Disclaimer: Okay. First off, I just realized a lot of present tense is mixed in the chapters. Especially, that very first one. Probably down the road, I'll tidy this story up alongside the Cuphead one, since I plan on having Kate make an appearance in its sequel.
Second of all-YES! I have chapter 5 automatically installed on Steam! Just finished watching Jack's playthrough the moment the day came, and I'm ready to go. Now, before I do, since this chapter just came out let me warn that there WILL be spoilers.
And for anyone who has seen it... I loved it, really, but that ending really bothered me. Thankfully, this story was already going to be different no matter what, but this never answered so many things. More thoughts later on.
RainbowCelin: Dab in front of Boris? But... our Boris is dead.
ultima-owner: Good!
Masked Freak: It depends. The saving feature of the game is weird, and I had to reply 3 multiple times. Plus, school is really distracting. It might be a while before I can truly sit down and play, but... I should have time around finals to do it. Either then, or during my study week. Whenever it is, I'll let you know what my thoughts are.
Transgirl2000: New faces? All I can think of is Joey and Inky. New friend? Highly doubt that one. Maybe the new Boris and Allison, perhaps, but the final chapter will be much more intense. Now... things get serious.
TazmaniaLizard: Like I've mentioned, I won't be posting right away. The fan convention I've planned to attend is that weekend, so this chapter had to be partially delayed.
TazmaniaLizard (again): Hello again. According to the creator, there is still more to come with Bendy. However, I refuse to wait, and the ending really... confused me? Annoyed me? Whatever it is, you're gonna like what I end up doing.
Kate is mine, and the song lyrics are the official Bendy song by Lauren Synger, the voice of Allison Angel.
"Speaking"
Thinking
"Reading"
"I never gave up hoping, that you would come along. How bleak it seemed, till you fond me. So now I sing this song."
"... I know that song." The sentence was muffled from having my head pressed against the cot in my cell, glancing between the wooden beams of the wall at Alice. For days, I had been there, with only the drawings I'd done on the paper for entertainment. I was hungry, and the few uncooked cans of bacon soup slipped to me were not doing me any favors. Thank goodness for that washroom behind the wall panel... couldn't even stomach that.
I was getting weak. I had been knocked out so many times, that time itself had become to lose meaning. And how far was I, beneath the studio? "Everyone knows that song." I blinked, hearing the soft reply from the cartoon. So now she chooses to answer me. After who knows how long. "Who are you...? Why are you here?"
"I intercepted a letter from my dad's old friend... now I'm trapped here, same as you." It made sense we both knew the song. Alice, from one of her old cartoons, sang it. Mom never really enjoyed Bendy, but she always had a soft spot for the angel-demon hybrid. She specifically learned the song lyrics to sing me to sleep as a kid, whenever I had a nightmare. Heh... haven't thought about that in years.
"Then you know more than we do," Alice said, studying the strange inky symbols she was writing on the wall opposite of my cage. "One minute, we don't even exist... just... thoughts. And the next minute... this place."
"... are you gonna let me out of here?" I didn't like this. True, Alice didn't seem evil, like... like the other one, who k-kill... butchered Boris. She was obviously acting to protect herself, as I was something different. But I couldn't last down there for much longer. The ink, and the food... I knew I was getting weaker. Physically, mentally, and especially emotionally.
"Down here, strangers aren't good things. How can we trust you? We don't even know what you are." What I am? Had they never seen a human before?
"My name is Kate... and my father worked here, thirty years ago." I waited for a response, as for a few seconds, she was viciously writing out new details.
"I... I honestly don't know my name... so they call me Alice. But I'm no angel." Because calling her an angel... put her in the same category as that abomination. "You go back and rest. We'll talk again later." Her face shifted to one of pity, albeit very faint. "You look like you need it."
"It's only for a few hours. No need to worry. I won't go far..."
I could hear Alice's voice, instructing what must've been Boris. He wasn't my Boris, no. N... no one could replace him, so my behavior around this new Boris was... forcefully limited. Plus, he... did not seem to like me. "Only up to level six. Just stay here."
Boris, by the gap in conversation, seemed to not like that idea. Either being forced to play babysitter, or having his friend head out on her own. "Keep an eye on Kate, okay? I'll be back as soon as I can. I promise." Where is she going? What's at level six? The door clicked shut, followed by a metallic clang... and then silence once again.
I stood at the boarded door, staring down Boris on a seat across from me. His ax thumped against his metallic palm, and I silently studied the wires that connected to it, and up to a metal pad on his shoulder. Does he really think I'm a threat. Really? I was losing my mind, surely. Health dropping bit by bit each time I fell asleep, and he didn't even care to check in on me properly?
Fine. Be that way. I trudged back to my cot, and flopped down on it. Sleep is better than this anyway. I could make out his narrowed eyes through a crack in the wall, having paused in the repeated movement. We both locked eyes, before the next heavy clang echoed throughout the room. I relented to darkness once again, but with the reminder of Boris just outside the makeshift wall... I miss you, Boris. I'm so sorry.
"Kate?"
"Hmm?" I got up off the floor from reviewing my drawings, and found Alice at my boarded door with... a bowl of bacon soup?
"Here. You must be hungry. Sorry... it's all we have." I saw steam drift up from it, showing that unlike the cans in the room with me, the bowl was obviously cooked. She offered me a small smile, and turned to walk away. She could've said more, and it looked like she wanted to, but chose to keep it short due to the reminder I was a 'prisoner'. She knew I wasn't eating well, and she could see I was unable to stomach what I had been feeding myself. Thanks, Alice. I reached forward, eager to take the food, only for a hand to slam down and block me.
Boris. He watched Alice turn the corner, to the other side of the room where a bookshelf kept her hidden, and he slowly turned back to me. Then, with a flick, he sent the bowl and soup flying to the floor. The dish shattered on impact, and the soup spread across the floor. Boris' black brow deepened, and he pointed a finger at me with his metal hand, before tightening it in a fist. The shifting of joints was loud as day, and so was his message.
He would not like me, even if Alice showed me kindness. To him, I would always be a threat to what they'd known. Boris stormed off in the opposite direction to the right, and slammed the door on the way out. "... jerk."
"I know you're watching me... it's just... a little creepy."
"It isn't like I have anything else to do," I replied, arms crossed on the beam. "What are you writing there, anyway? Why the walls?"
"For some poor souls down here, it's the only way they can be heard." Well, that's... depressing. "But you don't want to touch the ink for too long! It can claim you... pull you back. That's how I met Tom." I-excuse me, Tom? Since when was there... did she mean Boris? "I was messing with things I shouldn't have been and he... he was there."
"Why do you call him 'Tom'? I thought his name was Boris," I asked, genuinely curious.
"He just seems to respond to it." Did that mean he told her, or...? Wow, that's a vague answer.
"Well, I don't think he likes me all that much." Alice paused in her writing, and turned to look at me.
"Let me show you something... a while back, I was mapping out one of the upper levels..." she wandered over to me, flashing back to a memory. "... when I noticed something reflecting off a piece of glass. I held up the glass, looked through, and on the wall behind me was a hidden message!"
"A what?" Alice reached into a subspace pocket, and handed me an odd device. It was sort of like a crudely made mirror on a mount, with a string of small lights running around it and making an odd humming noise.
"Right there in plain sight! So I kept looking... and found more and more messages everywhere in the studio! But you can't see them with your eyes." I hesitated, but picked it up. Lifting the mirror to my face, I didn't expect to see anything. So what a surprise... when I found a glowing halo above Alice's head.
Of course... how could I ignore the ominous message in the background? "She will leave you for dead," did not make me feel any better. "I don't know who's leaving them, but I think they know how to get out of here."
"Where does it all go?"
"... nowhere." Alice's head drooped. "I followed them for a long time... just leads me in circles. I don't think I'm meant to leave this place, Kate." She stepped away from me, shaking her head at the horrible idea. Of being trapped there, just as... I was fearing. "But maybe... you are."
"I-I'm sorry, what? Me?" She thought I was able to leave? Then why wouldn't she let me out?
As if reading my thoughts, or the question was plain on my face, she answered, "Tom thinks you're dangerous."
"But what do you think of me?"
"I... I think... you're the hope I've been waiting for." I was the... hope? What part of me seemed like that deserved a title? The woman on the other side wielded a machete and had a commanding aura. I was always passing out from injuries or shock, and... and losing friends along the way.
She released the board, and began to retreat to the wall, seeing that I was deeply thinking over her words. I... I was the hope? "Go to sleep. Maybe tomorrow will be better." It... it's a nice thought to sleep on though, isn't it?
"... goodnight... Allison." Alice paused mid-step, but by the time she turned around, I had already given in to my dreams once again. Nice... thought.
It ends on such a strange ending, it makes me so frustrated! Gah! So! Many! QUESTIONS!
By the way, even though we now know Henry's real last name, I am not going back to edit that in. It's such a minor thing, and this story is already going down the AU trail. And, sorry for the odd chapter. Seeing that close to ten minutes is nothing but the player trapped in a cell, it's hard to get creative. Things will get better and more interesting, I can say that.
Until next time! Have an early happy Halloween, everyone!
Angel