessa wondered what her roommate could possibly be looking for, but since she couldn’t move her head to take a peek, she simply continued to stare at the roof of her room. Vanessa listened as Kalila moved and shoved several things to the side as she searched for whatever she was looking for, until…

“Found it!”

Kali hurried to Vanessa’s side, shaking the unlabeled bottled several times before removing the cork from its top.

“Here,” Kali said as she lifted Vanessa up, “take a whiff of this.”

Kali placed the vial right under Vanessa nose just as she was taking in a-

“BLEH! WHAT IS THAT STUFF!?! SHIT?!”

Kali smiled as she took the bottle away from Vanessa’s nose and placed it to the side.

“Nice to finally hear the voice of my roommate, how are you?” replied Kali as she sealed the vial with the cork.

“Oh,” Vanessa almost didn’t realize that she could talk now, “sorry…” she replied as her eye looked down to her still paralyzed body.

“No need to be sorry, if anything I should be the one apologizing for having done that to you. Either way, I still don’t know your name Roomy.” She said with a smile.

“Oh yeah,” lifting her gaze back up to see Kali’s face, “my name is Vane-”

Vanessa’s face suddenly froze up, and this wasn’t because of the poison in her veins or the smell of sewage still in her nose. Vanessa’s face had frozen due to what she saw in front of her eye. Swaying side-by-side behind Kali’s smiling face was a giant stinger that was as big, if not bigger, than Kali’s head. The stinger was attached to a tail that curved downwards into the body of a giant scorpion, with six large legs protruding from its body and two smaller claws up front, similar to the ones on the painting. And right where the head of the scorpion was supposed to be was where the lower-half of Kali’s body began.

“Vane-?” Kali questioned as she threw a few confused looks at Vanessa.

“-ssa” she finally managed to squeak out in a higher pitch, never releasing her stare from the stinger that was a mere few feet away from her.

“Is something wrong?” Kali asked as she looked behind her, seeing that the only thing there was her tail.

“Oh,” she blushed up suddenly, taking a hold of her tail with her free hand and petting it defensively, “you mean this thing… I know it’s not as big as the other girls, but I like my tail…even if I tend to bump it into things…”

Kali had misunderstood Vanessa’s expression of fear and shock, thinking that she was judging the size of her tail.

THAT’S SMALL?!

Although she thought this, she did not say it.

“No, it’s not that…it’s…it’s a nice tail…” Vanessa voiced, trying her best not to harm her scorpion friend’s feelings.

“Thanks” Kali replied with a small grin on her face, “Again, I’m sorry about paralyzing you like that…”

“No no no, don’t worry about it. I just barged in here without thinking.”

“No, it’s my fault that you’re like, so I’m gonna have to make it up to!” She proclaimed with a self-determined look in her eyes, “Is there anything that you really really want? I’m pretty sure I can get it one way or the other.”

“No, nothing at the moment.” Vanessa responding, not sure what else to say.

“Nothing? Food? Clothes? Anything?”

Vanessa would’ve have shook her head, but wasn’t able to, so she instead murmured to signify no.

“Hmm…” Kali pouted as she thought for a moment before snapping her fingers, “I got it.”


Kali placed Vanessa back down, resting her head atop of one of the several pillows surrounding her before placing her face mere inches away from Vanessa

“I’ll make you feel good.” She cooed as her eyes narrowed slightly before moving to the side and nibbling the ends of Vanessa’s ear.

“Aaahhhh….” Vanessa moaned, “W-what are you d-doing?” trying her best to keep herself together.

“Paying you back, silly” Kali proclaimed

“B-but-” being quickly silenced as Kali slid her finger above Vanessa’s lips

“Sshhh…just relax, and I’ll do the rest...” before continuing to nibble on her ear as her hand slowly began to run down Vanessa’s chin and crawl down onto her chest.

Kali’s hand slowly began to massage Vanessa’s breast, continuously in a circular motion before switching to the other one. Vanessa gritted her teeth with a flushed face as she tried her best not to moan, and even though she did not want to admit it, she was enjoying it. Her body was heating up in excitement, especially her lower half. She couldn’t understand why she was so turned on though, Kali had barely started but she could tell that she was already getting wet by her little interactions. Kali finally ceased the nibbling, looking down at her prey before kissing her forehead and slowly removing the small blonde’s dress.

“Oooh, you look so cute in your underwear!” she exclaimed, making Vanessa blush a deeper red and shift her gaze back onto the painting of the scorpions.

“Now don’t be so harsh; remember, I want you to relax, and to enjoy this.” she whispered before slowly removing Vanessa’s bra to reveal her stiffened nipples.

Kali almost giggled at the sight of her victims small breasts before going down on the one furthest from her and sensually licking it as her hand continued to massage the other. Vanessa tried her best not to moan, giving out a small whine instead as her eye closed shut due to pleasure. She could feel herself craving for more as Kali ‘repaid’ her.

Kali’s free hand gradually began its downward descent, caressing Vanessa’s body as it began to near her nether regions.

“Gaahh!” Vanessa exclaimed, unable to suppress her moans

“Ooh,” Kali responded with a smile, “seems like I just hit the jackpot. Do you want more?”

If Vanessa wasn’t already blushing, she would have at the question, instead she quickly pouted and returned her gaze upon the paintings, making Kali giggle.

“You’re face says no, but your body says yes.” Kali replied, lifting her hand to show that her fingers were wet from the juices on Vanessa’s panties.

Kali continued, sliding the tight pink panties down Vanessa’s legs and tossing them to the side to reveal the already drenched pussy of Vanessa’s. Kali slid two of her fingers along the entrance of Vanessa’s pussy, causing her to let out a moan. She gently began to massage Vanessa’s engorged clitoris as her other hand pinched Vanessa’s stiffened nipples, rolling them between her fingers. Vanessa bit her lip so that she wouldn’t cry out in ecstasy, this was the most pleasure she had ever felt in a single moment. But when Kali suddenly pushed both of her fingers into Vanessa’s pink slit, she instantly climaxed at the swift entry, spilling much of her juices onto the rugged floor.

“Look at that, you came already.” Kali voiced, “But don’t worry, the fun has only begun.” she ended in her vixenish tone.

Kali neared her face in between Vanessa’s legs to see her steaming folds glistening in the lights of the room. Vanessa was suffering in embarrassment that someone was looking at her private areas like that, and wanted nothing more than to cross her legs shut, but could only manage to wiggle her toes a few more times. The scorpion saw as her prey’s face, making her giggle before leaning in for the first lick.

An abrupt gasp of pleasure escaped Vanessa as her sensitive entrance was lightly stroked by Kali’s tongue. Kali continued to massage the entry of Vanessa’s soaking pussy, suckling on the swollen clit ever so often as she began to move her hand down her own body and rub her fingers against her own jealous folds beneath her cloth.

Without a moment to spare, the scorpion plunged her fingers into Vanessa and expertly began to stimulate the walls of Vanessa’s pink vagina whilst rubbing her tongue against Vanessa’s clit. Vanessa winced in utter bliss as Kali’s fingers managed to wiggle its way through her tight folds, feeling its every movement inside of her. Kali would occasionally kiss the inner thigh to then return to the quivering mess that was Vanessa’s folds while her fingers rubbed against the roof of the Vanessa’s tense pussy. Her other hand was busy pleasing its owner, rubbing against the wet folds of Kali as she began sliding in a single finger enjoying herself as she took care of her prey.

It didn’t take long until Vanessa was reaching her second climax, she could barely contain herself.

“I’m…I’m gonna….”

“Don’t hold yourself back! Just let it out!” Kali told her before pulling her fingers out to vigorously lick Vanessa’s folds.

“Ah, ah, aaggghhhh!” Vanessa screamed as she was drowned in a sea of pleasure during her climax, filling Kali’s mouth with her juices.

Kali drank as much as she could; some spilling down off her chin and onto the floor. After Vanessa has finished releasing what she could, Kali stood up, wiping the excess off her chin. She looked down and smiled at her panting prey, lying there with a glazed look of happiness visible in her face.

“Did you enjoy it?” Kali questioned.

“Uh-huh” Vanessa managed to utter between her breathes.

“Good,” smirking as she said so, “now I don’t think it would be fair if you had all the fun…” removing her lungi without a moment to lose. “I think it’s my turn.”

Vanessa looked at her roommate in confusion by what she meant, but when she crawled above her body and set her excited pussy that she was still fingering mere centimeters from her face, she understood.

“Please hurry, I don’t know how much longer I can stand it” Kali requested, pulling out her finger and spreading open her pink wet anticipating folds just above Vanessa’s mouth.

Vanessa almost felt obliged to, but she nonetheless stuck out her tongue and stuck it inside of her open slit. Kali shivered as Vanessa’s warm tongue touched her, causing her tail to rub up against Vanessa’s nether regions.

“Don’t stop” Kali pleaded, lifting up her own bra and grabbing a hold of her own breast as her other hand tickled her clit.

Vanessa continued to lick the insides of her folds, licking against all that she could reach as she was being fondled by Kali’s tail. Kali began to push herself against Vanessa’s face with each lick that she gave her, making her tail shake in pleasure more and more each time. She clenched onto her own breast as Vanessa managed to satisfy her, pinching her clitoris as she began near her own climax.

Vanessa was nearing her third climax due to the non-stop vibrations of Kali’s tail, attempting to endure it to continue her task of pleasing her roommate. But she couldn’t handle it, the tail was too much and caused Vanessa to climax a third time. Vanessa yelled in pure ecstasy, muffled by Kali’s fold, but the added motions of her tongue and lips against Kali forced her to climax along with her.

“AAAaaahhhhhh!” Kali screamed, arching her back and squeezing her breast from the flow of pleasure she was experiencing. Her tail flailed at the sudden climax, jabbing itself to the side of Vanessa’s leg and injecting her with more poison. But Vanessa could not feel it; her body was too numb from pleasure to feel anything else at that point.

Kali fell to Vanessa’s side, exhausted. She looked at her paralyzed friend and smiled with delight at the ideas that formed in her head.

“Rest now, I think that’s more than enough as payment for our little accident.” Kali giggled before snuggling up again Vanessa.

Vanessa laid there, paralyzed and numb. She knew that she couldn’t move her head to look at Kali, but tried to anyways. Even though she couldn’t move or feel most of her body, she was happy where she was. The only thing she could say that she regretted…was probably having to stare at that scorpion painting the entire time…

END OF CHAPTER

A Fisherman’s Tale

It’s a sunny day outside, the wind is blowing, the birds are chirping, and the Order was out on their weekly hunt once again. On such a wonderful day in a city near the eastern coast of the western world, something interesting was about to happen. Here in this city, we follow a man as he is dragged through the bustling port by a large armored being. Behind him are two other armored characters, each holding up their spears to scare off anyone who would dare try to help the captive as they escort him across the field of bewildered eyes.

“I didn’t do anything! You should be arresting them!” yelled the man, as he struggled to free himself from the guard’s grip.

“SHUT UP!” responded a gruff voice from one of the suits of armor behind him before walking up to the man and punching his gut.

The man gasped as he lost his breath, losing the strength in his body and nearly falling if not for the guard holding him up. The armored being sighed before grabbing the man’s free arm and helping his comrade drag him to the port jail.

Upon arrival to the jail, the man was thrown into an empty cell, the bar door slamming shut and locked from the other side. He picked himself up and crawled up to lean against the wall of his tiny confines, lightly rubbing his hand over where the guard had punched him.

Within a few minutes, another armored man appeared before the cell with something in his hand, he removed his helmet before unrolling a paper and read it out loud to the prisoner.

“At the port of the city of Newind, the alleged perpetrator, identified as Shaun J. Lowe, was spotted by several eyewitnesses vandalizing the boat of Captain Jacob Fischer after its return from the sea at midday. After said vandalism, it was noted that the perpetrator had release some of the ship’s cargo and equipment into the waters. When the guards had gone to apprehend the perpetrator, they reported that he refused to cooperate and attempted to escape. After a lengthy search, he was found and apprehended. Damages to the ship thus far include a burnt sail, broken rudder, and the missing helm. Do you agree with the accounts told to you?”

“No.” Shaun responded coldly.

“Are you certain?” The guard stated, looking away from his paper and to Shaun, “If you agree, you are much more likely to receive a lighter sentence.”

’Liar…’

“Certain…”

“Very well, in the name of The Order and in accordance to the laws that bind these lands you shall remain here until further action can be taken.” Said the guard as he rolled up the paper once more and placed it within one of pouches he wore at his side.

The guard sighed as he took one last look at the prisoner. He was not required to verify the choice prisoners made after he read their charges, but this one did not seem like the mongrels that infested the alleyways of this city. If he was lucky, the man would be sentenced to a quick death; if he wasn’t, he would be tortured until he confessed, then either be put to a slow death or die in the process. The guard truly believed that if he admitted to his crimes there and then, he could be sentenced to servitude until damages had been paid for. Although not a marvelous lifestyle, you would be allowed to live. It was a shame to see good men die for their pride… but it was their choice to throw away their lives...

The guard put on his helmet and disappeared out the door, returning from where he came to report Shaun’s response as he sat there alone in his cell.

He sighed as he thought of the events that had occurred, replaying them in his head.

***

A few hours ago

Shaun can be sitting in front of a crate, eating his lunch during the break as several more ships began to arrive with fresh cargo. The smell of fish and other goods filled the air as Shaun took another bite of his meal, not that he noticed since he had gotten used to the smells. Just another day unloading cargo as far as Shaun was concerned…

“Yep, that’s right, we caught one.” Shaun overheard from behind him.

“How’d you catch her?” said the other voice.

“She got caught in our net with all the other fish; surprised me and the rest of the crew too.”

“Wow, that’s amazing…what are you gonna do with her?”

At this point, Shaun was interested in what they had caught…it sounded valuable…maybe a rare fish or delicacy. It didn’t matter what it was at this point, they had gotten his attention.

“I’m not really sure yet, but we can’t just give up a catch like that.”

“You know…” the man looked both directions before looking at the crate Shaun was behind to see if anyone was paying attention before continuing in a whisper, “I hear that Mermaid’s Blood fairs a high price in the black market. You could always try selling her there.”

Shaun was stunned at what he was hearing.

‘Are these two actually thinking about selling such a loving creature for its blood?’

“Or…” the man continued, “If you want a more… stable income, I can bleed her for what she’s worth, and keep her from spoiling… for a small cut of course.”

This had turned from bad to worse in just a few seconds. The thought alone made him sick, but he couldn’t do anything without revealing that he was there.

“That’s a good idea. They’d probably pay a higher price if it’s fresh…and even if she doesn’t last, we could always use her as seafood.”

Both of the men laughed and headed off to their respective boats. Shaun couldn’t believe what he heard, he himself was never too fond of mamono but Mermaids were never like the ones you’d find in the forest. A Mermaid was always gentle and caring towards others, at least according to his brother they were, and are always helpful to a kind fisherman. But after hearing what these men were planning, he knew that he couldn’t just let that happen. But what could he do? The city was run by The Order, so he couldn’t just tell the authorities, they’d probably handsomely reward them for their capture before taking her themselves. Even if he was just a newcomer to the city, he knew that he had to do something.

“Hey, we’ll talk later about the merchandise!” yelled the man from before as he re-entered his vessel.

That was it.

Shaun was going to free her.

After about an hour of moving crates around and reorganizing cargo in order to seem busy as he kept watch of the vessel, Shaun seized an opportunity and quickly snuck aboard when no one was watching. The man from before, probably the captain, had gone out with his friend from the other ship to speak about the transporting of his merchandise as the rest of his crew went to the local brothel for some quality time with the locals. Even if the mamono was going to be eventually killed, bringing one in, especially a live one, to anyone other than an Order official was considered the highest form of contraband.

Shaun checked the deck of the ship to ensure he was the only one aboard before he walked down the steps and into the hull of the ship, the smell of fish and booze almost seemed to be concentrated in the air. Off at the other end, a soft arrhythmic thumping sound could be barely heard along with the rattling of chains. Shaun, stumbling with the slight rocking of the ship, walked towards the noise, while trying his best not to step on any stray bottles on the ground.

Once he reached to end of the hull, there she was.

Mouth gagged, her hands were chained, and her pink tail was hitting the leg of the table ever so frequently as she tried to pull herself free with tears running down her face. His brother had told them that mermaids were beautiful creatures, but his description had done them no justice. This one was stunning, not only that, but combined with her ample curves, she could easily put the whole brothel to shame. When she noticed Shaun staring at her, she froze up in terror, her eyes wide-open as they stared at him, fearing what it was he would do to her.

Luckily, it seemed that the crew hadn’t done anything to her after her capture, for she only had a few light bruises on her wrists from her constant tugging. It put him at ease to see she was fine, but she probably thought he was just another crewmember who do as he pleased to her.

“Sshhh, don’t worry,” Shaun whispered, trying his best to seem non-threatening, “I’m here to get you out.”

She stared at Shaun with disbelief, staring at him constantly as he searched for the keys to unlock the chains. He searched the table, but they weren’t there; he searched the wall above the table, but it wasn’t there either...

“Mmm mmm hmmm!”

“Huh?”

Shaun turned to see that the woman was trying to tell him something. Her pink-haired head was shifting to a spot opposite of her, where something hung on the wall.

“The keys!”

“Mhmm!” She nodded happily, finally trusting Shaun after seeing him struggle to find the keys.

Shaun got the keys that were too far for her to reach and quickly unlocked the chains off of her until finally deciding to remove her gag.

“...thank you.”

“Don’t worry about it; now let’s get you out of here.”

Without a moment’s notice, Shaun picked her up, having her wrap her arms around his neck, and began to carry her out of the hull. Even with the drying trails of tears across her face, Shaun could not help but note the beauty of her well-sculpted face.

But now was not the time to admire the mermaid!

He continued to carry her up the steps until they were on the deck, that was when Shaun took her to the edge of the boat and tossed her into the water. The Merrow swam up above the surface of the water to look at her savior once more. She winked and blew him a kiss before swimming back down below the surface of the water and away from the city.

Shaun was happy that he saved the mermaid, but he couldn’t just leave the boat as is…what would stop them from doing it again? With that thought in mind, Shaun grabbed a nearby lamp and began tossing its oil onto the sail.

“This should teach them a lesson”

***

The noise of a crashing crate brought Shaun out of his memory loop and back to his cell. He sighed as he stood up and leaned against the cell door.

“Justice is a cruel bitch...”

If he could go back to before this happen, he would do it all again in a heartbeat… although he would probably have set the sails on fire at the end rather than at the beginning like he had done. Maybe then he would’ve saved the girl and kept himself from getting caught… probably stay away from the port for a few days just to be sure… or just leave the city for another…

’Stupid’ he thought as he tapped his forehead with his open palm.

But there was nothing else he could do, not as long as he was locked in here. He let out another sigh as he peered around his cell.

“I wish I could’ve stayed somewhere a little bet- WOAH!”

The Watery Wakes

“WOAH!”

*THUD*

“Owww…” mumbled Shaun as he rubbed the back of his head, it felt as if the door behind him slid open and let him fall on the ground.

When he opened his eyes, he couldn’t believe it. A brightly lit chandelier hung just above him, the ceiling seemed clean, and the floor beneath him felt soft. There was no way he was still in the port jail that he was in a few seconds ago. He sat up and looked around at the room he was in, several mamono were staring at him already wondering if he was okay.

“How hard did I hit my head?” he mumbled to himself.

“Hello.” responded a tender voice.

“Huh?” Shaun answered as he turned towards the voice.

“You okay mister?” Lilly asked with a worried look on her face.

In front of the bewildered man was young blonde girl that seemed old enough to be his niece if he had one. She wore an impeccably clean blue dress that matched her eyes and ribbons. Her appearance made her seem like the adorable doll of a noble’s daughter… well almost, if not for the horns, tail, and wings.

“Yeah, I’m okay...” he replied somewhat absentmindedly as he stared at her horns along the ribbons that were tied to them.

“Good, welcome to the Covet Corner Hotel, I’m Lilly.” Giving him a small curtsey as the worried look disappeared from her face.

“Am I dreaming?” Shaun questioned, doubting that everything he saw was real.

“Nope, this is real,” she said with a smile, “follow me please.” she added as she turned around, her tail lightly tapping Shaun across the face, shocking him a bit.

‘If this is a dream, might as well enjoy it’ Shaun thought, getting up to his feet and following Lilly.

Along the way, he saw mamono of all shapes and sizes walking around the place, as if though it were normal. While following the demon child known as Lilly to the counter at the end of the room, he felt a slight pinch on his rear end, but when he turned around to see who did it, he couldn’t tell who was responsible with everyone walking around. Slowly, he was becoming more and more aware that he wasn’t dreaming, or that it was a really vivid one if he was.

“Young man,” said an elder from behind the counter, holding his hand out to greet him, “welcome to the CC Hotel.”

Shaun walked up to the counter and quickly shaking the man’s hand.

“The name’s Gramps.”

“I’m Shaun”, he responded.

“So, I take it that you want to stay a night here?” asked Gramps.

“I’d love to, but I don’t have any money on me…” Shaun replied as if though apologizing.

“Who needs money?” shrugged Gramps, “First night’s free.”

This didn’t exactly seem like a sound business practice to Shaun, but Gramps brushed off the topic as he bent down and began to shuffle around in one of his drawers. Within a minute, he pulled out a blank card and handed it to Shaun.

Shaun took a hold of the card and looked at it with curiosity, in a few seconds it began to rapidly change colors. Normally, he would have been shocked that something like this would be possible, but under the circumstances that he just magically appeared in a hotel filled with beautiful, if beastly, women after being locked in a cell, he wasn’t going to question it.

As the card began its roulette, several mamono went up to peek at the card, some even resting their heads on Shaun’s shoulders as they gazed upon the card. Shaun was getting a bit nervous by the sudden attention, especially after the woman on his right shoulder began to purr.

It was then that he noticed that the women around him all had a card very similar to his, although none of theirs were changing colors like his. The werecat to his right was holding her card far enough away from her to see that it bore a green color with numbers written across the top half of the card.

Although the woman to his left also had her card out, her card was yellow in color unlike the one to his right. There was also a light tapping on the back of his left leg from the woman on that side; he wasn’t entirely sure what it was, since he was certain it wasn’t her hand. Every time his card was yellow, the tapping from the kobold’s tail quickened in pace.

Even though Shaun wasn’t sure what species the two women were, by the appearance of their furred hands holding their room cards, he could tell they were of some sort of beast variety. And he dared not turn his head to face them, he didn’t enjoy this much attention, and they were too close to him as it was.

Seconds that seemed like minutes passed until the card stopped on a shade of blue, and a sigh of disappointment could be heard from several of the girls as they went on their way. The woman to his left let out a small whine, and if he was looking at her he would have seen her ears and tail droop in a dreary fashion whilst departing with the crowd. Meanwhile the one to his right clicked her tongue, pretended to not have been interested in Shaun from the beginning before making her exit. Luckily, Shaun didn’t turn around, for he would’ve felt heartbroken after seeing the two.

It was after the crowd had dispersed that his key began to form what seemed like seashells on the top half of the card. They were incredibly tiny, but many began to appear and take shape into a pattern.

“247?” he asked as the numbers appeared on his card, “That’s my room?”

“Yep”

“Can I take him? Can I take him?” begged Lilly.

Gramps simply nodded, making her jump with joy before she grabbed onto Shaun’s arm and began leading him into the elevator.

“You got the fun floor.” smiled Lilly as she walked into the elevator, “Oh!”

She let go of Shaun to reach into the pocket of her pinafore, pulling out two pairs of some sort of white sponge material about the size of an almond each.

“Put one of these in both your ears.” she told him, reaching her open hand out to him so that he could grab them.

He wasn’t entirely sure why he had to, but he did take a pair and watched as Lilly proceeded to place the remaining two in her hand into her ears. After seeing that she had done so, he followed in suit.

While he put in the earplugs, Lilly went to the side and pressed the button labelled F2. Just as the elevator doors were about to close, a large hand came between them, causing the doors to reopen for the one-eyed mamono. Shaun looked at the Cyclops as she peered down at Lilly and pointed upwards, to which Lilly smiled and nodded. The Cyclops entered the elevator with them and pressed the button FL6 before standing between Lilly and Shaun. Shaun looked upon this mamono, unable to tell what was in her mind; her expressionless face gave no hints as her eye stared at a single blank spot on the elevator doors. The Cyclops’ looked at Shaun from the corner of her eye as he continued to stare at her.

He knew it was rude to stare… but it was difficult to do otherwise when it’s your first time seeing someone with only one giant eye.

*DING*

The elevator had reached their floor, but Shaun didn’t realize it for he was still concentrated on the Cyclops. Lilly tugged his arm until both were finally out of the elevator, but Shaun was still fixated on the Cyclops. What surprised him was that as the elevator doors close, he could’ve sworn he saw her wave goodbye.

“Hey, you okay?” Lilly asked.

“Yea-”

When Shaun turned to respond to Lilly, he was shocked to see that somehow they had both managed to get underwater. He looked around in amazement as he saw several Mermaids, Kappas and the like gliding past him with great ease. He couldn’t understand how this was even possible, how was he not drowning by now, and how in the world did a hotel fill an entire floor filled with water.

‘For a dream…this is turning out really weird’

Rather than worrying about it too much about it, Shaun pushed himself off the floor and began swimming with Lilly as she led him to his room. Shaun watched as several aquatic mamono swam through the halls, many going up and meeting by the giant lily pads that floated just above the water’s surface. There were even some men who seemed to have grown gills, webbed appendages, or fins on their bodies… sometimes all three. Shaun couldn’t believe his eyes see all of th-

“MY HERO!” screamed a voice before suddenly tackling Shaun, causing him to spin several times.

Shaun was quickly barraged by a series of kisses to the cheek as several other mamono stared at them with confusion. When Shaun finally managed to pull away from the onslaught that caught him by surprise, he was met with a familiar face he never expected to see again.

“It’s you!” he said to the pink-haired Merrow.

She smiled and quickly hugged him, squishing his face between her breasts

“Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!” she yelled with joy.

The mamono who had stopped to see what was going on for a moment continued on their way upon seeing that a Merrow was the one causing the commotion. When she finally let go of him, she continued to express her gratitude to Shaun.

“Thank you for saving me back there, you don’t understand how grateful we are that you got me out of there. I thought that was going to be the end of the line for me until you came along. Again, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you.” She told him. If they were on dry land, Shaun would’ve noticed her eyes start to tear up, but they were underwater. “Of course, I had no idea that you were staying here as well.”

“Hehe, well I kind of just got here…wait, why do you keep saying we?”

“Me and my husband of course!” She responded as she pointed to the top of her head

Shaun simply raised an eyebrow as she pointed to the emptiness above her head.

“What’s she pointing at?” He asked, leaning in towards Lily.

“She’s saying that she’s married, silly.”

“Yeah, I understood that much, but what is she pointing at? Is this a Mermaid thing? To point at the top of her head?”

“Oh, you don’t know?” Lily asked, almost surprised. “First of all, she’s not just a Mermaid, she’s a Merrow; Merrows wear hats to show that they’re single.” She explained, pointing to a group of other Merrows that were waiting for their friend to finish her conversation with them, most of which were wearing similar hats.

The Merrow nodded at Lilly’s explanation, confirming what she told him.

“Oh, I had no idea.”

“Yeah,” the Merrow responded, “which reminds me, we haven’t properly introduced ourselves. I’m Layla.”

“And I’m Shaun.”

“Well Shaun, me and my honeybunch are truly appreciate what you did and we simply must repay the favor.”

“Oh no, I can’t.”

“No no no! WE INSIST! You must simply come over, we’ll simply have to do something for you…maybe an orgy or something to compensate.”

Several of the other Merrows overheard this and began to giggle, some making approving glances over to Shaun, causing him to blush.

“Uh, umm...I don’t know…”

“Ah don’t worry, when you come over we’ll get it all that settled out. Either way, my room is 246, we’ll be waiting cutie.” she said, winking at him as she returned to her group.

“That was interesting… I didn’t know you already knew someone in here.” Lilly told Shaun as she turned towards him.

“Neither did I…”

“By the way, what’s your room number Shaun?” she asked.

“Oh, I forgot.” Shaun quickly pulled out his card, and almost couldn’t believe it as he smacked his hand onto his forehead, “247…I’m that Merrow’s neighbor…”

The Cozy Coves

Upon arriving to Shaun’s room, he was a bit skeptical about whether it really was his room or just a decoration in this odd place. The entrance to his room seemed like the mouth of a deep sea cave, with a flimsy wooden door and rusted hinges right where a pitch black of darkness would normally be seen. On the right, there seemed to be an old rusted lock with a thin slit no bigger than a few papers thick, it seemed to have come straight from a pirate’s fairytale.

“May I have your room key?” Lily asked; extending her hand waiting for Shaun’s key.

Shaun obediently gave her his room card, to which Lily shoved into the slit on the lock and pulled back out, handing it back to Shaun. The lock opened, and the door slowly creaked open waiting whoever dared to enter.

“I hope you enjoy your stay here at the CC Hotel” Lily said with a bright smile on her face before swimming her way down the hall to return to the elevator.

Shaun smiled as Lily left and entered his room, seeing that it was decorated by coral lined walls along with a series of seashells. The floors were covered with a layer of sand, as the room was lit by a series of lamps that seemed identical to jellyfish. He wasn’t entirely sure how a hotel room would work underwater, but then again most people couldn’t breathe underwater either.

After exploring the area, Shaun finally found his way to the bedroom. The bed was decorated so to seem as if though it were a giant clam, housing a large king sized bed inside its shell. Shaun swam over to his bed in joy, gently floating down onto his mattress. He rolled around onto his back, enjoying the soft surface of his bed, until he looked up onto the ceiling to see another set of eyes looking into his.

“Hello. Are you my roommate?” the Nereid questioned in a peaceful tone.

Shaun had never seen a Nereid before, her blue toned skin and separate legs that made a total of three tails amazed him. Her purple hair that floated in all directions behind her; but what amazed Shaun the most was her stunning beauty along with well-rounded body.

“I didn’t know I had a roommate,” Shaun replied cautiously, thinking that perhaps he was in the wrong room.

“Gramps called me on the shell just a minute ago telling me I’d be getting someone special here.” she told him, pointing to the shell lying on the desk nearby as she slowly sank down onto his body.

“I’m Shaun-,” he said before she planted her heavenly lips onto his, her tongue exploring around his.

Although slightly surprised by the forwardness of his stunning roommate, he wasn’t going to pull away from it. He pressed his lips against hers and returned her greeting, letting their tongues dance with each other until finally she broke the kiss.

“And my name is Elise,” she said a sultry tone.

Elise’s hand slowly crept up Shaun’s shirt, her smooth scales rubbing up against him the entire time. With a single violent tug, Shaun’s shirt was ripped off his body and now Elise’s warm body could rub against his, causing his member to gradually rise against his pants. Elise’s tail gradually began to sneak into Shaun’s pants, sliding by his erect member.

Shaun relaxed as he felt pleasure from Elise’s tail before pulling her head forward and delivering her a passionate kiss like before. Their tongues sliding in and out of each other’s mouths, exploring every crevice until they had a taste for each other. And with one fiery tug, the Nereid’s tail ripped through Shaun’s pants, revealing his member that was standing at attention in the water filled room.

They continued their passionate greeting of the lips as Elise’s tail began to surround Shaun’s cock and started to casually pump it. Her oddly silky scales slid up and down his shaft, causing him to break their kiss for a moment to let out a gasp of felicity. Elise giggled before leaning in to continue their kiss.

Shaun’s arms wrapped around Elise, pulling her closer to him so they can enjoy each other’s warmth as they kissed; all the while she continued to pump his cock ever so slowly. They continued in that position for several minutes until Elise pushed away, her carnal instincts overtaking her were obvious in her eyes. She began to crawl backwards, the tip of Shaun’s penis grazing her body until finally reaching her chest.

Elise had a smirk on her face, seeing that Shaun’s throbbing member was mere inches away from her chin. She moved her hand to the sides of her breasts, pushing them together to then massage the length of Shaun’s shaft.

Shaun let out a groan of bliss as Elise pumped his cock between her soft ample bosoms, occasionally licking its tip as it neared her mouth. She pinched her nipples as she began to increase her pace, having no problem moving quickly even in this environment. Shaun couldn’t hold it for much longer, he knew that if things went on he’d climax in a few moments.

“I-I’m gonna cum-” he said, to which Elise replied by only moving faster.

“Gaaahhh!” was the last thing to escape his mouth before firing his seed into the waters above.

The Nereid watched as the sperm flew in front of her face, slowly beginning to disperse into the water around it. She raised her hand towards the milky substance, and slightly closed her hand into a fist. The sperm suddenly regrouped into a small bubble, mere inches away from her face. Elise gave out another smirk as she licked the bubble and slowly began to drink it. The bubble shrunk and shrunk until it finally disappeared, Elise licked her lips as if though finishing a meal and smiled at Shaun who watched, amazed by the entire scene.

“Did you like it?” She asked, breaking the brief silence.

“That was amazing,” he managed to say, “but now, it’s your turn.”

Shaun sat up and leaned in towards Elise, surprising her a bit, before pushing her down so that she would lie on her back. She looked down in confusion, wondering what her lover was about to do before suddenly arching her back at the suddenly tingling sensation. Shaun had begun to lick the entrance of her pink folds; suckling on her clitoris, occasionally rolling it between his teeth. Elise gritted her teeth, giving out a few gasps every few moments. Her right hand rubbed up against her body until reaching and grabbing her breast, squeezing it tightly. She placed her left hand on the back of Shaun’s head, scratching it for a moment before pushing his head closer to her excited pussy.

Shaun’s tongue was forced into Elise, causing her to arch her back once more in ecstasy. She pinched her erect nipple as she rubbed the back of Shaun’s head, his tongue rubbing against the walls of Elise’s tight folds. But suddenly, Shaun was pulled away from the Elise’s entrance.

“I can’t take it anymore! Fuck me!” she pleaded.

Surprised by the sudden begging, Shaun went forward on top of her and began to position his throbbing manhood to the opening of her awaiting slit. Shaun slowly began to slide his dick into Elise’s well-lubricated folds; whether it be from her juices or the water, he wasn’t sure…but it felt amazing!

Shaun pushed his manhood into Elise as she quietly moaned to herself until finally reaching the base. He then started to move his hip back and forward into Elise’s warm tight folds. Elise winced in pleasure as her hand clenched the end of her bed. Shaun gradually began to increase his speed, leaning to kiss Elise’s neck and then nibble on her left ear.

Elise gave out a cry of satisfaction, biting her lip to keep herself from moaning as her legs tied around Shaun to pull him closer. Her tail began beating against the top of her bed with each thrust that was pushed into her.

After only a few minutes of this, Shaun was exhausted from the movements, the extra effort to move quicker in the water finally taking its toll on him. Slowly but surely, Shaun was forced to lessen his pace, breathing heavily to catch his breath. Elise’s face had grown worried when he began to slow down, but when she saw that he was having trouble moving around underwater a smile had formed across her face, making her giggle.

“You’re not used to the waters yet, well don’t worry.” she said, holding Shaun close to and rolling around so that she’d be on top, “I can take of both of us.”

She began to ride Shaun’s cock, unhurriedly at first, grinding against him occasionally to look at the face he made from pleasure. Gradually she increased her tempo; eventually going even faster than what Shaun could manage before. One hand went down onto Shaun’s chest for support as she gained momentum while the other went down her body to massage and finger her engorged clitoris.

“I’m gonna cum! I’m gonna cum!” She yelled, barely able to contain herself.

Shaun was ready to climax as well, but was too busy drowning in a sea of pleasure to say anything, just a few gasps every time he opened his mouth.

In a matter of seconds, Elise arched her back once more, her tail pressed against her mattress as she let out a scream of ecstasy. Shaun had released his warm thick seed once more, this time inside of her, allowing her to enjoy the full length of her orgasm before falling atop of him.

Both lay together in each other’s embrace on the giant clam bed, panting as they smiled at each other. Elise snuggled against Shaun’s chest before lifting her hand up once more and waving it down. Within a moment’s notice, the clam shell slowly began to close the two in.

‘Well, if this was a dream, at least I got the most out of it…if not, then this wasn’t a bad first impression…’ was the last thought that ran through his mind before the shell closed and both entered a deep loving sleep.

END OF CHAPTER

The Windy Woods

In the bustling city of Newind, where its people enjoy the safety from the outside within its walls, we watch as its guards search high and low for the recent jail break that happened no less than a week ago. No one could understand how a commoner could escape without leaving a single clue, and a large reward was being given out to whoever found him or whoever let him out. Some believed that he simply bribed a guard and escaped into the forest until things calmed down, making several hunters go out to find him. But enough of the city life, our story begins not in the settlement of Newind, but deep in the forest it stands by.

Past the river and into the woods, our story takes place in clearing occupied by a towering golden obstruction accompanied by the sound of buzzing that could be heard within a mile of its range. No creature dared stand too near it in fear of facing its inhabitants, as well as the constant annoying buzzing sound filling their ears would surely drive them mad. We near the entrance of this architectural marvel until a sudden noise echoed above the constant sound of this structure and throughout the entirety of the forest.

“GGGEEEEEETTTTT OOOOUUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTTT!!!!!”

Silence.

The forest stood still at the sudden outbreak, nothing could be heard within miles of the construct. Only the faint humming sound getting louder as it neared the entrance. Within a few minutes, a sniffling brunette honey bee can be seen, her antennae drooping, tears falling from her reddened cheek, as she flew away from her home. She travelled across the forest just below the branches, mumbling as the tears continued to form.

Several mamono saw the bee, watching in curiosity in the safety of the bushes as she continued through the air above them. Finally, after flying more than a mile away where the noises of the hive could no longer be heard, she sat on the branch of a great oak tree, the tears slowing down as she began to calm herself.

“I-It’s n-n-not my f-fault the stup-pid grizzly got to th-the Royal Hon-n-ney…I did-id-idn’t know I was on d-d-duty today…” before more tears ran across her face.

The Honeybee bit her lip to keep herself from crying…it didn’t work.

She sobbed and cried, the one place she knew as home had abandoned her. The Queen she once worshipped so dearly had cast her aside and yelled at her for her failure. She had nowhere to go, and she was forbidden to ever go back. She cried her lungs out for several minutes, making several mamono and human hunters alike think it was some sort of beast in heat and steered clear from the noise.

When the tears came to an end, she leaned against the old tree, thinking of what she’ll do now without the hive. She gave out a sorrowful sigh and leaned against the tree before looking across the forest floor from atop the branch of her tree. Directly below her, a pack of werewolves could be spotted crawling ever so quietly into a large bush nearby. One of the werewolves looked up and spotted the bee that looked down at them curiously. She simply lifted her paw to her mouth, putting one finger to her mouth and gestured that the bee stay quiet. Apparently her sobbing may have attracted either a brave or stupid group of humans, and the werewolves were getting ready to ambush them. The Honeybee nodded as the werewolf followed the pack into the bush.

The bee sighed once more, muttering a few words to herself.

“I have to find a better place to stay...I hope I don’t have to stay on this old tree forever…”

“GGAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!” screeched the voices of men, followed by a series of hits.

The noise of the werewolves surprising and capturing the hunters shocked the Honeybee, making her fall off of the branch and into the bushes below with a loud thud.

The werewolf that had noticed the bee returned to the tree, dragging her unconscious prize by the leg, to see that the honey bee was no longer on its branch. She shuffled through the bushes under the tree to see that no one was there. Perhaps the sound he had heard came from elsewhere, she thought, but it didn’t matter…she had found a new member to add to the pack.

***

The Honeybee sat up, rubbing her bum after having landing on it.

“Owww….”

“Miss, why are you here in the bushes?” said a young voice.

The Honeybee finally opened her eyes to look at the speaker, seeing that is was a small human boy, probably 5 years old at best, staring at the Honeybee.

“Umm…” she wasn’t all too sure how to respond.

“Kyle, come along! We’re going to be late!”

“Okay mommy!” he yelled back, “Bye lady.” he said before running towards the Inari standing by entrance of a building.

The Honeybee stood up and looked at her surroundings in confusion, just a few moments ago she was in the forest…but now she was near the side of a path. She looked as people and mamono alike walked in and out of a nearby building. She stepped out from the bushes and looked at the structure…it was much taller than the hive.

‘How did this end up so close to the hive?’

But with nowhere to go and nothing to lose anymore, she thought she might as well check it out.

The Peaceful Plains

She stepped through one of the large double door entrances to be greeted by the view of the lobby. The scarlet rugged floors, the crystal chandeliers that hung high above her, and the crowds of mamono circulating throughout the area left her amazed.

What really surprised her was the number of males walking freely among them, and not a single mamono was fighting to keep them. If a lone male was seen in the forest with this many mamono around him, a battle would have broken loose in a matter of seconds to claim him as their own.

‘Should I…take one of these males while they’re distracted?’

This thought swirled within her head before it finally struck her.

‘NO! I don’t work for the Queen…I don’t need to get her candidates anymore…’

“Excuse me miss, are you okay?” asked a tender voice as the Honeybee felt a tug on her elbow.

“Huh?” she looked down to see a young succubus looking up at her.

“Are you alright?” the Alice asked.

“Umm…” our Bee didn’t know what to say, let alone where she was, “yes?”

“Okay.” Lilly replied with a smile, “Welcome to the Covet Corner Hotel. Would you like to stay a night here?”

“Uhh…” she didn’t know what to say.

The Honeybee hadn’t put much thought on that, after being kicked out of the hive she had nowhere to go to, and right in front of her a little girl was asking her if she was going to stay. She didn’t know if this was an act of kindness or some type of trap…but what else could she do.

“Yes” she said with an affirmed look on her face.

“Good,” Lilly clasped her hands together and smiled before walking towards the end of the room, “follow me Miss…?”

“Mellifera, April Mellifera”

“Miss Mellifera…wow that sounds so nice…I’m Lilly, follow me please” she announced as she headed to the other end of the room.

Within a moment, they were standing behind a giant mass of mamono all surrounding a single point, the counter. Lilly let out a heavy sigh as she stood with April, waiting for the mamono to leave so they could reach the counter.

“There’s gotta be a better wa- ooooh. Miss Mellifera, wait here for one second please.”

April nodded and within seconds Lilly had flown up into the air, glided above the passing guests, and landed in front of what seemed to be a confused man. After the two shared a few words, Lilly could be seen taking a hold of the man’s hand and leading him to the counter. The crowd that was there all turned around and parted to allow the man in and to the front of the counter. A sudden hush went throughout the crowd as if something amazing had just begun. April was confused with this whole thing, for she didn’t have the slightest idea what was happening.

Lilly popped out from above the crowd and flew to Lilly with a mischievous smile on her face.

“I knew this would work, follow me before they notice.”

April nodded as Lilly led her to the side of the crowd and to the empty section of the counter. Behind the it could be seen a middle-aged man picking at his nails as the other mamono stared at an oddly colorful card the man from before was holding.

“Gramps.” Lilly whispered to the one behind the counter.

“Hmm?” the supposed Gramps turned to see Lilly gesturing him over with a confused Honeybee at her side.

He walked towards the two before leaning in towards Lilly.

“Yeah?”

“We have another guest checking into the hotel, can you give her a room before the others notice we’re skipping?”

Gramps raised an eyebrow and looked at April before smiling

“Sure,” he stood back up and put out his hand to the bee, “I’m Gramps, nice to meet you”

“Umm, hello” she responded, shaking his hand, “I’m April.”

Gramps then reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small pack of clear cards, handing one to April before placing them back into the safety of his pants.

The sound of disappointed moans and groans suddenly filled the area as several of the mamono dispersed and returned to wherever they left off.

“Looks like you’ll have to take care of this one Lilly while I man the counter. Can you do it?”

“Of course I can!” she pronounced sticking out her tongue at him before they both shared a giggle.

“Alright, and welcome to the CC Hotel.”

Lilly grabbed April’s hand and quickly lead her away from the other mamono and in front of the elevator.

“What room did you get?” she asked while pressing the button for the elevator.

April casted another confused look at Lilly before looking down to her card, but something was wrong. She could’ve sworn that the man behind the counter had given her a clear card, and she was certain that she hadn’t let go of it ever since she got it. But the card in her hand was a sunny yellow with what seemed to be a picture flower-patch on the top. What in the world happened to her card?

“I’m…not sure…” She finally replied, showing her card to Lilly.

Lilly proceeded to grabbing a hold of the card and looked at the flower patch design on the top.

“You have room 350 on the third floor silly.” before handing her back her room card.

The Honeybee was amazed, how could she tell her what her room and floor was so easily. So she took another look at the card. The number 350 was written by the design of the flowers, but the reason why our bee couldn’t see it was because she didn’t know how to read. Only the Messenger Bees in the hive knew how to read. She simply shrugged and passed it off as some sort of trickery.

Lilly had already gotten into the elevator and was waiting for April to enter. After noticing where Lilly had gone, April quickly entered into the elevator with her and waited.

“WWOOOOOOOOOHHHH!!!” echoed a booming voice that startled everyone.

Both the girls curiously poked their heads out to see that the sound came from in front of the counter. All that could be seen was an overjoyed minotaur hugging the man from before, his face squished between her breasts as he tried pull away to breathe. The minotaur pointed at nearby red-headed succubus while she hugged the man in one arm with a look of accomplishment on her face.

“IN YOUR FACE SUCCUBI!” she yelled, ending with a smirk at the stunned succubus.

The elevator door closed and began to move up to the third floor, cutting the girls off from the scene. Lilly and April shared an odd moment of silence due to what had just happened, not really sure what to say about it.

“What was all that about?” asked April.

“I’m not really sure. I think some people just really like their roommates…”

*DING*

The elevator doors slid open as they were both blinded by a sudden change in brightness from the third floor. Once their eyes had adjusted, April was surprised to see where they had ended up. In front of her was what seemed to be an endless field of grass, with the rare trees and boulders scattered within the sea of green. The two stepped out of the elevator, April feeling the blades of grass go between her toes, to be greeted by a gentle breeze as the sun shone brightly down to them up in the clear blue skies. The aroma of wild flowers was evident in the breeze, making Lilly smile; Lilly loved the smell of the flowers on this floor.

The scenery was beautiful, but April saw something odd with the floor. A small white picket fence seemed to have been placed to make a rather large path for everyone to walk through. The path still had the rich grass from the fields, but why keeps people within it? Her wings moving with such speed that only a blur can be seen, producing a whirring sound that all bees were famous for, before lifting herself a few feet from the ground. April began to move towards the field to pass the picket fencing.

“Miss, what are you doing?” Lilly asked as she looked up at April.

“I want to look at fields a little more, want to join me?”

“Miss, we can’t do that.”

“What do you mean we can-” a sudden pressure formed against her forehead, making her quickly move back.

April didn’t know what happened, so she moved her hand closer to where she felt the pressure as if trying to reach out to something. Again, she felt the same pressure as she did on her forehead, it was as if someone had placed a wall right behind the picket fence and made it invisible.

She landed back on the ground, tapping the wall that she could not see before heading to the other side of the path and doing the same.

“The walls here are made to look like any place in the world to make guests feel more at home.” Lilly explained to curious Honeybee.

“So, this isn’t real?”

“Yep,” Lilly nodded, “everything out over there is fake, except the grass we’re on is real.”

“But, how did you get the wind here? How is it that the grass out there moves? How is it not real?”

Lilly pouted for a moment before looking up and pondered at the questions.

“I don’t know…Gramps probably knows.” Lilly responded, shrugging before grabbing April’s hand “Come on! Let’s get to your room!”

After several minutes of walking the halls, Lily and April managed to find their way to room 350 where a large door made from similar fencing stood. Beside the door stood a small green mailbox that hung on the fence with the numbers 350 on them. April had never seen a mailbox before, since messages were spread out through the hive vocally by other bees.

“May I see your room key Miss Mellifera?”

“Okay…” she replied as she handed her the room key.

The small Alice takes a hold onto the room key before ramming into the small entry of the mail box. She quickly pulled the card back out and handed back to a confused April. The door clicked to reveal that it was unlocked; Lilly grabbed the door handle and opened it slightly before it locked itself again.

“I hope you enjoy your stay here in the CC hotel.” Lilly said with a smile as she opened the door for April.

“Thank you Lilly” she replied, smiling back at her, grabbing the door and finally entering the room.

Meeting The Baker

April entered her room, closing the door behind her before deciding to take notice to her room. It seemed as if she had entered a log cabin that had been in hiding within the woods. The stone floors, the rich oak wood walls, the open windows allowing a view of the ‘outside’ fields, and a hint of fresh bread in the air decorated the insides of the cabin. It truly seemed wonderful to a bee like April, today was her first day inside of a building other than the hive and this was all a new experience to her.

She quickly began looking around the place, flying to touch the ceilings and vents, and sitting on the odd bits of furniture that were scattered in the small living room. She flew around for several minutes until arriving into the kitchen where the smell of the bread seem to have been concentrated. Landing on the cold floors she began to walk through the kitchen, opening its several cabinets and drawers to dig through its contents. She was baffled by the odd tools she found, the odd smelling herbs and spices, the mysterious jars of what seemed to be sleeping slimes, and an assortment of powders.

‘A wizard or a witch must live here’ she thought as she opened another cabinet and locking her eyes to a container of what seemed to be white shiny sand.

April couldn’t contain her curiosity; she picked up the cylindrical container and sniffed it. This item didn’t have much of a smell, but that didn’t stop her. Without thinking much of it, she dipped her fingers into the container and managed to grab a pinch of the white sand. She examined it, looking at it closely until finally deciding to taste it. A familiar sweet sensation ran throughout her tongue. Whatever this was, it certainly had a pleasant taste; not quite as tasty as the honey she had made in her jar, but just as enjoyable.

She continued to taste the sugar, pouring tiny portions onto her hand and licking it off before continuing her way around the kitchen. In the back of the counter, something else caught her eye, a small basket filled with several different types of breads and a clear jug of water right by it. Her stomach grumbled, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten in hours as she stared at the bread. She remembered seeing this food once before, when she and a group of other bees caught a man and took his supplies. He had several of these, and was eating one just before her sisters grabbed a hold of him.

‘Well…it can’t hurt to try one…’ she thought to herself, grabbing a soft croissant that stood on top of pile. She squeezed it a bit, ‘It’s very fluffy’, before finally bringing it into her mouth and taking a bite of the golden brown bread. An explosion of new flavors filled her taste buds, the buttery soft interior of the bread made her almost squeal in delight. In mere seconds she stuffed the entire croissant into her mouth, munching it in bliss and swallowing the deliciously baked good. She picked up the jug and drank a gulp of water straight from it before setting it back down.

Her eyes were now set to lighter colored bread that stuck out by the side, picking it up she saw that it was a thick stick-shaped bread that was lightly browned and almost small enough to fit in the palm of her hand. This one had a rougher texture than the other, and was much crispier. She raised it to her open jaw and bit down to hear the sound of crunching. The crust of the bread broke to reveal the soft but compact insides of the still warm bread. She continued to eat the small ciabatta, taking her time to eat this one unlike the last before washing it down with another gulp of water.

She sat there for several minutes, savoring each one of the baked delights ranging from the buttered baguette to the ever addicting cinnamon roll. She devoured the entire basket of all its goods until nothing but crumbs were left, and the jug of water being left at one-fourths filled compared to how it was originally. She stood up with a full stomach and quickly lied down on the couch in the living room nearby. She was so tired after eating all of that, all she wanted to do was take a nice long nap…



*Click*

“Hmm?” said April, lifting her head to look around and see nothing had changed.

She could have sworn that she heard something… she must have been imagining things.

*Creeeaaaaaakkkk*

April froze up when she heard the sound echo through the room. She knew that the all too familiar sound was that of the door being opened, meaning that the click from before was the sound of it being unlocked. Was it Lilly, was it Gramps, who was in the room with her?!

A sigh and a groan could be heard as the sound of shoes being taken off was heard from what April could guess was a man. The slow but heavy footsteps neared the living room where April laid motionless upon the couch. And like that, right in front of her passed a tall lean but well-figured man, his tired eyes were only half-opened and he dragged himself across the living room. He stood in front of the other couch on the opposite side of where April was and fell onto it, causing the flour from the apron he wore to create a small cloud around him. The goateed man looked straight at April for a moment, but seemed too tired to take notice and fell asleep on the spot.

April stared at the man, not knowing what to do as he slept a mere few feet from her. ‘He must live here too.’ She thought, ‘What should I do?’

She stood up, quietly walking around the male, wondering what in the world she was suppose to do. Something inside her was bugging her… usually if she saw a male like this, she would test him and then see if he was qualified for the Queen… but she was no longer part of the hive… and this male was helpless, she couldn’t just test him in this condition.

She decided to take it on herself and help out this being, even if he was in no actual danger or distress. With a single heave, she picked up the man over her shoulder, taking him to towards the bedroom she flew into earlier today. She had done this before, picking up the exhausted males and putting them to bed after the hive decided to have an orgy was a regular task of a Worker Bee.

She knew the room well after flying around for so long and managed her way to the bedroom with ease. Dropping the man onto his old wooden framed bed caused more of the mysterious dust to fly off his apron, causing April to sneeze on his tiny nightstand. The bedroom was very small; the only things inside of it were the bed, the nightstand, and the small wardrobe at the end by the door. The Bee looked around the room and sighed as she began to remove the dirty apron and clothes from the unconscious male, throwing them on the floor since she didn’t know where to put them.

While she pulled off the man’s clothed, she could smell a faint odor from him. It was a familiar one that she smelled recently, but she wasn’t sure what it was, so she leaned in to take on another whiff. As she neared his bare chest, she could feel herself coming to realization of what that scent was…it was…the smell of fresh bread, just like from the ones she had eaten before.


She almost melted on the spot as the smell of the delicious food filled her nose once more, her legs feeling like jelly, before finally falling down on top of the man. She laid on top of him, her head resting on his chest as she took in the intoxicating scent of the man, her drowsy state shifting her off into the dream world beside the stranger. She could barely… yawn… stay awake…

***


Morning arose at the hotel just like any other day, the harpies were chirping, the werewolves were barking, and husbands were getting the cuffs and chains off of their Jorogumo wives.

Yep, everything seemed just about right…well…mostly everything at least.

“AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!”

“EEEEEEEEEEPPPP!!!!”

*Thud, thud, thud!*

In the bedroom of the apartment labeled 350 within the third floor were two surprised and confused individuals lying on the floor across from each other. The man named Adrian had woken up in his room to be surprised that he was in the arms of an unknown woman. His first thought was that he had been kidnapped and would be turned into a sex slave, as the rumors of those kidnapped by dark elves goes. So he screamed and jumped right out of bed, only to clumsily land on the floor as his left leg stayed tangled to the blanket on top of the bed.

April on the other hand was having the most pleasant dream until a loud disturbing sound woke her up, causing her to fly into the ceiling, land on the bed, until finally bouncing onto the floor on the opposite side of Adrian. April rubbed her butt after landing on it before standing up to look at the struggling Adrian trying to free his leg from the grip of his blanket. The sight of the man battling against an inanimate object that was made for comfort made her giggle as she went up and helped the man.

Upon seeing the bee aiding him rather than taking advantage of his situation with a smile across her face (and the fact that she didn’t look like a dark elf), Adrian quickly calmed down and managed to free his leg.

“Thanks...”

Both walked into the living room, sitting on the couches across from each other, sharing an awkward silence as they stared into the eyes of the other, waiting until one would finally break the silence.

“I’m Adrian. Adrian T. Durum.”

“And I am April Mellifera. It’s nice to meet you Adrian.” She responded in her polite tone.

“Likewise, Miss Mellifera.”

“Call me April.”

“Alright, April.”

The tense air that had filled the room before had finally been lifted as the two began to converse.

“I can’t remember anything that happened after I left work, what exactly did I do last night?”

‘He has a job here? I guess this place is like the hive after all…’

“Well, when you came in here, you walked to that really big chair thing,” she told him as she pointed to the sofa he was on, “fell down, and fell asleep. After that I picked you up and put you to bed.”

Letting out a sigh of relief, Adrian no longer felt worried that he might have potentially embarrassed himself or had been captured. But, of course, something still bothered him.

“Okay then, now why were you sleeping on me?”

“Well…you see…” April began, blushing as she answered the question, “…while I was putting you to bed…you smelled really nice and…I sort of fell asleep on you.”

At hearing this statement Adrian reddened as well, he quickly looked out the window and tried to change the subject.

“Ummm…ahem…well…uh, why exactly are you in my apartment?”

“Oh! I didn’t know this was your apartment. When I came into this place, they gave me this thing and brought me here, saying this is where I’ll be staying.” She responded, pulling out her room card to show it to Adrian.

Upon seeing the room card, Adrian stood up from where he was seated and walked up to April.

“May I see that?” he asked her politely, opening his hand towards her so as to receive the card. April simply nodded and handed her card to him.

Gripping the room card between two fingers, Adrian began to inspect it, flipping it from one side to the other every few seconds. With his free hand he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his own room card and begun to compare the two identical cards. After looking at both cards for a few more seconds, he handed April her card back and slipped his into his back pocket.

“I guess you’re my roommate from now on.”

“Huh?” April gestured her head sideways in confusion to what he said, “What do you mean?”

“Hmm?” Adrian replied, raising an eyebrow, “Don’t you know how this place works?”

April shook her head to the question. Adrian sat back down across from her and gave out a sigh as he thought of how he was going to explain this.

“Well, I’m not entirely sure why exactly they do this…but almost everyone in this place stays with a roommate. Basically, you share your apartment with someone else that either walks in or is already in the hotel. Most of the time, you get one roommate, but a few people tell me how some stay with a lot more than just one. For the most part, whoever you’re sharing your place with is pretty good, usually people who live similar lifestyles or something like that. And apparently, you are now going to live with me.”

April stared intently at Adrian as he continued to explain what he knew of the hotel, nodding occasionally whenever he paused and looked at her to make sure she understood.

“After staying here a while, you have to get a job if you want to keep staying here. They still pay you, not much, but since you don’t have to pay for staying in, it’s a decent amount.”

“So, this is just like the hive?” April finally asked.

“I guess.”

“Perfect!” she yelled out, a smile visible on her face.

The sudden reaction from the previously silent Honeybee surprised Adrian, not entirely sure how to respond to her outburst.

“I just thought of something…what exactly is your job?” April asked curiously to Adrian.

“Oh, that’s easy!” Adrian said, “I’m a baker.”

“What’s a baker?”

“Umm…well…a baker is someone who generally bakes breads, cakes, pies, and other baked goods.”

“Ahh…what’s baking?”

The Bakery

It was about 9 am and the hotel was bustling once more, guests were arriving as couples and families were leaving in the lobby. But rather than to pay attention to the usual, let us go up a few floors to look at the ones who are already staying here.

Stepping out of the elevator and onto the sandy floors of the eighth floor was the baker Adrian and his honeybee roommate April. Adrian was walking beside April as she tried to repeat the basics of making bread so that she’d understand what a baker does.

“So, you put this ball of goop called dough into a thing called a stove, which then gets really hot for a while. And after that you take out the dough and it turns into bread?”

“That’s the idea.” Adrian responded, feeling somewhat happy in successfully explaining it.

“…baking is weird…”

Adrian sighed and simply continued to lead the way to his job as the honeybee followed.

“So, how exactly does this ‘kitchen’ look?”

“You’ll see soon enough” he replied with a smile.

After a few more minutes of walking through the desert-like halls and passing a sphinx who asked Adrian if he’d like to try to answer her riddles, the two ended up in a hall filled with double doors on one wall and nothing on the other wall.

“Is this it?” April asked

“No, but we’re close.” Adrian replied, opening one of the double doors and letting April in before stepping in.

The room they stepped in still looked as if they were in the desert, but it was shaded due to the high walls and the mass of tarps everywhere.

“Since you’re new, I’d like to welcome you to the CC Hotel’s Bazaar. Almost anything can be found here, anything ranging from food to clothing to jewelry and…”

Both April and Adrian were distracted from the sight of a succubus carrying a rather large shopping bag filled with dildos, anal beads, and rope walking right past them while her fiancé followed her, trying out a mouth gag.

“…and even the kinky stuff….practically anything can be found here.”

April was overcome by the sight of all the odd things before her, along with the odd smells most of these things were giving off. But before she could take it all in, Adrian grabbed her hand and began to drag her through the crowd.

“Come on, we gotta head to my spot. We’re late as it is.”

The two pushed their way through the crowd, past the several stands and shopkeepers. Eventually as the two got out of the tarp filled area, they reached a small shop permanently set up within the wall as a small crowd of people can be seen waiting outside.

The two stepped inside into the small bakery where a small crowd of customers are waiting while two of the employees, a human male and female, behind the counter were trying to find out what to do.

“What about Sally the salamander? Can she make it today?”

“No, she’s on vacation with her boyfriend. I think they’re visiting her family that lives by a volcano.”

“And what about…what’s the other ignis’ name?” The first one asked, snapping his fingers as he tried to remember.

“Vesta? She’s still sick from the cold she got the other day.”

Right there, a man and an Ignis came running through the entrance, both panting like crazy as the man began to take off his clothes and headed to the backroom.

“NURI! YOU MADE IT!” yelled both of the employees as the ignis followed the man to the back.

Soon after hearing few moans, the stone stove that was in the wall behind the counter was lit ablaze. The flames quickly receded back inside stove into a stable fire with a constant heat coming from it as the couple inside began their lovemaking.

Without a second to spare, the two began to put in the freshly made dough into the stove and taking orders from the waiting customers. Adrian told April to sit down for a while until the morning rush left before heading behind the counter where the two other employees greeted him and all began to do their routine.

Within the hour, the crowd had left and the bakery was quiet once more. The couple that were inside the stove were now fully clothed out in front, having a small snack as the two coworkers were discussing how many supplies they would need to order this week. Adrian stepped out from behind the counter, carrying a glass of milk and a something wrapped in a napkin. He laid the two on the table in front of April who simply stared at the two things wondering if it was for her or him before realizing that he went back to the counter and got his own glass of milk and napkin wrapped item.

“Go on, eat it. It’s our breakfast since we didn’t anything at my place.” He told her as he began unwrapping the napkin covered item to show it was a pastry.

She followed his example and took out the wrapping from hers before taking a small bite out of it. It was still warm from being made recently, soft on the inside, but also flakey on the outside. Other than that, it tasted just like the bread she had eaten yesterday, until she took another bite from it. When she took a second bite out of the pastry, a rush of flavor entered her mouth. It was as if a sweetened fruit had been hidden inside of this bread thing, giving it a completely different but wonderful flavor to it.

“Mmmm!” She let out, licking her lips before taking another bite out of the pastry.

“You like it?”

“Mhmm.” April managed to respond, smiling and nodding to Adrian who had sat down in front of her.

“I thought you would. This thing has been hitting it big ever since Freddy brought it over here. Hey Freddy, what are these things called again!?”

The two that were behind the counter stopped for a moment to look at Adrian and see what he was asking the name of.

“Pastellitos.” he said with a bit of an accent as if to make it sound foreign.

“Thanks.”

“No prob, but who is this if you don’t mind me asking?” Freddy asked, gesturing to April who was still munching on her pastellito.

“This is my roommate, her name’s April.”

Upon hearing her name, April looked up at the coworkers with the pastellito still in her mouth before shyly waving at the two with her free hand.

The two behind the counter giggled before smiling at their friend’s roommate.

“Hi there April and welcome to our bakery,” said the woman in a friendly tone, “I’m Jennifer, and this is my brother Fredrick.”

“But you can call us Jenny and Freddy for short.” said the supposed Freddy.

“And those two lovebirds over there are Nuri and Victor.” Pointed Jenny out, indicating to the man and the Ignis sitting in the table across from them.

The two hardly even noticed their names being said as they shared a single small pastellito, each taking a bite from opposite ends. They continued to do this until only a small bite was left, to which the Victor placed at the end of his mouth and held it up to his Ignis. Nuri smirked and went right in, biting the end of the pastry and taking it into her mouth before kissing Victor. She sat herself back down and enjoyed the last of what remained of her snack.

April watched the two lovers as they stood back up and went to the back once more…she knew she had seen that way those two looked together before…somewhere. It reminded her of the Queen and the way she acted when she was with her husband, the two had this look in them that seemed like they were sinking as they stared into each other’s eyes. The Queen didn’t like it when someone interrupted her when she was with him, so under no circumstance was anyone allowed to intrude…but…

“April!”

“Huh?” April was taken out of the trance that she was in and looked back at Adrian, who had somehow managed to get behind the counter.

“Wanna help me make something?”

“Sure” she smiled as she got up and went behind the counter.

***

After several hours at the bakery, the two can be seen walking back through the desert sand back towards the elevator. The moon shone down above them, lighting their way until the flour covered two finally stepped into the elevator.

“See, baking isn’t as easy as you think.” Adrian started, pressing the button labeled FL 3 once the two were inside.

The doors closed and the whir of the elevator began, gradually bringing the two down to their designated floor.

*DING*

Once it arrived to the third floor, the elevator doors creaked open, allowing the two to continue their walk in the moonlight with the sound of chirping crickets.

“Do you have to do this every day?” asked April.

“Nah, in fact tomorrow the bakery isn’t even open. So I get to lounge around at home and do whatever I want.”

“That’s nice.”

The two continued to stroll down the grass filled hall until April asked another question.

“Where can I bathe to get all this stuff off me?”

“You mean the flour?” Adrian clarified

“Yes, that stuff.”

“Well, we have a bathtub in the apartment, so you can use that.”

“What’s a bathtub?”

“…I’ll just show you once we get there…”

***

Adrian shuffled through the cabinets and cupboards as he took a mental inventory of what he had left so that he’d know what to make for tomorrow. After finally getting April to understand the concept of the knobs that control the hot and cold water, Adrian was getting tired.

“Half a bag of flour, about 4 cups of sugar, 2 cups of salt, some baking powder, and…what the heck is this?”

Adrian had spotted a small jar on the counter that he had never seen before. He went to it, picking it up to take a closer look at it to note that it was filled with something inside. Curiosity getting the best of him, he opened the jar up to see that it was filled to the top with a golden slime-like liquid.

“Honey? When did I buy honey?” he asked himself.

Upon hearing the bathroom doors open and close, he knew that April must’ve finished her bath and placed the jar back where he found it.

April walked out of the bedroom, wearing an overly large button down shirt that reached her thighs with sleeves that covered past her hands. The only thing that seemed to fit properly was the light grey sweatpants she was wearing. As she stepped out into the living room, she stretched out her arms and let out a nice tired yawn, wiping her eyes with the sleeve on her wrist.

“We really need to get you some clothes.” Adrian announced.

“Yeah…” she yawned

“So, where exactly do you want me to sleep?” she asked, giving out yet another yawn

“You’ll be sleeping on the bed, I’ll be sleeping right here on the couch.”

“Huh? No, I don’t want to kick you out of your spot. I’ll sleep on this couch thing.”

“No,” Adrian sighed, pushing April back to the bedroom and onto his bed, “you’ll sleep here, and I’ll sleep over there. Okay?”

April looked down as Adrian pulled the blanket over her, feeling slightly guilty that she was taking his bed before looking back up at him.

“Okay…” she said aloud, pulling the blanket just below her eyes “…but you can sleep here with me if you want…” she said under her breath so that Adrian only heard mumbles.

“Hmm?”

“Nothing!” she quickly replied, looking to the sides shyly.

Adrian smiled down at her, ruffling her hair before kissing her forehead, making April blush beneath the blanket.

“Night.”

“Night.”

Adrian walked out of the room, turning off the lights and quietly closing the door behind him before heading towards the light switches in the room to then walk to the couch.

He took off his shoes, his shirt, and even his pants until he was in nothing more than his undergarments before finally laying down and staring at the ceiling. There he was, alone with his thoughts.

‘What should I do tomorrow?’ he thought, trying to come up with the best way to spend his day. ‘Maybe I should make April feel more welcomed here…I mean we are roommates…but what?’

Adrian stared at the ceiling, never changing the expression on his face as the ideas flowed through his mind, each a different suggestion of what to do. As with any good idea, nothing but garbage were the first few thoughts that entered his mind until one finally hit him.

‘I’ll make her something! Something delicious! Something no girl can resist! I’ll make her a cake!’

He was certain that this would be the perfect thing he could do for her to make her feel more welcomed… that, and he already had all the ingredients to make it.

Knowing what he was going to do tomorrow, Adrian's worry-free mind drifted off to sleep.

A few hours later…

The night was quiet, not a single sound could be heard in the apartment, save the whir of the refrigerator. Adrian was happily dreaming on the couch, his right leg hanging off the edge of the couch as his foot touched the ground.

The door of the bedroom creaked open as a cautious Honeybee quietly tiptoed her way out of the room and towards the couch. She peeked over the back frame of the furniture to see the sleeping Adrian scratch his chest before hanging it off the side of the couch.

She couldn’t believe she was doing this…but she couldn’t resist it either. She walked around the couch, trying her best to not make a single noise, until finally she gently placed herself on top of him. Her feet hung on the armrest as her head lay on his chest. Even though he had taken a bath before her, he still smelled like fresh bread, making her nuzzle closer to him.

Without warning, Adrian’s right arm went over April and hugged her close to him. The shocked April tried to pull away without waking him up, but it seemed as though Adrian’s arm was locked in place. Fearing that if she continued she would wake him up in this awkward situation, April had no choice but to wait until he would move his arm off of her so that she could escape…but until then…

April decided to enjoy the warmth he was sharing with her along with his rousing scent until she could leave.

So there she waited for what seemed to be hours and hours that were in fact actually just minutes up till when he finally removed his arm…but by then she had already fallen asleep.

***

A new day had started, and the guests were walking through the lobby as usual while Gramps did his routine check behind the counter.

“Jennifer…check, Harold…check, Christine…check, April…blank…room 350.” Gramps sighed; he picked up the desk phone, and dialed for room 350 to check up on the guest.

Meanwhile in room 350, Adrian was just beginning to wake up, still not wanting to open his eyes just yet. It was odd, he had dreamed as if he was being held down by some mysterious force…maybe his dream was trying to tell him something…or the nightmare’s daughter next door was playing a prank on him again…either way, it felt as if it were still there.

He lifted his hand up and went down to scratch his morning wood when his hand landed on something unfamiliar. It was rather large, round, and firm…there was no way that this could be his crotch. Adrian opened one of his eyes as to see the obstruction between him in his itch, until realizing that he had a sleeping honeybee on him.

He opened both his eyes in surprise, his hand accidentally squeezing whatever it was gripping making the sleeping honeybee smile and lick her lips. Adrian shifted his head to the side to see that his hand was placed exactly on one of April’s butt cheeks…and she was enjoying it!

Blushing as this came to his realization, Adrian attempted to slide April off of him but froze up as she said something.

“It’s so hot…” she murmured as her hips moved against Adrian.

Adrian nearly panicked when she did that, his morning wood was rubbing against her, just below her navel region. The only thing between them was a few thin layers of fabric that their clothes were luckily providing.

Adrian had to come up with a way to get out of this without waking her up, he didn’t want her to wake up with him rubbing his member against her, they had just met!

He was breathing heavier as he looked around the room trying to find something he could do so to avoid this.

‘I’ll just have to keep trying to slide her off. If she wakes up the only thing I can do is push her off me, grab my pants and run to the bathroom…if she ask I’ll say it was an emergency. I mean…I really do need to go…’

*RING, RING, RING!*

The telephone on the counter was sounding wildly, breaking the silence that was previously in the room that Adrian tried so hard to preserve.

The sudden noise caused April to open her eyes in an alert matter and sit up almost instantly, it was as if though an alarm had went off to her.

Seeing that this was his only opportunity, Adrian pushed the honeybee off of him, leaving her on the couch before grabbing his pants, running behind the counter to put on his pants and lastly answering the phone.

“Yes!” gasping for a moment, “Hello?”

“Hey Adrian! It’s Gramps, what’s up?” replied a voice on the other end.

“Oh, hi Gramps. So far so good. What about you?” Adrian said, beginning to calm down at last.

“That’s good to hear. I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything, but I was wondering how your roommate April was doing. Is she alright?”

Adrian turned around to look back at the couch to see that April was both dazed and sitting upside-down on the couch after having thrown her off.

“Yeah, she’s fine…just a bit tired.”

“That’s good to hear. Well, if you could, remind her to get a job here or something by the end of the week. You know the policy; we can only let her stay here free for a few days unless she works here or actually pays to stay here.”

“Actually, she’s been helping me at the bakery. So if anything, I guess you can consider that as her job.”

“Really, she’s working at the bakery? That’s great! Alright then, I’ll be up sometime this week to check up on her and get one of those pastellito things everyone down here is talking about…”

From the background Adrian could hear a girl’s voice yelling “Get me one too!”

“Don’t worry Gramps, I’ll tell Freddy to save you and Lilly one each.”

“Thanks Adrian. Have a nice day.”

“You too Gramps.” he ended, placing the phone down back on the counter.

Adrian gave out a relieved sigh before stepping out from behind the counter, his morning wood having already gone down, and sitting down on the couch beside April. By this time, April had already sat back up normally and was picking at her nails.

“Good morning Adrian.” she said with a smile

“Good morning. Well, that was Gramps on the phone, and from now on you’ll be working in the bakery with us.”

“REALLY?!” April nearly jumped with joy like a child receiving a puppy.

“Yep, but we first gotta take care of some things before we continue.”

April quickly began to worry, but she did her best at hiding it. She was worried if he’d ask her why she had fallen asleep on her, mostly because she didn’t want to tell him the truth and hadn’t thought of a good excuse.

“First of all, we have to get you some clothes.” Adrian announced.

It hadn’t even occurred to Adrian that the honeybee had left his room to sleep along with him, he was more concerned with the idea that she might have noticed his morning wood or felt it when he had gotten up.

“Luckily,” he continued, “Jenny and her brother are going shopping today to stock up on supplies for the bakery. Jenny can help you get some clothes as well as your uniform for the bakery.”

“Great! But what are you going to do?”

“Oh, I have a few loose ends to tie up, but I should be done with those before you finish. So, all I have to do right now is call up the siblings and tell them you’ll be joining them today.”

“Okay.”

Adrian stood back up and went to the phone on the counter to call up Freddy and tell him that April was going to join them today. April went to the bathroom to get herself ready, luckily Adrian explained to her how the toilet worked yesterday as well.

After a few minutes, April returned to the living room in her regular honeybee attire that she had washed yesterday while in the bath tub.

Adrian was already starting to make breakfast for the two, making pancakes in one pan, while another was frying eggs, and the last pan took care of the bacon. The fourth burner left on the stove was reserved to the kettle that was making Adrian’s coffee as he did his morning routine.

April, not all too sure on what to do, sat down on one of the oak wood stools that were on the other side of the counter.

“Do you want some coffee?” Adrian asked her.

“What’s coffee?”

Seeing that she had no idea what it was, Adrian grabbed the handle of the kettle with a cloth and poured the coffee into a nearby mug that he had set on the side. He carefully placed the mug onto the counter and then grabbed the container of sugar from pantry along with a pewter spoon from one of the drawers. He poured two spoonfuls of sugar into the mug, stirring it with the spoon until finally pushing it towards April.

“Be careful, it’s hot.”

April nodded, reaching out towards the mug to grip the handle so that she could lift it up to her face. She gently blew onto the surface of the dark liquid until at last bringing the rim of the cup to her lips and taking her first sip of the coffee.

“Blegh!”

“So I take it that you don’t like it.”

April shook her head and set the mug back down, pushing it away from her, pouting as she turned her head to the side.

“Hehe…I guess you have to develop a taste for it.” He said before picking up the mug and taking a few sips himself.

Just as he set the mug down, he spun in place to face the stove, grabbing a plate to set two pancakes, two fried eggs, and two slices of crispy bacon onto it. Turning around once more, he set the plate down in front of the Honeybee, and then grabbing the utensils in the drawers to set them by the plate. To finish it off, he went to the fridge to grab a pitcher of milk and served a glass to April.

Within a few minutes, he made himself a plate of exactly what he had served to April and sat himself down beside her. She hadn’t even touched her food yet.

“You didn’t have to wait for me you know.”

“It’s not that…” she replied to him, picking up the fork by the wrong end, “I don’t know how to use this.”

“…this is going to be an interesting day…”

The Honey Cake

“Bye April, have fun.” Adrian said as April was leaving with the siblings to do the shopping.

“Bye Adrian!” She yelled back before running back to him and hugging him tightly.

Adrian slightly blushed as Freddy smirked and Jenny giggled at the sight.

“So, I have to get her a uniform as well?” Jenny asked.

“Yep, she’ll be working with us from now on.”

“Well, you better teach your girlfriend how to bake Adrian, because I’m not paying someone to stand around and look pretty. For that I’d hire one of the demons.”

“Of course!”

“Alright, see you in a few hours then.”

They waved each other goodbye and began to walk down the hall. It was until they had reached the corner that Adrian had realized what Jenny had told him.

“SHE’S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!”

Soon after he said that, he could almost hear April ask something along the lines ‘What’s a girlfriend?’

He closed the doors and pondered for a moment… ‘Poor girl, she must have been from the forest. No wonder she’s so lost in this place’… he let out a sigh before remembering what he had to do. He had to get that cake ready!

Adrian stormed his way into the kitchen, took out his mixing bowl, eggs, flour, cinnamon, butter, margarine, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, applesauce, chocolate, milk, and every fruit he had onto the counter.

“Now…what type of cake am I making?”Adrian asked himself as he looked down the line of ingredients.

‘I can make a regular cake…chocolate, fruit, banana cake, cinnamon cake, pound cake…what el- is that the honey from yesterday?’

Adrian had almost forgotten about the honey, which had not moved an inch from where he last left it. Once again he reached out towards the jar, bringing it up to him and removing its lid to look onto its golden sweet liquid. Adrian dipped the tip of his finger into the honey, bringing it to his mouth to taste it. The sweet flavor invaded his mouth, drowning him in a feeling of euphoria and delight; making him almost regret having to swallow it as it oozed down into his stomach.

“Delicious.”

With that, he knew just the type of cake that he’d be making for April; he was going to make her a Honey Cake. He grabbed the mixing bowl, cracked a few eggs in it to then pour the batch of honey into the bowl and mix.

‘Come to think of it…this could be April’s…well, too late now. What harm could it do?’

***

“Sign here, here, and here.” Instructed an anubis.

Down by the bakery Jenny is signing away at a clipboard as a uniformed Anubis of about her height helped her get the paperwork done. Once she finished, Jenny handed the clipboard back to its owner who began to read this week’s order.

“So, it’s ten sacks of flour, twenty dozen eggs, fifteen bags of sugar, and…what’s this number?” questioned the Anubis, pointing at a scribble that was by the word ‘yeast’.

“Oh, that’s a two.”

“Two?! Why so little this week?”

“Inpu, do you remember that treat my brother made you try last week?”

“Of course, it was delicious.” Inpu replied, licking her lips as she was reminded of the flavor.

“Well, we started selling it and it’s been hitting big so far, and since it doesn’t use that much yeast in it, we have a bunch still leftover.”

“Ahh, that makes sense.” Inpu said, looking back down onto the clipboard, “I also see that you want a new woman’s uniform. Size medium and cup size C, may I ask who the new worker is?”

“That would be April, the one socializing with your workers.” Jenny pointed out.

Off to the side, April was rearranging the bandages to one of the Mummy’s who were on their break. The Mummy was murmuring something through her bandages that no one except April could somehow understand.

“Mmph mmm hmmm mmhmmmph.”

“Yes, I get it that you’re a bit scared to show your skin, but your boyfriend will like it. Trust me; I’ve seen this in the hive hundreds of times.”

Finishing her work with a small bow from the bandages on the Mummy’s back, many of the people who were simply passing by stopped to see April’s handiwork. Several of the bandages were rearranged, showing a considerable amount of skin for the average mummy. By clumping several of the straps together, a large scarf was made to cover the lower-half of the Mummy’s face as well as her neck. Many of the bandages were moved to the forearms to make thick fingerless arm gloves that thinned out as it approached the elbows, giving it a detached sleeve like design. The bow on her back held up the single strap that was holding up the Mummy’s breasts, just managing to cover the nipple area to show off its size and considerable cleavage. As you continued down, a crisscross pattern covered her abdominal region, allowing her naval to show between the bandages. Upon reaching her hips, we see a small loincloth barely managing to her region, but her region was covered by a few of the bandages in case of a breeze. Once reaching her legs, we see a similar style as to the forearms where the bandages lightly cover part of the Mummy’s thighs and then thicken as they reach down to her feet.

Several of the onlookers could not keep themselves from staring, as some of their wives began to fume. The Mummy blushed behind the safety of her scarf, before deciding to give a provocative pose with one arm reaching out to the crowd and giving them a wink. The crowd quickly scattered, the majority of males blushing as their wives or girlfriends were red with rage.

One Harpy nudged her boyfriend to look at the mummy.

“If you buy me that, I’ll wear it for tonight.”

The boyfriend blushed and quickly dragged the Harpy into the crowd of stores in search of the outfit.

“Screw the bakery,” Inpu commented, “she should be working with the Arachnids in the clothing and design team.”

The other Mummies were giving approving nods to their coworker who hugged April. April hugged her back, but was left stunned when the Mummy fell down to her knees almost shaking uncontrollably.

“What happened?!” April panicked as the other Mummies went down to see what occurred.

Inpu ran up to the Mummy to check up on her worker, noticing a small puddle under the soaked loincloth.

“False alarm everyone! She just suffered an orgasm.”

The Anubis carefully helped the Mummy back up, grabbing only the bandaged parts of her body as she told the other workers to start on the delivery.

“I should’ve seen this one coming…but I’ll admit it, you look sexy in this Omo.”

“Hmm mhmm.”

The Anubis set her worker down onto a bench that was just outside the entrance of the bakery as the other Mummies brought in the merchandise.

“Look here Omo. I can’t have you working like that; if anything touches you you’ll fall down to your knees and damage the equipment, the merchandise, or even yourself.”

“Mmm hmmm mmph.”

“Yeah yeah, I know. So I’m giving you two options. One, you put yourself back the way you usually are and get back to work…or…Two, you take the day off and surprise Michael.”

The Mummy’s face lit up as she heard her boss say that, jumping up and giving her a hug.

“Mhmm mhmm mhmm!”

Inpu, remembering the incident, had both her arms outstretched to the sides to keep Omo from falling back to the ground with another orgasm.

“Okay, I get it, you’re happy. Now go before I change my mind.”

Omo bowed to her boss and quickly went running through the crowd so she could get to her room and wait for her boyfriend Michael.

“Try not to touch anyone along the way!”

Inpu walked back towards Jenny who was supervising the Mummies as they brought in the cargo into the bakery.

“Everything good?” asked Jenny.

“Yep, gave her the day off to go please herself and her boyfriend.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“Hmm…where’d that honeybee go?” Inpu asked.

“There.” Jenny stated, pointing to the only non-Mummy carrying a sack of flour into the bakery as if she were one of them.

“That girl is an odd one… she’s perfect for Adrian.”

“You thought so too? Freddy and I were saying the same thing yesterday when she tried to make a cupcake. It was a mess, but she managed with some of Adrian’s help.”

“Wow… speaking of Freddy,” Inpu pronounced, “Does he have a roommate yet?” raising an eyebrow as she finished.

“Unfortunately no, he’s thinking about going down too and asking Gramps to check his card.”

“Well… me and a few of the girls were wondering if he’d join us to the Nile River Festival next week. Since everyone else is bringing their roommates…I was wondering…since neither of us has a roommate…” Inpu looked to the side, blushing at the sight of Freddy checking everything as it went into the bakery before turning back.

“I don’t know. You’re the one with the crush. Ask him.” Jenny told her rather bluntly.

“I can’t just say it like that!”

“So you do have a crush on him.” Jenny replied, smirking a bit as she looked at Inpu.

A now embarrassed Anubis reddened even further, her tail pointing straight up, until both her face and tail drooped down.

“…yes…”

“Ask him then! Don’t think he’s been giving you free pastries for so long because he wants you to tell him how it tastes. He knows their delicious and always tries to make a new one just for you.”

Inpu was frozen in shock, but quickly kneeled to Jenny.

“Thank you so much!” she got back up and walked into the bakery, trying her best to look composed.

April and the others had finished unloading the merchandise and returned to Jenny who thanked them for their help. The Mummies chatted with April for a few minutes, making Jenny feel left out since she had no idea what they were saying.

Once Inpu returned to the group, she told everyone to get ready to head off to the next stop and waited until her workers left to speak to Jenny.

“He said yes!” she blurted out like an excited school girl.

“Good.”

“What should I wear? Should I dress casual or should I show some fur? No wait, I don’t want him to think I’m like a succubi, what should I do?”

“First of all…CALM DOWN.”

The two bickered for several minutes, Inpu panicking about a date that hasn’t even occurred yet while Jenny tried her best to calm her down. April, who had never left, watched the two for a few moments before deciding to join Freddy who was inside the bakery.

Freddy was happily cleaning the countertop, thinking what would be the best thing to impress Inpu during the festival. Seeing that he was in his own fantasy, April sat down and waited for either side to finish.

“People are so weird sometimes…”

***

Several hours later

In the apartment labeled 350 on third floor, a man can be seen intently staring into the oven, watching the mixture rise in its pan. He let out a sigh, standing back up to see the mess he had made throughout his kitchen.

“Great…worst part of baking…cleaning up…”

Showing little effort, Adrian began to pick up the bowls, mixers, and other utensils to drop them into the sink so he could wash. He absent mindedly grabbed the sponge, soaking some soap on it and began to scrub.

‘I wonder how long till they get back. Hopefully I’ll be done by then.’

He set down one of the mixing utensils onto the drying rack beside him.

‘I can’t just hand her a cake like that though…we have to eat something before that…dammit why do I always complicate things!?’

He let out a sigh as he came close to finishing the dirty dishes, trying to think up of something for him and April to eat before surprising her…but what?

*DING*

The timer had gone off, telling Adrian that the cake had just finished and was ready to be taken out. He turned off the oven, grabbed the oven mitts that he had left by the stove, and placed them onto his hands to open up the windowed door and then blasted by a wave of hot air.

Adrian stepped away from the heat for a few seconds so that the wave could leave until leaning back down to grab the two burning hot steel bread pans and dropping the two cakes onto the cooling rack while the pans were placed into the sink. He closed the door on the oven along the way, taking off his mitts as he looked onto the two cakes he had made.

The dark golden brown colored assured Adrian that it was baked to perfection, all that was needed was a light shower of powdered sugar and it would be ready.

Walking to the cupboard, Adrian picked up the oversized shaker and brought it over the two cakes. Flipping the shaker over and sprinkling the powdered sugar onto the two cakes, making it seem as though snow had fallen onto the two.

“There, perfect.” He stated with a satisfactory smile, “Now what are we gonna eat before I take this out?”


Adrian used the little he had left in the fridge to make the two honey cakes, all that was left were enough ingredients to make…bread, cake, and donuts…that wasn’t going to make a good dinner.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have used up everything I had for lunch today…”

Adrian grabbed the Hotel’s Weekly Newspaper, scrolling through its pages for inspiration on what they could eat until his eyes spotted the perfect ad for them. He reached out towards the phone and called the number on the advertisement. A young woman answered the phone and greeted him in a polite tone.

“Hello, this is The Matango’s Pizzeria, how can I help you?”

“Yes, hello, I was wondering if I could order a pizza to be delivered here to the third floor?”

“Absolutely sir.”

“Perfect!”

***

“Thanks for everything Jenny.” April said, standing by the door of her apartment.

“No problem, we should actually go shopping more often. You have an eye for good clothing.”

“Yeah, but next time don’t bring me along for the ride.” Freddy told the two.

“But Freddy,” Jenny whined, “we need you to keep track of what the two of us are buying to keep us from overspending.”

“Yeah, like you listen to me…” he stated, pointing to the four large bags Jenny was holding filled with clothes.

April, seeing where this was headed, dropped the two bags she had and hugged Freddy.

“Thanks for putting up with us.”

Freddy couldn’t stay annoyed by this, and hugged the honeybee back.

“Of course, not a problem.”

“Good!” she smiled at him, before letting him go and retrieving her bags.

“Again, thanks for everything you two.”

“Of course, take care.”

The siblings walked down the hall and parted ways with each other, leaving April alone in the hallway. April placed one of the bags she had onto the floor and knocked on the door. She had left her room key on the nightstand this morning since her outfit didn’t have any pockets.

“I’m coming” said Adrian’s voice from the other side of the door.

Upon opening the door, Adrian was almost surprised to see April again.

“April! Welcome back.” He greeted.

“Thanks.” She walked in with the two oversized bags in hand, dropping them by one of the sofas before falling onto it.

“Busy day?”

“Yeah…we walked all over the place. My feet hurt from walking so much.” April complained.

“Ouch, couldn’t you fly?”

“No, the ceiling thing those shops put up were too low for me to fly under. And since Jenny and Freddy were leading, I wouldn’t know where to go.”

“That’s too bad”

“Yeah, but I’m happy to be back here.”

*Knock, Knock*

“Oh, its here.”

“Hmm?”

Adrian got up, walking towards the door and opened it to reveal a small uniformed Harpy with a box in her wings.

“Adrian Durum?”

“Yes that’s me.” He stated.

The harpy handed Adrian the box who then took a few steps back to place it on the counter before returning to the door.

“So, how much is it?”

“It’ll be eleven pence…or a fun night with you if you're short cutie.” The Harpy winked.

“No thanks, I have enough.” Adrian replied, handing her a small silver colored coin along with a copper colored one.

“Aww, maybe next time then. Enjoy the pizza!” announced the Harpy before jumping up and flying down the hall.

Closing the door, Adrian returned the silence of his apartment, picking up the pizza box and setting it down on the coffee table beside the sofa April was on. The design on the box was one of a busty mushroom woman winking with the words ‘Matango’s Pizza! So Good You’ll Be Coming Back For More!’

Adrian sat down by April, who was busy trying to find out what the odd text was saying, but had no idea. Adrian opened the lid to reveal a still steaming warm medium sized regular pizza inside along with a few napkins and garlic sauce beside it. The room gradually filled with the aroma of seasoning along with melted cheese.

“What’s this?” asked April.

“It’s pizza. It’s really good, and since we have nothing else to eat, I wanted you to try it.”

At that moment, April’s stomach grumbled loudly, making her blush at the embarrassing sound. Adrian simply smiled, grabbing one of the napkins to pick up the nearest slice and handing it to April. He then grabbed himself a slice and took a bite, burning the tip of his tongue in the process.

“Ahh! It’s hot!”

Luckily, April waited to see how this food was eaten since she didn’t want to make the same mistake she did with the salad earlier today.

With the warning from Adrian, she softly blew onto her slice before taking a small bite on its tip, but when she tried to tear away, a long string of cheese managed to stay connected to the rest of the pizza. She began to slurp up the cheese until it finally broke off from the slice and began to savor the pizza.

The taste was odd but amazing to April, a mixture of warm melted cheese with the juicy sauce along with the explosion of seasoning almost made April melt on the spot.

“It tastes great!” she commented, taking another bite from the slice and chewing on it happily.

“That’s good to hear.”

The two silently ate their pizza slices within the stillness of the room, the only thing that could be heard was their chewing and the occasional whir of the refrigerator. Adrian had finished his pizza slice first, grabbing a second one so that he could continue as April reached the crust.

“Adrian?” April called out.

“Yes?”

“Thanks…for everything.”

Adrian blushed at the remark, before turning to the side and taking another bite from his pizza.

“Of course.”

The two shared yet another awkward silence, taking their time eating the pizza until only two slices were left.

“April, I have to ask you something.”

“Hm?”

“How did you end up at the hotel?”

April almost instantly became depressed when she heard his question, thinking back at why she had been kicked out.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to!” Adrian told her, seeing that it was a touchy subject.

“No, no. It’s alright.”

April took in a deep breath and began her story.

“I used to be part of the hive, where I had a pretty good life working under the Queen. Most of the time, we would go out and get nectar, and whenever we found a male we would take them to her if we thought he was good enough. I never brought a male to the hive…they were weak…”

Adrian wasn’t exactly sure what she meant by this…but he didn’t want to interrupt.

“One day I was put in charge of guarding the Royal Honey that’s used by the Queen…and I forgot. Since the entrance to it is out in the open, a guard needs to stand watch to make sure no one gets to it. The guard before had been there all night and fell asleep waiting for me to arrive…very late… Since I forgot, I never came to my post.”

“Uh-huh”

“And then a Grizzly had picked up the scent of pure nectar and the finest honey that I was supposed to be guarding. She managed to sneak into the Royal Honey Supply, but while she was eating it… she fell into it.”

“What happened to her?”

“You see, the thing outsiders don’t know is that the Royal Honey Supply is connected to the Queen’s private quarters. And at that time…the Queen was with her husband…and the Grizzly sort of…interrupted them…” April looked down to her knees.

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“It’s not. She was so mad when she saw the Grizzly in her personal supply that she threw her past the walls and sent her flying into the forest. Once she found out that it was my shift to guard the honey…she kicked me out of the hive without a second thought…” Tears began to flow down April’s cheeks.

“Oh my Lord, I’m so sorry.”

“But,” she looked up at him, smiling as the tears kept flowing down her cheeks, “I’m happy, because if she hadn’t, I would’ve never ended up here and met you or Jenny, Freddy, and Omo.”

April threw herself onto Adrian and continued to cry, hugging him close to her as his clothes sucked up her tears. Adrian held her close to him, rubbing her back as she let it all out.

The two sat there in the comfort each other’s embrace until April finally began to calm down. She sat herself back up, wiping the tears off her face.

“Thank you Adrian…I really mean it...” she smiled at him.

“Of course,” he assured her, “but before I forget.”

Adrian stood up, heading to the kitchen while leaving a confused April wondering what he was getting. He walked back out with what seemed to be a very dark loaf of bread with white dust sprinkled on top of it.

“This is for you.” He announced, bringing it to April’s face so that she could take in its aroma.


Adrian placed the Honey Cake down beside the pizza box, closing it in the progress, before cutting out a slice with a knife that had been beside the cake and handing it to April with one of the pizza napkins.

“What’s this?”

“This is a welcoming treat I made for you…to make feel more at home here with me.”

Adrian cut himself a slice of about the same size and placed it onto a napkin as well, before bringing it up to face.

“Welcome home April.” He announced before finally taking a bite from his cake.

April beamed, taking a bite from her slice and chewing it slowly to savor its sweet taste. The soft spongy interior mixed with the sweet honey flavoring along with the hint of sugar on its crust melted in her mouth.

“It’s delicious, thank you Adrian.”

Adrian grinned happily as he saw her enjoying her small treat as he continued to eat his.

“What did you put in this?” April asked, taking another slice of the cake.

“The basics…eggs, flour, milk, honey, sugar, cin-”

“Honey!?” April looked down to her hip to see that her jar wasn’t there.

“Yes? Is something wrong?”

“Did you use the honey in a small jar about this big!?” April interrogated, lifting both her hands up with about five inches of space between them.

“Yes. The jar is still there…” Adrian responded almost hesitantly as he pointed to the jar on the counter.

April jumped from her spot, dropping the half of her cake slice that she hadn’t eaten, and flew to counter. She grabbed the jar, pulling off the lid to peer inside.

The jar was nearly empty, only a small spoonful of it was left residing at the bottom of its depths. April began to breathe heavily, realizing what they had both ingested and what it would do to Adrian.

“What’s wrong? Was it your honey?” Asked a worried Adrian

“Yes…Adrian…can you lie down for a second?” she asked him, walking towards him with the jar as she looked down to the floor.

“Okay?” Adrian complied; worried that maybe he shouldn’t have used that honey.

She kneeled beside him and looked into his eyes.

“Adrian…this honey of mine…makes people really, really…REALLY horny …and we both just ate some of it…”

Adrian couldn’t believe what he had done; he had put in an aphrodisiac into his cake mixture and just ate it with his roommate.

“I’m already used to it, but I don’t think you are…so I want you to stay calm, and I’ll take care of you, okay?”

He could feel the honey finally starting to take effect; his loins were stirring as his mind began to grow fuzzy.

“Alright.”

April smiled sweetly before leaning in and planting a light kiss onto Adrian.

“I want you to remember that when you wake up.”

Adrian could feel his member pressing against his pants, causing a large bump to appear on his groin.

April’s sweet expression slowly began to turn seductive as she eyed the bump, sliding her hand down Adrian’s stomach to rub the bump in his pants. She smirked when she heard Adrian gasp as she rubbed her fingers against his groin.

She moved to the side, unzipping his pants to pull them down along with his boxers to reveal his naked member standing proudly. Holding up the jar over his member, April slowly poured the little honey that remained onto the head of his manhood. The honey slowly ran down the length of his shaft, causing his member to throb in response.

“I think you’re ready.” pronounced the excited April.

She raised her head to his tip, licking the honey off of his head before plunging herself all the way in. Adrian let a gasp of ecstasy as she her head began to bob up and down, her tongue wrapping around his honey soaked cock. April’s right hand cradled his balls, rubbing them between her fingers as she suckled onto his head.

“Adrian, sit up.” April commanded

Even though Adrian’s mind was dazed, he followed her order and sat up on the couch.

“Good boy.” She said in her cute tone, opening his legs so she could get the full view.

She leaned in towards his pelvis and tucked Adrian’s pulsing member under her bee patterned bikini top and between her breasts. She squeezed her two small breasts together and began to massage the length of Adrian’s shaft. She licked the tip of his member while her mammaries took care of his base.

April gripped her breasts tightly; the stench of Adrian’s member was turning her on so much that her pussy was wetting her bikini. She began to massage his member in an oscillating motion before pumping his cock and sucking the head of his member.

At that moment, Adrian couldn’t bear it anymore and released him cum into April’s awaiting mouth. His seed shot onto the roof of her mouth and slowly began to fill it up. April continued to massage the base of his cock until she had gotten the last drop before sitting up straight and swallowing his semen, licking her lips shortly afterwards.

“Tasty.” She cooed

April turned around, setting the pizza box and cake aside before bending over the coffee table. Her hand grabbed the ends of her bikini and pulled them down to reveal her drooling nether regions.

“Do you want it?” she asked him in an enticing tone, her fingers spreading her pussy open to reveal the pink oozing walls inside.

“Mhmm.” Adrian managed to reply.

“Then fuck me!” She told him, the honey inside her was making her urges a pain to ignore.

Adrian slid off of the couch and gripped onto her tiny but firm cheeks to position his still hardened member against her opening. He slowly slid the head of his shaft into the tightness of the bee’s folds, but slipped out of the entrance. He pulled himself back to try again, pushing harder, only causing his member to slide up against her ass instead of into her pussy. Until finally, he pulled back one last time and jammed the entire length of his shack into the tight walls of April’s pink pussy.

“Aaagh! Yes! Fuck me!” she screamed in ravishment.

Adrian’s hip began to slide his member back and forth into April, slowly at first but gradually gaining momentum with each deep thrust into her. April clenched the ends of the shaking coffee table as she gave out soft moans of pleasure while her petite body was mercilessly pounded from behind.

April right hand let go of the coffee table to grab Adrian’s hand that was still clenching her ass cheek, and brought it up to her breast, sliding it under her top so he could grip it. Adrian almost instinctively pinched her nipple, rolling it between his fingers before grasping the entirety of her right bosom.

April bit her bottom lip; the vigorous tempo of Adrian’s rasping member against her tight walls was driving her to insanity. She had been craving him ever since she saw him, and now that he was in her she couldn’t get enough of it. He was pushing himself deep into her, farther than she could reach with her fingers, slowly driving her mad with these sensations.

“I’m cumming. I’m cumming! I’M CUMMING!” she screamed as Adrian rammed his member in as deep as he could into her and climaxed along with her.

Her vaginal walls contracted as she released her juices onto Adrian’s pulsating member; all the while he shot his own fluids into her hungrily awaiting uterus.

Adrian fell back onto the floor, his back against the sofa facing the small honeybee that had collapsed on the coffee table. The two of them were breathing heavily after their quick but intensive ordeal in which they both thoroughly enjoyed.

April turned her head to the side to see Adrian almost dead tired leaning against the sofa, but what surprised her most was that his manhood, after two orgasms, was still standing strong. She smiled at the site, overjoyed to finally be with someone who could satisfy her. Even though he seemed almost exhausted, she knew other ways for her to still have fun with him.

She got up from the table, lifting her top up to reveal her luscious C-cup beasts and her perky stiffened nipples pointing outwards. She turned towards Adrian, who upon seeing the two began to stare into her bosom.

“You like?” she asked him, licking her index finger and rubbing it against her nipple.

Adrian was still breathing heavily, but nodded, never releasing his gaze from her. She giggled, sitting herself just over the base of his member so that her breasts were mere inches away from his face. April smiled while her hand slipped behind his head, pushing his face into her so that he could better appreciate her breast.

The long and almost forgotten instinct kicked in as Adrian began to suckle on her on her nipple as he did when he was a newborn. April hugged his head into her chest, ruffling through his hair lovingly, never wanting to let him go. She pushed him away from her chest to look into his dazed eyes, leaning in to kiss him once more as their tongues danced with each other. She broke the kiss, leaving a string of saliva that soon gave in to its own weight.

She lifted herself above Adrian’s pulsating member, holding onto his shoulder for support until taking in its entirety into her in a single drop, making her wings shake with an audible hum.

“Aaaagghhhh….” She moaned, still not used to its size.

Slowly, she began to ride his shaft, lifting herself up until the head of his cock before gradually sliding down to its base.


Adrian’s hands gripped the sides of April’s thighs, helping her rise and fall onto his pulsating rod.

The two continued their lovemaking for several minutes, the Honeybee ever so often hugging her lover to her chest whenever the two grinded against the each other. As the two began to near their climax, April nibbled on the tip of Adrian’s left ear as his grip around her thighs tightened the closer he got to his.

And just like that, the two experienced an orgasm in tandem, one after the other.

Once the two released their juices, April fell onto the now unconscious baker, hugging him close to her as she joined him to the dream realm. She kissed him one last time, resting her head on his shoulder, and let the smell of flour that was still in his hair drift her to sleep.

***

One week later

On the eighth floor of the CC Hotel, a middle-aged man wearing a tattered pair of pants and a plain white shirt with an old jacket can be seen walking through the desert floor. Why this man walked around the hottest and driest floor in the entire building with more clothing than necessary remained a complete mystery.

Everyone made way for Gramps as he walked through the Bazaar, a few girls even winked his way and giggled when he winked back.

He continued to walk through the Bazaar until finally reaching his destination…which was blocked by a large line of people and mamono alike that waited to enter the small bakery. Gramps smiled, walking past the line and into the bakery, Gramps saw what he came here to check up on.

“I’ll take two of the new cakes! No, three!” an imp told Freddy who was taking orders behind the counter.

“Got it. Jenny, we need four more in the stove! Tell those two to eat one while they’re in there so they can keep it up!”

“Already on it! April, Adrian! Get another fifty of those cakes ready!”

April walked out from the back room carrying a tray with about ten bread pans filled halfway with raw dough. She placed the tray on the table near the stove, removing the bread pans off the tray to have them ready for Jenny. When she picked up the tray and turned to return to the backroom, she spotted Gramps smiling right at her.

“Gramps!” she exclaimed, setting down the tray and flying over the counter to properly hug him.

“Good to see you again April. How’s Adrian?” he asked her.

“April! We need more honey!” Adrian yelled from the back.

“I’m on it!” she yelled back.

“Sorry, but I have to get more nectar to make some honey Gramps. But before I go,” she told him, reaching behind the counter to pull out a small bag, “here’s the order of the two pastellitos you made… along with a small sample of our new Honey Cake. Make sure you eat it with someone you’re going to sleep with.”

“Don’t worry…I still got a few girls interested in me.” he winked to April.

“If you say so…bye Gramps!” she hugged him one last time before stepping outside and flying over the moving crowds.

“Hehe…I guess everything is alright.” Gramps said to himself as he walked out of the bakery.

He looked back at the bakery, reading the new ad they had up against its wall.

“Try our new Honey Cake! If this doesn’t turn you on, nothing will! CC”

END OF CHAPTER
-Certified Consumable reserved to the J&F Bakery Co. and verified to attain its desired function in accordance to the standards set by the Mamonos Incorporating Lascivious Fabrications (M.I.L.F.) Inc.