As both Audrey and Bendy entered the city, they were met with the sound of what sounded like old timey music playing, music which sounded like it came straight out of the 1940s, even the city itself, that looked as if it was also stuck in the 1940s despite it being 1973.
"Alright, the gent building must be around here somewhere" Audrey pointed out "let's start looking." Bendy reluctantly nodded and the pair began lucking around the city.
After searching for some time, the pair finally found the entrance to the gent building, and the first thing that Audrey noticed was that there was a security lock which required an I.D card to access.
"Oh man, it's security locked" Audrey exclaimed, turning round to face Bendy who was nervously playing his fingers "we need an I.D card to get inside." Just as the pair of them were about to start looking around for an I.D card, a lost one that had appeared out of nowhere came running towards the pair.
"Here now, what ya think ya doing?" they asked in what sounded like an Irish accent "you're not thinking about going in the old gent building are ya?"
"Well, yes" Audrey replied as Bendy shifted nervously at the side of her.
"Now why would a nice little girl like yaself wanna go in there?" the Irish lost one asked whilst Bendy looked at the young girl, his facial expression clearly indicating the same thing that the lost one was asking "don't ya know that those who enter never come back out again, ya got no idea what exactly is in there."
"But I need to get in there" Audrey stated " I need to find out exactly what's going on with this place, and I was told that the gent workshop had some and besides, I can run pretty fast, I'm sure whatever is in there won't be able to catch me, and it can't be any worse than what I've already encountered. So, won't you help us?"
Despite telling the Irish speaking lost one that she wasn't scare, Audrey knew deep down that she was infact scared of going into the gent workshop, but she knew that she had to get some answers, also, she still felt rather feverish, almost like she was developing some kind of cold and if that was the case, then it would most likely be impossible for her to outrun whatever threat lurked inside.
"Well, alright, if ya really wanting to find out some answers, then I guess I can since I know where ya can find an I.D card" the Irish lost one replied " but I still don't think this is a good idea."
Despite not thinking that it wasn't a good idea for Audrey to go inside, the Irish lost one lead both her and Bendy through what seemed to be an abandoned meat store, down a back alleyway until they reached another part of the city where various lost ones were walking around, a small group of them huddled in a corner around some kind of campfire, another one seemed to be drunk and trying to pick a fight with another. Audrey could feel Bendy clinging to her nervously, it was clear that this part of the city unnerved the little toon.
"I know, I'm scared too" Audrey replied, understanding his gesture.
"Ya, this be the rough part of town" the Irish Lost one stated "just follow me and don't make eye contact with the others." He then lead the pair of them through the rough part of the city until they reached what looked to be an abandoned hotel.
"Alright, this is it" he said as the three of them walked inside the hotel "ya wanting an I.D card, then this is where ya can find one" he then quickly slipped out, clearly not wanting to be part of Audrey's plan any further, leaving the child and the toon alone.
"Well, looks like we have to find it on our own now Bendy" Audrey said as the small toon sat on a nearby couch whilst Audrey looked around to see if she could find any I.D card, however, she was unable to find one "Okay, it isn't down here, maybe there's one upstairs in one of the rooms, so we'll have to check there."
Audrey began looking for a way to get to the upper levels, however, there was no staircase, only an elevator which was currently out of order, the only way to get up to the second floor, was a hole in the ceiling, just big enough for a small child to fit through and remembering the flow ability she had, Audrey knew that she had to use to get up to the second floor.
"Okay Bendy, looks like we'll have to go up to next floor to see if we can find that I.D card" the little girl exclaimed, but Bendy didn't move from the couch that was sitting on and Audrey could have sworn she heard a faint voice speaking in her head.
You don't wanna go into the gent building, you don't know what you're letting yourself in for.
Thinking that it was her mind playing tricks on her, Audrey shook it off before crouching in front of Bendy with a sympathetic smile.
"So, I guess you don't want to come with right?" he shook is head "alright, well, you can wait here for me whilst I look for the I.D card, ok." The child then stood up and Bendy watched as she flowed up through the hole before disappearing from sight and knowing what exactly resided inside the gent building, Bendy didn't want Audrey going inside, that place was not ideal for a young child and he had to make sure that she didn't get inside, no matter what it took, and with Audrey out of site, the little toon jumped down from the couch and slowly slunk out of the hotel.
Meanwhile, Audrey found herself inside one of the hotel rooms which had a single bed and a dressing table. The eerie quietness of the room gave Audrey the creeps, however, it did have what she was looking for, and that was the I.D card she needed to gain access to the gent building.
"Ah hah, there's the card" Audrey stated as she went to pick it up, only to be startled by a voice from behind her.
"Well gee, you haven't gotten far" Audrey turned around to see none other than Joey Drew standing there despite not being in the room when she entered, it was like he had appeared out of nowhere.
"Hey, don't sneak up like that" Audrey pouted, folding her arms as Joey chuckled before walking over to her and crouching down to her level.
"I do apologize for scaring you" he said "so, how's the journey going?"
"Slow, But I'm getting there" Audrey replied "and I ain't giving up until I find my way out of this place."
"Ah ha, I see that you have your father's never quit go getter spirit" Joey replied in a rather impressed tone as the little girl looked at him with a confused expression.
"Wait, you knew my father?" she asked "I never knew him, or my mother to be exact, I've been living in an Orphanage since I was around two years old."
Joey nodded, giving the child a sympathetic look as he took both of her hands into his own, looking her directly in the eyes, his expression rather serious and Audrey got the feeling that he was going to tell her something rather important.
"I see that you have chosen to forget the past" he calmly told the little girl "I understand."
"W..what are you talking about?" Audrey asked, her expression still confused as Joey let out a deep sigh before placing his hand on her shoulder.
"Look, I don't think you're ready for this, but hold onto your lunch money" he told her in a serious tone before taking her hand "there's something I want to show you."
Before Audrey could react, Joey placed his other hand on the side of her head and all of a sudden, the room began to spin and warp right before her eyes and within seconds, the child found herself in what looked to be a completely different area, and Joey was standing next to what appeared to be an old projector. In her head, she could hear a faint voice, a voice she had never heard before.
"Alright Joey I'm here, let's see if I can find what you wanted me to see."
"Over here" Joey called from the other end of the room, snapping Audrey out of her thoughts "come have a seat, this won't take long."
Timidly, little Audrey slowly made her way over to Joey whilst looking around the area she was currently in and it looked like it had seen better days, there were holes in the ceiling, ink splattered everywhere and some of the floorboards were rotted and coming apart. Once she had reached where Joey was standing, she sat down next to the projector.
"W..where are we?" the child asked in a nervous tone.
"This little Audrey, is a very old place" Joey replied as he tinkered with the projector, switching it on "full of memories, but never mind all that, there's a little story that you need to hear, are you ready?"
Audrey nodded as she positioned herself in her seat, clutching tightly onto the tattered Bendy plush she'd been carrying around as various images began to show on the wall in front of her whilst Joey told her his story.
"Once upon a time Audrey" he began "there was a bitter old man, who had lost just about everything."
"Joey?" the child asked in a soft voice as the memory of Joey nodded before continuing the story.
"The real Joey Drew, he blamed everyone but himself for his mistakes, but mostly he blamed his old business partner for abandoning their work, years and years ago, a man by the name of Henry Stein" Audrey clutched the Bendy plush tighter as she continued to listen to the story "a great artist, and a good friend. In his anger, Joey used an evil Machine to create another world, a world made of paper and Ink, where he would torment his own version of Henry forevermore. Bit one day, a miracle happened. An Angel came into Joey's life."
"An Angel?" Audrey asked, her eyes widening with curiosity and innocence.
"That's right" Joey replied "a young woman by the name of Allison Pendle, she didn't visit often, but when she did, she saw something good in Joey no one else could, including himself. Through their friendship, he began to see the world with better eyes, so one day, in Joey's cartoon cycle of hatred, he gave Henry an Angel of his own. To guide him when things were most dark. To always provide hope."
"Alice" Audrey muttered under her breath, remembering the cartoon Angel she had met when she first arrived in this place.
"It was then, Joey decided to make something new" he continued "something he had always wanted, but could never have, a family, but not a cartoon one, something real, and after man, many tries, he created something that made him happier than he ever could have imagined" Audrey watched as an image of the real Joey Drew holding a little girl of about two years old showed up on the screen "a wonderful loving daughter, bright and kind, almost human" he turned to face Audrey "he created you, Audrey."
"What!?" Audrey replied, her voice a mixture of shock and confusion "but, I..I don't understand, I..I can't...be" she began to sob, this was all too much for the Ten year old to take in "I wasn't born from some machine, I'm flesh and Blood. I'm not some kind of Ink monster, I'm not, I'm not."
Seeing the little girl in this distressed state, Joey let out a sympathetic sigh before crouching down to her level, putting his hand on her shoulder as she continued to sob quietly.
"Listen, I know it's a lot to believe, but it's the truth" he explained "you are the child of Joey Drew, the real Joey Drew."
Audrey continued to sob before sniffling and wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt before looking at Joey, asking why he had placed her in an Orphanage when she was really young.
"Well, child services deemed him too old to take care of a young child" Joey explained as the little girl's sobs subsided "so he had no choice but to place you in an Orphanage, I'm sure you understand?" Audrey nodded as she began to calm down, wiping her tear stained cheeks with her sleep.
"I want to go back now" she said in a quiet voice and Joey, without saying a word nodded and placed his hand on the side of her head as the room began to distort yet again until she found herself back in the hotel room, alone.
"I..it's not true" the little girl sobbed "it can't be."
After finally composing herself, Audrey picked up the I.D card before making her way back down to the ground floor of the Hotel, only to find that Bendy was nowhere to be seen.
"Bendy?" the girl called out, hoping that the little toon was just hiding somewhere and that he would come out once she called him "Bendy, where are you?" there was no response and the little girl assumed he had possibly got scared and ran off somewhere, so, clutching the bendy plush in one hand and the I.D card in the other, the child began to make her way back to the gent building as the creepy voice of old Wilson began echoing through the city over what sounded like a tannoy system.
"Attention, Children of the Machine, this is Wilson, the feeble uprising in Lost Harbour has been ended by the Keepers, we are save once again from the treason of the cyclebreakers! the Keepers are watching."
Audrey shuddered, whoever these Keepers were, she did not wanted to run into them as she remembered how Joey mentioned them and that they were rather dangerous folk, also, who or what exactly were these "Cyclebreakers", many thought were going through the little girl's head as she made her way to the gent building and as he finally arrived, the child took a deep breath as she gripped the I.D card.
"Okay, you can do this Audrey" the young girl told herself as she scanned the I.D card, ignoring the foul mouthed cries of the drunken Lost one that stumbled around nearby and once the scanning machine approved the I.D card, the doorway lifted halfway, but left enough space for Audrey to crawl through and once she did, the child found herself standing in front of a huge, factory like building with the following written on the front in huge letters
WE ARE THE KEEPERS
Audrey also couldn't help but noticed that there were dead lost ones being hung in front of the building with sacks over their heads and the little girl let out a gasp, stumbling back just as the Ink Demon jumped out of nowhere and began advancing towards the child, but as he did, coloured sparks began emitting from the two giant pylons in front of the building, and little Audrey felt intense pain in her head which caused her to collapse to her knees, but she just managed to lift her head to see that the Ink Demon seemed to have been affected by the coloured sparks coming from the two pylons and she watched as he began to shrink into an ink puddle, before it morphed into something that shocked the young girl.
"B..Bendy" she rasped, not believing what she had just witnessed, the Ink Demon had transformed into the little toon that had accompanied her earlier and without saying a word, Bendy limped away with a look of guilt on his face and with the pain in her head becoming more and more unbearable, Audrey's eyes rolled into the back of her head as she slipped into an unconscious state.