Ink Demonth 2024 Short Stories - Bendy : The Untrusted AU

Day 22 : Heartbeat

The sticky, disgusting sensation of the ink tickled his hands again. He can only watch as another child, born from the ink, returns to where they belong once again.

The ink that remained from what was the figure of a child seeped through the door cracks, down to the cycle.

The old man let out a sigh, his arms falling to his side.

Joey was never one to give up on his dreams.

Not even now.

He kept repeating the same sentence over and over in his mind, trying to convince himself to persist.

His legs wobbled as he struggled to stand up, trying his best to limp his way back to the worktable.

Joey fell onto his chair with a thud, burying his ink stained hands in his hair in frustration.

Joey Drew, once a man of many ideas, once a lucky man who evaded all disasters, now sat dumbfounded in his dainty little apartment.

Loneliness and helplessness was settling into him.

There was nobody to help him or point him in any direction. After all, they're all behind that door he keeps in his place. The door that may as well open at any moment and drag the old man to hell.

And yet he still keeps it close.

Anything, he wanted to beg.

Just please, let him have solace for the last few years of his pathetic life.

An idea, like another light of hope in the dark, sparked in his head.

Was it risky? Indeed it was.

Was it highly dangerous? Of course!

He simply had to hope that his absurd luck doesn't run out now.

The old man limped to the shelf next to the machine, staring at the inconspicuous metal box placed atop it.

He reached for it carefully, pressing the latch open with a snap.

In it, lay a human heart, drenched in ink.

No, not drenched in ink— it was one with the ink. The liquid flowed in and out of the disconnected veins as the heart thumped, like it was still connected to a human being's.

Joey knew well the meaning, the significance, and the history behind this grotesque organ.

After all, he was the one who ripped it out from a certain someone's chest himself.

He let out a sigh, closing the box quickly, as if assuring himself to seal the decision.

Perhaps it'll be safer, that way.. it won't..

Joey bit down on his lips as he reached for a pen and paper, beginning the same process of creating an ink child over again.

He began to envision the child. A happy, healthy daughter. He poured all those wonderful imaginations into his own, letting his hands sketch out an image of that girl.

He turned to look at the machine, the paper in one hand, and the metal box in another.

.........

An unconscious figure laid softly on Joey's bed, not making even a single peep. The small figure didn't breathe, nor move. In the middle of her chest was empty, revealing an abyss of ink behind it.

Joey stared at the empty vessel of a girl for a long while.

Her dark brown curls similar to Joey's when he was younger sprawled messily on her plump face. Her figure in its entirety had no flaws— she looked exactly like a human.

And she was a human.

Joey let the ink heart squirm in his hands, spacing out for a moment.

The ink began to seep down his wrists, prompting Joey to quickly seal the heart inside the girl's body.

He pinched her chest, closing up the gap. He watched as the ink regained the color of flesh, something he still didn't entirely understand.

"You need a soul to create.." he muttered to himself, reminded of an old saying he used to proclaim.

Indeed, it was true. Something soulless can't hold on for long, even if Joey split off parts of his own to share.

In the end, something needed its own soul to function.

The ink heart wasn't exactly a soul, nor was it entirely living.

But Joey was well aware, that if there's anything with the most vitality within the realm of the ink, it would be that very beating heart.

He reached out his wrinkled hands and placed both of them on the girl's left palm.

Her skin was cold to the touch.

Suddenly, like a miracle, he could feel warmth gradually coming into her soft skin.

He blinked, watching in amazement as the girl slowly stirred to life, trying her best to open her eyes.

Her chest pumped up and down with life.

Her eyes burst open, revealing tiny, curious dark pupils.

She looked over at Joey, laughing brightly.

"Dad!"

Joey froze, unable to let go of the girl's hand.

A warm tear roll down his cheek.

Bendy : The Untrusted AU - Intermission (Part 3.5/5)