Chapter 11: The Dancing Demon Smiles at You!

He shouldn't have come. But he'd been trying to call Norman back all day, and hadn't heard a word, and got worried and...

Who was he kidding? This wasn't about Norman. This wasn't about Allison either.

Henry had gone to the park because he could no longer pretend to be ignorant of what was happening. Even if it was his downfall, even if he lived to regret it for the rest of his life, he had to know what was going on in the studio. He had to know if Joey, if Bendy, if his legacy, was beyond saving. So here he was, parked outside of the gates, watching families line up outside with tickets in-hand. Even on a weekday, it was busy. He knew he should probably get in the line himself, but he still lingered, leaning against the hood of his car and running a hand through his hair or his face. He forgot to shave this morning. He felt bad for lying to Linda. He knew she wouldn't buy his hasty sticky-note stuck to the fridge, claiming to have to rush into work somewhere. No, she wouldn't buy it for a second.

But she wouldn't get mad at him. She wouldn't demand to know where he was. She trusted him, for better or worse, and even if Henry had told her the truth, she wouldn't have cared. Would have just smiled, kissed his cheek, and told him to be safe. He didn't deserve her.

A smiling park attendant walked up the gates, opening them with a large flair as a few children cheered happily. Soon, waves of people were moving through the queue, tickets were punched and lined up neatly, and he could hear familiar showtunes and rides in the distance. His hands started to sweat as the line died down to a trickle. He couldn't keep waiting in front of his car forever. He had to face this. From a distance, he could see how magnificent the park was. Large, wooden buildings and painted ink signs. Joey really had rolled with the theme of "cartoons brought to life." Even from his car, he felt like he was about to step foot into a whole other black and white world. It was a little unsettling.

He wasn't even sure what he was so scared of. His own guilt, maybe? Jealousy, wishing that he really had stuck around with Joey to be a real part of the park?

No. He still didn't regret his choice to leave, even after Joey made it big. That was the one decision he would never regret, even if it was the hardest one he ever had to make. Joey was going too far to achieve his dreams, he was crossing lines Henry wouldn't dare go near, and that was the last straw. Henry refused to let his dreams be achieved by making his life a nightmare.

"Is that Mister Henry Stein I see there?!"

Henry turned and blinked, but then smiled. "Hey Wally, how are ya?"

Wally grinned at Henry, walking over and slapping an arm around his shoulder as if they'd seen each other just yesterday. "Well, whattaya know! Henry Stein, in the flesh! Here to see the park? Sure did take ya long enough! Does Joey know?"

"No," Henry said tensely. "And I'd prefer to keep it that way for now."

"Oh I understand, don't you worry, that Joey Drew is a wild one and I don't blame you for steering clear. Better keep your head down though, he's bound to be in the park or studio somewhere. Guess the workers found some big mess this morning and he's in a foul mood."

"I'll keep that in mind," Henry said.

"Well, I better get back to work...I lead the whole cleaning crew now, you know! Though if I have one more big mess I have to clean up, Iiiiiii'm outta here!" Wally said, throwing his hands up in the air as he walked through a side door. "See ya later Henry!"

Henry shook his head and chuckled as the man disappeared. Odd one, that Wally, but never in a bad way. He was a good guy, never bothered Henry much. He couldn't say they were close or anything, but knowing that not every old worker hated his guts was oddly reassuring. He even, for a brief moment, hoped that maybe being reunited with Joey wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Maybe they'd even smile, reminisce about the old times, put all of this bad gossip about evil park doings behind them. Grab a drink. Talk a while.

No. As much as Henry wanted to hope something like that was possible, he knew it wasn't. Even if he didn't know exactly what was going on in the studio, seeing the fear in Allison's eyes and the hush in Norman's voice was enough to tell Henry that something really was wrong with this park, even before he stepped inside. And Joey Drew was probably at the heart of it. Henry just hoped that maybe even a small piece of his old friend remained, tucked away deep within that wrinkle-free suit and smile.

He got off of his car and made his way to the gate, purchasing a ticket, far pricier than he would have liked, and headed inside. He'd used a fake name for the ticket, Jack Walters, just to avoid any concern. It had been years since he'd worked here, but if Wally recognized him by face, then who knows who else would recognize him by name.

The line had all but died down when Henry walked through it, stepping through the gates to stare in awe at the park around him. The pavement was dotted with random grinning faces, cardboard cutouts lined rigged games and balloon stands, and rides were already swirling in the distance. And he'd barely made it two steps into the park. His ticket nearly fell out of his hands. Joey really did pull out all the stops. He never half-assed a dream. And standing here, before it all, it was easy to see how beautiful a dream it really was in the beginning. A world to make people laugh and smile, and people were.

Though the people, in a way, were the one thing that felt out of place at the park. While even the workers were dressed in muted hues of black and white, the attendees were dressed in colorful clothes, blue jeans, and hats that popped out as little blots of colored in the otherwise monochrome park. It felt wrong, somehow, seeing them walk among the cartoons. It felt less like the cartoon world had been brought to life, and more like they had been sucked into it.

That distraction didn't last long though, as a roller coaster cart zoomed by over head, chased by excited and fearful squeals before ducking over a hill and out of view. It looked like fun, fun Henry might even stand in line for if the thought didn't make his stomach twist and his bones hurt. Geez, he was getting old...

"THE MORNING PARADE IS CURRENTLY CANCELLED DUE TO TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE. BENDY AND ALICE WILL BE WALKING AROUND THE PARK SHORTLY, AND WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO SHARE YOUR SMILES WITH THEM. THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING!"

The too-chipper voice was a little unsettling, but Henry tried not to let it bother him as he walked along, still staring in awe at his creation spread across every sign and shop. A picture of Bendy eating ice cream, that was new artwork, but some of his old artwork from the cartoons remained, plastered around every corner and advertisement. It was like stepping into a monochrome wonderland in the best possible way. Was this Joey's dream all along? Had this been what he'd envisioned from the beginning? Henry may not have been swayed by Joey's words at the end, but it was easy to see how others could be, if this was the end result all along.

He had all but forgotten why he had even come there for a few moments, too in awe that something he had a part in creating was here, making people laugh, smile, staring back at him. He was a part of this. He had helped create this. This was partly his legacy, and in that moment, it was too easy to forget why he had come here, the horrible truth lingering beneath the surface. It was easy to believe, as he walked down pathway after pathway, smiled and laughed along with children and parents, that Allison had showed up at his door drenched in rain and fear. How could such a happy place hide evil?

Something grabbed onto his leg, making Henry pause mid-stride. He looked down, expecting maybe a lost child or someone who accidentally bumped him with their bag or-

"B...Bendy?" Henry said, his voice wavering.

The small figure on his leg tightened its grip, burying its face into Henry's leg. He barely came up passed Henry's knee. Henry was froze stiff, frozen solid, staring down at this toon. Finally, Bendy pulled his head back and smiled up at Henry, eyes wide, grin stretching up from ear to ear, like a child happy to see a long-lost parent after returning home from work.

Henry made some sort of choked noise, something catching in his throat as his mouth hung open in shock. Bendy looked up at him expectantly, almost as if waiting for a hug, for something. He thought maybe he should do that, he felt that it would probably be right to scoop the toon up his arms, try to take him away from this awful place.

Instead, Henry felt nothing but fear. He'd never seen the toons like this. In the flesh. The ink. However it was that Joey brought them to life. Seeing Bendy here sent shivers down his spine. He had to clench his hands into fists to fight the urge to pull back away from the small cartoon's embrace. Part of him even wanted to kick him away, send him sailing and run, run far away back into Linda's arms and leave this life behind. He shouldn't have come. He knew he shouldn't, and seeing Bendy here solidified that. This was a creature of his own creation. A passing thought, a figment of his imagination, just one part of a screaming, buzzing well of voices.

If Bendy noticed Henry's disdain, he didn't show it. He instead reached up and grabbed Henry's clenched fist, pulling him along and leading him into the park. Henry's feet didn't want to move, or if they did, it was in the opposite direction, away and out of this park, away from this creation, his creation, something that had come from his mind and his pen, but he couldn't. He just followed along numbly, unable to do anything else. People laughed and gawked, pointing at the pair and smiling at Bendy, but their smiles felt as fake as Bendy's twitching on the edges, ink dripping around the smiling as if at any moment he'd burst apart at the seems and transform into something else entirely.

Allison slowly stirred. Her whole body hurt and felt sore, like she'd just been through hell. Considering she'd come face to face with a demon, she supposed her analogy wasn't too far off. But if she hurt, that meant she was alive. The last thing she remembered was a bright light, falling to the ground, then nothing. Had Norman got out? Was it Norman with the light? And more importantly...

She sat up in a hurry, her eyes widening as she looked around. "Tom! Tom?!"

Norman jolted awake, seated in a chair across the room from her. "A-Ah! Miss Allison! Y-Yer awake, thank goodness...I was gettin' real worried about ya, I mean, it's been hours...thought maybe about takin' you to a hospital, b-but I've been too scared to leave all on my own, and you seemed fine...a-ah! Not that I checked you or anything! I mean, I did, but nothin' you need to worry about and I-"

Allison held up her hand, cutting him off. "Norman, just...stop talking. Where's T...where's the Boris? From before?"

"Oh, that Boris? He left a few hours ago. Freaky thing...can't get over how he kept glarin' at me. He had lost an arm too, not sure how they're gonna fix that one up before the parade, but he's gone now, so we're okay," Norman said, giving her a shaky grin.

Allison's eyes narrowed and Norman gulped. She stood, wobbling unsteadily as the room spun around her. She shakily fell back onto the bed, Norman rushing over only for her to shoo him away again.

"You really should rest, Miss Allison. Bendy nearly killed ya back there...we should maybe get you to a hospital I think..."

"And tell them what?" Allison said, gently rubbing her sore neck. She couldn't see the bruises, but she knew they were there. "That an inky demon tried to choke me to death in Joey Drew Studios? I'd get thrown into a mental institution, or worse, jail, if Joey found out. No. I'm fine." She sighed and turned to Norman. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Scared outta my gourd, but I'm fine," Norman said, taking off his glasses to clean them. "So much is happening...I shoulda just kept my nose down and stayed out of the dark places..."

"If you had done that, I'd probably be dead," Allison said. "So, thank you for not just hiding away."

Norman blinked, staring at her for a long moment before clearing his throat and looking away. He didn't want her to notice the pink in his cheeks. "A-ah, you're welcome. Happy to help."

"You said the Boris left. Which way did he go? Did he say anything beforehand?" she asked, wishing her legs had the strength to move, get up, and follow after him. If it really was Tom...why did he leave her?

"Sorry Miss, he didn't say. Didn't make any sound at all, really, unlike that Allison. And he just left. I didn't follow where he went."

Of course the Boris didn't say anything. He didn't have a voice actor, so the cartoon version of Boris was always silent. It made sense that the real-life incarnation would share the same features. She didn't even know if Boris had vocal cords at all.

Could it really be Tom? She wasn't sure. She was second-guessing herself, hung up on overthinking things. Maybe it had just been blind hope. Maybe she'd looked too into his subtle reactions when she'd called out his name. But why else would a Boris try to protect her? As bizarre and strange as having the Boris be Tom felt, it made sense in a horrific way. Boris's died often. Tom's men went missing often. Was Joey somehow turning Tom's old workers, and eventually Tom himself, into Boris's? Had Tom really been here all along, right under her nose?

Allison's heart sank when she remembered that first night she'd snuck into the park. The first night Tom went missing.

She'd run into the Boris then too. The way he looked at her had been the same. A thousand trapped words behind fearful and sad eyes.

There was no mistaking it. That Boris was Tom. It had to be, but knowing that made her fearful too. Why would he leave? Where was he now? Tom wouldn't leave without a good reason, so she just had to trust him. Just had to put herself into his shoes. What would Tom do?

"You said the Boris lost an arm?" Allison asked, hiding the crack in her voice with a weak cough.

"Yeah, just torn clean off after gettin' in between you and Alice. Geez, she sure was scary..." Norman said.

Tom would know that he couldn't go back to the parade with a broken arm. If he was seen, Joey would replace him. But why wouldn't he hide here, with them? Allison put a hand to her chin, trying to line the pieces up. It wasn't like Tom to act like Boris, but it was also undeniable that when she'd seen Boris around the park, he'd acted normally. Like all the other Boris's before him. It didn't make sense that if Joey was transforming people into cartoons for them to just pretend like nothing was wrong, unless they really didn't know any better. Bendy and Alice, they were the same way too. Every day they acted like nothing was wrong, and only at night did they reveal their true selves. It had to be the same with Tom. Come daybreak, Tom probably reverted back to the Boris's regular mannerisms unwillingly. And, if he really had lost an arm, that meant that trying to go up to the crowd and acting like Boris would be dangerous.

"He hid himself away somewhere," Allison whispered. "Somewhere he wouldn't be able to get out..."

"Huh? Did you say something, Miss Allison?"

She ignored him, still too deep in her thoughts. If Tom was Boris, then who were the others? She forced herself to remember more of what happened last night, prying over every memory, every question in her mind.

Alice. That part was particularly...horrifying. What had she said again? How Allison had taken everything from her? She'd screamed that at first, but then when Allison had her pinned to the ground...

"She made me do it..."

Susie?

No. That's impossible. Susie was dead, she couldn't be...

Wait. Susie wasn't dead. Susie was missing. After talking with Joey. After Allison replaced her. It hadn't really made sense why she'd had to replace her, if Allison really looked at it. Financially it didn't make sense, but practically it didn't make sense either. They'd already produced a good few cartoons with Susie's voice, why change it so suddenly, even if Allison sounded similarly to Susie?

Allison felt cold. Her whole body felt like ice as she tried to keep herself from panicking, tried to keep herself from screaming in fright. What the hell had Joey done? Had Joey taken real, living, breathing people, done something with the ink machine, and turned them into living, breathing cartoons? How? Why? Had Joey really lost his humanity so much that he'd stoop this low? She wasn't sure what was worse, but remembering all of those files of missing persons, the cartoons big and small that went missing and then reappeared as if nothing had happened...

"Help me walk," she said sternly, pushing herself back to her feet. The room still spun, but not quite as bad now, not in the way that made her want to hurl. She could at least stay standing, but walking was another matter entirely.

Norman gulped. "O-okay, but where are we going?"

"It's still daytime, right?" she asked.

He checked his watch. "Yeah, barely even midday."

"Good. We've got plenty of time before nightfall then to find Tom," Allison said.

"Sure, but, shouldn't we be getting out of here? Do you really think your friend is still alive?" Norman stuttered.

"I know he is. And we're going to find a way to save him. I just have to find him first," Allison said. "Before Joey does. We need to find that Boris."

"You think that Boris was..." Norman paled. "Oh...oh God, o-oh God, you think Joey's been..."

"I don't know for sure," Allison said. "But it makes sense. A lot makes sense. It makes sense why Joey hadn't just fired me. He needs replacements for if something goes wrong with the toons. I'm Alice's replacement. The Boris's get replaced by anybody, since Boris doesn't talk."

"I hope you're wrong, but I think I'm following. God above, this is...ugh, I think I'm going to get sick..." Norman clutched at his stomach, and Allison took a cautious step back. She didn't blame him. She was feeling pretty nauseous at the prospect herself. "Wait a moment," Norman said. "Then...then who's Bendy? Who would his replacement be? Surely it couldn't just be anybody...not the star of the show. So who's meant to replace him if something goes wrong?"

"I don't know," Allison admitted, letting Norman carefully lead her out the door while her feet slowly found their footing. "There's still too many mysteries to unravel, and I'm not sure if I'm completely right in the ones I've solved. There's only one way to know for sure, and that's to find Tom. To find Boris. If it really is him, then we can start to find the answers."

"But...what if it is him? How are we supposed to save them? To save everyone, and turn them back to normal?"

Allison didn't answer him. That was the one question she'd been asking herself this whole time, and had been trying to ignore. She didn't want to think about that, because she was too terrified of the thought that after finding Tom, after finally finding him, that she might never be able to save him after all.

Henry stared up at the old studio before him. It had been a long time. He wasn't expecting Bendy to lead him here. Of course, he wasn't really expecting Bendy to lead him anywhere at all, but even through the whole walk over here, he never found the strength or courage to pull away. He just kept staring at Bendy in a sense of bewilderment and horror, all rolled into one dumbstruck expression that probably came off as something close to shock. Maybe he was in shock. He felt numb all over, and perhaps like he wasn't reacting how he should be, almost like he was watching his body from the outside in. But here they were, outside of the studio, with Bendy pointing up at it and smiling.

"Henry?"

Bendy's grip around Henry's hand tightened. It almost hurt. How can something so small have such a tight grip?

Henry turned around, saw Joey standing before him with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and his hands pushed into his pockets. There was a few feet between them, but it didn't feel like enough, not with Henry's back to an iron gate and the studio, and Joey between him and his only chance of running away. In the distance, Henry could hear the sounds of screams and laughter as a ride kicked up, whirled around, and then went quiet again.

Joey blankly looked down at Bendy. "I see you've met Bendy."

"Y...yeah," Henry said, his voice catching in his throat. Joey looked like he'd barely changed a day. His suit was more expensive now, perhaps a bit more composed, but his eyes were still cold. Still blank. No amount of smiles in the world could cover up the hatred in Joey's eyes.

Joey sighed, taking a long drag from his cigarette and tapped the ashes to the cobblestone ground below. He walked over to the bench leaning up against the iron fence and took a seat, loosening his tie.

"Have a seat, old friend. I'm sure we have lots to talk about."

Don't think too lowly of Henry in this chapter for fearing Bendy. I mean, can we really blame him? If one of my characters or doodles suddenly appeared before me...well, I'd probably be really freaked out too. I hope I was able to accurately portray how I think Henry would feel. I imagine that really living in this scenario would be really frightening and bizarre. After some of the stories I've written, I'd be terrified to see my characters come to life (looking at you Clara from The Color of the Cure).

Look forward to seeing how things continue. This story is far, far from over. They haven't yet reached THE END.