The boy vaguely remembered being dragged from the cage and dropped into his holding cell. He felt too weak to move from where the men had dropped him into a heap on the floor of the cell. He could smell blood in the air; whether it be from his own body or someone else he did not know, nor did he truly care. It was clear to the boy that his father had no intention of changing him back to his human form anytime soon. The boy looked up at the sound of a door opening. The last time he had heard that sound, he had been brought to the cage. Fear ripped through him at the thought that he might be brought back to that place. He weakly moved to the back of his cell, the tendrils-as he had come to call them-wrapping themselves around his body as if to protect him. He had yet to figure out how to control them, but he thought that controlling them might have something to do with his emotions.
He looked up at the person who had come to stand at the door to the cell. The person was wearing a decidedly feminine-looking mask, but there was no doubt that this person was a man. The mask had high-arched eyebrows, black painted lips, and dark, raccoon-looking circles around the eyes. The boy did not want to trust this masked man, so he only pulled himself closer to the corner of the cell he was trying to hide in when the man opened the door to the cell. The man knelt down before him, offering a hand to him. This certainly couldn't be a good sign. Any time people came to his cell it usually ended with him being harmed in some way, and he certainly didn't want to go through any more pain anytime soon. His back was still killing him.
When the child only tried to back away all the more, the man retracted his proffered hand. He reached for the ties to his mask and slowly lowered it, revealing himself to be the man who had looked upon him with compassion during the transformation. "I won't hurt you, Little One. If you want to be free from this place, we must hurry." He placed back on the mask before offering his hand to the boy once more. "My name is James Totheark, child. You can trust me."
The boy slowly extended a hand to the man, who immediately pulled him to his feet. The boy still didn't understand how he could change his size, but he accepted it. Even shrunk down he was still taller than this…Totheark. No one had offered him help of any sort. Why would this man want to save him? Couldn't he get in trouble for helping him?
As the man led him through various corridors, the one in the mask turned to look onto the One that was once called a human. Why hadn't he told anyone about this? He should have, for now even his own son was at risk for becoming this monster. He had signed his life away to the company the day he had begun working here. They stopped outside a small door. He put in a code which opened the door to reveal a small child, perhaps three years younger than the other once-human boy.
The man picked up the child, his son, and offered him out to the tall being. Seeing that the child didn't know what to do, Totheark explained, "They will hurt this boy, my son, just like they have hurt you. I will help you, but I ask that you take him with you in return, to keep him safe. Do you agree to that?" He would never be able to forgive himself if anything were to happen to his son. It would be better to live without the child than to risk him being taken for experimentation. That still didn't make it hurt any less to have to leave the boy.
He looked from the small boy to the father. The once-human didn't know how to care for a child and he barely knew how to care for himself, but he would not allow anyone to suffer like he had. With a nod of his head, the boy was placed into his waiting arms. The small human in his arms clung to the sheet he used to keep himself covered. The child only looked on him with curiosity. That was refreshing. A tendril came up to caress the little boy's face, which brought a giggle from the small child. Had the once human a mouth, he would be smiling .It was odd how a child was able to bring him some happiness with something as simple as a smile. Then again, it had been a while since he had been happy.
The masked man nodded to him before giving his son's head one last touch, knowing that he would likely never see the child again. He began leading them through the complex once again. They unfortunately made a wrong turn, coming to a large room that the scientists were meeting in. The masked man quickly turned to head them in the opposite direction, but a shot from one of the armed guards rang out through the room. The once-human child held the now-crying boy closer to him, but it was the sight of his masked savior falling to the ground with a large splotch of red growing from his back that scared and enraged him the most.
"Slendy, please! You need to wake up! You're dreaming again," Ellaina was saying. She had returned to the hotel room to find Anne and him fast asleep. At first it seemed that he hadn't been dreaming, but then she had begun to sense his emotions. He was fearful, sad, and angry. She began to lightly shake his shoulders, all the while begging him to wake up.
A/N- So, did any of you correctly guess how the man with the compassionate face was? Poor Slendy. Why am I so mean to him? But, yay for little Totheark! More chapters to come soon.