Return To The Machine

Chapter 17

Parker and Rosa were being held up by their shirt collars as they were led to another room. Both continued to thrash around repeatedly. Sammy was being forcefully led around by Alice who smiled an evil sneer. "If I may, I am quite honored to have all three of you down here. I mean think about it. One of the many ex-employees that Bendy himself is trying to collect for himself happens to stumble into my humble asylum. And to think that you yourself have brought along that boy they find so useful for his plans. Tell me, Sammy, why are you here? Why have you brought two little brats down in my home?" Susie asked him. "Listen, Susie, I don't know what you want from us. But I can reassure you we don't want anything from you." he snapped.

Both of the kids struggled as her followers held the kids. "He's telling the truth! We didn't mean to come down this way okay?! I don't know this place by heart and Sammy seems to know more than me! Please you have to believe us!" Rosa shouted. "Oh dear, relax. I don't need to destroy either of you."

She guided them down another hall to another room. The door had a star with the name Susie Campbell on it. It looked worn out. But it was clear enough to read the title. She opened the door and together they walked in. There was a chair, a sofa, a mirror, a table with items on it, a folding screen, and plushies in a corner. "Leave us be. I've got myself handled." Susie ordered. Her followers dropped both teens on the ground before leaving, closing the door behind them. Rosa gave Sammy a look. "I've got this." he whispered to her.

Susie sat in front of her mirror illuminated by three light bulbs. On her table, she had a small jar filled with ink blobs. After opening the jar, she carefully handled it while putting just a little on her face. Some of it stayed while some of it barely dripped down to the ground. "Ugh... disgusting ink! Thankfully... I barely notice this horrible feature across my face. A long time ago, I was as beautiful as the Angel herself. But now... I barely recognize my own look." Susie huffed and closed the jar.

"Then again, no one can. No matter, this won't stop me from getting what I want." Susie smiled wickedly. Rosa had to look away just to regain her sanity. "Now tell me, why are you here? Don't you know the dangers of being out here all alone? With the Ink Demon out there? You must have a reason to be out here. No one willingly comes out all on their own. At least without reason. You three have been foolish enough to come out here." Susie went on.

Parker and Rosa said nothing. They were depending on Sammy to say the right things. He was the only one who get through to Susie. But instead, he stood there unsure of what to say. "Uh... Susie... I hate to rain on your parade, if you can even call it that, we've got to get out of here. Bendy knows too much about us and about the only two humans that we still have here. So god help me and just act useful for one second!" Sammy raged. Susie turned around and stood up to her long-lost friend. "No, you listen to me you little freak!" she snapped.

"Oh, you're one to talk!"

"Please, spare me. I don't want to hear any of your little rants about how you feel about being stuck down here for years on end! We all have been stuck down here! So don't give me that because I've been dealing with pain much longer than you have."

There was an awkward moment of silence between the two. Parker and Rosa's eyes darted back and forth between the she-devil and Sammy. Neither of them said anything for fear of causing more trouble.

"Why are you just now acknowledging my existence hm? I've been down here longer than you, yet, you've never had the urge to search for me." Susie questioned, annoyed by the looks he was giving her.

"Well, no disrespect my angel," Sammy began mockingly. "But you haven't exactly been the nicest of creatures down here. Even I have to admit that what you've been doing is monstrous!"

"At least the damage I cause isn't bringing the Ink Demon closer to my door! God, you're an even bigger idiot since the last time I saw you!"

The two began bickering going back and forth between different things about their own lives. Neither of them listened to what the other had to say. In doing so, Parker got tired of their bickering. Although he knew better than to let out an outburst. On the table next to them, there was a record player on the table with cases of music next to it. He looked over at Rosa who just stared at them while they argued. "Hey, Rosa, do you know how to work one of these?" he whispered, gesturing to the record player. "Um, I think so. Why?" she asked.

"Never mind that! Just help me get it working." he told her. She nodded her head and decided to get the player working. Rosa placed the record onto the machine before putting the little stick that started up the music. It started catching both of the adults' attention.

Parker and Rosa then began to randomly dance around the room, holding onto each other and smiling as widely yet nervously as they could. Sammy slapped his forehead as Susie gave a soft laugh. "My my, didn't you write this song?" Susie asked playfully. Sammy muttered under his breath not knowing what else to do. "Brings back so many memories..." she sighed. Sammy barely looked back up to see her. Susie held out her hand, giving a slight sneer. "Shall we?" Looking at it, he groaned, taking it softly.

Then out of the blue, they began dancing. More specifically the dance from the 1960's called 'The Stroll'. Parker and Rosa tried mimicking their same moves. "Since when do people dance like this?" Rosa asked him. "I wouldn't know. I've never seen people in my time do this!" he chuckled. "Well, I have to admit you're a good dancer!" she giggled. "I try my best!"

Meanwhile, Sammy was trying his hardest to not step on Susie's shoes or trip over himself. After all, it had been a while since he's done this. "Sammy, what is it that you want? I know you didn't have to come all the way down here. There's nothing physically that I can use from you. Nor is there anything from you that I need."

"To be fair... we got shoved into a cage and were brought down here. Although, coming here wasn't exactly a big mistake... I've... I've missed you lately. Things down here are obviously... twisted. But I've managed to get through every day with the hope that I get to play music in the day once more. However, if there is one thing we need... we need your help. We need to be rid of that Ink Demon."