Return To The Machine

Chapter 19

Sammy dropped his fork into the bowl before dropping the whole meal to the ground. Parker and Rosa exchanged a look wondering what caused such a reaction. The whole room fell silent. The two just stared at each other, unsure of what to say. Buddy peered down at the ground afraid. Sammy reached back and rubbed the back of his neck.

Another went by with no words. "Did you get a good one in?" Sammy asked. The cartoonish wolf looked up as his ear barely peaked. "Huh?"

"Did you get a good one in?" Buddy chuckled nervously and barely smiled. "Yeah... I did! I'm sorry." Sammy suddenly rushed over and hugged him tightly. Buddy felt unsettled by this random move from his old coworker. Especially since it was Sammy. "I don't care anymore... I knew I wasn't alone..." Sammy told him softly. Buddy settled down into the hug and let it all sink in.

Watching the scene unfold, Parker and Rosa decided to head somewhere more private to hang out. The two clearly needed more space.

Together the two stayed inside a sleeping area where they relaxed in the room. There was something that looked like a hammock. He let Rosa take it. "Park, you don't have to sleep on the bare floor. I'll be fine!" Rosa insisted. "No no, my dad told me to be a gentleman. So that's what I intend to do. Besides... you've been through enough because of me. I mean we're still in the middle of nowhere in this place. I can't believe it's come to this." Parker sighed.

Rosa held her legs to her chest, leaning her head against her knees. "It'll be okay! I mean... at least we're finding new things down here!" Rosa replied, not sure if she was convincing her friend. Parker sighed and rummaged through his bag. He pulled out his sketchbook and flipped to a fresh page while holding his pencil. He tapped the edge of the book where the spirals were wrapped between the holes keeping it together.

Fresh lead traced along the paper as Parker tried to think of something to draw. Finally, he created a human outline that he used as a blueprint to create something out of it. Taking his time, Parker drew out every single detail of Rosa. It was when he first saw her. "Wow, you got my eyes right!" Rosa was awed as she peaked over her shoulder. Carefully he brushed the paper to get rid of any residue that lingered on the paper. The finished product amazed Rosa.

Right away she snatched Parker's sketchbook and gawked at it. "WOW! Park this is awesome!" she cheered. "Hey! Give that back!" Parker snapped, trying to retrieve his book. Rosa ran out of the room with Parker chasing her and found the bathroom. She shut herself into a stall and locked the door. "Rosa I'm not kidding! Give it back!" Rosa laughed to herself as she opened up the book to search through the pages. Each one that wasn't blank made her smile and laugh at each of the endless doodles Parker had made.

She was amazed at the different designs of Boris, Bendy, Alice, drawings of his dog, his friend Billy, and plants. Then Rosa flipped to another page with a completely different setting. Her smile faded upon seeing one of the older entries. It was a picture of Parker himself sitting on the ground with his hands over his head. Two other figures were drawn to be portrayed as walking out of the frame. Parker had drawn tears streaming down his face as his eyes were squeezed shut. The rest of the paper portrayed him being surrounded by darkness.

He was alone. No one else was there. "Oh my gosh..." she whispered. Rosa even felt her own heart clench as she traced her thumb against the darkened marks on the page. In her own eyes, she saw herself. But who were the two people? "ROSA!" Parker shouted as he banged on the door once again. This time it made her jump in place as she snapped out of her faze. Carefully she unlocked the door and walked out to see him. "Finally! Where's my sketchbook?" Parker exclaimed seeing his friend.

Hesitantly, Rosa held up the sketch to his view as she stared at him worriedly. Parker's guard dropped as he stared at his own drawing. He hadn't laid eyes on it since the day he drew it. It was a sensitive drawing for him of his depiction of his life as he knew it. "Park... is life in the world out there... that horrible for you..?" Rosa questioned intently. There was a long pause of silence where the two didn't exchange any words. Seeing his reality come to haunt him, he became defensive over his book. Parker took the sketchbook from her and held it close to his chest. 

"You weren't supposed to see that." he declared and turned away. Rosa realized the damage he must've been feeling for so long. "You can't judge my life okay!?" he snapped, taking a small step forward. Rosa began to sympathize. Despite that, part of her felt insulted. "I don't know if you've forgotten or not, but I've been stuck here for years. I've felt trapped by darkness too. Way longer than you. Right now we're all we got. I haven't seen anyone like me since I've seen the sun! So don't act like I don't know anything because I'm still in this hell!" Rosa cried. "We might not be the same but I know exactly what that feels like!" she added as she pointed at the book Parker held closely.

Parker's eyes softened upon hearing those words. A piece of him felt awful for how he responded to her. He noticed her fists were balled. Rosa released the tension at last and released a sigh. "I'm going to get some sleep... See you later Park..." With that, she strode off to the old room they had been in.