New Update! Woohoo hope you all enjoy it, and I Hope to get the next one out in a week or two.

Henry had been gone for a little more than a week and Norman could already pick up the down grade in mood of the studio. The little devil Darling himself seemed the most down in mood, Boris was not far behind… and Alice hadn't been in the brightest of moods for nearly a month.

"I'm telling ya Sammy, it's like Nick's passing all over again." Norman sighed as he tested the projector before the band got into the recording room. Sammy himself glanced up from the sheet music he had prepared.

"Nick was a tragedy. Unlike his brother Henry has a chance of returning," The music director replied as he organized the papers in his hands. Norman glanced over at Sammy before clicking his projector off and gazing down at the recording room, seeing Alice plucking some strings of the violin in the room. Possibly wanting to play a bit for the recording, or waiting to record some lines while Susie was out with the same sickness that Mike had.

"I'm just sayin' poor toons are all taking it rather hard. Specially our little Devil Darling himself. I don't even think I've ever seen any animator draw such a sad sight for the little fella."

Sammy sighed and motioned for Norman to follow him as he was heading for the recording room itself to place the sheet paper onto the music stands.

"There's not much we can do but pray they can move on, and that Henry will one day return safely." The Music Director went through the doorway to the recording room that the resident angel sat in with a downcast expression as she absent mindedly plucked the strings of the violin. Sammy cast her a glance and a sympathetic look as he went about work.

Norman looked like he was going to say something until Alice surprised them.

"Sammy… can I ask you something important." Her hair covered her pie cut eyes as she continued to look down. Her hand moved away from the violin and onto her knee like the other one was.

"... Yes Ms. Angel…" Sammy cleared his throat a little, having been surprised at her speaking up.

"Could… Could you convince Joey to find someone else to take Susie's place as my main voice actor?" Both Sammy and Norman were surprised at the angel's request. Norman saw how her hands seemed to tighten around her knees. This request seemed to be tearing her up inside.

"Ms. Angel I don't-" Sammy tried to say how that wouldn't work out to well, but Alice cut him off quickly.

"Please… It… It doesn't have to be right away, but… but just for… for when she seems to be feeling worse."

...

Norman could never get how desperate Alice seemed to be that day nearly a year ago now. It ate at his mind for a while and he had slunk around trying to see if he could find any information on why she would ask for that. Sure Sammy did follow through a few weeks ago in finding Alison and got Joey to approve of her as the main voice actress for the angel… but Norman couldn't get the uneasy feeling out of his gut. Especially since soon after Alison was hired, Susie seemed to be getting better from her illness… while Mike had passed away before the new voice actress was hired.

So here he was, sneaking into Joey's office while the boss himself was out on break trying to see if anything the guy had would have lead to the angel being so scared. The Projectionist would have done this sooner but it was surprisingly difficult with how little Joey left said office… and adding his own duties to the list as well as not being able to stay after hours.

Drew's gonna have my head if he ever finds out about this. Norman thought with a wince as he looked around the office.

The carpet that covered the permanently stained in satanic circle that brought the toons to life looked like it had seen better days due to the installation of the Ink Machine. The walls were no better as drips of ink fell from the pipes down the pale walls and making puddles on the floor. The only thing left untouched by the inky mess was Joey's desk.

Making his way over to the desk Norman got to work quickly looking through the drawers for anything that looked out of place or could have given a hint to the answer he was looking for.

Papers… Papers… Letters to Henry and From Henry? Why are they unopened? Norman had paused when he found the letters and frowned deeply as he recognized Boris's hand writing for the letters that were supposed to be sent To Henry. The Projectionist pocketed a few of them promising to mail them off… but also give the toons some of the letters from the animator.

He went back to looking and was nearly out of luck until he found a black book hidden at the bottom of one of the drawers. Looking at the book gave the projectionist a bad feeling and made his heart feel like it was pounding heavily in his chest. Something was not right with that book… and yet he found himself pulling it out and flipping through the pages.

Inside were rituals and their descriptions. A lot of it he couldn't make too much sense of and he didn't stick on one for long… until he found one page that made everything come together and Norman nearly dropped the book as his heart stopped.

On the page was the same symbol that was stained into the floor under the rug. The Ritual was to bring life to something lifeless with a catalyst… and living soul.

"God Lord Mr. Drew…" Norman breathed in pure shock as his eyes practically absorbed the information on the page.

"You know Norman." The voice of Joey Drew snapped the Projectionist's gaze away from the book and made fear rise up in his chest as the boss stepped into the room. The ink seemed to get thicker and more seemed to drip down at Joey's presence alone. The more Norman looked at him the more he noticed how the man's appearance seemed to distort as ink seemed to start covering the man out of nowhere.

"Snooping around the Office isn't a very good idea."