∾ Tricks and Secrets ∾
- Chapter 4-
Warnings for this chapter: A Curse
⊱⊰ Bendy's Pov⊱⊰
I was jolted out of the peaceful world of sleep when the lights flicked on above me. Blinking, I sat up to survey the sudden change. Everything looked normal (?) aside from the new light level. It took me a moment to remember where I was, and what was supposed to happen today. With a sigh, I stretched, before slipping off the bed. I took the time to wonder how long I had slept, and what time it was. Not that I really had any way of knowing. Even in the studio time was practically meaningless, unless I had wanted to lie in the sun. I would miss that. As I had expected, the door slid open with a trio of humans. One of them was the human I had talked to in the room. Dr. Saltzer. The guards had the poles, and quickly attached them to my collar to have better control over me. I let out a low growl, annoyed that they would dare try such a thing. They glanced at me once, but ignored me.
I was led down the hall again, this time passing the room I talked to the doctor in. I was doing my best to keep my limp out of sight, but our quick pace was making it difficult. I'm pretty sure the scientist noticed anyway. After about five more minutes of walking, we finally reached our destination. The door slid open to reveal a jungle gym like structure. I did a double take, surprised that a place so serious had such a lighthearted thing inside it.
The guards unclipped the 'leash' before shoving me forward. I frowned at them, before shaking it off. I took the incentive to meander over to the playset, placing one of my hands on a metal support pole. I could feel my growing excitement at the thought of this thing, what I could do with it, and how to surprise and or freak the humans out. I grinned, my tail flicking playfully as I tightened my grip on the pole. I used the pole to climb up the playset, perching myself at the highest point I could get too. My tail decided to be helpful, curling around one of the poles nearby. It wouldn't support my weight fully, but it could be used as extra balance.
I stayed up there for at least three minutes before the scientist called up to me. "6030? What are you doing?" I just chortled, before loosening my grip to hang upside down. "̴N̶o̷t̸h̴i̴n̷g̵~̶"̸ The man sighed, before asking me to do something else. I tilted my head, before letting go to drop onto the main pathway. I crouched on the walkway, before stalking over to one of the slides. They wouldn't be able to see what I was doing, and that was sure to get under their skin. I inspected it for a second, noting how it was one of those fully enclosed ones, before easing through the entrance. It was slippery, but by digging my claws into the plastic I could stay on. I walked down the slide instead of actually sliding. I wanted to make sure it wasn't tampered with, since I still didn't really know what the humans wanted with me in the long run.
I could hear my babysitters starting to get worried, muttering under their breaths. I stopped right out of view of the exit part, before peeking around the edge. The men didn't spot me, and they continued to look around the playset nervously. I watched as one of the guards shook his head, before cautiously walking towards the playset. He had a large stick- thingy in his hand as he moved to climb the stairs. With a sudden grin, I carefully climbed back up the slide, before hiding just behind where the slide curved downwards. The tunnel was dark, so unless he had night vision, I would blend right in. I waited patiently as he walked over to the slide, before I composed my act. I forced an angry expression onto my face, and right as he was bending over to peer down the chute, jumped into his face.
The man screamed- although it sounded more like a child's scream to me- before leaping back while swinging his stick wildly. The stick hit me on the wrist, but I ignored it. I was too busy laughing to really care. Finally, I was able to get some revenge on the guards, even if it was as petty as that. I barely registered the other guard running up the staircase before pausing completely at the sight in front of him. I was sitting close to the slide, holding my head as I wheezed. The man had retreated to the opposite side of the slide, glaring daggers at me.
"That wasn't funny!" He raged. "̷N̵o̶,̸ ̶i̸t̸ ̴w̸a̶s̵ ̵h̷i̷l̶a̵r̴i̷o̶u̶s̵!̴"̷ I was starting to calm down by then, but my grin was wider then usual. "No it wasn't! Why the hell would you jump out at me like that! Not cool!" The man continued to glare at me, as if daring me to say it was. The other guard chimed in at this point, asking 'what happened' and looking between the two of us curiously. Even the scientist had climbed up the stairs and was standing behind the guard.
"It jumped out at me when I looked down the slide." The guard sounded exasperated at this point. "̵Y̴o̸u̸ ̶f̵o̷r̸g̵o̸t̴ ̴t̵h̷e̴ ̴p̸a̸r̶t̵ ̵w̶h̵e̴r̶e̸ ̶y̶o̸u̷ ̵s̷c̴r̶e̵a̴m̶e̶d̸ ̶l̷i̷k̵e̸ ̴a̵ ̶c̸h̴i̶l̷d̶ ̷o̸n̸ ̴h̷e̵l̶i̸u̶m̵.̴"̴ ̸ I cackled as the man turned bright red, before I whipped around and scuttled down the slide. "YOU LITTLE SHIT!" I heard the man yell from behind me, before thumping footsteps ran down the stairs. I darted out of the slide right as the man hopped off the staircase. He was practically foaming at the mouth as he charged me. I only had time to bark another laugh, before I took off running.
I then immediately realized I made a mistake by running away. I was not faster then him. I could not outlast him. But I could possibly outmaneuver him our outclimb him. I angled back towards the playset, where the other humans were staring in shock. I glanced back to check where the man was, before squeaking in surprise that he was almost right behind me. I jumped for the monkey bars, throwing myself on top of them as he caught up. I then realized I was screwed when I picked the monkey bars, since it did not connect to the rest of the playset.
Oh well... I accept my fate.
I stood up on the bars, my claws curling around the beams for balance. The guard had started trying to climb up with me, and I hopped over to step on his fingers. He let go, and I remembered I could potentially survive this by not letting him up. A cycle was started where the man would try to climb up, I would stand on his fingers, he would let go, and try somewhere else. I had calmed down now that I knew he couldn't get up.
Eventually, the man calmed down too, choosing to glare at me instead of trying to climb. "Cheater. Come down and face me like a real man." The man tried to goad me into coming down. "̵N̸o̵ ̸t̵h̵a̶n̷k̶s̷,̵ ̸I̷ ̷r̶a̴t̷h̶e̸r̶ ̷l̸i̷k̶e̶ ̵l̶i̸v̴i̶n̵g̷.̸"̸ I couldn't help but chuckle. The guard grumbled a few curses, before walking away to stand next to the other humans. In all honesty, I had completely forgotten about them while I was distracted. I made sure the man wouldn't come running back, before sliding off the monkey bars. I walked away from them, investigating the underside of the playground. There was an odd little hole, maybe twice the size of my head, positioned on a random wall under the main walkway. You could walk around it easy enough, making me wonder why it was even there. I stared at it for a second, before climbing through. I didn't know why I wanted to do it, probably just my instincts talking. They usually made me do really weird stuff for no apparent reason.
I shook myself off, before grabbing the side of a ladder and climbing up. I went back to my original perch, sitting on the top of the playset. It gave me an excellent view of the room, and unless somebody was under the playground like I just was, I would be able to spot them. I watched as the humans stared at me, before the scientist called up to me again. "6030? Please come here." I sighed, before leaning to the side to fall off the playset. I landed nicely, on the ground about fifteen feet away. The humans gaped at me for a second, before trying to look like they didn't care.
I walked over, my tail flicking idly as I stood in front of the scientist. "̸Y̷e̵s̴?̶"̵ I drawled. I was bored by now, and really just wanted to do something interesting. Saltzer seemed to gather his wits, before saying. "Please come with us to do further testing. We aren't done yet, and we need your cooperation from now on." I glanced at the guards, before nodding. As I had expected, the men stepped forward, clipping the leash on before starting to walk towards the door. This was probably one of the more exciting things I'd done here so far, but it was time to go. I had been getting tired anyway.
We walked out of the room, the door concealing the toy as it slid shut behind us. I grumbled under my breath as I was led further away from my original room, turning corners and passing by dozens of doors. We turned one last time, before entering another room. The guard who hadn't chased me motioned to one of the large tables in the room, and I took the incentive to sit down on it. The scientist scurried about, gathering equipment and items whos uses were unknown to me. I felt my tail curl around my bad leg, making me realize the scientist had probably seen my limp. I wasn't looking forward to explaining that one.
I watched as the scientist approached me, a massive needle in hand. It reminded me of Alice's needles that she used on the swollen searchers. The thought was enough to make me shiver and lean away. "What, don't like needles? Me neither." The man tried to distract me as the guard standing near me grabbed my arm. "It'll hurt just for a second." I knew the man was lying; I'd spent enough time around Joey that I could practically smell them. Joey was a great liar, and a very manipulative one at that. I had spent years taking apart his lies by talking to the other workers. I narrowed my eyes, but a stabbing feeling in my arm distracted me. The needle was jabbed into my arm, causing me to wrench my arm out of the guards grip. It had reminded me too much of what happened to the searchers, and my body had reacted before my mind. Stupid instincts... Always act now and think later.. Not helpful this time.
The needle had fallen to the floor and shattered, leaving broken glass everywhere. The doctor shook his head, before the guards grabbed my arms. They were held behind my back as the scientist grabbed a new needle, smaller this time. The needle didn't look like the old needle, so my instincts completely ignored it. I didn't react this time, other then a small wince when it was stuck back in my arm. It felt like the needle was trying to suck all the blood out of my arm, and I had started to get lightheaded before it was taken out. I lied my head in my hands as I waited for the room to stop spinning, using my hearing to track where the humans were. I could hear Saltzer writing something down as the guards stood near the door. I heard the doctor walk back to me, pausing in front of me. I slowly looked up, since my head had just about stopped spinning. "Why did you react to the larger needle but not the smaller one? We would have taken the same amount anyways." He asked.
I didn't know whether I should answer him or not, but I waited as long as I could until the scientist asked, "Well?" I sighed, giving in. "̴U̸h̸m̵.̵.̵.̷ ̵ ̴I̴t̸ ̵j̴u̸s̸t̵ ̸r̷e̸m̸i̶n̴d̸e̵d̸ ̴m̴e̸ ̷o̵f̷ ̷s̷o̸m̷e̶t̷h̵i̵n̸g̴,̸ ̵,t̴h̵a̷t̵'̵s̷ ̸a̶l̵l̵.̴"̸ This answer seemed to not satisfy the man, who had his clipboard out and ready for action. "Reminded you of what?" I stayed silent this time, and when the doctor tried to push me for answers again, shook my head. I was trying to warn him not to push his luck about the studio; bad things had happened there, and have continued to happen to those who know of it. The man gave up, before moving onto the next activity.
⊱⊰ Saltzer's Pov⊱⊰
I crouched down, placing my clipboard on the floor next to me. I lightly grabbed the Scp's injured foot, tilting it from side to side. If I hadn't seen which foot was the one it limped on, I would have said the Scp could walk fine. I inspected it, looking for any visual differences in its appearance. The ankle was slightly twisted, but other then that it was identical to the healthy one. It might have been broken at one point and healed incorrectly, but we would need an MRI to confirm it. "So, what's the story behind this thing?" I asked the creature, glancing up to see it staring at me with a small frown. "̷I̸t̴s̶ ̵j̶u̶s̷t̵ ̴b̴e̸e̵n̵ ̵t̴h̴a̴t̴ ̸w̶a̴y̶.̴"̷ As usual, it was vague and to the point. Almost none of its answers were in depth, and it was driving me mad. I spread the two claws apart, noticing how I could see some bone structure when the skin was pulled taut. I also noticed the claws were quite sharp, and took care to not get cut by them. I doubted my thin gloves would protect me much. The foot seemed to have no problem as I twisted it in various ways. How strange.. Was it faking the limp? I don't think so since it looked like it was trying to hide it. MRI time it is then.
Letting go of the foot, I stood back up. "Back to containment." I commanded the Scp, but I guess the order was for my guards too. We took the required formation before walking down the hall. 6030 didn't hide its limp as much, so it was either too tired to do it or just didn't care. I made a note to feed the Scp, since it only had lunch yesterday, and it was far from its probable normal weight. That got me thinking on how much it weighed, and I realized we would have to do more tests tomorrow. We reached the cell before I had anymore time to worry, and the Scp walked in without complaint. I went to the observation room, watching as the Scp dragged itself into bed. The guards had been dismissed when the entity was back in containment. It lied there, so I assumed it was either resting or sleeping. I walked back to my room, but not before asking one of the kitchen staff to give 6030 a sandwich. I sat down at my desk and reported my findings for the day.