Work Text:
A small figure floated within inky black depths, small bubbles rising up around her. For what seemed like an eternity, she didn't move. One could almost think she wasn't alive at all.
"Uhhh..."
At last, she stirred, eyes flickering open slowly. Upon realizing where she was, they went wide with shock.
"Wh-?"
Like a bullet, she shot upward, gasping as she broke the surface. Emerging from a pool of ink, she coughed violently.
"Damnit," she muttered, or at least tried to. To her surprise, all that came out was a sound like a cuckoo clock.
"Wait...what was that?"
Pushing herself into a kneeling position, she caught a glimpse of her hands. Instead of the peachy skin and red-polished nails she was used to, she saw a pair of large white gloves with four fingers apiece.
"These hands..."
Looking into another nearby ink puddle, she saw the face of Alice Angel staring back at her. She let out a cry of alarm, scrambling backwards. In a panic, she reached up, feeling a pair of horns protruding from her head.
"No, no, no...this isn't happening..."
Desperately, she slapped herself in the face, with no effect. Now on the verge of tears, she hugged herself as she got to her feet.
"Breathe, Allison, just breathe."
It took a while, but the transformed Allison Pendle finally managed to calm herself down. Once she did so, she looked around, noticing how the presence of dust and a few cobwebs.
"What happened here?"
(BATIM)
After what seemed like two or three hours of exploring the halls and fleeing from monsters, Allison quickly realized that the phrase "work is hell" had become a lot more literal in regards to the studio.
Susie, thank God you left, she thought. You have no idea what kind of bullet you dodged.
Briefly, she thought of the woman who had mentored her, as well as Sammy, Wally, Shawn, Thomas, and all the others who had quit. Last she'd heard, they were all doing fine. Unfortunately, she had no idea about Norman or Grant...
"A long, long time ago,
I had my own little show,
Was a beautiful, lovable angel..."
Hearing the echoing voice, Allison quietly tiptoed toward the singing. It turned out to be coming from a room filled with Alice Angel memorabilia. Peering inside, she could see a dark-haired woman standing behind a pane of glass--a woman with horns and a halo partially merged with her head.
"But he took the spotlight,
Shining so bright,
Left me to fade away..."
The woman turned, revealing a horrific sight. The left side of her face was melted (or swollen, Allison couldn't quite tell), with her teeth slightly exposed, and one eye missing. Additionally, there was a thin line on her neck that had a few drops of ink, like her throat had been slashed.
"But honey, now the turn is mine..."
Covering her mouth in horror, Allison briefly wondered who that was. It wasn't Alice Angel, that was for sure.
And she doesn't sound like Susie either.
Turning, she fled down the halls, the woman's voice still ringing in her ears.
(BATIM)
Some time later...
"So why did you come back?" Boris asked. "Nobody else who quit did--least, that's what I heard."
"Joey sent me a letter," Henry replied. "Said he had something to show me."
"A letter?"
Surprised, Henry turned to see Allison standing there, halo clutched in one hand.
"I thought I tore them all up. Guess I missed one."
Crouching down, Henry gave her a surprised look.
"Alice..."
"Yes...and no." Allison set her halo back. "Kind of a long story."
As they resumed their trek, she took a glance at Boris. Only a short time after her transformation, she had the misfortune to see Matt Thorn--the original voice actor for Bendy--getting thrown into the Machine. When he emerged, it was as Bendy himself. Unlike her, he had no memory of being anyone other than the Dancing Demon. Allison suspected the same thing had happened to Rick Pavel, Boris's voice actor, though the wolf didn't remember being human either. Since then, she'd often wondered why she remembered her human self and they didn't. Perhaps it was because she didn't have as strong a link to Alice as they did to their characters.
Once again, she felt relief that aside from Henry, none of those who had quit ever came back.