Curiosity - Bendy and the Ink Machine x Reader

Chapter Five

You were scared, your body scrambling further back and closer to James who tightly gripped his axe, his own body shaking as he took an offensive stance. He kept readjusting his grip on the handle of the axe, frightened that it would go sailing from his hands due to how sweaty they were. Slowly he raised it high above his head, swinging it downwards and then all over the place like a madman when one of those creatures slinked close enough. You flinched and shrunk away, scared that he'd accidentally strike you in his frenzy and panic filled attacks if you weren't careful. He wasn't much of a true fighter and neither were you, his attacks weren't going to be clean and precise, like a frightened child they were going to be messy and all over the place.

Once it was over—once it seemed like it was over, the blond lowered his weapon and shakily stepped forward and turned his body around in slow circles. Looking for any signs that there were more of those things to come, swallowing thickly and giving a shaky smile with a small nod of the head towards you once he was sure it was safe. You flinched, jumping when the lone speaker that hung the wall suddenly kicked up and started to play very, very old fashion joyful music that didn't seem all that appropriate to the events that had just happened mere seconds ago. You and James hesitantly started to explore, first heading up a set of stairs to see where they lead and found yourselves in a room with a single projector that overlooked a stage with chairs, instruments, and another Bendy cutout. James flicked on the projector before you could object, eyes blankly staring at the old animation of Bendy that crookedly and silently played out on the screen.

You stared at it for a few seconds before letting your gaze drift down towards the single tape recorder that rested beside the projector. "Why isn't there sound?" your friend asked, dragging your gaze away from the tape recorder and beside you. You thought that he had been joking at first until you saw the blank look in his eyes.

"This is the music department, James, this is where they orchestrated the music that was to go along with the cartoon" you explained with a sigh. "They needed to see what was happening on screen to know what to play and how slowly and quickly they needed to play it" you explained it the best you could, in a simple manner with the best knowledge you had. To you, it sounded like a logical explanation. You almost forgot about the recorder, you almost wanted to forget that it was still there waiting to be played. Did you want to play it?

Did you want to hear any more of what the people who used to work here had to say? You weren't sure, but something inside you—that curiosity that dwelled within—wanted to play it and it was that part of you that won over. Your fear and nervousness meant nothing at that moment as you pressed down on the play button and let the voice of this newcomer take over.

"Every day the same strange thing happens. I'll be up here in my booth; the band will be swinging and suddenly Sammy Lawrence just comes marching in and shuts the whole thing down. Tells us all to wait in the hall. Then I hear him, he starts up my projector and he dashes from the projector booth and down to the recording studio like the little devil himself was chasing behind. Few seconds later, the projector turns off.

But, Sammy, he doesn't come out for a long time. This man is weird, crazy weird. I have half a mind to talk to Mr. Drew about all this, but then again, I have to admit. Mr. Drew has his own peculiarities."

It ends there, that's all the man had to say and the only thing it offered was more unease. You wondered, did this all happen when your father still worked here? Was he aware something was wrong and was that the reason he left or had he been ignorant of the whole thing? The music still continued to loudly play as you both found yourself already descending the stairs, not wanting to speak of the recording, and back into the main room of the music department only to round across to the other side of the room and down another hall. "Who's there?! I have an axe!" James suddenly shouted, jumping at the loud sound of a light turning on in one of the rooms and start to flicker.