(☀)
The hallway of the cells was immersed in the worst of silence, a silence that I had to get used to.
I got used to startling at the slightest noise, to becoming distressed by pure silence, to relaxing only when I knew he would take a while to return.
That was one of those periods that he left me with a respite between torture and torture.
I lowered my head and rested my neck, since my crucifixion posture only allowed me to move my head. I exhaled, but had to gasp for air, as I almost lost my breath.
As for my legs...I haven't felt them in years. In fact, I haven't had them in years.
My legs being taken away was the first torture of many more.
CatNap tortured me in every way possible; from the biggest injuries to the most horrible insults and threats. In one way or another, he always found a way to humiliate me, to bring down my spirits, to make me feel inferior, to convince me that I brought this torture on myself by opposing him.
Even then, I never stopped considering him as my friend. We had been friends for too many years, and surely, CatNap was just confused. Or crazy. Or both.
But it can possibly be solved.
What I don't know for sure is when it will be solved.
Of all the psychological tortures, there was one that still saddens me to this day; CatNap constantly and tirelessly reminded me that my friends, the other Smiling Critters, had died, that it was my fault they all died.
And the truth is, I believed it at first.
I never knew if it was true or just one of CatNap's wicked little games; Having no proof or news, I just told myself it was true, since the desolation and the despair was stronger than my hopes of seeing them again.
At that moment, I heard the metal door creaking. I didn't look up; I knew it was CatNap.
That smell of blood was already too familiar. But, for some reason, it didn't smell like lavender...
I looked up slightly. Some steps approached.
And soon, he ended up in front of me.
It wasn't CatNap.
It was a...
...a human.
Or maybe...Poppy's rumored angel...?
(🟠)
I think that, to this day, I have never regretted having left that place with my siblings.
10 years ago, when my twin sister and I left college, we were offered a job at the prestigious children's toy and entertainment company PlayTime Co.
We accepted the offer; I started working in the management and creative team to plan the launch of toys; Maya, instead, went to work as a caregiver at PlayCare, the company's orphanage.
Normally, we took our little brother, Oscar, to play with the other children, since we didn't have our parents and no one could take care of him. Leaving him alone was never an option- he was just almost six at the moment.
From a very young age, Oscar suffered from both sight and speech problems. He had this visual snow, like static that clouded his visual field, which was also a little more limited than the rest's, being unable to see things that were far away from him, even if it was on a table a few meters away.
Still, we never had to be careful with him, because he was not a naughty child; He was discreet, clean and quiet, much more mature than other children his age. And overall, more intelligent than them.
He usually was in Game Station, but sometimes Maya would take him to PlayCare in order to play with other kids.
We were happy with our work, but soon strange rumors began to circulate about the mascots' behavior.
Many workers began to say that the toys acted strangely towards them, but they were still sweet to the children.
I never let the gossip bother me; until the rumors began affecting Maya.
Maya worked as a caregiver at PlayCare, and she loved taking care of children and playing with them. She explained to me that, apart from the caregivers, there were several mascots who cared for and played with the children.
They were the Smiling Critters, a chain of stuffed animals, for which the company had also created an animated series, and later, bigger mascots for PlayCare kids to play and talk with.
These mascots seemed to be appreciated by the caregivers and other adults, as many times the Smiling Critters encouraged the caregivers to join in the children's games.
But soon, it reached my ears, thanks to a friend, that something strange was going on with the Smiling Critters.
One of them, CatNap if I remember correctly, was behaving strangely, scaring the children, the workers, and even the rest of the mascots.
When I found out, I was quick.
I took my brother out of the Game Station, I grabbed my sister when I could find her on a break, I resigned from both of us and dragged them out, swearing never to set foot in that devil's place again.
It was strange doing it, even for me. But in the long run, I think what I did was the right thing.
Oscar and Maya got a little angry with me for my strange reaction. When I asked for their forgiveness, Oscar forgave me a few days later, but Maya couldn't stop crying. She refused to talk to me and avoided me every time I headed toward that conversation.
Oscar reassured me by saying that she would soon understand and forgive me.
It never happened.
Even after 10 years, we never fixed it.
We did nothing but distance ourselves, to the point of almost feeling like two strangers. She made her life, I made mine, but we didn't share words.
Sometimes, she would send me messages through Oscar, but it's been so long since she stopped talking to me directly.
Until that package arrived, days after our 33rd birthday, ten exact years after our resignation.
That day, Maya burst into my room with an open package, which she dropped on her desk.
When I saw that tape and the note, something clicked.
Maya: Austin, we gotta get back there.
Austin: Absolutely.
Those were the first phrases we exchanged in a long time.
Oscar, who was already 16 years old, and could speak fluently, did not tolerate us going without him, promising that he would not make a fuss and that he would try to help without doing anything stupid.
We had to accept. There was no way for us to making him change opinions.
We returned to that place. Nothing had changed on the outside.
But inside everything changed.
Long story short, in a matter of hours- or days, who knows- we were attacked by a giant Huggy Wuggy, which cost Maya an eye, knocked him down from the top of a high floor, and freed a talking Poppy from a display case.
Then we got to the Game Station, we were chased by Mommy Long Legs through some tunnels, we crushed her, we rescued Poppy again, and when we were going to escape by train, Poppy sent us in another direction, and in the process derailed the train.
Now we had escaped from a garbage crusher, contacted with some "Ollie", returned to PlayCare, hallucinated from CatNap's weird red gas, knew Poppy's real intentions, escaped from a crazy teacher, and finally, entered PlayHouse, where we were almost killed by little Smiling Critters coming out of everywhere.
We had arrived at a cold and spacious place, made up of colorful tiles somewhat dirty from the passage of time, with a huge cell on one side and a barred door in front.
Maya: Why would they want cells down here?
Austin: How do you not know? You worked in this area.
Maya: But this was always closed! And the PlayHouse was a place for the kids to play, not for the workers.
Austin: Okay, okay. This is something strange...
Oscar: It smells like blood to me.
Like blood?
I tried to focus on the scents around me; Except for the musty smell, I didn't notice anything strange. Maybe he was getting confused by the smell of rusty metal.
Maya did seem to care more about it.
Maya: Blood?
Oscar: Yes. And to something else, but perhaps it is more strange to say.
Maya: What?
Oscar: It smells like vanilla too.
Austin: ...Vanilla? What the hell, bro?
Maya: Vanilla...? That's familiar.
Oscar: I'll go in.
Maya: It's dangerous, Oscar. You can go in, but not alone.
Oscar: Sis, I may be almost blind, but don't treat me like I'm an invalid! I can fend for myself in that closed space.
Austin: C'mon Maya, he's right. We cannot protect him all day long. He's a pretty independent guy.
Maya: ...Alright. We'll stay here at the entrance.
Austin: Want my GrabPack? We're barely using it.
Oscar: I'll manage guiding myself on the walls, but thanks.
Oscar found the door to the cells and started touching the walls, trying the different textures in order to guide himself, from the dirt of the tiles to the rust of the bars.
And when he was in the middle, we heard a loud, raspy voice, like a male adult's, but with a slight robotic tone.
???: You...you're Poppy's angel. Come to save us.
Nothing left to save...not here.
Maya looked at me, her only eye widening. She looked pretty pale. Before I asked what was wrong, she shoved me away from the entrance and burst in while putting her GrabPack on.
I went behind her.
What I saw made me gasp.
An anthropomorphic orange dog was hanging like a crucifixion by the arms, with its head bowed looking at the ground, and with non-existent lower body that showed incongruent human guts under his fabric skin, still shiny with blood, and with the support of a tourniquet formed by a single tight belt on his waist.
Maya: D...DogDay?
Hearing my sister's voice, the dog looked up. His eyes were two black sockets. But upon seeing my sister, two white pupils appeared.
DogDay: ...What are you doing here, Maya? It is not good for you to be here...
Maya: Who did that to you?
Austin: Who else could it be? CatNap, right?
With the little strenght he had, he nodded, his head looking down again.
DogDay: ...That thing...CatNap. The Prototype is his God...and this is what he does to heretics.
The Prototype...
So this is what Poppy meant.
It wasn't a joke, as I once thought, when we were told the whole thing after becoming allies with Poppy and Kissy Missy.
The Prototype is actually something too powerful. Too dangerous.
It's not another toy who wants justice and freedom from this whole hellhole. It's a true monster.
Maya: And...the other Critters...? They are...?
DogDay: We tried to fight it. The Prototype's control...I'm...the last of the Smiling Critters.
There was complete silence. Oscar didn't need seeing what was in front of him for him to understand what was going on. He seemed tense. He gripped my hand tight.
It was then when the dog, with some effort, lifted his head to look at us.
DogDay: Listen to me, you need to get out of this place.
You need to live. You and Poppy can fix this.
End this madness! The torment, the-
Austin: Okay, that's enough, DogDay. We're getting you out of this place.
DogDay: W-What? Angel, what do you mean?
Austin: Did I stutter? We're NOT leaving you down here.
DogDay: But why?
Maya: It's obvious! We can't leave you here to your fate! You have been through enough, and you are one of the very few stable people we have found.
DogDay: I thank you from the bottom of my heart, but it's too late. I'm too weak to be of any help to you...and CatNap can smell my blood from miles away. He will hunt us down quickly!
Oscar: That has a solution, but if we leave you here, we will regret it our whole lives. With your help, we can take down CatNap, and the damn Prototype... all together.
DogDay tilted his head gently, finally looking at us.
DogDay: I hope you know well what you are going to do, angels. I'm too tired to protest, much less fight.
Austin: Alright, for starters, let's get you down. Oscar, you got the utility knife?
Oscar: Yep. Here.
I grabbed the utility knife and got the sharpest blade. Since I was pretty tall, it wasn't hard for me to get to the straps and cut them off in one fell swoop. Once he was loose, I picked up DogDay in my arms. He hugged my back. I noticed him shaking, he was breathing hard. It made me feel sorry for him.
Austin: Better?
DogDay: Yes...much better. What do you have planned for the blood issue?
Maya: We would have to sew it. There is another way that is much more painful, although it is safer, but I will spare you that. You must have suffered too much pain.
DogDay: I've been tortured for years. For one more pain nothing will happen to me. Let's go to the harmful but safe option.
Maya: Sure?
DogDay: You should be sure of that, Maya.
Maya: It is made with hot metal.
DogDay: ...Okay, let's hope I can handle it.
God knows where Maya got a knife and a blowtorch, but she took them out of her backpack, heated up the knife, and proceeded to close DogDay's lower body, forming a perfect stump.
We didn't hear DogDay complain from the pain under any circumstances, although that must have hurt like hell.
I lifted him back onto my back. Maya wiped the sweat from her forehead and brushed off her hands, putting away her blowtorch and tossing the knife away.
Austin: Alright, let's get out of here then.
Oscar: I hear something...
Austin: I don't hear anything.
DogDay turned his head back. He stayed still.
DogDay: ...Shit.
I looked behind. A group of almost a hundred little Smiling Critters were running towards us.
One of them, like a little pink pig, clung to Maya's leg and tried to climb. With one kick, she sent it flying to the other end of the hallway.
DogDay: Angels, we have to run!
Austin: Come on, come on!
Maya: Leave this to me! I really want give these little devil critters a good lesson!
Maya's GrabPack swapped her green hand for her new gun hand, and she aimed at the stuffed animals that were approaching like ants.
Maya: Go! I'll catch up with you now!
Austin: Sure?!
Maya: Yes! Go! Now, you tiny bitches, come at me!
Oscar: Okay, let's get out of here! If I remember correctly we went this way!
We began to hear shots, and the frustrated squeals of the plushies.
We accessed some somewhat convoluted PlayGround passageways, but thanks to DogDay we were able to guide ourselves.
Despite the fatigue that his torture must have caused, DogDay seemed to have suddenly regained his energy and felt the strength of being free after years of captivity. He crawled through the passages with the help of both arms, he went at a good speed and never got lost.
We arrive at a clearer and safer area.
Maya arrived shortly after, with bruises and soft bite marks, but she was in one piece.
DogDay: Maya? Are you OK?
Maya: Perfectly; They have followed me for a long way, but I think I have disoriented them.
We started to hear tapping everywhere.
Maya: I take back what I said, they're coming here! We gotta jump to the other side!
Oscar: We'll make it?
DogDay: Surely you will! You're Poppy's angels after all.
I didn't question how did our arrival reached his ears if he was down there.
We changed our hands from the GrabPack into the purple hand and jump to the other side. The four of us made it to the other side unharmed. Our fall wasn't graceful, though. We all stumbled and fell to the ground.
A metal door blocked the mini Smiling Critters, which began to collide against the wall making metallic sounds.
When the noises stopped, Maya stood up, helped Oscar to his feet, and I stood up. DogDay looked around in disbelief, using his hands for balance.
DogDay: Are you okay?
Maya: That doesn't matter; are you okay?
DogDay: Yes, of course...
DogDay looked down. Maya crouched down to his height, and I did too. I could see that he was crying a little.
Austin: Hey, hey. It's okay, DogDay! Are you sure you're okay?
DogDay: I am...but I don't know how to thank you for saving me. And that you have put your lives in danger to save mine...*sniff* I will always be indebted to you, angels...
Oscar: ...Where is he?
Maya: On your left.
Oscar walked without hesitation to DogDay and crouched down next to him, wrapping his arms around him in a welcoming hug.
DogDay broke down, started crying, and hugged Oscar back. Maya went too and joined the hug, and then I joined in.
After a while of hugging and crying, we returned to PlayCare. DogDay dragged himself around, looking on in a mix of confusion, pity, and nostalgia.
While Maya and Oscar went to look for the cord, I went with DogDay. We stopped near the PlayHouse we've just been in.
DogDay: How much this has changed...
Austin: I guess it would be fine before.
DogDay: I was great. Although I miss them...they gave them the special spark this place had.
Austin: The kids?
DogDay: Them, and my friends, the Smiling Critters.
Austin: Are they missing?
DogDay: ...They are dead.
Austin: Oh...
It was then when the phone rang. I picked it up, it had to be Ollie.
Austin: Ollie? It's Austin.
There was silence on the other line. I kept talking just in case they were hearing me.
Austin: We just got out of PlayHouse, that place you hated. We turned the school's generator on, and Maya will be looking for the cord that connects to the statue.
You won't believe what happened too! We found DogDay! He was alive this whole time. CatNap had him tortured in the cells. Poor DogDay...
But now he's okay! We saved him, and he's safe with us now.
...Okay, you don't seem to be here. I'll hang up, talk soon.
Before I hung up, I heard someone. It was Ollie! But it was more distant and desesperate.
*Ollie: HEY! That's mine! Kickin-!*
The other line went dead. I put the phone away, and looked at DogDay. He had heard it all. He was next to me, pale as chalk.
DogDay: ...It was her...! And she said...Kickin!?
Austin: ...Do you know who Ollie is?
DogDay: She's not dead...they're not dead...! They are fine! But...where are they?
Austin: DogDay, you are scaring me. What's happening?
DogDay: Remember how I said I'm the last of the Smiling Critters?
...Well, I guess that wasn't true. CatNap lied to me all these years.
Austin: So, you're saying the Smiling Critters aren't dead?
DogDay: I suspect so...
Austin: We're gonna need help in order to find them.
DogDay: You're going to look for them?
Austin: Of course we are! But we have to get Maya and Oscar. They shouldn't be too far.