(Ford x Reader) Hickory Pines

CH. 23 Salvation

Stanford POV

"Yes, I suppose so. But I assure you—they aren't over there."
Bill chuckles, and I instinctively take a step back.
"Plus! You totally would've been captured."

Captured?

I blink, staring into the shadowy cavern ahead. The word echoes, unsettling.

"Oh! I guess I did forget, huh?" he tsks.

I tilt my head in confusion, turning—only to remember: he isn't there. Right. Just in my head.

"...Forget what?" I ask, slowly.

He answers calmly, smug as ever.
"Just the security system."

A low hum pulls my attention. A large floating orb drifts into the next room, casting a crimson triangle of light across the cold metal floor. The air thickens with tension. I tense, sidestepping out of the hall and into the shadows, then cautiously peek back around the corner.

It's... a marvel. Silent, smooth. A machine made by something far beyond us.

How is it floating? What's it searching for?

Is it searching?

Hesitantly, I reach into my coat pocket—prompting an amused snicker from the creature in my head.

Flipping open my journal, I begin to take notes. I might need the sketches later.

"Security Droids..." Bill muses, just as I hover my pen above the page.

"Right," I mutter, jotting down the name. "Thanks."

I feel his eye tracing the edges of my vision, seeing where mine cannot.

"That's the kind of machinery we need," he says, tone low and greedy. His attention returns to the journal. "We'll likely be coming back here."

"I can't bring Y/N and Fiddleford into this again," I murmur, not even realizing I've spoken aloud.

He pauses. A beat. Then—

"Then just bring Fiddleford." A joke. Maybe. An attempt to prod me toward agreement. He knows I didn't find it funny.

"Bill..." I exhale, keeping my voice firm. "If I come back... I'll do it alone. I have to."

"Alone?" His voice titters with delight, the word curling at the edges like smoke. Unsettling. Too eager.

"Yes," I nod, almost to myself. My thoughts drift—back to Y/N, to Fiddleford. My closest allies. My friends. What if they're still out there? Still waiting?

Bill says they're alive.

And I'm inclined to believe him.

For knowledge. For the world. For something greater than me. For the chance to finally be seen—understood. Respected.

...

Where was I?

Right...

I frown deeply in thought, trying to keep my focus. Bill's voice softens, a mockingly comforting tone.
"There, there, Fordsy. We'll find them."

I slip my journal back into my coat pocket, but the motion feels mechanical, distant. I pace toward another doorway, only to be halted again. A hum—whirring gears, grinding in the distance. More security droids. Great.
I adjust my glasses, scanning the surroundings. The sound is coming from two doors down. One... two... three... four... five...

Don't think about it. I push forward, forcing my feet toward the next door. I can't afford to think about it, not now. I just need to keep moving.