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

Chapter Two [Wandering]

Exploration had always fascinated you as a child, from discovering mysteries in the Amazon, to Egypt. From the bottom of the ocean, all the way to the infinite expanse of space. Humans have always had that primal urge to know more and to figure out all the secrets of the universe. And while you were only navigating the studio, it was still an adventure you knew would be quite the trip for a boring Friday night.

Opening any slightly ajar doors to check its inhabitants amused you for a while, before you decided to look through closets to see what you'd find. But even that grew tiring later on. A sigh escaped your lips, and you tucked your arms in a tight hug as you decided to go back to Ma's room. As you made your way to turn around however, a ding from beside you made you freeze. Slowly, you let your gaze flicker over to the elevator door, open and inviting you in. Your back automatically straightened and you furrowed your brow with worry. You hadn't called the elevator in the first place...

It was as if fate was telling you to dig deeper, and you chose to not let the opportunity go to waste. You carefully walk into the tight space, and peer at all of the buttons available. So many options, so many new areas... Why hadn't you thought of this before? You decided to go down to the Music Department, as you had always heard the plinking of piano keys playing whenever you had gone by. You knew that no one would most likely be there, but there was always a chance. You lightly pressed the button, and it lit up from your touch with the doors closing on you. The claps of thunder from outside became more muffled as you descended down in the quiet elevator.

A sudden shriek of gears churning, metal grinding and rivets squeaking startled you while the elevator lights flashed red. You didn't understand what was happening until a feeling of weightlessness took over. You started to scream as you felt yourself plummet down. The feeling of losing gravity's pressure was odd and made you feel nauseous while you fell. The sudden halt of the elevator caused you to fall backward against the bar connected to the wall, sending pain up your back as you winced. 'Ow...' you groaned, straining to rub your back with your hand.

The elevator doors let out their signature ding and daintily opened for you, revealing a place you had never seen before. You could only see a portion of the room from the light coming off the elevator, so the rest of the room was completely dark. Shuddering at the thought of what could be in there, you slowly walked over to the buttons, and found that the Music Department's light was no longer glowing.

From what you understood, there was no going back. You scrunched your eyes and placed your hands on your knees as you slouched in thought. This night had been so interesting, with the dark and desolate hallways, the sudden change in weather and now the elevator's quick and nerve-racking descent. You let out a long and hard sigh, knowing what you must do. Slowly inching your way out, you allow your hands to feel for anything in front of you. A sudden wall took you by surprise. You could feel the bar of a lever, so you automatically pulled it down. Light consumed the darkness surrounding you, making it take a while for your eyes to adjust.

You have certainly never seen this room before. Around the corner, you could see a statue of Joey Drew, with detailed banners beside each side of it. Before you could take a step however, you heard a small crinkle of paper below you. Shifting your gaze, you found a crumped piece of paper with writing set in ink. Handwriting, and only a bunch of random numbers.

"01001000 01000101 00100000 01001001 01010011 00100000 01001110 01000101 01000001 01010010".

How odd... You pocket the small piece of stained paper in your pants and bring out your notebook. With what little you have seen from the room, you decided there might be the need to take notes. Leisurely trying to keep your pace and letting your feet guide you throughout the room, you found that this was a museum to honour the old animation company Joey Drew Studios.

You are met with signs and memorabilia, with information dialogue and portraits. This room has it all, and you knew that you'd be able to stay here for a long time researching and learning. But the sound of incoming footsteps made you twist your head to look up ahead, where you found Wilson staring at you, astonished. 'Y/N, whatever are you doing here?' he called to you, slowly making his way to your whereabouts. 'I, uhm... Sorry, is this out of bounds? I was exploring and the elevator... uh... broke?'

Your mind rushed with finding a logical excuse to why you were here, but it seemed Wilson had his mind focussed on other matters. 'Ah... well, that's okay. In fact, I need some help. Would you be a man and help me? I'll need someone strong.' His grin showed his yellowing teeth, making you shrink back a little. 'Of course, I can.' You replied in a monotonous tone, shifting your gaze to a framed paragraph of dialogue about the man himself, Joey Drew. You'd come back to that.

'It seems as though someone has been messing around with the exhibits...' Wilson gestures in front of him at six empty pedestals, all having an imprint on their column. 'Perhaps you could find these misplaced objects for me? You're an adventurous young mind, I'm sure you'll have no trouble at all.' This opportunity made your eyes light up. 'Certainly, si- Wilson! I'll get straight to it.' And without a goodbye or mere too-da-loo, you ran off into the museum area again, Wilson not bothering to warn you like your mother did.

Straight away, you noticed the Bendy plush sitting down on a comfortable chair. You leaned over to pick it up, inviting the soft plush fabric to touch and coax your hands. It was what you had asked for for Christmas, and now you can finally see what it looks like, the stitching, the eyes, everything. It was adorable! You hugged the toy tight to your chest.

It was left a strewn on a chair, as if nobody cared for it. Perhaps this is one of the exhibit pieces? Jogging over back to the pedestals, you immediately noticed that one of them had the imprint of a bendy plush. Placing the big plush toy down, you set yourself on the journey of finding what looked to be an important book.

[After collecting all of the items and placing them in their respected positions]

'Magnificent work, Y/N. Now, do an old man a favour and pull that switch.' Wilson gestured behind you, making you turn your head to see behind you. Sure enough, the switch that you yanked the wrench out of earlier was sitting there, waiting for you. As you reached forward to pull it however, you froze with a sudden feeling of dread hanging over you. Why was any of this even necessary? What is he trying to accomplish?

'Y/N, we don't have all night. Your mother must be worried sick about you.' At those words, you decided to shrug off the uneasiness and pull the switch 180 degrees to the left. At your action, the room went dark.

'H...Huh?' You muttered under your breath as you slowly turned to see Wilson, who was walking over to you with a menacing smile curling his lips. 'It is done.' He stated as he rests a hand on your shoulder, but your instincts kicked in and you hit his hand away. He flinched at this, but his smile only grew larger. 'Wilson, what is happening? What did you do?' Your mind is running wild, and you felt blood drain away from your face.

'Oh Y/N, you mean what did you do? You started a chain of events, young man,' He gestured to the machine that was behind him, now pumping ink and flooding the floor. It's glistening body of fluid moving as if alive, reaching out to grab your legs. 'You weren't my original plan, but now I can see that this plan would work a whole lot nicer... with you.' Wilson grabbed your arms before you could stop him, and you yelped as he dug his long and gross fingernails into your flesh. 'Let go!' you cried and winced in pain as he dug in harder.

'Listen to reason, Y/N, listen to what I have to say; for soon you will forget everything.' His face was just inches from yours, his breath was flowing onto your face and making you feel sick, and his eye was trained onto yours. 'Come find me, boy. I will show you your purpose, your meaning. I will show you... the truth.' His let out a small chuckle and you could feel his grip loosen slightly. You took the opportunity to rip your arms from his grip. 'No! Get your disgusting hands off me!'

You tried to run away, but the ink that was now up to your thighs and to Wilson's knees was holding you in place, as if gripping you in an iron grasp. Once again he held you, this time on the shoulders. 'Shhh... stop fussing. The ink is calling you, calling us. Can't you hear it? We're going home...' He closed his eyes, as if listening to something you couldn't hear. 'Now, young, naive, hopeless one...' He opened his eyes and stared hard into you, making you shiver. '...we die.' At his words, he pushed you sideways, him falling with you into the ink's cavernous abyss.

'No!' you cried out, but it was all too late for you now. The ink's density was pulling you under, and you could feel Wilson slip away.