A/N: Over 400 views? Wow. Thank you! Also, I noticed we haven't had much fluff, so here ya go!
Chapter 9: Time Limit
I looked around the room, shocked. It was exactly the same as I remembered it being. The holes in the roof letting in light, the balcony I fell from and the broken railing pieces below it. And, of course, the massive, yawning black pit.
The only thing that was missing was the Ink Machine. The chains it had dangled from disappeared into the pit, moving up and down with a clanking noise. I turned to Bendy. "Since when can it move?" I asked. "Didn't you see the lever up there on the balcony? It can go all the way down to the bottom of the studio." I turned back to the pit, watching the moving chains. "So someone made it start going down," I said slowly. Bendy nodded. "Well, the chains are still moving, so it hasn't reached the bottom yet. And we can't get up to the balcony to pull the lever. Which means we need to get to the bottom and meet it there." Bendy immediately shook his head. "Bad idea. It's the Ink Demon's lair. We can't go near it on any floor, let alone on the bottom one."
"Well, where are the administration offices? They've got to have something on the machine there." Bendy grimaced. "Those are⦠on the bottom floor too." I looked at him. "Then we're heading to the bottom floor." I moved back to the stairwell and started heading down, Bendy following reluctantly behind.
About an hour later, I'd gotten down to a floor marked "T". I'd also started feeling a bit weak, and when I pulled up my sleeve to check my wound I noticed dark veins had begun to spread up my arm from the gashes as my bloodstream carried the ink to the rest of my body. I grimaced, lowering my sleeve. My exertion and fear had sped up the process. I started walking a bit slower and trying to calm down. The throbbing pain in my arm dimmed slightly, but not much. Bendy was watching me the entire time with sympathy.
At the end of the hall I noticed a small glob of ink on the wall that seemed thicker than normal. I reached out to touch it, but Bendy stopped me. "It's from the Ink Demon," he said. "If you touch it, it'll speed up the process." I didn't need to ask what process he meant. I retracted my hand and turned to move down the hall. Suddenly pain wracked my body and I fell to the ground, groaning. Bendy leaned down and placed his hand on my shoulder. "We gotta go back," he said. "You're pushing yourself too hard. It's a wonder its taken this long for this to happen." I let him pull me to my feet and lead me back to the stairwell.
I don't remember anything between that and walking back into the safehouse. Bendy led me over to a corner and sat me down. "You gotta rest," he said. "If you're really so sure there's something we can use to stop this, I'll go look. You just stay here, OK?" I nodded weakly, and a moment later I was asleep.
I'm drowning in ink. It floods my lungs, covers my body, my face, everything. I claw at the liquid, trying to find something to pull myself out, but there's only more ink. I hear a hissing noise and open my eyes. Even through the black liquid, the smile of the Ink Demon is clear and sinister. I feel claws touch my skin, and a warped, nightmarish voice fills my ears. "You are mine," it hisses, "And there is no escape." The claws dig into my flesh and begin to tear. I can't even scream through all the ink filling my mouth.
I woke up and still felt like I was drowning. I leaned over and vomited onto the floor. After a minute, I could breathe again. I opened my eyes to see that the vomit was mostly ink, with swirls of blood and bile in it. There was also something pink, and with a jolt in my stomach I realized it was part of my lung. I paled. "That's not good. It's starting to get to your organs," I heard Bendy's voice say. I looked up at him. "Did you find anything while you were out?" I asked hopefully, but he shook his head. "Nothing. I couldn't even find a way down to the bottom. There was a secondary archives room that I checked, but I couldn't find anything on the Ink Machine. I'll go back out later." I collapsed back down onto my jacket. Peter crawled onto my chest to comfort me, making worried noises. I stared at the ceiling, breathing heavily. It didn't feel any different, but I knew my lungs were partially ink now. I was running out of time. I scratched my left arm idly, stopping myself when I felt skin peel off underneath.
I sat up after a moment, Peter still clinging to my chest. Bendy came over and sat down next to me (on the side I hadn't puked on). "I'm sorry, buddy," Bendy said. "I know it sucks. You had your life planned out and the universe decided to screw you over. Just like everyone in this whole goddamn studio. I don't even know who my soul belonged to before, but I know it was the same for them. They had a plan, and they died way before they were supposed to." He crossed his arms and rested his elbows on his knees. "I've spent close to thirty years in this place, and all I've seen is suffering. But I'm still here, trying to cheer you up, trying to save you even when a big part of me says it ain't worth it, and that there's nothing I can do." He laughed mirthlessly. "Maybe I'm an idiot for acting the way I do. Or maybe I'm just stubborn. But hey, I've survived, right?"
I looked at him. "Thanks, Bendy. For trying." He looked up at me. "Really. You're a great friend. It's like you said, you're doing this for me even though you don't think there's a point. Only a friend would do that." Bendy smiled weakly. Then he hugged me. Peter jumped out of the way onto my shoulder with a squeak. "Thanks, Jason," Bendy said into my chest. I hugged him back, smiling. "You're welcome." We sat there for a while, just enjoying the moment. The studio, and the Ink Demon, and everything else, seemed so far away now.
I was glad to have a friend.
