Henry carves through several searchers that attack him. Their inky hands grasp Henry.

A limb is cut off.

Then another.

Henry destroys each enemy that dares to cross him. He makes progress but is it slow with all the enemies.

It is a massacre.

Henry is numb.

He is uncaring.

One more dead searcher is nothing to him.

Another Butcher Gang member is a blip on Henry's radar.

He is covered in ink...no, in dark blood.

Dark blood instead of ink.

Henry continues on.

Soon, none stand in his path.

It is quiet.

The ink on the nearby wall spreads.

The darkness closes in.

Then, the Ink Demon appears from inky shadows.

Henry is unable to move.

It hurts to breathe.

The thump of Henry's heart beats in the sudden silence. Henry feels the dark blood soaking into his skin and clothes. The ink that is there darkens and writhes.

Henry is unable to move.

The Ink Demon approaches, and its hand stretches out in his direction.

Henry's body turns against him. The wounds inflicted by the Ink Demon at an earlier time prevent motion.

The Ink Demon's maw opens, and sharp fangs appear. They are no longer blunt as before.

'Henry...' A familiar, yet not so familiar voice taunts him. 'Run.'

The Ink Demon closes in.

It lunges.

Henry is unable to move.

The sharp fangs of the demon find their target.

Henry is unable to scream as unimaginable pain splits his skull and...

...

...

...

Henry woke up with a jolt, sweating and utterly disoriented. He was even ready to reach for a non-existent weapon until his body was quick to remind him know that would be a bad idea.

Right.

His injury.

Henry sagged backward into a soft surface. He was still in pain, and exhausted. It wasn't too much of a surprise, considering he'd almost become the Ink Demon's chew toy. Henry's bandaged right hand rested lightly over his forehead as his eyes closed.

That dream...

That nightmare...

Henry's eyes opened to stare at the darkened ceiling overhead. What Henry had seen...what he had felt...it had been much too realistic to his liking. Henry let out a slow sigh as he left his right hand move to rest across his stomach. He drowsily noted that the lights were dim, and after waking a little more, Henry recognized where he was.

The sleeping quarters of Boris' safe house.

Henry knew that this meant that Bendy and Boris has not left him behind, and Henry appreciated that. The toons had been able to bring him to a place of safety, where Henry could recover from his wounds.

Safe.

It wouldn't last, but Henry was happy for the reprieve nonetheless.

Henry turned his head to the side, where he could just make out Boris is in his hammock, asleep. Henry felt something shift against his side and he saw that Bendy was half curled on his chest, the rest of the toon's body on the cot.

It was quiet.

Calm.

Henry really did appreciate that someone cared about him.

It was hard to find compassion in the ruins of this studio.

Henry's left shoulder was sore beneath what felt like bandages, and his sweater was nowhere to be seen, exposing his skin to the studio's stagnant air. Perhaps the sweater had finally met its demise from being torn into by the Ink Demon's claws. The good thing was that Henry's shoulder didn't ache nearly as terribly as it had before. Henry was able to think without the pain being too overwhelming.

Teeth and claws...

Henry hoped that he wasn't going to be full on bit the next time, since he knew he would eventually come face to face with the demon again. And the Ink Demon's teeth, blunt or sharp, would cause a hell of a lot of damage depending on where it bit down.

It was probably best to avoid being caught altogether.

Henry dozed off again but when he woke up, more conscious this time, he found Bendy and Boris standing alongside his cot, staring down at him and watching his every move. That would have been extremely creepy to wake up to if Henry hadn't known that they wouldn't hurt him.

"Hey guys." Henry managed to say with a small smile. "Sorry for passing out like that earlier. Thanks for bringing me here."

Boris offered a sharp smile in return even if those pie-cut eyes were concerned, and held up bandages and what appeared to be an ointment of sorts.

"Yeah, the bandages are kind of...soaked through already." Henry checked his shoulder and can see red dotting through the bandages. "Or will be very soon." Henry held Bendy's hand when the toon offered it, squeezing it reassuringly.

Bendy didn't look very assured but he held Henry's left hand, looking anywhere but at Henry's wound.

Henry tried to help Boris remove the old bandages from his left shoulder and right hand, to get it ready to be cleaned dip and re-bandaged. Henry was distracted from assisting Boris when he saw the way ink stained his hand around where the teeth nicked him. A quick check, and Henry could see that his shoulder, or what he could see of it, was in a similar state. Henry tucked this information away, keeping it to himself for the time being.

There was no need alarm his companions.

The two toons were upset enough as it was that Henry had been injured.

Henry relaxed on the bed once the bandages were replaced. Henry couldn't help but smile when Boris began to rummage for something nearby.

The toon wolf then pulled whatever it was out and into view.

It was a sweater that had been patched.

Henry realized that it was his sweater.

Boris looked proud of himself for his handiwork.

"Thanks, buddy. But I think I'll leave it off for now, so I don't have fabric brushing against the bandages." Henry told the toon, who nodded and hung it up nearby.

Henry let go of Bendy's hand and took the next few minutes showing that he was capable of standing and moving without falling over. Henry walked carefully toward the bathroom area, trailed by Boris and Bendy.

"Really, I'll be all right." Henry told the silent toons. "I'll take it easy and not push myself too much."

The toons quietly went to the main area of the safe house, even if they appeared reluctant to leave Henry alone in his state.

Henry wouldn't be out of their sight for long. Henry didn't plan to linger in the bathroom for long. He just needed to see something before he joined his friends.

His reflection...Henry looked like himself, if only more exhausted each time he happened to come across a mirror.

What was he expecting to find?

That he somehow has morphed into a toon?

Henry sighed.

No matter how many loops he went through, he was always still human by the end.

And yet...

The ink concerned him.

Henry lingered in the bathroom, staring at the mirror. He could see the telltale sight of the ink, and it was unnerving to see that it had spread outward beneath the newly placed bandages. Even his right hand showed ink spreading toward his finger tips from beneath the bandages.

"That can't be good." Henry muttered under his breath. Soon enough, his thoughts began to drift. His concerns over his wounds...what the hell he was doing here...

Henry briefly closed his eyes and let out a slow sigh.

And now, it came down to what he would choose to do going forward. Henry didn't much care any longer what happened to him in this place. But now that he had not one but two toons whom he would be traveling with for the foreseeable future, perhaps he should take more care. Henry didn't want to leave the toons all alone but he had told himself that this time, he would be out for inky blood.

He would just need to go about things more carefully.

Henry opened his eyes and turned away from the mirror, banishing his darker thoughts for now. Henry carefully made his way out of the bathroom, and went to go join Bendy and Boris in the main room.

Boris, upon a seeing Henry, immediately guided the human over to a chair at the table.

Henry went willingly enough, as he felt he ought to get off his feet for a time. He didn't actually want to keel over from not taking enough breaks.

He would rest.

Recover.

Henry didn't know how long he stayed in that safe house, but it was a calm time, and that wasn't something that Henry got to often experience in the studio. Henry spent this time with his friends, amused by their antics when he was unable to participate from being too worn out.

They played cards games.

Ate a lot of soup.

Made a likeness of the Ink Demon in another room and threw make-shift weapons at it.

Ate more soup.

Henry, after some encouragement from Bendy, stared to draw again.

Boris was delighted to put up the artwork.

It really was a good atmosphere to recuperate in, even if Henry did get concerned on days when Boris would go out on his own to gather supplies.

Mainly food, and paper for more drawings.

Interestingly, one of the lost ones would accompany Boris, and stick close to the toon. As it was non-threatening, Henry refrained from thinking about destroying the inky being.

This particular lost one seemed sadder than most.

At times, the lost one would leave on their own, or go with Boris when the toon wolf went back out to gather up supplies.

Bendy tried to occupy Henry's mind during these times, as if the toon knew how worried Henry as about the toon wolf. Bendy would do silly antics, perform old cartoon acts, and sometimes, he would just dance around in Henry's view while the human plucked at a banjo.

At times, if Boris were present, the toon wolf would join in on the dancing.

It made Henry more determined than ever to make certain that nothing bad would befall Boris this time. But more than that, Henry desperately wanted this calm and relaxed peace to last.

But it wouldn't.

The peace and calm never lasted.

Not in a place like this.

Sooner or later, all three of them would have to leave the safe house, and enter back into the ink-stained halls of this cursed studio, where the Ink Demon and other monsters lurked.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

A/N: I do have an idea for at least one chapter with the projectionist. I think it will depend on how the story goes and if it will fit in at that time I reach the projectionist part.