Chapter 24: Lost In The Ink
"I feel sorry for you Linda, I really do." Joey said as he pulled Linda up and on to a make-shift raft when she opened her eyes to find she was no longer with Boris. "But you really should've seen that coming a mile away."
Linda looked around to see he was rowing them through a sea of ink with no destination in sight. Who knew how long it would take them to reach shore, if there even was a shore to for them to land on. Like in the previous nightmare she had, Joey appeared and sounded like his younger, charming, businessman-like self. She was to snap at him with a response, but her voice was replaced with gurgling as ink spewed from her mouth when she tried to form words.
"Don't interrupt me. I'm not finished." Joey responded with slight look of disgust as he stared at the clumps of ink at his feet. "You see, you really should've known dear Susie wasn't going to keep her word. You were there during one of the drops into hell before she inevitably took good ol' Buddy Boris away. Now Henry's dead, lost in a sea of ink like this one here. But don't you worry your pretty little head over nothing. Henry's the Hero! He'll find his way back into his role with ease."
Linda didn't want to hear anymore from Joey as she gurgled in anger. The crooked man didn't seem too bothered as she turned away from him to look out at the ink surrounding them. It was all unnatural from its movements to its thickness; it was more like gooey sludge than ink.
"Ah, it seems our time is short. The Demon's aware of my presence here." Joey spoke up as the ink began to leak into the raft in large amounts. "Interesting enough, he had always been keen on such details even if he acts as the mindless, bloodthirsty monster everyone in the studio knows and fears. Now he appears to have taken a liking to you. You don't fear the monster, do you? If not, that could be your biggest mistake yet. Next to thinking there's a way to end this story peacefully, of course."
The Ink Demon rose from the ink surrounding them and lunged at Joey with a loud roar. Joey didn't even react as he was tackled off the raft and began to drown in the ink as he was dragged under. The raft began to sink and Linda was dragged to the depth's below. It was unnerving yet welcoming with how quiet it was in the ink for once; nothing bothered Linda's mind as she felt at peace.
She didn't want to leave.
The ink was home.
But then she saw him.
Henry was floating before her, but his eyes were golden as they glowed brightly in the darkness of the ink.
"Wake up." He told her in an eerie yet soothing voice. "Don't let Joey get a hold of you, Linda. You must wake up."
As soon as Henry touched her chest, Linda's head became flooded with the desperate cries for freedom of those who were lost to the ink.
Linda shot up from where she laid in a cold sweat before looking up as she realized ink had been leaking from the ceiling, dripping on to her as she slept. Linda wiped her forehead as she tried to remember where she was, looking around the room for Boris. He was nowhere to be found.
However, she soon relaxed as a door opened and the toon wolf had entered the room with cans of bacon soup in his arms. Boris smiled over at Linda as he realized she was now awake.
"Hey, buddy." She greeted. "Do you know how long I was out? I don't even remember falling asleep."
Boris' smile faltered as he gave a hesitant shrug of his shoulders. He then started moving his arms around as if he were trying to tell her something through various gestures, but Linda couldn't even begin to guess what he was trying to say.
"I'm sorry, I didn't quite understand any of that." She apologized.
Boris shook his head in disappointment, but tried again as he moved more slowly this time. He pointed at her before pointing to the ink dripping from the ceiling. He then placed his hand on the wall and stretched out his arms as if to emphasize something spreading out.
"I...I created an ink portal?" Linda guessed as she had mentioned making one before Henry was held hostage and killed by Alice. The memory pained her to think back on it.
Boris nodded enthusiastically as she had guessed correctly before continuing on with his game of charades. He pointed to her again and then gripped on to his head with a look of anger on his face as he swirled one finger at the side of his head; the universal sign of calling someone crazy.
"I went mad?" Linda asked, receiving confirmation from the toon wolf.
He then pointed to the ink and then moved his hands up down along his body and ended with another point of his finger towards her.
It took a bit for her to guess, but Boris seemed patient as he repeated the gestures for Linda.
"So I went crazy and and ink began to cover my body?"
She had guessed right yet again.
"I created an ink portal, went crazy and ink began to spread over my body." Linda repeated, putting it all together. "Then what happened to me?"
Boris slumped his head to the side as he closed his eyes and let his tongue lull out.
Linda found his clue to be slightly humorous.
"I passed out?"
The toon wolf nodded.
"Then you brought me here afterwards, right?" Linda asked.
Boris gave a sheepish smile and shook his head, surprising Linda.
"If you didn't, then who did?"
There was a rhythmic knocking on the door, sounding almost like Morse code as it went on a bit before stopping once Boris opened the door.
A deformed trio of the Butcher Gang entered the room, shocking Linda as she they eagerly approached her but had their 'weapons' lowered to show they weren't going to harm her.
Linda couldn't believe they were the same ones she had befriended in the previous loop. 'Barley' was alive and well, 'Edgar' was still sweet as can be as crawled into Linda's lap and squeaked cheerfully, and 'Charley' was his tough old self who actually cared for his crew.
"I thought you three would've forgotten me." Linda said as she hugged the three deformed toons.
They each seemed to find comfort in her embrace as the nuzzled into her.
Linda's little family was growing back again. She just wished Henry was with her to be apart of it.
A/N: JOEY FREAKIN' DREW back at it again with his nonsensical jabber. Kind of fun to write to be honest.
Anyways, thought of ending this chapter on a lighter note with the return of the Butcher Gang. uvu
Not sure when I'm going to officially bring Henry back, though. Maybe some point in the next chapter, maybe not until later. I just hope I can keep this story interesting the further I go. I don't think the spin-off in the Ink Demon's perspective will be that long though. I'm just waiting for this story to be done before officially writing it.
To answer GameFan 335's question from their last review on the previous chapter: Probably not as they aren't exactly hers to begin with. It's more of a way for a certain Demon to keep tabs on her and protect her.
