Yuri's POV
"... wake up. Wake up, little ones."
The ringing in my head finally started to dissipate, and I could hear the voice of Sammy as my eyes started to pull themselves open all on their own. Instinctively, I attempted to move, but I felt something rough and jagged keeping me in place on the wooden chair I was sitting on, my arms were lashed on to something behind me.
Rope. I was tied down to this chair. Another attempt ended the same way, confirming my suspicions. The rope was fit excessively tight, any effort to free myself proving fruitless. I wasn't going to be going anywhere like this. The blurring of my vision had mostly cleared itself by this point, so I was able to get a better view of where we were. To my horror, Sammy was indeed standing right in front of me! He must have been the one to tie me here, but where exactly was I?
The room itself was sepia tone in color, the same as every other room we've come across in our time within this place. Wooden planks were erratically stacked and nailed together to form a makeshift archway to support the ceiling, with a square speaker attached to each side, along with one on the wall to my left, which also featured an empty door frame leading into another room, the contents of which I couldn't make out. Wooden barrels were randomly placed near the walls and corners of the mostly open area, leaving an empty pathway straight ahead of where I was tied to, with only a few lit candles, some stationary wooden cutouts of the cartoon demon character, four to be exact, and a number of small ink bolts on the ground between me and a closed metal gate on the opposite side of the room.
When I turned to my sides to examine the room that surrounded me, I was shocked to discover my fellow clubmates in the same situation as I. Monika was strapped down to the chair to my left, with Sayori sitting to her side, while Natsuki sat tied to my right. We all seemed to wake back up at roughly the same time, and I could see them realizing the predicament we all found ourselves in.
"Ah. At last, you are all awake." Sammy spoke with a soft, almost soothing tone in his voice. "Good. This is a special occasion, after all, and we wouldn't want our sheep missing their special moment, would we?" Whatever he meant by that, it couldn't be anything good. He gripped the axe in his hands tightly as he lifted it closer to the mask he wore.
"No, we wouldn't." He whispered, as if he was speaking to the weapon, before looking back at us.
"Of course, I must admit I am surprised a group like yourselves came all the way down here just to visit me." He continued, gesturing towards himself. "It's not often we find outsiders wandering these halls, something my lord has taken quite the interest to. A shame that our first meeting together is under such… unwelcoming circumstances. It almost makes what I'm about to do seem cruel. But, the believers must honor their savior. I'm sure he will be pleased with this offering."
"Wha-What's going on? What's going to happen to us?" Sayori asked with a highly panicked tone.
"Do not worry, young one." Sammy quietly said to her. "Your fears will all come to an end very soon."
"What the hell do you mean by that!?" Natsuki exclaimed.
"And what did you do with Protag!?" Monika shouted furiously.
"I see. So that is their name." Sammy replied, unfazed by the pair's frustration. "That child has piqued my curiosity ever since I was told they would come here. You may rest assured that they are being well taken care of. The one who informed me of your coming here wanted them alive, so I simply had to remove your friend from the equation. That way, I could have you all to myself. Besides, I would be less concerned about them and more about what lies ahead for you, my dear."
While they spoke, my eyes silently gazed around the room, searching and brainstorming for anything that could help as escape, but nothing stood out to me. I readjusted myself in my seat as the rough wood was starting to get uncomfortable, and that's when I felt something moving around in my back pocket. It was at that moment where I found my answer.
I just remembered that I was carrying around my butterfly knife this whole time! I didn't even realize it was there until now since I was so used to it being there, as I would always keep it around for my… sessions… but now wasn't the time to think about that. Trying to be as quiet and subtle as possible, I began to carefully shift myself around, feeling the knife slowly inching its way out of my pocket. I had to keep my attention on our captor to assure he wasn't noticing what I was doing, so much so to the point where when the knife finally did slip from my pocket, I didn't quite realize it at first and nearly let it hit the ground. A gasp almost slipped from my mouth, but I was just able to contain it, and at the very last moment, I caught the knife between my fingers, letting out a silent sigh of relief as I did.
"What are you talking about!?" Monika yelled.
"Well, you see, beyond this gate, my lord shall soon arrive." He declared. "I have been waiting for this moment for far too long, to bestow upon him my offering, my tribute, to prove my loyalty. That offering… is you, my sheep." All of us gasped upon hearing this. I knew Protag had mentioned this before, but… I had never thought we would actually be here. I didn't want to believe it, but at this point, I didn't have a choice.
I knew there wasn't any time to waste, so I got right to work. My hands had become disturbingly more than comfortable with the feeling of the knife in my hands, more than I was willing to admit anyway, so I didn't even need to see what I was doing to flip the blade into position and start scraping away at my bonds. To be honest, I didn't exactly have a plan of action for what I would do once I freed myself. I doubted I would be able to somehow incapacitate Sammy given his unusually muscular build, but given that my options were to either attempt to subdue our captor or remain here and continue to act as demon bait…
…I was willing to take my chances. Right now, all I needed was more time.
"Before we die, I just wanted to ask…" I spoke up, getting Sammy's attention. "Who… are you exactly?" Everyone else present in the room seemed to be taken aback by my query, Sammy included.
"Interesting…" He stated. "I can not remember the last time I've been asked a question like that. Normally, the only thing that gets asked in this place is…" He stopped, turning away from us.
"'…why?" His voice at that moment sounded empty and soulless. I felt a chill run down my spine.
"Though, I suppose it's only fair of me to answer your final questions." He continued, his original manner of speaking returning as if it never left, as we walked over to set the axe down against the wooden arch before turning back around towards us. "We mustn't take too long, however, my sheep. My lord has noticed me at last. He is calling to us as we speak. I hear him crawling above us. Crawling! Soon, the time of sacrifice will be upon us, and we shall finally be free!" I could hear the sounds of something moving through a ventilation system. Could he be telling the truth? Was that demon really coming this way?! I felt my concentration start to slip. I wasn't sure for how long I would be able to keep him distracted before he noticed my escape plan.
"Free from what?" Monika questioned. She must have caught quick on to what I was doing. Good, This might work out after all.
"Of course you wouldn't understand. Everything you see here is nothing but a prison. These empty corridors, these rotting walls, even this inky… dark abyss I call a body." He explained, holding his hands up to his head, shaking them with frustration before throwing them back down to his sides. "I can't remember how long it's been since I first found myself like this, but now it is only a matter of time before my savior will free us from this curse."
"Us?" Monika asked. "You mean you're not the only one here?"
"Indeed." He responded. "All who wander in this place are doomed to become lost, and the machine yearns to consume all who are lost. It is the fate of me and all the unfortunate souls who find themselves within these walls." I could tell Monika was about to continue asking him questions, but all of a sudden, Natsuki chimed in.
"But if that's the case, then why would anyone come here to begin with?" She inquired. "What exactly was this place before everything became all messed up?" This time however, Sammy didn't say anything. He just stood there, frozen in place, before slowly, his head shifted over to her. Then, without so much as a single word, he walked over until he stood right in front of her. I noticed my pink-haired club member tense up and saw her eyes go wide as the full body of the man towered over her, and watched as the mask he wore grew closer to her face, Sammy bending down to look Natsuki dead in the eyes.
"... you're stalling me, aren't you?" His voice went cold. My hands froze instantly, pausing my escape efforts as he was now paying attention. "What exactly are you planning?" Natsuki was clearly stricken with fear, her whole body shaking as the eyes of the mask stared right through her, and I could tell her breathing was starting to become erratic as well. She shot her eyes towards me for what had to be the briefest moment possible, then when they returned to face her captor, her expression of fear quickly morphed into that of frustration.
"Well, we're planning on busting out of here, that's what!" She shouted back at the man, causing him to jump back in surprise. "Do you seriously believe we want to be sacrificed to this stupid, demon thing or whatever it is?! You're a complete idiot for even coming here in the first place! If I know anything about how stuff like this works, that lanky freak is gonna throw you to the curb the first cha-"
A gasp escaped my lips. Natsuki was interrupted by Sammy, striking her across the face with the back of his hand. The sudden sound of the impact rang throughout the room.
"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK OF MY LORD IN SUCH A MANNER!?" Sammy cursed. "DO NOT QUESTION MY FAITH IN HIM!"
"Natsuki!" Sayori called out.
"Leave her alone!" Monika yelled at her attacker. Sammy stepped back, turning away and looking down at his hand, as if he was processing what he had just done.
"...you're right. I should not sully my lord's offering with my own flesh." He hastefully admitted, clutching his fist. "I've wasted enough time as it is. He is growing impatient with me. Let's not keep him waiting any longer." He then started walking back towards the center of the room where he first began, keeping his mask faced towards us. The room began to shake for short bursts at a time, sending waves of fears through my body.
"The ritual must be completed!" He declared with pride. "Just you wait, soon… he will set us free." Continuing past where we sat, Sammy made his way towards the open door on our left, leaving us with nothing but the sound of his ink covered feet smacking against the floorboards, closing the door with a creak as he went inside. Without a moment's hesitation, I quickly got back to work with removing the rope that held me in place.
"Sheep, sheep, sheep. It's time for sleep. Rest your head. It's time for bed." Sammy's voice began coming from the overhead speakers. I knew I had to get us out of this soon, otherwise we were in serious trouble. Thankfully, just like that, I felt the straps finally come undone.
"In the morning, you may wake. Or in the morning, you'll be dead." I instantly stood up, letting the now broken rope drop to the ground. The others, I could tell from their gasps of surprise, were in a mix of both awe and confusion, but before they could say anything, I quickly held my fingers to my lips, and pointed over the room where Sammy was. The others imminently understood what I meant, and I hurried over to behind Natsuki's chair to begin undoing her bonds.
"Hear me, Bendy! Arise from the darkness! Arise and claim my offering!" Sammy spoke with a grandiose tone, and with it, the room began to shake again, almost like an earthquake had just hit us, and I paused for a moment. It was then that I saw the ink splatters on the ground beginning to simmer and bubble, the cutouts began to shake independently from the rest of the room, and worst of all, the gate in front of us rose open, revealing a dimly lit hallway, blocked by several planks of wood fastened to the walls. He was coming. I doubled my efforts, being just careful enough to not accidentally cut Natsuki's hands.
"Free me! I beg you!" Sammy continued to chant. "I summon you, Ink Demon! Show your face and take these tender sheep!" There! Natsuki was freed now as well. I helped to remove the rope from her arms, and threw the remains to the side. She quickly stood up, contracting her fingers to feel her now unrestricted wrists, rolling them to get the blood flowing again.
"Thank god…" Natsuki whispered. Just then, before I could start moving towards the others, a loud roar blared over the speakers. All of us instantly froze and turned our attention over towards them.
"No! My Lord! Stay back! I am your prophet!" Sammy suddenly shouted. The roars began to grow in intensity.
"I am your- AHHHHH!"
HURRRRGH!
The speakers cut out. Not a single word would come from them anymore…
We needed to get out of here, NOW!
I regained my focus. Whatever just happened to Sammy was going to happen to us next.
"I'll get Sayori out." I called out to Natsuki, snapping her concentration back to this very moment. "You focus on freeing Monika."
"Got it!" She agreed, but before she could take more than one step, we were stopped again by the ink puddles that littered the way between us and the gate beginning to ripple. Our widened gazes shot over to look over at them, just as more of those humanoid creatures burst from the ground!
"Haaaaaah!" They hallowed, and began crawling towards where we stood! Natsuki was standing right in the middle of the archway they would come through, and I saw her gaze frantically shoot around the area in front of her.
"Natsuki! " I shouted to her. Mere seconds before the crawling creatures could reach her, she turned and snached the axe that Sammy left behind, just in time to swing it to the other side of her body and slice through the creature reeling back to slash at her with its claws. The axe made a clean cut across the creature's torso. It froze in shock upon releasing what had happened. The top half of its body fell backwards off its torso before it completely collapsed, degrading into chunks of ink before they sunk into the floor and disappeared. The other creatures reeled back slightly, as if they were hesitating for a moment to keep attacking. Natsuki took the opportunity, and looked back towards me.
"Hurry up and free the others!" She yelled. "I'll buy you some time!"
"W-wait!" I yelped.
"Don't worry, it'll take more than a couple of overgrown blobs to stop me!" She declared.
"Haaarrgh!" The creatures roared in anger, and started to once again shuffle towards us. Natsuki turned back to face them, gripping the axe tightly in her hands. I simply stared at her for a brief moment before quickly regaining my composure and running behind Monika's chair to start undoing her bonds, trying to focus on freeing my friends while also paying attention to make sure she was still okay.
Natsuki stepped back to avoid a hand swipe from one of the creatures, before taking the moment to strike back, bringing the axe down on the creature's head and quickly destroying it. Two more then attempted to attack her at the same time. She quickly turned around to slice one in half horizontally, the creature soon falling apart. However, the other then grabbed her by the shoulders, attempting to pull her down into the ink puddles. She struggled to maintain her footing, before using the blunt end of the axe to knock the creature off her. The creature stumbled back, attempting to recover its composure, but just before it could, Natsuki brought the axe down through its body, the creature suffering the same fate as the others before it. It was at this point when I was finally able to break through the rope holding Monika.
"Are you alright?" I hastfully asked her after throwing the rope away.
"Yeah, I'm alright for now." She responded, rubbing her wrists. "We need to hurry. That creature's going to come here any moment now."
"Right." I nodded in agreement, and then immediately moved to start freeing Sayori as well. As I focused my attention both towards both our predicament and Natsuki's confrontation, I noticed the wooden cutouts began to break free from their stands. Their bodies snapped and twisted to give themselves joints, parts of their fingers poked out to resemble claws, and parts of their face broke open to give themselves mouths and sharp teeth. They then started to charge towards us as well.
"Look out!" I heard Sayori shout, alerting Natsuki to the cutout with its arms up about to grab her. She brought the axe up to block the attack. The cutout grabbed the handle and the two began to wrestle for control of the weapon. The cutout attempted to snatch the axe right out of Natsuki's hands, all while she struggled to keep her grip on it. After realizing its plan wasn't working, the cutout then attempted to slash at her with its right claw hand, forcing Natuski to duck slightly to avoid getting scratched. Thankfully, the cutout grip was weakened from using up its hand to attack, so Natsuki was able to shift her balance and throw the cutout away from her, causing it to stumble back and fall to the ground.
The other cutouts started moving to attack, but Natsuki was ready, and kicked one hard in the chest, sending it flying back, breaking apart into small pieces as it hit the wooden floor. She then quickly swung the axe sideways again, using the momentum to strike another cutout across the body, splitting it in half and causing it to collapse. Just as Natsuki recovered from the heavy swing, the last one leaped towards her, jumping onto her back.
"Argh!" Natsuki cried as it lashed onto her, grabbing hold of her shoulders and beginning to dig its claws into the back of her neck, which caused her to drop her weapon. She paced around the room, trying to shake it off her back, but her efforts proved fruitless. It simply refused to budge from its relentless assault, even from her attempts to dislodge it. It was a horrid sight, watching this ravenous creature attacking my friend, but thankfully, I had just managed to cut through Sayori's bonds, so I might be able to-
"Natsuki, duck!" Monika suddenly shouted. I paused for the briefest moment once I realized what was happening. Natsuki's eyes widened when she saw it too, and unquestionably followed through with Monika's command, dropping to the ground. The cutout, however, didn't realize what was about to happen until it was too late, as Monika used the very chair she had just moments ago been tied to as a makeshift bat and, with a grunt of effort, swung it directly into the cutout's face. The wooden creature practically exploded into miniature pieces from the impacts, scattering across the room. After a second to recover, Monika dropped her chair and turned around to help Natsuki off the ground.
"Thanks…" She uttered, still catching her breath from the ordeal.
"Of course." Monika replied.
"We can't stay here for long." I said, running up to them.
"Right, let's get moving." Monika agreed, but before we could take the first step, I noticed the first cutout Natsuki threw to the ground was still moving. Only its head and right arm was still attached to its body, but it still chose to continue crawling towards us, ink dripping from its face, turning its once innocent smile into a feral expression. We simply watched as it slowly grew closer, but then, out of nowhere, I heard a high pitched cry of effort, before the axe from before was suddenly cleaved into the cutouts head, the head splitting into pieces as it collapsed to the ground. On the other side of the axe was…
"Sayori!" We all shouted in surprise. Sayori herself even seemed a bit shocked, as we looked down to see what she did, then let go of the axe and stepped back, looking startled by her actions, leaving the weapon lodged in the wooden cutout. After a moment of silence, she gulped before speaking up.
"Let's get out of here." She hesitantly stated.
"Couldn't agree more." Natsuki said, stepping forward to take the axe from the ground.
"If we're lucky, that demon is still busy with Sammy." Monika pondered. "That means the only way out…"
"...is through the gate." I stated, staring down the dimly lit, ink invested hallway ahead of us
"At this point, anywhere's better than here." Natsuki argued, holding the weapon tightly in her hands.
"Then let's hurry before that thing comes to get us!" Sayori declared. We all nodded in agreement, and hurried down what laid beyond the gate. Thankfully, there was no sight of any demons and ink creatures present, rather just filled with a series of wooden planks leaning on the left wall, ending with a pair of large crates stacked on top of each other to cover a hole in the wall. Ahead of us however, was an abundance of more planks fitted against the walls to form a trio of makeshift blockades, one made above a pool of ink, with the only source of light peeking from the other side. Natsuki stepped ahead of us, axe at the ready.
"Watch my back." She said, before getting right to work bringing the blockade down, board by board, each one getting bisected from a hard swing of the weapon. True to our word, we spun around to make sure nothing was going to come from behind us as Natsuki continued to clear our path, although the only things we saw were the remains of our previous attackers and the ritual we left behind. We did come across another hallway as we crossed the ink, but it was blocked by more large crates and shelves, forcing us to keep pressing forward. Once we did finally reach the last of the boards however, the axe itself broke apart along with them. Groaning with annoyance, a disgruntled Natsuki tossed the now useless wooden handle aside. Yet, at that moment we finally saw it. Across another large body of ink, was a door, which hopefully led to our way out.
"Come on!" Monika called to us, and began to step foot into the lake, but just as she began to do so, she immediately jumped back to us with a gasp of horror, as the room suddenly grew dark and something burst from underneath the black liquid right between us and our only way out…
…the demon. Bendy. He was here.
"Gah!" I yelped.
"Ahh!" Sayori screamed.
"Shit!" Natsuki shouted.
"Oh no, RUN!" Monika yelled. She turned around and reached out to me and, without a second thought, I took her hand, helping pull her out from the ink. We wasted no time hurrying down the only path we could take, as the hall we had just come from was now blocked off, following close behind the other two, only looking back to see the monster had started running after us, its hand outreached towards us. The wooden corridors twisted and turned as we ran, ink moved on its own to cover the wall surrounding us, pieces of rotten and molded wood broke apart onto the ground, the whole hallway feeling like it could collapse at any moment, and the footsteps of the demon behind grew ever closer. As we dashed around another corner, Sayori suddenly slipped and fell onto the ground right beside us, clutching her head and groaning in pain, as if something was attacking her mind.
"Sayori!" Both Monika and I yelled. I quickly pulled her back up to her feet and took off running again, just then feeling something cold, like a breeze, whizz past the hairs on the back of my neck, barely missing me by mere inches. Refusing to take even the briefest moment to look, I pushed Sayori along as we ran, herself being put out of commission from whatever was happening to her. Another set of hallways later, and we saw it. A single light eminiting over an open doorway. We rushed as fast as we could go through it, shutting the door behind us. I took Sayori aside while Monika and Natsuki stayed by the door, gripping the doorknob and pulling on it, hoping to stop the demon from coming through.
"This isn't gonna hold it!" Monika called out. Natsuki frantically looked around the area before noticing a pair of makeshift supports attached to the walls.
"Help me with this!" She shouted, lifting up one of nearby wooden planks. Monika then realized what she was doing and grabbed hold of the other side, quickly sliding it into place, where it now functioned as a barricade. The creature could be heard banging on the door from the other side, attempting to bring it down, the wood that comprised the door creaking and cracking from the impacts, while Monika and Natsuki stepped back just in case, their bodies frozen with tension yet their eyes remained fixated on the only thing now standing between us and him. After a tense moment, the loud noise stopped, and the sounds of ink draining filled the room.
It was gone, for now at least.
I helped Sayori onto the ground, which took some time given her current state, but eventually I was able to have her resting in a sitting position, her back against the wall. Natsuki propped herself up onto a barrel that rested in the far corner of the small room we were now huddled inside, while Monika leaned against the opposite wall, all of us taking the much needed moment to recover from the events that had just transpired. Our bodies were aching and sore, sweat rolled down across our skin, our hearts were racing and our breath was long overdue to be catched.
"Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit." I could hear Natsuki whispering to herself in between breaths. Beyond that, none of us were able to speak up for an extended period of time. After a few moments of silence, Sayori suddenly stopped, slowly removing her hands from her forehead.
"Wha? Where are…?" She muttered, shifting her head around the cramped area, looking incredibly confused by where we were now.
"Don't worry." I said to her softly. "We're ok. It's gone. We should be safe for now."
"Thank goodness…" Sayori breathed a sigh of relief. She must have been able to snap out of the trance that had overtaken her. I recognised what had happened to her.
"Was it those visions again?" I asked. She lightly nodded, confirming my suspicions. I knew this had been happening to her ever since that night at Fazbear's, but every time it pained me to see her like this, seeing her suffer with these horrible moments through no fault of her own, yet being powerless to help her in any meaningful way.
"I don't even know how it happened this time…" She explained, rubbing a pair of fingers against her temple. "From what I can guess, it usually happens whenever I get reminded of those freaky robots. But there wasn't anything like that this time! Like the last time I remember it happened was when me and Hat Kid were-." She froze, her words vanished, leaving only a gasp of fright where they once were. her body suddenly grew tense, and her eyes went wide, as if she just remembered something important.
"HAT KID!" She suddenly yelped in shock, her eyes darting around the room. "She's gone! Oh no no no! Where is she!? Where did she go!?" The outburst caught me and the others entirely off guard. I was just as shocked as her when I realized this myself. I had been so caught up in everything that we had just been through that I completely missed the fact that the young hat wearing girl we've been traveling with was no longer with us. It didn't make any sense. She was there when we were initially captured by Sammy, so why wasn't she with us now? Did they take her somewhere else? If so, then where? Perhaps something could have happened to her along the way? I didn't want to imagine what, but wherever she was now, I prayed that she was all right.
"I don't know what happened to her! Oh god, this is all my fault!" Sayori panicked, beginning to hyperventilate. "Agh, I'm so stupid! We shouldn't have come here! She could be dead because of me! I'm such an idiot! Why can't I do anything right!?"
"Sayori…" I heard Monika say, as she kneeled down onto the ground next to her. "You need to calm down…"
"No, you don't understand!" Sayori interrupted her. Monika was clearly taken aback by this. "It's all my fault! I was the one who suggested we should help her! I was the one who brought her along with us, and now we could be gone because of me! First Theodore, then Protag, and now she's gone too! I can't believe I thought I could-"
"Sayori, please!" Monika suddenly snapped, causing the rest of us to jump in surprise. Monika then placed her hands to her throat, eyes widened, shocked by her own outburst.
"I'm sorry." She quickly apologized. "I don't know what came over me there…" She took a deep breath, calming herself before speaking up again.
"...look, I know… things haven't been easy for us so far. We've had… more close calls than I want to admit, but trust me when I say that none of them have been your fault. All of us agreed to come here. We all wanted to help Hat Kid, just like we did with Protag before." She stopped for a moment. I could tell it pained her to remember what had happened before. "Please… we can't lose each other as well." Monika moved her hand over to Sayori's shoulder., causing her to look up towards her.
"Trust me. They're still out there, I can feel it. We're going to find them."
"But what if-"
"We'll find them, Sayori. All of them. Together." She held her hand out to her. "I promise."
Sayori hesitated for a moment, looking away towards the ground, before her eyes shifted back up to Monika. She sniffled, wiping away the tears in her eyes.
"...Okay." She said softly, taking Monika's hand. Monika then helped Sayori back to her feet.
"In that case, let's not stay here any longer than we need." I said.
"Right." Monika agreed, and we all headed through the other door in the room, into another short hallway filled with more ink pipes, shelves and barrels, some with splatters of ink on them. A sign labeled 'LIFT' pointed towards the corridor on our left, so we pressed on, our footsteps echoing throughout the new room, until just then, something else caught our attention, freezing us in our tracks. A can of soup, rolling down the hallway towards us.
"Someone's here." I realized.
"Oh, you can't be serious right now!" Natsuki groaned in annoyance.
"Get ready!" Monika told us, tensing in anticipation. But when the one responsible stepped out from beyond the shadows, I was stunned to realize who it was.
"Gah!" We all gasped.
"Another one?!" Sayori uttered in horror.
"Grr, I'm getting real sick of these things right now!" Natsuki growled, holding her clenched fist up, as if to demonstrate her irritation. I found myself unconsciously stepping forward.
"WAIT!" I suddenly shouted, throwing my arm in front of Natsuki to stop her moving towards them. She was understandably confused, but… I recognized who it was. I slowly started stepping towards them. Bit by bit, I grew ever closer to the individual in question, in disbelief to what I was actually seeing. His human-like appearance, his black torso with white overalls and gloves, his long snout, and cartoonishly designed facial features, like his eyes and ears. I held my hands close to my chest. It was…
"Boris? But… how?" I asked, keeping my eyes focused on the character. He didn't respond, rather simply returning my gaze. I could imagine the others were wondering what I was doing, and to be honest, there was a part of me that was as well, but I couldn't help but wonder how this could have happened. This didn't make any sense! When I first saw him… he was dead, I saw his body, so how could he be here? I felt my hand reaching out towards him, but froze once I noticed him nervously backing away as I grew closer.
"No, wait!" I blurted out loud, catching his attention. "Please…" He stopped, letting my hand slowly reach out towards him until I felt myself touch the side of his jawline. It was cold, possibly due to the ink that comprised him, but… he was alive. I still found it so hard to believe, but at this point, I was happy to be proven wrong. My hand moved all on its own, gently scratching the underside of his jaw and his ears, which he seemed to enjoy. After a few moments, I carefully returned my hand back to my side, the character looking content.
"What… just happened?" Sayori asked.
"Did… did she just…?" I heard a flabbergasted Natsuki say behind me. I turned around to face the others.
"I saw him back on the first floor…" I explained. "I didn't think he would want to hurt us."
"Well, that's good to hear." Monika stated, stepping towards us while breathing a sigh of relief. "One less thing to worry about, but that still leaves the matter of finding the others, and finding our way out of here."
"Um, excuse me. Boris is your name, right?" Sayori walked up to him, asking sincerely. "We're looking for our friends. Would you be willing to help us?" He looked surprised by the question, then soon after, nodded his head in agreement. She gasped in excitement.
"Yay!" Sayori cheered.
"Splendid!" I responded. "That's wonderful to hear! Did you happen to see anyone come down this way?" Boris then perked up, as if he just remembered something, then performed a quick series of actions. First, with his hands, he used his fingers to visualize someone walking, with the other laid flat, following behind the standing one. Next, he put his fist together and did a pulling gesture. He then laid his head on his flat hands tucked together, before then moving his arms in front of him with his wrists put together, then finally pointing down the hall he came from. He was trying to tell us something, almost like a game of charades. From the cues, I believe I was able to make out what he was attempting to say.
"Two figures… one being pulled… asleep, or unconscious?" I thought out loud. The answer then clicked in my mind.
"Someone was tied up, being dragged away…" I looked back over to Boris.
"Do you happen to know where they were headed?" I asked him, but unfortunately, he shook his head. I sighed in disappointment.
"Well, at the very least, we know they're close by." I informed the others.
"Right." Monika agreed. "But we don't want to exactly be wandering around aimlessly either. Last thing we need is for that ink demon to pick up our trail again. He's still probably close by, and we're all not in the best condition to run from him again, should he find us. For now, it's best we find someplace to rest for the time being, at least until we know it's safe to start looking for them again." Boris perked up yet again from this, walking back to the hall he first came from and gesturing us to follow.
"... I think that might be our answer." I stated.
"Hang on." Natsuki then spoke up, walking over to us. "Are you guys really sure about this?"
"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure myself." Monika admitted after taking a moment to think. "At this point however, we're essentially out of options." Natsuki considered this herself for a moment.
"Yeah, you're right." She sighed in defeat, but then turned towards the character. "But I'm keeping my eyes on you. Don't you dare try to pull anything on us, you got that!"
...
Natsuki was the first one to fall asleep once we finally made it to our destination. We found ourselves following close behind Boris until we ended up in a small, self-contained area with the many wooden hallways and corridors, which almost appeared like a makeshift safehouse. Hopefully this place should be enough for that demon to lose track of us.
I found myself to be the only one still awake as of now. The others had taken the opportunity to sleep, as we all needed the rest by the time we got here. I just couldn't help but let my brain wonder as I stared up towards the wooden ceiling. Were we going to be alright? Were the others going to be alright? Where could the others be, and what could be happening to them right now? Were they having to go through something like we did with the demon? Were we really going to be able to find them?
I sighed in defeat. I knew there was no point in thinking about this, but I just couldn't help myself. I had all these questions, but not a single answer to follow them with. It was a frustrating cycle that I had no means of breaking out of.
"Theodore, Protag, Hat Kid. Wherever you are, I just hope you're alright." I thought to myself. In due time, my fatigue had overtaken me, and I slowly drifted to sleep.