Hello! Lilith here!
And holy crud, how long has it been since I was last working on this?
I've been pretty focused elsewhere because other stuff got my attention. Not helping my case is that there was the madness that is the sickness that has been the rampant subject for quite longer than I would've liked. Several factors really hurt me here...
Anyway, I'm finally back on track with this, and now about to conclude the second part of the second chapter. Next up, we'll be going in chapter three of the Bendy story, and I'm pretty sure this one might come in more than two parts. We'll see.
Also, since this is my take on BATIM, there will be another original character besides Henry's niece and nephew that will make an appearance soon, so keep an eye out for more.
So, without further ado, enjoy!
To Mikedude Rocker10: I'm terribly sorry for being away from this story for so long. The above should sum up what happened. I hope this new chapter will make up for the unplanned hiatus.
I own nothing of BATIM except my OCs.
Read, leave me a review, but flames are not acceptable whatsoever.
Chapter 2 – The Old Song, Part 2
"I can't believe we gotta split up just to search through trash cans for the goddamn keys," Bogart grumbled under his breath.
To cover the ground for the extensive search, the family scattered off to different directions so they can cover more ground within the music department. In Bogart's case, he found himself searching around the main hall and the stairs to the right of the billboard, which is plenty of ground for him to cover. But no matter where he looked, he didn't find anything that stuck out to him. It almost felt like he's searching for another needle in another haystack, or something a lot more difficult to navigate. Sometimes he couldn't help wondering just how scatterbrained that janitor was when he worked in the studio, let alone to be able to lose something as manageable as a set of keys needed to access anything important.
But no matter what he tried, he couldn't find any keys in the main hall, so he opted to continue his search upstairs. On his way, he stopped to see a poster advertising another cartoon involving another character. Intrigued, he briefly examined the poster to see the picture of a cutesy girl with horns and a halo wearing a black dress decorated with a ribbon on the top; the poster is titled 'Sent From Above', and upon closer inspection of the print, he identified that the girl is apparently a new character called Alice Angel, and that she sings and dances. The impression he had about it is that this character is meant to be the next step in the animation industry, perhaps this time around meaning to up the ante with the thrill of voice acting. If only the name of who provided the voice is written, then he would've been interested in knowing more about the situation with the character. Maybe he could ask about it if Mae or Uncle Henry found another tape somewhere.
But for now, he has to focus on searching for the keys. So, he continued to the stairs near the poster to find himself in a booth overlooking the music room with a film projector settled in the middle of the booth and a small desk placed in the back of the booth holding another cassette player. From what he can glean from the player, he found it to have been in the possession of someone by the name of Norman Polk. Perhaps this person is another employee at Joey Drew Studios? Interested to find out, Bogart played the tape and listened to the words of a person who experienced something very bizarre.
'Every day the same strange thing happens. I'll be up here in my booth, the band will be swinging, and suddenly Sammy Lawrence just comes marching in and shuts the whole thing down. Tells us all to wait in the hall.
'Then I hear him. He starts up my projector, and he dashes from the projector booth and down to the recording studio like the little devil himself was chasing behind.
'Few seconds later, the projector turns off. But Sammy, he doesn't come out for a long time. This man is weird. Crazy weird!
'I have half a mind to talk to Mr. Drew about all this. But then again, I have to admit Mr. Drew has his own peculiarities.'
After listening to the tape cassette, the only thing that comes to mind for Bogart is either a dysfunctional workplace or employment negligence. Even so, what kind of person would make a habit of interrupting another person's work for no good reason? Or…was there a reason? Maybe, considering how the last tape had the Sammy guy complain about the machinery distracting his focus on work. So far, there's nothing but complaints about Joey, so there's no reason to think other people have something nasty to say about him.
Oh, well, since he couldn't find the keys from the booth, he might as well see what else he can find before meeting up with the others.
As she gingerly opened the door to the recording studio, Mae peeked inside to find an empty room with seats and music sheet stands in preparation for an orchestra to take their places, only it is barren and a bit crooked in arrangements. Musical instruments are sparse except for one banjo, violin, bass fiddle and drum scattered about the orchestral podium and a piano settled on the other side of the studio close to barrels and broken objects, and microphones hang high from the ceiling above the chairs and stands. Far across the room, she spotted another booth shielded by a glass screen lit up where she saw a microphone hanging inside with two stands left unused in front of a door.
"Hmm…has Joey been trying to dip into voice acting for his cartoons?" Mae wondered.
As she stepped closer to inspect the booth from her position while searching the trash bins, her eyes caught sight of another cassette player on the floor. Curious, she picked it up to find that the player is identified to belong to someone by the name of Susie Campbell.
"Susie…? Who's Susie Campbell?" she asked herself. "Hm…I'm not sure if I heard of her before. I wonder what she's recorded here."
Pressing the 'play' button, she listened as an enthusiastic woman's voice told her thoughts of the studio.
'It may be my second month working for Joey Drew, but I can already tell I'm going to love it here!
'People really seem to enjoy my Alice Angel voice. Sammy says she may be as popular as Bendy someday.
'These past few weeks I have voiced everything from talking chairs to dancing chickens. But this is the first character I have really felt a connection with. Like she's a part of me.
'Alice and I, we are going places.'
Mae raised a brow after listening to the recording. If she's understanding this correctly, it sounds like Susie was very enthusiastic about participating in Joey's project and establishing herself as a voice actress – a far cry from previous recordings they've listened to, which viewed the work environment in a negative light. Perhaps this woman was newly recruited by the time things became more difficult for the studio, completely oblivious to the troubling atmosphere. Though, it does sound like there's a little positivity with those who have interacted with Susie.
Mae sighed. "Well, I haven't found the keys here. I guess I'd better see how Uncle Henry's doing with his search. Maybe Bogie's met back up with him already."
On her way out of the recording studio, though, this inexplicable feeling of being watched abruptly crept down her spine. She looked up to where the projector's booth is, but she saw nobody there save for Bendy cutouts. She shook her head, silently scolding herself for being paranoid.
The first door Henry opened presented to him a pipe organ sitting in a room all by its lonesome, cobwebs creeping around it as ink splotches can be spotted around it. He inspected the small space for anything that stuck out, but there wasn't anything important he could find in an otherwise claustrophobic room.
"Nope. Not here," he said to himself as he turned away.
He started to head for the next door when the flashing light to his left caught his attention. His curiosity briefly moving him, he looked in the direction of the infirmary sign and walked past the mess of barrels and wood to find light barely showing a flooded stairwell filled with ink underneath a sign reading as follows:
'NOTICE:
'Anyone found faking illness will be docked a full week's wages.
NOT SICK. NOT PAID.'
Henry cringed at this message as he thought, 'Ouch. Jeez, Joey, did you ever think about making the workplace healthier so these things wouldn't happen?'
He couldn't do anything about the flooded infirmary stairwell, though, so he decided to continue his search for the keys behind another one of the doors close to the office. Since he couldn't find anything in the organ room prior, he opened up the next door to find a small office with an art desk sitting in the left corner by its lonesome and another desk left unused, a trash bin nestled close to the art desk and a violin propped up next to the other desk.
Henry couldn't find anything useful on the office desk, so he settled on investigating the art desk in the corner and see if he can find the keys or anything useful. As he peeked over, he found someone's concept art of Bendy – but right away noticed weirdly humorous about it. Beside the full sketch of the little demon is what supposed to a set of emotions to express feelings of happiness, sadness, disgust and anger…except the faces are the same. He would've wanted to ask whose idea it was to do this until he glanced to his right to see a little note that read 'Do not let Joey see this'. He let out a little chuckling snort at this. Clearly someone must've done it to mess with Joey during their work. He can't imagine if it's a hired artist.
As he started to move away, though, something immediately caught his eyes in the trash bin. He leaned over and peered inside to see something metallic sitting atop crumpled papers at the bottom of the bin. Upon closer inspection, he realized that it's actually the keys!
"There you are!" Henry said, relieved and exasperated.
He reached into the trash bin and fetched the keys from the bottom, turning around just in time to see Bogart returning to the hallway with Mae following not too far behind him.
"Hey, did you find the keys?" Bogart inquired.
"I found them in the office," Henry replied, presenting the keys. "Now we can get into the closet and look for something that can help us."
"That's good to know," Mae said, relieved. "All I found was an empty orchestra stand and a cassette tape from someone called Susie Campbell."
"I found another cassette player in the projector booth," Bogart admitted. "The guy telling his story had a really weird experience on the job, something about Sammy screwing up the work to do something crazy and never showing up to explain himself."
Henry raised a brow. "That's interesting. Did either of you have any problems on your way through?"
"Not really," Mae answered.
"Not that I'm aware of," Bogart replied. "We gonna see what's in the closet?"
"Yup. Let's head over and see what we can find," Henry agreed as they head back.
With the janitor's keys in hand, the trio made their way back to the flooded office entrance and used the much-needed tools to unlock the closet Wally mentioned in the tape. However, they didn't find much inside except for a few cleaning supplies, a can of bacon soup and another cassette player sitting on one of the shelves.
"…That's it?" Bogart asked flatly.
Henry examined the cassette player to find it's marked with Sammy's name, just like the last two they've found in the hall and the music department entrance. He hit the play button as it played Sammy's recording, which had something a little strange to say:
'Every artistic person needs a sanctuary. Joey Drew has his, and I have mine. To enter, you need to know my favorite song.
'The banjo playfully plucks.
'The bass fiddle sings with deep articulation.
'The piano delicately calls.
'The violin shudders with a piercing voice.
'Sing my song and my sanctuary will open to you.'
Hearing this, Bogart put two and two together. "No wonder that Norman guy had a problem with Sammy's antics. He was doing that password thing he created so he can retreat someplace where he wouldn't be bothered by anyone. No wonder he said in the last tape he hated being distracted by people coming and going through his office."
"You know, I did see a few instruments where the orchestra would be playing," Mae recalled. "Are we supposed to play some music in order to find Sammy?"
"Sounds like we're supposed to. Maybe the sanctuary holds more clues that can help us find a way out," Henry agreed, hoping for the best. "Mae, you said the instruments are in the recording studio, right?"
"Yes, I did," she replied.
"And Bogart, what exactly did the cassette you found say about how he did it?" he inquired to his nephew.
"Uh…I think he turned the projector on first," Bogart replied, "then ran into the studio and never came out from there again."
"So we have to turn on the projector, play the instruments, and then get in the sanctuary?" Mae listed the steps.
Henry nodded. "Yup, basically. Shall we do this?"
The plan to tackle the code went as followed: Henry and Mae took their positions near the music department board, waiting for Bogart to reach the projection booth upstairs and turn on the projector. Once he did it, he'd let them know, and the two of them will hurry into the recording studio and play the instruments in accordance with Sammy's tape. Since none of them have encountered anything threatening their progress so far, they might as well take advantage of the uneasy peace in the music department.
Henry watched from the bottom of the stairs as Bogart investigated on how to operate the projector. It didn't take him long to do so as he flipped a switch that started the reels, causing the film to begin its animation process.
"Okay, Uncle, the film's started playing!" Bogart called from upstairs. "Get to the studio and start playing, pronto!"
Immediately, uncle and niece turned around and made a mad dash into the recording studio for the correct instrument each needed to play. Henry strummed the banjo closest to the entrance of the studio as Mae hurried to the bass fiddle and tugged some strings before she made a mad run for the piano and played a few keys, leaving Henry to pluck the strings of the violin. Just as he completed his little ditty, a clicking sound is heard from somewhere in the studio as something clinking up sound off within their vicinity. Mae is the first to see a metal door much like what locked the music department rise to reveal a small hallway with three cellos stored inside. It must be the sanctuary Sammy mentioned retreating into for peace and quiet, all without anyone knowing about it to begin with!
"It looks small for a sanctuary," she commented, not knowing what to think. "I wonder how nobody figured this out."
Henry peered over to the side and entered the small hallway with Mae following behind him, scrutinizing the size of the sanctuary. As he looked closer inside, he spotted pipes inside attached with a pressure valve under a sign marked 'Flow' to the right, a toilet in the middle and a sparse desk with only a Bendy doll and a music sheet near a lit candle accompanied by an abandoned banjo next to the toilet left unused by its original owner. He abruptly paused when he looked down to find another mysterious circle drawn on the floor just like the last circle they saw before, and then slowly looked up to see ominous writing on the wall that would've made a good song or piece of poetry if not for the way its message is written:
'Sing a happy song
'Whistle a merry tune
'Wait for his arrival
'He's coming very soon'
Henry suddenly felt a chill creep down his spine, dreading what it could possibly mean – be it that monster they encountered before falling in, or something worse. Not wanting to think about right now, he opted to shift his focus on the pipes and get to the work on reducing the ink flow quickly.
By this time, Bogart had rejoined with Henry and Mae as they joined in searching around the sanctuary. He looked around the place as he frowned at the state of the hiding place, disbelieving that someone could tolerate working alone in a small place like this.
"Is that all there is?" Bogart commented. "Sammy has poor choice in where to have some privacy."
"At least we found a pipe," Mae said with optimism. "It might do something about that flood near the office."
"It's one down, at least," Henry agreed as he started turning the valve.
Just when Bogart was about to turn around and make his way out of the sanctuary, he got himself a shock when a Bendy cutout abruptly peeked out from the corner, spooking him enough to make him stumble back a bit.
"Augh, damnit! Again?!" he cursed out loud. "I thought we'd be past this by now!"
Confused, Henry turned back out of the sanctuary to see what happened as Mae approached her brother with concern.
"Is it just me or does somebody like to poke fun at our expense?" she asked.
"What I'd like to know is who the hell is doing that," Bogart growled in annoyance.
But then, splatters sound off within the recording studio, catching the attention of all three and prompting them to get out and investigate. Not mere seconds after, several inky creatures much like the last ones they encountered surfaced and began sludging their way toward them. Right off the bat, Henry and Bogart whipped out their axe and crowbar and started to wallop the ink monsters. Mae got wise to the situation and grabbed the first piece of furniture she can reach – that being one of the music stands – and bashed the nearest monsters' heads with the top of the stand until their bodies disappeared into nothing.
When things have finally quiet down, an uneasy feeling of being watched sent chills down their spines. Slowly, all three looked up to the projection booth to catch a glimpse of the same mysterious stranger they saw passing by without acknowledging them. It felt unsettling considering that when they first barely caught a glimpse, the stranger didn't even seem to hear Henry call out to him, and then disappeared without a trace. How did he get all the way up there without them knowing it?
"C'mon, let's get going," Henry simply said, gesturing to the door out. "There's a stairwell to the infirmary I found earlier. It might have the other pipe to help shut off the ink blocking the office with the pump switch."
Bogart had other ideas. "Hey, Uncle. I'm gonna detour back to the projection room for a moment, see if I can catch that guy. I wanna find what the hell he's doing here."
"Is that a good idea, Bogie?" Mae warned, fearing the worst. "What if that person's a murderer, or a stalker?"
"All the more reason to take care of him before we leave here," Bogart insisted as he started to turn back to the projection room. "I'll meet you guys at the infirmary in a moment."
As soon as his sister and uncle have gone far enough from line of sight, Bogart walked off in the other direction back to the projection room, bent on detaining the stranger for questioning. As he neared the stairs, though, he suddenly couldn't shake the feeling something isn't right, and he really shouldn't be doing this. However, he chose to ignore it as he marched up the steps to the booth, hoping to catch the mystery interloper and ask him some questions – assuming it is a man, that is.
When he got to the top, he got himself a rude surprise when he found nobody there. Baffled, he looked around the small area, trying to figure out how on earth the stranger managed to walk away without any of them knowing it. The only stairwell Bogart knew of was in the music department entrance, but it's flooded with ink and needs to be drained by the pump switch in the office belonging to that guy called Sammy. The only other door he is aware of is the one near the poster of Alice Angel, though he doesn't remember looking behind there for anything useful. What's more, the same stranger they saw before had passed by them, but there wasn't any door where he was going – just a Bendy cutout and the creepy occult circles. He puzzled on the mystery, trying to figure out how the freaky stranger could've gotten away without leaving any clues to follow.
Without warning, something hard knocked against Bogart's head from behind, distorting his senses enough to make him fall to the floor, almost crashing into the desk in front of him. As his vision began violently blurring, he could barely make out the sight of the mystery stalker wearing a worn-down Bendy cutout face like a mask, holding a janitorial tool in hand, and the eerie words chanting an unsettling rhyme…
"Sheep, sheep, sheep, it's time for sleep…"
At the same time, Henry and Mae retraced their steps back down the hall and followed the stairs to the infirmary, where they found a small room meant to offer medical help for the staff. Aside from one pesky ink monster easy to get rid of, the room itself is about as normal as it can get sans for the inky mess of obvious origin. Around them, a set of chairs are arranged near a desk that hasn't been used for quite some time and a table with a record player sitting alone and unused for years.
The bed set further down is left empty with no mattress next to a chart on the wall used for eye checks, accompanied by a plant on a table that somehow hasn't wilted or been damaged by the excess ink and a stool where someone should be sitting when speaking to their patients. At the right side of the bed is another set of stairs leading further down to parts unknown, and on the left side, they found a switch next to another pipe that mysteriously is absent of a valve that needed some turning.
Henry sighed in dismay. "Oh, no. There's no valve. Where did it go?"
"There must be a clue on what happened to it," Mae said as she looked around and found another cassette player on the desk. "Maybe this player has something that can help us."
The cassette player was marked with the name of Richter Seacole, a name that doesn't strike as familiar to either of them. For that matter, how on earth did a cassette player stay intact after the infirmary it was in found itself flooded by the unchecked ink? Regardless, the two started to play the cassette and heard the soft voice of a young man giving his private thoughts on the goings-on in the infirmary.
'I know as a doctor, I should watch out for anyone faking sickness or injury, but I can't help pitying them for their difficulties with Mr. Drew.
'Still, the studio isn't in the best shape to keep its workers healthy, especially not with all this ink.
'And then there's that actress – Susie Campbell.
'Compared to Joey and everyone else, she's been a saving grace for me. When she came for her first checkup with me, I made sure she's in good health so she can prepare to voice the cartoon character, Alice Angel.
'She was so sweet to me, even praising my work, however thankless it is to everyone else.
'If only Joey were as kind as she is…'
Well, there wasn't anything to go on with that recording, but at least it gave another perspective on the conditions of the studio through a doctor's eyes.
"Oh, bummer. I guess I was wrong," Mae sighed in disappointment.
"It's okay. There's still the stairs we can follow nearby," Henry assured her, leading her to the next stairs.
Stepping down the stairs, the first thing noticed by the pair right away is the awful scent of sewage. It makes them wonder why the studio had to have an infirmary placed so close to a sewar of all things. Arriving at the bottom confirmed it when they found a wide tunnel stretching out to their right where someone wrote DOWN HERE WE'RE ALL SINNERS on the wall. Flowing endlessly is a dark substance stretching out from a distance deeper into the tunnel where boards futilely block the path through and…
Henry squinted as he caught sight of something uncanny past the boards. He could've sworn he's seeing another one of those ink monsters. But this was one was…wearing a hat?
"What the -?" he mumbled, confused.
As the pair stepped closer, a peculiar valve is immediately spotted in the hands of the creature wearing what's a bowler hat.
"Was that thing holding the valve?" Henry wondered aloud.
"How did it get ahold of it, for that matter?" Mae asked.
Sadly, before either of them could get ahold of the valve, the creature with the hat sank into the ink, disappearing down a path where another macabre message is written THE SHEEP WILL COME TO SLAUGHTER, which isn't the most reassuring thing in the slightest. Someone must be completely off their rocker to write something like that around the studio.
Henry sighed. "Guess we gotta do this the hard way…"
As uncle and niece followed the trail of the fashionable monster down the tunnel, the two momentarily stopped when they spotted another small space nestled in the side, albeit much smaller than the last secret hideaway they found in the recording studio. Inside is a small desk and chair with music notes scattered around the place, a dim light barely showing the lonely space of its former occupant and a single cassette player sat atop the desk unused. Curious, Mae picked up the player to find it labeled under the name 'Jack Fain' and played the cassette as they heard an accented voice give away his personal thoughts.
'I love the quiet, and that's hard to come by these busy times.
'And yeah, sure, it may stink to high heaven down here. But it's just perfect for an old lyricist like me. Sammy's songs always got some bounce, but if I didn't get away once in a while, they'd never have any words to go with them.
'So I'll keep my mind a-singin' and my nose closed.'
As soon as the cassette finished, a nagging thought crossed Hery and Mae's minds: could that ink monster with the bowler hat really be the person, Jack Fain? If that's the case, then he's been one unlucky guy to be turned into an inky creature.
"Looks like we're going to have a lot of fun getting the valve out of his hands," Henry said flatly.
"I hope we'll have an easier time of it than trying to find a set of keys," Mae fretted. "Bogie didn't have a fun time with that search."
Briefly, Henry experienced this inexplicable wave of fear creeping somewhere in the back of his mind. Where is Bogart anyway? He said he was going to check up on something in the projection room, but he hasn't met back up with them like he said he would. Did something hold him up, or did he…? A cold shudder ran down his spine, giving him dread as to what could possibly have happened to his nephew while he wasn't around. He's always known Bogart to be able to take care of himself for the most part, but what they've encountered is not something that can be shooed away like a bug.
He decided that he and Mae should wrap things up down here quickly, hopefully have enough time to get back upstairs and look for him, make sure he isn't hurt. If his niece asked to be allowed to find him, though, he doesn't know what will happen to her behind his back – or rather, he doesn't want her to get into danger, too. However, given where they are now, when have any of them been safe from harm?
"Yeah…let's go get that valve quickly," Henry agreed nervously, "and hope your brother's come back by then."
"I agree. Let's hurry this up," Mae seconded her uncle's idea.
Henry and Mae carefully trekked their way through the tunnel, following the black sludgy trail to find a chamber flooded with ink lurking around two generators and a crate being held by a platform on chains. Ahead of them is the hat-wearing ink creature still holding the valve in its inky hands.
Clearly, the creature meant to come here in the first place, leading them on a chase. The question is how to get the valve out of his hands. Henry quickly looked around the area, trying to figure out a plan to tackle the situation. He could see that the generators have switches that can pulled, and there are three possible branches to reach the creature. Maybe if they got the crate out of the way, one of them could try and sneak up on it and take the valve. It would be difficult, given what they seen happen the last couple times they encountered these creatures, but it was worth taking a chance.
"I've got an idea, Mae. I'm going to pull a switch, get the crate out of the way," Henry explained to her quietly. "Then, we'll split up around the machines and grab the valve."
Mae looked around for a moment before asking, "You mean…to gang up on it?"
"Exactly."
"I don't like it, but…okay," she agreed reluctantly.
Carefully, Henry pulled one of the switches, causing the crate and platform to be hauled upward without blocking the way. As soon as it's clear, Mae tried her best to tiptoe around the generator towards the creature, all while slowly reaching for the valve in its hand. Unfortunately, just when she was within reach of the much-needed item, her hopes were dashed when the creature sank into the ink, taking the valve with it, and resurfaced in another location.
Henry witnessed this and sighed in dismay as he realized retrieving it is not going to as easy as they hoped. So, he opted to give it a go himself and see if he can grab it before it's gone. But as luck would have it, the same thing happened to him: the creature got away with the valve and moved to another space around the chamber. So, uncle and niece took one more shot by slowly creeping around their respective corners and attempted to snatch the valve together. Third time wasn't the charm, however, as even when both ganged up on it, the creature was one step ahead of them and escaped their grasp yet again.
But then, Henry noticed something: the creature reappeared at a distance from them both, and just so happened to be hanging around underneath the chained platform he just raised with the switch earlier. That's when an idea popped into his mind. Carefully making his way to the other switch, he pulled it and watched as the platform abruptly dropped down, crushing the creature and leaving no trace of it except for the bowler hat and the valve. They didn't like what happened since it didn't seem as harmless as the others they've faced before, but what were they going to do?
"Sorry we had to do that," Henry apologized as he picked up the valve from the floor. "Nice hat, though."
"Okay, so we got the valve," Mae commented. "So, it just needs to go back where it belongs, right?"
"Yep, it should do it," her uncle replied, "It'll make it easier to get in the office and drain the ink by the stairs."
"In that case, as soon as we're out of these sewers, I'm gonna look for Bogie," Mae said as she followed him out.
"Are you sure you'll be fine by yourself?" Henry asked, concerned.
"I think so. Hopefully nothing bad happened to him," she answered. "It's not like him to take long to do anything."
After leaving the sewer where they retrieved the valve, niece and uncle parted ways as Mae turned back to the recording studio to look for Bogart. Her first thought is that he probably went back there after checking the projection booth after having seen something strange before. Though, it makes her wonder why he would want to check both the booth and the studio before meeting back up. Something must've held him up, or…
Trying not to think too hard, she looked all around the room for anything resembling her brother but kept coming up short. She doesn't see him up in the projection booth, and she doesn't see him in the recording booth, and there's no way he'd want to stay to fool around with the instruments. That left only the secret room they discovered after playing the song on Sammy's tape player.
Nervously, she entered the room to find everything exactly as they left it – but there's no sign of Bogart. Her anxiety began to grow as she realized her brother is undoubtedly missing, and she can't find any trace of him whatsoever. She'll have to go back and warn her uncle that Bogart's missing, and they must find him before…
No sooner did she turn back to leave than she felt something hit her hard enough to make her fall to the ground. Her vision blurred as she the last thing she could see was a tall, black figure wearing the face of Bendy hovering over her as she heard the stranger chant:
"Sheep, sheep, sheep, it's time for sleep…"
Just as Henry turned the secured valve and heard the ink being drained, he suddenly felt a chill down his spine. Something is wrong. He can't shake the feeling that something happened to Mae, much like how they sensed something off when Bogart didn't come back. He needed to finish things up quickly and find them as soon as possible before they can keep going and find a way out.
He made haste up the stairs and back to the entrance to Sammy's office where – as he hoped – the ink has been shut down and drained, making it easier to get inside. He opened the door, entered the office and pulled the switch to the pump control. Before long, he could hear from a distance the sound of the ink being drained.
Now that the ink in the stairwell has been taken care of, Henry turned back to the music department entrance as he looked around for his niece and nephew.
"Bogart? Mae? Where are you?" he called.
No response.
"Bogart? Mae? Are you both alright?" he called out again.
He started to step out toward the stairwell, hoping to find them waiting for him, when he suddenly felt something hard strike his head. Stunned by the attack, Henry collapsed helplessly to the floor. As his vision slipped away, he could barely make out seeing a tall, lanky figure in overalls covered in the black, inky substance wearing a work down Bendy face, holding a dustpan in its hand. The last thing he could remember is hearing a strange chant coming from the being hovering over him:
"Rest your head, it's time for bed…"
When Henry began to regain consciousness, he could feel something being tugged against him along with two other grunts heard from both sides. As his vision became clearer, he glanced right and left to find himself tied to a wooden post beside Bogart and Mae, who are also regaining consciousness and realizing they're not in the music department anymore.
Instead, the three are held hostage in an empty unknown room with a door standing to their left and a metal rollup door ahead. Everything in the room appeared to have been assembled hastily as the speakers are hooked up to large, squared pillars held by boards not properly hammered in, splatters of ink and candles dotted around the area. Barrels are scattered around the room, light minimally showing the room to compensate for the candlelight. Below their feet appears to be a strange circle drawn on the floor with similar markings to the last one they've encountered several rooms ago.
Standing in front of them tying them together is the same figure they saw pass by them without acknowledging their presence, the one who knocked each of them out. The humanoid creature is assumed to be as tall as Henry, if not slightly taller, his body completely covered in ink, but visibly shows outlines of a decent built body with slight muscle on the arms and chest. His overalls appeared to be worn down from age with ink stuck to the bottom of the edges and a patch barely holding together, the straps much longer than needed to hold the pants up. Up close, the mask is noticed to have a hole partly cut around the mouth where someone can speak through without the grin getting in the way.
"There we go now. Nice and tight. We wouldn't our sheep running away now, would we?" the masked man said as he finished his work and picked up the axe from the floor. "No, we wouldn't. I must admit I am honored you three came all the way down here to visit me. It almost makes what I'm about to do seem cruel."
The trio anxiously watched as the masked man turned away long enough to place the axe to the left pillar under the speaker alongside the crowbar.
"What the hell's going on?" Bogart whispered.
"I don't know…" Henry replied quietly, his voice shaking.
However, though it isn't outright spoken, something about their kidnapper's voice sound eerily familiar to them: it's very similar to the voice heard on the tapes used by Sammy Lawrence. It makes them worry if this crazy kidnapper knows Sammy, or if he…
Oh, no!
It IS Sammy Lawrence! …Or an inky remnant of Sammy. Though his voice is recognizable, the rest of him isn't. Something in this studio changed him, and right now, they don't have the opportunity to find out what.
"But the believers must honor their savior," Sammy continued, unaware of their fears. "I must have him notice me."
But then, just for a moment, Sammy stopped with a start, as though he just now noticed something in front of him. Abruptly, he leaned in and closely peered at Henry, then looking back and forth between Mae and Bogart.
"Wait. You three look familiar to me…" he spoke, examining Henry. "That face…" He then closed in on Mae. "That hair…" Finally, he leaned in closer to Bogart. "And those eyes…"
Just when it seemed like this person might be able to recognize who the unlucky hostages are, any chances of reasoning were immediately dashed as his train of thought shifted back to his maniacal cultist plot.
"Not now. For our lord is calling to us, my little sheep," he carried on like he completely forgot what he did a moment ago. "The time of sacrifice is at hand! And then, I will be freed from this…prison. This inky…dark…abyss I call a body."
Henry was about to protest this madness, maybe plead with him to let his niece and nephew leave alive if it comes down to it, but he didn't get a word in when Sammy put a finger to where his mouth would be.
"Shhhhh… Quiet! Listen! I can hear him," he continued eagerly. "Crawling above. Crawling! Let us begin. The ritual must be completed. Soon he will hear me. He will set us free."
As the sound of something rumbling above them can be heard, their masked kidnapper departed for the door on their left and closed it behind him, leaving the three prisoners in an understandably undesirable situation.
"Shit! We're in a bad spot, uncle!" Bogart cursed.
"What're we gonna do?" Mae panicked. "That creep is trying to get us killed!"
"Try to wiggle yourselves out of the ropes, hurry!" Henry urged them.
As each of them struggled to squirm their way out of the ropes, the speakers emitted a whining noise of an adjusting frequency before they heard the voice of their kidnapper start chanting a disturbing tune like a wizard preparing a spell.
"Sheep, sheep, sheep, it's time for sleep. Rest your head, it's time for bed. In the morning, you may wake. Or in the morning, you'll be dead. Hear me, Bendy! Arise from the darkness! Arise and claim my offering!"
As they heard more rumbling from above, the rollup door creaked open to reveal a hallway reaching out to other parts of the studio. Henry felt a glimmer of hope as he believed the hallway could be their only chance to escape, though a part of him also dreads that there might be more horrors lurking in the shadows of the corridors.
"Free me! I beg you! I summon you, Ink Demon! Show your face and take these tender sheep!"
Just when they thought they were about to face the monster, a different noise coming from the left caught their attention. Something broke into the room where Sammy entered, possibly through a vent or a broken wall where cracks between the wood can be found at any time. The attention of the madman was diverted when they heard him abruptly panic at the unexpected intruder.
"No! My lord! Stay back! I am your prophet! I am your –"
A scream of horror was the last thing heard from their kidnapper as the room rumbled. Fearing what they think it is, the trio fought harder to get out of the ropes until they heard something unravel completely and nearly stumbled to the floor. When they looked back at the post they were tied to, they spotted the rope dropped to the floor and undone. It made them wonder if Sammy wasn't as thorough with tying them up as he thought he was, or if he didn't tie them up well enough since he did try to hold prisoner three people as offerings to that demon they encountered back on the main floor of the studio.
"Holy shit, I can't believe our luck!" Bogart exclaimed in disbelief.
"What do we do? The demon's gonna find us, like it did that loony!" Mae panicked.
"C'mon, let's get out of here!" Henry urged them on.
As they made a run for it while retrieving their tools, the puddles of ink unleashed the monsters encountered in the music department to intercept them. The trio were quicker, though, and booked their way into the hall, chopping away the wood blocking the path and pushing scattered materials aside to get more room to move. Along the way, they caught a glimpse of the ink machine lowering down a hole they don't remember seeing before it disappeared into the darkness.
Partway through, however, just as Henry chopped the last plank of wood getting in the way, misfortune reared its ugly head at him as the axe he relied on after their failed escape suddenly broke apart on him. His nephew and niece noticed this, and fear immediately set in on what that entails.
"Oh, no, don't tell me the axe was old," Mae groaned in dismay.
Henry sighed in disappointment. "It must be…"
"Well, crap. Joey really cut corners on things that would be useful in emergencies," Bogart grumbled.
If there's one relief they have, it's that the ink monsters that spawned couldn't give chase past the room where the ritual was going to happen. With the left side of the hall blocked off by wood planks and crates, their only option is to wade through the ink and reach for the door. Sadly, they were dealt a bad hand when the demonic Bendy surfaced from the ink, rearing for attack before sprinting their way.
Acting quickly, Henry grabbed Bogart and Mae's hands and urged them to run the other direction – but had a second of surprise to find the path no longer blocked. However, survival instincts kicked in high gear as they rounded the corner to find themselves fleeing through a winding hall with ink puddles and streams of ink pervading the spaces around them. As they ran, they could see the walls being infested by shadowy trails of thin ink chasing them down as they can hear the footsteps of the demon pursuing after them. Every step of the way, it always felt like it's getting closer to snatching one of them only for a stroke of luck to prevent the worst from happening. First, Mae narrowly escaped getting caught with only the edges of her hair barely getting brushed by its inky hands. Then, Bogart almost got grabbed by the left arm only for the sleeve to tear off him like wet paper. Finally, Henry more than once nearly found himself about to be seized by the demon's hands only for either his coat sleeve to tear off, freeing him, or he would lose a few strands of hair from the fingers trying to grasp his hair.
Just when things seemed to be going south, a much-needed saving grace came to them when they caught sight of a door down the last part of the hallway. Pulling double duty on the escape, the family rushed through inside the room one by one, then Henry moved quickly and closed the door behind him, pushing the wooden bar down against the handles to block their pursuer from giving chase any further.
The room itself isn't much home to write home about, save for the shelves full of Bendy dolls mostly well aligned in rows except for the few that fell from their hinges. Up ahead is another hall where they can get a little more distance from the demon. Hopefully there's another way out of the studio.
"Oh my God…first we got kidnapped by a crazy cult maniac, then we had to run into that thing that freaked us out at the beginning," Bogart groaned, unbelieving at what has happened. "What's next? Another breed of monster?"
"I don't want to know what else we might find in this place," Mae declined, having seen too much to think about anything else.
"At least we escaped that demon…for the moment," Henry assured them despite reeling from the nightmarish ordeal. "Let's see if we can get out through that hall."
Not taking too many chances after what happened, the family slowly left the room and entered the hall while keeping a wary eye for the worst. No sooner did they take a few steps near the corner, they got spooked when a can rolled out from the corner for no good reason. Bogart and Mae, rightly so, moved closer to their uncle like a safety line as Henry tensed up in anticipation of what was waiting for them.
"Hello? Someone there?" Henry questioned warily. "I know you're there. Come out and show yourself."
In response, footsteps approached their position as a particularly familiar creature emerged from hiding and revealed itself. It looked eerily like that of the cadaver they first discovered, but this wolf is alive and – by all accounts – quite intact, and there's no indication of malicious intent in its presence as it simply looked at them with friendly eyes.
"Wait a minute…is that…?" Mae started to ask.
Bogart's mouth gaped open. "You gotta be kidding me."
Henry's eyes widened in surprise as he looked the wolf up and down, stunned to see a cartoon wolf alive and harmless greeting them rather than threatening them. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"…Boris?" he gasped, shocked.