Chapter Text
I watch as Six stares at me. Words are unspoken between us. I can’t help but notice there is something off about Six. With the way she is looking at me, I can tell she is angry. This leaves me confused for a moment. What did I do wrong? Is there a way I can make it right? I had just destroyed the music box. It was the thing that was keeping Six a monster. She is back to normal now. After she was captured by the Thin Man I did whatever it took to save her. It wasn’t easy getting here but I couldn’t leave Six like this. I wasn’t going to leave behind the one friend I had in this world.
The tower's walls have shifted. Instead of being the stone walls there it is now replaced by flesh. The flesh moves and stirs as the area rumbles. This whole place has changed. But this tower is something that neither Six or I have ever seen before.
Me and Six look at the walls as they rumble. We both know we have to get out of here, before this place collapses. Six and I run through a hole in the wall. The tower's wall is still normal here but not for long. The walls start to change as the flesh and eyes consume it.
I jump over a hole in the ground as the flesh is gaining behind me. Eventually we reach a doorway where we enter. There is a bridge leading to the exit. The moment I see it I feel urgency and panic go through me. We have to hurry.
Six makes it to the other side just as the bridge starts to crumble. My side of the bridge breaks off as I run to the end and jump. As I am going through the air, I look down and feel terror. Below me there is nothing. Six catches me as I feel relief. I wait for her to pull me up but for a moment we just stay like this as she stares at me. I look at her confused and panicked as more seconds go by.
“Six what’s wrong? Pull me up, please!” Six looks at me with a glazed expression. Suddenly I feel her start to pull as I try to climb up onto the edge. I’m up on the ledge now. I look at Six thankful but I’m still confused and shocked about the whole thing.
We get up and start to run towards the screen in the wall. The tower shakes as we run. It feels even angrier than before. Getting to the screen we both go through it. Suddenly the TV we went through spits us both out as we land on some carpet. We appear to be in some sort of building now. Somewhere in the Pale City? I start to get up and I look at Six. Suddenly as she stands up something appears in front of us.
It’s a shadow form of Six. We stare at it for a few moments when it suddenly disappears. Once it’s gone Six’s stomach starts to rumble as I look at her concerned. I run into the nearby kitchen that’s right by the room and I find a piece of bread. Quickly I give it to Six as she gulf it down before I can even finish handing it to her.
“Six are you ok?” She looks up at me and nods. Suddenly I see her frown as the anger returns.
‘Your him! You're the Thin Man!” What?! What is she talking about? I’m not the Thin Man I killed him.
“What are you talking about?” I ask confused but Six growls at me as she continues.
“I never saw your face until you found me in the tower. I recognize that face anywhere. You're him!” I am left shocked and confused as I stand there. I can’t be the Thin Man that’s not possible. But Six seems sure of it.
“Six if it makes you feel more comfortable I can find another bag to put on. But I mean it when I tell you I’m not him.” Six looks conflicted for a moment as she stares at me trying to read my expression. Finally she sighs as she starts to head out of the room.
“I don’t care if you wear a bag or not. Let’s just get moving.” I follow Six as we head out the door of the apartment. Walking behind her we step out onto the streets of the Pale City. Looking back at the Signal Tower it looks like a wreck. The flesh walls are now visible on the outside now. And it looks like it’s going to collapse soon. There’s cracks running down the walls that are left and it is shaking.
Looking at Six we both know we have to leave the city. I follow her as we make are way through the city. Suddenly as we turn the corner we stumble upon a few viewers. Just as we are about to run we stop. They're just standing there. All of them are shaking. Is it because the Signal Tower is collapsing and it’s interfering with the transmission?
Looking at Six we both run off leaving them there as we continue to run through the streets. All the Viewers we come across are like this. All of them are just dead to the world.
We are now approaching the outskirts of the city. Running with Six we make it to the beach that is there. The sand is soft beneath my feet as we walk along it. It’s a nice change of pace from the hard streets of the Pale City. Stone is hard and can cut your feet. It feels nicer walking on something soft.
Suddenly both me and Six stop. Standing there along the shore is a monster. He is wearing a grey trench coat and hat. His skin is yellow and is sagging down. Suddenly he looks at us and rushes to catch us. Me and Six both start to run but it is in vain as he grabs both of us.
I kick and struggle within his grip as he starts to bring us over to a boat. He puts Six over his shoulder for a moment as he grabs some rope from the boat. He starts to tie Six up. Once he is done he ties me up and puts us in the boat. He gets in as well as he starts rowing.
“This is unexpected. I didn’t think I would see the day when both of you were here.” Both me and Six look stunned at this. What is he talking about? Suddenly he starts rowing as the boat leaves the shore.
“What are you talking about?!” Six hisses at the monster but he ignores her as he keeps rowing. I sit there silent and shocked as I look down at the ropes binding me.
Time passes as we have been out on the sea for about a few hours now. This entire time the monster has been silent. Looking out at the ocean we can see no land in sight as we continue further. Something starts to appear from the horizon however. The silhouette is small at first but grows larger.
At first it looks like a small island. But as we get closer I see it looks like a rock formation. It has a small chimney on it and it has a door in the center of it. We pull up to it and stop as the Farryman helps us out of the boat. Going up to the door it opens automatically as the Ferryman leads us down a flight of stairs. Going down them we see what looks like a dining area.
He takes us to an elevator that takes us deeper into this place. Getting off the elevator we are led further inside until we reach another elevator. It takes a few minutes for the elevator to stop. Once it does we get out and step into what looks like some sort of prison. There are cells all over the place and further into the room there is a monster that is shorter than the others. His skin is sagging over his eyes blinding him. He wears a brown fedora and a filthy green jacket. He has long arms and chalky white skin. When he sees us he smiles as the Ferryman leads us head deeper into the prison.
Suddenly we stop as the Ferryman stops and turns around leaving us in the hallway. On his way out we can hear him say something under his breath.
“Welcome to the Maw.
It is nighttime now. At least I think so. It’s hard to tell without being outside. We managed to find a corner hidden from the rest of the prison. We found some old rags we can use as blankets as well. All and all we are managing the best we can.
I sit next to Six. This entire time there has been something that has been bothering me. I just can’t get it out of my mind.
“Six.”
“Yes?” She turns to look at me and quickly grows concerned as she sees the look on my face. She can tell something is bathering me.
“Were you thinking about……. Dropping me back there…” Once the words come out I can barely hold back the pain in them. I could tell by the look in Six’s eyes that I am right as she looks at me for a few moments in silence.
“I thought you were the Thin Man. Does it even matter, in the end I pulled you up.” She hisses the last words as she glares at me.
“Of course it matters. Six I did all I could to help you. For you to almost drop me.” It hurts more than anything else I have ever experienced. To know my best friend was considering dropping me. Was I ever anything to her or was I just another means to a end. Does she even think of me as a friend or am I a tool to her? Six notices the pain on my face as she sighs and lessons the intensity of her gaze.
“Listen, I almost made a mistake. The only thing we can do now is move on. No sense dwelling on it.” I hesitate as I sit there thinking. I take in Six’s confession as I lay down and start to drift to sleep.
She almost dropped you!’
Your a monster
She’s right about you
My dreams are far from peaceful. I look around and suddenly I am back hanging over the edge with Six gripping my hand. I look at her pleadingly for her to pull me up.
“Six what are you doing? Please help me?!” But she ignores me as I feel her hand letting go. I feel nothing beneath my feet as I start to fall deeper into the Signal Tower. The whole time I watch Six’s face as she smiles and turns around and walks away.
I hit the ground. The flesh is all around me now. It’s growing closer. Suddenly I see a chair in the center of the room. I sit down feeling hopeless. I don’t know how much time passes. Days, months, years!
Suddenly I am on the streets of the Pale City. Looking around I look at a puddle. And I gasp, as my voice sounds older now more aged. The person in the reflection isn’t me. It’s the Thin Man. He stares back at me and with a blank and drained expression.
I suddenly wake up with a gasp as I see Six is still sleeping by my side. I don’t want to go back to sleep.
1 month later
We have learned that the ship’s name is called the Maw. It’s a huge restaurant. It’s main course….. Children.
The children are killed and taken to the kitchen. Where the chefs prepare them raw for the guests. There have been a few loads of guests that have arrived since the last time we stopped. In order to make sure the children stay in the prison the Maw has the Janitor. He’s the monster we ran into when he first arrived. He doesn’t kill the children, that's not his job. He keeps them alive and imprisoned here until it’s time to send them to the Chefs.
The Maw is massive from what we have heard. We are currently in the prison area of the ship. But there is way more to the Maw than just the prisons. The whole place is one giant labyrinth.
Me and Six have been surviving here for quite a while now. We have gotten used to the layout. Six’s hunger has been getting worse in the meantime though. Whenever she goes through one of her hunger periods I have to try to find something for her to eat. It’s hard finding food down here. But I have to keep Six going.
While we were out exploring one day we came across a campfire with a few kids by it. They told us a few of their stories about themselves before they got to the Maw. Sadly one of the kids was eaten by a leach though.
Currently I am with Six. She is sleeping inside of a suitcase that is open. I sit next to her thinking. Suddenly she gasps and wakes up. Immediately I am at her side trying to find out what’s wrong. Six brushes me off though as she gets up.
“It was just another bad dream. We should get moving.”