Before the ink

Part 17

Joey's plan was starting to come together. But Henry was starting to get suspicious of him. Joey wouldn't let that happen.
So he called Henry into his office. "Yes Joey?" The animator asked, stepping inside the room. "You're fired." Joey said with a blank face.
Henry froze for a second. "But you can't fire me...the toons are my creations, and we built this company together." Henry glared.
"Ah, but I can. See, what authorities don't know is that I didn't create the toons. They only know you as the measly animator. So, you are fired." Joey said with a smug grin.
Henry and Joey argued back and forth. Until it dawned on Henry. He really couldn't do anything. He was fired.
Henry felt his throat tighten, as if he might cry. "I'll give you today to get ready to leave, I don't want to see you tomorrow." Joey said.
Henry turned to leave. "Oh and Henry. Don't tell anyone I fired you." Joey said. Henry huffed. What was Bendy going to do?
He wasn't allowed to tell him. Henry spent the rest of the day packing up. When he was done there was about half an hour of work still.
Then he heard familiar happy footsteps down the hall. Henry panicked. It was Bendy, what if he saw that Henry had packed up all his things?
So the animator raced out of his office and closed the door, pretending he hadn't noticed Bendy yet. The demon tilted his head curiously.
"Henry...what're ya doin?" Bendy asked. "Oh hi, I umm...got my work done early and Joey said I could take the rest of the day off...so yeah." Henry said. Bendy didn't look convinced.
"Since when did ya take any free time to stop drawin?" The little demon asked. "Oh it's just my hands are really sore." Henry lied.
"Ah...well what're ya gonna do for the rest of yer day?" Bendy asked. "Oh, I dunno." Henry shrugged. Bendy suddenly looked excited.
"I know! Let's go play outside Hen!" Bendy grabbed the animators hand and started dragging him down the hall.
"Alright bud." Henry smiled sadly. If he were gone forever starting tomorrow, he wanted to spend his last day here with Bendy.
The two went outside and laid down on the grass under the pink blossomed tree beside the studio. They stared up at the clouds, talking.
"That one looks like a sheep." Henry said. "Yeah, and that one looks like a hat!" Bendy pointed at another. "Also that one looks like a cloud." Henry said.
Bendy turned to look at him for a second. "Hen, it is a cloud." He said blankly. Henry chuckled. "I know." He responded.
"Ooh! That one looks like the delicious soul of an innocent human!" Bendy grinned. "Uh-! No you little psychopath!" Henry laughed, shoving Bendy's shoulder.
The little demon laughed, shoving his shoulder back against Henry's. The animator checked the time on his watch.
"Ah, it's only five more minutes until work is over, I'd better get ready to go." Henry said. "Aww, but I was havin fun! Maybe we could cloud gaze again some day?" Bendy asked.
Henry held back the tears he felt. "Maybe one day bud." He patted his head. Bendy looked up at him curiously.
"Hey Henry, you okay?" He asked. Henry nodded. "Of course." He lied. They went back to the studio, and up to the door of Henry's office.
"Alright bud. I gotta go...c'mere." Henry bent down and wrapped the demon up in a tight hug. Bendy was slightly confused, but happily hugged back non the less.
Something wasn't right...but before Bendy could ask, Henry let him go and shooed him away. The demon walked down the hall in confusion.
He looked back to see Henry's office door close, getting a glimpse of the animator face before it closed.
He was crying. Bendy was startled. Why was Henry crying? He must've been seeing things. But the next day, Henry wasn't at he studio.
Bendy looked everywhere. But then when he got to Henry's office, he just felt shocked. Everything was gone, but that one wooden desk and chair.
Henry was gone. "No." Bendy looked around in panic, it couldn't be real. But it was. "No, no, NO!" Bendy desperately yelled, eyes filling with inky tears. This couldn't be happening.
He climbed into the chair and stared at the desk. He felt like all the wind had been knocked out of him. He started sobbing.
"H-Henry! C-c-come b-back!" He cried, putting a gloved hand against the desk. The demon soon realized Henry wasn't coming back and curled up on the chair him and the animator spent so much time in, laughing and drawing together.
He sobbed, not knowing what else to do. He felt as if every notion of happiness and joy inside of him had been brutally thrown into a garbage disposal, then stepped on, then shattered.
His heart hurt in sorrow. He wanted Henry back, but Henry was gone. Bendy cried and cried until he couldn't anymore, just blankly staring at the wall. Then a thought came to his head, 'why did Henry leave?'