"Tell me another one Uncle Joey" little, Ten-year-old Melanie Stein begged her Uncle Joey Drew after he finished telling her one of his many stories which he had been telling her ever since she came to stay with him.
"Not right now little one, I think it's time you went to bed," Joey told the child firmly "and besides, I've got some important business to attend to."
"Please, just one more" the little girl begged, "I promise I'll go to bed after." Again, Joey firmly told her no and she eventually gave in, but just as she was about to head for bed, she had something else to ask Uncle Joey.
"When is my daddy coming back?" it had been weeks since she and her father, Henry Stein had come to Joey's apartment ever since he received a letter which stated something about him visiting the old workshop and whilst there, Joey had asked Melanie to wait in the other room whilst he and Henry had a little talk but when she was allowed to come out, the child noticed that Henry was no longer there and after asking where he was, Joey simply told her that he had to go somewhere and that he wanted her to stay with him until he got back, but many weeks had passed and Henry hadn't returned.
"He'll come back soon" Joey replied as he made the little girl a hot chocolate which had been spiked with sleeping pills, this was something he did when Henry was nearly done with another loop, he would come back to Joey's flat and from there, the loop would start all over and he made sure that Melanie wouldn't see or hear him every time he returned from another loop and he did this by giving her a hot chocolate spiked with sleeping pills and she would be out until after Henry went back into the workshop to begin another loop.
"How soon?" Melanie questioned, "he's been gone a long time, how much longer will he be gone?"
"That's enough questions now," Joey told her as he handed her the drinking chocolate " now, drink up and off to bed." Reluctantly, the child did as she was told and as soon as the sleeping pills began to take effect, he carried her to her room and laid her on the bed before leaving the room, knowing she would be out until mid-morning. However, Melanie had come round much earlier than usual and the first thing she heard was the sound of her father's voice.
"Where's Melanie Joey?" Henry asked as she climbed out of bed and opened her door by a crack, peering through to see Henry and Joey having a conversation in the Kitchen and the little girl was urging to run out of her room and into his arms but she found herself unable to move, she still felt a little woozy from the sleeping pills so all she could do was listen.
"She's sleeping right now" Joey replied, "but don't worry, you'll get to see her soon."
"You keep saying this every time I finish another god damn loop but I haven't seen her since you sent me through that door and into the studio" Henry replied "and when is it going to end, when are these loops going to end?" so that's why she hadn't seen Henry for weeks, he had been stuck in some never-ending loop ever since he went back to the studio and from that moment, little Melanie decided she was going to enter the studio to reunite with him, now all she had to do was keep watching to see where Henry entered and after his slight argument with Joey who simply dismissed his pleas of wanting to see his daughter and sent him back into the studio, the child watched as he walked through the door near the kitchen counter and she knew that was the entrance, she knew that was her way in.
After Henry left, Melanie went back to bed for another hour or so before entering the kitchen to the sound of Joey whistling a tune, a tune he would always whistle quite often.
"Good morning little one" he greeted as Melanie perched herself on one of the stools at the kitchen counter "did you sleep well?"
"Yes thank you uncle Joey" she replied before glancing over at the door that Henry had walked through which didn't go unnoticed by Joey and he asked her why she was looking over there "oh, I was just checking the time" there was also a clock on the wall near the door so she used that excuse so he wouldn't get suspicious.
"very well, now, how about some breakfast?" the little girl nodded and Joey got started on the breakfast "how about some French Toast?"
"Yes please uncle Joey" Melanie replied softly "has my daddy been back yet?"
"Sorry Honey, he hasn't" Joey replied as he placed a fresh glass of Orange Juice on the counter for Melanie and a cup of Coffee for himself along with it "now, once you finished your breakfast, I want you to get dressed okay." Melanie nodded as Joey went to finish the breakfast and she kept glancing over at the door that she saw Henry enter through, planning on how she was going to go through it without Uncle Joey seeing.
"Now, I want you to eat up and change out of your Nightdress" Joey told her as he placed her French toast in front of her along with his own and she nodded obediently.
"Do you have anymore stories to tell me today?" she asked, a mouthful of French toast "also, do you think my daddy will be coming back today?"
"I'm afraid I don't have any ideas for any stories right now and I have no idea if your daddy is gonna come back today" Joey replied before giving Melanie a stern look "and also, don't talk with your mouth full, eat up and then you can change out of your nightdress." Melanie nodded and finished off her toast and orange juice before hopping down from the stool and into her room where she changed out of her nightdress and into a white blouse, a blue pinafore, dark grey tights and black Mary Jane shoes and she put her hair up in pigtails. After she was dressed, she waited until Joey was distracted so she could go through that door she saw Henry go through and find out where he had gone and why he hadn't yet come back.
"What are we going to do today uncle Joey?" the little girl asked as she walked out of her room, she wanted to make sure if Joey was going to be too distracted or not to notice or catch her going through that door.
"Well I have a lot of paper work to get through and that may take me a few hours and I don't want any distractions ok?" the child nodded, knowing that this could be her perfect opportunity to see what was through that door.
"Yes Uncle Joey, I'll just be in my room playing quietly" she replied, hands behind her back and rocking back and forth on her heels "I won't disturb you."
"That's a good little girl" Joey replied, patting her on the head "now run along and let Uncle Joey get on with his work." Little Melanie nodded before turning around and walking out of the room, but instead of heading towards her bedroom, the little girl headed straight to the door that her father had entered through and after taking one last glance at Joey, making sure he wasn't watching her, she turned the handle, opened the door and stepped through.
The first thing she was greeted with when she walked through that door as what appeared to be an old workshop with posters of the old cartoons Henry and Uncle Joey used to work on plastered on the walls which included Bendy the Dancing Demon, Little Devil Darling and Boris the wolf in sheep songs.
"So, this is where my daddy is" the child said to herself "now, all I have to do is find out where he is. I'm coming to find you daddy."
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the studio, a tall, Inky figure stalked through the halls, casting an Inky aura around it which destroyed any other Ink creature foolish enough to dare stand in it's way. The Ink Demon stalked through the halls, looking for the intruder that dared enter his domain when he suddenly sensed another presence in the studio, another human in fact and he stopped in his tracks and began to use the posters and his cut outs to try and find this new intruder. When he eventually found them, he discovered found what appeared to be a little girl, no older than Nine, maybe Ten years old at the most and the Ink Demon watched as the child took in her new surroundings before speaking.
"So, this is were my daddy is, now all I have to do is find out where he is. I'm coming to find you daddy." The Ink Demon's grin stretched even further, this child must have been the daughter of Henry and he decided he was going to hunt down this child and then maybe, he could use the little one to lure Henry into his clutches once and for all. The Ink Demon now decided to stop pursuing Henry for now and instead focused on capturing sweet little, Ten-year-old Melanie Stein and use her as bait.