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

Chapter Thirty-Eight: [Not-So-Dead After All]

"The future has arrived. I just didn't know it would get here so soon. Some of the stuff that's coming out of Gent doesn't follow any of the rules of physics that I know. Hard to believe they started as a brick laying company once upon a time." 

This Gent company has been appearing here a lot... they even have a workshop in this place-

"Nowadays, we have all the modern conveniences and, worse yet, the headaches. Take that ID Card machine they've got at the door. You don't bring your ID, you ain't gettin' to work. So I started putting my ID Card on my nightstand in my room at the Downside Hotel. It's not the safest place, but at least I know where it is."

Bendy eagerly was waiting for your response, bouncing at his heels. You smile and give him a firm nod. 'Looks like we found a clue!' 

He bounced up and down with pride and whistled merrily, swinging his hands up and scrunching his face in an adorable manner. 'We need to head to the Downside Hotel. You know where that is?' Bendy thought for a moment, and clicked his thumb and forefinger together to create a snap. 

'You do? Let's go, then!' He gestured for you to follow him, which you did with a cheerful beam brightening your face. The sooner you get the card, the sooner you get to the workshop. And the sooner you get to the workshop, the sooner you get some answers. And hopefully, fingers crossed, the sooner you get to go home again. 

Home...

Bendy was in front and leading the way, but he stopped dead in his tracks as a Lost One got thrown out of a building. 

'Oh yeah?!' they called in rage, yelling at the door as it slammed with a thud, only to open again ever so slightly by the power of physics. There must be no lockset attached to keep it from swinging back open... Both you and Bendy were stuck in place, frozen. 

'Well, I'll just start my own place!' He cried in a fit of resentment. You walked toward Bendy a few steps to grab his arm and quietly move him away, but the Lost One noticed.

He ran at you both, roaring in fury and exasperation. You pushed Bendy slightly, and it was enough to jolt him back into action. He bolted out of the way of the Lost One, but of course the man wasn't interested in attacking Bendy. 

He was interested in killing you. 

He flung a gloopy and icky substance at your stomach, way thicker than regular ink. And, my God, it hurt. 

You winced and grimaced in pain as you flung out your weapon when he got close enough. It hit him right in the face, to which he cupped his cheek and he yelled curses near your ear, making you wince once more. Without delay, you hit him under the chin to stun him, and then ploughed the pipe through his neck. His arms dropped to his sides almost instantly.

Bendy returned to you, checking to see if you were okay. If your body was normal, the area you were hit would probably bruise. You honestly didn't know what would happen to your stomach. All you knew was that it was still stinging. Bendy wiped the substance off of your belly and gave you a small hug.

Quick thinking, back there.

You laughed at that. 'You were like a deer in headlights!' He let go and gave you a look to say, "You were too for a minute".

The door to the "Grand Chops" store the Lost One came out of creaked slightly in the wind, reminding you that it was open. Bendy pointed toward it, and you knew what he was trying to say. The hotel is that way. 'Why is the Downside Hotel inside of a Butchers?' Bendy shook his head, you weren't getting his point.

It's on the other side.

'Oh, right. Okay,' you smiled and gave him a thumbs up, flexing your stiff fingers that were holding the Gent Pipe. 'Shall we go?' 

Bendy grinned and held on tight to his stuffed toy as he went in, you pursuing him. As you walked toward the store, only now did you notice the ambience surrounding you two. A young woman was singing slowly on the radio, and you had heard her notes before. Every now and then she would come up on the vinyl singing while mom worked on her sketches, because mother always would need some sort of background noise to work. 

It was very relaxing...

It gave you a pang in your gut of homesickness, and it seemed to give Bendy a strange feeling as well. As soon as you stepped foot into the Butcher's, you noticed the absurdly horrifying message scrawled on the walls, followed by a hand print. 

"The beef is people". 

'Oh god...' you mumble to yourself at the thought of munching on a burger made of human tenderloins, wanting to throw up. Curse you and your brain... 

Bendy looked back to you, sensing your nausea. 'Sorry, Bendy... just have a weak stomach when it comes to... well, in general.' Bendy nodded in understanding. 'Is- is cannibalism a normal thing here?' His response was immediately looking at the ground before slowly looking up at you with a winced expression... 

Good to know-

It was strange that he knew that word... Then you remembered. The Ink Demon was eating the Lost One's in Artist's Rest, and on the elevator. 

God, how can something live off of eating their own kind?

But... Bendy transformed back... and he was crying holding the disfigured corpse... It hit you.

'Oh, I'm sorry!' you exclaim, reaching and resting your hand on his shoulder. He shrugged it off. You held your hand out awkwardly for a moment before retracting it and looking away.

'Is that... the only thing you can eat?' 

He shook his head. He then looked around the room and found something he wanted. Running over and picking it up, he held up an empty bacon soup can. "Just the way the little devil likes it!" Was the slogan on the back, to which you chuckled. 

Of course that was the only other thing he'd eat; he's just a picky kid.

He certainly cheered you up from the disgusting topic on the wall, so when he found that the mood was relaxed again, he continued forward, leading you directly out to the other side of the store. Sure enough, there was an alleyway leading to another street, a street of which you hoped had a hotel.

But as you both walked out, Bendy suddenly reached his hand out behind him to stop you, and then stared directly ahead. You squinted your eyes and noticed a Lost One approaching the alley slowly, not aware of you or Bendy currently. 

'What do we do?' you mumble to him, but you forgot that Lost One's have incredible hearing, just bad eye sight. The man stopped in his tracks and looked around, listening to where your whisper came from. Finally, he laid eyes on Bendy, who was directly in front of you, and roared in anger, wielding a pipe as well.

He charged, directly in line of where you both were standing.