2 – Items of Interest
"Please tell me I'm not imagining this!" Henry said with a silly grin on his face, which made Alex giggle at his statement before rushing up to him and giving him a big hug, Henry returning the embrace.
"Hey Henry," She said into his ear before she pulled away. "It's been a while."
"It has," Henry said. "What brings you here after 30 years?"
"Well…" Alex began with a nervous grin. "…I missed this place. I know I left after being around for 21 years of the business…but it was still like a home for me."
"Yeah, I guess so," Henry said with a shrug. "But I must admit, seeing this place all beaten like this…makes me wonder what Joey was up to."
Alex looked around again, an old cut out of Bendy stood by a running projector screen that showed nothing on the reel. Cobwebs littered the corners of the studio on the ceiling and floors, as well as some broken wood that had fallen out of their rightful place, thanks to the neglect the place got over the course of 30 years.
"I wonder what would have happened if we had stayed," Alex said with a remorseful grin on her face.
"I don't know," Henry began as he looked her way. "But we chose the right time to leave."
"Why is that?" She asked with a scuff as she looked back at the brown eyes she had fell for all those years ago.
"Because the studio was going under with or without us anyway," Henry answered with a smirk before walking passed her, which made Alex grin. She was glad he could cheer her up some from the past. All those memories of years before consumed her once again, as she ran after Henry. The one memory that will never leave her mind, playing like a vinyl on a record player.
40-year-old Alex walked through the halls of the studio, hearing chatter and groans of the busy day escaping the creators lips. She was looking over some of the sketches of the Bendy characters, as well as Bendy himself, with a smile on her face. It had been almost 21 years since she got this job and she was still enjoying it from what everyone saw. Even when that stupid ink machine was installed, she still enjoyed herself…to a point.
"Joey, that machine is weighing us down!" Henry's voice wafted up into the air, making Alex stop in her tracks and look to her right, seeing the opened office door of Joey Drew, arguing with Henry Wilks.
"No, that machine is going to bring us closer to our goal!" Joey shot back as Alex listened closely now. "That machine is going to bring us salvation!"
"We already have salvation with Someone else, dude!" The young raven haired girl smiled at that comment.
"No…Bendy will bring our salvation! Don't you see?! He is our savior!" Joey yelled.
"Dude, if that's how you think about this character…" Henry had paused for a second, like he was contemplating his next words, before just blurting them out. "Then I quit!"
Alex gasped quietly after hearing that, with the sound of Henry's stomping footsteps leaving Joey's office and walking her way. Henry quit? He quit after 21 years of faithful service to his good friend. He was leaving her just like that and she couldn't stop it.
"Alex, hey," He said when he finally noticed the young girl standing there, making her look over at him again with her navy blue eyes. She may have been 40 now, but she still looked 20. "I take it you heard all of that."
"Yeah…yeah, I did," Alex said in return as another crew member came by and took the sketches from her. "I'd hate to see you go."
"Yeah, well, the writing's been on the wall for a while now," Henry said. "You've been here pretty long too though."
"Yeah, 21 years."
"Alex, stop talking to a former employee and get back to...!" Joey went to speak as he looked out the door to his office when something must have stopped him. They didn't know what, but something must have.
Alex rolled her eyes as Henry chuckled and went towards his office with her following. "It was fun while it lasted I guess," She said with a remorseful grin on her face.
"Yeah…it was," Added Henry as he walked into his office and started packing his things. "I hope we stay in touch, Alex."
"Me too, Henry…me too."
"Why'd you break contact?" Alex asked as she walked with him down the hall, seeing some graffiti on one of the walls saying 'Dreams Come True'.
"Things came up. Recent break up, recent job offers, things like that," He answered, stopping in the middle of the same hallway Alex heard him quit in.
"You got that busy over the last 9 years?"
"Yeah…sorry about that."
"It's fine. I get it! I got busy too," Alex began as she walked further down passed him slowly, him close behind. "Started my own cartoon show called 'Violet's Home', I'm voice acting now, and enjoying every minute of this new show."
"Oh, good for you!" Henry said with excitement before they stopped in the doorway of the Ink Machine room. Their breath hitched in their throat as they stared at it, in its dull metal glory. It looked just as worn down as the rest of the studio, as well as extremely dirty due to all the ink stains it had taken.
"So this is the Ink Machine?" Alex asked as they walked further into the room slowly.
"Yeah," Henry began. "I wonder how you turn it on."
"Seriously!? You want to turn this thing on!?" All Henry did was shrug towards her like he was an idiot with a silly grin on his face, making her giggle. "Guess I can't stop you with doing that."
Henry chuckled at this before going towards another little room to the other side of the Ink Machine, while Alex checked out a dresser looking thing on the other side. She looked it over, mindlessly for the most part, as some more memories surfaced from the depths of her mind.
"Joey, I'm done with this company!" Alex yelled two weeks after Henry had left the studio.
"You can't leave this place, Alexandra!" Joey yelled to her as well, as he hiccupped. The smell of booze had entered her nose as she stood there, before she had noticed a small collection of beer bottles behind Joey's chair in the waste bin.
"Yes I can! If Henry can leave, then so can I! I QUIT!" And with those last words, Alex walked out of his office, slamming the office door behind her. She sighed with frustration as she walked back to her own office and started packing her stuff up before heading for the exit. Everyone was watching her leave, making her give them a sympathetic grin, as she opened the door.
"I'm sorry, guys," She said before she walked out the door and closed it behind her.
Alex quickly wiped away a stray tear before feeling Henry's presence beside her again. He was holding an old record in his hands. The young artist saw this and looked at it closer. It was one of the songs from the show. It was actually one of her favorites.
"Alice Angel…how fitting you found this one with me around," Alex said with a smirk as she recalled part of the song Alice Angel sang. "I'm Alice Angel…" Henry chuckled at the girl's impression of the girl singing "angel", before walking towards the doorway, Alex close behind.
"I take it Alice Angel was your favorite to draw here?" Henry asked with a smirk painted on his face.
"Of course! She was so beautiful and talented!" Alex began with excitement. "I didn't really like the horns with the halo since I'm a Catholic, but…Alice was fun to draw."
"That she was," Henry added as Alex looked up on a shelving unit and found a little Bendy doll. She grabbed it and held it tight with excitement, which made Henry laugh.
"What? The cartoon version may have been creepy, but the doll version is adorable!" Alex defended herself before a plank of wood fell from the ceiling in front of them, making the young artist jump with a start.
"Damn, this place is really falling apart!" Henry stated as he continued to walk into another room, a shaking Alex left behind for a small moment.
"Ye-yeah…yeah it is," She said as she gulped down her fear and ran after Henry, finding him in a room with six different pedestals, three on both sides, and a lever in the background with a flashing sign that said 'Low Pressure'.
"The hell?!" Henry exclaimed before noticing a photo of the record he was holding behind one of the pedestals.
"Well, Joey did say something about "appeasing the gods" with different items for the Ink Machine," Alex stated as she placed the Bendy doll on one of the pedestals. "Maybe these will help."
Henry hesitated for a moment before deciding to follow Alex's lead by placing the record on the pedestal that had its photo behind it. "We have four more to find. Let's get to work."
XXXXXXXX
Alex quickly placed one of the items on its original pedestal. It was a book written by Joey Drew himself, called 'The Illusion of Living', and then another one which was a cog. And another was a wrench. There was only one left to find and Henry was already on the look for it. It seemed to have been an ink well was now needed to finish the process.
"Alex, I found it!" Henry called as he ran in and set it on the pedestal, making Alex grin towards him.
"Cool," She said, getting ready to leave to go find the flow button.
"No, you stay here and flip that switch when it's ready," Henry began, making Alex stop in her tracks and look at him. "I'll go press the flow button. I found it by accident while looking for that ink well."
"Oh, okay! Go for it then!" Alex stated as she walked towards the lever, while Henry ran out of the room and towards the button he needed.
"I feel uneasy about all this," She said to herself as she looked around the room, taking deep breaths to calm down. "But why am I worried? I mean…it's not like Bendy's going to come alive or anything!" Just as she said that, the light to the left of the lever said that it was ready to be pulled, making her jump into action and turned towards it, pulling it to life.
"You ready to see what this machine can do?!" Henry called to her as he jogged back into the room.
"Ready as I'll ever be," Alex answered before walking up to Henry and down the hall to the Ink Machine. "Something doesn't feel right."
"To be honest, I feel the same way," Said Henry as they turned the corner, seeing the Ink Machine room was boarded off now. "And how did this happen?"
"I don't know," Alex was full of fear now as they both slowly walked towards the room, only to get a bunch of lights flashing in the room and a real live Bendy pop up in front them, still behind the boards.
Alex screamed as she started to run, with Henry following right behind her. Ink started to flood the floors of the studios, as well as dripping from the ceiling. Some of it dripped onto Alex's arm, but she quickly wiped it away as she turned the corner towards the exit. "Almost there," She breathed out, before falling through the floor and screamed as she did, as well as hitting her head on the way down.
"NO!" Henry as well while he jumped down too, landing on the ground on his feet, but in the end, lost his balance and fell next to an unconscious Alex.
"Alex," He scurried towards her quickly and flipped her over onto her back, seeing the cut on her forehead that was bleeding. "Oh, God, Alex? Alex!" He kept calling her name, trying to wake her up, but she wasn't budging. She was just lying there, not moving.
"ALEX!"
