An Inkwell's Stain //BATDR Fanfiction\\ [Female Reader]

Chapter Forty-One [A Force To Be Reckoned With]

'It's not true... it's not.' You say quietly as you find yourself back in the hotel room, holding onto the ID Card tightly. 'It's not.' You knew deep down that what he said about you made sense, and it did answer some questions, but it hurt thinking that the mother you grew up knowing wasn't even your biological mother. '...Please don't let it be true...' Kneeling down and grabbing hold of your weapon, you decide to go back to greet Bendy again. You let yourself fall down the floorboards and into the second floor, and fall once more back to the receptionist area. You wiped your eyes as the tears started to recede, but you noticed a certain demon was missing.

'Bendy?' you called, sniffling and you continued to wipe your eyes. 'Where are you?' No reply. You noticed on the floor the two sheet of paper, the one you drew and a wobbly drawing with your name messily scrawled in the corner, an arrow pointing to the image drawn. It was obviously you, with your hair out and in your pinafore skirt, glowing eyes... It was adorable! 

You picked it up and saw that the ink had dried, so you folded it up and tucked it into your pocket for safe keeping. Deciding to continue forward, you went to have a look for your demonic pal. A few Lost Ones were talking to each other on the other side of the street, so you froze in your tracks and listened. Before you could hear what they were talking about, a sudden screech of the microphone made them quieten and look up, listening. You followed suit.

"Attention! Children of the Machine! This is Wilson..." His raspy and nauseating voice echoed around, and some of the Lost Ones grumbled. Obviously some of these people didn't like him having rule of this place. "The feeble uprising in Lost Harbour has been ended by the Keepers..." These Keepers you have constantly heard about seem like bad news, especially if Bendy was so afraid of them. "We are safe once again from the treason of the Cyclebreakers!" Joey had mentioned that Alice was a Cyclebreaker, and you suddenly remembered why she had told you that you couldn't go with her. 

'I'm sorry, Y/N,' she had said when you asked to tag along. 'I'm going somewhere very dangerous, and you wouldn't make it.'

If these Keepers are that bad, then Alice might be in trouble... "The Keepers are watching..." Wilson ended the speech with another ear-piercing screech of the microphone. A few of the Lost Ones murmured among themselves, talking about the Lost Harbour uprising. 'Those souls were too idiotic to think this through... they haven't the resources... why would they go out...' The quietness of their whispers were too soft for you to eavesdrop, so you decided to slowly creep your way out of the Hotel and along the road, making sure not to make any noise as you crept.

They didn't notice your slow-moving figure on the other side of the street, so you successfully made it over to the Butcher's back entrance again. Out of ear-shot, you called for Bendy again. 'Bendy! Bendy, where are you?' Still no reply. Your stomach started to churn with worry. Why would he leave without telling you? Then you thought about it. The dark trail of ink that was leaving the drawings behind, he must've turned into the Ink Demon. You slouched your shoulders slightly, feeling a need to be a lot more cautious and quiet.

You leave the Butcher's and head back over to the ID Card insert door. Placing your new card inside, it swallowed it and it got stuck. The door opened, but you couldn't pull the card back out. It's jammed... You sigh and enter, lowering your head so you could go through the ceiling collapse.

A gigantic open space was open to you, showing you a grand entrance to the Gent Building. The words "We are the Keepers" were written below a glowing Gent sign. Bodies of former Lost One's hung by their necks on chains were hanging around from the ceiling on display for anyone who was coming in here. We are the Keepers, and we won't hesitate to execute you on sight.

You shivered and drew your attention away from the bodies, focussing in moving forward. Maybe Bendy went in there before you somehow? You sort of hoped he wasn't the Ink Demon, but it seemed rather obvious. Something large dropped from the ceiling and make a thunderous growl, flicking its slobber away from its face. You screamed and fell to the ground from the shockwaves and impact on your much smaller body. He crawled forward and reached for you, opening his mouth wide to reveal a gaping hole of mushed up bones and thread of thick ink. His breathe was sickening...

Suddenly, a strange light flickered behind him and whizzed with sparking electricity. He froze and turned to the tower of sparkling light, growling in a fit of surprised rage. Was that... flecks of colour in the zaps of electricity you saw? It had been so long since you had seen colour, so you couldn't tell if it was a trick of the brain or the truth. The Ink Demon cowered and held his hands to his head as he moaned in pain. You started to feel a headache yourself, but it was dull, a slight humming in your ears.

The creature fell to the floor and melted into a puddle of ink, only to slowly arise as Bendy, who looked dazed and queasy. 'Bendy!' you cried as you ran over to him, and he looked so confused to where he was that he didn't push you away this time. 'What was that tower, are you okay? Did it make you not-' you saw him still holding his head as he listened, so you shut yourself up so you didn't confuse him anymore.

'Hey, bud...' you grabbed hold of his hand, and gave my a genuine smile, which he slowly returned as he relaxed. 'There you go... you're back!' He nodded and you heard the electricity turn off, leaving the room incredibly quiet. 'Where's your toy?' you asked after a while. He looked down at the ground, upset. You look around the room and find that there is a lot of cotton fluff spread around the place. 'Oh... Sorry, bud...' he gave you a quick smile.

I couldn't stop myself from doing it, and it was bound to happen anyway.

You both looked toward the entrance in silence. 'We have to go in...' you say finally, and Bendy grabbed your hand, clearly not wanting to go. 'I'll be here, don't worry. They won't lay a hand on you.' He sighs a low whistle and gestures forward, letting you go as he followed along beside.