October 27th, 2018 - 8:52 PM
Voices whispered to Mai. All around her, she saw only a tunnel of different shades of Darkness. What at first was a dot of Light at the end grew as it enveloped her. With a sudden jolt, Mai awoke from the dream to find herself already standing. What happened?
Realisation flooded into her mind as the memories rushed back. First fear came as she worried about her friends above, and where Michael could have gone, but confusion came swiftly after. How was she standing? Mai had fallen down a height she couldn't even begin to gauge. She should have had broken bones at best, and standing should have been an impossibility. What happened?
Glancing around, Mai looked up to realise something even stranger. There was no hole above her - there was absolutely no trace of where she had fallen. She was alone, in a small room. Thankfully the environment seemed free from the rot that plagued the upper levels. Lining the wall were shelves hosting something akin to the Bacon Soup from the old cartoons, there was a small table and a couple chairs sitting not too far away from her, and an old statue in the corner of the room. The statue looked as if it was Bendy, made out of some white marble. To say it looked creepy was an understatement.
Continuing her sweep of the room, Mai noticed an axe that was more than a bit out of place from the rest of the room, sitting against the frame of the open doorway opposite from the Bendy statue. Why would there be an axe here of all places?
Silently, she strode towards the open door. It was an odd feeling to walk, as if she was striding through an ocean of gel. With each step, the feeling slowly dissipated, and by the time she reached the doorway, it was only a faint pressure she felt as she walked. Before she could leave the room however, she stopped and found herself reaching for the axe, despite her confusion as to why. It just felt… necessary?
Sighing quietly, she slowly stepped out of the room, axe in hand. The environment was silent of all save her footsteps. A few steps out of the room, and she saw something odd scrawled across the wall opposite to her. As if written in black ink, the phrase 'He was supposed to save us!' was crudely drawn on the wooden surface. Beneath it, in smaller print, Mai noticed another phrase. 'The Demon still walks. Hide!'
Feeling more than a bit creeped out, Mai debated calling out to her friends. What if this was some sort of prank? It had to be, right? There was no such thing as demons, and if she was so unharmed, the fall must have been staged. It had to be!
Despite her suspicions, she remained silent. What if it was real? What if there was something about this place - something that was the reason as to why so many people who explored these studios never returned? And what if it was here, stalking the halls? Calling out would be a death sentence.
For what felt like hours, she continued on in silence, wandering the maze of halls. Every so often, she would see another phrase scrawled in a similar fashion on the walls, but eventually she stopped reading. What good would it do? All it did was creep her out.
As the hours passed, exhaustion started to creep its way upon her. Whilst considering her options, she heard a near silent click before feeling something sharp resting upon the back of her neck. "Drop the axe." A quiet voice demanded; her tone cautious, but not outright hostile. "Drop the axe, and turn around slowly."
Mai hesitated slightly, but complied. With her exhaustion, it was unlikely she could outrun whoever was behind her, and if she tried to attack, she had no doubt this mysterious woman could kill her before Mai could so much as turn around. No, the fact that she wasn't outright attacking meant that this person could be reasoned with. She hoped.
Dropping the axe, Mai slowly raised her hands and turned around to face the person. With the blade now set just below her throat, she was met with the gaze of a figure about her height. The figure looked… odd - as if she was not entirely real. Her skin looked like parchment paper, her black hair tied into a ponytail. Twin, broken horns are evident at the top of her forehead, with something resembling a headband pulled back just behind the horns. Donning a black and brown attire, Mai could notice a few pouches, a sheath for her weapon, and a coil of rope slung across her torso akin to the style of a bandolier.
Caution was etched on the figure's face as she observed Mai, a weary frown being evident. "Hm. You're like him."
It was Mai's turn to frown. "Him? Him who?" Impatience was starting to slip past her exhaustion. Where was she? What was going on? She had so many questions, and all she had to go off them so far were odd scribbles on the wall!
Before the figure could answer, a cold air washed over the two women as a dark ooze started the seep from the cracks in the walls. Concern quickly flashed over the figure's face and was soon replaced with fear. It sounded as if Mai's heart was beating in her ears as the figure quickly spoke. "It's not safe here. Be quiet and come with me - quickly!"
Mai couldn't find it in herself to protest, her own fear rising as the sound of the beating heart grew ever louder - as the dark ooze grew more and more intense. Mai did the only thing she could manage - she followed without another word.