Arianna ran through the dilapidated hallways as fast as her awkward lopsided gait would allow her, due to the fact that she had to abandon her left sandal in the purple goop that it had become mired in just a short while ago, when she encountered what was best described as her anti-self. Her midnight black and royal blue colored furred self that was currently chasing her through this mansion that seemed to go on forever.

Frantic, Ari once again tried to shift into her fuzzy werewolf side, but like before, it felt as if something was somehow blocking her shifting. Her werewolf half, which was always close by and ready to leap into action, felt as if it was asleep or knocked out, not even remotely responding to her desperate attempt to change.

“Why can't I shift?!” she whined, glancing behind her once again to see if she could see her pursuer. For the moment, she was alone, although a chuckle came from somewhere behind her, out of sight. What is blocking me? How? Why?

As she rounded a corner, she spotted a window leading outside just ahead. Slowing, she glanced out into the night, but after only a moment she sped up again. Like all the other windows she'd passed so far, they were fully encased with bars on the outside, keeping people from breaking in...or in her case, stopping her from getting out. While she figured she could melt her way through given enough time, after busting the window out first, anyway...time was something she did not have.

Running further down the latest hallway that seemingly went on forever, lit only by the candles on the wall and her own flame, her attention was diverted by a much longer laugh from behind, with a voice following. “I see you, scared little bunny. This wolf is coming to eat you!”

“Stay away!” warned a very panicked Ari, as she launched a hastily aimed ball of fire towards her foe. She didn't get a chance to see where it landed, as a pair of sounds from underfoot snapped her attention back front.

Squorch. Squish.

And just as suddenly, her arms were waiving in frantic circles as her right foot refused to move from where it landed, followed by her left as it tried and failed to shift to help balance her.

A few seconds later, after somehow not falling flat on her face or rear, she took a look around, her expression dropping in despair and dismay at what she found. Somehow, despite only spending a few seconds looking behind her, she had blundered into a massive pile of purple goo, just like the stuff that had been oozing out of the painting just a few minutes ago. Like before, her remaining sandal was mired in it, along with her bare foot, a short distance ahead.

Unlike before, the glowing goo was absolutely everywhere. Coating the entire floor and left wall, some of the right wall, and even a lot of the ceiling above her, there was seemingly no way that she could've ran into the ooze without noticing it first. And yet...here she was.

And with her alternate self chasing her down...she was in a lot of trouble.

Seeing normal flooring just a few steps ahead, she tried to move forward, her right foot straining against the straps of her sandal. Like the last time she encountered the sticky goop, the straps felt more like ropes against her foot, locking it there as the sandal was absolutely mired in place. Twisting the foot around, she fought to find leverage to make any sort of leeway, but her footwear was completely stuck and going nowhere.

Knowing she had to keep running, it didn't take long before she undid the straps and placed her bare foot into the purple goop ahead of her, grimacing as it sank slightly into the cool and slimy feeling goo. EW!

She then focused upon her left foot. Gritting her teeth as she threw her weight forward, her foot at first refused to move, like her lost sandal. But eventually her foot lifted as she strained as hard as she should. The goop stretched as it pulled back at the bottom of her mired foot, making a disgusting skretching noise as her foot ever so slowly raised up. A few torturous seconds later, as her strength began to wane, it finally broke free with a loud snap. Off balance, the foot moved ahead about a foot, the goop splashing onto the sides of her foot as it sank back down.

I can do this. Just a few more steps! Repeating the process with her right foot, it eventually began to lift up like her other one did. Unlike her previous step, however, the goo refused to break. As the foot raised higher and higher, it pulled back with more and more force, and eventually Ari's strength gave out, the foot splattering back into the goop, the slime latching onto more of her foot and oozing between her toes in the process.

NO! Desperately trying again, the foot only raised half as far before she couldn't get it to budge further, and with a growl she allowed it to squelch back into place.

She didn't have a chance to try anything further as she felt something cold and clammy latch onto her left arm. Looking over, she gasped in shock as she saw that a massive purple goo like hand had grabbed onto her, the slime leading back towards the wall where it had somehow oozed out of. Moments later, she felt another hand grasp her right shoulder, and then one wrap around her left knee.

Frantic, she engulfed both of her hands in her trademark flame...something that was difficult at best with her left hand. It barely wanted to ignite, the flames somehow staying away from the goo that was stuck to the top of the wrist.

But her right was still clean. She launched a firebolt at another approaching hand, expecting it to melt away, but to her surprise, the flames were practically absorbed into the hand, her fire having zero effect upon it!

And then she heard a chuckle from behind her. Heart dropping, looking back with fear, she spotted her opposite colored self standing just a few feet away, safely out of the goop, with some kind of glowing ectoplasmic rope in her claws. She grinned slyly, her expression slowly turning into a smile, as she watched the stuck and struggling Ari.

Out of ideas, she tried one last time to move forward, but the ooze had too good of a grasp upon her bare foot and toes, the limb barely moving upwards out of the sticky slime. And then a goop hand grabbed it around the ankle, yanking the foot back down into the goo with a sickening splat!

“SARAH!” she called out of desperation. “WHERE ARE YOU?! I NEED YOUR HELP!”

Nothing but the laughter of her off-colored foe and the sucking and squelching of the goo hands latching onto more of her body responded.

---

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If you've been keeping track, the amount of purple shown on this series has been steadily growing, and now it's practically overwhelming and covering every corner of the image. It, and the reduction of orange in each pic, shows the battle between Ari and what's been trying to capture her, and at this point it's very clear that she's utterly lost.

 redgraveart has pulled through with another amazing horror themed Halloween picture, one involving Ari giving one final hurrah before she ends up, well...you'll have to keep watch for Part 4 to find out! A massive thanks to the artist for this series, and for how awesome every piece of it has been!