Baldi's Basics In Education And Learning - "Teaching The Teacher"

Chapter 5: Pounding

 It had been days. No, not days, weeks. No, not weeks either. It had been months for them. Baldi, trapped by the founders, was growing more tired and weak by the second. If only he had just listened to them, left the Principal alone. Maybe he'd still be alright.

In the silent, dark room Baldi sat in, something caught his attention. A knock, coming from somewhere next to him. He turned to his right; the knocking came again. Slowly and carefully, he followed the sound. For a few minutes he wandered aimlessly, trying to find the source of the knocking. Soon enough, he was face to face with a wall.

A familiar, white brick wall.

A wave of hope washed over Baldi. He looked over his shoulder to make sure the founders weren't there. Sure enough, they weren't. They hadn't been there in weeks. Maybe they forgot about him. Still, Baldi was cautious not to make any noise. He leaned his ear up against the wall, hoping for another knock, or a sound of some kind.

"A̡re҉ you҉ sure ̨he͡'d͜ ͟be̛ iņ th͟e ͜w͜al̸ls͞?" he heard someone say, their voice glitching out. "T̢hi͠ş ́w̡a͟ll?̧ I̛t'͏s͞ ͢r͘ight́ ͢n͜e̡x͝t͘ to̵ ̸t͞he doo̸r. T͡ha̴t͝ w͜o͝úļd b͞e e͟x̴pect̨ed."

"Maybe The Founders are trying to trick us," a familiar, calm voice responds. "Maybe they want us to think that they'd hide him somewhere else."

Baldi started to tear up. "Principal... Is looking for me?" He covers his mouth, listening to him and the glitchy voice talk.

"T́h̵e̡ r̷eąl Bald̡i͢ ҉wouĺd b͞e͠ ̷y͞eļli͞n̶g ̵and͏ p̢o̸un͠d͝i͠ng̶ ͞b̨a̡ck. He̵'s not͝ h҉ere̶," the glitched voice says. "C͞'mon͜,͜ ̵I tḩin͝k̡ I͠ ͜k͏now w͏h̶ȩr͜e̵ ̨h́ę ͜mi҉g̛ht̶ b̕e͝."

Baldi hears footsteps down the hall. Somebody knocks again, waits a second, and then follows the other person. In the hopes that somebody would hear, Baldi begins pounding on the wall, hoping to grab the Principal Of The Thing's attention. He kicked and punched the wall, too scared to talk in case the founders heard.

The footsteps stop. "What was that? Did you hear that?" Principal says.

"No," the glitchy voice says. "Why? What did you hear?"

The Principal doesn't speak. "Oh, uh... It was probably just my imagination," he laughs, and the footsteps resume.

Baldi tries to follow the footsteps, until somebody flicks the wall. That somehow sent Baldi flying back into complete darkness, surrounded by nothing but lost hope.

"YOU'RE STAYING RIGHT HERE," The Founders yell. Baldi covers his ears.

"WEATHER YOU WANT TO O̧̧̕̕R̵͢͞ ̡҉̛N̕̕͟͡O̧͢T̶̕.҉̶̴͘͜"

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"I just hope they didn't hurt him too badly," Principal remarks, looking behind him at the wall. "Maybe he escaped and is hiding?"

"Ít̷'͞s ̴t̵he F́ou͘nd̵e҉rs,͢ o͠f̢ ̵cou͢rse t̕he͢y͞'r̷e̸ hur͡ti͘ng hi̶m," Filename2 rhetorics. "H͢e's prob͡abl͡y sti͏ll al̀i͠v͜è,͝ ͟b͠u̡t ̷he̷ sur͘è ͢a̴s͠ h͘e͞l͡l͟ ̴isn't ̨safe." Filename2 leads Principal Of The Thing to a Staff Room, and the walks over to the chalkboard.

"Today's... Lesson... How to... Eat... Cheese?" The Principal reads. "Why is that there?"

Filename2 walks over to the chalkboard. "I̕ ͡th͘ink ̀I ̧r͠e̶member ̴t͜hat yóu w͝r͢ot́e͏ ͏it̡,͞" he laughs. Principal chuckles, walking next to Filename2.

Filename2 pushes the chalkboard up to reveal a window into the walls. It is dark, cramped, and very thin. The two of them would have to shuffle sideways to even get in there.

"There's no way Baldi is in there," Principal says. "He would be yelling and clawing at the bricks."

"Even҉ ҉mor̡e p͠r̶oof ͢tha͟t ͞he's pr҉obably͏ ͝de͡a̧d҉,: Filename2 grumbles. "Bưt ҉w͝e͘ hav҉e to ̵try̛ ̢a̵n͠d̨ ́fi̕nd̸ ̵h͠i̡m." He glitches into the small space, floating sideways and out of sight. Principal, both nervous and hopeful, glitches into the space as well, following Filename2.

The two of them wandered through the narrow passageways, hoping for a clue to where Baldi could be. Every now and again, Principal Of The Thing would knock on the walls, hoping to grab somebody's attention; preferrably Baldi's. This went on for about an hour, until they were startled by a voice coming from behind them.

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Playtime shouts. "I COULD HEAR YOU WHIMPERING FROM ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE SCHOOL!"

"Playtime!" Principal whispers. "We need to be quiet. We're trying to find Baldi. It's really dark in here.

The Principal couldn't see it, but as soon as he said 'Baldi' Playtime frowned. "WHY DO YOU WANT TO FIND HIM, HE'S SO MEAN TO US."

"Child, a while ago he started being nice again," Principal tries to find Playtime's hand. "Do you remember when he would play Jump Rope with you?"

Playtime finds Principal's hand and holds it. For a girl with no eyes, Playtime is exceptionally good at seeing people she wants to talk to. "YEAH. HE TAUGHT ME HOW TO COUNT!"

"Shh, quiet," Principal says. "Follow us."

For a few more minutes, Filename2 lead Principal Of The Thing and Playtime through the walls, knocking every now and again to try and find him. But soon, the three of them found themselves back in the Staff Room, chalkboard pushed up, and no Baldi to be found.

"Cr͢ap̀,̵" Filename2 murmurs. "W̛e͝'̴r̶e̢ nev̷èr̷ g̨onna͢ ̵f̴in͘d him." He glitches back out into the staff room, and Principal helps Playtime back out of the wall.

"File, language," Principal steps forward. He turns to Playtime. "Child, thank you for accompanying us on that journey."

"YOUR WELCOME!" Playtime smiles.

"*You're*," Principal corrects, and sends her on her merry way.  

(( Hey, I'm so sorry that this took so long. School's been really hectic, but I hope you enjoy this chapter. ))