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***
Oh God. Just a little more, and they would have caught her, fortunately she managed to shoot fire from GrabPack in time in the face of one of the plushie creatures. This allowed the girl to escape back to the switch. It's confusing how these small and cute creatures can be so aggressive. At first, Elizabeth even naively thought that the red teddy bear wanted to ask for help when she approached it for the first time, for which she got what she deserved and the mini version of Bobby BearHug bit her painfully on the nose, but ex-worker was able to push the toy away from her.
After pressing the button in the very center of the room, the platform on which the girl was standing suddenly began to move, providing her with a path to the exit. Stairs down. Dark room. It seemed like it would take forever to go down. The locked door with a chain and the rubble on top were eerie. Fortunately, with the same gun she could light her way and it’s almost not scary anymore, right? The only passage leads to the children's pool, which has been out of water for a long time, and the ducks on which the kids rode lay lifelessly scattered. Trying to move silently, Elizabeth examined the room, making sure to try the door handles, of which only two opened, although they led to the same place. The girl was welcomed by… the prison?... It seems that this is really it, judging by the creepy cramped cells with shackles. This view of Playtime.co from the inside did not quite fit with its main view, although Elizabeth was no longer so surprised by this after she found out that children were subjected to cruel experiments here.
The gate further is closed, so Elizabeth will have to look for another way further, but she was attracted by strange sounds from one of the cells. Heavy breathing and the sounds of dripping liquid made the girl to stop and take a few careful steps forward, stopping in front of another toy. Not just any toy, no. One of the Smiling Critters and probably Catnap's former best friend, Dogday. Elizabeth gasped when she saw him in such a pitiful state: crucified in the air, his arms and torso tied to the wall with belts, and the lower part of his body...
“You... You’re Poppy’s angel,” Dogday weakly raised his head, fixing his gaze on the shocked girl. “you are here to save us. What a pity... there is nothing left to save, not here...”
“Dogday...?” she answered, trying not to look at the toy’s bloody belly, where the legs should have been below. “what happened to you?”
“It doesn’t matter right now, Angel... You need to leave before-... Oh, no!” small steps began to be heard from the holes in the walls, and then the same plushie animals with not the best intentions began to crawl out of them. “RUN!” Dogday’s scream seemed to bring the girl out of her trance, and she immediately rushed, one by one, hastily to unfasten the belts on his wrists. “no! What are you doing?! Get out of here!”
“No, I won't leave you here!” there was literally a second left before one of the small creatures harmed the dog and Elizabeth threw him onto her back, right on top of the GrabPack. “hold on tight, the trip is gonna be fun.”
“You’re crazy...” despite objections, Dogday hugged the girl tightly and she rushed back to the gate, which she didn’t even reach, falling through the wooden planks in the floor.
Almost falling off her feet, she saw a path in front of her and ran forward, while behind them ran a whole bunch of plushie animals that literally crawled out of all the cracks, blocking most paths. The chase ended well, although they were almost caught at the end when, due to the extra weight, they could barely make it on the purple hand. The elevator did not go up for long, but this was enough time to catch her breath, and then a small slide down and they finally left the Playhouse.
“Honey, it was very dangerous...” Dogday said quietly, to which the girl smiled, looking at him over her shoulder.
“This is not the only dangerous thing I’ve encountered in all the time I’ve spent here,” the Dog smiled faintly in response, and from that moment on he became quiet for a while, resting his head on Elizabeth’s shoulder, so that only his breathing could be heard. She stopped. “are you okay? We can take a break for now.”
“No need, it’s okay... Thank you, Angel.”
“You’re welcome,” Elizabeth resumed her walk, heading towards the center of the Playcare. “I'll take you to the room under the statues, okay? It's safe there and I hope Poppy will look after you.”
Dogday did not refuse and they went forward. On the way, Ollie called the girl and, judging by his voice, he was worried about her and at the same time surprised that she managed to save the last of the Smiling Critters. He sent her a blue battery for the Gas Production Zone, but that was on the backburner for now. Descending into the room under the statues, Elizabeth found a shabby mattress on which she carefully laid her new friend. She was wearing a big warm cardigan and she took it off, covering Dogday to warm him up.
“You don’t have to...” the dog said hoarsely, feeling how the warmth of her body remaining on her clothes now warmed him, after which Elizabeth sank to the edge of the mattress.
“Rest. You need to recover,” she smiled encouragingly, placing her hand on the red furred head and gently stroking it. “I still have unfinished work, so I have to leave you for a while.”
“Be careful...” Dogday’s voice became quieter and calmer. Her soothing touches definitely had a special effect on the toy and he lowered his head onto his paws, closing his eyes tiredly. He had not felt such peace and warmth for a very long time, but now he was able to enjoy it after so many days and nights of hellish pain. Feeling the strokes become slower and less frequent, Dogday realized that Elizabeth was about to leave and grabbed her hand, placing it back on his head. “wait... Stay with me a little longer, please...” he looked at her pitifully, and she simply could not refuse those puppy dog eyes.
“Okay,” a chuckle escaped the girl’s lips as she realized that even though he was a toy, he really acted like an ordinary affectionate dog who just wanted attention.
Not much time passed and eventually Dogday fell asleep. This became clear from the way his breathing became measured and when Elizabeth noticed this, she covered him warmer and quietly stood up, leaving the room with a large blue battery in her hands. She didn’t want to leave Dogday alone like that, but Poppy and Kissy — they met the girl at the exit — promised that they would look after him and she had no choice but to trust, although Elizabeth still had some doubts about whether to trust little doll after she had tricked her into this place.
In the Gas Production Zone, the atmosphere seemed to become even more eerie, although it’s not like anything has changed here. A bad feeling and the feeling of the presence of someone else did not allow Elizabeth to think normally, but this did not stop her until she, going to the battery connector, dropped it along with the gas mask in fright when she saw Catnap suddenly appearing in front of her. She had to run.
The exit was locked and the only escape route was the elevator leading to the Safe Room, where she headed.
Having walked around the entire room up and down, ex-employee got the impression that this was a trap or just a dead end. The only reassurance was that at least Catnap wasn't here. Well… until a certain point.
***
The time it took to charge the stupid terminal seemed excruciatingly long due to the tension building with every second. Unfortunately, having dropped her gas mask, Elizabeth fell under the influence of the cat's gas, which made her dizzy, her legs could barely support her and it seemed that he was going towards her from all sides. The terminal finally showed 100% charge, and the electrical port above it sparked. She barely had time to pick up the charge with her Green hand. the girl was knocked down and she immediately sent an electric charge at Catnap, causing him to fall from the electric shock. The gas that was released from his mouth ignited and the fire spread to the cat himself, and he began to roll on the floor in an attempt to extinguish himself.
What Elizabeth didn't expect was the appearance of the Prototype. His hand smoothly extended from where the cat had jumped down, and the she watched in shock as the Prototype killed the cat and dragged him away. The hatch closed and the Safe Room became quiet. Trying not to disturb this silence, the girl stood up, intending to leave, but noticed Catnap's crescent-shaped pendant on the floor and picked it up, examining it from all sides. There was nothing notable about it except for the cat's name scratched on the back.
In a hurry, Elizabeth placed the pendant around her neck and hurried back down the elevator. The battery was finally in its right place, and the gas continued to be pumped into another flask, but the her attention was drawn to the room where Catnap came from. She carefully climbed through the crack of the door that had not completely closed and began to look around.
At first glance, this is the same ordinary service room where Elizabeth previously found the second version of the GrabPack with a purple hand, but in the place where it was there was no longer its case, and the ruins seemed to have been cleared by someone. Catnap comes to mind, of course, but why would he do that? Coming closer, the girl found out that the wall that was behind this rubble turned out to be a door, but without a handle. Instead there was only a perfectly round hole. The ex-worker looked around thoughtfully, but didn’t find anything suitable in shape or size. Already thinking about somehow breaking down the door by force, she remembered the cat pendant that had been around her neck all this time. After taking it off, Elizabeth inserted the tip of the pendant into the hole and turned it 90 degrees counterclockwise, after which a click sounded and the door opened. From the room behind the door, the girl immediately felt a strong unpleasant smell, which she felt even before she opened the door, but in the service room this smell was not so strong.
Turning on the flashlight, she went inside and saw a not very pleasant picture. The room she entered was set up like an ordinary living room; there was even a sofa with a carpet in the center, and frames without photographs hung on the walls. Perhaps it would even look cozy to some extent if the furniture were not smeared with something resembling blood mixed with dirt, and bleeding body parts of toys were not lying on the floor. And not even small ones, like the ones she met at the Playhouse. Of course, she knew that each of the Smiling Critters smelled differently, but breathing all this together and the bonus smell of blood and dust was unbearable. The smell began to stink stronger, making Elizabeth feel nauseous. Among all this, she noticed red legs lying separately on the sofa, as if something special, and the girl immediately realized who they belonged to, so she hastily, without going in, grabbed the lower part of Dogday’s body with the Grabhand and walked away before she threw up right there.
After leaving the Gas Production Zone, Elizabeth was finally able to breathe normally, although she still had the feeling that she could still smell those stench. The ex-employee definitely had something to please her new friend, so she hurried back to the room under statues. Completely forgetting that Dogday was probably asleep, she flew into the room, creating a rumble with her appearance.
“Guess what I found!” the girl shouted in a fit of joy, but immediately giggled guiltily when Poppy, who was sitting next to the sleeping dog, shushed her. “Sorry,” coming closer and squatting next to them, she smiled when she saw that Dogday was sleeping without hind legs really deeply, almost drooling. She carefully lowered the dog's lifeless body to the floor and then removed the GrabPack from her shoulders, finally stretching them out. Poppy glanced briefly at the body part Elizabeth had brought and then at her, noticing the cat pendant around her neck.
“Catnap...?” it wasn’t difficult to guess, but she asked to make sure of this.
“Yes,” the girl answered briefly, looking down at the jewelry and twirling it between her fingers for a couple of seconds. “can you sew?” She turned to Poppy.
“Yes, but I need threads,” without thinking, Elizabeth removed the crab hairpin from her hair and, under the perplexed glances of Kissy and Poppy, carefully pulled a pair of long blond hairs from the top of her head, holding them out to the doll, who hesitantly took them, but put them aside for a while. “alright, I think this will do, but we should wait until he wakes up.”
The girl only nodded in response and sat down next to Dogday on the edge of the mattress, stroking his head with light touches. In his sleep, he pressed his ear to the girl’s thigh, lightly rubbing himself and sighing. Judging by his appearance, one could say that he was still sleeping, but in reality this was far from the case. He wanted to cuddle like this a little more and only pretended to be asleep. He was very convincing. Stroking definitely brought the dog great pleasure, so if he had a tail now, he would have long ago exposed him red-handed.
“I know you’re not sleeping, you insolent one,” Elizabeth said with a grin, leaning over a little and seeing how pleased his face was, and he, in turn, opened his eyes and looked up at the girl, giving up.
“What beautiful hair you have,” Dogday smiled charmingly, trying to appease Elizabeth with a compliment, to which she just laughed and patted him on the head. “Angel, I still don’t know your name.”
“Elizabeth,” it seems that the charming manipulations worked perfectly and the girl did not rush Dogday to wake up, but allowed him to lie down a little longer.
“Betty... I like it,” raising himself on his elbows, Dogday gently touched the blond hair and, pushing it back a little, saw the pendant of Catnap, who had already left us, on Elizabeth’s neck. He had mixed feelings about the cat. He did terrible things, hurt many and took the lives of many, but the news of his death did not make the dog feel any better. They were best friends. All of them. But now they are gone, only he remains. Elizabeth noticed Dogday's changed mood, reading everything in his eyes and facial expression. She took the pendant from her neck and handed it to him.
“Here,” she smiled tenderly, and Dogday hesitantly took the jewelry.
“...Thank you,” the dog said quietly, looking at the pendant for a few seconds, after which he put it on his neck. The Moon turned out to be a little larger than the Sun, but this did not cause him any discomfort and he again laid his head on his paws folded on top of each other, and again pressed his cheek against her thigh. Elizabeth sighed and began stroking his soft ears and head encouragingly.
“How long are you going to cuddle? We need to move on,” Poppy, who was watching all this, interrupted them, drawing attention to herself.
“Yes, sorry, you’re right,” the girl nodded and got up from the mattress. She carefully lifted Dogday's lower body, carrying him towards the mattress, and his eyes widened in surprise. It looks like he just now noticed what she brought. “I think it's yours.”
“Where did you find them?” he asked in amazement, and the blonde immediately had a picture of that room in her head, and her nose for a millisecond again caught that unpleasant smell, although, most likely, she just imagined it.
“It’s better not to know, believe me,” she cleared her throat awkwardly and lifted the hem of her cardigan on Dogday a little, revealing the bloody area of his body and carefully unfastening the belt on his stomach, which seemed to be necessary so that the organs did not fall out of the toy.
“I can’t believe you actually found them... I’m amazed.”
“Yeah, me too,” Poppy agreed. She came closer, threading the needle. Holding both halves of the body, she began to connect them and stitch them up.
“Ouch...” the dog hissed, feeling the needle piercing an already aching part of his body.
While the red-haired doll was sewing, the ex-worker decided not to sit idle either and sat down in her previous place, but closer to Dogday, so that he could rest his head on her lap. He looked at Elizabeth uncertainly, as if asking permission, and when she nodded, he lowered his head. Her thighs felt soft to the touch, just like pillows, and the smell emanating from her body was reminiscent of citrus and fresh fruit. That's for sure, you can't fool a dog's sense of smell!
The girl put her hand on the top of Dogday's head and began to gently stroke his head and large ears. A smile spread across her face as he pressed his cheek against her stomach and wrapped one arm around her lower body, lightly squeezing one of her thighs due to the pain the needle was causing him.
“You smell so nice...” Dogday muttered and Elizabeth laughed.
“Really?” she asked rhetorically, and when the dog nodded, she continued. “a bit strange, considering that there is probably not a single dirty and dusty place left in which I have not yet been.”
“Yes, I smell dust,” he laughed hoarsely in response and continued. “but it's not as strong as your natural scent.”
“Thank you, that’s good to hear,” she scratched him behind the ear and he immediately broke into a satisfied smile, slightly tilting his head for her comfort.
“Thank you too, Angel...”
“For what?”
“For all. For saving me, taking care of me. You even found something that I no longer hoped to return,” he turned his head a little, casting a short glance at his legs, and put his head back on her lap. “Because you are so kind to me, although we barely know each other,” a gentle warmth spread in her chest from such pleasant words.
“It's nothing. Anyone in my place would do the same.”
“I don’t think so,” Dogday turned his head again, meeting Poppy’s gaze, who was already threading the second “thread” into the needle.
“Well, I’m sorry that I’m too small to free you,” she answered in a slightly irritated tone, shrugging her shoulders.
“I’m not angry with you,” he replied, and Elizabeth, watching this dialogue from the side, could not contain her laughter.
Subsequent actions took place in silence. Poppy was sewing the two parts of Dogday's body together, and he silently endured, clinging to his savior, who, in turn, tried to ease the dog's pain by gently stroking his head, ears and hands. Kissy had not shown any signs of her presence for a long time, and it turned out that she had just been sleeping nearby all this time, sitting on the floor with her knees pressed to her chest and her back against the wall. Poppy needed more thread and turned to Elizabeth, to which she provided some more of her hair without objection. Dogday saw this when the doll asked him to turn over on his back. He looked at Poppy in amazement and then at the girl.
“Is this your hair?...” he said uncertainly, still not believing his eyes.
“Yes,” the girl nodded, but suddenly she saw an expression on the dog’s face that literally said that he was now either going to cry or... cry. “don't make that face. This won't make me bald.”
“Honey, I... I don’t even know how to thank you...” he lowered his gaze. He was clearly uncomfortable with the fact that she had done so much for him and he had yet to do anything for her.
“No need,” Elizabeth smiled and shook her head. “You've already been through a lot. I don't want to burden you with this too.”
“You really are an angel...”
“Don’t exaggerate,” she laughed quietly, flattered by such words, and a pink blush appeared on her cheeks. “I don’t want to leave you here all alone, so it would be good if you went further with us,” Dogday understood her half-hint and nodded.
“Can’t leave you unprotected,” he smiled and took the girl’s hand. Elizabeth immediately felt the soft pads on Dogday's palm and fingers pressing against her hand. “why are doing that face?”
“You have very cute paws,” the girl could barely restrain herself from laughing, and the dog turned his head away in embarrassment, but did not withdraw his hand, allowing her to touch his paw and smooth the fur between the pads.
Poppy interrupted this idyll, declaring that she had finally finished. The seam turned out simply excellent and, most importantly, strong, it was not in vain that they spent so much time on it. The doll carefully jumped off Dogday's stomach, and the girl began to carefully help him get up. She threw his arm around her neck and, holding him by the torso, helped him to his feet. Despite Elizabeth's support, holding on to her was not entirely comfortable due to their height difference. Dogday did not stand very confidently, but the fact that his tail was actively wagging already indicated that their efforts were not in vain.
“Can you feel your legs?” Elizabeth asked carefully, still holding her friend.
“I do, but... it’s very unusual... I don’t know if I can walk on my own,” it would really be difficult for him to walk on his own, but he said this just to be more convincing. The arrogant dog just wanted his Angel to be as close to him as possible and not go too far away.
“It’s okay, I’ll help you,” the girl smiled encouragingly, standing still to give him time to at least get used to it a little.
After a couple of minutes everyone was ready and even Kissy woke up. She agreed to carry Grabber, which greatly eased Elizabeth's burden. Moving forward, Dogday carefully moved his legs, trying to match the pace of Elizabeth's walking, and she, in turn, was in no hurry so as not to overload her friend's weakened legs. So they got to the Gas Production Zone.
The girl still had questions about the “Hour of Joy”, the bloody inscriptions about which she had so often seen. Poppy decided to simply show her the tape, answering all her questions at once. About what happened on the day of her absence, about what happened to her colleagues and about why the company closed. There was no sound in the video on the tape, but even so, Elizabeth could hear the heartbreaking screams of the people in her head who had once worked with her. There were those with whom she knew personally and those with whom she could only lock eyes. There were those that she had heard about only in the mention of the stories of her colleagues, and some she saw for the first time; the company is huge and the girl really might never have met some of the faces. And they all died. All in one moment. In one hour.
In Hour Of Joy
The TV screen went dark and Elizabeth saw her own face in the reflection of the screen. It didn't express anything. No grief, no sadness, no condemnation towards toys. She didn't want to express anything, just feel, she was too tired for the first. Dogday felt the raging emotions inside her, although everyone probably felt it because of the tense moment of silence. He weakly squeezed her shoulder, trying to reassure Elizabeth, giving a sign that he was with her, and she just sighed and offered to move on.
The three of them climbed onto a kind of elevator, and Kissy stayed behind to start the mechanism. Dogday still didn't need to exert much effort, so Elizabeth helped him sit down, but he didn't want to let her go and the girl had to sit next to him, holding his hand and gently squeezing the soft plushie pads on his paw. The platform they were standing on began to slowly descend, leading them into the unknown. It became darker around, and for some reason the atmosphere became gloomier. It seemed like something very bad was about to happen and they suddenly heard a scream...