"How 'bout this Al, who ever finds the bandages first gets to draw something on the other person?"
"Alright, Lawrence. But you better not cheat." The bet was on. After a few minutes of silent searching however, Alice finally gave a triumphant grin.
"Guess who won!" She felt a bolt of happiness, something she hadn't felt in a long time. Too long.
"I think you're the one who cheated. You do know the place after all, Angel."
"Oh Lawrence don't be daft. An angel has no reason to cheat." She smirked, that was a bold lie.
"Hmmm, did you just lie? Maybe the horns aren't just for show." Sammy walked over and plucked the bandages out of her hands.
"What are you doing? I'm gonna take care of the cuts Sammy, I thought we went over this." She rolled her good eye.
"I," He started to walk away. "Am going to take these. You can't be the winner if I'm holdin' em, can you? And, since I feel like you lied, lets place another bet, shall we? A little game of find the item? If you find em, you win. If you don't, I win. Got it?"
"Sammy. Give me the bandages." She couldn't help the grin sneaking onto her face.
"Only if you agree. Same reward as before."
She walked towards him. He ran. She followed.
"So help me Lawrence, I will fill all of your instruments with ink I swear!" She bolted after him, a smile resting on her face. It felt good to be carefree for a little while.
Sammy was at the door now, hand resting on the doorknob.
"I can have someone break this tie..."
"You wouldn't." She slowed her pace, now walking.
"Yes I would." He opened the door.
"Fine. I accept the new terms. You better hide them quickly."
He bolted through the door.
She didn't. Alice knew where other bandages were stored if those got ruined. So instead of falling for Sammy's bait, she looked for weapons. It was a shame she had to dispose of them now.
Sammy didn't take notice of Alice's stay in the other room. He knew she was likely plotting something.
He walked over to the couch that Henry was laying on, and shook his shoulder, relieved when no ink-stained imprint was left behind.
"What..."
"Hi, sorry to wake you but I have a bet to win. Can you hide these for me?" Sammy held out the bandages, and Henry sat up, a confused look on his face.
"Why do you want me to hide the...bandages?" He whispered, as if hiding them was a crime.
"Because I might have made a bet with Alice." He whispered back. Well, it may as well be a crime then.
"What kind of bet?" Henry was wide awake now, and that was another reason for Sammy to win. If Alice won, it wouldn't take too much convincing for the animator to join in on the loser's fate. Not on the receiving end, of course.
"One that involves drawings and humiliation. So? Please?"
"Sure Sam." He stuffed the bandages into the couch cushions and covered them with a pillow.
"Really? That's where..." He was cut off with a look. "Fiiine. I'll stand some- where else. It might look a little bit less suspicious. Can you go get Al?"
"What am I, your errand boy?" But nevertheless he got up. Sammy went off to stand somewhere 'less suspicious' as Henry walked over to the storage room door, and called for Alice.
A muffled hold on a second was the reply, followed by footsteps. After a few seconds, Alice opened the door. Neither of the other two took notice of the knife tucked into the knot of the bow, a piece of decaying ribbon, that was tied around her waist.
"Okay. So you're in on it too?" She looked behind him, no doubt trying to glare at Sammy. Really a shame.
"Yep."
Sammy grinned, maybe he would win after all.
"And he hid the bandages?" She finally spied Sammy, and gave a falsely sweet smile.
"Absolutely..." This might actually work out in his favor. "Not." Shit.
"What the hell Henry?!"
"What? You told me to hide them, not cover for you."
"Now I know why you designed Bendy to be a tricky devil. You are one."
Alice walked over to Henry and rested her elbow on his shoulder. "I think we make a good team then, don't we? Unlike the cheater."
"I am not a cheater." Damn his stupid grin.
"Oh really? Then why didn't you play by the rules?"
"Why don't you play the game?"
Alice removed her arm from Henry's shoulder and rolled her eye. "Fine."
"Go ahead, find em." The spot they were hidden in was easy to find.
Except for the little fact that they hadn't been hidden there. Tricky indeed. But Angel's could be sly as well. Especially Fallen ones.
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"Where the fuck are they?!" By now, Alice had torn the room apart. Literally. Cushions, blankets, pillows, even the chair hadn't been spared from her hellish rampage.
"Is...is this normal for her?" Henry had positioned himself in a corner, Sammy standing a little distance away, in case Alice decided to come over in his direction.
"Absolutely." Not usually this brutal anymore though.
Out of nowhere, the lights suddenly cut out, throwing the room into darkness. A sound system crackled.
Then a voice echoed through the room.
"Ah, well that little charade was fun, wasn't it? It certainly didn't take much to fool you. I thought you would've seen right through the lies Sammy. Or did you truly want to believe everything is better now?" At the last two words her voice dropped to a low whisper.
"Sammy? What is she talking about? I thought we could trust her?"
"So did I." This is bad. She asked if he'd died yet. That means she's planning something. Either that, or she's planning to make us start from the beginning. An Angel of death is what the bitch is. Why didn't I see it earlier?
On the speakers, Alice continued.
"Apologies for the deception, Henry. You seemed like someone I could've agreed with. But, this way, I get a chance at fixing this. At fixing all of this." She sounded demented, like two separate voices were talking at once.
"Surely you understand, don't you Sammy? If we start over, I could be beautiful again. I'll be Susie again. You'll be free from the Demon. I'm sure Henry will be fine too. I hadn't actually planned for him to be here."
"Alice. Please. I don't understand your sudden tone, it what you plan to do, but could you think about this?" As he spoke, Sammy slowly walked backwards, hoping he could reach Henry. Something told him this was about to get bloody.
"Sammy? What do we do?" Henry reached a hand out, and Sammy walked towards his voice. Nothing. Sammy switched directions.
They weren't the only ones in the dark room now, however. Someone found Henry's hand in the dark and grabbed it. Harshly. "Sam-"
"Wrong. Want to guess again?" With those words, a sudden pain cut across his wrist, which was stuck in the Fallen Angel's iron grip. "Or will you die first?" She didn't seem too bothered by this possibility.
"Alice?! What did you do?" Sammy felt a hand on his shoulder. Something wet coated it, and it smelled like copper.
"I'm getting our lives back." The blade cut across his throat.
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Alice turned the lights back on. She examined her work, noticing the mess she'd made. Blood and ink were everywhere, a morbidly beautiful design. She loved it.
There was a reason she'd killed all of the others. She just had one more to kill. Then they would be free. She lifted the blade.
"One." She closed her eyes.
"Two." She inhaled. The nightmare would be over.
"Three." A broken voice answered.
The blade dropped from her hands as the voice that wasn't hers spoke. "No. No no no no no NO! I WON'T HAVE YOU TAKE THIS AWAY YOU BASTARD." She looked up to see the Demon smiling down upon her.
"Oh, doll. Did you really think killing everyone would work? They'll just come back. Didn't you notice their bodies already dissolved back into the ink? Or were you too caught up in yer happy little dreams to notice?"
It leaned closer, and Alice snarled.
"I did it to get us all out of this Hell. You think I wanted to do it for fun? I haven't seen either of them in ages, and I DID NOT want to have someone new trapped in here."
"Is that so? Well what were ya gonna do about me? Nothing can change this Susie. Not you. Not even me."
By the time this fact finally dawned on Alice, it was too late. She'd already done the deed. Now it was her turn to be judged. But she knew they Demon would let her hang.
"I'm sorry...everyone." She bowed her head in mock prayer, and accepted her fate.
"See? Everything is easy when the pawns play their parts. When this all starts again, I'll let you all remember this loop for once. Sweet dreams doll."
With that, the Demon reached down and snapped her neck. She matched her halo now, though.
The room slowly melted, and the Demon rewound the tape. Knowing that in this timeline, The End wasn't a thing. That was for a different Demon to deal with. Along with different versions of his puppets.
It grinned. This was going to be fun indeed.