Chapter Text
"... Gone?" Bendy croaked. "Wh-wha'd'ya mean 'gone'? She... she didn't just vanish, did she?"
Henry sighed, clutching at his hands and glancing over at Boris, who had now filled the bowls of soup and was setting them on the table. "This place... it's changed since you... since you were here," he explained. "It's become a maze - a labyrinth - and there's so many places you could get lost. Alice... she must have gotten lost, or run into... She's just gone, Bendy. "
"Run into who?" Bendy asked, confused by these non-answers and wanting at least something to go on, but Boris started whining, curling over his bowl in a look of panic and upset, causing any other question he might have asked to fly from his thoughts as he brought his hand up to rub at the poor wolf's arm. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean t' upset ya."
Boris looked over at him, and put his arm about the little toon's shoulders, giving him a light squeeze in reply.
"It's good you're asking," Henry said, moving to collect one of the bowls. "We might not be able to answer much, but you should keep asking. Maybe you'll find something we missed."
Bendy looked up at him, trying to see past the ink that his Henry's eyes, and clutched at Boris's dungarees. "What happened to ya Henry?"
"... Too much."
An uncomfortable, and somewhat depressing, silence fell over them for the next few minutes. They all ate their soup, listening to the jaunty music from the radio and the droplets of ink splatter on the floor, and Bendy couldn't help but be reminded of the times he had once queued up in the soup line in the rain, just as desperate as everyone else there, just as wet, just as downtrodden, all of them sharing a pain from the same thing, and yet none of them uttering a word as the sky poured down on them. When the meal was done, Henry collected the bowls and wandered towards the bathroom, probably to deposit them in one of the sinks, but while he was gone, Bendy took the chance to ask a few more questions.
"How long's he bin like this?" he whispered.
Boris stared back at him at first, but then shook his head and shrugged.
"Ya don't know?"
He nodded.
"What happened? Did he... did he get lost?"
Another long stare, this time followed by a nod.
Bendy released a shaky breath. Whatever had happened to Henry was horrible, unforgivable; he didn't want to think about what could have, could be, happening to Alice. Who was doing all of this? Was it... was it Joey? Was he the cause of this nightmare? If he was, Bendy wasn't sure he wanted to see him, and yet it made him want to see him more, to find the answers no one seemed to have. It was maddening, not knowing, and this quest was no doubt leading his somewhere he didn't want to go.
"We should get you out of here," Henry said, having approached while the little toon had been in thought. "The way back is a bit blocked though, so we'll have to find another route for you to take. I think there might be an elevator or something a little further in..."
Bendy frowned. "What Joey need an elevator for?" he asked. The Studio wasn't that big, was it? Apparently it was, as both Boris and Henry just gave him a sorrowful look. "Where's my axe?" he asked instead, noticing it's disappearance. "I think I saw it in that place with Sammy..." Oh God, Sammy. Had what had happened with Henry happened to him too? He didn't even want to think about what he'd been trying to do; it was too much to even consider.
Henry sighed. "I had to leave it behind," he explained. "I'm sorry."
Bendy swallowed. That... that had been his only weapon, his only way to defend himself. Those creatures out there, they were still after him, and if he didn't have his axe...
"Hey, Bendy. Bendy! Calm down. We'll find you something else."
He blinked, suddenly noticing that he was shaking and wrapped his arms around his chest to try and make it stop. "Yeah."
Henry sighed, and rested one of his inky, oily hands on his head and smiled down at him. "We'll be right there with you," he said, prompting Boris to nod in agreement. "You don't have to go through any of this alone, alright?"
Slowly, Bendy nodded in response, then pressed forwards, curling his arms as far as he could around Henry's middle. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," came the reply, and Bendy could just about feel large hands resting against back through the sludge. "Now, let's get moving yeah? Boris, where's that lever?"