BATIM: Memory's Twisted Lane

Chapter 17

Bendy is sitting on one of the beds next to the fish tank. He's still not happy with his upcoming job. If it were really an option, I'd want to switch places. I haven't spent a lot of time around Sammy, due to him disappearing for the majority of the loop; but I can't imagine how much of a nightmare he would've been for Bendy. He's the one Sammy's been worshiping all this time.

I sit on the bed next to Bendy as his chases one of the fish by sliding his finger along the glass. "So... You sure you won't need any help with Sammy?"

Bendy looks at me briefly before looking back at the fish, "It would be nice. But Sammy ain't as dumb as he looks. He'll catch on as soon as he sees you. It's too risky."

Bendy stops terrorizing the fish as he re-positions himself next to me. "Do you remember when I killed the projectionist?"

I nod.

Bendy pauses, possibly to gather his thoughts, "Something's always stuck out to me after I killed him," He looks up to me, "One of those Little Miracle Stations were always there for Henry to hide in. But even though i couldn't see all of his face, I could always tell he was afraid of me. Whenever I looked into the Stations, he'd pray that I wouldn't open them. He always looked like he wanted me to just walk away. But, with you..." Bendy pauses again, "I get that the difference is obvious here, due to that thing disappearing that one time...  but, you... you didn't plead. You didn't try to run, you... You just sat there, and looked at me. You weren't afraid though, at least, not the entire time. It's like... You noticed me. You really saw me. I don't know what you saw in me but... you saw something."

Bendy crawls off the bed and paces the room, "And that's the one thing that always confused me about you.. Why? Why did you look at me like that?" He finally looks up at me, "What did you see?"

I stare at the floor as I remember that moment. I'll be honest, I was afraid. I was so scared that he would kill me. I didn't run because I knew it would have made dying slower and more painful. But, I did see something. It was something about his smile. He wasn't smiling. He wasn't angry. He looked exhausted, tired. It looked like he had given up.

"... Pain." I say, finally, "I saw pain..."

Bendy and I stare at each other for a moment.

I kneel down to Bendy's height and rest my hand on his shoulder, "I don't know what happened to you before Joey left you here. I don't know why he thought locking you up would help with anything. You've only seen a small portion of what this world has to show you, and he hid you from it. But you didn't deserve it. You didn't deserve any of this, and you don't now. I'm going to get you out of this, not matter how long it takes. I promise."

Bendy smiles as he wipes a tear from his eye.

"Alright," I say, standing up, "All seriousness aside, I need you to at least try to have fun while you're distracting everyone. Okay?"

Bendy shakes his head, "It's gonna be hard to do that since I've been doing this for god know's how long."

"Just try to. I promise, it'll be worth it."

Bendy inhales deeply, "Alright. I'll try."

I pull Bendy into a hug and carry him to the door. Bendy doesn't seem to enjoy it though, because he practically jumps out of my arms when I go to let him down. He turns and give me a final wave before he runs around the corner.

Allison and I gather our weapons and satchels before we leave the hideout ourselves. Dad and Tom have to make a few more preparations before they leave to make sure we're not discovered on our raid.

Allison pulls out a map when we reach the docks to make sure I know where to go. I'll be driving the boats while she keeps ink out of the paddle wheel.

We were both quiet during the voyage. Allison made it clear that we weren't allowed to make any noise because it would disturb the monster in the tunnels. She said that it wouldn't attack us if we didn't stop the boat because it would confuse the engine with the gears above us.

There was one moment where I was  sure we'd die though. The monster reached above the surface of the ink and waved it's hand around in the air, trying to find us. It almost did. I swear it swiped passed my head, I felt a breeze, it was so close.

We did manage to get away safely. It gave up looking for us and lowered it's hand beneath the ink. We didn't see it for the rest of the voyage. When we reach our spot I had to gradually slow the boat. If I stopped to quickly, the monster would've noticed and taken the boat.

Allison is the first to speak when we leave the tunnels, "So, how long have you known Henry?"

"Well,"

"I get that he's your father and all, but I just want to know how long you've known him."

"Well, I remember that Mom said he came back so he would be there when I was born, so he's been with me for about six years. And during those years, he was... very protective of me. You could say I had him 'wrapped around my finger'. Um... I remember that he introduced me to Bendy when I was around four or five. He'd even come home with copies of the cartoons so I could watch them. My dad would even teach me how to draw Bendy on my own so he could do other things around the house. My mom worked as a nurse so Dad took care of me."

"Did he ever tell you about work specifically?"

"Well, he did say that he wouldn't be working at Joey Drew Studios when I was five. He said it was because Joey told him to stay away from the studio. I remember him telling me that Joey accused him of not caring about his own creation. I assume he was talking about Bendy."

"He didn't know about Bendy?"

"Well... outside the studio, living cartoon characters isn't exactly a thing."

"Oh."

"When I was six, he got a letter from Joey because Joey said he wanted to show him something. He said he'd be home in a few weeks, and had agreed to let me stay with my grandparents while he was away. That was... that was the last time I saw him."

Allison waits for a moment, "... Is that why you came here?"

"Yeah.." I say, "I wanted to learn what happened to him. I was going to visit the studio and leave this doll at his desk," I press my hand against my pocket, with my Bendy doll still resting, "That was when I planned to say goodbye and leave."

"Heather," Allison rests her hand on my shoulder, "I'm really sorry for what happened to you."

I clear my throat, resisting the urge to cry, "It's okay. I found him.. It's in the past now."

We both walk in silence for a moment. By now we're approaching the elevator. It's still broken. Nothing has moved since Alice took Boris.

Suddenly, we can hear screeching a few floors above us. Bendy's diversion must be working. It sounds like half the studio is after him now.

Allison and I quickly find a stable wire and climb to Level 9.

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Alright, I still have quite a while to go. I have so much that I'm very eager to show you, but it's not ready yet. Don't worry, this story isn't going to stop until it's finished.

I hope you're enjoying the story. It means a lot to me that you're supporting it.

Have a nice day y'all!