AMS
40 DAY LIMIT
"Frisk, since we know for sure now that no one will be able to rescue us, what should we do?" asked the monster girl.
The girl only remembers a little bit of the previous timeline now. After a while, the memories turn into dejavu if history repeats itself. Nothing more, nothing less. This applies to everyone and anyone except Frisk. She is the one who is burdened to remembering every single detail. She winced a little when she looked at the monster girl because she could see the blood.
"I just realized I never got your name," tiredly said Frisk.
"Naomi," replied the girl.
Frisk nodded.
"There isn't a clock in here, but we don't need to know the time. All we have to know for right now is the pattern in which he does things. The first thing he does everytime the pattern starts over, is he comes in and wipes us both down with a hot rag and he brushes our teeth for us. He only killed you last time because in the span of 40 days, your parents think you are dead. So he in turn kills you as he has no more use of you," Frisk said.
Naomi nodded. As much as it hurt, Frisk was right. She wasn't saying these things to hurt Naomi. She was saying these things to give Naomi a better understanding of her situation at hand.
"I'm sorry, but it had to be said. The second thing he does after he cleans us up, is he rapes us both. Not pleasant, I know, but it is a fact. The third thing he does, is he feeds us scraps. It's enough to keep us feeling no stomach pains for a while until it is time to eat again. But we are never really full sadly. He has two men come in to feed us at the same time so he doesn't have to untie us. Grillby leaves us with them by ourselves, which they also rape us after they feed us. If you manage to get your hands free before the two men feed us, you can surprise the man feeding you and stab him right in the head with a utensil. If the only other utensil is a spoon, scoop out his eye. My guy will turn around, when he does, scoop out his eye next. They will be loud from the moment you hurt your guy. Grillby will be alerted, but thankfully it does take him some time to get to us from downstairs as this room is specially hidden. How else has Fuku not noticed us right?" said Frisk.
Naomi nodded. She couldn't help but think Frisk was a genius. In all honesty, she wasn't a genius at all. It's just, she's got a few ideas on how to get them both free before Naomi's parents give up hope. They are on a strict schedule as the days blend in together. Frisk knows this fact, thus knows that when Grillby's pattern starts over, it's a new day. Grillby opened the door. Cue the acting and scooting. Naomi and Frisk shrieked and were both overacting at the sight of Grillby. He was wearing gloves and in one of his gloved hands was a hot rag, and in the other gloved hand was a bucket full of hot water. Naomi scooted away towards the dripping water. Frisk scooted away as well, to make it look non suspicious. Grillby took the bait, but rolled his eyes and scoffed.
"I'm only going to wash you. The fun doesn't happen until you're clean. So your shrieking and scooting doesn't make sense for right now," calmly said Grillby.
"You raped me! And you took another poor girl hostage!" yelled Naomi.
"Ever since my wife got older, I no longer got excited. I need an outlet, but at the same time, I can't have you girls alive too long or else I'll be found out. But I can't kill you before your parents give up hope. Because as long as the parents or guardian has hope that their child is alive, they will feel it when their child is dead," explained Grillby.
Frisk threw up right then and there. The stress, the images from the past timeline, and the news she got from Grillby made it too much for her to handle. She felt better, but only physically. Grillby stripped Naomi of her undergarments, and began to wipe her down. He hadn't noticed the dripping water thankfully. Or maybe he did and paid no attention to it. The second option means he doesn't know how duct tape works! Frisk suppressed a smirk. She had to keep a poker face at all times, except for when acting is necessary. Dang. If she manages to find a way out of this with Naomi, she needs to apply for acting with Mettaton EX if she lets her. But, if Naomi's death is inevitable... Frisk doesn't even want to think of that. She feels she shouldn't give up on her no matter what. Even if she goes through a blank slate where she can't think of any new ideas, she has to keep trying! This thought filled her with a newfound determination.
"I will save us. Your life will be spared. No matter what!" thought Frisk.
After Grillby bathed Naomi, he took a toothbrush and toothpaste out from his apron and brushed her teeth. He then took out a small bottle of water.
"Swish and spit in the corner," ordered Grillby.
Naomi nodded and did as he said. Then it was Frisk's turn. Naomi knew that during Frisk's bath and teeth brushing, it was her job to run her hands under the running water. There was only one explanation for why there was running water coming through the roof. There's snow on top of the roof and this is a warm building. Frisk's bath was a little bit longer than Naomi's. Frisk couldn't figure out why. Maybe it was because she held a special place in Grillby's sick, twisted heart? Grillby was being so careful and gentle that Frisk almost forgot she and another girl were captives and that their lives were on the line. She had to shake her head a little to bring her back to the present. Grillby smiled to himself and to her. He knew he was good with his hands, and seeing Frisk react this way only fueled his ego. After he brushed Frisk's teeth, he made her swish and spit in her corner. When Naomi heard her spit, she took her hands away from the running water. Grillby sat down the things in his hands, stripped, and had his way with the two young ladies. Afterwards, he put his clothes back on, picked up the things he brought in, and left the room.
"Dad? What were you doing in the closet?" asked Fuku.
Naomi was back at rinsing her hands. She was to leave them in the water up until the midway point in their meal to maximize their success rate.
"When I opened it, it smelled bad. So I cleaned the closet," Grillby lied.
Fuku snorted.
"Oh dad you're such a dork. You don't have to use a rag and two toothbrushes to clean the closet," laughed Fuku.
"Oh. Heh, silly me," chuckled Grillby.
"I got finals coming up, so I gotta study. Please don't bother me. If the place gets busy, call Papyrus to help you since Sans is busy looking for Frisk," said Fuku.
She sounded sad as she said the last part.
"First Naomi goes missing. Then Frisk. It really makes me depressed, ya know dad?" said Fuku.
Frisk was in tears by now. By the sounds of it, the two girls are hidden away in a special room that's linked to their closet. Fuku is so close. Frisk screamed for help, startling Naomi. Naomi joined in the scream fest as well. Frisk held up her hand after a while, and Naomi stopped screaming. It was bizarre. Fuku wasn't able to hear them, but they could hear her!
"New information. These walls are reversable soundproof walls. We can hear the outside world, but the outside world cannot hear us," said Frisk, breathing heavy.
"I see," was all Naomi could say.
"Does the duct tape feel slippery yet?" asked Frisk.
"Yes. I could slide my hands out at this very moment," replied Naomi.
"Okay. You can take your hands away from the water then if you want. Just don't slide them out until the men come to feed us. Hopefully they come in with a fork. Last timeline, they were unpredictable about what foods they would bring and what silverware. But you know what to do right?" asked Frisk.
Naomi nodded. Frisk smiled.
"Do you feel determined to take back your own freedom?" asked Frisk.
For the first time ever, Naomi smiled.
"Yes."
"It pains me that they went missing too. If it wasn't for me owning a restaurant, I would be out there helping them look for the girls," said Grillby.
"I'd help too if it wasn't for my schooling," sighed Fuku.
"Well, you should probably get to studying. You have a big exam to look forward to," softly said Grillby.
Fuku sniffled and smiled.
"Yeah. You're right. Thanks dad. For reminding me of the important things," thanked Fuku.
With that, Fuku went into her room, closed and locked the door. Grillby snickered at how easy it was to trick his own daughter.
"She has no idea! It's a good thing though. If she ever found out, I would have to hire two goons to kill her and dispose of her body. Then I'd have to pay them a lot of money just to turn themselves in to take the blame light off me," thought Grillby.
The thought of spending so much money to cover up his daughter's death made his anxiety shoot up.
Fuku was in the comfort of her room for the rest of the night it would seem. For some reason, and Frisk knew this, everytime a timeline was loaded upon to change the user's actions, it caused others to change their original course of action sometimes. Though with the way Frisk is secluded from the world, she had no way of knowing who this affected at the moment.
Two men came up the stairs as quietly as they could, carrying bowls of scrap burger buns and fry bits. They had one bit bottle of water. Half would be given to one girl while the other half went to the other girl. When they walked in and each man sat down next to the girls with the food, Frisk suddenly felt ill inside. They had brought with them... no silverware.
"Why is there no silverware?" asked Frisk as innocently as she could.
"Because we're feeding you finger food," replied the crocodile monster.
Frisk thought of a way to perhaps get the guys to get silverware.
"But that food is super greasy. You'll get grease all over your hands. Do you really want that?" asked Frisk.
The crocodile and stork monsters looked at each other.
"Gotta hand it to her. She's right. I'll go get the silverware. You stay here and keep watch," said the crocodile.
"Harumph! He always has to be the one who gets to do something," grumbled the stork.
By this point, Naomi is struggling to keep her hands in the sopping wet duct tape. She had to hold it up on her wrists so it doesn't slip off. Frisk blinked at Naomi in morse code. She told Naomi to tackle to stork guy and snap his neck. Naomi didn't hesitate. Only one small shriek escaped the stork's mouth before Naomi snapped his neck.
"Good job. When the second guy gets back, do the same thing. Take off my duct tape. We can use it to trip him over when he walks in. Hurry!" ordered Frisk.
Naomi hurried and ripped off Frisk's duct tape. They made it like a trip wire. They heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. When the crocodile monster opened up the door, he saw the lifeless body of his partner.
"Stork! Buddy!"
He quickly moved his feet. And he quickly fell over. Naomi and Frisk jumped him and snapped his neck. Frisk felt herself gain EXP, and gold. She felt immensly guilty, but knew if she didn't sacrifice something, Naomi wouldn't live. It's still the day 1 and they're already almost free! The monster was careless and left the door open. They jumped off the monster's lifeless body and jumped at the door. They stopped short when Grillby appeared in front of them.
"..."
Grillby and the girls stared for a while at each other. He noticed the two dead monster men and the blood stained on the two girls. He sighed and shook his head.
"This won't do. I had just given you both baths. Now you're all dirty again! Stay put. I'll be right back to clean you both. Again. If Fuku sees me coming out of the closet with a rag and bucket again, she's going to be suspicious. So I gotta make it quick," calmly said Grillby.
He shut the door then. He wasn't upset about them killing his men? He was only disappointed about them being soaked in blood? What world does Grillby live in?!
"I just realized we probably should have screamed for help while the door was still open," said Naomi.
Frisk face palmed.
"Should I load? Should we redo everything just for that one moment to scream? It doesn't necessarily guarantee our freedom, but it is a chance at it. Maybe I should wait until either of us dies before loading. If Grillby is that reckless to do it once, chances are he'll be reckless again. We'll just have to wait for another opportunity like that to arise," thought Frisk.
"It's okay. If Grillby is reckless once, he'll be reckless again. We can't let just the presence of him distract us from our goal of being free. We just have to wait for another opportunity, and seize it," explained Frisk.
Naomi full on smiled.
"Yeah, you're right! But wait, he's going to bound us both again. What if he bounds us with rope this time?" asked Naomi.
That would be a problem. If Grillby gets something better than duct tape, they would be screwed.
"Just wait for him to open the door. When we hear it click and see it open, scream at the top of your lungs," said Frisk.
That is their only opportunity at freedom at this point. The one instant when the door opens. If that fails, they have to re kill the two monsters just for the staring contest with the door open to happen again. Except for that time they will actually scream. Click
The door opened slowly. When they saw light, they screamed. Fuku faintly heard the two girls screaming. Her head bolted upright from her studies.
"What was that? That sounded like...Naomi and...Frisk!" thought Fuku.
Grillby quickly got in, shut the door and locked it. He shot the girls an angry glare.
"I'm trying to be as nice as possible but YOU TWO ARE REALLY PUSHING IT!" yelled Grillby, his flames growing bigger.
Frisk and Naomi hugged each other and shook in fear. Grillby slapped them both across their faces, and proceeded in washing them quickly. Fuku just stood in the hallway looking around.
"Now I know I heard their screams. They sounded far away, yet so close..."
Just then Grillby came out of the closet with the rag and bucket.
"Dad? Why were you in the closet with a rag and bucket again? Did you hear anyone scream by chance? What if it was Naomi and Frisk?! They are still in Snowdin!" asked Fuku.
"I missed a spot cleaning the closet. It's been bothering me. Y-you heard them scream?" asked Grillby.
"Yes papa. We should immediately tell Sans and Naomi's parents! This is important news," excitedly said Fuku.
Grillby's head lowered.
"I'm afraid I can't let that happen," sadly sighed Grillby.
Fuku didn't need to ask what to see what that meant. With that one sentence, Fuku knew her father was behind their disappearance.
"Where are they? You can't keep them locked up forever!" demanded Fuku.
As a rule of thumb, Fuku always carried a pocket knife on her. Grillby dropped the bucket and rag and lunged at Fuku. Quick as the wind she took out her pocker knife and stabbed him right through the heart. He bled a little and turned to dust. Fuku didn't feel any emotion right now as adrenaline was still coursing through her small body. It was a lot to take in.
"They're in the house somewhere. A monster can only live up to 40 days without eating before they starve to death. I'm going to assume the same for humans. They've been missing for only one day so far. So they have 39 days left before starvation claims them," thought Fuku.
First things first, she had to close down the restaurant. The sign she put up read:
Closed until further notice. She called Sans, Papyrus, and Naomi's parents to come over. Only Sans and Papyrus could show up since Naomi's parents had their jobs to deal with on top of bills.
"What's up Fuku?" asked Sans.
"My dad was behind Naomi and Frisk's disappearance. He tried to kill me when I told him I had heard them scream and that we had to tell you guys and Naomi's parents. I hadn't even suspected him until he said he can't let me contact you guys. If I didn't have my pocket knife on me, I'd be dead right now and unable to tell you all this. I don't know where he put them, but he came out of the closet holding a bucket of water and a rag. I think there might be a space in there where he put them, but I could be wrong. All I know is we have 39 days to find them before starvation claims them," explained Fuku.
Sans and Papyrus nodded.
"Then less talking and more finding! It's noon already," said Sans.
"Right. Then the first place we check is the closet," said Fuku.
The three walked up the lengthy staircase and opened up the closet.
"Shoot! If only we were able to kill Grillby when he was in here, we'd be free right now. But from the sounds of it, Fuku killed Grillby! Our fate is up to her now," thought Frisk.
Her stomach rumbled loudly. They looked over to where their food had spilled over and groaned.
"At least we can keep each other company," said Naomi in a hopeful tone.
"At this rate, the only thing that can kill us is starvation since we have a water supply running from the ceiling. So we better pray that Fuku can find us," said Frisk.
"Fuku's so smart! I'll bet that she'll find us within the next 40 minutes," laughed Naomi.
Her laugh was a little irregular. Kinda psychotic. All the cold blooded murder did something to Naomi.
"Don't turn into a psychotic murderer. Otherwise this will all be for nothing. Freeing you just to put everyone else in danger is not my cup of tea," thought Frisk. She wanted to say that, but kept quiet.
"Killing the bad guys felt great! If we manage to get out, I wanna become a hitman for justice!" thought Naomi excitedly.
From the other side, they heard the main closet door open.
"This is our closet. Let's take everything out of here so we can see the walls," said Fuku.
Naomi and Frisk scurried over to the door to listen intently on what was going on.
"She must've seen Grillby come out of here when he attacked her and she killed him! He gave us a quick rub down remember? I know why now. Because Fuku saw him leave before with a bucket and rag. She saw him come out of the closet a second time with the bucket and rag. So, you're right Naomi! Fuku will find us!" said Frisk as tears rolled down her face.
Even though the raping stopped with Grillby's death, she felt like that would be nothing compared to how she feels so helpess being locked up right now. She knows she will never be able to close and lock her bedroom door again for a long while. Sans will just have to understand when she doesn't close and lock the bathroom door.
"Okay, everything has been taken out. What now? It looks like an empty closet. Nothing more, nothing less," said Sans.
Fuku walked over to the pile of dust that used to be her father and picked up a set of keys.
"There must be a secret door in there. It's a large walk in closet, so it can have a secret room if my dad wanted it to for sick purposes," said Fuku.
Sans and Papyrus walked in the closet and began feeling the walls up to down and side to side. The door's handle is decorated to look like the wallpaper inside the closet, but it still feels like a door handle for sure.
"Sans, I found a door handle! It's locked though," said Papyrus.
His voice sounded so small ever since Frisk and Naomi had been kidnapped. His view of the world had been shattered. It broke Sans' heart for his younger brother. But there was nothing he could do. Sans blamed himself. How could he have not known Grillby to do something like this?! They had been friends since middle school. They practically grew up together. Grillby had been the older brother Sans never had. A single sad tear fell from one of Sans' eye socket. And to think of what he might have done to the poor girls broke his heart even more. Fuku blamed herself for leaving her friend behind to go out. It was never a problem when they were kids. Naomi would come over, Fuku would leave, and Naomi would help Grillby out with the restaurant and then go home after he gave her some money for helping him. He was like a second father to Naomi, and he had betrayed them. Fuku fought back the tears. She felt she had no right to cry since she indirectly caused her best friend to get kidnapped.
"Here. I found these keys on him," sniffled Fuku.
"It's okay to cry," said Sans sympathetically.
"No. No it's not okay to cry. The whole day while Frisk and Naomi were locked up and mistreated by my father, I had been at school, and then at the mall being happy, taking everything for granted, and in my room studying. I acted like studying was the worst thing in the world while they suffered!" angrily shouted Fuku.
Sans didn't say another word. Fuku needed to grieve her own way and come to accept things as they are in her own time. Papyrus found the right key and turned the knob. When he opened the door, Frisk and Naomi fell forward while hugging each other. They were no longer soaked in blood because of the bath, but it was clear they were stressed out beyond belief, and had been crying. Frisk looked worse off because she had the memories of enduring 40 days and witnessing Naomi's death. Sans had a feeling she originally went through 40 days and loaded. It warmed his heart. He knows Frisk could've simply escaped without Naomi, but she sacrificed so much just to save her. But then he flinched when he noticed she had gained some exp and gold.
"Had she killed someone?" thought Sans.
"Uh Sans? Come here," shakily said Papyrus.
"What Papy? Gasp!"
There they were. Two bloody piles of dust with forks in one pile. Naomi had the equal amount of exp and gold.
"Frisk? Are you okay? Talk to me," said Sans.
Because it had only been one day since Frisk loaded, Naomi still had her memories of the previous timeline somewhat. She didn't remember how she died or the details, but she got the overall gist of it.
Frisk wanted to say something but couldn't. She wanted to stay awake longer but she couldn't fight it. She wasn't determined to stay away. She was determined to sleep and get her strength back.
"Naomi, why does Frisk look worse off than you? She's so pale and skeletal looking," asked Fuku.
"I can't remember details, but in the previous timeline, Frisk wanted to test out whether or not someone would save us before one of us would get killed. Days went by and by the 40th day, Grillby killed me. I can't remember how. But he did. That's when Frisk loaded and she formed a new plan based off not time, but by Grillby's daily patterned she discovered from the orginal timeline. There was dripping water in there, and we were originally bound with duct tape. Both of us overreacted with fear when Grillby first came in to give us our baths and brush our teeth, she told me to scream and scoot away from him but close to the water source. When he was done bathing me and such and moved on to Frisk, I put my bound hands in the water. When our meal time came and two monster men came in to feed us and Frisk saw there was no silverware, she outsmarted the monster who was going to feed her into getting silverware. When he was gone she blinked to me in morse code to snap the other monster's neck, which I did. I took the duct tape off Frisk and we made it like a trip wire which tripped the second monster and we killed him too. The rest you guys know," explained Naomi.
Everyone was astounded and impressed.
"Frisk, that was amazing! You used the second best thing you could to time which was my dad's repetitive actions!" praised Fuku.
All she got out of Frisk was snoring.
"Oh, she's still out," nervously laughed Fuku.
"I guess it took a great toll on her mentally to actually remember the details of the first 40 days you guys spent. Even though it was you who was murdered, she had the worst of it," sighed Sans.
Papyrus picked up Frisk and went to leave Grillby's with Sans following behind. They set her on her bed after putting a nightgown on her. They closed the door and sat in the living room to talk. Hours passed when they suddenly heard Frisk screaming and banging on her door!
"Shoot!" shrieked Sans.
They hadn't thought of how giving Frisk privacy would affect her. When they opened the door, Frisk was on her knees facing the doorway wailing like a baby. It broke their hearts. Sans fell to his knees and pulled Frisk in for a hug and held her tight while he sang her a lullby. Papyrus joined in singing her a lullaby. When Frisk calmed down and fell back asleep, they gently put her back in her bed, but this time they left her door wide open.
"I guess she won't be wanting privacy any time soon," sighed Sans.
"Yes, you are right about that dear brother," quietly agreed Papyrus.
Papyrus was heavily worried about his best friend's well being. Meanwhile at Naomi's home, she wants her door wide open too. But not just her own door, everyone's door has to be open. Any closed door triggers Naomi and she goes ballistic, smashing the closest thing to her.