Bendy smiled as he tossed a ball he had just made with his ink across the room, laughing softly as he watched Ink Blot chase it and bat it around with her paws. It was a peaceful afternoon. Alice sat on the couch, reading a book. Boris and Norman played cards on the table while Sammy played on the piano. If Bendy listened closely, he could hear Henry in the kitchen helping Linda prepare snacks for everyone and lemonade for the Butcher Gang who were outside watering the garden. Bendy let out a soft contented whistle as he rested his head on his hands. It was days like today that made Bendy feel like everything had been worth it. That all the pain and suffering they had been through was but a small price for the love and happiness he and his family now had.

Ink Blot soon got bored of the ball and running up to Bendy, begging to be petted. Bendy chuckled and complied, watching as Ink Blot's soul flared in pleasure. Bendy had learned a lot about souls and his ability to see them. For example, they would flare at different brightness in response to emotions. Souls also glowed with different colors depending on how tainted with sins they were. All the ink creatures had a tainted look to them by virtue of the demonic ink that made up their bodies and ran through their veins. Not even Henry's good soul had escaped unstained from his time in the depths. It filled Bendy with guilt and rage at the Liar to realize just how much Henry's body and soul had been affected.

Ink Blot purred in response to Bendy's petting, making the toon purr happily in response. Animal souls were different than humans, simpler. They were also purer in a way a human soul never could be, as they did not have the capacity to sin the way humans could. Bendy and Ink Blot both suddenly froze as Bendy's new sense told him something was wrong… very very wrong…

Bendy's gaze snapped towards Sammy, his eyes glowing brightly just as Sammy stumbled over the notes of his song before coming to a stop, getting everyone else's attention as well. Sammy gripped the sides of his head, muttering softly to himself. To everyone in the room, it looked like Sammy was on the verge of a panic attack and they were all getting themselves ready, either to help him calm down or to stop him should he slip into a relapse. But Bendy frowned as he looked at Sammy's fluctuating soul, seeing what almost looked like a shadow trying to spread across it.

Slowly, Bendy got to his feet and headed over to Sammy, ignoring the way Ink Blot hissed at the musician. Bendy was one of the best choices to approach Sammy like this, as he was less likely to try and attack the devil. And even if Sammy did try to attack Bendy, the toon would be able to brush off anything the ink man tried to throw at him.

"Sammy..?" Bendy asked quietly, reaching towards Sammy but not touching him yet. Sammy stiffed for a second as his gaze locked onto Bendy. The toon barely had time to register that Sammy's eyes were glowing brighter than normal before the musician lunged towards him.

"My Lord!" Sammy said in a mixture of awe and desperation. "Your form is so nearly perfect! My sacrifice has finally paid off and you're about to reward me, aren't you? My Lord… oh my lord…"

Bendy was only vaguely aware of what Sammy was saying because the moment Sammy grabbed Bendy's shoulders, the devil was in contact with Sammy's soul. This was another difference between humans and ink creatures. The human body was specifically designed to house and protect the soul, so it required some effort on Bendy's part to get in contact with the soul to see into it more deeply. With ink creatures, their souls were a lot closer to the surface so there were times, especially when they were feeling extreme emotions, that it took Bendy effort not to see deeply into someone's soul. And at the moment, Sammy's soul was basically shouting at Bendy's senses.

Bendy was getting flashes of time in the studio, from before he was even created. He saw Sammy getting increasingly cruel and angry to those around him, lashing out in response to the increased stress and pressure he got from the Liar. He saw times after the studio had fallen into despair, watching as Sammy turned to worship in order to find anything to keep himself stable. He saw Sammy sacrifice others in Bendy's name, even leading fights against those who refused to believe…

But the images were only distractions from the shadow seeping throughout Sammy's soul, stirring up the madness that had once plagued it. Bringing out all the dark thoughts and desires… the anger and desperation… and Bendy could feel it latching onto him through the connection, reaching all his killer instincts… trying to overwhelm the devil in his bloodlust as he used to be… telling him to kill… to destroy… to tear…

"Hold Sammy tight! I've got Bendy!"

Henry's voice broke through the fog that had clouded Bendy's mind as he was pulled from Sammy's grip. He stumbled, suddenly finding his limbs longer than he was expecting and would have fallen to the floor if not for Henry's steady hand. When had he taken on his Ink Demon form?

"Bendy, are you alright?" Henry asked, carefully turning Bendy away from Sammy while Boris helped the musician calm down. The Ink Demon nodded, giving Henry an assuring whistle as he melted down back into his toon form. With Henry's help, Sammy was able to come out of his relapse and things were able to return to normal.

But Bendy couldn't help but think about that shadow he had seen on Sammy's soul. Was that simply a manifestation of Sammy's trauma? A literal shadow of the studio's events that they have all been working to escape? Or was it something else? Something more… sinister?

Whatever it was, Bendy was determined to keep an eye out for it.

Just in case…