Forever - Mono x Six - Little Nightmares

Chapter 7 - The Janitor

(Artwork by Midori-no-Usagi)

The three hitched their breathes as the long-armed gentleman came barreling around the corner, reaching its hands outward and pressing them up against the metal machine. He sniffed the air, feeling all around the table saw before finding the button, pressing it, and deactivating the mechanism.

"Damn it, Seven! Look what you got us into now..."

Mono scowled at Seven who pouted back at him. The three of them were standing on a long piece of cloth that was stretched out across one side of the floor. Multiple wooden carvings of various shapes were all around them, and they had to be careful, or else they would risk bumping into one and jeopardizing the whole thing.

"What?!"

He turned around and looked at Six who was constantly nudging him with an annoyed look on his face. She was pointing into the other room at a hatch that was connecting to a rope. The rope was attached to a crank, and if the crank were to be turned, the hatch would open and they could make a swift escape. The only problem was it was surrounded by wooden flooring, meaning any step they would take in that region would immediately alert the long-armed man.

"Oh, I see..."

Mono nodded, quietly walking over to the Seven and tapping him on the shoulder. He turned around and tilted his head, so Mono pointed him at the same hatch that Six had shown him. Seven's gaze averted to the floor as he began to think up ideas, before raising his head back up and raising his pointer finger, indicating he had come up with a plan. 

"Oh great, what now..."

Seven without warning picked up a square wooden carving from off of the ground and tossed it at the long-armed male.

"Wait, wait, wait, WAIT!!"

Mono tried to stop him but was too late as the wooden carving collided with the ground, causing the man with the lanky arms to produce a croak. Cracking his disproportionate limbs, he yelped as he outstretched his slender arms at whatever made the sound. Running out of the room, Seven made a mad dash for the button that activated the table saw once again.

"Seven, you're gonna get us all killed, STOP!!"

He tried to grab his arm but Seven pulled away from him.

"Wait, this will work, trust me!"

"Mono, wait! He might be onto something..."

Six grabbed Mono and pulled him back to safety, restraining him from going after Seven as the kid in the blue clothing pressed his hands against the grey button, causing the loud table saw to come back to life once again. The impossible man immediately ran back, Seven passing right by him and making it into the next room, motioning for Mono and Six to follow him.

"Go, go, go!"

Six pushed Mono forward as Seven bought them time to open up the hatch. As soon as they entered the room, Seven had the hatch already open for them.

"I can hold you, you two go first!"

Mono could barely hear Seven's words over the sound of the table saw spinning, but he understood enough, hopping into the hatch along with Six, landing onto a pile of coal. Seven quickly followed, the two quickly moving out of the way before the boy in blue landed on them.

"Phew..! We did it!"

Seven pumped his fists into the air in celebration, immediately being silenced at the sound of muffled yelling and stomping from above. The giant from above knew he had been tricked, stomping around in range before opening the door and leaving the room.