Finally, the last tape had been watched, the last memory restored. It was late into the night, and pretty much every entity was tired. And it turned out their lives before the hotel were very uninteresting. Screech, Timothy, and Window are apparently high schoolers, just really short, Rush, Halt, and Ambush had been college students in their senior years, Eyes a college dropout, while Figure was fresh out of college, living with one of his old college roommates while he looked for a job.
Oddly enough, there were no tapes about Seek, and, disappointingly, there were no tapes regarding Glitch and Jack's memories.
And Ambush and Rush were, in fact, twins. And even they could hardly believe it.
"So... what do we do now?" Ambush asks, turning to Rush as they exit the library.
"I... don't know..." Rush murmured in response. He was questioning reality. There had been years worth of memory in those tapes, and every entity was certain that they had only scratched the surface. Who knows how much of their lives they had forgotten? "I think... I think we should just try to process this..."
Ambush nodded. "I just... I don't know... It's hard to put into words..." he mumbled.
"Yeah... How do we... How do we even respond to that? We're twins. We were best friends before. What do we say?" Rush said, sharing a look with Ambush.
"We... just need time to process this revelation. I'm sure that... after some time, we'll be able to address... this..." Ambush said in response.
Rush nodded. "Though... we can't let this get in the way of our current objective. Save Figure and Timothy, and stop Shadow. We should focus on that."
"Yeah..." Ambush mumbled, before walking off, leaving Rush alone.
Rush sighed. Even though mostly everyone was with him, he couldn't help but feel an... emptiness inside of him. As he silently watched Ambush continue walking away, he couldn't help but think to himself, Why has Shadow done this? Shadow had erased every single one of their memories, even Sally's! But... how? Why?
A sudden wave of exhaustion crashed onto him like a falling tree, and Rush released a heavy sigh. He and Ambush had been the last to leave the library, spending a while puzzling over their memories together, so everyone else was probably asleep already.
With a heavy, yet empty, heart, Rush began walking to his room.
////////////
Screech couldn't sleep. He couldn't possibly sleep. Not after everything he's seen.
He could barely process it. He was tiny. He was in fucking high school, and almost everyone in the hotel towered over him, as if they were skyscrapers and he was just a small house. So either he, Window, and Timothy were incredibly short, or everyone else was just stupidly tall.
Oh, and also the fact that he was orphaned after he and his parents were hit by a car, but that's something else entirely.
Anyway, Screech couldn't sleep, and was just... staring up at the ceiling, as rain pattered gently on his window. His mind was racing, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop the sea of thoughts ripping mercilessly through his head.
Screech groaned as he sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes. Despite his efforts, the gift of sleep wouldn't come to him, so he might as well do something.
...But what...
Screech thought for a while. He could read... No, too dark for that, and I don't have a flashlight... He could... eat...?
Not the worst idea... Screech thought, before crawling out of bed, and leaving his room. He crept through the halls, being careful and quiet, so as to not wake up everyone else. He made his way to the main hall, and navigated his way to the kitchen.
Finally, after a few minutes, he made it. But... it appeared someone else was there, too.
Seek.
"Uh... what are you doing here?" Screech questioned.
Seek jumped slightly, before turning around. "Screech?"
"Uh, yeah. It's me. What are you doing?" he questioned.
"...I was hungry."
"Oh. That makes sense, I guess..." Screech mumbled. "So... what are you going to eat?"
"I was looking for something..." Seek said, turning back to the pantry. "What are you going to eat?"
"I don't know. I was just gonna see what there is," Screech replied. "I was mostly considering something warm, though."
"Alright, well good luck with that," Seek said, before turning back to the pantry.
"So... how would we use the appliances without making loud noises?" Screech asked, walking up to the pantry as well as looking around. "I've only ever made anything to eat during the day, when everyone if not most of us were awake."
Seek blinked. "Have you never cooked here before?"
Screech looked up at him. "No... this is the first time I've ever been in here. Do you... do you normally cook?"
"No, but I know how this stuff works, since I'm not an idiot."
"Alright, now that was uncalled for," Screech said. "By the way, how'd you figure you Rush and Ambush were twins? Because you were right."
"I used the context that was provided. It was obvious, how did you not immediately know it?" Seek said in response as he walked around the kitchen.
"That is a great question," Screech replied. "I guess I'm just slow."
"Whatever," Seek murmured as he continued looking for stuff he could take with him without drawing too much attention.
"My one question, though, is how exactly it works," Screech said. "I mean, Rush and Ambush look nothing alike, and even fraternal twins have their similarities. I mean, they don't resemble each other at all."
"Maybe... one of them was adopted?" Seek suggested, only barely listening. "Perhaps it's just entirely coincidental that they have the same birthday, or something. Then again, the chances of something like that happening are probably near impossible."
"I don't know, maybe their genetics are just weird," Screech said dismissively, as he poked around the pantry. "Still, it's strange..."
"Listen, I couldn't care less about something like this," Seek growled, his mood changing suddenly and drastically. "Just get what you want and go. I want to be alone."
"God, you don't have to be like that..." Screech muttered as he grabbed a random box filled with who knows what, but looked edible enough. Screech opened it and saw it was filled with candy. I suppose this will be alright for now...
Screech looked up. Seek was paying no attention to him. Screech muttered swears and insults under his breath, before he closed the pantry doors, and turned to exit the kitchen.
"Oh, and do yourself a favor," Screech said. "Don't bother with helping us with anything. It's been made pretty obvious that no one wants you here."
Screech then began walking back to his room, though he thought he heard a soft, "I know" as he walked away.
////////////
Timothy crouched in the corner of his cell, pressing a hand against an injury on his shoulder that Shadow had given him. He was incredibly malnourished. Hungry and dehydrated. If he wasn't, he'd probably have been crying. He hadn't spoken a single word since he got here. Not one. And especially not since Shadow had horribly wounded Figure.
Based on what he's heard, and what Shadow had muttered, he had shot Figure three times, all in nonlethal places. Still, Figure wasn't doing too well. No verbal responses to anything Shadow shouted at him, and really no responses in general.
When Shadow wasn't "punishing" him, or whatever it is he did, his assistant would sometimes be there too, when Shadow was trying to get information out of them. He'd look him in the eyes, and Timothy could see just how much he wished he could help them. Maybe it was something about the sadness or fear in his eyes, and how he never expressed any emotion other than perhaps sadness, guilt, or regret.
Timothy couldn't think straight. Not at all. Thoughts were flooding through their head, but... nothing made sense...
This was probably the first time in Timothy's life that he's ever felt truly alone...
And it definitely wasn't going to change any time soon...
Timothy heard the crashing of metal falling, and the scraping of metal against concrete, as Shadow burst into the cell block, most likely to torture them. Timothy held his breath as Shadow passed by his cell, his heart pounding. He heard him stop outside of his cell door, and heard the clicking of a lock as Shadow opened the door, the crashing metal sound assaulting Timothy's ears, and both he and Shadow noticeably winced.
"Damn it, if it wasn't for your stupid friends, I wouldn't need to do that..." Shadow growled under his breath.
Shouldn't have captured us, then... Timothy thought, but didn't say anything. Still, Shadow gave him a sharp look.
"Are you willing to talk now?" Shadow snapped, glaring down at Timothy's crouched form.
Timothy said nothing, only looked up at Shadow with nothing but pure rage and hate in his eyes.
"My patience is running out, spider boy," Shadow said, using that stupid nickname that Timothy had once rather liked. But now, it left a foul taste in his mouth. "And your time is beginning to run out as well."
Still Timothy said nothing, which only made Shadow more frustrated and angry.
"SAY SOMETHING!" Shadow snarled. He had had quite enough of the silent entity, and now he was really getting upset.
Shadow inhaled slowly, then exhaled sharply, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You know what, I'm done. I already have all the information I desire," He snapped, and, if only for a moment, a small spark of hope flickers in Timothy. That flame was, of course, quickly extinguished, when Shadow laughed sinisterly. "Oh, no, I won't be sending you back up. I'm just going to be torturing you for fun now."
And with that, he grabbed Timothy by the shoulders, and lifted him into the air, before slamming him down on the cold, hard floor. Timothy yelps as he feels a sharp pain in his back, before Shadow grabs him again.
"At this point, I couldn't care less if I killed you. Matter of fact... I might just do it."
Shadow threw Timothy across the cell, and their back hit the wall with a sickening thud. Timothy felt tears streaming down his face, as he looked up at Shadow, his eyes filled with nothing but fear and rage.
"I'll end your pathetic life, and then I'll finish Figure off. He's pretty much done for, anyway," Shadow said, smirking.
"Why... Why are you doing this...?" Timothy asked weakly, his breath heavy.
"That is something you don't need to know," Shadow snarked, before he grabbed them by the neck, and threw him against the wall once more. Timothy cried out in pain, his vision blurring, and his mind clouding. "But I suppose the short answer is that it's fun."
And with that, Shadow walked out of the cell, leaving Timothy behind, as he locked the door. A few minutes later, Timothy collapsed, and passed out.
(The next chapter is gonna be super fun! :))