Well now… welcome back.

I sincerely apologize for the lack of updates recently. However, I hope that this chapter is worth your time regardless.

Shall we continue?

Chapter 4: Unrelenting Gaze

Cameron and Hope stood in silence, staring at the door. Was… someone knocking?

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!*

Yes, yes there was.

Cameron glanced over at Hope. Hope gave a blank look.

Hesitantly, Cameron headed for the door, a hand on his sword the whole time.

He opened the door swiftly to find…

Another girl?

"Well, took you long enough to open the door."

This new girl stepped into the house, giving both Cameron and Hope their first good look at her.

She had the same fair skin that Hope had, maybe a bit more tan than Hope's was. She had a large, round hat on her head with a very lovely feather of some kind attached to it. Oddly enough, what little bit of her short hair that wasn't hidden was white, or perhaps it was just a really pale blonde. She wore an oversized golden-brown coat that seemed to be almost completely COVERED in pockets. And there was something about her eyes, a dull green-ish color, that seemed to tell Cameron that she was rather calculating and analytical.

"So, I'm guessing this is the new town?" the new girl asked.

Cameron tilted his head, confused.

"Erm? Big guy? Habla espanol?" the girl asked, cocking an eyebrow at Cameron.

"Erm, miss? Cameron is… well, he's mute." Hope spoke for Cameron. "We aren't completely sure why, but he can't speak a word."

Cameron nodded in agreement, demonstrating by trying to say 'Hello,' but all that came out was a puff of air.

"Hm. An odd condition… but no worries, I won't judge." the new girl responded. "Name's Jessica, and I heard rumors that there was open property around here. I'm guessing you lot are the home-owners?"

"Erm, yes." Hope responded. "Sorry, I just wasn't expecting anyone to come by so quickly. I mean, we literally JUST built this house, like, not even ten minutes ago."

"Well of course. Capitalism has no time to waste, after all!" Jessica responded. She unbuttoned her coat and held a side of it open to show Cameron and Hope that there were even MORE pockets on the inside, and they all appeared to have something inside of them, even with pockets on her undershirt (a white short-sleeve shirt).

Cameron glanced at Hope, asking with his eyes, 'Is this… normal?'

"Mostly? Several of the people we have moved in will likely offer some kind of service in exchange for safety. And… I'm guessing Miss Jessica here is offering to give supplies in exchange for coins." Hope responded.

"You've hit the nail on the head." Jessica replied earnestly. "A Merchant I am, and a Merchant I will always be. So, you willing to give me a place to stay, then?"

Cameron glanced at Hope, who nodded. Cameron wasn't sure (something about this Jessica woman just felt a little… weird… to him), but if Hope was okay with her, then that was enough for Cameron.

He stuck his hand out, and Jessica took it. Her hand was somewhat rough, as though she used them a lot in her work. Jessica grinned as she shook hands with the tall man.

"Very well. I suppose my first order of business would be to set up shop, then." Jessica replied, heading for the table. "You both go ahead and head on out for a bit: I'm gonna get my wares ready. We'll get some shopping done before the day's end!"

Cameron nodded, and with Hope right behind him, he left the new building that Jessica had laid claim to.

Hope breathed a little sigh. "Well… I was kind of half-expecting someone to NOT have already shown up, but I guess the more the merrier, huh?"

Cameron nodded, but quizzically attempted to mine to Hope about what she meant by 'shopping.'

"Eh? You don't know how that works?" Hope asked, confused. "Well, I mean, Jessica in there will probably have things that she wants to sell, and then you can pay her in exchange for those goods-"

Cameron waved his hands in a 'I knew THAT' way. Instead, he attempted to ask how that works, considering Jessica doesn't exactly have a proper store.

It took Hope a minute to understand, but when she did she was ready with an answer, as usual. "Oh, no no no, don't worry about that. Honestly, most people who sell things won't mind not having a proper store: honestly, most prefer it that way anyway, so that the stuff they sell is always on hand. If I had to guess, I'd probably say that Jessica is organizing her things and will be trying to get ready for you to trade resources with… how long she'll take is the real question."

Cameron shrugged, and turned back towards the two's shared hut.

Hope followed suit, and the two quickly settled back in, glad to be home for a change...

A few hours later...

*CLANK CLANK CLANG*

Cameron grinned as his pickaxe finally broke through the layer of stone and dirt, finally revealing another vein of ore. Somehow, it was almost like he could sense where the ore was once he got close. It was odd, but he certainly wasn't going to complain…

He'd been down in his makeshift mine for quite a while now, at least an hour, maybe more. Hope had given him the idea of trying to mine again, since it was still daylight out and the worst thing he'd have to worry about was a slime that wandered in.

Despite the relative safety, the tall man still couldn't help but instinctively look over his shoulder and make sure nothing was sneaking up on him. That zombie before had shaken him pretty good the other night, and he didn't want that to happen again…

Regardless, he was mining away, and already he was finding ore vein after ore vein. By now he'd already collected a fairly large amount of a somewhat shiny, if rather dull, ore, and was even finding a bit of a harder-looking gray ore. Despite not knowing off the top of his head what they were, he did know that they HAD to be stronger than what tools he currently had. If he kept this up, he'd have enough to get some REAL upgrades, something that pleased him greatly (cause it was getting irritating using those copper tools by this point).

Finally, when he'd collected enough and decided that it would probably be time to head back, he sorted his stuff and carefully put everything away, then started carefully picking his way back through his mine.

He finally managed to get to the surface, and it was a good time, too: the sun was starting to dip below the horizon. It was going to be a productive night.

He headed off towards his little town, defending himself whenever the few slimes tried to make themselves known. Soon enough, he managed to duck safely into his little hut.

Hope was still there, as was Jessica, oddly enough. "Oh, good, he's back." the merchant suddenly said, turning towards Cameron.

Hope, who had her back towards the door, turned towards Cameron as he closed the door behind him. "Oh! Welcome back, Cameron. Did you find anything?"

Cameron nodded, holding out a bit of the ore he'd found in the mines.

Hope made to reach for it, but Jessica beat her to it. The Merchant lady looked very closely at the ore, as though inspecting it.

"Hm… definitely some tin ore… and this is unmistakably iron as well." the merchant said with a nod, handing the stuff back to Cameron. "Not exactly the strongest of ores out there, but they'll certainly work for whatever you need."

Cameron nodded, then looked back at his crafting table. Time for an upgrade…

Hope tried to say something in warning, but Cameron wasn't exactly listening. He was so focused on getting a few upgrades for his tools that, for a moment, he forgot how ores work.

In that he tried to physically attach the ores together in order to make new tools.

"Um… Cameron?" Hope asked tentatively. "You're supposed to melt the ores into bars first…"

For a moment, Cameron sat there in a bit of silence (well, even MORE silence than he'd normally have). He felt his checks flush a little in embarrassment.

Jessica was barely containing her laughter. She actually looked like she was pinching herself in order to keep herself from busting out laughing.

Embarrassed, Cameron quickly grabbed some of the stone he had and started putting it together at the bench. Hope helped him out, knowing that Cameron felt very embarrassed by the whole thing, and soon enough he had built and placed down a solid furnace, which was quickly set ablaze.

"Now, ah, maybe this time you can go ahead and melt down those bars you want, huh?" Jessica snickered. "Or do we still want to give the using-ores-themselves-to-make-weapons-bit another try?"

Cameron glared at the merchant lady, who merely laughed quietly to herself, as he set down some ore chucks into the furnace tray. He slid it back in, and waited for a moment, and then once the ore had been in long enough (though he wasn't quite sure how he knew such a thing so easily), he pulled it out and tenderly held up a perfectly smelted bar of tin ore, ready to be used.

"Perfect." Hope replied, smiling at Cameron. "Now we're really getting somewhere."

Cameron nodded, although he still felt a tad embarrassed for thinking that he could just use the ore itself as a proper building material.

"Oh, by the way, Jessica and I were just talking, and she's ready with her wares, if you were interested." Hope added, gesturing towards Jessica. The merchant finally got her giggling in check, seeing as how there was the potential to do business.

"Yes, so Cameron…" Jessica pitched, putting on her best sales face. "The problem is, you've got the ability to make ores now. But, you don't have the proper way to build anything! You can always build one yourself, of course, but if you want…"

She turned around, and grunted as she apparently lifted something heavy. She turned back towards Cameron, and he suddenly realized why: Jessica was somehow holding up a MASSIVE anvil in her hands, but only for a moment before she dropped down just in front of her, out of breath from holding up the heavy thing.

"You need this: an anvil!" she continued once she caught her breath. "It's a real beauty, honestly: solid iron craftsmanship, unyielding against even the strongest of ores in our world, and, best of all, it's ready for use immediately. So instead of wasting some of your iron on making this, buy one from me, how 'bout it?"

Cameron had to admit to himself: that was a fairly convincing sales pitch. He waved his hand in a 'how much?' manner.

"Ah yes, the age old question, isn't it?" Jessica asked, linking her hands together. "Well, let's see… normally, something like this would run you a pretty penny, labor and all that… but I feel bad for laughing at ya, and after you did build me a house in such a nice location and all that… so how's about we call it at forty silver?"

Cameron whistled a little to himself. Forty silver coins…? That was a lot, wasn't it?

Jessica seemed to notice Cameron's indecisiveness. "You're getting a good deal on this, bud, believe me. I normally sell this for fifty: you're saving a solid twenty percent overall on this deal. I wouldn't pass up such an opportunity, if I were you."

The tall man hesitated for a moment longer, but he eventually decided that it was worth it, even if it would wipe out most of the money he had on hand. He looked at Jessica and nodded, holding out his hand. Jessica, grinning, took it and the two shook.

"Pleasure doing business with you. I take coin or credit, your choice…" Jessica thanked as Cameron pulled out a pouch and pulled out a handful of coins (that he somehow knew totalled forty silver, despite not having actually counted that out at all). Jessica took the money and, grinning to herself, added it to her own collection as Cameron lugged his new, heavy anvil over near his furnace, the better to craft with.

Hope was watching this with a pleasant smile on her face. "Well, now the house is really starting to fill out a bit, isn't it?" she asked.

Cameron nodded, wiping his forehead from the effort. Jessica closed up her pouch, tucked it away, and then seemed to only then realize that it was growing dark outside.

"Oh my, it's gotten quite late, hasn't it?" she remarked. "I think I'll retire to my room, if you both please…"

Bowing herself out, she exited the room and dashed off to her room, just as night fully descended upon the area.

"Well, now you've got an anvil, a furnace, and Jessica already seems to be happy here." Hope remarked, sitting down at the table.

Cameron nodded, and slowly started getting to work. For a while, the room was filled with the sounds of Cameron working, either melting down ingots, or otherwise pounding away at the anvil (using a small metal-working hammer that he totally had that totally came with the purchase of the anvil and was not at all just some kind of fancy plot device that won't ever get mentioned again). Thankfully, Cameron either already knew the exact science to crafting tools from molten metals, or it was just pure dumb luck, since he managed to work with the metals fairly easily.

Cameron finally called it quits a few hours later, once night had truly settled on, and stepped back to admire his handiwork. He made a brand new pickaxe, made of a sturdy iron, as well as a new broadsword, this too being made of iron. The axe was made of tin, which, while not a perfect improvement, certainly had to be better than copper, right?

However, the real big-ticket items here was the new set of armor he'd just barely managed to craft. Saving the iron to make new armor was definitely a good call, since he had managed to just scrape together enough iron and tin to make a mis-matched set: iron for the chestplate, tin for the helmet and leggings. A definite step-up from wood, that was for sure.

Cameron turned to show Hope what he'd crafted, only to see that Hope was out cold in her chair, snoring gently with her arms on the table. She must've passed out a while ago, and Cameron hadn't realized while he worked.

Smiling softly to himself, the tall man sat down across from Hope quietly, taking a small breath in. It was the first time that he felt as though he had made some real progress in a while, and that was something to be proud of.

He couldn't help but look at Hope as she slept. She was incredibly cute while she was sleeping: like she didn't have a care in the world, completely oblivious to everything around her.

Oddly enough, Cameron didn't feel tired, really. Maybe it was just the leftover energy he had from making his new tools, but he still didn't feel like calling it quits for the night. Maybe he could go do a bit more mining for a while to tire himself out. And yet…

"It's dangerous when it gets dark. At night, things… things come out. It's bad."

Hope always warned Cameron that the dark of night is a bad time to be doing things outside, and for good reason: just remembering what happened last night (had it really only been last night? It felt as though that was weeks ago, already), with the three zombies that almost attacked him still brought shivers…

But… on the other hand, he had been armed with next to nothing that night. Now, though… he had some actual weapons and armor. He was feeling a bit more protected.

Hope would never approve, of course. But, then again, would she even know? She WAS fast asleep right now. Besides, all Cameron would do would be go outside and duck into his mineshaft. If he was lucky, he'd maybe find more iron down there, to further enhance his gear.

He hesitated for a minute more. He hated choices. He always felt as though he would mess them up, somehow, and especially now, when the stakes were as high as they were now? It didn't help that Hope, the one person he usually relied on for information regarding this world, was kind of out of commission for the time being…

And then the answer came to him, so quickly and obvious it was amazing he hadn't seen it before: Jessica!

She was from this world, or at least had a pretty good idea about it. Even if she had HALF of the knowledge Hope had, that would give Cameron an edge, maybe give him some solid advice. You know, assuming she didn't charge for it. And assuming he could mime out his intentions.

A bit more confident in his plan now, he quickly grabbed all of his new tools and armor, patted Hope gently on the shoulder (as a way of silently saying, 'I'll be back soon,'), and headed out into the darkness of the night.

By torchlight, Cameron quickly made the short jaunt to Jessica's little hut. No monsters were anywhere nearby, which Cameron found a little odd, but not enough that he was going to complain about it.

He quietly knocked on the door, trying to be polite. No response.

He knocked a little harder. Still nothing.

He reasoned she might be asleep, and quietly opened the door, just to check.

But, oddly enough… Jessica was nowhere to be seen.

Startled, Cameron opened the door all the way and entered, seeing no sign of the merchant girl anywhere. Did she leave? No, she wouldn't, would she? She did say that she was going to go home, right?

Cameron exited the house, confused, not to mention a bit uneasy. If Jessica wasn't there… then where was she?

Worried, Cameron quickly held his torch high and looked around the area, looking for any sign of the merchant girl in the vicinity.

He wandered about, looking for any sign of movement… be it friend or foe.

With immense releif, the Merchant girl had not gone far at all: she was actually looking about the forest edge, nearby some trees Cameron hadn't chopped down.

Cameron coughed as he approached. Jessica turned on her heel rapidly, reaching inside of her jacket, but stopped once she realized who it was.

"Dear lord, kid… don't sneak up on me like that, I thought you were a zombie or something…" Jessica sighed.

Cameron didn't exactly enjoy being called 'kid', considering Jessica couldn't possibly be that much older than him, but disregarded it and tilted his head, looking curious.

"Oh… were you looking for me?" Jessica asked. "Interested in doing some late-night shopping, perhaps?"

Cameron shook his head. He showed the merchant lady his armor and weapons, smiling rather proudly.

"Well, well, well, look at that. So you do know your way around a forge." Jessica complimented, looking closely at the helmet. "Say, how come you're still up though? I mean, I get being excited about new armor and all that, but that's still no reason to be outside trying to stir up trouble."

Cameron put his hands on his hips and gave Jessica a look that said quite plainly, 'I could ask you the same.'

Jessica rolled her eyes. "What do you think I'm doing, kid? I'm restocking. I gotta gather up more materials in case you need them, after all. I was just getting a little bit of wood for some premium torches."

Cameron raised an eyebrow and tilted his head. If it was that important to restock, why do it at what is probably the most dangerous time of day?

Jessica winked at him. "Oh, no particular reason… certainly not so that I can charge a little extra in terms of labor, if that's what you're implying…"

Cameron facepalmed, sighing exasperatedly. Jessica laughed hautilly at Cameron's expression.

"Kid, even if you could talk, you wouldn't be able to hide anything from me. You've got some wild expressions there." the merchant lady laughed.

The tall man rolled his eyes in an exaggerated way, then pulled out his pickaxe and attempted to mime out his plans for another mining trip.

"Hm. Late night mining, huh?" Jessica asked, studying the head of Cameron's new pick. "Well, I won't lie and say that it isn't such a bad time to do it: after all, if you're going to go outside, where it's dangerous, at least be doing something productive. But even so-"

Whatever she was going to say past that, we'll never know, because at that moment, the trees behind Jessica rustled quite loudly.

Cameron and Jessica both whipped towards the noise, ears trained for even the slightest hint of motion: Cameron's hand on his sword hilt, Jessica's inside her jacket.

For a few seconds, nothing happened. No one said anything, no one moved, nothing. It was just a tense moment of waiting for the source of the noise to reveal itself.

When nothing happened, Jessica finally lowered her hand, sighing. "Gods, it's too late to be getting myself worked up like this… maybe I will call it a night now…"

Cameron, however, was still rather on edge. He felt it more than he saw anything. Something was out there.

Watching them.

He drew his sword loudly and held it out, as though challenging anyone out there to come out. Jessica glanced behind herself at Cameron.

"Kid, what are you doing? There's nothing out there, or if there was, it's long gone at this point. Let's just head home and rest up where it's safe…"

Cameron didn't like it. It was too easy…

And that's when it came flying directly from the trees.

Straight at the back of a distracted Jessica's head.

Before he realized what it was that he was doing, Cameron jumped forward and tackled Jessica, just as the flying object zoomed over the pair's heads.

"What in the name of all that is holy was that?!" Jessica yelled from the ground, as Cameron quickly jumped back up to his feet and spun as the flying object turned back around in the air and prepared for another pass.

Cameron held his sword out, blinking at what he was looking at. It was easily one of the strangest creatures he'd seen so far, and potentially one of the most disturbing in context.

It was an extremely pale girl…'s head.

Yes, literally JUST a head. It also was a woman's head with only one great big blue eye, like a cyclops. The creature's hair was a fleshy pink color, covering the top half of her head. The worst part of her, though, was the base of her: where the neck should have been, connecting to the rest of a body, there was nothing but bloody bits of skin. Specifically, what looked like some kind of tendon things that keep an eye or muscles connected to the body: and yes, it is about as gross as you're imagining.

"Careful, kid." Jessica warned, standing behind Cameron at the ready. "That's a Demon Eye. They serve that… what's her name. I can never remember the name, but regardless, they're dangerous."

Cameron nodded and held his sword at the ready, swinging as hard as he could as the creature got close. The 'eye' was thrown off course, but righted itself quickly and made another pass, this time at Jessica.

"Not on my watch, eye creep!" the merchant yelled, tossing something at the flying eye.

Cameron realized it was a throwing knife of some kind, which shattered the moment it touched the Demon Eye. The creature was starting to look angrier and angrier, and it made for yet another pass at Cameron again.

However, it didn't seem like the smartest of creatures, as Cameron was easily able to jump over it as it flew too low, and he tossed one of his own throwing stars at the 'eye' as it slowed down to make another pass.

A few more moments (the eye thing was actually rather durable for being, y'know, just a head), it fell to the ground and dissolved into nothingness, like all other defeated monsters.

Cameron was panting, sweat dripping down the sides of his face. That thing was weirdly durable, and, on one pass, it had smashed right into him and bit his arm as hard as it could, leaving prominent teeth marks. However, rather than, y'know, hurt… it oddly felt… strangely hot?

"Told you, kid…" Jessica panted, drinking a health potion. "They're tougher than they look… least it was only the one, and not a horde of them."

Cameron gave her a glare, as if saying, 'Why'd you have to say that?'

"Well, it's the truth." Jessica remarked, quickly making for her house. "I'm going to my house. You'd do well to do the same."

Cameron watched as the Merchant quickly and quietly made her way back and into her house. He slowly caught his breath, keeping an ear out for any other noises.

That Demon Eye certainly had jarred him… and yet, still, the lure of adventure was still calling to him. He was pretty sure he would be able to take a little more before calling it a night… right?

Good Path

Eventually, Cameron's thirst for adventure prevailed. Dangerous as it was, it was a chance for the tall man to get some serious progress made towards further improving his chances of survival.

He properly donned his new armor, taking a moment to adjust to the weight. The tin helmet was probably the strangest part of the whole thing, since it kind of restricted his vision a bit, and he was almost certain it was covering pretty much his entire face except for the eyes.

'With luck, monsters might not even know what I am, and could leave me alone…' Cameron reasoned to himself, holding up a torch and, after looking around warily for anymore signs of movement, headed towards his mine.

There were no monsters in the area, as far as he could tell, and yet he remained on guard. Those eye monsters knew how to be quiet when they needed to, as Cameron had learned from the flying eye attack.

It happened again right as he reached the entrance to his mine. He felt it yet again, the feeling of being watched very carefully.

Cameron stood still at the entrance, waiting a moment. Another Demon Eye was nearby, he was sure of it. The question was, then… where?

Cameron did his best to keep his ears trained. Despite them being covered by his helmet, he could still hear pretty clearly. Any sign of activity, a tree's leaves rustling, a breath of wind, and he'd turn around sword at the ready.

Just as he predicted, he heard it coming from behind him, and he quickly swung around and readied his blade.

Until, that is, when he noticed that it was not one, not two, but THREE Demon Eyes, all of whom were bearing down on the tall man mere moments away from slamming into him at full force.

Cameron backed up instinctively. One Demon Eye, he could deal with. Two, with a little luck. Three? Doubtful.

But before he could really make a choice on how to fight three eye monsters all trained at him, he suddenly remembered something: they could fly, but they weren't very good at making tight turns. They tended to bounce around a lot if they overshot their mark and hit something, the ground for instance.

Cameron quickly tucked his sword away and sprinted down the narrow entrance to his mine. Just as he thought, the Demon Eye's tried to fly down there and continue, but the slope of the mine meant that they could barely fly all that well down here. Hell, two of them couldn't even get IN the entrance, and the one that did was left bouncing helplessly against the walls, still trying as hard as possible to re-angle itself and continue the chase.

Cameron kept going deeper into his mine, hearing the sounds of the Eyes getting further and further away. Finally, he couldn't hear them anymore. Either they had given up and (somehow) worked their way out, or they were just too far away for him to hear right now.

Either way, he felt pretty good about his quick thinking. Not every solution to a problem can be solved by waving a pointy stick around, after all.

Considering that the Eyes could still be waiting by the entrance, Cameron figured he might as well do some mining. He was already adjusting to the weight of his armor, and was feeling pretty confident.

With his mood on high, Cameron swung his pickaxe at the wall at the end of his mine…

And suddenly, he broke through.

A draft of cold air flew in, hitting his face. Instinctively, the tall man stepped back.

When nothing else happened, Cameron slowly mined out an entrance large enough for him to step through, and looked down.

He had stumbled directly into a cave.

Bad Ending

Cameron shook his head. No way was he going to go mining now. Not after the encounter with the eye he just had.

Although saddened by the prospect of not really getting much more progress done tonight, Cameron simply decided that he couldn't have everything he wanted.

Stuffing his armor into his pack (since there wasn't much of a need to put it on if he was just going home), he started walking the short jaunt towards his and Hope's house.

But… he stopped halfway there. Something… something wasn't right. He felt it again.

The sense of… being watched.

Cameron looked all around. Nothing in sight.

He started walking again, but this time keeping a firm hand on his sword's hilt. Those things were very quiet, and one false mistake could spell his doom…

He felt it again, five feet away from the door to his home. The feeling had increased. He felt like he was being watched from every angle.

Just as before, Cameron drew his sword, as though challenging the Demon Eye just out of his field of vision to come out.

And that's when it happened.

From seemingly nowhere, a trio of Demon Eyes flew from the forest beyond and were quickly streaming towards an under defended Cameron.

Cameron's face paled, and in that moment, he did the only smart thing he could think of.

He turned and ran into his house at full speed.

Hope, who had still been fast asleep, was startled by the loud slamming of the door as it opened and Cameron tumbled in. "C-Cameron…?" she sleepily asked.

Cameron quickly made to slam the door back, but unfortunately, the Demon Eyes were too fast.

One was aimed too high, and ricocheted off the top of the door frame. However, the other two were flying much lower, and quickly zoomed into the house just as Cameron slammed the door shut.

Panicking, Cameron started swinging his sword around as the Demon Eyes, now in a confined space, bounced across the walls and very quickly overwhelmed him and a very surprised Hope.

They kept biting at Cameron's arms, his legs, his hands, his torso, anything they could conceivable bite at, they did, and while Cameron's strikes were wearing them down, he wasn't capable of keeping them at bay forever.

Knowing he couldn't win this fight, he quickly ran over and grabbed Hope, swiping away as the Demon Eyes made for another pass. Hope shouted something incoherent as Cameron made a mad dash for the door.

He was hoping to run outside and get to Jessica's house. Even assuming the Demon Eyes were able to fly out and keep up the chase, Cameron still stood a much better chance out in the open, rather than the tight confines of his relatively small house.

He threw open the door and was just about to jump out of it, when, all of a sudden, the third Demon Eye, which had up until now just been bouncing around aimlessly in a fruitless quest of breaking inside the house, now sailed in and bit Cameron squarely on the nose.

Cameron grunted heavily and swatted the pest away, unable to take much more. Every bite was weakening his resolve. The bites weren't hurting like you'd think they would. Instead, they felt… hot. The places he had been bitten at were very red and very sensitive, making each sequential bite more and more draining of his will. It was becoming more and more pleasurable to get bitten by these demonic heads, and he needed to get away before they had a chance to finish them off.

Hope, at least, was well and truly awake at this point. She wasn't nearly as bitten, since Cameron had been the far more interesting thing to bite at (from the Demon Eyes perspective). She wasn't sure what had happened, but understood that they were in danger and needed to move now.

She dashed out, with Cameron right behind her, but Cameron was slowing down rapidly. The bites were only growing hotter and hotter, and the Demon Eyes were still right on his heels, trying to nip at him more.

He kept swinging as much as possible, but every sword swing tired Cameron more and more, while the trio of Demon Eyes were still as strong as ever.

Hope, now at Jessica's door, stopped and watched in abject horror as Cameron was forced to a stand still, with the three Eyes flying around him like sharks, and each strike from Cameron getting slower and slower. He'd be overwhelmed in moments.

"L-leave him alone, you monsters!" Hope cried out, pulling something out from behind her.

The Demon Eyes, having heard Hope's shout, rotated in the air to face and possibly even charge her down. But they didn't see the projectile of a large, stone-tipped arrow flying at them.

Hope fired arrow after arrow, hoping to keep the Demon Eyes off Cameron long enough for him to retreat. He tried to walk while he had the chance, but the bites were making him weak. He tripped and fell down.

The Demon Eyes seemed to notice this. In a split second decision, they changed targets again, and this time flew back to Cameron, sensing victory in hand.

"N-NO!" Hope yelled.

Cameron looked up, and with the last of his strength gestured for Hope to get inside.

"I-I'm not going to leave you!" Hope called back.

And that's when the three Demon Eyes bit into Cameron as hard as they could, in his arm, his leg, and his torso.

Cameron gasped in pleasured agony. The biting effects were too much.

His dick, which the entire time had been growing harder and harder in his pants as the Eyes weird magic teeth bit into him, finally couldn't take it anymore. He exploded in his own clothes, leaving a very visible mark even in his jeans.

The Demon Eyes, knowing they had won, each grabbed a hold of Cameron with their mouths, and started flying away.

"H-HEY! Give him ba-" Hope started to yell, nocking another arrow.

But then a firm hand grabbed her shoulder.

Startled, Hope looked back to see a somber Jessica behind her, looking on sadly as Cameron was being dragged away.

"You can't save him." she remarked.

"Y-yes I can!" Hope yelled defiantly.

Jessica glared into Hope's eyes. "You know you can't. He's already gone. Even if you could release him, his mind has been tainted with. You of all people should know that."

Hope did know that. If a monster can force a human to climax, then that human will never recover. But even so…

"I… I can't lose him…" Hope pleaded, her will breaking.

"I know… I know…" Jessica comforted, rubbing Hope's shoulders.

The two ladies watched as the trio of Demon Eyes took Cameron far, far beyond where they could see.

Hope cried openly.

Jessica looked grim.

And Cameron…?

Well...

'M… more…'

*chomp*

*gasp*

*spurt!*

…

It had been days since he had been defeated and taken away by the Demon Eyes.

He had been taken far, far away.

How far? I don't know.

He was taken to the land where Demon Eyes live, when the sun rises and it isn't safe for them to be out in the world.

Hundreds of Demon Eyes live here. Hundreds of women heads, each with the same sharp teeth, all of which were viciously enamoured with Cameron and his dick.

They had taken to their favorite game: Bite the Dick!

You can probably guess how it works.

Cameron spent the rest of his life a slave to the flying eyes. He would spend eternity having his body bitten by Demon Eyes. His torso, his arms, his face…

His crotch…

And he would spend an eternity climaxing almost endlessly into the mouths of the Demon Eyes. Strangely, even after pumping their mouths full, they never seemed to leak any from their severed necks. Nor did they seem to have an end to how much they wanted.

They guzzled his semen endlessly, and Cameron was stuck forever in endless, horrible pleasure of the never ending bites.

Yet again, he felt himself drifting off to unconsciousness. He was exhausted, but the Demon Eyes never seemed to let him stay asleep for long. He would wake up soon enough, to pump yet another endless amount of sperm to the endless horde of Demon Eyes.

And, not for the first time, his eyes read the gravestone that had appeared moments after his arrival here, when his torture, and his pleasure, had begun.

"Cameron fell to a trio of Demon Eyes, and would forever taste the tortuous pleasure of the Demon Eye horde."

And now, Cameron was slain…

...

And another chapter competed.

I must sincerely apologize for how long this chapter came out. I also much apologize if the ending wasn't quite as much fun as the other chapters have been. I haven't exactly had a lot of motivation to finish this chapter recently, and trying to imagine how a 'sexy' scene with a bunch of disembodied eye monsters wasn't exactly fun (hence the delay).

Nevertheless, I think this chapter has what I was looking for, and now that it is finished, I can move on to more 'fun' monsters. So… hooray?

In any case, I do hope this chapter was pleasurable for you all. Again, do not fret: things will begin to happen very soon. I have many ideas for this story as a whole, and I, for one, am looking forward to getting to them.

I do believe we are getting very close to having a scene involving Hope, if you were curious. A little more time, but not much.

If you have enjoyed this chapter, let me know. And, as always…

Stay sexy, my friends.

- Noremac