Lassoing the Cresent Moon

18. Ring! Ring!

That thing was following me again. It... wasn't catnap was it? I'd been stalked way before I met catnap, right? My shoulders tensed as I walked the halls going in no particular direction.

I stopped when I saw a character cut out. It was Bubba, the elephant, from The Smiling Critters line.

I tilted my head. They used to have a ton of these things when I was younger. When a character wasn't on duty or there wasn't a living version of them they'd make these talking cut outs of them. We loved pressing the buttons and hearing from them.

I took a deep breath and looked above me and around. There were no vents, just a solid roof. It was hard to let go of the feeling that I was constantly being followed.

I came closer to the cut out.

Why was this here?

There was just a single one positioned correctly to face me.

Was someone toying with me?

I rolled my eyes at the thought. Of course, someone was toying with me. After another look around I pressed the button.

"I'm Bubba Bubbaphant. Hey, I remember you!" The cutout started. "An elephant always remembers!"

"Yeah yeah..." I whispered. "Give me something useful." I pressed the button again.

"Want to know what I remember about you?"

I raised a brow. Why did it feel like he was talking directly to me? I pressed it again. What followed made me flinch as I jumped back. The elephant screamed and laughed, its cries pierced my ears as I covered them with my hands.

Then it was over.

...There was no way those were the same voice lines from my childhood. I slowly uncovered my ears before I quickened my pace and moved along.

"That's sick." I grumbled. "This whole game of nostalgia is sick!"

I flinched again when I heard a loud ring. Was that a phone?? I reached into my bag to pull out my own purse as the phone kept ringing.

-No signal-

Just as I thought. I shoved the phone back in my bag and closed it before swinging it over my shoulder. Whoever was calling me had to be inside the factory. I hurried around trying to follow my ears. In the middle of a blood stained wall with dead toys on the ground (that I deliberately tried to ignore again) was an old red phone.

I looked around again before deciding to pick it up to stop that annoying ringing. I really hoped it was Poppy.

"Hey... Hey can you hear me?" came a childish voice. I sighed. Not Poppy... another new character. At least they sounded nice. "You look kinda lost!"

"You're not wrong." I muttered.

"I don't want you to die- so I'm going to help you!"

I chuckled bitterly. FINALLY! Someone who didn't talk like a cryptic mystery keeper. "Thanks" I still didn't quite trust this voice, but I wanted to. The way his voice sounded... it reminded me of Sam. He was so innocent and sweet when I last saw him.

I covered my nose a bit. The awful scent of old blood was getting to me. I opened the door as I kept moving when I saw a light and felt heat.

I nearly dropped the phone as I stared.

The train I had boarded earlier was now bent and broken on its side on the ground, lit in a mess of flames.

"Woah... did you do that?" came the voice on the phone.