Child of The Darkness

Chapter 11

Slowly coming back to consciousness, Audrey let out a groan, the child could feel herself lying in what seemed like a bed and the little girl tried to sit up, but her head hurt pretty bad, her body felt weak and her vision was also blurry, but she could just make out what appeared to be a man, crouching beside whatever she was lying on.

"Here now, take it easy" they spoke and Audrey could have sworn that she had heard his voice somewhere before, but she couldn't remember exactly where "you took quite a nasty bump to the head, you need to rest."

Audrey grumpily protested but it was no use, it was clear that she hadn't fully recovered from the fall from the elevator, so the girl had no choice but to fall into a deep slumber, and the last thing that plagued her mind, was what had become of Porter.

It was probably maybe hours or even days until Audrey awoke for a second time, her head wasn't hurting as much, but she still felt pretty weak, however she noticed that she was in some kind of safe house and the girl tried to figure out how she ended up there, the last thing she remembered before passing out was seeing the small Bendy approaching her before he got spooked and ran away just before someone, or something had lifted her up from the ground.

"Ah, I see you're now awake" a man's voice spoke, interrupted the child from her thoughts and she looked up to see a man, a man who seemed rather familiar to the little girl, but she couldn't think of where she had seen him before, he had short darkish brown hair, had a small moustache and he also wore what looked to be some kind of business suit "how are you feeling after that long nap of yours?"

"How long was I sleeping for?" the little girl asked "and where am I?"

"We are in my safe house" the stranger replied, sitting on the edge of the bed that she was laying on "you've been sleeping for almost a day now. Now, I have a question for you, but, do you know who I am?"

Audrey slowly sat up, her body still feeling weak slightly as she tried to figure out who they where. "You do seem familiar, wait, aren't you?"

"Joey Drew, in the flesh" he replied, holding up a lantern so that she could get a better view of his face "well, so the speak. I was the one who found you, just inside the widow chamber, and it's a good thing I did."

"Widows?"

"Mhm, vicious ink spiders, especially the King Widow, that creature has been known to eat folk" Audrey's face went white as a sheet "but you're safe now, so you don't need to worry about all that."

Audrey didn't know what was happening anymore, she couldn't understand why she had been dragged into this world, why she was being hunted, it just didn't make sense to her.

"Mr. Drew" the little girl said timidly.

"Please, call me Joey" he replied.

"Joey, what even is this place?" Audrey asked "this studio, these monsters, am I dreaming?"

"It's a cycle Audrey" Joey replied as the girl gave him a look of confusion, how did he even know her name " and Ink stained nightmare, forever stuck on repeat, well, until almost a year ago at least."

"What do you mean?" the little girl questioned as she slowly pulled herself up into a sitting position, and Joey began to explain to her about how someone from the outside was messing with what was in the cycle and Audrey began to wonder if what Joey was talking about, had something to do with old Wilson, and if so, then why did he drag her into this world, what purpose did she have for her plan?

As Joey continued explaining about the cycle and how it worked, Audrey couldn't help but think about what Wilson needed her for exactly, she did recall him telling whoever had found her to bring her to him alive, so it was clearly obvious that he needed her for something, and something big.

"Ever since the cycle was tampered with, bad things have began to emerge from the puddles" Joey continued "wicked creatures, that never came from my pen, the worst ones call themselves Keepers, dangerous, deadly folk" Audrey could feel her blood run cold, she remembered seeing that warning about these so called Keepers, about how they see everything, and she also began to wonder if it was them that caused the Elevator to plummet and for her to fall from it when the floor opened up "they've taken over the old Gent workshop just beyond the sewers, also, they've been seen patrolling areas in the studio, trying to bring what they call order to this world, freezing the cycle in place. Whatever answers you're looking for, you'll find them there."

Determined to get to the bottom of exactly what was going on, Audrey slowly got out of the bed. However, the little girl hadn't fully recovered from her fall and her legs instantly gave out.

"Hey woah woah, not so fast" Joey stated, catching her before she could fall "you still haven't recovered, you need to rest and besides, I don't think it'll be wise you going to the Gent workshop and running into those Keepers, not in your condition."

Audrey nodded reluctantly as she laid back down on the bed, but the child knew that it wouldn't be a good idea to continue with her journey, not while she was still recovering from her fall.

For the next few days, Audrey spent her time in the safe house with Joey, and during that time, he would go out and bring her food and sometimes would tell her stories about his time working at the studio.

"You know, I've always admired your work Joey" the little girl stated "I've been thinking of becoming an animator and maybe having my own animation studio when I grow up."

"Well, you do seem like a smart little girl" Joey replied as Audrey gave him a shy smile "and I've always believed, that if you really believe in something and put your mind to it, you can do just about anything."

After a few more days had passed by, Audrey was fully recovered and well enough to proceed with her Journey, however, there were so many questions going through her head, especially about the cycle and what was currently going on with it.

"So, where will you go now?" Joey asked.

"I don't know, guess I'll continue trying to find my way out here" the girl replied "besides, I don't even know what I'm doing here."

With a sigh, Joey walked over to the little girl, before crouching down to her level and putting his hand on her shoulder, looking her directly in the eyes with a serious expression.

"You're here for a reason Audrey" he told her in a serious tone "there's always a reason, even when you can't understand it. But I believe that you were brought here to put things right here."

Audrey couldn't get her head around what she had just been told, she was only Ten years old, how could she possibly fix what was currently going on, if someone was needed to fix things, why choose her, of all people, none of it made sense whatsoever to the child.

"But, I don't understand, you're the one who made this world" the young girl exclaimed "why can't you fix it?"

Still crouched at her level, Joey took her hands in his and gave her that same serious expression as before.

"Because I'm not the man, I'm just a memory."

And with that being said, Joey stood up at full height and disappeared right before Audrey's eyes, leaving the little girl alone in the safe house.

"Thank you, Mr. Joey Drew" Audrey whispered "I promise, that I will try my best to put things right here."

After gathering some supplies, Audrey took one last look at the safe house before proceeding to head for the Gent workshop to hopefully get some answers. However, the little girl was unaware of what she was getting herself in for.