Madness.
Everything Alice has told me is madness.
I listen to her numbly, not knowing what to make out of this. Half of what she's saying has only sank in just now, as her story has come to a close;
"After I watched Henry and Linda drive off with you, I didn't know what to do. I no longer had that happiness I had before; not until Henry returned to JoeyDrewStudios, that is. You were three when that happened." She smiled softly, "And the rest of it, you must know. Henry leaves again, the studio goes into debt, I get replaced. And then I fall into the same trap everyone else did. The ink got ahold of me, and the ink demon took my life into his claws. Do wanna know the horrors he put me through?"
I grew uneasy, "What did he put you through?" My voice was dull compared to hers. It sounded as if my whole world was being crushed. Because it was.
"He called me a TRAITOR! He said I was NO BETTER than Mister Drew! And then, with one touch, he made me IMPERFECT. He TORE out my eye. And then he left me for dead!!" She scowled out bitterly, her smile faded as she talked about Bendy.
"After that, I avoided him; watching his massacres at a safe distance. Once I grew as a someone here in this dump, we became enemies, but honestly I think we were enemies before. An ink demon is still a demon- no matter how kind he is at the beginning." She chuckled softly, her gaze gleaming, "Please remember that.. Don't get your heart twisted up with a demon."
"I-" Everything about this is madness. Pure insanity. It had to be. It just had to!
"No that's not true... none of this is true." That was all I could say, "Bendy's not a monster- he's not like anyone I've ever met."
"Don't let him fool you, (Y/n). He's still a monster, just like the rest of us. Everything I'm telling you is true."
Madness. Pure insanity.
"No! It can't be! Bendy's not a monster! I'm not your daughter! I-i Henry- dad's not a liar! He-he wouldn't lie! If I truly was adopted, he- both of them- would've told me!!" I began ranting, shaking my head in disbelief. Alice watched me, her gaze slightly concerned, "He didn't lie to you. No one did, but your father-"
"I've never even met my father-!" I snapped, "How the hell can he lie to me!" My whole body shook, "You lied to me! You lied to him! You lied to everyone just to get your way!"
Alice looked as if she's been crushed by a thousand collapsing buildings. Her expression was at first one of shock, then it contorted into one of anger, "I did what I did to protect you from him.." Her voice was shaky and her fists clenched.
I glared at her, as if trying to burn her with my hateful gaze, "I don't care."
With that, I turned around and left. Alice called my name behind me, but I didn't care. I didn't even know what I was doing, or where I was going- I should turn back. I should go and save Inkus and then we can go find Bendy.
Oh, why does it matter? Inkus is doomed to die in the angel's clutches. And I'm doomed a life of chaos and lies. Who cares if people are dying? Perhaps it's better that way. Perhaps they're truly being set free.
No! Don't think that way, (Y/n)!! But it's too late to turn back now.
Tears formed in my eyes, blinding me as I began to run. Run from this new reality, run from the truth.
My legs ached in pain and agony, but I didn't care. I was too hurt inside to care.
I watched who I though was my father die right in front of my eyes, and now I hear that Henry isn't my father to begin with. I loved him so much, and hated him for leaving me behind on this cruel earth, but it turns out I've been hating him for the wrong reason.
He lied to me. Him and Susie, and Linda. They all are liars!!!!
I let out a scream, suddenly punching a wall, taking my anger out. Nearby was an Alice plush laying on a table. I grabbed the plush and ripped it apart, still screaming in anger. Tears poured from my eyes like flowing rivers. I collapsed on the floor, curdling up in a small ball, holding the remnants of the Alice plush while sobbing.
I stayed like this for hours. Crying, more crying. My bones ached and everything hurt, but I didn't stop.
Until he came up to me.
"(Y/n).." I looked up and saw my brother towering over me with a look of sympathy. Jake smiled softly, "Hey, sis." A wave of nostalgia went over me,
"Is it true?" I rasped out, "Please tell me I'm your sister. Please tell me it was a trick!!"
His smile became a frown, "It's not a trick, but you're still my sister. You'll always be my little sis." He kneeled down to ruffle my messy hair.
"Then how can I be your sister?" I murmured, "We're not related."
"Genetically, yes. Spiritually, no." Jake replied, sitting beside me and wrapping an arm around me in a comforting manner. He began to pet my hair soothingly, "Just like dad is, and mom, and everyone else."
It went silent for minute. But it was nice. Comforting, even. It was as if we were back at mom's house, hugging each other as tightly as we could, as if someone would separate us, while we cried on one another's shoulder.
"You know (Y/n), dad really did love you as if you were his own. You were his little girl; his only daughter. And he spoiled you rotten." He let out a soft chuckle, giving my back a pat.
I giggled softly, "He did, didn't he?" My eyes closed as a wave of peace washed over me, "And you were his little boy. His only son."
Jake seemed to tense at that, "..Sometimes I don't know about that. I-I don't deserve to call him father."
I looked up at him, suddenly concerned, "What do you mean?"
Jake stared at the wall in front of us, lost deep within his own thoughts.
"Jake, what do you mean?"
Jake pulled away from me and stood up, "It doesn't matter right now. Right now, we should get to Alice-"
"I'm not going back."
Jake had a look of disbelief, "And why not?"
"You don't understand! I- sh-she's lied to me, and gave me away! And now she's going around destroying lives just like Joey did, y-yet she- well she thinks she's something, doesn't she?" I scowled, stuttering due to an overwhelming feeling of despair, anger, and betrayal.
Jake stood there for a moment longer, then turned and walked away, "I'll tell her you said that."
Before I could stop him, he was gone.
And I was alone. Again.
Tears began to well up in my eyes once more. I wiped them away, trying to hide my sorrow. Although there was no point to. No one was here. It was just me, myself, and I in this lonely, dim hall.
Still, I didn't want to waste my brother's efforts of comforting me.
A feeling of hollowness was deep within my stomach. I miss Bendy. His smile, his voice, his embrace. I longed to be back in his arms, crying to him as he pets my hair, holding me close. I want to be back at his side once more; feel his warm inky hand in mine.
I want my beloved devil darling.
But will he want me?
Anxiety bubbled up inside of me. I'm not Henry's daughter, I'm Joey's. What will he do if he finds out?
What if he wants to break up?!
Panic now replaced my anxiety, and I began to hyperventilate.
Without Bendy, I have no purpose. And if he leaves me, I'll hit rock bottom once again, and this time, there will be no one to catch my fall; for he is the only one who cares about me. After I hit rock bottom, what will I do? Cry, cry, and cry some more? Go back to be the girl who no one likes? The girl who never left her little cozy country house. The girl who dies in a skanky ass abandoned animation studio. Yeah, sounds like a death everyone probably imagined for me.
I sniffed, trying to hold back the tears. At the corner of my eye, I saw a puddle form on the floor, "Bendy?" I immediately stood up, walking towards it. Hope rose up inside me, removing every single negative feeling I was feeling before, "Is that you?"
Instead of Bendy, a beast emerged from the ink, screeching loudly. I let out a scream of fear, collapsing onto the ground and backing up as quickly as I could.
I was hoping to get away from the creature, but my back hit the wall and by the time I realized, the beast cornered me.
It towered over me, letting out unholy growls that sent shivers down my spine. My frightened gaze met its taunting amber gaze. Once I did so, my muscles froze with fear.
This beast was like a wolf. Only it was ink, and much larger than a wolf. Upon further inspection, it looked like Boris. Just a very messy and feral version of Boris.
And it wanted me dead.
This is it. This is goodbye. Bendy, if you can somehow read my thoughts, I'm sorry. Just know that I love you so, so much. And nothing will ever make that change.
I closed my eyes, awaiting death, but it didn't come.
***
Bendy paced around Mika's safehouse, his guard off the charts while Mika bandaged Kipper's arms. They were heading into Alice's territory, when suddenly they were ambushed by the butcher gang, causing them to retreat due to Kipper being badly injured by Striker, one of the butcher gang members. Bendy didn't want to retreat- both his ally and his girlfriend has been kidnapped- but he didn't have a choice. He needed to keep Kipper and Mika safe from the angel's clutches no matter what. He needed to keep everyone safe. That's what they expect out of him, being their ally and all.
But if he couldn't keep (Y/n) safe, how can he keep the rest of them safe?
"Are you feeling better?" Mika asked Kipper in a soft, motherly tone, looking at her sympathetically as she finished bandaging their arms. Kipper only nodded, their eyes hazy with exhaustion.
Bendy watched them, concerned, "Kipper, are you sure? You look tired.."
Kipper nodded, smiling softly, "No worry Bendy, me okay."
"They just need some rest." Mika murmured, petting Kipper's back soothingly.
The lost one shook their head rapidly, "No rest. We need to find Inkus and (Y/n)!!"
"We can't go find Inkus and (Y/n) all tired and hurt, Kipper." Mika muttered sternly, her humanoid eye red, "Isn't that right, Bends?"
Bendy stayed quiet. Honestly, he wasn't even paying any attention to their conversation. He was thinking of (Y/n).
A bad feeling washed over him. As if (Y/n) was in trouble. She probably was, considering who Alice is. She could be ripping his darling apart at this second, tearing her body just for the hell of it.
It pained him oh so badly to think about that, but it could be true. No, it is true. The bad feeling only grew, making his stomach churn.
(Y/n)'s in danger.
"Bendy!!" Mika practically screeched, trying to get his attention. Bendy snapped out of his thoughts, snarling, "What?!"
"I said we should rest, am I right? Or were you even listening?" She crossed her arms, her tail lashing behind her,
"Of course I was listening..kinda." He huffed, "Look, I'm with Kipper on this one-"
"But we can't save anyone without our strength. Kipper is in no condition to fight in, and neither are you!" Mika explained. She met Bendy's gaze, and knew he wasn't convinced, "Bendy, if we go out there, we're going to die. Alice can't do anything-"
"That's not true!! You know how she is! She's a lying, manipulative piece of shit!"
"I know, but-"
"I'm not finished! At any moment she could be torturing both Inkus and (Y/n)!
It could even be now-"
"No not (Y/n)-"
"Especially (Y/n). She my girlfriend, for Pete's sake! Do you think Alice will spare her?!"
"Yes, I do-"
"Well then-then you must've hit your head." Bendy stammered, letting out a psychotic, nervous chuckle, "Because she's dead meat. I know she is, I have a feeling that she's in danger. I can't just ignore it, and blame it on anxiety. This is something bigger! (Y/n)'s in danger!" He began shaking.
Mika laughed, although not in a humorous reason, "No she's not-"
"Yes she is! You know A-"
"SHUT UP AND LET ME EXPLAIN!!" Mika snapped, slamming her fists onto the table, breaking it. Her voice was demonic and seemed so unlike her. It definitely didn't sound like her.
Bendy looked at her with horror. He's never seen Mika this angry before. Not even when they first met- when Mika was more insane than ever- did he see her snap like this. He didn't like it. It triggered a memory he tried to forget years ago.
She closed her eyes tightly, taking a deep breath, loud enough for everyone to hear, "Alice is not going to hurt her daughter?"
Confusion. Then realization. Then betrayal.
Bendy had a dark look on his face. He stood there, processing what Mika said for a little, then began to walk towards the door, "Fine. We'll rest for a little. Get you and Kipper cozy."
Mika went after Bendy, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Bendy, wait. Hear me out. Let me explain-"
"Mika, I need some time to myself to think." He stared at her calmly. Although he didn't feel calm, "I'll be back with some bacon soup."
He pushed off Mika's hand, and left the safehouse, letting all his feelings weigh down on him once he was out of sight.
***
I cracked an eye open, feeling a wet tongue swipe across my face. The beast was inches away from my face, sniffing and licking it. I let out a soft giggle, "Hey, quit that."
It only moved on to sniff more of me, stopping at my stomach and looking at it curiously, then sniffed at it like crazy, "Seriously, cut it out!"
The creature let out a demonic bark, its long inky tail wagging behind it.
I began to laugh even more, suddenly feeling giddy. How stupid am I to think that this creature was going to kill me. Not every creature here is hostile, and all the souls I've met down here has been kind. Then again, I've made friends with all the villains down here. Besides Alice, but she turned out to be my mother.
The friendly beast gave a soft smile, tail wagging even more to see that I wasn't scared of it.
It probably got a lot of people screaming at it out of fear. Empathy ached at my heart. Bendy could probably relate to it too, "Where did you come from.?" I murmured under my breath. It let out a whimper in response, "You don't know, huh?"
Its tail wagged.
I attempted to pick it up, which surprisingly, even though it was big, it wasn't that hard, "Don't worry, little guy. You're safe with me!!"
I don't know where I was going, but I went a random direction, the friendly beast nestled in my arms,
"You need a name, don't you?"
It let out a soft bark in response
"I'll name you.. Fluffy."
***
It felt like hours since I've rested. I dragged my feet behind me, Fluffy walking right beside me. My eyes were heavy due to exhaustion, but I wasn't going to rest anytime soon. Right now my goal is to find something, or someone- just anything that could maybe help my torn soul. I needed to hear from another pair of lips the truth. Their side of the story.
Though I don't know who else is involved with this secret. Who else would know?
My aunt! What was her name though?
Realization hit me as hard as a truck, "Mika!"
I don't know why, but I began running, to which my stomach didn't agree to. It growled in protest, forcing me to stop and dry heave for a second, but then like the idiot I am I go back to running, much to my own dismay.
Fluffy ran right behind me. Its eyes gleaming with delight. Of course it enjoys this, its a wolf.
After minutes of running, a familiar place came into to sight. Mika's safehouse.
"Mika!" I called, reaching the door and knocking on it, "Mika, let me in!"
It was silent on the other side of the door.
"Mika! Are you there? Please, if you are, let me in! I need to know the truth!!"
There was the sound of shuffling, then the door unlocked to reveal the corrupted cartoon cat. She had a frown on her face, and her humanoid eye gleamed a reddish color.
I hugged her out of relief, "Mika!!"
"Keep your voice down," She hissed, "Kipper is sleeping."
"Sorry.." I murmured. Mika left to doorway to let me in in response. She was about to shut the door, when Fluffy tried to come in, "Back off, mutt!!" She shooed it away, swiping her claws at it. I turned my head to them, "Hey wait! It's okay, they're with me."
"I don't care. It can wait outside for you."
Fluffy whimpered but left, looking at Mika with a pained expression.
Mika watched it go with a blank stare. My heart broke for the friendly beast, "But why? It's only a friendly little wolf-"
"It's a spy, (Y/n)."
That broke my heart even more, "Wh-what?"
"It was spying on you!! For your mother! Unless," Mika turned to face me with a scowl on her face, "You're on her side."
Before I could respond, there was a knock at the door, "I knew it!! You brat! How could you side with the angel?!?" She spat at my face, practically ripping the door open.
But instead of Alice being there like she thought, it was Bendy, "What's going on?" He seemed tense, ready to fight if need be. In his arms were a bunch of cans of soup.
Mika immediately had a look of guilt. She turned to me, apologizing, "(Y/n), I'm sorry. I'm just tired, and scared. I didn't mean to think of you as a traitor."
I looked at the ground numbly, "No, it's fine, Mika. I see the truth, that's all I wanted, so now I'll just go." I stood up, fighting back the tears, "I can see I'm not welcome here anymore."
I tried walking out, but Bendy stopped me, blocking off the rest of the doorway with his tail, "Wait."
"Bendy, let me go." I muttered.
"No, I said to wait."
"I don't care! I don't belong here, and it's clear! Why do you even want me to stay?!" I protested.
"Look at me."
I looked at the floor.
His voice was more stern, "(Y/n), look. At me."
I stood my ground by continuing to look at the floor.
"(Y/n) please look at me, unless you are indeed on the angel's side."
That fueled the fire inside of me. I looked directly into his ink-covered eyes, "I'm not on anyone's side."
With full force, I moved his tail, rushing out. I could hear both Kipper and Bendy calling my name, but I ignored them.
When their safehouse was out of view, Fluffy popped out of a random ink puddle. It let out a yip in excitement, expecting me to smile at it. But I didn't. Instead, I ignored it, and kept walking.
It began to nuzzle my leg, which caught my attention, "Go away!" I scowled, "Shoo! No one wants you!!!"
Instantly, I regretted those words, but it was too late. Fluffy left as soon as I said so.
There I was, heartbroken and numb, walking to god knows where. There was so much sorrow in my heart, more sorrow than I've ever felt. My life is a chaotic web of lies. As soon as I was born, I had a life of pain and betrayal ahead. Now it makes sense. Why people picked on me in school, why I was outcasted. Some people say this to emotionally manipulate someone else, but for me it's actually true;
I shouldn't have been born.
Suddenly, I collapsed on the ground, too exhausted to get back up. The world around me was spinning, but I didn't care. If this is truly it for me, then I don't care. It probably isn't though. This studio has gave me a lot near-death experiences, but it never was the real thing. Maybe if I continue on, it will be the real thing.
So I began to crawl on the floor, my legs and hands shaking after awhile.
After minutes of slowly crawling, I came across the ink river. A smile formed on my face, and I looked up at the ceiling, the lights, for once, blinding me, "Please, whoever is up there. Please let me die. I already know the truth, so now there's no other reason to live."
I was about to jump into the river, when an unfamiliar voice stopped me, "Such a sad speech for a fine young lady."
I turned and faced the person, about to scream at them, about to make them leave, when suddenly I collapsed back onto the floor.
They caught me swiftly, their gaze wide with surprise, "Oh my! You poor thing!"
I looked up at them. She looked like Alice, but it wasn't that corrupted angel. This was a true, pure angel, "Am I dying? Are you here to take me to heaven.?"
The angel let out a laugh, "No, no, I'm just like everyone else down here.." She paused, "I'm Allison angel, but I'm no angel."