A/N: Hello, hello! I missed Thursday's upload (sad). It's the week before finals, and I'm dead both inside and outside. (let me die pls)

But we continue. I made it through junior year, I ain't losing out to this junk!

Action, action & more action this chapter. I'm proud of it. Enjoy.

Chapter Six: THE DEMON HAS TAKEN (IT) HIM

AUDREY

As Audrey glanced up, a huge drop of ink smacked straight into her face. She spluttered, spitting out a glob of the black liquid, and wiped her mouth on her sleeve. Glad this jacket was already black.

Allison had healed quickly, especially after both she and Tom got a sandwich. They'd made Audrey eat something. Then they'd headed out, through hallways and then vents.

"Henry had to go the long way," Allison said, looking embarrassed. "We didn't trust him then. We left him behind, actually. But we're going to take a shortcut now."

A small whine from Tom brought Audrey back down to the ground. She looked around the harbor, searching for anything out of place, and shook her head. "Nothing, Tom. No instructions. Sorry." C'mon, gold letters, where are you?

Allison's face was tight as she looked around. "This is the fastest way, but sometimes there's something in the river."

Audrey stopped and turned to look at the gently rippling ink. "Something?"

"A… giant hand. It doesn't show up often, but I'm not sure it's worth it…" Allison looked to Tom, frowning. "What do you think?"

Tom gestured to the river and then punched his mechanical hand into his other, with a snarl.

Allison smiled a bit grimly. "All right, river. Fine. Let's just find something to hit that hand with, if it does show up."

After a few minutes of hunting, they came up with a hefty pipe and a strong board. Audrey swallowed, staring at the black liquid. It undulated calmly, but she felt uneasy, almost nauseous from the smooth ripples.

Tom selected a boat from the few left, and they pushed off. Allison muttered quietly to herself as she looked at the engine, then she waved Audrey over. "See that wheel? Sometimes ink will clog the gears. Keep them clean."

Audrey nodded and moved a little closer. Allison pushed the throttle forward, and the wheel began to move.

They moved forward in silence. Tom stood at the prow, scanning the ink ahead for anything moving. Allison studied the throttle and the wake of the boat in equal measure. And Audrey stared at the paddlewheel, pushing away any accumulation of ink that threatened to build.

"Can I ask a question?" Audrey said, glancing back.

"You just did," Allison said, and chuckled at the look on Audrey's face. "Go ahead."

"How does the whole 'reborn' thing work?" Audrey asked. "Do you always come out the same? Is Tom always missing an arm when he comes back? Are you the only ones who are really alive? Is there anyone else down here? And-"

"Whoa!" Allison laughed, easing the throttle forward a touch. "Okay. No, we're not always the same when we come back." She paused and glanced up, thinking. "It actually depends on what you're focused on, I think.

"Tom and I are determined to get out, and we have been for a very long time, so we've kept our forms as they are now. But I know for a fact that the other Alice, the old one that I stabbed, has become a Lost One. You know about -" Audrey nodded. "Yes. It's desperately sad. The last I picked up from her emotions before she was reborn, she'd lost all hope.

Allison glanced back toward Tom. "Maybe that's all that's needed. Hope. There's always hope."

Tom nodded, gaze still trained on the river.

"For your other questions, there are others down here. A lot of souls," Allison continued. She scowled down at the throttle. "We must all have had something in common to be trapped down here, but I don't think anyone remembers. Maybe we lived here? Or we were all friends once?" She sighed and glanced up as she twisted the throttle, guiding the barge through a small tunnel. "Maybe we will one day."

Audrey frowned as well, glancing up as the shadow of the tunnel passed overhead. "Where are the others?"

In response, Tom turned from the prow and pointed over Audrey's shoulder. She looked and felt her jaw drop.

A sprawling shantytown greeted her eyes. Figures of glossy black moved among the buildings. A tower stretched above the tunnel entrance they'd just exited out of. Audrey leaned forward over the side, searching the buildings for messages, and saw many of normal black.

THE CREATOR LIED TO US, read one.

DOWN HERE WE'RE ALL SINNERS, screamed another.

IT'S TIME TO BELIEVE, proclaimed a third.

And then, suddenly, with a flicker, golden ink scrawled itself across the SINNERS sign:

DESPAIRING SOULS FEAR THE PAIN OF HOPE

One by one, the glowing eyes of the hopeless Lost Ones turned to fix themselves upon the barge.

Without taking her eyes off the ink people, Audrey fumbled to touch Allison's shoulder.

"What, Audrey?" Allison said, the clank of the throttle noisily echoing. "I- ohh," she breathed. "Tom…"

"We need to go," Audrey whispered. Her eyes followed an arrow, shimmering into existence, and widened when it ended, pointing at the river. "Now."

The water rippled, then splashed. By itself.

Audrey screamed and leapt past a startled Allison. She grabbed the throttle and shoved it to full. "NOW!"

All three tumbled with the sudden acceleration as a white-gloved Giant Hand erupted out of the dark liquid. It fell, crashing into the ink with a shock where the barge had just been.

Audrey felt the barge tip forward and realized the wave from the Hand was shoving them forward. She pulled herself up, and her eyes widened. "Tom, help!"

With a roar, Tom leapt from the bottom of the boat and swung his pipe into the boards before them, smashing them just as the wave caught them up and flung them forward, through the new tunnel. The barge tipped up, then rode the crest of the wave into the darkness, and Audrey, clinging to the side of the boat, saw the Hand melt away back into the ink.

Allison pushed Audrey into her space and ran to help Tom. They crashed their weapons into the sides of the tunnel, keeping the barge on track, away from spinning sideways or splintering on the walls. Audrey smacked at the ink on the wheel with one hand and wrestled the throttle with the other, wincing at every collision.

Finally, they burst back into the light, and Allison yelled over her shoulder, "Cut it! Cut it!"

Audrey smacked the throttle back. With a roar, the wheel stopped turning, and the boat coasted on its own momentum. She looked over her shoulder and glimpsed a huge structure, ink pouring around it.

A yank on Audrey's backpack pulled her backwards and up. She floated for a moment, weightless, and then fell toward the earth. Audrey screamed and reached out instinctively with her black hand to break her fall.

It worked. She tumbled sideways, straight into someone else, and lay for a moment, stunned. Tom's face swam into view, then Allison's.

"'M okay," Audrey gasped and rolled over, fighting for breath. She rotated her inky hand and blinked. That shoulda broke.

Tom hauled her to her feet, and Audrey nodded, still too breathless to say anything. She looked around for her knife, and Allison handed it to her.

"Thank you," Audrey managed, and rolled her shoulders back, straightening.

They turned toward the boat just in time to see the giant Hand rear out of the ink. Tom snarled, Allison yelled, Audrey shrieked, and the Hand crashed down on their barge, dragging it under with a shuddering groan of wood.

The ink closed over the monstrous limb, leaving a few bubbles and ripples. The river flowed as peacefully as ever. Shadows flickered around them, dim light emanating from some unseen area.

Audrey bit her lip. Why is it so dark?

They all turned to look up at the Machine looming over them. Within its hall, the shadows seemed to flicker, inching closer.

"Well," Allison said, dryly. "Let's find your father. Heaven knows he'd pick the worst place in the entire studio to hide."

Audrey almost laughed.

They moved down the hallway, slowly, carefully, cautiously. A few steps in, they passed a glass alcove. Audrey glanced inside and immediately leapt sideways, crashing into Tom.

A Lost One writhed within, turning and twisting, with ink pouring over it.

They passed three more Lost Ones, all contorting, alone. Audrey paused when one looked up at her, but Allison tugged on her arm, moving her forward.

They'd nearly made it to the end of the hallway when Audrey's heartbeat began thumping in her ears.

Audrey blinked, confused, before she was forcibly shoved behind Tom. Her companions backed away, toward the end, weapons outstretched, and Audrey understood: it wasn't her heartbeat. It wasn't any of theirs.

Just like it wasn't her vision blurring, but instead, the shadows were creeping in around them. Or that the ink in the corners was seething. Or that a tall, looming, shadowy figure lurched at the other end of the hallway.

"Pull the lever," Allison said in a harsh whisper. With shaking fingers, Audrey reached out and tugged on the lever. It wouldn't budge.

"Pull the lever," Allison hissed again.

"It won't move!" Audrey whispered, shaking all over. She put all her weight on it, tugging as hard as she could.

"Audrey…"

"I'm trying!"

The heartbeat throbbed louder, and suddenly the shadows were much darker. The figure at the end of the hallway shifted, turning towards them.

"Audrey, PULL!"

In desperation, Audrey dropped her knife and wrapped her inky hand around the handle too.

Instantly, the lever dropped.

Audrey fell sideways through the door, hard on her back, and lay for a moment, winded. She turned her head to see Allison's grim face, one hand on the lever she had just pulled.

"Find your father," Allison said, and the door rattled shut on her two friends.

Audrey gasped for air and scrambled to her feet. Crashing, yelling, snarling broke out on the other side of the door.

Audrey sobbed once, a dry, choking sound, ripped from her throat. She turned to face the room where her father was.

Except he wasn't.

The room was round, with gears in the walls and ink pouring in the corners. There was a throne, a torn chair set atop some gears, all coated in ink. Screens hung from the ceiling, shredded and destroyed. Nothing hidden. A bare floor. Open walls. No doors.

Allison screamed from the other side of the door, pain lacing her voice, and a scream ripped from Audrey's throat too, disbelief and frustration and fear and anger. And suddenly everything fell silent, even on the other side of the room, like her scream had shattered every sound in the studio.

I hope it did, Audrey thought grimly. I hope nothing ever speaks again. Her knees were weak, and she stumbled sideways. I hope this whole place burns.

Mom. Dad. I'm sorry.

Audrey heard the door behind her rattle open. Her hand clenched into a fist.

Two bodies flew through, crashing into opposite walls. Darkness crawled over the walls, winking out all the lights in the room. The floor throbbed with a rhythmic thumping.

Audrey turned and screamed her defiance, the sound echoing in the room, her blackened hand lifted for the hardest blow she could give.

Her heartbeat slowed to match the thump of the other. She blinked. Her hand slowly fell.

"Bendy?" she breathed.

Ten thousand nights of walking down the halls, the corridors of this studio.

Ten thousand nights of listening to Alice Angels- a talking one, a wailing one, a brave one.

Ten thousand nights of watching Borises, one missing an arm, one twisted into a monster.

Ten thousand nights of hearing the Prophet, blocking the glare of the Projectionist, dodging the blows of the Colossus, sighing with the Lost Ones, studying the Searchers.

Ten thousand nights of following her father down the halls.

And ten thousand nights of slipping away to cry.

But not alone.

To cry for the one who could not cry, because his twisted Creator had painted a grin on his face, forever and ever, and left him alone in the dark.

No longer.

Together, the ghost girl and the soulless monster roamed the halls. The girl cried for the monster, because they were created by the same Creator, and she loved him. And the monster took comfort from the girl, in the places of his mind calm enough to feel.

Though the girl could not help all, she whispered to the monster to spare those she could persuade him to save. Though the monster could not escape, he took comfort from the stories she told him of the world above.

When the girl awoke, her heart always raced. How could she know it was from the pain of leaving? She could never remember.

When the girl left, the monster could not cry, and so he raged.

But something was different now. The monster could sense it. Her presence was near, but she would not seek him out. And so he sulked. And hid.

Until she was there. In his hiding place.

And then he could no longer hold back. He felt anger. Hurt. Betrayal. But most of all, he wanted to see her.

And so, despite the burden he carried, the monster of the darkness sought out the girl of the light. No longer a ghost.

Ten thousand nights of friendship. And now, meeting for the first time.

They stared at each other, neither breathing. Slowly, Bendy stalked forward, huge and heavy, and Audrey could feel the vibration from each fist on the blank resonate in her bones. Slowly, she lifted her hand, reaching out to him, only aware of a golden glow through the whole room.

The demon- her demon- slid closer, then balked, grinning head twisting on long neck. Audrey slowly took one step forward, down another gear, then another, reaching forward.

He loomed over her now, tall enough for her to walk under. Audrey reached up, her hand flattening, and hesitated one heartbeat at her glowing fingers. She gently laid her hand on his black chest.

Golden trails of light spread through the ink, tracing over Bendy's shoulders, down his stomach. Audrey felt her arm tingle, the chill of cold ink twisting up her arm.

Bendy bent his head toward her. A single golden stream spiraled over one horn, and a trail of black ink melted down. Something flickered underneath, and one pie-cut eye blinked open, focusing on her. Audrey felt a small bit of happiness tug at the corners of her mouth.

"Bendy," she whispered, and smiled.

Then Bendy snarled.

He twisted back, roaring, and Audrey felt the ink of his chest begin to boil, tearing at her hand. She cried out, trying to calm him, and her eyes fell to his stomach, where something writhed and kicked.

Bendy's belly split down the middle, yawning open like a chasm, and something black and golden and moving spilled out from the demon's stomach right in front of her. Audrey screamed and jerked back, her hand losing contact with Bendy's chest.

The next moment, the world erupted in pain, and Audrey soared backward, weightless, before smashing into something in a tangle of splintering wood and limbs and pain. Darkness crushed against her.

With a roar of pain, anguish, and everything a soulless creature who had finally tasted a soul can feel, his roar shaking the studio at its core, Bendy swung away from her and charged out the door, a pouring stream of ink flooding after him.

The door crashed down behind her demon. Audrey's heartbeat flickered, faltered, and she lost her fight, falling into waves of darkness, liquid like ink.

Motion. Arms sliding beneath her, rocking side to side. Words, vibrations in a strong chest. A tight hug. Warm splashes of liquid, falling on her forehead.

Dad, Audrey tried to say. The ink swallowed her voice, and her awareness along with it.

TO BE CONTINUED

A/N: WOOOOOO.

The Demon. Audrey. Henry.

I don't have enough energy to leave a long comment here, but I love this chapter. Some pieces are finally coming together (took long enough, amiright?) We found one parent. We have some answers about Audrey's dreams. We finally saw the Demon. (why he run tho)

More coming soon. Stay tuned, God willing I post early next week 'cause I'm flying across the whole country during my normal Thursday upload time. Pray we don't fall out of the sky, I guess, not that you all would be able to tell until the week after that when I miss an upload (again).

Too tired to beg for a review. Thanks for visiting. I appreciate you guys so much.

Godspeed

-Sam (T.T)