The Beast Made of Ink

Chapter 76: His Meet

-Rocky's P.O.V.-

Like always, the obstacles in which Rocky had to face in order to get into the studio were quite annoying, and that was putting it simply. Despite the fact that the said man had some "ink poisoning" himself, it still didn't stop all of the creatures from attacking him.

Like mentioned prior, Rocky has quite the reputation in the underworld. He's an assassin- a hitman, and he can't even count all of the gangs he was part of in the past. Being a professional killer allowed him to move from gang to gang quite easily; every sort of gang he worked for was via contract and paycheck, rather than dedication. Although, him working for gangs is now a thing of the past. Nowadays, he works solo. Instead of underneath a gang leader, he will kill for people like CEO's of big corporations, and his cult leader Great-Grandfather for free.

Well, killing for his Grandfather for free is a bit of a stretch. You see, Joey Drew doesn't pay Rocky in money, oh no. He pays him in ink.

Much like Sammy, Rocky's Grandpa Joey had poisoned the babe Rocky with the ink. He would mix tiny amounts of the substance in with the infants milk every single day until his skin took on almost a grayish-pale hue. Honestly, the now young man looks like a ghost.

Sighing in part annoyance and part relief, Rocky couldn't help but allow his exasperation to escape. Finally, after hours in this damned studio, the young man was able to reach a very familiar door. Walking up to it, he started his familiar knocking.

"Knock, knock... Knock-Knock-knock!" He muttered under his breath as he verbally and literally followed their safety pattern. The three of them had decided to develop a secret knocking pattern a long time ago for safety reasons, and till this day, Rocky still uses it. Sure, he could announce his name outside the door, but he isn't exactly a socializer.

After a few minutes of waiting, Rocky's ears perked up at the familiar sound of door wheels turning. A second later, he was met with two very familiar faces.

"Rocky! We weren't expecting you." The woman said with a small smile as she looked back at her lifelong partner.

"You never expect me, Allison." Rocky sighed back as he made his way into their small hideout. He gave a confident nod to the wolf Tom, who gave him one in return.

"Well, it's nice to at least pretend that we live in a normal world where you can send a letter before visiting." She sighed as she pulled a stool over for Rocky, making him mutter a small thanks as he sat down. "Now then, what's the occasion for the surprise visit?"

"To business like usual..." Rocky thought to himself as his eyes naturally dragged themselves to Allison's wall of insanity. Like always, the sight of it made his cold heart twinge with the smallest bit of pity.

Painting on your walls with ink to give yourself just a semblance of stability... Rocky couldn't imagine the insanity inside of a home needed in which would encourage one to do that. Then again, he doesn't NEED to imagine this sort of insanity. At the moment, he's sitting in it.

Looking back over at Allison, who was still waiting for him to speak, Rocky finally decided to do just that.

"Joey said that he felt a disturbance inside of the studio, and was... concerned that Henry had made his return." Concerned was a very strong word to use for his great-Grandfather, but it felt appropriate.

At his words, Allison and Tom gave each other a knowing look.

"So somethin' did happen..." Rocky thought to himself.

"The ink... It's been muttering recently..." Alice started explaining.

"It's always mutterin'." Rocky responded with an arch of his brow. Even he can hear the mutterings, although definitely not as intense or as clearly as the complete ink beings can.

"No, you don't understand. The mutterings have changed."

"... Changed?" The young males shock was not hidden. To his knowledge, the insanity of the ink has always been the same. If you get too close to it, the insanity in which resides inside would swallow a complete one whole. For decades, it has always been like this, so to hear that it has changed...

"Yes." Allison confirmed as she continued, "At first, the mutterings became aggressive. That usually happens when a regular human enters the studio, and once they're killed, the mutterings always revert back to normal. But these mutterings... It's been ten days, Rocky, and I have never heard the ink whisper so softly and sanely. Occasionally, the ink will have spikes of insanity, but spikes aside, never have I ever heard the ink sound like this. Right, Tom?" She looked back at her partner whom nodded his head in aggreance. Meanwhile, Rocky just sat there in even deeper shock. Everything in which Allison had just shared... It was a lot to take in. Such a change in just ten days time... Who in the hell broke in to the studio to make the ink change like that?

"But that's not all.. It's honestly all so weird and difficult to explain. Yes, the ink has changed and become softer spoken if you will, but at the same time... It's still so aggressively insane."

"Wait" Rocky paused Allison as he put up his hand as a motion to stop, "So now you're sayin' that the inks mutterin's are different yet the same? How can it be both at the same time?"

"Well..." Looking back at her partner once more, Tom motioned for her to continue, "Tom and I have a theory."

"Let's hear it."

"We... believe that the ink is splitting from its host."

Rocky paused, expression stiff.

"... What?" 

.........

A/N: I'm so sorry for the late update guys! My dog got really sick, and i'm a huge worry-wart when it comes to her. She's been by my side for 13 years after all. It was all so sudden and unexpected... She even stopped eating... Finally though, she's doing better, and she's gonna be done with her medication today! Ngl, I thought she was dying, but basically, she ate something that really upset her stomach, and as a result, one could say that she had a bloody fart in her intestine. Haha, classy right? It's totally like her to get sick from something like that too, her stomach of steel is not what it used to be. Lets see, this shih tzu's list of concerning things in which she has eaten over the years includes my crayons, markers, q-tips, cotton balls, chocolate, a twix wrapper,  that McDonald's breakfast sandwich which was laying on the sidewalk in 90 degree heat, my pet parakeet... The list goes on. Anyhow, her energy started coming back a couple days ago, thank god, so since i'm not worrying about her (or crying over her being sick) anymore, you can expect the update schedule to get back to normal! Family always goes first, I hope you all understand :)

Does anybody else here have any ridiculous pets like mine? I'd love to hear the stories ^v^