Return To The Machine

Chapter 25

Using a very secret path that even Rosa didn't know about, they managed to find a new place to stay for a while. Buddy gnashed his teeth together trying to get the Ink Creatures to leave Parker alone. "It's okay, I know what to do." one reassured him. Buddy still held him close without letting him go. "Boris, it's okay. I can tell none of them are going to hurt him." Rosa reassured the cartoonish wolf. Buddy hesitantly handed Parker over to the Ink Creature that took him to a nearby table where another was wiping glass shards off it. Once it was clear, they placed him on top. The third one took some ink and rubbed it across his forehead. "Wait, why are you doing that?" Rosa asked concerned once more.

"You're friend is hot. But there's hardly any water down here. This ink is the closest thing to cooling him down. He's clearly been through something we're not aware of."

Quieting down for a little bit, they looked over to the others. "Tell me. Who are you?" Sammy snapped. The three of them looked at one another before turning to the others.

"Bill Chambers..."

"Brant Morris..."

"Constance Gray..."

Rosa looked at them confused. Sammy leaned back in his chair in disbelief. "You mean to tell me I've had other friends trapped down in here for years?!" he cried. "Well... I will say we've been here just as much as anyone else. Together we paid the price... All we wanted to do was stop all these awful forces." Constance told them. "There's so many of us down here. How have you never noticed?" Bill questioned. "Maybe because he's been too worried about what the Ink Demon thinks of him to give a damn." Brant snapped. "Brant!" Constance retorted. "Am I wrong?! You two were there!"

Bill shrugged. "He's got a point, Constance." Bill replied. "Oh hush! Don't you dare back that up! Listen, Sammy... We know what's been happening these past years. When we heard someone named Buddy disappeared not too long after we started, we knew it couldn't be a coincidence. Too bad it didn't get us anywhere. We never found him. But here we are."

Stunned by what they were hearing, Buddy looked away. Rosa noticed this and grasped his hand. "Is this place pretty isolated?" she asked them. "Oh yeah. Bendy himself wouldn't be able to hear anything all the way down here." Bill responded calmly. Buddy then decided to brush himself off. The other three were confused but still stared at Buddy with glowing eyes. He gulped before letting out a few words.

"My name's Daniel Lewek. I worked here a  long time ago as well. I go by Buddy though... I'm Buddy. I worked for Joey Drew... I didn't deserve to... Nor should I have. I wanted to get out of here and warn the world about this cursed studio. But I couldn't. I didn't have the chance. If I had known you were still here I'd come back to save you too." Buddy reassured them. "Hey, at least you tried! So many wouldn't even have come in... I think it's been at least 3 years since we've gotta another one... Since then I haven't met anyone else..." Billy replied.

Rosa looked down at the ground and shook her head. "You're wrong," she replied. They looked at her confused. She pointed at Parker that was out cold. "I've been here for three years, but Parker's been the most recent one in the studio." At first, they didn't believe her, but then they looked at Parker's green Vans. They still had the clean logo that had traces of ink on it. Still, it surprised them. "How is this one still alive? Let alone has his soul? Everyone here has lost theirs by now!" Bill questioned surprised. "Honestly, we don't know. I'm surprised I still have mine. But all I know is that I managed to get to him in time before it was too late. I'm not sure how long it would be before Bendy finally had everything he needed but here we are." Rosa told them.

Constance couldn't quite believe what she was seeing. It had been years since she had seen human skin and facial features. Gently touching his fingers that were still. Constance then reached up to touch her own face which was drenched in ink and she was nowhere near what she used to be. "So that's why he's awake again. He knows that a pure soul has entered the studio. He won't stop until he has what he needs. Now that he knows there's someone here more current than you... he'll do everything he can to get him now. Unless he gets the six friends first." she explained.

"The six friends?" Buddy questioned. "It's Joey's nice and cute way of saying that he needs the six tokens along with the six that left them there to use their souls once more. They will be the thing that makes Bendy's curse official. Unless he gets you first." Brant told him.

"And do you mind telling us who exactly these "six friends" are?" Sammy questioned annoyed.

Bill shrugged his shoulders and looked him dead in the eyes.

"Wally Franks, Sammy Lawrence, Susie Campbell, Thomas Conner... Joey Drew... and Henry Stein..."