Robin was enjoying a nice cup of tea in front of the telly while Manny and Lily were asleep upstairs. Since Harry had left with some of the teachers, well more forced away by some of the teachers, he had been all alone with the two children, unsure of what to do. He was really worried about Harry and couldn't sit still for a minute but didn't want to move around too much, moving around made his nerves worse and that would send him into a panic attack, he needed to be level-headed and calm. He sipped on his tea as calmly as he could, managing to burn his tongue on the hot liquid which he had made a few minutes prior, as the TV played his and Harry's favourite programme, it felt a little weird to be there alone without the snide remarks about the decisions the officers in the show would make from his red friend, it was like the whole room was empty and devoid of fun, he didn't like it much. However, he kept a smile on his face, he didn't want to draw too much attention to his misery otherwise the teachers would feed on it and make him even more miserable, it was what they did best.
He sometimes wondered if the teachers had lives outside of this hell hole, if they had family and friends who were clueless about the relentless torture they put the trio through everyday, he highly doubted it due to the fact that most of the teachers weren't exactly shown as people whenever he met them, there were a few times though where he may have seen Sketch walking around as a young woman with her thick, curly rainbow locks bouncing with each stride, her inky dark arms trailing across the walls leaving the smallest of marks, her paper white face grinning in the darkness of the hallway and her white dress flowing as she danced through the house, he thought those were only dreams though, they always seemed blurry and on the verge of reality, not realistic enough. This also made him think about the other teachers and what they would look like if they were more human, he could imagine Tony looking rather devilish and young, Colin as an awkward fella who was always having to push his glasses back up his nose, and Stanley and Stacy... he didn't want to think about them. Apparently, Manny and Lily had seen the pesky bee and his group looking more like humans but Robin didn't want to know much more of the supposed marriage ritual so he didn't get to hear the rest of the story, only Harry, Manny, Lily and the cult knew what happened, Robin could definitely tell that once he knew Harry didn't want to tell him anything about it and was glad to be kept in the dark. The small circles that had been carved into their arms were finally fading away after a month of healing, he didn't know what had kept them there for so long, he didn't know if the cult had anything to do with it but at that moment he didn't want to know, these were questions for later.
Robin sighed and continued watching his show by himself, feeling even more lonely than before. He always had Harry to talk to when things got difficult and his absence was heavily noted by the duck, who felt more anxious for the night to come. Manny and Lily were hopefully both sound asleep right now having nice dreams about some other universe where they were all free to do what they wanted, where they could all live together in a nice house, where the kids could go to a proper school, where Harry could get his old job back (he didn't want to go back into showbiz, it was a stressful lifestyle), where Robin could finally marry the man he loved. He wasn't lying when he said he loved Harry, he had since university and didn't think that feeling would stop for a while, Robin wasn't exactly sure what he would do, maybe he would find something interesting to do, a nice job perhaps, he had taken an interest in writing in the past month and found himself writing about their experiences in detail, a diary of sorts and while he hadn't shown it to anyone else, he felt that a lot of people would be interested in these weird phenomenon's of talking notebooks, killer clocks and mad computers. Who knows, maybe he could publish it one day, keeping it under the pretence of a fantasy world.
He wasn't really sure, he doubted that they would manage to escape, any plan they had thus far was either foiled before it could come to fruition or would be ambushed while it was in action. Robin had since given up after the last failed attempt, making it perfectly clear to Harry that they were never going to get out of here, however his red friend decided that he wasn't going to give up and continued to create these elaborate plans which would always fail again and again. They were all exhausted.
Robin knew that the teachers were too witty for them, they were always one step ahead of them, capable of a lot of damage, he never liked to anger them too much. However, there were other times where he wanted to destroy them for destroying his life and making living absolute hell, he truly hated what they did to him. There was a small part of him though where he actually felt a little sorry for the teachers, sometimes he saw a brief hint of humanity flash through their eyes and in that humanity all he saw was sadness, anger and shame. Maybe Roy was controlling them like little puppets, maybe they aren't fully in control either. That was only a small part of him though, that pity was rare to come by now.
He was a little curious about what happened to the cult though, they hadn't seen them at all in about a month which was strange to say the least, they usually liked to appear every few weeks or so to try and kidnap Manny for some weird ritual or torture which almost kills the boy. Robin had no idea where they were, nor did he really care, but he did wonder a little bit, it was a tiny lighter flame of curiosity that would flicker in and out of existence, maybe he was just worried about them returning unannounced and trying something again, he didn't really know.
Then he heard a noise, a wail of sorts, and everything seemed to stop. The TV turned itself off, his tea cold and Robin felt uneasy as he turned to see where the noise had come from, he froze when he saw... the basement. The basement had always made its presence known and Robin knew it was waiting for them, he somehow felt its impatience as he walked past its door. Harry told him he was being ridiculous but he felt it too, it was a sort of whiny hum that would settle in their throats, bugging them constantly throughout the day. It got so bad one night that Robin couldn't sleep due to how breathless it made him, of course Harry knew about that but always dismissed it as allergies, they did live close to the woods after all.
He didn't want to go in there but that wail he heard sounded desperate, it sounded like a wounded dog on its last legs. He couldn't help but go to investigate, it could be something dangerous after all and without Harry he was the only one there to protect the kids. Robin slowly got up and made his way to the basement door just as another muffled cry echoed up its stairs, blocked only by the hardwood door. He reached out and grasped onto its handle before pulling it open quickly. He once again felt the whiny hum in his throat but it wasn't nearly as bad, it felt more excited now. The stairs were long and disappeared into the darkness below, Robin was still very hesitant to go down but took a deep breath and began to descend into the basement, going slowly in case he needed to make a run for it.
Everything was quiet and still, it really did feel like time had stopped and the idea of things being frozen in time made Robin shiver, he brushed off the thought and continued down each step until he reached the bottom. The basement was dark and murky, it certainly didn't feel like a part of the house anymore. As he walked through, he felt the floor squelch under his feet, making him squeak in fear, what was that? He felt around with his claws and felt something warm and squishy close by, it felt like it was oozing an indescribable liquid. Robin quickly withdrew from the object and tried to distance himself from it but he couldn't shake the feeling of that pulsating and wriggling... thing from his mind. After a minute of blindly mapping out the room, Robin pressed his hand against something cool, a wall perhaps but he couldn't be sure, it was progress at least. He heard the wail once again but it was still very quiet, it still sounded muffled, Robin wasn't sure if the cry was even coming from a person anymore, it sounded more like a dying animal.
"Hello?" he called out.
He didn't get a response which made him even more suspicious, was this real or not? He ran his hand along the wall as he walked, tracing the perimeter of the room as he shouted out and promptly headed back to the stairs.
"Is anyone there?"
Silence followed and that confirmed his suspicions of this being a trap even more. He dashed to the stairs and ran up only to find that the door was locked. He tried opening it but it didn't budge at all, no matter how many times he pulled at the handle, his chances of escaping were getting slimmer and slimmer.
It was darker now and Robin felt a sense of doom begin to settle rather than that whiny hum, the basement finally had him in its clutches. He also began to hear footsteps behind him slowly walk up the stairs, he didn't need to turn around to know it was a teacher but who was it? Which teacher? He turned a little to face whoever stalked the darkness only to be met face to face with a large bat which hit him on the head. Robin fell to the floor, feeling dizzy and woozy, also hitting his head on the wall as he fell, the person started dragging his body back into the basement.
"This is it; this is where I die," he thought as he fell into unconsciousness.
When he started to come around, all he could see through his parted eyelids was a bright light shining down on him, he felt uncomfortable as he couldn't move any part of his body, it was as if he had gone numb. His eyes quickly snapped open to see that he was still in the basement but this time the lights were on and a guy was awkwardly stumbling about, kicking stuff out of his way as he walked over to Robin with a piece of cloth. He froze a little when he saw the bird was awake.
"Ahhh, you're awaaake," the guy slurred, "that maakes things j... just a little more... difficulllt."
Robin was scared but this guy didn't seem the threatening, he looked and sounded more like a sad drunk who just fell into the wrong place but everything here was deceitful, he had to be wary of anyone who stepped inside the building.
"W-Who are you?" he asked.
"I'm no ooone, just your f-friendly neighbourh... ood lamp," he replied, clumsily tying the cloth around his beak tight enough so he couldn't talk.
Lamp? What? Was he another teacher or just some idiot who broke in? Robin couldn't tell anymore.
"Yeahhh, I'm a lllamp, l-l-lamp, just a mutheer fuckiiiin laaamp," he sang, hiccupping a little as his voice rang out.
Robin felt restraints tying him to a chair, holding him down, once again they had been done terribly but it was so bad that it would be rather impossible to untie them, he'd need something sharp to cut the ropes. He saw broken shards of glass on the floor but they were too far from his reach, he wouldn't be able to get them from where he was. He was at a loss really.
"Loook at me... S-Sorry for the meess *hic* but shit happens ya know?" he said, lifting Robin's face up with a bloody hand.
Robin noticed that several cuts that ran up his hands and arms, some looked jagged and messy but others were more precise, as if done with a blade. He took note of a pocket knife on the floor which was covered in blood and surrounded by what seemed like a few razor blades, it was a confusing sight but it seemed rather sinister, he had no idea what they had been used for or what they were going to be used for but at least he was wary of them.
"It's been tuffff for us ya know? Not like we had much'v a chooice," he rambled, "only waayy to get by nowadays."
It was... actually kinda sad to hear that, reminded Robin of when he first left uni and couldn't get a job, trying everything he could to make ends meet. However, that feeling of sympathy was gone within seconds as he remembered who he was, a teacher, a psychopath.
"But I'm soorry man, came a liiiiiiittle too *hic* drunk for the l-lesson," he said, "here to teach those bastaards about dream cause I'm Larrry the muther fuckinn lamp!"
And with a small spin and a large puff of smoke he turned into a lamp with arms and legs. The lamp held onto a stack of boxes to stay upright.
"Anyways... Imma go do that *hic* now, you st...tay put and let me *hic* deaaal with them."
Larry turned and stumbled over to the stairs before trying to make his way up, he slipped a few times. After what seemed to be an hour, Robin watched as he left the room, slamming the door behind him. He tried to cry out but with the rag tied round his beak he only managed a squeak in his throat which was barely audible. The kids were in danger and he needed to get upstairs but it would take forever for him to get out of this room, he was too far from the pocket knife and glass shards and he couldn't untie the knots holding him back.
He felt himself begin to panic a little, if anything happened to them then it would be his fault, all of it, no excuses, no pity, just the blame being pinned on him for being so fucking dumb. What the hell was Harry going to say when he got back? If he actually came back that it, was this just Roy finishing them all off to end the show? Was this seriously the end for them? Robin hoped it wasn't, he didn't want to go yet, he had so much more to explore.
Right now, he was just praying that this Larry would go easy on them and that Harry was safe, that's all he was clinging onto right now. Maybe his prayers would be answered.
