The Beast Made of Ink

Chapter 16: The Sheep

-Your P.O.V.-

When you awoke, you felt much more refreshed than you did prior. It seems like all that you really needed was a good nap.

"And to get out of this place..." You thought bitterly to yourself as you picked up the axe that was beside your body. This time when you attempted to open the door, to your satisfaction, you were able to get out.

Standing in the doorway, what was in front of your tired eyes was a steep staircase going downward. Above the said staircase was a sign that read "Utility Shaft 9" . At the bottom, you could've sworn there was a soft small glow of a candle light. Cussing underneath your breath, you began your descent down, and sure enough...

Smack dab in front of you was a table filled with what must've been the offerings that the first cassette player with the "I'm Outta here!" guy spoke of. There was 7 candles in total, one of the said candles on the floor in front of the narrow wood. 4 of the 7 candles were lit, each emitting a ethereal orange glow. There was 3 bowls in total of food offerings that consisted of moldy grains and rotten fruits that made the otherwise inky smelling place smell more like ass and death. There was 3 cans of that bacon soup, and to the right of the table was a banjo placed up in the corner.

With a small smile, you playfully strummed a few of the banjos strings, a familiar ring escaping from the dusted instrument as they floated into the stale air.

Once you were done with the examination of the offering table, you found your eyes land on yet another cassette player.

"So far the cassettes have been quite useful with their foreshadowing. I might as well play it, right?" You thought to yourself, and with little hesitation, pressed the play button.

As soon as the tape started, a smooth and slightly hushed tone of a voice began to fill your eardrums. The voice would've been a relaxing one if it was on another person, but for some reason, the way that this man spoke... Something sounded really off with him. His words that he spoke helped you to confirm that even further.

.........

He appears from the shadows to rain his sweet blessings upon me. The figure of ink that shines in the darkness. I see you, my savior. Pray you hear me.

Those old song, yes, I still sing them. For I know you are coming to save me. And I will be swept into your final loving embrace.

But, loves requires sacrifice.

Can I get an amen?

.........

"I said... Can I get an AMEN?"

Your heart leapt out of your chest as you shot your body back from the table, swinging your axe down through the air right where you heard the noise come from. However, to your horror, nothing was there, as you found your axe hitting nothing but the wooden floorboards as it successfully lodged itself stuck in place.

Despite the lack of body, you found your eyes shooting around back and forth, scanning the area in your peripheral vision.

Nothing was there. Nothing except a slowly dripping pipe that was splattering ink across the ground.

"Now that was some major foreshadowing" You said aloud in shock and slight horror.

Walking forward, you turned your head to the right only to see another two coffins, both very similar to the ones you saw upstairs, along with yet another pentagram placed in front of it. A small shiver threatened to crawl its way down your spine at the sight.

Taking favor in ignoring it, you decided to instead go down the other direction. When you found yourself in front of the said hallway, you could feel your breath hitch.

There, a number of feet in front of you was yet another Bendy cut-out. However, something was VERY wrong with this cutout. This cutout, unlike the others, was placed in front of a pentagram, a pentagram that was eerily familiar to the one you found yourself asleep on just minutes prior.

With a small gulp, you walked up to the thing, staring silently into its pie-cut eyes. Not once did the thought of cutting down the said cut-out pass your mind as you instead found yourself putting a single finger on the said structure. It felt like that cheap wood, the grinded up looking stuff you see shelves and whatnot made out of.

Not much after, you found that your single finger had become your entire hand as you found yourself stroking the top of the cut-out. You could feel tears threaten to cling to your lashes as you continued to look into its inky circles.

Then, despite the watery eyes, you found a small smile crawl onto your face as you muttered quietly under your breath, hand now placed on his forehead as you spoke, face mere inches from the cut-outs.

"You look so much better when I can see your eyes."

With a sigh and a simultaneous blink of your eyes, you found yourself walking away from the cut-out and further down the hallway.

When you reached the end and turned your body to continue down the next hallway, you found a string of curses escaping from your breath all over again at the sight of the ink lake in front of you.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me..." You muttered under your breath irritably as you began to wade your way through the goopy black water. Then, halfway through, you saw a Bendy cut-out. Once again, this cut-out was much different compared to the ones you saw upstairs.

Because this cut-out was being carried.

"Excuse me, sir!?" You yelled, yet despite your speaking, the guy completely ignored you!

"SIR!?" You shouted even louder as you rushed your body through the ink, hope clinging to your chest as you hopped out of the said substance. You figured that it may have been the man that you talked to before you fell asleep. You really wanted to thank him for watching out for you, and then maybe after you could ask for some help.

However, when you shot your head to the left, the direction in which the said man was walking, there was nothing there. Nothing except a Bendy cut-out behind yet another pentagram.

"What the hell is wrong with this place?" You thought to yourself as you stared at the said pentagram. So far in the time you have woken up, you have seen four pentagrams. One was where you passed out, the next near the same room where you heard that voice, the other in front of those coffins, and the fourth right where the man was walking!

"The fourth that the man was walking towards..."

You began to visibly shudder, the axe being dropped to your side as every piece of the puzzle had been connected. The movement of your axe, the voice in your ear, and a literal man walking towards nothing only to have a very similar Bendy cut-out placed in position of where he would've been?

He's trying to tell you something, he's trying to show you something. This man, whoever he is... He can travel through the pentagrams.

-??? P.O.V.-

This girl seemed smarter compared to the rest.

After all, he has seen many different shapes and sizes of people visiting this damned studio, and only a very small handful have been able to figure out the puzzle. The puzzle of Sammy Lawrence and his ability to travel "through ink".

Given, he can't actually travel through ink. Nobody can travel through ink like his Lord can, not even the other ink beings that curse the said studio.

However, the inky pentagrams make Sammy feel one step closer to his lord, one step closer to his repentance. Someday, Sammy believes- no- Sammy KNOWS that his lord will free him from the ink. He has been reborn once before, and will be reborn yet again. His Lord, his GOD will free him.

A smile crawled its way onto the former humans face as he sat himself down at his old desk, smile fitting its way onto his invisible face as he sat there and waited. Waited for yet another sheep to finds its way to his doorstep.