Laughing Jack wanted to approach the young gal but didn't want to frighten her away at the first sight of himself... he had to admit, he looked like something that has been in a mud fight and lost at it after been at the filthy playground for so long. So, he tried his best to wipe off the mud from his striped clothing and put in the most innocent smile he could ever make. H then started his slow approach to the girl.

As he walked right behind the child, he noticed that she was picking crimson-red roses from spiked vines and placing them in her little basket. The roses looked so deliciously beautiful to Jack's eyes that he was surprised that he had never noticed them during his previous times he came here after his victim's deaths and looking for a place to kind of hide out. And during those times, he would've already gone to his other world; which was a dark looking carnival, where he would be greeted by the "remains" of the children's souls, which were nothing more than hideously disfigured shadows of their dead selves. He never really liked being around children... Well, he never liked children in general. Right now, he couldn't go back home since he doesn't have enough energy and power to do so, so he's stuck in this realm until he can regain some of it.

His mind kept wondering off a bit. He knew that he was getting weaker by the minute so his plan has to succeed. The girl was still plucking the roses off when of the sharp thorns pricked one of her little fingers and blood begin to show. She immediately flinched at the site of it. After a couple of seconds passed, she continued on with her plucking while the blood oozed onto some of the flowers. It took almost all of his will power to hold back his desire to pounce on her right at the spot. She still didn't turn to see what ever figure it was right behind her that casted the long misty shadow over her. She must not have seen nor heard him since how hard the rain crashed over them and that her little red hood covered her eyes from view.

"Hello there, my dear! Do you need any help there? That cut does seem pretty nasty..."

She quickly turned around to be greeted by the creature. The face she made wasn't one of fright but more like surprised. That's when LJ noticed her eyes. Her eyes weren't brown, nor green, not blue... But red... Big glowing red eyes.

As quick as she turned, she immediately took off along with her little basket into the deep and dark forest. Something didn't seem right about her, but all Jack could think of was how more the special she would be of a meal.

The girl practically almost flew out of his sights, after ducking many branches and jumping over large piles of forests' debris while the rain poured harder and harder. By now, she looked like she was running... on all fours like a wild animal.

He kept thinking that he would've had already captured the child by now, but she could barley be seen even with her bright red cloak on. The only thing that is helping him is that he could smell the sweet blood that still drips from her, which made his lust even more to bare with.

By the time they reached to a small clearing, the girl crouched down into a small tunnel of what it looked like it was made naturally from old dead vines that probably only a small child could fit in and she had disappeared in it within seconds. Laughing Jack didn't want to be easily defeated after all the trouble of trying to capture her, so he quickly looked around for an easier alternative to get through. He noticed that there was actually a dark grey brick wall that surrounded the little tunnel. Even thou the wall was covered in vines, it would've taken too long to climb over, let alone jump it. It also stretched too far for him to easily go around it either. Taking his chances and ducking down to a point where his knees and elbows touched the ground, he started his crawl into the tunnel.

Jack was then greeted by the girl's big red eyes that only glowed brighter in the dark tunnel. "Is she...Waiting for me to follow? What type of fucking game does she think I'm playing!?" he thought irritably. The girl cocked her head to the side like a dog would, as if observing him. She looked more curious than frightened of the clown-like figure. He swung his claws at her...Missed. He was so crouched down to the ground that he couldn't reach for her, where if he were to use his full arm length, then she would've probably be a goner. The girl then took off in a sprint while leaving him there. This only irritated him even more and he started charging after her.

It wasn't that long for him to reach the end, for which it shown the same dark grey skies. As he crawled out, an even greater clearing appeared on the other side. The rain had finally stopped. He started searching around for the little girl.

He found her. She was skipping her way towards the center of the clearing. That's when Jack noticed many lights glowing from the clearing... Wait, not lights, but eyes... Glowing big eyes. Sure, there were browns, blues, and greens, but there were also orange, yellows, and reds; Pinks and purples; even ones that were completely white! All those eyes stared right back at him with a single blink. But, what stood out the most was a set of deep, red eyes that were bigger than the rest. It belonged to a taller figure that stood in front of the others, like the leader of the pact.

The little girl finally made it to her group and hid behind the tall one and peeked behind it's back to also meet back the eyes of Jack himself.

"What the hell..."

Just then, a spark of lighting eliminated the scene. He saw them all, even if it was just for a moment, he saw what they really are. Children... Every single one... except for the tall one. It's feature didn't remind him of any regular human being, but he couldn't actually describe what "It" looked like. But the one thing that stood out the most to him was that the "It" had what looked like wings... like big, tall, rusted, metallic wings that stuck out of the back.

Before Jack could get a closer look and figure what was going on, they vanished. Everybody. Not even a single eye was showing through the night. Nothing. He even scanned the nearby wooded areas in case they just made a quick get-away. Still nothing.

Tired, hungry, and now sore from his lost, he took his anger out by kicking up some of the ground. He was pissed off and very confused of the whole situation. He then was trying to convince himself that maybe he imagined the whole ordeal, and that he was chasing nothing but air the whole time. But then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something glowing on the ground...

...It was one of the roses from the girl's basket, but his one seemed to glow more vibrant then before. He made an ugly sneer as he picked it up and was about to chuck far from him when he noticed that there was still... Some blood left on it. He never seen nor smelt anything so sweet.

Out of desperation and his lust, he stuffed it his mouth and ate it. It tasted like nothing he ever had before in his whole existence. He thought he was hallucinating from being so hungry for so long got the better of him since he started feeling better. Actually, he felt as if he was gaining his energy, his power. He never felt so good, so alive in ages. To make sure he wasn't imaging it, he decided to test it out by calling for the portal to his home. Snapped his finger once, nothing. Snapped it twice, still nothing. Snapped it the final time, the third time's the charm. The door to his world finally arrived and he left in an instant to be greeted by his decayed carnival home.

"Do you think...He'll come back, Head Master?..." The girl in red asked the tall winged one.

"More or likely yes... But no worries, he won't be any trouble if he ever does..." said the tall one answered with its voice sounding like a dark distorted radio. "...And did you bandage up that little cut of yours?"

"Yes, Head Master..." she showed the bandage to it.

"Very good, Sweety...Go tell the others that they could go back to bed, please~"

"Yes, Head Master" and off she went out of its office, leaving him alone in his own thoughts.

He went back out into the balcony in his office. He opened the doors to the outside. It started raining again but he didn't care. He loved the rain. He flexed his wings a bit to get them comfortable.

"... They usually do come after the first night..."