The door slowly creaked open as Henry entered the studio with Bendy sitting on his shoulder and as the wind from outside slammed it shut, the sound echoed throughout the dark, deserted halls of the abandoned studio.
"I'd never thought that I had to come back here" Henry mumbled, gripping his baseball bat "but if it means getting Lily back then I guess I have no choice." Bendy nodded in agreement but remained silent as Henry began making his way through the halls, baseball bat at the ready in case any ink Monsters decided to jump out unexpectedly and attack the pair but it seemed pretty quiet, for now at least.
"How long do you think it'll be before we find Lily?" Bendy questioned.
"I'm not too sure,the Ink Demon could be keeping her anywhere and this place is pretty big" Henry replied before letting out a sigh "and the longer it may take us to find her, the worse her condition could get." Bendy didn't say anything else but he could tell just how worried Henry was about Lily but he also felt a slight twang of anger, why was this happening, why was an innocent child like Lily getting dragged into all this mess. The man continued walking through the halls, keeping his guard up at all times but so far there had been no sign of any Ink Monsters or even the Ink Demon himself.
"Henry?" Bendy piped up "do you think Lily's going to be okay."
"I'm sure she will buddy" Henry reassured "once we find her and get her out of here, we'll take her straight to the hospital so she can have that operation and get better."
"It's just that I was thinking, what if we find her but it turns out to be a trap" the little toon stated "what if all this is just a ruse to get you back here so that he can take revenge and he's using Lily as bait."
"Well if it does turn out that way then I'm not going down without a fight" Henry replied, a hint of determination in his voice "I came here to get my daughter back and I'm not leaving without her, she's sick and needs to be in a hospital."
Meanwhile, in the small break room somewhere else in the study, Sammy was kneeling, seemingly praying as the Ink Demon emerged from the wall behind him, carrying an unconscious Lily.
"My lord, you have returned" Sammy implied, standing up and turning to face the tall, evil incarnation of Bendy, towering over the Ink covered man as he held the none moving small child in his hold "and I see you managed to find the little lamb."
"Indeed" "Bendy" replied, placing Lily back on the couch, a small moan coming from the little girl's mouth, she appeared to be in a worse condition since they took her, her face was now red and blotchy, also her fever seemed to be worse than it had already been, making her face clammy "although for a sick child she seemed to put up quite a fight when I caught her but she knew she couldn't escape, she was too weak to even try getting away and I don't think she'll be trying another escape attempt anytime soon." He stepped away from the couch and walked over to Sammy, instructing him to keep an eye on Lily whilst he'd go and patrol the studio, check if Henry had arrived yet.
"I will watch her my lord, I'll make sure she doesn't try and escape again" Sammy replied with a bow.
"Good, now I'm going to see if Henry has arrived yet" "Bendy" implied "I'm leaving you in charge of the girl and remember, don't hurt her just yet, we need her alive for my little game." Sammy bowed in response as the Ink Demon left the room by one of his portals, leaving his prophet to keep an eye on Lily and make sure she doesn't try to escape again, although the child didn't seem to be any condition to even sit up, let alone try and escape.
"I don't think you're going to be much trouble now little lamb" he mumbled, looking at the little girl who remained in a deep sleep "still, it's quite remarkable how you managed to get away the first time, despite your current condition."
Elsewhere in the studio, Henry and Bendy where still wandering the halls, trying to hunt down the Ink Demon, if they managed to find him then there could be a chance that he could have Lily with him and the longer she remained missing, the more severe her condition could get and this worried Henry, not knowing how Lily would be when they find her, if they find her, the studio was a huge place and the other Bendy could have hidden her someplace that would make it impossible for them to find her. The man continued to keep his guard up, clutching his baseball bat and listening for any threats as Bendy sat on his shoulder.
"It's pretty quiet huh" the little toon piped up.
"You're right, a little too quiet" Henry replied with a suspicious expression "but we got to keep moving, I need to get my little girl back if it's the last thing I do." He proceeded to walk through the halls when the walls suddenly grew dark as Inky veins began to trail along them.
"I think...we got company" Bendy implied as his evil counterpart emerged from the wall ahead of them and as soon as he spotted Henry, the Ink Demon chuckled wetly and made his away over to the pair.
"Well, looks like you finally made it Henry" he said in amusement before noticing the small toon sitting on his shoulder "and I see you brought some company."
"Where's Lily?" Henry demanded, gritting his teeth "tell me where my little girl is right now or so help me God I'll do something I won't regret."
"Now now Henry, you know I can't do that, it's all part of the game, you need to find her yourself and if I told you then it would spoil the game wouldn't it" the Ink Demon replied, his smile growing wider "but don't worry too much about your little girl, I've left her in the capable hands of my prophet, he'll take very good care of her until you find her." Henry ran to hit "Bendy" with his baseball bat, only to be held in place by Inky tendrils coming out the walls, the Ink Demon chuckling at the man's pathetic attempts to attack him.
"Now now Henry, violence isn't the answer now is it" the tall Ink creature mused "you really need to keep that temper of yours under control otherwise this game is going to be no fun."
"I don't want to play this game of yours, all I want is my daughter back" Henry replied as the smaller Bendy remained quiet, clearly intimidated by his evil counterpart "she's sick and needs to be in hospital."
"Oh I know that and like I said,my prophet will take really good care of her, well now that you finally made it, the game truly can begin" the Ink Demon replied before focusing his attention on the cowering toon sitting on Henry's shoulder "although, I think this game would be more fun if I had you looking not for one person, but two people you care for so very much." Before Henry or Bendy could react, two Ink tendrils rose up from the ground and wrapped themselves around the little toon, lifting him from Henry's shoulder.
"HENRY!" Bendy called out in fear as he was dragged away, his scared voice echoing through the empty halls.
"What the hell are you doing?" Henry demanded "bring him back right now." The Ink Demon chuckled and walked over to Henry before grabbing his chin and forcing the man to look up at him.
"Perhaps I didn't make myself perfectly clear my dear Henry, instead of having you find just Lily, I'm also going to have you find that little Inky pipsqueak" "Bendy" replied, chuckling darkly "this makes the game even more fun, well, for me at least" he released his grip on Henry and gave him a shove, causing him to fall to the ground as the tendrils also released their grip "aww don't look so down Henry old boy, I'll give them back once you find them, well, that is is you find them, hehehehehe. Well, what are you sitting around for, it's time for the game to begin" he grabbed Henry by the back of his shirt and lifted him from the ground.
"If I find them both, you swear to give them back?" Henry asked.
"Of course, but if you fail then they both stay here forever" "Bendy" replied before turning to leave, only to stop and turn around "oh and Henry, I'm not going to make this easy you know, after all, a game isn't as fun without a little difficulty, bye bye." Henry watched as the Ink Demon gave a small wave before vanishing through his portal, leaving Henry alone in the empty halls, leaving him to find not only Lily but also Bendy.
"Hang in there guys, I'm coming" he mumbled, picking up his baseball bat "let's get this show on the road, if the Ink Demon wants to play games, then I'll play his game, if it means getting my children back, then I'll play his game, even if it kills me."