Author's Note: This story was the longest writing project I've done so far. It was some of my most grueling and emotional work, and I will always be proud of it, even though I know it will probably never be published. I would like to thank several people: DrumMajorPheonix for her support, filmgrl13 for her own great Little Shop of Horrors stories and interest in this story, Taylor Moore for being my humble beta reader and a talkative friend, my little sister for being my second "beta" and always making jokes about my stuff (while she reads it!), and my English teacher Mr. Repp for reading the first chapter and supporting me through my frequent laptop issues. Lastly, from the more spiritual side, I hope you've read this up in the heaven internet, Grammy.

Okay, now onto the preface of this. I got into this musical awhile ago, and soon after seeing it onstage for a second time, I rented the film version out of curiosity. I was satisfied with nearly every aspect of this version except for one thing: the different ending. Sure, it was nice to think of a way for the lovers Seymour and Audrey to escape Skid Row and live happily ever after, but it seemed so abrupt and hollow. Even with such a peaceful life, how could Seymour and Audrey live normally after their experiences on Skid Row? Would the nightmares of blood, alien plants, and crime haunt Seymour? Would Audrey truly let go of her own pain? Slowly, out of these thoughts, this story began to unfold.

And now, without further ado, enjoy!

*S. Snowflake

Return to Skid Row

Chapter One: A Bloody Dream

* * *

The sun cast rich orange light over the ground, brightening it in hues of scarlet and marigold as it started to set, while the clouds turned shades of rosy red and violet grey over the suburbs. The trees' leaves had turned a yellowish brown after the spring rains and the bright summer sunshine no longer sustained them, but the little square front lawns were mostly still a deep and healthy green color. A chilly November breeze stirred up the stray leaves onto lawns and driveways that had been raked and swept earlier that day. Despite the troublesome leaves and the wind chill, most of life here was quite peaceful. Every morning at eight-o-clock, the adults who worked in town would drive to their jobs and work all day long. Meanwhile, the home keepers would stay and spruce up their houses and the neighborhood kids would catch the bus to school. It had been a fairly lazy autumn day in these suburban homes, but now at five-thirty the folks that worked in town were coming home to warm greetings from their families.

One small house in the middle of Sunshine Street had very little originality to offer except for a well-kept front garden and a somewhat distinguishing mailbox with pink tulips painted all over it that read, "The Krelborns". And it is in this plain, little house that the story begins.

In the front yard by the picket fence stood a young girl. She was almost staring at a pile of raked fall leaves in front of her with a mixed breed spaniel of a dog at her side. She was a girl not over four with brownish hair, wearing a black poodle skirt with yellow trim. Without any warning, her green eyes sparkled and she flung herself into the pile of leaves with a childish cry as the litter of brown, ochre, and crimson flew all around her.

"Come on, Rover!" the girl said blissfully to the spaniel. "Jump in!"

Rover was hesitant, but he loved playing with the little girl, so after some animal thought, he followed her lead. Apparently he enjoyed the leaf jumping too as the girl tossed some leaves into the air and he tried to catch one in his teeth with a few good natured barks.

"Julie? Julie sweetie, come in," a voice called from inside the house before Audrey Krelborn, the little girl's mother, opened the front door. She daintily stepped out on the front stoop with her blond hair curled perfectly just past the edge of her chin, wearing a red polka-dotted dress that nobody in their right mind would want to wear, but she had such a fair frame that nothing could make her seem ugly.

"There you are. You don't wanna' miss the show do you?" she asked in her helium-pitched and slightly irritating New York accent.

The girl Julie turned and pouted. "Daddy's not here."

"Daddy will be home soon, Julie. Now come inside; it's dinna' time and there's a new episode on tonight," Audrey finished, leaving the girl no choice in the matter.

"Okay. Come on Rover," Julie said glumly and trudged inside, dragging her feet all the way.

Yes, the Krelborn house was plain on the outside, but it was even more so on the inside. This was because Audrey liked to keep her house tidy and simple. The walls were off-white colored and the carpets were dull green. Cheap floral painting prints covered the walls, along with some photographs of happy memories. All the chairs either had a plain dotted, or floral print decoration, and the tables and drawers were made of oak. The living room couch sat about six feet away from Audrey's most prized possession: a tiny, out of date, black and white television set.

Julie sat down on the plastic-wrapped sofa (plastic coated because it was the only way her mother could keep it clean), followed by the dog, and soon Audrey came with a TV dinner for her.

Audrey noticed her daughter's scowl and sat down next to her. "He'll be here soon, really sweetie," she said. "Try to be happia'."

Julie turned her head and gave her mother a half smile. "Okay, Mama."

"Glad ya didn't touch that dial folks, because we're back!" the television blared after its usual commercial break. "And don't forget that tonight at eight is our 'Double Creature Feature' full of monsters sure to make you scream!" Then B-movie alien came onscreen; its aluminum foil antennae whirling round and round.

How could anyone be scared of that? Why, I nearly was killed by… Audrey thought and shivered briefly as she put the idea away. She ceased her skepticism when I Love Lucy came back on. Perfect distraction! Thank God for Lucy.

Julie watched the show and ate the chicken dinner to appease her mother, but really was disinterested in watching unless her father was with them. She sulked after swallowing another piece of the white meat. "Daddy's gonna miss it isn't he?" she asked.

"Julie for heaven's sake, no. You know your dad wouldn't miss dinna'," Audrey answered somewhat more sternly than she had before.

Julie stayed silent after that remark. She knew that "for heaven's sake" meant "please don't bring this up again" whenever her mother said it, but something in the back of her mind told her that her father might very well miss dinner that evening. And that voice was quite right.

***

Later that night, a blue Volkswagen bug puttered into the Krelborn driveway; its engine rumbling before the headlights faded with a tiny sputter. The driver door handle clicked before Seymour Krelborn, the man of the house, stepped out.

Seymour was a rather awkward fellow. He was short with a fairly skinny body type wearing a brown, baggy sweater and large glasses bent to the right. He either did not know or did not care about his appearance as he walked sluggishly to the door with his brown hair in need of a good brush and his hands shoved in his pockets and he stared down humbly at the walkway. When he did look up, he noticed the leaves that Julie had scattered on the lawn and exhaled deeply.

"Sunday;" he said under his breath. "-I'll get to that on Sunday." Then he turned the doorknob, knowing that his wife had left the door unlocked for him, and stepped inside.

He had not been in the house for two seconds before Julie turned her head to the door and declared, "Daddy's home!"

Seymour immediately put on his best smile for his daughter and said, "Hello Julie girl."

"Hey, honey," Audrey greeted her husband as he walked over and sat down next to her on the couch before she gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Hey Audrey. You two are watching Mickey Mouse Club?"

"Yep," Audrey answered.

"Why'd you miss Lucy, Daddy?" Julie asked, standing up to change the TV channel dial.

"I've, um… been pretty busy; work and all that," her father replied with a slightly unnerving laugh.

"I'm sure you have your reasons," said Audrey while patting his back affectionately.

Seymour nodded in response, not giving away anything that was really troubling him.

Old horror film music and the sound of staged thunder broke out from the TV before a man said softly and eerily, "Welcome to Friday Night's Double Creature Feature. I'll be your host tonight as we take a trip down Terrifying Lane. Our first feature is, The Killer Robots From Beyond the Moon."

Despite the odd title and bad special effects, the film was surprisingly scary, and (like all good scary movies are), too interesting for any of the Krelborns to turn off. Audrey gasped whenever one of the robots attacked somebody. Julie hid her face behind a blanket at the particularly scary moments and clutched whimpering Rover tightly in her arms. Seymour was the only one who didn't react to the cheap black and white horror flick, but kept his gaze focused in an almost hypnotized manner on the frightening images the entire time.

As the last terrifying minutes unfolded, the television set had the family's attention like a magnet to their eyeballs. The last man left on earth from the film ran into the back alley behind a building, followed slowly by an alien robot with flashing headlights for eyes and a silver spray-painted cardboard body. He was trapped now as the robot came closer to cornering its prey…

Julie gulped, pulling the blanket completely over her head as she shuddered underneath.

The camera closed in on the man's face as he screamed, "No! No! Nooo!" Then the screen faded out; the words, "The End?!?" almost glowing in bold white against a black background on screen.

"This has been The Killer Robots from Beyond the Moon," the TV host concluded. "Stay tuned for our next tale of horror, The Zombie Carnival after these messages…"

Audrey stood up abruptly and turned the television off. "I think that's enough for now," she said in an even higher pitched voice than usual. "Besides, it's past your bedtime, Julie."

"O-okay," Julie said, slowly taking the blanket off her head with a petrified look on her face. "But you'll go with me?"

Audrey smiled warmly and scooped her daughter into her arms. "Sure. Honey, are you coming?" she asked Seymour in more than a command than anything else.

"Huh? O-oh, yeah," Seymour replied, still dazed from the television before he followed to their daughter's bedroom. His expression changed to a satisfied smile as he watched his wife put Julie down on her bed where she nestled under the covers almost instantly.

"How about a story to make you feel betta'?" Audrey asked, fingering through Julie's storybook collection in her closet. "Let's see… Cinderella? The Cat in the Hat?"

Julie shook her head at both options. "Tell me how you and Daddy met," she said. "I like that one!"

Audrey giggled at Julie's enthusiasm and curiosity as she came back to her bedside. "That one again? Okay, okay, your dad used to work in a flowa' shop in New York City, across the street from where I lived. One day I went in there asking for a job and he dropped some plants on the floor in front a' me. It was pretty funny, huh honey?"

"Maybe for you. I was pretty embarrassed since that was the first impression I made on you," Seymour answered sheepishly.

"And it was a good one." Audrey smiled and continued her story, "Anyway, his boss, Mista' Mushnik, hired me that day and we became real good friends working there togetha'. I always thought your dad worked so hard and was so sweet, and the more I thought about your dad, the more I realized that I loved him." She paused, grinning at Seymour behind her.

"Don't look at me," said Seymour. "I fell in love when I first saw you."

Audrey giggled. "Later on we finally admitted that we were in love with eachotha', sp we kissed and-"

"Eew, don't make it gross Mama!" Julie interrupted.

Seymour chuckled from behind.

"One day you might not think kissing is so bad," Audrey said, glancing back at Seymour. "-But anyway, we decided to get married and left the city. About a year lata', we had you, and that's about it. Happy endings."

Julie lifted her head up from under the blanket and asked, "Why'd you leave the city?"

Seymour's eyes widened; this was not the first time Julie had asked that question.

Audrey's voice cracked as she tried to come up with an excuse not to go off on the subject. "Because this is a better place for us," she said, and her tone became softer then. "The part of the city we came from is very dangerous, but ya know, I kind of miss it these days."

"Could we go there sometime?" Julie asked sincerely.

Audrey grinned, then leaned over and kissed Julie lightly on her forehead. "Maybe someday. Now, are you okay now? You're not scared or anything?"

Julie shook her head. Her father was just about to turn off the light when she cried out, "No Daddy, don't do that!"

"Why not?" Seymour asked. "You'll sleep better with the light off."

Julie paused, thinking, then said, "Bunny's scared of the monster in the closet."

Julie pulled out a thoroughly loved whitish-gray stuffed rabbit with brown spots on its face, red buttons for eyes, and a little green bow tie on his chest from under her bed.

"Well, alright. If the monsters will keep you two up," Seymour answered, playing along with Julie's excuse.

Audrey came to his side in the doorway and peered in for the last time that night. "Goodnight Julie," she said lovingly.

"'Night Mama, 'night Daddy," Julie answered tiredly.

Rover tiptoed inside, spun around a few times on the floor, and curled up on the carpet by Julie's bed where he would play the watchdog before Audrey closed the door with just the slightest creak.

The couple walked together down the hall silently until they reached their room so that Julie could not overhear their conversation. "Nice work with Julie back there," Seymour complemented his wife once he knew they were out of Julie's earshot.

"You too, sweetheart. Keeping those monsta's away is a lot of work." She laughed softly in her throat, then sighed. "She's so curious."

"Yeah, she is," Seymour agreed.

"Who knows which one of us she gets that from?" Audrey commented. "It's funny that she talks about seeing Skid Row, huh Seymour?"

"I guess so," he replied, yawning.

Audrey paused, watching Seymour but letting her mind go elsewhere. "Have you eva' thought about goin' back?" she asked almost inaudibly.

He looked up at her suspiciously and with a stern expression before answering, "No, I haven't, why are you askin'?"

"Uh… no reason!" she replied quickly. "-Just forget it."

Seymour wanted to pursue the topic further, but he knew that prying open a subject with his wife was like trying to talk to a brick wall... an irritable brick wall. He shrugged and practically fell down on the bed exhaustedly. "I'm turning in early," he muttered.

"Are you sure?" Audrey asked. "We could watch some more TV if you want; just the two of us... alone."

"Nah, I'm beat," he replied not noticing Audrey's attitude change with another yawn. "-You can watch whatever you want though."

Audrey paused, puckering her lips slightly. "Is something' bothering you, honey? You've been acting peculia' since you got home."

"What? Strange? Somethin' bothering me? That's ridiculous! I mean, what's there to be sad about? Everything's just fine."

Audrey caught the falsehood of his words. "I'm worried about you. I know now it's been almost exactly five years since we left the city, and afta' what happened to you last month… are you sure you're all right?"

"Yes Audrey, I'm sure," he said, looking up at her face again.

It was clear to Audrey that if her husband was hiding something from her that he was not going to admit it now, so she nodded and headed back out in the hall. "I'll watch some more TV by myself then. See you in the morning, Seymour darling."

"Yeah, you too Audrey," he answered, switching the bedside lamp off.

Audrey masked her sadness with a smile and left Seymour alone, rather dejected after he ignored her invitation to be with her. It's so unlike him, she thought, walking into the living room and turning on the television set. Seems like he's changed a lot these days. Or maybe I'm the one who's changed. If it happens again though, I'll be ready.

Through the soft hum of the TV and the house's electrical devices, Seymour tried to clear his mind and get some rest. Just don't think about it. Think about Audrey, think about Julie. You don't want them to get worried about you. He made an inner pause. -Nothing bad to think about at all…

***

The boom of thunder shook the walls and made Seymour open his eyes with fear. He had always hated thunderstorms, and now he found himself in the middle of one, though how he he had no cluehow he got there. The room was silent, save for the ticking of a clock with chimed twelve times before a lightning flash illuminated the place. Seymour was no longer in his safe, warm bed, but standing in the center of a little shop with a floral refrigerator and a counter in the back. He recognized the room immediately as his former workplace, and looked in horror.

"H-how did I get here?" he thought aloud.

"The same way you always do, boy," answered a deep, demonic voice.

Oh God, no! thought Seymour before another lightning flash lit up the room and he saw his worst fear; a horrifically large Venus Flytrap–like plant sitting in the shop corner.

The dark green monstrosity was unlike any other botanical entity on Earth. Its mighty leaves and countless tendrils surrounded it like a miniature jungle. Its serrated, sharp teeth glistened in the light from blood, and something like saliva was spattered all over them. Then it opened its trap and shrieked,"Feed meeee!"

A thunder crash followed its words that shortly stunned Seymour, but he spoke up in defiance, "No! Never again Audrey Two! I…I'll never feed you again!"

The Audrey II cackled maniacally, sending shivers down Seymour's spine. "You thought you got rid of me, boy? Thought you could just blow up Audrey Two, didn't ya? But I never left you, Seymour! Now feed me!"

"Forget it!" Seymour retorted, turning away toward the shop door. Even a thunderstorm is better than this, he thought. Just as he had pried the door open, a familiar voice echoed from behind.

The faint, female voice whispered eerily,"Seymour..."

"Audrey?" Seymour gasped, knowing that voice from his heart. He knew it would be a bad idea to look back, but instinctually glanced at the plant for only a split second and saw horrific sight. Illuminated by the hellish light of a red neon sign in the shop window, Seymour saw his wife entangled in the tendrils of Audrey II, squealing as the plant pulled her closer to its pod. Seymour heroically flurried back to stop the monster, but one of its many rapidly extending vines tripped him and he hit the floor with a painful thud and could not feel the strength to stand.

"That wasn't fair..." he groaned to the plant.

"He, he, ha-ha-ha! That's tough titty! Now, where was I?" The plant's pod paned down then at its screaming victim and it seemed to grin. "Ha-ha, bye-bye Auuudrey!" Audrey II chortled as it tossed her limply inside its mouth with a hand-like vine. The fly trap slammed its upper jaw down on her waist as she emitted a pain induced, heart wrenching scream.

"No!" Seymour cried as he watched his beloved wife being mechanically digested before his eyes. From her torso-up she stuck out of Audrey II's mouth, reaching out for Seymour to take her hand. Again Seymour tried to stand up, but a sharp pain in his side and more vines held him back.

"Help me Seymour! Help me!" Audrey cried desperately, slowly descending into the dark depths of the plant's insides.

With a final struggle of determination, Seymour broke free of Audrey II's vine grip and rushed to save his wife, but it was too late. He only held her hand one last time before her body was completely sucked into the greenish black abyss.

"No! No! Audrey..." he called into the plant. Now, with a sudden rush of anger, he began beating at Audrey II's thick hide furiously screaming, "Open up! Open up, you monster!"

The creature tilted its pod out of reach and laughed satanically, tormenting Seymour. As its laughter continued, everything in the shop began to turn completely blood red as the neon sign's horrible glow intensified. The most horrible factor of it all was that Seymour could still hear Audrey's muffled voice crying out to him from deep inside Audrey II.

"Audrey," he gasped, before collapsing to the floor with his head pounding, This can't be happening, it just can't...

"Game over, Seymour!" the Audrey II mocked his efforts before entangling him in vines so that escape was no longer possible before pulling him into its mouth to meet his fate.

And as he was drawn closer to the tunnel of black that was Audrey II's throat, Seymour could hear the faintest sound of lovely Audrey still crying out his name from within, "Seymour! Seymour! Seymour..."

***

"Seymour? Seymour? Seymour, wake up! Are you alright?" Audrey cried as she nudged her husband awake and turned on the bedside light. She had woken up, frightened as she could be listening her husband act out part of an evidently horrible dream as he nearly screamed a few seconds before she decided to disturb him.

Seymour sat straight up in bed, breathing heavily, and looked at Audrey's face. He was back in his bedroom with his wife beside him. The shop, the plant, and her death had all been just a nightmare. It was one of many nightmares recently, but this had been the only one that he had ever acted out to the point of alarming Audrey while they slept. Startled and ashamed of himself, he turned away and crawled to the other side of the bed, trembling from the imaginary horror.

"You had anotha' nightmare didn't you?" Audrey asked, coming to his side to hug him sympathetically. "You're okay now, don't be upset..."

"Oh Audrey! That was awful!" Seymour muttered, trying to hide his face from her as he shook all over in fear.

She hugged him more closely, making hushing noises and rocking him back and forth very gently with a maternal fervor. "We shouldn't have watched that movie. That's what made this one so bad, wasn't it? We'll talk about it."

Seymour looked over at the alarm clock and saw that it read three-o-clock, and instantly felt guilty about depriving Audrey of anymore rest. "No, you go back to sleep. I…I don't want to talk about it."

"Seymour, I really think we should talk ab-"

"No Audrey, I'm fine now. I don't want you to be worried about me."

Audrey frowned and pulled on Seymour's back, making him look her into her eyes. "I'm your wife. Being worried about you sorta' comes with the job."

"Please Audrey, I'm fine," he said more calmly. "Please..."

She backed away to her side of the bed and switched the light off. "Well, try to get some sleep, honey. I love you."

"Yeah..." he grumbled, lying down again. As silence ensued, he regretted how he had shut out Audrey's affections. I shouldn't have treated her like that. She deserves better from me after being so nice to me, he thought, breathing deeply and releasing some of the tension on his mind.

Moonlight flooded through the bedroom window, illuminating objects within the room with a heavenly, early-morning glow. Seymour stared intently across from him at a tiny photograph in a tin, heart-shaped frame that had sat in that exact spot on the bedside drawer for years now. There was Audrey, holding a baby Julie in her arms with Seymour beside her. This photograph was his favorite of them all, but now the happiness it showed was hollow. The man who sat with his hand resting on his wife's shoulder, smiling at her and their only child, was dead, or was at least hiding somewhere in his long lost memories. The worst of it was, he had left this broken man to slowly decay in his place.

He turned away from the painful sight and gazed up at the ceiling, wondering, What do I do now?