My Little Devil Darling

Trust Fall

"This path doesn't look very sturdy," Charlotte commented as she took the first step onto the wooden plank path.

"It's been rotting from ink and abandonment for years," Sammy responded, trailing behind, "Are you honestly that surprised?"

Charlotte hummed in agreement. Now that Sammy was, for the most part, sane again, his attitude was familiar to her childhood. The sarcasm in his obvious comments, and despite his calm nature towards her, she did notice his cranky ways with most of the staff, especially Wally. Charlotte continued down the path. She was getting closer to the end when she heard cracking underneath her. She stopped in her tracks, then felt another step behind her.

"Wait, Sammy, no!"

It was too late, the weight of the director's foot was enough to break the wooden plank beneath them, and they both fell into the dark abyss below.

As much as the ink had broken the girl's fall, she honestly wished that she fell onto the ledge beside her. She grabbed hold of the edge as quickly as she could to lift her head out of the ink. Charlotte's coughs were heavy while ink dripped from her hair and dribbled from her mouth. The memory of the accident flashed vividly through her mind, creating a sense of panic within her. Between the rough coughing, her breathing was quick, her vision growing weak, and her grip of the ledge loosening.

"Whoa, hey!" a faint voice shouted behind Charlotte. She felt hands grab her sides, "Hold on, I got you."

Sammy gently lifted Charlotte out of the ink pool, climbing out himself after.

"Are you alright, Charlotte?" The girl's breaths were soft; she had calmed down a bit. "I'm sorry I was so late. I had a hard time getting out. It was all too...familiar."

A few final coughs later, Charlotte was finally able to sit up.

"Familiar?" she repeated, "Drowning familiar?"

"Yes. How did you- oh."

"I'm okay now," the young woman says, standing up, "I guess we better find another way to find Bendy."

Sammy followed behind as they walked into a new area of the studio. The sign in front of them was a big giveaway as to where they were: The Administration offices.

"If we're at the entrance, how else are we supposed to get out of here?" Charlotte thought aloud.

She looked behind to see Sammy staring at the appointment sign-up sheet. It was full. There were many names: Thomas, Bertrum, Sammy, Susie, and several others. Her breath audibly hitched at the sight of Norman's name on the long list, which startled Sammy.

"Oh? Sorry," he apologized, "I got distracted. I believe there's a shortcut through the film vault." He pointed ahead to a door with another big sign above it.

Charlotte entered the door and saw another door, though the hallway was full of ink. She groaned.

"Stay here. I have to go make pipes for this thing."

The sudden mood change of Charlotte alerted Sammy, who grabbed her arm before she could walk away.

"Hold on a minute," he scolded, "You are not going to do this alone. Let me come with you; I can protect you."

"I don't need you to protect me!" She freed her arm from his grasp and took a step back.

"We just got reunited with each other, and you're going to leave me again? You are not alone here anymore, please, just let me help you."

"No! I refuse to let another innocent person die in my hands again! Just stay here, will you?!"

Sammy stood frozen as he watched Charlotte storm off without another word.