Rose - A Poppy Playtime Story

Chapter 64 - Headache

(Warning: Catnap not having a good time- to put it lightly, implied bullying, beating.)

"Awww, look at him! Crybaby!"

"Hey, Theo! You okay?"

"I'll always be here, dummy. Stop talking like that!"

"Won't you help me, Theodore?"

"Get back here, you stupid brat!"

"Find him."

"Come on, it's almost time."

"No one wants you here, freak!"

It happened again. The voices were back, and this time Dogday wasn't there to help him. Did he even deserve the help?

His paws covered his ears, though there was no effect. Unintentionally, his claws begun to dig into his head, creating a spark of pain that went mostly unnoticed.

His one leg was right against his chest. The other, held back by the chain, was shaking and twisting.

The minis body had finally left the cat's grasp, and now it just sat on the floor. A dead witness to the feline's panic.

Catnap gripped his head, trying to avoid puncturing the skin with his claws. Instead, only a small tearing sound was heard as fur was ripped out by his own two paws.

Calm down. He urged himself, but his body was on full panic mode.

"Theo, come and play!"

"Let me do your nails! I have this pretty pink nail polish and-"

"What are you doing?" Doey's voice suddenly cut in. Catnap's head snapped in his direction, his eyes horribly wide. The voices were still loud and clear, but now he finally had something else to focus on.

"What is wrong with you?" Doey asked, scrunching nose in disgust. Catnap gave no response, just stared at him, a blank expression on his face.

Doey shook his head, groaning. "You are so insufferable." He said, sitting down and leaning against the wall by the door.

I know. Thought Catnap. Faces flashed through his head, both humans and toys. All of them were glaring at him or staring at him with distrust. Catnap moved his hands from his ears, to hug his shoulders.

"There is something seriously wrong with you. I don't think you understand that. I mean, you killed people, and hurt countless. Yet, somehow, you're acting like the victim here. All curled up and acting so sad, not to mention weak. You really think we're dumb."

The words registered in Catnap's head, but he could barely process what they mean. Other than 'I hate you.'

It made Catnap think only of the doughman, despite the voices still screaming in his ears and his poor physical state.

Why does he hate me? Catnap pondered.

Catnap knew that everyone had their reasons. Hoppy had been hurt by him, Poppy just hadn't trusted him, and Bomb was a mystery in that sense.

Though, for a strange reason, some seemed that they didn't. Dogday, Maraca, Kissy, Crafty, and the human- Angel.

Such a nice name for a human like them. Catnap couldn't remember any other time where they had a nice interaction with an adult human.

Angel was different, they were kind and considerate. Yet, there was always a sudden fierceness when someone would mess with what they cared about.

He decided in that moment that he quite liked Angel. A lot.

"Cassie, do you believe in Angels and Demons?"

Could they be friends? Catnap asked the child's voice. There was no response, as expected.

"Are you even listening to me?" Doey voice suddenly boomed, cutting off the cat's train of the thought. The cat stared at the man blankly, his chest rising and falling quickly.

He scoffed, "Of course you weren't. This is just great. First Poppy goes missing and now I'm stuck with you-"

"P-Poppy is o-o-okay." Catnap stuttered, still trying so desperately to get the screaming to stop.

"Why would a boy like flowers? That's so girly."

He clenched his teeth and ground them together. The voices like that were really starting to piss him off.

It was Doey's turn to stare. The doughman's expression was unreadable, and it made Catnap ears lower further.

"You know where Poppy is." It wasn't a question, and that made the whole situation with the man's expression seem worse.

"N-Not e-e-exactly." Catnap clarified, before Doey could come up with conclusions of his own.

"But you have an idea." Again, not a question. A statement, and a very angry one at that. The doughman took a step towards the feline, his fists clenching.

Catnap slowly slid away, ignoring the numbness in his legs. Doey suddenly gave him an evil smile.

"You are going to tell me where she is, or I'm going to break stuff."

——

(...)

Catnap laid there on the cold floor as the doughman left. His eyes hurt from the non-stop sobbing and his throat had begun to burn.

New bruises littered his body. He felt lightheaded, and an awfully familiar sensation was slowly traveling down the back of his head. Blood. The leg with the burn on the knee, that was so close to healing, was now twisted at a gruesome angle.

He couldn't give the answers Doey had wished. He tried, but that just wasn't good enough for the man. Catnap had no real idea where Poppy was, he didn't even know the name of the hallway he had last seen her in. Was there even names for hallways?

Why did he open his mouth? To give Doey, the person who had been nothing but mean to him, closure?

The only thing he was sure of was that she was alive, or was when he had seen her. How long ago was that? Damn it. How could he let himself lose count of the days?

On a good note, the only good one other than the fact he was alive, the voices had stopped tormenting him. Though, he might have a concession.

Breathe. Catnap told himself. The last thing he needed was to start being unable to take a good breath.

As Catnap sat there, his body trembling, he came to one conclusion. He needed to get out of here, before the doughman decides he isn't worth keeping around anymore.

The only question was, how would he even begin to pull that off?

(It's a very short chapter, and I wish I had made it longer but I didn't have the time 😭.)

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