Joey Drew
Joey roared in fury, taking a nearby Searcher and biting its head off. He licked his lips, savoring the flavor. He dropped the Searcher's body, melting into the floor. The other Searchers recoiled in terror. Joey stomped over to the largest searcher and hissed, "Don't let them near my creation."
The Searcher whined and retreated into its ink puddle, the others following. Joey longed for better servants. These brainless slugs wouldn't last long if they were going after Alison and Tom. The Searchers had reported that they were in the area and following Henry and the others. If they teamed up with those useless excuses for perfections, Joey might not live for long, another reason why Susie should have finished them off in the first place. But no, she had been stupid enough to let them go in hope that they would work for her. They escaped, making Joey lose his trust in Susie.
Joey himself was making his way to the amusement park, praying that he would find Henry there. And he knew just how to delay them.
Linda
The four entered the hallway, taking wary glances around them before continuing. Norman was already at the end waiting for them. Linda was behind Sammy, partially ahead of Henry. They had barely started walking before Henry shouted in surprise. Linda and Sammy whipped around to see him looking around with a terrified expression. He fell to the ground, kneeling down and covering his head. He was muttering quietly, eventually turning into fearful sobs.
"What happened?" Linda asked, scared to move any closer to the horrified toon.
"Hands," he stuttered. "Hundreds of 'em."
Linda and Sammy exchanged confused glances. "This is the second time you've had a hallucination. Are you sure you should be moving around?" Sammy fretted.
"I don't know!" Henry whined, seeming to have list faith.
"Come here," Lind whispered. Henry came to her side, and she put her hands on his shoulders and they touched foreheads. "You'll be okay. As long as I'm here, I won't let you go down like this."
Henry was shaking hard, taking shallow, shuddering breaths. He nodded slightly, just enough for Linda to notice. "Thank you," he said.
"I'll always be here for you."
"Hey!" Norman called. "You guys coming? If you take any longer, I might throw myself off this cliff in boredom!"
Sammy sighed and shrugged helplessly. Linda and Henry followed him out, still holding hands. Henry was hugging himself with his other arm, still shooting nervous glances at the walls as though a monster might pop out. The three met Norman in a large room, the center revealing a massive hole like in the cavern they just came from. Something rumbled above, and seconds later the ink machine came down. It disappeared in the darkness below, its pumping gears echoing in the distance.
"Wow," Linda whispered. She'd never seen the ink machine before. It was so massive, and loud. It would be even more amazing if it wasn't the culprit behind so many monstrosities.
"Well, look who it is!"
All four of them jumped in surprise. Susie's voice loudly bounced off the hollow stone walls, amplifying it to be louder than ever. A new anger rushed through Linda.
"Don't do anything," Sammy mumbled under his breath to the other three. "Just keep going and ignore her."
As the four climbed the large staircase upwards, Henry paused again and looked at a platform that hung beside the path. It led to a large door, surrounded by candles.
"It's an exit," he said.
"How do you know?" Norman asked. He reached out to the door, but it was too far away and too high up.
YOU ARE READING
BatIM AU: Henry's Path (OLD - rewrite in progress/consideration)
ФанфикCover is not mine. Part 1 in the Shadowed Mind Trilogy Warning: contains profanity and MILD, VERY MILD suggestive material (goes as far as kissing) Henry never thought that his life would get much worse until his old friend Joey transforms him into...
