Blood ran freely from the cut on the side of her forehead. Hope gritted her teeth as she leaned against the wall while her left hand gripped whatever it could in order to keep steady. He was good, very good to have caught her off like that but she had to keep moving. Her husband and daughter were waiting for her at home. She had lost contact with her boss and this time compared to the last confrontation had almost ended her for sure. She had to get help, she had to get back up or else she wouldn't be able to last-suddenly before she could properly gasp... she was knocked out after a sudden pain attacked her head, blinding her vision until everything turned dark.
How did she end up being so reckless?

Shouting filled her ears briefly before feeling like she was floating in the air.

"-ope, it's going… okay" said a far away voice, a voice she barely recognized.

By the time Cinder's shift ended she immediately waved goodbye to the rabbit who went back to the abandoned room causing her to sigh with a soft smile. Trust him to be all secretive. But then again she was having a word with her boss about allowing people near her friend's body. After all seeing his body would scare anyone given how it looked from inside the springlock suit. How he was still moving was beyond her, was it really just a hollow animatronic that had taken over what was left of the body or was the spirit of the person still possessing its own body? Regardless he deserved to rest but how? This place was not exactly kind, it was damp and filled with decay that it was a miracle that some parts of the animatronic were still viable. Then again he must have had a reason to have lasted this long, she could only hope that he would have peace soon…just like she wanted for her mother and father. To find out who did this to her mother and why, why go to extreme lengths? Had her mother taken things too far causing the murderer to go after her? Or did she find something out that would ruin the killer? Which would have him found out and brought to justice, sadly whatever her mother had found would remain lost as she remained in the life threatening coma.

"Cinder I presume?" a voice to her left alerted Cinder that she was not alone anymore, looking to her left she saw a man who was a few inches taller than her father. His skin, nails and hair to her confusion was purple which could have been painted on for dramatic effects. His eyes however were also purple but seemed a little too realistic leaving her more baffled than before.

"Yes, I'm sorry I haven't seen you around here" Cinder said with a weak smile as she was about to head towards the exit. The man stared at her before smiling softly.

"It's understandable, I work as a janitor but I have seen you a few times. Although bumping into me seems to be a habit of yours it seems" he commented causing her to stare at him before remembering the times she bumped into someone but didn't notice who it was since Terrance had bothered her those times, that and the other time she was in a panic before she had called Mr. Blaws the night she had passed out came back to her.

"Oh I'm sorry!" Cinder exclaimed "I wasn't paying attention" she said as he nodded weakly.

"You have been busy, then again Terrance has been a bother since you started I assume. I haven't seen him this overzealous until now" he added before looking around with a frown. "Haven't seen him except that time I saw him on the floor after you took him down" Cinder's face went red from embarrassment.

"Oh um…" she looked away weakly.

"It's fine, he deserved it" hearing his comment took her by surprise.

"Aren't you friends with him?" she asked in confusion.

"Nah, I work with him but he does have a few bad points. Not that anyone is perfect but we don't always have to get along with everyone" he explained before lifting his hand up to shake hers.

"Oh…" Cinder immediately shook his hand in reply with a shaky smile "I'm sorry I didn't get your name" she said causing him to smile, she didn't know why but seeing his calm smile left her with a state of ease. It was weird seeing a man like him working here, that and seeing him having a purple appearance did leave her confused.

"Oh sorry, how rude of me. My name is Mike Schmidt" Mike replied before moving some stray purple hair from his eyes.

"Have you been working here long?" Cinder asked before thanking him for letting her walk past him so they could head towards the exit.

"In a manner of speaking" Mike replied "I've found cleaning to be a hobby, you always find the strangest things when you do" he said as he looked at her.

"Like a bullet hole in a wall?" Cinder suggested, hearing this made his brow raise up in confusion.

"Excuse me?" Mike asked with a curious tone as he stopped walking, hearing his foot steps cease Cinder looked at him with a shy smile.

"Just kidding, then again people do find strange things right?" she commented lightly, looking at her for a bit he nodded.

"Right… but I can agree on some levels" he replied before they resumed walking. He then looked at her appearance once more and blinked. "This might seem odd, but I think I have seen you before or someone who looks like you" Mike commented causing Cinder to blink.

"I don't think we have met before" Cinder said with a confused look on her face, "where would you have met me?" she asked as they stopped at the door.

"In this building, I believe I met someone with blond hair and honey coloured eyes. Despite the colour differences you do look alike" Mike commented only to raise a brow as he saw her eyes grow sad.

"My mother had blond hair and honey brown eyes" she said with a sad smile, blinking Mike looked at her in surprise.

"Where is she now?" he asked with genuine interest, not that she blamed him.

"She's in a coma, someone tried to kill her so now she's on life support. They say she may never wake up but we just didn't have it in us to unplug her. Dad hasn't given up and neither have I" Cinder explained, not seeing his eyes darken for a bit before remaining calm as her eyes remained on the door.

"I'm sorry you have had to go through that, as long as there is a chance. I'm sure she'll pull through" Cinder smiled at his kind words.

"Yes… I think you're right" she added with a warm smile "thank you Mike, it means a lot" she added before he nodded.

"If you have any issues or see anything, don't hesitate to let me know. The last thing anyone wants is for someone to get hurt okay" Mike said with a stern but kind look.

"I will" Cinder replied with a nod.

"Won't be long now until opening day, all I need to do now is find the boy and get him to report to Mr. Blaws" Mike said with an annoyed look that had her giggling without her knowing why.

"Okay, thank you again Mike. It was nice to see you, maybe we can talk again tonight?" she asked with a hopeful smile.

"Definitely" he added with a nod as he smiled back.

"What a stroke of irony, to think the last link to the one who was suppose to have died would wind up here… to think my plans could get derailed so effortlessly, but I worry not. I have my goal in mind and I will be searching for you"