Just a Happy Ending

6 - In the Mind of the Demon

Henry didn't have to look for Bendy this time. He appeared right next to the little toon. Bendy was on his hands and knees, breathing heavily. Henry's brow knit and he carefully approached the toon. He was almost close enough to touch when ink spikes sprang up between the two, sending the human jumping back.

Bendy now faced Henry, his eyes were off model, beady and terrified. Henry spread out his hands. "Hey, Bendy. It's okay now. It's me. You don't have to worry anymore."

"Liar! All liars! They're all liars!"

Henry swallowed. What was going on with Bendy? The man knelt and kept his expression and voice soft, "Bendy. I'd never lie to you. It's okay, really. Joey's gone. We can go home."

Bendy's pupils dilated slightly, their pie-cut shape starting to become distinguishable. "... Home?"

"Yeah, home. Once we get out of here, we can all go home. We can be free."

Bendy relaxed slightly. Home? Free? That was what-... "No!" The ink sea bubbled up, "Liars! The creators lie!"

Henry stood, raising his voice above the noise, "No! It was Joey! Joey lied to you! He lied to all of us! Even me!"

"You're a creator! You're a traitor!" Bendy crouched and pointed a finger at Henry. The sea beneath them rose up and grabbed Henry's arms, dragging him down. The human tried to use his mental ability to fight back, but nothing happened. The chains just pulled him harder, forcing him to take a knee.

"You!" Bendy's eyes reverted to the beady, off-model look, "I know who you are, Henry! You were the one who brought me into this world! You were the one who abandoned me and left me to that... that monster! You're a liar! They're all liars! Everyone lied to me! Why should you, the one who betrayed me, be any different?"

Henry was having trouble focusing on Bendy's words while trying not to be pulled down any farther. He met the toon's furious gaze, "I didn't know! Joey was my friend while I worked here! I couldn't have imagined he'd become this way!"

"Aw, sure, pal. Play the ignorance card! See what good that does ya!" Bendy snapped his fingers and the ink pulled Henry to his back, securing his arms and legs in a painfully vulnerable position. The little devil stood over his creator, smiling maniacally. "Joey had his fun, didn't he? All 'cuz he put his soul in my twisted body and chained down my mind. Well why not do the same to you? All this talk of 'setting them free and going home,' it's all still on your terms cuz you're the only one left who's soul's got influence here."

Bendy planted a foot on Henry's chest and set the tips of his fingers over the human's heart. "Well I gotta news flash for ya, pal. I'm done listening to lies." The gloved hand phased through and gripped around Henry's soul. "I'll do what you're suggesting. I'll set them free," the grip tightened, "But we're doin' it on my terms."

Bendy pulled.

Henry's back arched and he full-voiced a scream. The pain in his chest, no, in his whole body wasn't a kind of pain that could be described. It worsened while the devil standing above him slowly tore up a pulsating, gold light. It felt like everything that made Henry was draining away as more of that gold light was mercilessly ripped from its anchor.

Just as Henry thought he couldn't take any more, it stopped.

Henry slowly opened one eye.

He'd stopped. Bendy had stopped. His expression was... scared? Manic? Both?

"You know what?" Bendy said, staring at the middle distance, "Why does Joey get all the fun with you in the cycles? I got an idea. We'll do the cycle again, y'know, keep the game going. That work for ya?" The devil's gaze flicked to Henry's. "Yeah. We'll do it again. But this time," his grip shifted, "with a twist!"

Bendy's fingers wrenched through the gold light. Henry saw gold, white, then black.

The first thing Henry became aware of was pain. A sharp, throbbing pain in the middle of his chest. Something was... very wrong. It felt like something wasn't... wasn't quite there.

Something had broken. Bendy had...

Henry forced his eyes open. What had Bendy done? What happened to himself? What about the others?

"Are they okay?"

Allison?

"I don't know, all right? I've never seen that before."

That was Sammy.

Henry forced a sound through his throat. The action made his head buzz.

Then movement on his right side. Something shifted and stood in his field of view. Smallish, rounded, a break on the top of a circle.

"Sammy? Is that-"

"Stay back, Allison. He's perfect. On-model."

"But how?"

Henry's mouth opened. "Bend-... soul."

"Oh, yes!"

That voice. High-pitched. Loud.

Bendy.

Henry rolled to his side, struggling to command his arm to move and lift him.

Somewhere behind him, Bendy spoke again. "I gotta say, old man. That was a trip if ever I had one. Guess soul compatibility really is a thing."

"What did you do to him?" Sammy's voice took a furious edge.

"Relax, music man," Bendy's tone was not one to relax at, "I just broke his soul in half so I could get my perfect form and still have some fun with the old man."

Silence. Henry could hardly wrap his head around what Bendy just said.

He broke. His soul. In half?

"He was a real sport about it too! I'm surprised ya didn't hear the screamin'."

With a growl, Sammy lunged for the devil. With a smirk, Bendy flipped around the symbols on the circle, inverting the seal to keep them out.

Henry tried to get his body off the ground to no avail. Bendy chuckled and crouched in front of the man, tilting his head up with one gloved hand. "Aw, don't worry about it, bucko. You'll be right as rain as soon as I start it over."

The devil's smile fell and his expression became... almost forlorn. It only lasted a second, hardening to a cold stare. "You don't have to pretend to care anymore. One more test. Meet me back here," he raised his fingers, primed to snap, "if you can."

Bendy's fingers clicked.

The door closed behind Henry with an air of finality.

"All right, Joey. I'm here. Let's see if I can find what you-...!"

Henry's hands drifted up and curled around his head.

"... no! ..."