The Broken Loop

Chapter 33: The Cellar?

Pov: Ink

I limp over to Linda and Henry, "How is he?"

". . I don't know."

"Everyone is here, so now what?" Alice asks, I turn to look at her.

"Well, that exit ended horribly." The Projectionist said as he sits down at the far end of the room, leaning against the wall.

"There has to be more than one exit." Malice adds, glancing cautiously at me, probably remembering the time when I melted her face.

"In the Music Department, Henry drained a staircase, maybe that could be a way out?" Sammy suggests.

I shake my head. "No, that won't work. In fact, every single exit has been sealed or blocked."

"What about going up?" Boris asks, "Susie mentioned something about letting Henry ascend if he finishes her errands."

"You see. . . That was always a lie. That elevator only went to Level K, the elevator shaft continued to go up, but it didn't lead anywhere.

"Can confirm, I have climbed that elevator shaft in an attempt to see how far up it goes," I add to her explanation, which causes everyone to look at me.
"What? Constantly trying to kill everything that moves gets boring."

Alice opens her mouth to reply, but got cut off when Henry suddenly started to mutter, and move around in his sleep.

"Nononononono."

"Henry?" Linda looks at him.

"What's happening to him?" I ask her, panicking slightly, I've never seen anything like this happen before. Is he hurt? Is he dying again? What's happening?

"He seems to be having a nightmare." I hear Alice's reply.

Before anyone else can reply, Henry wakes up, launching to his feet. His hands are against his head, his tail swaying back and forth violently.

"Henry?" Linda gently touches his face, forcing him to look at her. String-like, golden ink tears are coming down his face, his brown eyes have a mixture of (emotional, not physical) pain and grief.

"It's okay, Henry. Whatever you saw was-"

"Wasn't real? Because it sure as hell was real! I promised him that he wouldn't share the same fate as his sister! I-"

"Stop focusing on the past, Henry. That won't help the situation now." She cuts him off, sternly but gently.

"I-"

"She's right, Henry," Alice says to him.

"You should probably have something to eat?" I suggest.

"Do you even have food here?" Sammy asks.

". . .No. . ."

"Ink and Norman, go find something to eat." Linda orders. "Henry, do you remember what happened? And I'm not talking about the memory about Sammy."

I draw in a breath to voice a complaint, but stop as Linda glares at me. I nod and walk over to the Projectionist or 'Norman' as they call him.

"I-. . . No? I mean. . . I remember. . . falling? Maybe?"

"What about before falling?"

". . . Trying to open a door?"

"Let's go, Normie," I say to Norman as I grab him by the arm and walk through the wall, we reappear in a room, full of shelves, plushies, and ink covering the floor.