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Honestly, you don’t know how you end up getting roped up into these situations, you wanted to stay home, nice and warm, safe from the outside elements but nooooo, you had to get dragged out into the cold by your so-called ‘friends’, calling them that seemed to be a disservice to them but then again, back at town you didn’t have anyone else to hang around with so you just sort of even up getting involved with these particular toons even if you really don’t like them.
“Aw are you getting scared~?” a dog toon teased you, shoving you a bit roughly.
“Leave them, I don’t want to be here either” the bat girl next to you comments, shivering from the cold.
You rub your arms, trying to keep warm, cold air leaving your mouth, “So why are we doing this?”
“To see the Grave Demon!” the dog smirks, dramatically throwing his hands in the air.
“What?” that didn’t sound like good idea, especially in this weather, in the dark as well.
“The Grave Demon! Come on, don’t tell me you don’t know!” he barks at you and you frantically shakes your head, he groans, “Ugggggggggh okay so, supposedly there’s a demon that hangs around the graveyard and only comes out on the darkest, coldest night”
“Let me guess, the demon eats our soul if it catches us?” She remarks, crossing her arms.
“Bingo”
“Then why are we going to find it?” you quietly asked.
“Why not? It’ll be cool!” he adds, “Or are you just chicken?”
You huffed, “I’m not chicken”
“Sounds like you are”
“Am not!”
“You two! Quiet!” She shushed you both and the two of you go tight lipped, “I think I heard something…”
All three of you listen in to your surroundings, nothing but the freezing winds and the sounds of trees softly rustling, you would have found this calming if you weren’t so terrified right now.
He scoffs, “Were you trying to scare us?”
“I wasn’t! I swear I heard something” she defended herself, stomping her foot on the ground.
“M-maybe it was just the echos of our own footsteps?” you suggested.
She sighs, “yeah a guess your right…”
Still even as the three of you trekked along the dark path, you couldn’t get that feeling off your mind, the feeling that you were being followed. The walk to the graveyard felt like forever but you did spot the gates, rusted and worn, unlocked as the locking feature broken years ago before you were even born and no one bothered to fix it up, something about a lack of funding.
Your heart was racing inside your chest as you past the gates, the way it suddenly slams behind you makes you nearly jump out of your skin, trembling, you hurried over to the other two who looked just as nervous, eyes darting around the worn gravestones and seem to tower over every one of you.
“O-Okay now what?” She shutters out.
“We wait” he tried to hide his own fear, thickly swallowing.
You were happy to just stay where you were but then the other two wandered off nearly without you, checking out the grave stones and whatnot.
“W-what are you two doing!?” You quietly shouted at them, looking around in hopes you don’t alert what else is around here.
“Well might as well look around” She shrugs, “Cause I think this whole demon this is gonna be a total bust”
You grumble out a sigh, “If I die tonight, I’m haunting you for the rest of your life”
“That’s fair” She was rather dismissive of you as she glanced at the nearby gravestone covered in moss.
While you were annoyed with the two, the best outcome of this situation is that the gravekeeper finds you three and kicks you out thus ending this little hunt, of course, that goes out the window when you see one of them climbing on top of one of the larger grave stones, hanging on the décor piece it held.
“W-what are you doing!?” you snapped at the dog toon.
“Trying to get a better view duh!”
“You’re going to get us in trouble!” You snapped back, tensing.
Your poor heart races as you watched him climb up further, standing on the decorative piece that was on top of it, not really knowing what it was but it looked rather worn and fragile.
“At this point, you’re just asking to be eaten by a demon” She huffs watching this tomfoolery at play.
“At least it would be proof” He barked back, getting on the tippy top and looking around.
And just as predicated he takes one further step and the décor piece suddenly snaps off from his weight causing him to fall back with the piece as it clatters to the ground, echoing around the area. You and the other toon were left horrified at what happened, knowing that all of you were going to be in some big trouble.
“You idiot!” She snapped at the dog, “Now we’re certainly cursed because of your stupidity”
“That means we have a better chance to see the -----”
“If you say demon, I’m going to put your six feet under”
He shrugs, sneering at her before getting up and dusting himself off then walking off.
“Aren’t you going to put it back up?” you refer to the décor piece that snapped off.
“Why? It’s not like the dead are going to complain” He remarked as he walked off with the bat girl follow soon after.
This doesn’t sit well with you, demons and ghosts aside, desecrating a grave like this was not okay, wanting to atleast do a good thing tonight, you grab the heavy stone décor and slowly you climbed up the gravestone, having the piece dig into your side, there’s not way you could glue it back into place but you wanted to put it back where it belongs and hope that whoever comes by in the morning fixes it.
It took every piece of strength in you to lift it back into place, it wasn’t perfect but you got it in place and it was heavy enough to not fall off if a gust of wind blew by, you sigh in relief glancing up, only to be greeted by a twisted, teethy, wide smile.
You scream and fall back, hitting the hard stone in the process before finally hitting the ground with a loud thud, the other two toons turn around to see a large horned creature crawling over the gravestone, its eyes hidden away with blacken goop and its crooked horns reached into the midnight skies. They scream and scrambled off, leaving you to struggle on the ground as pain shoots up from your leg.
“W-wait! Don’t leave me!” you cried out to them, trying to pull yours across the dirt.
But of course, they would leave you, it’s not like anyone else cares about you, no one in town would question if you suddenly disappeared, you bit down on your lip, holding back your tears knowing that this might be the end of you, dying alone and scared in a graveyard. All you could do was screw your eyes shut, hoping your death was swift and painless.
And yet nothing happens for a bit, until a voice spoke up.
“Ya think trouble makers stick together huh?”
You turned around, looking behind you to no longer see that tall lanky creature but rather a smaller, rounder creature, looked like a demon—horns were a lot smaller and less pointy and about your height and had black eyes that all toons had.
Still, you brace yourself, “P-please don’t eat my soul!”
The demon smirked, “Eat your soul? Nah I don’t do that…unless I’m really hungry”
You can’t tell if the demon is joking with you or what, still trembling as he walks up to you, kneeling down to your level.
“Ya good there? Saw ya take dat big fall” He asked with a tilt in his head.
You sniffle a little, “I t-think I hurt my leg…so uh, what are you mister…?”
“Please, none of that ‘mister’ stuff, call me Bendy and well, I’m a demon!” he proudly points at his horns.
“So you’re the Grave Demon?”
He rolls his eyes, “Yeah Yeah, I’m that guy, I’m the one trying to keep graverobbers and twerps like you out of here messing with the graves--- and folks think I’m the evil one!”
Bendy watches you shrink a little and out of guilt he sighs, “I don’t mean you, just those other two idiots ya came here with--- I could tell ya ain’t one of them”
“Y-yeah I sort of just got dragged along..” you admitted, “Sorry for the trouble”
“Eh, it won’t be the last time someone assaults a grave, folks ain’t got decency these days” he snarky remarks before offering his gloved hand, “Can ya walk? I’ll get that patched up easy peasy”
You hesitated for a moment, unsure if you trusted him to take you somewhere else but then again, you can’t really do anything in this moment, crawling home in the pitch black was not an option for you. So you took his hand and he helped you up, supporting your side as he led you away.
It was a rather short distance but he led you to a small shack on the other side of the graveyard, it did look worn from weather but once he led you inside it had a completely different feeling, being rather warm and cozy, there was a small furnace that had a chimney that led up and outside, a table and chair and a wireframe bed.
He sat you down on the bed, heading off to grab a first aid kit, letting you take your time to observe your surroundings, he comes back and tends to your scrapped knee, even if he patched it up, it was not safe for you in the slightest to be going out there. It’s a little quiet between the two of you and your just stuck twiddling your thumbs, trying to think of something to say.
“So uh…Bendy, how did you become the Gravekeeper?” You asked him.
“It’s kinda a blur there Doll” He remarks, eyes more focus on the task at hand, “I was just tired of seein’ folks trash this place so I decided; ‘why not scare them into never coming back?’”
“Seems like it kinda backfired hasn’t it?’ you replied.
He huffs, “yeah, now everybody wants ta see the grave demon, ugh, more work for me…”
You hummed quietly, “Is it lonely?”
He frowns slightly, “Eh yeah but it comes with protecting this place”
He’s done and moves his hands away from your leg, “There, that’ll keep it together but ya won’t be walking anytime soon---- but enough questions about me, I wanna know about ya”
“What is there to know?”
“I dunno, like, why were ya with those duds, ya don’t seem like a troublemaker Doll, too good-lookin’ for dat” He remarks.
You’re not exactly sure if he’s hitting on you or it’s his way of being nice after your fall but you still try to answer his question, “Lonely, mostly, don’t have many strong connections in town, if any”
He watches your gaze grown soft and sadden, “Well I think ya swell”
“but we’ve just met” you tell him.
“Yeah and? I’ve seen the lowest of the lows here Doll, I have a good judge of character, ya a angel if I ever seen one” Bendy tells you outright.
You smile at his compliment, “Thank you…I needed to hear that”
“No prob Doll” he hops off the bed and backs up the stuff, “I’d imagine after all that ya must be starving, I’ll whip us something nice--- I can make a mean bacon soup yanno?”
His smile brights as you nodded before he hurries off, clearly excited to be talking to someone after so long if the wagging tail of his was anything to go by and you were happy too, it’s not often you get to talk to someone in a more friendly manner and he’s not really that bad, just someone trying to protect the graveyard.
You bit your lip, “Hey Bendy..”
“Hm?” he turns around with a tilt in his head.
“Are…are you busy often?” You asked, feeling the nervous jitters run through your body, “I wouldn’t mind spending more time with you…if…if that’s okay”
His whole body perks up, “Really? Ya wanna hang with me?”
“I would like to get to know you better, you seem nice” you replied back softly.
His face gets a little tinted with color, “Aw shucks Doll, I’d be happy ta! Better than talking ta the dead, their humor is stuck in the mud”
That brings a little warmth to your chest, despite how bad this night had turned out, you were glad you came out here, two lonely toons bonding on a cold dreary night.