Maddie and Emma in Bendy and the Ink Machine

Chapter Nine

'So quiet,' Alice spoke up, 'Like a welcoming grave. I like the silence, don't you two?'

We walked back up to her door, ignoring her comment.

'I hate leaving work unfinished! Fortunately, I have you two to pick up the pieces. But you both will have to go even deeper. Down, down, down into the abyss. Take the lift down. Say hello to an old friend. Sending you a little present. A little firepower. Take good care of it. It belonged to someone very special.'

The present was a tommy gun! Finally! I went to grab it but it evaporated into ink.

'Oops. I forgot. It's a little hard to get a hold of. Oh well, better luck next time.'

Are you kidding me? I sighed annoyed and went back to the lift. We went down to level fourteen with Boris who, by the way, hadn't been following us at all throughout this whole ordeal. When we arrived at level fourteen, we saw a member of the butcher gang lying dead on the floor with a heart in his hand. I took it and heard a screech coming from the pool of ink below. We went downstairs to see what it was when Alice shushed us.

'There he is. The Projectionist. Skulking in the darkness. You two be sure to stay out of his light if you two don't want trouble. Just bring me back the pieces I need.'

The Projectionist was just an ink person with a projector for a head. Why do I feel like that's what Norman Polk turned into? That's just my guess since we've already seen what Sammy turned into and likely Susie turned into Alice Angel. That's my theory at least. We went down into the ankle-deep pool of ink and started looking around for more hearts while staying away from the Projectionist. But, as we were looking around, we saw a recording from Norman again;

'Now I'm not lookin' for trouble. It's just the nature of us projectionists to seek out the dark places. You see, I've learned the ins and outs of this here studio. I know how to avoid being bothered by the likes of this... company. That projectionist, they always say, creeping around, he's just lookin' for trouble. Well, trouble or not, I see's everything. They don't even know when I'm watchin'. Even when I'm right behind' em.'

Well, that only supports my theory at this point. We walked into the area we saw the Projectionist walk into and started searching for more hearts. Though it was almost hard to separate the light from the Projectionist and the projectors playing Bendy episodes. We looked around for dead Butcher gang members and looked for any hearts but, so far, we found nothing. And this place we're in is like a labyrinth.

You could get lost in here. But we kept walking until we heard the Projectionist screech at us and his light appeared. We were close to a hiding booth so we hid in there and waited for him to walk past. But, we will admit, that made us jump. Once he was gone, we left the booth and saw, right where the Projectionist had come from, was a heart. I took it and heard the Projectionist screech again. We ran for it this time. We ran around until we made it back into the booth and hid again.

When the Projectionist left, we left the booth and kept searching. I found another heart not long after. But we had to go back the way we came so we hid in the booth, waiting for the Projectionist to walk past before we left. But he never did so we left and kept looking around. And I soon found the last heart.

Alice asked us if the hearts were still writhing in our hands. No, and even that's weird. We returned to the lift so we could give Alice her hearts. We hope this is the last errand she wants us to run because we are done. We returned to the lift and went back to level Nine. But first we went to level P, where we saw a hidden room with a tape recorder from me. I recorded this 10 years ago.

'Only two weeks into this cosplay and already it's gotten interesting. Joey is a man of ideas...and only ideas. When I agreed to start this whole thing with him I thought there would be a little more give and take. Instead I give, and he takes. I haven't seen Emma and my daughter Amber for days now. Still, someone has to make this happen. When in doubt, just keep drawing Maddie. On the plus side, I've got a new character I think people are going to love.'

After that we went back up to level Nine. When I dispenced the hearts, we got some good news.

'It seems we've reached the end of my to-do list, my little errand girls. I hope you two enjoyed our time together. I'll always treasure it. Return to the lift. It's time to go home.'

Finally! We happily went back to the lift with Boris which started making its way back up to the surface.

'Have you two ever wondered what Heaven is like? I like to dream that it's quite beautiful. A soft valley of green grass, blanketed by a warm sun. I don't think I'll ever get to see it. Are you two ready to ascend, my little errand girls? The heavens are waiting.'

Alice then started to cry which turned into maniacal laughter which made us a little uncomfortable. We looked at Boris with an unsure look. We just waited for the lift to reach the top when suddenly the lift started plummeting down!

'Did you really think I'd let you two steal from me?! Did you really think I'd just let you two go?! No, Maddie and Emma! I know who you two are! And I know why you both are here! And you two will not stop what needs to be done! Now come down and BRING ME BACK MY BORIS! It's the most perfect Boris I've ever seen, and I want it! I need it. I need its insides so that I can be beautiful again! Don't you two understand? Don't you two get it?! Give him to me!! Or better yet, I'll take him! Once... you two are both... DEAD!'

"You'll never have him! There are other Boris' in this place! Find another!" I yelled at her before the lift came to a stop and I got knocked out.

I woke up to Boris and Emma trying desperately to wake me up. I saw Alice behind them coming closer and humming to herself. I tried to warn them about her but I was left so dizzy. The lights then turned off but flashed on again for me to watch Boris and Emma get dragged into the dark hallway. I weakly called out for them before blacking out again.