Chapter 6: Clocking In or Clocking Out

She pushed the desk chair back into him and sprinted for the door. She heard Bendy hiss as the chair made contact with a sticky, wet sound. She didn't dare look back, she knew he was behind her. The walls started turning shades of black and gray, indicators of his anger. The tendrils reached out for her, grabbing at her shadow. She ditched the shoes halfway through her mad dash, deciding they were the least of her problems. She rounded the corner, heading for the exit. Maybe if she made it out to open air, she could get away.

Maybe she should have just smiled and played it off like she usually did when facing Bendy, but there was something about the look on his face that was different. Curious. Hungry. All instincts she'd faced before and brushed aside of wanting to run from a monster surfaced and overtook her until the sound of her feet on wooden floors was the only thing she heard.

He chased after her, fast, but not quite as fast as her. He limped toward her, one gloved arm outstretched, his jagged grin twitching and releasing snaps and whines. Walls or doors did little to stop him.

Allison burst out into the open air. Boris, who was seated outside, looked up immediately, ears perking up in confusion. She didn't pause to tell him why she was running, she just sprinted passed him and reached the gate separating the studio from the rest of the park. She spun around, but the Boris was just cowering in the corner, covering his head with his hands. Bendy stood at the top of the stairs. It tilted its head at her, taking slower steps to her now. She pulled out her knife and pointed it at him.

"Stay away from me!" she shouted.

He paused. He made a breathy noise, and walked toward her again.

Her hands, clutched around the knife, trembled. She wasn't sure what a knife would do against him, but they had organs, right? They could die? She wasn't sure if Bendy was included in that equation, but she wasn't going down without a fight. She felt a laugh bubble up in her throat at the thought of Joey coming back tomorrow morning to see his precious cartoon with a few scars on his body and a broken Allison at his feet. He'd probably be more upset about the scars on Bendy.

He took another step toward her and she stabbed forward with her knife. To her horror, the knife sank uselessly into his skin. She tried to tug it free, but the ink latched on tightly, crawling up her hands.

Bendy growled down at her, sounding too much like laughter deep inside, and reached out for her throat, covering that, too, in ink.

Allison made a choked noise, unable to even claw at his hands. Oh God, this was it, she was going to die.

She heard a loud "thump," and looked over Bendy's shoulder to see the Boris standing there, an iron pipe in his hands. He'd smacked Bendy's head with it, and she saw Boris's eyes narrow as he swung again at the ink demon.

Bendy spun around and hissed, causing the Boris to flinch, but giving Allison just a moment of freedom, a moment to breathe as Bendy's hands released her throat. The Boris backed up, smacking the pipe against his hands, a taunt, a challenge. Bendy took the bait, releasing her and stalking toward him. Allison coughed, reaching up to her throat to feel cold ink still covering it. She looked up to see the Boris take another swing at Bendy, only for the demon to slash out, knocking the pipe away and knocking Boris to the ground. Bendy raised his hand, claws forming out of the ink, poised above his head.

Boris turned his head from Bendy to look at her. Just at her. And...he smiled.

Why did her heart hurt? Why...why was he...

"I'm the cutest little angel, sent from above, and I know just how to sing."

Bendy froze. He growled, tilting his head and turning to look at her.

No backing down now. She swallowed, clearing her throat and lifting her head up again.

"I got a bright little halo, and I'm filled with love. I'm Alice Angel!"

Bendy turned from Boris and headed back over to her, nodding his head to the beat, like a child caught in a trance. She kept singing, she knew the words by heart. He just watched her, towering over her with rapt attention. It wasn't perfect, her voice cracked and she missed a few notes, but considering this was the most stressful performance she'd ever given, she hoped that could be overlooked. When she finished, he growled, reaching out for her throat.

"No," she said sternly. He paused, and she repeated herself sternly. "NO."

He looked at her, smile faltering for only a moment. She supposed he hadn't heard those words often.

Maybe it would work, she thought briefly. Maybe she'd be alright, maybe she could use this influence, use her voice to confuse him enough to leave them alone, or get away.

It was a nice thought, but soon ripped away as Bendy overcame his hesitation, grabbing her roughly and jerking her toward the studio. She screamed and fought back, flailing and slashing, but he dragged them both into a pool of black ink. She was overcome with the cold, wet feeling, and whether it was the ink of her own consciousness that faded her vision, she wasn't sure.

Allison stirred. She was cold. Something wet stuck to her hair and cheek. This wasn't home. Too cold. Too wrong. She didn't hear the sound of cars driving by or birds, or even Cheese demanding she wake up and feed him breakfast. There was only the distant hum of machinery, the ever-constant thrum of ink flowing through pipes that she could hear above her and feel below her through the cheap, laminated wooden floors. She groaned and pushed herself upward slowly.

"Ah, good morning Allison! You've been asleep for quite a while!"

Joey sat across from her at a small table, his arms crossed plainly in front of him. Suit nicely pressed, white collar buttoned up all the way to the top. His hair, carefully groomed and waxed, finished off the signature friendly face she'd grown accustomed to seeing on display monitors and television screens. She herself, once she had sat up enough to look around, was in a makeshift medic bay, or was it a cell? Wooden planks haphazardly hammered together separated her from Joey, though the door was open. She was seated on a small cot with a pillow and a blanket, both of which were covered in ink.

And Bendy. He sat behind Joey, seat on the headrest of a large, plush chair. His disarmingly cute, smiling face tilted at her, and his feet kicked back and forth on the seat. He was back to his smaller, cartoon-y form that sent children into wild giggles and laughter. Allison narrowed her eyes at him before turning her attention back to Joey.

"I'm glad to see that you're alright. Why, when Bendy here found you, you'd collapsed onto the ground! Did you stay up too late working with Sammy and just fall asleep before you could get home?" Joey chuckled. "No no, because that wouldn't explain why Bendy found you in my office."

Allison swallowed, frantically trying to come up with an excuse. Part of her wanted to accuse him right now of doing something to Tom, confronting him with what she had found about missing persons at the park, or even the horrible monstrosities she'd seen after dark. But every accusation felt dwarfed when she glanced over at Bendy, aimlessly looking about the room. She might not be scared of Joey himself, but she was damned scared of what he, or Bendy, could do. "I-"

Joey held up his hand. "Now now Allison, I'm sure you're quite disoriented. What, passing out right there in my office. I just want to make sure you're alright, first and foremost. I'm glad that Bendy found you, but as you can imagine, he isn't quite used to knowing how humans work. If you were a cartoon like him, it'd be much different."

"Y-Yes, I'm sure it would," she said softly.

"So I ask again, Miss Pendle. What were you doing here in the park, so late at night?" Joey asked.

"I..."

Was looking for Tom? Was riddling through your things without permission? Was running from horrible monstrosities, one of which was seated right behind you, like a loyal lapdog waiting to attack? Was in way over her head?

"I was looking for some financial records for Sammy," Allison said, lies spilling from her lips before she could stop them, picking up speed and coming out in a rush of syllables and sounds. "I used to work in the Finance department, remember? O-of course you remember, you hired me, but I knew where some documents were still and Sammy wanted to know what his budget was this month, he wanted to know if he could purchase some more sheet music, so I volunteered to go check. I must have just fallen asleep," she said, fighting the urge to laugh, knowing it would sound hysterical.

Joey smiled, listening to her rant. "I just knew there had to be an explanation. Well, I'm just glad that you're alright. Let's get you out of there." He unlocked her cell, allowing Allison to step out. "I'd be sure to thank Bendy for bringing you to safety."

"R-right," Allison said, her eyes avoiding Joey's piercing stare. Like hell she was going to thank a walking menace. But Joey was watching, and she had a feeling he wouldn't let her off the hook without some display of gratitude, a show of her good will, no hard feelings, blah blah blah. She turned to Bendy and sighed. "Thank you for..." she clammed up suddenly, her face growing white.

"Oh, what's wrong Allison? You're looking rather pale," Joey said, sitting back in his seat and spinning around to face them. "Not feeling so well after all?"

"You told me to never speak in front of Bendy," she said. Could she make her voice quieter? Was there any way for Joey to hear her, and this toon, who had turned to look at her curiously again, so not? He just kept staring. His pie-cut eyes seemed so innocent, but they held a pool of darkness that tugged at mortal men's souls, the kind of black that felt like it wasn't natural, not of this world. Ink was like that. It felt less like the color of something, and more like the absence of everything.

"Oh, I did, didn't I?" Joey chuckled. "But it seems you break a lot of the rules I put into place here, don't you?"

She needed to leave. Now. Things were going from bad to worse, and Allison had a feeling that if she kept pressing her luck, she'd never get the chance to save Tom. She started walking for the door, her legs shaking with the urge to not break out into an all-out mad sprint. Right as her hand gripped the knob, she heard Joey stand.

"Miss Allison?"

Run, Allison, just run, don't look back, get away!

She turned, forcing a smile with wide, gritted teeth. "Yes Mr. Drew?"

He put his hand on her shoulder, forcing her to look up at him and his cheesy, picture perfect grin. The true father to the smiling devil.

"Let's keep what you read on those documents today between the two of us, hm?" he said.

She felt cold all over, wobbly and unsteady, but Joey left the room, whistling a song, her song, Alice's song, before Bendy hopped off of the chair and chased after him a moment later. Allison slumped down to the floor, feeling her heart beating in her chest, fighting the urge to vomit or scream or cry. With shaky hands, she pulled herself back up again, and made her way to the recording studio. Whether she liked it or not, she still had work to do.

After everything that had happened the night before, Allison was thrilled to find that Sammy was busy working with the band today. She retreated back into her own office, a small room that was more a refurbished storage closet than anything else, but it had a door with a lock and a small desk. She hadn't decorated it much, but that was mainly because she was hardly ever there. She didn't see the point in decorating walls she barely looked at, or taking things from her home to make the space feel homey. Her home was homey enough! The only real reason she had an office was because it was part of her contract that Joey wrote up. If he provided her with an office, he was allowed another paycut. So of course, he got her an office.

Figures.

She flopped onto her rickety desk chair, fiddling with the handle at the side to try to lower it, only to have it snap off in her hands.

She almost reached for the phone to call Tom, but her outstretched fingers fell flat against the desk halfway there.

Tom...where were you? What was happening here? Were you just another name that she had missed among the miles of papers? Another missing person? She wasn't sure if she'd get the chance to check again, surely Joey was smart enough to get a lock for the drawer or file them away somewhere else, somewhere hidden, now that he knew without a doubt that she was snooping around.

Perhaps she should have been more concerned with Joey's calm demeanor, given how she had thoroughly betrayed him and was seeking to find out the truth, but she was too tired to care. Whatever Joey had up her sleeve could wait until she had a few more hours of sleep, or at least a cup of coffee. Her mind was too empty to try to fill it up with memories of the night before or pieces of evidence.

Allison set her head down on the desk, allowing herself the privilege of drifting off, just for a few minutes at least. A few minutes were all she needed. Then she'd get back to work on finding Tom and getting out of Bendyhell.

A knock on her door roused her. She glanced up at the clock hanging on the wall. She'd only just closed her eyes, hadn't she?

No, it was already early afternoon, prime park time. She stood, stretching a moment before heading over to the door and opening it to see Sammy's similarly tired expression.

"Hello Sammy," she said with a yawn. "I'm sorry, I didn't intend on sleeping so long..."

Sammy chuckled. "Long night, I presume?"

"You have no idea," she muttered, and put a hand to her forehead.

Sammy frowned and crossed his arms. "Allison, are you alright? You're covered in ink and you look exhausted. You're never normally this desheveled. On top of that, your voice is far too hoarse, much moreso than normal."

"I just..." she trailed off, hating the way her voice cracked. She cleared her throat. "No, I'm fine."

"Well, I suppose it isn't my place to pry," Sammy said. "But I am here, Allison. If you ever need someone to talk to, or just need some help in general. I'd hoped that we'd have come to the point by now where we can consider each other friends. Maybe I'm overstepping," he added quickly.

Allison chuckled. Curse Sammy and his disarming charm. Half the time, she didn't even think he did it on purpose. Sure, there were times when his velvety words were clearly scripted and crafted, rehearsed just like any musical number to draw in all kinds of people, be it donors, listeners, or even the occasional woman or two he brought into the studio to show off. But there were other times when he was charming by accident. Going from yelling at the band to working with them one on one, encouraging even the most hopeless musician Joey hired to work out their true potential. Times where he would go out, straighten up the band chairs or take time after work to clean them, just because he could. She'd even caught him watching Bendy cartoons before in his office that didn't feature his songs, just watching Bendy dance across the screen with a slight, upturned smile on his lips.

Joey was the only one who always seemed unamused or disgruntled by his charms. Allison had a feeling that's why they never seemed to get along.

Maybe she really could confide in him. Maybe she really could tell Sammy what had happened. Two heads were better than one, and he had already confessed that he'd listened to more than audio recording on his own time before. Maybe, just maybe, he knew something that could be useful.

"Do you have somewhere we can go, to be alone?" Allison asked.

Sammy raised an eyebrow and nodded, taking her to a sound-proof recording booth normally reserved for recording individual instruments, like flute solos or violin numbers. She glanced around the padded walls and Bendy cut-out in the corner, eyeing it with visible disdain, before turning back to Sammy.

And she told him everything. At first, it was only bits and pieces, dancing around the subject with him chasing after her circles persistently. She'd let something slip and he'd be on it instantly, poking and proding with a barrage of questions she often didn't have any answers too, but she answered him all the same. By the end of it, she was telling him everything, her encounters with Bendy before that night and on it, what she'd read in Joey's files, her recording from Tom, how scared she felt. Part of her hated it, hated that she was asking someone else for help when she knew she could do things on her own, but not this. This was bigger than her. She couldn't go to battle for Tom alone, pride needed to be cast aside if she was going to find out what happened to him and what was going on with the park.

Sammy placed his chin on his hands, crossed in front of him. His eyes stared into the floor, brow furrowed slightly. "Hmmm...it seems this is far bigger than you originally thought," he said.

"I just don't know what to do now," she confessed. "I came to the park after dark to find Tom, but all I found were more questions and no sign of him. He might be...he might be dead for all I know. But I need to know for sure. I need to have answers, and I need to keep hoping that he's out there somewhere."

Sammy sighed. "I don't know Allison, this is all sounding like a big mess. Are you sure Tom didn't just quit?"

"After everything that's happened to me, you still think that's an option?" she asked.

"No. I don't. I guess I just wanted to know if you would ever be willing to believe that, or if you'd keep looking and looking until you found your answers or your demise. This is dangerous," he said.

"I know. But what else can I do? There's no one I can turn to, no one who has the answers. I need to find them on my own. Well, not entirely alone," she said, and smiled. "I've got you now. Hope you don't mind I've dragged you into this."

Sammy chuckled. "I've been putting the pieces together myself for years."

"The audio tapes?"

"You're smart, Miss Allison."

"Is there anything in them I could use?" she asked. "A starting point, somewhere to look, anything that you know of?"

"Hmmmm..." Sammy tapped his chin. "I'm not sure. Even I haven't listened to all of them. But there might be somebody of note." Sammy walked over to stand in the corner of the recording room and pulled out a sheet of paper and pen. He made a note and handed it to her. "You might look into this name here. He used to work at the studio, but he didn't leave like Tom did. He left before this place ever became Bendyland, long before you got here either," he said. "His name is Henry. From what I've gathered, he kind of started this whole studio with Joey. He even created Bendy, drew him up and everything. For whatever reason though, he left, and Joey does whatever he can to pretend he doesn't exist. He even ordered me to erase his tapes. Not that I didn't give them a listen first of course."

Allison took the paper and looked over the name. "How can he help?"

"He might not be able to," Sammy said. "But I think there's something to be said for the employees who leave this place willingly. Plus, if he was as close to Joey as I think he was, there's no way he can't know some of the things going on behind closed doors. It might be a good starting point at least."

Allison tucked the paper away. "Thank you, Sammy. I appreciate your help and just you listening to me today. You're...taking this all pretty well."

Sammy chuckled. "I'm nothing if not adaptable. And like I said, I've had a feeling there have been things moving behind the scenes for a while." He stood and headed for the door. "Let me know if you need any other favors, Miss Allison. I'll be sure to call on that favor of mine very soon."

Allison froze, halfway rising out of her own chair. Her blood ran cold. "What did you say?"

Sammy smiled, looking at her from over his shoulder. She swallowed, the reality of her situation crashing around her and threatening to wash her away.

"A favor," he repeated. "You already owe me one. I'd say after giving you all of this information, you owe me two now."

Then he left, and when Allison finally had the strength to leave the room, Sammy, the Follower, was nowhere to be seen.

Shorter chapter this time, but I like it :) Slowly but surely getting some ideas together. Sorry for the long wait between chapters, thank you for your patience!

Also, I hit over 1000 views! Whoohoo! Thank you for reading!