Chapter 14

Who knows how long Alice had stared out that window looking forward into a wall. Almost as if she was in a daze, that was only broken every now and then by her eyes occasionally glancing at where a sound came from. Sometimes it was from ink drops hitting the floor, other times it was just the creaking of the building. Whatever the sounds were didn't matter, for things were already very tense. She could hear him. His footsteps along with another's echoed through cracks in walls and boards screamed with his every move.

Yet, she didn't move or freak out. She stood still and continued to stare off. Like when someone is making their way through their house at night and hears a sound. They pause and stand still, letting their eyes fly over towards the noise. They may not know what it is and the darkness won't let them see, but we still brace ourselves and have a pang of fear in our heart. That was how she was right now.

The only thing that occasionally drew her attention was the little plush in her arms. She had yet to set the little angel down and over time it had snuggled up in the overalls. In the beginning, Army had huffed at her and squeaked some, what most likely was some insults. Eventually, it became quiet, but it stayed frequently aware of the noises and its surroundings. However, tiredness had taken its toll and while it fought it, sleep had won. A little frown was on its face and its painted brows were furrowed. Still not wanting to disturb it, Alice had been careful not to make any sudden moments.

The sound of footsteps grew louder and suddenly a loud clank of metal rang out. She didn't have to look to know what that sound was from. The Piper had fully snapped out of its daze and was struggling against its restraints. It let out grunts and growls as it fought against the ropes that were rubbing and burning its arms. As its yells got louder and more desperate, Army started to twitch more. It kicked its little legs until the "covers" were off of it.

She stared at its upset expression for a second before turning around to look at the Piper with a glare. It starred back at her with its black empty eyes and cried out once more. She kept eye contact with it as she wrapped up the plushy again and walked over to the control panel. Opening a hatch on the panel's side she slid the angel onto a shelf above the wiring and closed the door. Do you think that will block out some of the noise? DON'T KNOW BUT IT COULDN'T HURT TO TRY. The Piper screamed out angrily again and slammed its fists back against the metal table.

"OH SHUT UP!"

She turned the key in the podium and listened the gears start to turn. Footsteps crept through cracks into her ears and she starred up towards the ceiling. With having spent so much time in the building and adjusting to its acoustics, she had an idea of where the steps were coming from. Henry and his little travel bud, whatever it was, was somewhere far above her. How many floors up Alice didn't know for sure, but they were in the general area.

In that general area was something that connected all of the floors here in her dangerous death box that traveled vertically and drops you off. Drops you off at your floor, or the bottom at the Grim Reaper's door.

Looking over at the trapped Piper and its position, she walked over to the door and opened it. Leaving her room, she walked out to her ink pond and stepped onto the boards. Drops on ink came from above and caused the ripples in the pond. Everything else was still like her patients' corpses while sounds the changed like directions and hits like the ink rain. Stepping off her wooden board bridge, she walked over the elevator and pulled open a panel on its front, that would be between where the entrances would be on the moving box.

It was full of wires, emergency buttons, and a radio that was connected to a speaker inside the elevator. With that opened and ready, she walked into the elevator. She pushed the button for K the highest floor and quickly got of it. The doors closed and with a loud shriek the elevator shook as it started its climb. After a minute or two its squeaking stopped and some dust fell down from above. The footsteps stopped as well, and with that as a good sign she pressed the radio button. A high pitched ringing came out as the old radio creaked to life. Into its microphone she said,

"YOU'RE SO INTERESTING...SO DIFFERENT. I MUST SAY I'M AN INSTANT FAN. LOOKS LIKE YOU GOT A DATE WITH AN ANGEL! COME TO ME NOW. LEVEL NINE. JUST FOLLOW THE SCREAMS."

Taking her hand off the call button, Alice stepped back and looked up into the darkness that seemed to be spreading from the elevators hole and into the room. She waited for a few minutes for a reaction or sound, but soon gave in and returned to her room. The pond continued to ripple and the boards continued to complain about her weight in them. She shut her door behind her and prepared herself to operate.

The Piper was still yelling but it was clearly tired by the way it was leaning back against the table. It seemed to be struggling to just keep its head raised to look at her. Nevertheless, it needed to be dealt with. The electric wires were starting to warm up as she took one last look out the window.

"What are doing?"

"WHAT WE HAVE TO DO TO SURVIVE."

"Not that. Why did you make a call on the elevator?"

"SO HENRY COULD HEAR ME, I THOUGHT THAT WAS OBVIOUS."

"I know that, but why did you say those things? About us being a fan of him or being interested in him? I mean-"

"AREN'T YOU INTERESTED AS TO HOW HE GOT HERE?"

"Well, yes but-"

"LOOK, BUTTERING SOMEONE IS THE FIRST STEP TO MANIPULATING THEM."

"Manipulating him? Why would we need to do that? I thought we were gonna use fear and the offer to control him."

"WE ARE BUT CERTAIN THINGS HAVE TO BE DONE TO MAKE SURE HE LISTENS AND OBEYS."

"Make sure he obeys? I thought we just gonna have him run some errands or something for us."

"HE IS, BUT…"

"But? There wasn't any 'but' before."

"THERE'S ALSO BEEN A LITTLE EENSEY WEENSY CHANGE IN PLANS."

"What change are we talking about exactly?"

Before she could open her mouth to answer the other's question she was interrupted by a sound. A sound made by a certain death trap moving and as it grew closer she smiled.

"YOU'LL FIND OUT SOON ENOUGH."

With that said she turned up the voltage nobs and pressed the final button. The warm wires became an electric fire as they traveled to the table. The Piper screamed and slammed his body around with as much force as he could to escape. It was useless and his screams echoed into the next room, which traveled over the pond, and to the elevator shaft. Where Alice's guest was on his way.

Author's Note- I'm officially done with finals! YAY FREEDOM! Although that's not what we're celebrating here. An Angel's Descent has officially gotten 21 Favors and Followers. Now, this might seem like a small number to anyone else. But my second most followed story had 9 Followers for all of its 53 chapter run. So this is amazing to me. Thank you all for following this story and reviewing it.

A special thank you to my most recurring reviewer Fan of Games. It's been great to read your reviews!

But seriously thank you all for your positive feedback and questions. And Thanks for reading! Will Henry actually show up and not lose his mind? Will Alice ever put this poor Piper out of his misery? Has Army woken up and became miserable with its current situation? Come back next week to find out.