Watching people you love walk into danger is a hundred times harder than walking into it yourself.
- Pysa Woder
The beauty of the underground caverns was a sight to behold. They truly were. Only, it was hard to enjoy it with the tension in the atmosphere.
DogDay was barely keeping it together, but at the same time, he was able to keep from panicking while Angel was right there with him. Angel came up with the plan to find a way to the generator in the Counselor's Office through the caverns. Since there was more than one way in and out for the School and Playhouse, there had to be another way into the Counselor's Office as well. Angel had also figured out this had to be how CatNap was getting around Playcare if all the front doors to every building were locked. They had retrieved the key that Ollie had sent and unlocked the front door as an alternative escape route if the caverns got blocked off in any way and they had to keep moving forward instead.
They were making good ground. CatNap's lavender scent lingered in the air. It was faint, but Angel and DogDay were able to track the scent through the underground caverns, which led them right to the entrance of the Counselor's Office. They remained on their toes, as the closer they got to the door, the scent of lavender got stronger in the air.
There was the door. Just like the door to the Playhouse, this door required the Grab-Pack's blue canon hand to unlock. Before she fired the canon, Koa turned to face DogDay.
"You ready?" She asked him, concern written all over her features.
Before he answered, DogDay glanced back to the door. This was it. They were about to enter the lion's den. Even though all of Playcare was dangerous with CatNap around, the Counselor's Office was the most dangerous place here, aside from the Playhouse.
"DogDay," Angel spoke up, and DogDay looked back to her. "You don't have to go in there. I'll take you back to the surface and you can wait for me there," she said calmly and understandingly.
DogDay glanced back to the door for the briefest of moments, then he looked back to Angel, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly released it. "No," he responded. "I'm not going to let you do this alone. I made a promise to help you, and I intend to keep it."
"DogDay, I appreciate it, but I don't want you to do something that makes you uncomfortable. You don't have to go in there."
"Angel, I'll be okay. We'll do this together," DogDay responded, trying his best to repress his anxiety. Angel did not fail to notice.
She placed a comforting hand on his arm, a small smile on her face. Though the look on her face read something different. Something urgent.
Finally, she said, "DogDay, if things go south in there, I want you to run. I want you to hide," she instructed. "CatNap may be injured, but I doubt he's out of the fight. If he shows up, be ready. I know it will be hard, but you must not let fear take hold. He will not hold back."
DogDay nodding in understanding. He took in a deep breath and slowly released it. Angel nodded her head once, turned back to the door, and fired the Grab-Pack's blue hand to its receptacle. Once it charged, the door opened, letting them inside the Counselor's Office. CatNap's main hunting grounds.
Too quiet. Eerily quiet. The back halls of the Counselor's Office were just like the halls of the School and Home-Sweet-Home. They were cluttered and messy. There was a rancid smell in the air. An overpowering oder of decay and rot. With a hint of a sweet floral smell mixed in. It was nauseating. DogDay had it worse since his sense of smell was so strong, being a dog. He tried to resist gaging, but failed miserably. Even Koa was dry heaving. It took a minute, but they eventually recovered enough to keep moving.
Traveling the halls was no easy feat. Furniture had been tossed randomly into the halls. Glass was broken along the floors. Holes were broken into the walls. DogDay was having a harder time traveling. Just getting used to walking again, the clutter in the halls were harder to bypass. Though Koa held no frustration. It was best to go slow, to catch any sign danger. Fortunately, so far, there was no sign of CatNap.
Traveling further into the halls, Koa and DogDay made it to a back room with a battery receptacle. There where four doors along the walls. The both of them searched in the rooms behind three of the doors, each of them finding a receiver for electrical currents. The fourth door was locked. Next to the battery receptacle, there was a charger for electrical currents. Koa looked behind her and saw something green glowing at the end of the hall through a hole in the wall. Getting closer, Koa could see a discarded battery at the end of the hall. Using her Grab-Pack, she launched the left canon to successfully retrieve the battery. Plugging it in, it powered up the room, and Koa used the Grab-Pack's green hand to pass electrical currents to the receivers in each room. Once it was done, the locked door opened up.
There were the safeguards for the generator. DogDay and Koa shared an excited smile before getting to work. Rerouting the power was a bit tricky. After rearranging the power lines, breaking a few glass cases, and plugging in a few batteries, Koa and DogDay managed to reroute the power. With Koa on a high balcony plugging in the last battery, she gave the okay for DogDay to flip the switch to activate the power lines. Once the charge was completed, Koa could hear the generator power up and start. Koa gave an excited smile. She turned to DogDay and gave him a thumbs up. DogDay felt nothing but relief that the work was completed.
Though the victory was short lived.
Koa tensed when she noticed a smell in the air. And it did not smell of lavender. It smelled... fruity? And floral? And it was tainted too. Suddenly, Koa heard something scurrying along the pipes on the ceiling. A familiar giggling sounded. Koa glanced at DogDay, who was very tense where he was standing.
Koa slid off the balcony to safely get to ground level and joined DogDay's side. The giggling turned into snarling. The scurrying grew louder and more frantic. Following the noises, Koa was able to pinpoint the source...
Right above them.
A Ruined KickinChicken pounced from a pipe running along the ceiling, his arms ready to latch onto his prey. Koa was faster, and grabbed the Ruined Critter by the throat while he was still airborne. The little toy panicked and squirmed in Koa's tight grasp, but her hold did not budge. Koa turned and slammed the toy against the wall, stunning the toy and stopping its squirming.
Koa pulled out her knife, ready to strike, but paused. It was suddenly quiet, save for the noises of the running generator. She looked back to the toy in her grasp.
"Are you alone?"
The toy squeeked in response, and tried to speak, but all that came out were whimpers.
"He is alone," DogDay suddenly spoke. "He fell behind from the others and wandered out the open door to the caverns. That's how he ended up here."
Koa didn't know how DogDay understood the Ruined Critter, but didn't question it. She leveled her blade in between the Critter's eyes, "If you're lying, this blade is going in the base of your skull."
The Critter whined, though Koa didn't need DogDay to understand the Critter was trying to insist he was alone. Koa then turned to DogDay.
"Time to go," Koa said while sheathing her knife.
DogDay nodded and followed Angel back the way they came.
They traveled slowly. Koa paying attention to her surroundings, two of her fingers and her thumb were wrapped around the Ruined KickinChicken's throat, restricting his airway to keep him quiet. DogDay aided as well, as his senses of hearing and smell were stronger than Angel's. They made it back to the doorway to the caverns, but they paused. The scent of lavender was thick in the air. A shadow moved along the ground. CatNap was right outside the door. The Ruined KickinChicken started to squirm again, only for Koa to tighten her hold on his troat, choking the fight out of him. She turned her head to look at DogDay, and placed a finger to her lips, quietly shushing. DogDay nodded. Koa then brought the Ruined Toy up to look him in the eyes, and smiled.
The Ruined Critter gulped.
…..
CatNap waited. His prey was right inside. He knew they had snuck into his domain through the caverns. He had to admit, it was cleaver of them, but also foolish. This was the perfect opportunity for an ambush. He knew these caverns better than anyone. He clung to the wall above the doorway. Once they came out of that doorway, he would get the drop on them. Hearing footsteps not far from his hiding spot, he prepped himself for a pounce. Seeing something run out of the doorway, he jumped from the wall and landed right on top of the figure, but paused at the sounds of crunching bones. He lifted his paw from what he had pinned underneath it. What he had pinned was neither the heretic nor the trespasser. It was a Ruined KickinChicken, and CatNap had already crushed him to death under his paw. Confused, he turned towards the doorway.
"SURPRISE!"
Koa charged CatNap and slammed into CatNap's side with her shoulder. She charged and slammed into him with such force that both of them were sent tumbling over the side of the already unstable catwalks of the caverns, yelling and roaring in shock and fear as they fell.
"ANGEL!" DogDay yelled in fear as he heard a large crash coming from a platform below him. As he started running towards the edge to see what happened, he heard Angel yelling in pain, and he could hear her straining.
Once DogDay got to the edge of the platform, he looked over the edge and was shocked at what he saw. Angel was holding on as tight as she could onto the edge of the catwalk. Right below her, CatNap was dangling in the air with a death grip on Angel's right ankle.
Koa struggled against the weight. CatNap may be scrawny, but he was still heavy. His claws where digging into her skin. Tears spilled from her eyes. She was starting to sweat under the strain. Her right arm was starting to ache.
'Good going, Koa. You did NOT think this one entirely through,' she mentally scolded herself.
Below her, CatNap was dangling. Looking up past the human, he saw the mongrel DogDay above them. He was furious.
"HERETIC!" He roared in anger.
"DOGDAY, RUN! I GOT THIS! JUST RUN!" Koa yelled up to DogDay. Panicked, DogDay obeyed and ran back into the Counselor's Office.
CatNap roared again in anger. He sank his claws deeper into the human's ankle, earning a pained scream.
Filled with adrenaline, Koa pulled herself up to hold onto the platform with her left arm, wrapping her arm around a metal bar for a better grip, and looked down at CatNap. His white irises glowed in anger and bloodlust. Noticing he was about to exhale his Red Smoke, Koa pulled out her lighter from her pocket, and ran her thumb along the sparkwheel. After a few tries, a small flame burst to life from the lighter. She angled the lighter for CatNap to see the flame, who flinched slightly at the sight of the flame, and Koa dropped the lighter towards CatNap's face.
Panicked at the sight of the flame, CatNap released his grip from the human's ankle, who released a yell of pain and relief, and he fell towards another unstable platform, which collapsed under his weight, and everything was sent crashing down to the cavern floors.
Koa pulled herself back up onto the platform as fast as she could. Once she was safe, she looked down and saw CatNap pushing himself up off of the cavern floors. He shook his head, and turned to look back up at Koa. He stood there for a few moments, then roared in anger, and charged for the platforms again. When CatNap started to climb back up the walls and platforms, Koa herself turned back to enter the Counselor's Office. Climbing back up to the door with her Grab-Pack, she fired the blue hand canon to charge the door to close it. Once it was nearly complete, CatNap made it back over the edge. Koa then released the hand canon and dove under the door, with CatNap diving after her, only for the door to slam shut. CatNap gave a furious roar, but then it went silent.
Inside the Counselor's Office, Koa was panting in fear and pain. Once it got quiet, she knew it wasn't over. CatNap had to be looking for another way in. Panicked, she ran as fast as her wounded ankle let her deeper into the Counselor's Office. She had to find DogDay.
They had to leave. Immediately.
….
DogDay made it to the front halls of the Counselor's Office. Entering an opened door to an office, he shut the door behind him and locked it. He backed up from the door, nearly hyperventilating. He felt incredibly guilty for leaving Angel behind. He had broken his promise.
'But she told me to run. Surely she had an ace up her sleeve.'
Not paying attention, he bumped into the desk behind him, and jumped when he heard something fall onto the floor. Curiosity getting the better of him, he looked and saw a VHS tape on the floor. Picking it up, it read 'Hartmann Incident' on it. Looking over and seeing a TV and VHS player, curiosity taking a stronger hold on him, he placed the tape in the player and stepped back. Once the screen came on, there was a picture of a young boy. Then the voice of a woman spoke up. He immediately recognized the voice of the late Stella Greyber, the head of the adoption program of Playcare.
"Oh, Mr. and Mrs. Hartmann? Come on in! Please, have a seat!"
They could be heard walking across the room and taking their seats.
"How was your ride down?" Stella asked.
"It was… nothing like we were expecting." Mr. Hartmann stated. "Mr. Ludwig's speech was… Well, it just confirms for us that you're the orphanage we want to go through."
"It's a truly magical place," Stella Greyber said, happiness in her speech. "I felt right at home from the second I entered. You open the door the first time and you just know, you're never going to leave… Kind of like finding a home as a child, and always thinking of it when you want to feel comforted." She paused to clear her throat, knowing she was talking too much. "I understand you want to give Jeremy that home," Stella stated obviously.
"Yes, and we would like to adopt." Mrs. Hartmann said with love in her voice.
"Amazing!" Stella said happily as she could be heard flipping papers in the video. "You'll be perfect for-…" she paused. "Oh…"
"W-what?" Mrs. Hartmann asked, suddenly worried.
"Well, it appears there's… been some complications," Stella said, vaguely.
"Complications?... W-what kind of complications?" Mrs. Hartmann questioned, confused and frightened by the word.
"I-I don't know," Stella stuttered. "Uhm… The form, says 'Testing'."
"What does that mean!?... Tell us, what does that mean!?" Mrs. Hartmann demanded.
"Ms. Greyber, we deserve a better explanation than that, don't you think!?" Mr. Hartmann questioned.
"You're in charge of all this, how could you not know?!" Mrs. Hartmann demanded, beyond furious that she couldn't bring her adopted child home.
"And why are we only finding out about this now?!" Mr. Hartmann demanded, matching his wife's rage.
Stella stuttered, not knowing how to respond. "I-I don't… I'm sorry."
The screen went black. DogDay paled and whimpered. He looked away from the screen and hugged himself in comfort.
It couldn't be. Was he a child once, too? He tried to remember, but the first memory he has is… waking up. To men and women in gas suits.
He started to tremble. Who was he? That was over fifteen years ago. He would be a young adult if he were still his former self. But he couldn't remember who that was. It was like those memories were erased. As if that child he once was didn't exist at all. Tears flooded his eyes, and spilled down his cheeks. He squeezed his eyes shut. He wanted to remember. But he couldn't.
A loud crash caught his attention. Remembering he was supposed to be hiding, he immediately ran behind the desk and ducked down low, hugging his knees tightly.
Footsteps could be heard approaching, though DogDay couldn't tell who's they were. They grew louder and louder. Then stopped. He heard the door handle jiggle. Trying not to panic, he squeezed his eyes shut again and held his breath.
Then… there was the sound of glass breaking.
….
The vent cover crashed on the floor. Once she was on the floor, Koa wandered the halls as quickly as she could. Her ankle screamed in pain, but fortunately it wasn't broken or dislocated. Following the scent of vanilla, she knew DogDay was close. And CatNap was not far behind. He found another way in. She had to bypass the Red Smoke twice already through the vents. She was worried, but knew he didn't have DogDay yet.
His scent was getting stronger.
Once she reached the office door of Stella Greyber, she stopped. He was in this office. She could tell. Trying the handle, she found the door locked. Looking to the side of the door, she saw it required a battery.
'The door must have been open when he came by,' Koa deduced mentally.
Knowing looking for a battery would waste time, she used her elbow to smash the glass on the door open, and unlocked the door from the inside, and opened the door.
Once it was open, she called out, "DogDay?!"
On the other side of the desk, DogDay's eyes snapped open, and he stood up from his hiding spot fast.
"Angel!"
He ran to Angel's side, and, after a brief hug, they ran down the hall. Once they were in the front halls of the Counselor's Office, they saw they needed a battery to escape. Turning around, they saw Red Smoke flood the halls. Koa pulled out her gas mask, took a few deep breaths, held it, then passed the mask to DogDay, signing for him to breathe through it with just his nose. Sharing the mask, they found a battery in a room at the end of the hall. Koa retrieved it, and walked out of the room, neither of them watching their surroundings.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, CatNap pounced right on top of them with a roar. DogDay and Koa screamed in surprised fear. CatNap knocked Koa back into the room, causing her to drop the gas mask in the process, while DogDay was knocked into the corner of the hall.
When Koa landed on the floor in the room, she managed to catch a glimpse of CatNap turning towards DogDay, who raised his hands to try and defend himself, before a large locker in the room fell over and pushed the door closed. Just then, the room started to flood with the Red Smoke through the vents.
"NO! NO NO CATNAP PLEASE NO!! ANGEL!! ANGEL!! ANGEEELLLL!!!!"
DogDay could be heard screaming and pleading from the halls, and his voice grew fainter as she could hear CatNap dragging him away.
Then… everything went black.
…..
...
"Find the flower. Find the flower." Koa heard Poppy whisper. Koa found herself standing on the road that led to Playtime Co., she was able to look around, but was unable to move her legs.
"This isn't a place you come back from." She heard Poppy whisper.
Suddenly, Koa was floating through a tunnel of thick, red clouds. The scene shifts to her standing in the factory's lobby.
"Do you have any idea what you're doing?" Poppy asked rhetorically.
Koa stood still, not that she could move much anyway, but even if she could, she was paralyzed with fear. She was moving through the red clouds again and the scene shifted to Home-Sweet-Home. The silhouettes of children were running all around her, and she could hear their laughter.
"Do you know what's happened here?" Poppy asked her.
Koa couldn't speak up. She had figured out what was happening and wanted to speak, but she couldn't. She floated through the clouds again and the scene shifted to the ruined school, but the silhouettes of children were sitting in desks.
"Do you know who we once were?" Poppy asked, her voice growing more sinister, and Koa's anxiety increased more and more with what was happening.
She floated through the clouds again and found herself in the Playhouse where the Mini Smiling Critters were chasing her. But this time, instead if the Critters, the silhouettes of children could be seen playing.
"Do you know why we have to end this?"
The scene changed again from the clouds to an office in the Counselor's Office, everything around her growing intense.
"Do you even know what's real?"
The scene changed again, but instead of finding herself somewhere in Playtime Co., everything around her was black. Right in front of her, was Huggy Wuggy, standing like he did when she first entered the factory, only this time, his smiling mouth was wide open, showing his two rows of pointed teeth. This time, Koa could not hold in her fear. She started to hyperventilate, wanting to run, but she still couldn't move.
"No. You don't." Poppy said with venom in her voice.
Huggy Wuggy then disappeared from view.
Suddenly, alarms were blaring and people were screaming in fear and pain. Despite the loud blaring, the ringing of a phone could be heard. Koa found herself standing right in front of where Huggy once stood in the factory's lobby, and everything around her was red. Suddenly, something forced her to look up. Out of the red shadows, the huge, needle-fingered hand of The Prototype reached right for her…
….
...
Koa sat up with a loud gasp. She clenched her hand over her heart, which was beating erratically. She was hyperventilating. Tears were streaming down her face. She was sweating profusely. Before she could even try to calm down, her phone started ringing again, making her nearly jump out of her skin. Just as she made the first syllable of Ollie's name upon answering the call….
"LEAVE PLAYCARE... OR THE MONGREL DIES... AND I'M COMING FOR YOU!"
The call disconnected loudly, as if the caller slammed their phone hard.
Koa was suddenly still. Her breathing picked up again, but not in fear, but in anger. She growled through her clenched teeth.
"CATNAAAAPPPP!!!!"
Saba used to say there was a difference between bravery and courage. Bravery was doing something dangerous without thinking. Courage was walking into danger, knowing full well the risks.
- Gayle Forman