Ink Demonth 2024 Short Stories - Bendy : The Untrusted AU

Day 16 : Erase

"Fine, fine.." Jack backed away from Sammy, raising his hands up in defeat.

Sammy's mouth froze on the word "Nothing".

Jack had just asked him if something was up, and Sammy felt as if it was something Jack shouldn't endanger himself with, nor know about.

He had pushed Jack away from the crux of the problem to protect him, and because he didn't trust in Jack enough to be able to handle it.

He glanced at Jack's shifting expression that flashed a look of disappointment for a second.

For a weird reason, he felt as if he had seen this scene before.

Something told him that he should tell Jack.

Just as Jack was about to make his way back to his office, another word escapes Sammy's throat.

"Wait!"

Jack turned to look around at him, his wide, curious eyes still bright as always.

"Yes-" Sammy stumbled on his words, fighting between the urge to stop himself, and the gut feeling that was telling him to expose the truth.

Eventually, he decided on the latter.

"No, you should know.."

Jack's eyes immediately lit up. "Finally, I was worried something was wrong with you.."

...........

Abby and Norman stood in the hallway, occasionally looking over to see the happenings inside the music department.

With nothing better to do, Abby decides to light a cigarette and take a puff.

"You shouldn't do that in here." Norman remarked, letting out a chuckle.

"It's not real, why should I care?" Abby sighed, shaking the cigarette that automatically lit up on its own. "This isn't my real body, this place isn't real, the smoke isn't real. The only thing that's real is our minds and I really need something to distract me right now.." her hoarse voice trailed off. "By the way, you said Sammy is going to be real cagey about the whole ink machine thing, right?"

"Yeah." Norman removed the monocle from his eye, fidgeting with it. "And then.."

Norman's eyes suddenly turned glassy, as he seemed to space out. He looks up, staring into the distance where Sammy and Jack usually stands at.

Abby continued to smoke as she asked, "then what?".

Norman lowered his head, placing the monocle back on his face. "Huh?"

"I asked if this is where Sammy is going to get very secretive about the machine towards Jack." Abby repeated her question.

"What?" Norman's lips curved into a frown. "He didn't do that. He told Jack later on what happened."

Abby jerked her head towards Norman, stunned. Then she slowly shook her head as she laughed.

"Real funny, Norman. You still got the guts to joke even after everything."

Norman stared at her in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

This time, the two of them glared directly into each other's eyes.

"My memory might be bad, but this part is something I remembered vividly.." his voice gradually faded, as he seemed to come to a strange realization.

"Then, what happened after that?" Abby pressed, knowing this strange occurrence would definitely bring about major changes.

Norman's mouth was left hanging, as he kept closing and opening it like a goldfish.

"Why.. why can't I recall..." Norman pinched his forehead, trying to pull out the muddy memories from the depths of his mind. Everything suddenly seemed to become dim and foggy, like an old photo suddenly rotting away in seconds.

"I.. I would target Sammy, but.. why.."

He knew he remembered.

But it was as if those memories had suddenly been flushed down a dark vortex, and he was trying desperately to grab them again.

He felt horrified that a section of his memories suddenly became altered and erased without him even knowing, had Abby not pointed out to him.

A chilling fear crawled up Abby's spine as she threw away the cigarette, looking up at the spot Norman had just stared at earlier.

Sammy was now there, and had turned his head to look directly at them.

His eyes were nearly lifeless, his gaze seemed exhausted, like someone who had been repeatedly trying to fix something over and over again, only to fail every single time.

Abby jerked her head away, feeling unsettled by such a look.

"That's exactly what happened."

Sammy's voice spoke up, as Abby couldn't help but jolt. She was afraid of turning her head back again, fearing what she would see. Since she was looking away from Norman, she had no idea how he was feeling.

Abby could feel a cold puff breathing down her neck.

If she still had the cigarette in her hand, she definitely would've used it to try and chase away Sammy, or whatever sort of Sammy they're facing right now.

"Norman, after that, you simply went along with my plans, and we approached the ink machine together, and then..."

His voice also trailed off, in a similar manner to Norman earlier.

The projectionist shook his head, refusing to accept the fabricated truth of events.

"That isn't what happened." He muttered as soft as possible, to remind himself. Abby could just about hear it and gave a light nod.

Suddenly, the environment around them turned cold. The lights seemed to darken, and the workers walking around suddenly stopped. Even Jack froze in his place. Their eyes all turned lifeless at once.

Abby and Norman both knew Sammy was staring right at them, and only them in that moment, even though neither of them dared to look.

Norman could tell Sammy had suddenly jerked his head towards Abby.

After a few moments of silence, the dream suddenly resorted to its normal state.

Norman could no longer feel the chilling breath anymore, as he cautiously turned to look at where Abby should be.

Her figure had disappeared without a trace, as if she had never even existed there before.

Sammy's voice spoke again, but in a tone he failed to recognize.

It was desperate, hopeless, and begging for help.

"Just play along."

Bendy : The Untrusted AU - Final Reminiscence (Part 5/5)