She awoke, blinking slowly as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. The air was oddly cool, the ground surprisingly soft and springy beneath her as she felt around, gazing about at her surroundings. It appeared she’d somehow gone from being in her plain, ordinary double-blanketed bed and landed in the middle of a gigantic playroom. An immense jack in the box was situated over in the corner with a popped jack that had a big, broad, stupid grin on its noseless face, with a double-pointed purple jester hat and a lovely pair of blue eyes that followed her wherever she went. She stood up, dusting herself off, small hands moving over to a large set of immense playing cards.

She stepped back, cringing. They looked razor-tipped. Odd. Odder than even the rest of the room, with its mismatched color scheme, the bouncy floor with tiles that had numbers and letters on each part, the immense, strange funhouse mirrors hanging from the walls and the guillotine-

Wait. Guillotine? What in the heck was a guillotine doing inside of a playroom? And how’d she get in-

“I must be dreaming.” She realized, scratching her red haired head, brown eyes blinking as she stared at the doorway nearby which had a big doorknob in the shape of a face on it. She reached out, only for it to “harrumph” at her.

“Hey! No touchy.” It said before it closed its golden eyes, the girl blinking a bit in confusion before some giggling filled the air and she turned around, gasping in surprise at the being that popped into existence before her. The being was a jester with a two-pointed reddish/orange hat, who’s points hung slightly towards his face almost like a set of horns, and with clawed gloves to match. He had a regal, resplendent orange cape and mantle with brilliant gems running along the edges, but even they didn’t shine as brightly as the blue eyes that gazed back at her. But, most interestingly…

He had no body. No chest. No stomach. No arms. No legs. Just the hands, a black abyss of a face with a big grinning mouth and lack of ears and nose, the hat, the mantle, the cape, and a pair of boots. He giggled a bit, bouncing up and down as he floated around her.

“And who might you be?” He asked, his voice oddly childlike with a slight mischevious tone.

“Um…Mel.”

“Mel? Is that short for something?”

“Melody.”

The being clasped his clawed hands together, face lighting up. “Ooh, “Melody”! I like that. I’m Jackle, the Mantle! Welcome to Nightopia’s Funhouse!”

“Am I…dreaming?” Mel inquired, looking confused as Jackle nodded and took off his head, twirling it around on one claw.

“Oh, absolutely! Dream, dream, dream, when I’m with yoooou!” He sang out, hovering around her. “I’m surprised you ended up in my funhouse! But Nightopia does represent your inner you. I guess you must like playing around!”

“Well, I’m really into cards and magic tricks. It’s why I went to look at your card deck.” Mel admitted, pointing over at the cards. “They’re too big for me to pick up, though…and really sharp.”

“Oh, yeah, I throw them at people when I’m mad.” Jackle admitted. 

“My mom does that at my dad a lot. Throw stuff.” Mel remarked. “Never thrown cards, though.”

“But you like magic tricks? Well, how about we play a game!” Jackle asked, clasping his hands together and “sitting” down on an invisible chair in midair, pulling out a deck of cards from somewhere in the nothingness that was his body. “Pick a card! Any card!”

Mel blinked but did so, picking the fourth one from the right edge, holding it up. “Oh. King of Spades.”

“Good luck indeed. Let’s play some Poker!” Jackle told her. “You win, and I’ll teach you any magic trick you’d like to know.” He said, making the card vanish in front of her eyes with a wave of his hand, bowing slightly in a dramatic fashion. “But if you lose…well, I get to do anything I want!”

“Uh…you wouldn’t…hurt me, would you? Like…use that guillotine?” Mel nervously asked. “Do you promise not to cut me up or something like that?”

“No, no. I won’t hurt you.” Jackle said with a nod, giving her a playful pat on the head. “I’m a lot of things. But I’m not a big meany. I won’t hurt you if you lose. So how about it?” He asked, holding the cards up anew, Mel looking slightly to the side, biting her lip before giving a cheery, hopeful nod.

“Alright. Let’s play!” Mel said to Jackle, Jackle leading her over to a table nearby, dealing out the cards as she looked her hand over. This would be fun!

And indeed, the two began playing Poker for quite some time, Jackle hovering his cards in the air whilst Mel held hers in her hand. Jackle absentmindedly thrummed away on an invisible drum set to the side whilst Mel flipped through her cards, Melody peeking up at him in surprise.

“You have an invisible drum?”

“All of us “Nightgirln” have invisible instruments.” Jackle said. “They were given to us by our creator. He used to be big into music until he got big into taking stuff over. But we still keep them.” He commented with a grin, drumming a bit on his instrument before showing off his hand. “Ha! Now we’re tied.”

“I’m really good at the piano, but I hate that my mom makes me take lessons.” Mel confessed to Jackle as he tilted his head slightly to the side, looking interested. “I want to play for fun. Not because somebody’s making me. Even if it’s something I’m good at.”

“I get that.” Jackle told her with a nod, reshuffling the cards. “Being bossed around is no fun.” He quickly passed out the next cards, Mel looking them over as Jackle looked over his own hand. “So…how many?” 

“…I’ll take two.” She asked, Jackle looking interested as he snapped his fingers, two cards switching with the two she put down, he swapping out just one card. “Well, I think I’m ready.” 

“Okay!” Jackle gave a giggling laugh. “Show your hand! Nothing up my sleeve. Cuz I got no sleeves!” He told Melody as he showed off his lack of arms, Mel putting down three kings. “Ooh. That is gooooood!”

“I guess, yeah.” Mel said with a smile, Jackle wagging a claw in the air.

“But ah-ah-ah! I got me this!” He said, putting down three aces…and two queens. 

“Full house! Awwww.” Mel’s face sank as she sank in her chair, Jackle clasping his hands together and beaming in delight. 

“Oh, wonderful! I win, I win, I win! Yes, yes, yes!” He laughed, bobbing up and down in the air, spinning about as the cards faded before Mel’s eyes, Mel tilting her head to the side in slight surprise as Jackle somersaulted in midair all about the young girl. “I win-win-win! Wahoo!”

“Calm down.” She remarked. 

“Oh, you should see me when I win stuff that matters!” Jackle laughed. “But now to the victor go the spoils! And since I’m the victor, you’re the spoils! And imma eat you up!”

Mel turned cold, shuddering in surprise as she rose up from the chair, taking a few steps back in her yellow, faded nightrobe. “Y-you said you wouldn’t hurt me…” She whimpered.

“Oh, I won’t.” Jackle said cheerily, waving his clawed, gloved hand in the air, ropes wrapping around Mel, tying her up as she flopped to the soft and squishy floor below, Jackle smiling warmly at her as he approached, lifting her up as gentle as he could. He carried her, hovering over the floor as he made his way towards a doorway in the back, entering a kitchen. “This isn’t going to hurt.” He promised. 

It would take great, great concentration and care to ensure she didn’t feel any pain, Jackle knew this. Taking the long metal pole from the side of the table in the kitchen and flipping Mel’s clothes slightly up, Jackle lined it up with Mel’s rump, carefully resting one clawed hand upon her other cheek. “Don’t be afraid.” He gently told her 

She wasn’t the first. And certainly not the last. He loved children, being playful in how he handled them, and as gentle as he could when it was time to eat them up. He carefully touched the steely pole to her pucker, gently easing in the rounded tip at first before sliding it in further. If she was older, her insides would be well-lubed to ensure the long cold shaft went in easily, but instead he did it slowly…carefully…he didn’t want her suffering.

A strange-yet-not-painful sensation worked its way up from her hips, through her belly, and up her chest. Mel, surprisingly, wasn’t afraid. “It’s just a dream”, she kept saying in her mind as she closed her eyes, Jackle gently going to the side of her body, moving his other hand off her rump and onto her head, caressing her soft yellow hair gently, touched by the young child’s willing submission. He didn’t dawdle anymore, resuming the pushing on the pole, moving it further through. Now the pole came up the girl’s windpipe and up through her mouth, crossing her eyes as it emerged and extending past her nose. All in all, a painless procedure, and now with her ability to speak gone, Mel could just simply wait and see what happens next to her.

With the girl now properly spitted, Jackle carefully tied her feet behind her back and her ankles to the pole, her knees bent at 90 degree angles. Lifting up the pole, the hungry jester-esque being brought her to outside to the yard, setting her on top of the firepit he’d built, quickly staring a fire without trouble, a mere snap of his fingers making flames rise up. The heat began to climb higher, meeting his new meal’s underside, Jackle tossing the small collection of herbs into the flames as soft, willowing white smoke drifted up into Mel’s nostrils. He then took hold of the other end of the skewer, rotating it slowly to evenly cook Mel like a real roast. Mel hung limp from the pole going through her lengthways, feeling the heat slowly building beneath her before the sensation that HAD been becoming hot became…fuzzier…almost warm and comforting, a deep sleep beginning to fill her mind. She only wanted to just rest…to go to sleep. She was so tired…

Taking a nearby bowl of cooking juices, Jackle ladles some over the girl’s cooking body from time to time, making sure she didn’t dry out. The plumpness of her flesh kept her meat nice and juicy, and her skin tone was darkening ever so slightly as she cooks. Now she was very nicely browned, deliciously roasted. Her softly glistening form was beautiful to behold, like a bronzed goddess, and Jackle saw her open her eyes one last time, looking into his face.

“I told you it wouldn’t hurt. Thank you for this. Really.” He said sincerely, kissing her atop her forehead, her eyes slowly closing, a final sigh coming out of her nostrils, Jackle’s grateful kiss the final sensation she ever felt. Jackle then stuffed her head right into his wide, waiting maw, the entire head sliding easily down his throat. He licked at her face, tickling her nose, giving another powerful gulp as he lapped at her chest. With another swallow, only her rear and her legs were left out, Jackle simply slurping them in, moaning in delight over just how yummy and delicious humans were. In a matter of seconds, the tasty treat that was Melody was tucked away inside an invisible tummy, Jackle letting out a playful belch as he rubbed his stomach.

“Ooh. So nice. Thanks, Melody.” He giggled, hovering back inside, beginning to turn intangible, and to wait for the next child to pop into his playhouse…

…

…

…

…Melody blinked, slowly rising up. What an odd dream, she murmured, rubbing her head as she sat up in her bed, blushing deeply. That was the fourth time this week she remembered the playhouse and…

What was it’s name? It was so fuzzy now, but…

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, yawning as she got out of bed, heading down for breakfast, her little brother already there, yawning heavily himself.

“What’s goin’ on, Pat?” She asked him, seeing the bags under the eight year old’s eyes as she began pouring herself some chocolate milk. 

“I had this really weird dream. There was a clown or something, and he wanted to play cards with me.” Her freckle-faced brother admitted. “Then it gets fuzzy and really warm…”

Melody almost spit out the milk she was drinking.