{Part Two}
The music began quietly. It sounded a little like a lullaby. Ivy and Hyacinth heard it first. They rose to their feet, and followed the sound.
Many young children got out of their beds. They walked outside to the streets, still half-asleep. They formed uneven lines, following the music. In the front Hyacinth and Ivy led them all unintentionally.
Long moments later, they were close to a castle. When they neared the doors, they opened of what seemed their own accord. The children were lifted up inches off the ground, and floated into the open doorway. It looked like a large monster was sucking them up through an invisible straw.
The last few children floated in, and the doors closed again. The walls that surrounded them were a solid, plain grey. There wasn't any kind of décor or furniture inside. The only thing you could see were two doors. One to their left, and one directly in front of them.
The door in front of them opened, and Poppy stepped in from behind it. Hyacinth and Ivy gasped.
“You two.” She pointed to Hyacinth and Ivy. “Follow me.” They couldn't believe what they were seeing. How was it possible? Hyacinth had stabbed her, and they had dug the pit and buried her together. She shouldn't be alive. It wasn't possible, even for a beast like her.
“So, do you happen to be hungry?” Poppy asked. Now they were in another grey room, this one was equally plain, but with three more doors.
“You're sick!” Hyacinth cried.
“Am I?”
“Why are you even here? We killed you, you should be dead.” Ivy questioned.
“Had you forgotten we're immortal? It has been a hundred years, now.”
“Sure, that explains why you're alive, but doesn't explain why you have fifty kids out there. You're one monster, and you definitely don't need that much.”
“Oh, right.” She whistled loudly. The second door to their right opened. Forty some people who all seemed in their teens, or very close to being teens walked out. Some looked regretful, but most seemed glad to be here with Poppy.
“What?” Hyacinth said.
“You know what to do.” Poppy said, simple as that. They all grew and turned various shades of charcoal, with darker spots. Their claws were sharp, their teeth were large. Hyacinth and Ivy were more than a little surprised.
“But...How?” Ivy asked.
“What? You thought we're the only ones who suffer from this? No, there are more. That, and I turned a few.”
“You don't seem to see this curse as a burden. You seem to see it as a gift. But you claim to have turned them? That's not possible … Is it?”
“Yeah, it is possible, as you can see. It was very simple, really. Just fill a syringe with your own blood and inject it into another. It's a reverse-vaccination. Besides, as far as I'm concerned, they all wanted to be this. They aren't like you, reluctant.”
“That's wrong. They think this is what they want, but it isn't! They'll regret this after a little while, and you know it. You don't want them to wise up and leave. You want them for something more. I'm pretty sure you don't care about fitting in, or being alone. You want something sinister.”
“Maybe, maybe not. I've got stuff to do, no time to chat.” Poppy snapped her fingers, and left the room. The creatures turned back into humans, and carried Hyacinth and Ivy to yet another room.
Poppy brought each child to a seperate room. She promised each one ice cream if they sat quietly and waited in their room. The rooms weren't very large, and each one had a chair, but other than that, there was nothing. None of the children complained, believing they were going to receive ice cream if they did as they were told.
Hyacinth and Ivy were trying to see as best as they could. The room had no lighting, and the walls were painted black. They couldn't see very well.
“Hyacinth. Maybe we should turn into our monster selves?”
“Would that improve our vision?”
“I don't know, but maybe. There's no reason not to.”
“Okay.” They turned into beasts, but the room was so small that they were both crammed into each other and the walls.
“Try scratching the wall until it fall apart, please. We'll do the same wall together, it'll come down faster that way.” Ivy said using telepathy to talk to Hyacinth.
“Okay.” They pushed their claws against the wall and dragged them down as hard as they could.
Poppy had finished bringing the kids to rooms. She stood in front of all the creatures. She used telepathy to tell them: “Each room has a child in it. There are enough rooms for each of you to have a child. The doors are numbered, and I have slips of paper with numbers on them. I'll throw them to all of you, and whatever number is on the paper you catch is the room you must find. One room per person, please. Everyone here is hungry.” Poppy threw a bunch of slips at them. They all caught one, and looked at the number. “You all may go and find your room.”
They ran to their room. They were locked, and set on a timer to unlock simultaneously in approximately four minutes.
After doing this for fifteen minutes, the walls began to give. They clawed and clawed, and then they shoved their bodies against the wall. It fell under their weight and pressure. “Come on, we need to save those kids!”
They looked for Poppy, but stumbled across the impatient creatures. “What are they doing?” Hyacinth sent to Ivy. Somehow, the others heard it and all responded variations of “Waiting for our meal!” “Oh.”
Hyacinth and Ivy ran and ran. The others didn't follow, they wanted their food. They once again searched for Poppy, and they managed to find the room they'd began in, the entrance. They went through the door that Poppy originally came from. She was standing there, grinning evilly.
“Yes?” She asked.
“You can't do this. These children have homes, and families. You can't take that away from their families. Think of it like this: You have a beautiful daughter who excels in school and loves you very much. She's obedient, she means the world to you. But some monster comes along and eats her. Would you be okay with that?”
Poppy sighed. “No. Probably not. But it ain't happening to me, so I don't really care.”
“You have absolutely no shame or compassion, do you?”
“Nope!” Hyacinth being Hyacinth, always carried a knife. She slid it out of her boot, and charged at Poppy. She got her in the neck.
“Now you won't die, I already know that. But, you can tell me how to stop those doors from opening. You'll die for, what, three days? Now, with the last remaining energy you have, tell me how to shut them off.”
“No.” She gurgled.
The rooms unlocked with a click. The beasts ran in, the children screamed helplessly. They were devoured in a matter of minutes. The castle went completely silent. Even their breathing was barely heard. Their stomachs were full, they were all content.
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