Lassoing the Cresent Moon

2. Not Alone

I crawled in and looked around. I was in the main entrance room. An empty reception desk stood in front of me.

I had never seen this part before, being in the orphanage most of the factory was a mystery to me. Doors were on either side, and booths that would probably take some climbing to get over. There was an old painting of Huggy Wuggy on the wall behind the desk. Similar to the character his arms seemed to stretch as if ready to give a hug.

Huggy was a blue furry little creature with long arms and legs. He had velcro pads on his yellow hands and the entire marketing idea was to have a toy that would always be hugging you when you needed it. He had a red permanent smile. I thought it was a cute idea, but seeing the now dull painting all chipped away creeped me out a little.

I saw a green tape on the desk that pointed to an old television set with a VHS ready for viewing. I furrowed my brow as I picked it up. It was almost as if someone had deliberately left it there. I looked around, to make sure I was alone. I gulped, before sliding the tape in.

A picture of Huggy's hand waving to the camera appeared. A voice began to boom from speakers.

"Hi. My name is Leith Pierre and I'm the Head of Innovation here at the Playtime Co. toy factory. If you're seeing this, then you're trespassing. Yeah, we play this little tape on loop whenever we close the factory for the day. So, trespasser, just to make you aware, while we pride ourselves primarily on our high-quality toys and excellent childcare, we also pride ourselves on our security.For example, this facility is full of hidden motion triggers which, once set off, will turn on the factory's emergency alarms and directly contact the authorities!"

I took a few steps back. There were definitely no alarms and the tape hadn't been looped. The factory was abandoned...right? I looked around a bit closer- although the floor was covered in dust there were some trails and markings. I took a few steps back. It was hard for me to make out. The tape continued as I looked for where to go next.

"And that's one of the more tame aspects of our security system. No spoilers! So, you've got my warning. It's not too late to turn around. I just hope you're certain whatever you're doing is worth it."

One of the "tame aspects"? What the heck was that supposed to mean. This was sketchy- but Sam was worth it! I wandered towards the gift shop, both frightened and excited. After so many dead ends this mystery seemed to spark hope- could I really figure out what happened to Sam?

I knew the employees used a grabpack, A bag that held a series of hands that could stretch and open locked doors to gain access into staff only rooms. If they had that type of DVD in plain view then they had to have a grab pack lying around. That was my next mission.

The gift shop had been looted. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. Boxes of Huggies were broken and emptied, boxes of other toys were sprawled on the ground. They were all open or ripped in someway and empty. A rumbling caught my attention. I looked up to see a multi colored train.

I smirked. Playtime Co was such a freak company. They had always been obsessed with toys and puzzles, even in how they worked. I hurried to the other door and plugged in the colors from the train into a color coded password system. I grinned when I got a positive beep and the door opened.

"What the hell..."

This room was a wreck. More empty boxes had been thrown about. Some broken toys had been thrown against the walls and now laid shattered in dark stains on the floor.

Directly in front of me in a glowing box was a grab pack! I stiffened a bit. Next to it was another VHS tape strategically placed next to an old television set.