Scarlet Lab (Eddsworld Lab AU)

Confrontation

I stood outside the door nervously. Some weird sticky black... goo... seeped out from behind the door. I leaned down and touched it.
Blood.
My mind flashed back to the last day I talked to him.
The black blood splattering on the wall.
The gunshot.
I shuddered violently and wiped my hand off.
The blood slowly trickled out of the room.
I need to get it over with.
I shoved open the door nervously, this time it wasn't locked.
I looked around. The room looked... very different...
The walls were stained black with blood, most of it still wet. It dripped from the ceiling, landing in puddles on the floor. The room was dark, most of the candles from before had been knocked over. I shuddered. Then I noticed...
A body was on the couch. Whose? I couldn't tell. Until I noticed the familiar figure.
I ran over to the couch, hesitating slightly before reaching my hand out.
All of a sudden I felt a hand grab my wrist. I made a little yelp, trying to tug away. Todd was sitting up, looking down at me with a blank expression. His hand gripped my wrist.
"Thought I was dead?"
I was speechless.
"I... Um... Just thought... You..." I couldn't finish. He dropped my wrist, almost in disgust. It fell limply by my side. He got up and walked over to a vanity pushed up against the wall and stared into it. I stayed behind by the couch, wrapping my arms around me. The room was freezing cold.
Todd stayed silent for a while, collecting his thoughts.
"Why do you keep coming back."
I opened my mouth, trying to make a sound, but nothing came out. He scoffed, placing a hand on the mirror. He winced. I remembered what Torm said earlier...

"You should totally see his hands without those gloves on."
"What happened to his hands?"
"It's totally gnarly man, they're all burned up and covered in callouses and shit."

I looked at his hands. He still had the gloves on.
"I heard what Torm said you know," he didn't look away. I looked back at him.
"About... um... what?"
"Everything." He looked down at his hands. "He told you more than you needed to know."
I shivered. He snickered a little.
"Heh... You already know more than you need to know..."
The room went silent again. I heard some movement outside the room. The other three. They came and waited, as they promised.
Todd turned his head towards the door slightly.
"Went and called your new pals to watch your back, eh." He watched me from the corner of his eye. I took a breath. He turned back around and watched me through the mirror.
"Edd. Do you think I'm a monster."
Yes.
"No..."
He grimaced and grabbed onto the vanity tightly.
"Liar."
I looked down, for some reason I felt ashamed... because he was right. He knew he was right.
Fabric rustled. I looked up. The gloves were lying on the ground by his foot. I flinched, Torm wasn't exaggerating...
His hand was absolutely charred, callouses and scratches covering them. I looked away at the wall. He placed his hand on the desk, sighing.
"Just tell me what I have to do..."
I thought back to what Tem told me before I came here.

"Just tell him to get you back into the office, open the door when you get in and let us in. You can go back after that. We'll take it from there."

"Can you... get me back in the office."
Todd nodded, but didn't move.
"I'll... find some way to repay you... somehow," What could I repay him with? I was just saying things out of my ass at this point. Todd nodded a little, taking a shaky breath. He walked over and tore the grate off of the vent. It came off with a loud screech. The vent grate had goo dripping off of it. I hesitated, then slowly walked over to him. He tensed up, dropping the grate carefully. I hoisted myself into the vent, crawling through.
Slowly.
Slowly...
Wait.
There was a voice coming from the office. I froze in the vent, peeking through the other grate.
Someone was already inside...