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“Henry…”
The wooden hallway was dimly lit, the flickering lights weren’t helping at all. The walls were splattered with black ink. Why the Hell did he come to this place again?
“Henry!”
Oh yeah, because his ‘pal’ Joey had decided to write to him after what, thirty years? It was completely out of the blue and the guy wasn’t even here, that should have been his first warning sign to leave, but something just…made him go in. Was it curiosity? Stubbornness? He honestly couldn’t even tell anymore.
“HENRY!”
“Huh?” Henry blinked and looked down to the piece of paper he was holding.
“Ugh” The small animated cartoon crossed his arms and tapped his foot in an annoyed manner. “Were you even listening to me?”
The man smiled nervously. “Sorry Bendy…What were you saying?” Bendy sighed and shook his head. “It’s fine. Never mind.” He gave the grizzled man a worried frown. “Are ya alright? You seem pretty…distracted.”
As he continued to walk down the seemingly endless hallway, he glanced up to check for any danger, his grip tightening on the axe in his other hand while doing so, before looking back down to Bendy again.
“I’m fine. Just…tired is all.”
The small cartoon looked even more worried now. “Well you oughta rest then! There’s an office nearby that should be pretty safe-“
“No. We have to press on.” He interrupted as he turned a corner, walking into a large room. “Those ink…monsters are probably still around, we need to keep moving.”
Bendy didn’t seem pleased with Henry’s response. “Hey, you may be all macho tough but even you’ve got yer limits. You gotta rest, Henry.”
Henry sighed. He was normally a patient man but right now he was on edge, every shadow and ink splatter looked as though it was about to pounce on him and he was not in the mood to bicker. “I said I’m fine.”
“But-“
“Just drop it already!” He scowled down at the small demon, his hand gripping the paper slightly. Bendy’s expression quickly went from worried, to shock and then to hurt. He looked down slightly.
“A-alright…” He said in a small voice.
The older man instantly regretted what he had done. 'Christ, Bendy’s only concerned for my welfare and I respond by being a complete dick.’ Henry thought to himself.
It was true, ever since he ‘met’ the small 2D drawing on the wall, the only thing he was concerned with was getting Henry through the workshop in the safest way that he could. Granted, it wasn’t entirely possible with the Searchers, the musician turned madman, Sammy and the other, more monstrous version Bendy in their way, but even then the demon protected him by absorbing the ink around him and emerging from the page as…well… as another monster, and it had scared the ever living crap out of Henry when he first saw the transformation, but now he was grateful for it.
Henry looked back down to Bendy, who was now sitting on the line that the man had drawn for him with his knees against his chest, looking a little sullen. He sighed, he should apologise.
“Bendy, I-“
His eyes widened as he suddenly heard an unearthly screech, he quickly turned to look for the source when something wet slapped against his ankle and gripped hard.
“SHIT!”
He went to swing his axe at whatever was on his ankle when it yanked forward, causing him to lose his balance and slam hard onto his back.
“Argh!”
The back of Henry’s head hit the wooden floor with a sickening thud, making his vision go blurry. There was also a constant ringing in his ears, he couldn’t make sense of anything for a few seconds.
That was all the Searchers needed.
They were instantly on him like a pack of wolves, their bodies slithering around him as they started to form a large puddle around him. The strong stench of the ink was unbearable. He weakly raised his axe to strike back at them, but a dripping black hand reached out from the puddle, wrapped itself around the handle and wrenched it away from him, sending it flying down the corridor.
This was it then. This was how he was going to die.
Henry breathed heavily as the ink formed around his body, he could still faintly make out their gaping mouths and hands forming out of the puddle, like some sort of horrific black abomination.
Wait. Bendy. Where was he? Was he alright? The piece of paper must have slipped out of his hand when he fell. Henry turned his head as best as he could despite the weight that was forming around his body, but he couldn’t see it. Maybe the paper had floated to a safer distance.
God, he hoped so.
Black was forming around his field of vision. The pressure of the ink mass was making it harder for him to breathe.
'End of the line.’ The man thought to himself, smirking slightly to himself. ‘What a way to go.’
He closed his eyes as the Searchers fully consumed his body.
…
The moving had stopped.
‘Am…Am I dead?’ Henry internally questioned to himself.
No, that was far too quick. Did something happen? What made them stop?
Henry got his answer as he felt something large wrap around him and pull him upwards. His eyes widened as he gasped for air, his vision was still blurry, especially now since ink was dripping down his face, but he could still hear the Searchers screeching and a very low, deep growl. He felt himself being lowered to the floor gently before hearing an onslaught of loud thuds, agonised cries and screeches, and lastly, a sickening splatter.
As much as he wanted to get up and see what was going on, he was simply too weak. His head was throbbing, his lungs ached and as much as he didn’t want to admit it, his age wasn’t speeding up his recovery as much as he would have wanted, so he simply laid there as the noise died down.
For a few moments there was silence, the only sounds that filled the room was his deep breathing and the slithering of something coming towards him. He felt a large hand prod at him and a low whine. Henry lifted his head slightly and opened his eyes a crack, smiling weakly when he saw the hulking head and single eye of Bendy.
“Heh…you saved me again, buddy.” The eye lit up and the monster’s large grin widened as he made a noise of what seemed to be a mix of happiness and relief. Henry smirked and tried to pick himself up, only for his arms to buckle under the weight, his smirk quickly changing into a grimace.
“Damn it…!” He grunted as he felt two large inky hands carefully wrap around him and set him up against a wall. Looking up into the concerned face of Bendy, he felt even more shitty about the way he spoke to the demon before the attack.
“Hey, don’t worry about me…I’ve survived worse.” His voice held a hint of doubt but this seemed to satisfy Bendy nevertheless, as the hulking ink mass turned his back to him to watch the room.
Henry narrowed his eyes in confusion at first but it soon dawned on him, Bendy was guarding him.
He frowned. He was grateful for the concern but he knew that this form that Bendy took had it’s limits, he couldn’t stay like this for long without consequences.
“Bendy…” Henry started. “You should go back onto your page.”
The only response he got was a grunt. The demon wasn’t budging.
“Bendy…please…” Nothing. “…I’m…I’m sorry about earlier…I shouldn’t have raised my voice at you…”
It was only slight, but Bendy tilted his head slightly towards him. Taking a breath and looking down, Henry continued.
“You’ve been… so damn dedicated to my safety and always put yourself at risk to save my sorry ass…and…you’re the only friend I’ve got down here. Yet I was still a complete jerk to you…and for that, I’m sorry. I…I really am.”
Bendy seemed to ponder this for a moment before fully turning to face the man, lowering his head to Henry’s level.
The older man blinked in a surprised manner when he felt a gentle, wet, inky bump on his forehead.
Did…did Bendy just nuzzle him?
The hulking demon raised himself back up to his full height, leaving a large black splotch on top of Henry’s face, and nodded. All was forgiven.
Henry didn’t’ know what to say, so he simply nodded back in silent understanding. His aching body was starting to feel a tad bit better, but he was still too weak to stand, and Bendy knew this, so he resumed his guarding position, making Henry frown once more.
“Bendy…” He sighed. “Fine, if it makes you feel better. But only for five minutes, alright? Then you need to get back on the page.”
He didn’t get a response but he knew Bendy had heard him. Sighing, Henry closed his eyes slightly and relaxed slightly for the first time in what seemed like days.
At least he knew he had a friend he could fully rely upon.