BATIM: Memory's Twisted Lane

Chapter 14

Alice spins and punches Henry in the face. Who knows how she's actually able to throw punches like that. Henry's now recovering from it.

Alice raises the axe above her head. I quickly rip it from her hands and hit her in the head with the blunt side.

Alice falls to her knees and glares at me.

I rest the axe on my shoulder, "That's for what ya did with the cutouts."

Turns out Alice is quick too. She grabs my ankle and pulls me off balance. I feel my hand lose the axe.  I can see Henry running for the axe out of the corner of my eye as I wrestle with Alice.

"Bendy wasn't lying!" I say, "You are tough!"

Alice pins me down and reaches for my neck, "So, the Demon can speak! Why couldn't he just talk to me about his precious cutouts? Is he that scared of me?"

"If anything, he's disgusted!"

Alice balls her hand into a fist and raises it above me. I see the axe spiraling above her.

Alice scrambles for the axe. I hear her screaming in pain as I sit up. I look in her direction and see her lying on the floor, lifeless, in front of another woman, with a similar appearance. Allison Pendle.

What took you so long? What happened before this moment, that it took you eight to ten loops to stop Alice from cleaning this floor with me face?

Allison looks in my direction, a hint of distrust in her eyes, and walks to Henry. "You're lucky to be alive right now. Alice has killed countless others down here."

Tom stares at me with a blunt pipe in his hands. Well, one hand, one mech-hand. Is he-yep. He's glaring at me.

"Well then..." I say, "I can see that I'm not welcome here, so I'll just be going... Say hi to Allison for me."

Tom is slightly shocked that I know Allison's name, but he gives me a quick nod before joining the others. I turn and run back to the storage room.

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A couple of days have passed since Alice died. I've spent those days in the Machine with Bendy. During those days, I've learned more and more about this place.

Joey made the machine to bring the characters to life. Bendy was the first attempt. However, unlike everyone else down here, Bendy is the only one who doesn't have a soul. Joey wasn't satisfied with Bendy, so he locked Bendy in this machine and made him watch all the cartoons, hoping it would fix him.

Bendy isn't sure how long he was stuck here, but he does remember the first loop. During that time, he only knew cruelty and hatred. He truly wanted Henry dead. But as the loops passed, Bendy began to watch what Henry would do. He quickly realized that Henry was being used. Since then, he's been trying everything to save Henry.

Over time, I began to notice a change in Bendy. When I first saw him, he looked extremely malnourished and lonely. But now he seems healthy, and genuinely happy.

"So, this Ellie character..." Bendy pulls me out of my thoughts, "I've never seen her in any of the cartoons. But I have seen rough drafts of her on one of the desks. What's that about?"

"Well... A few weeks before the studio closed down, Joey held this contest where children would draw their own characters, and the winner would be announced and featured in one of the cartoons. I think the announcement was going to be made during the opening of that Bendyland project."

"Oh, so you made this character?"

"Yep..."

"Does Henry know?"

"Well, he did when I entered the character. I guess he forgot about it."

"well, I think you should let him know. He's been stuck in here for two decades. He deserves to know who you are."

I remember when I saw him on Level Nine. He was so happy. "When?"

"Huh?"

"I can't just walk up to him at a random time. Last time we met I ended up killing him."

Bendy paced the doorway, eventually snapping his fingers with he sees the audio log on the throne. He quickly takes it and runs out of the machine. Later he comes back with two.

"Dozens of these are found on every level in the studio. Henry always listens to them. If he were to find yours, you'd be able to tell him peacefully."

"Where do I leave it?"

"Just outside this room. Wait here on the throne for when he comes in here. Nobody but nobody is willing to come in here."

"...But he is."

"Exactly. He listens to your log, you catch up on life, he finishes the loop. BOOM! Problem solved!"

"But, Bendy, in order to finish the loop, you have to die."

Bendy's grin drops into a frown. "Crap... Forgot about that..." He smiles again awkwardly and shrugs, "Guess I'll die then."

"But I don't want that to happen."

"Well there's no other way out. Not that I know of. I can't reason with Henry because he just runs away. You've seen his workmanship on my cutouts."

"Okay, yeah there is that... But what if I were to talk to him?"

Bendy raises his hand to speak, but decides against it. He shrugs again, "Sure." He strolls to one of the walls and turns to me, "Just make sure Henry knows the truth. Don't put me above your family. Okay?"

I nod before Bendy disappears in the wall. I inhale deeply and clear my throat as I press the record button.

"I still remember it. I still remember my name, my age, everything; even where I left my car when I go there. Heh.
I only came here to find out what happened to my dad. I never expected him to be stuck in a place like this, in some sort of loop. I just hope that he'll recognize me.
And if you are listening to this, dad, I know what happened. I've known for twenty years, yet it's taken me this long to fully understand it. You've seen me many times during this loop. You once knew me as Heather. Now... I hope you can know me as Ellie for the last time. Maybe one day... we'll leave this place and everyone will be free.
I love you, dad."

I end the recording and write "Heather Stein." on the front of the audio log.

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"You lied to me!" I hear Sammy's yelling just as I reach the top of the cavern. "You said I'd be free."

I peer through a hole in the fence and watch as Tom kills Sammy with the axe. I climb over the fence as Allison arrives.

"Ellie! What are you doing here?"

"Well, you weren't there when it happened. But you see, Henry and I have agreed that I'm going to help him find his friend. We've yet to find this furry friend, so I still have to help him."

"A fine job of helping you did with Alice."

"She's a tough cookie. Or she was... You and I both know she ain't easy to deal with."

"So you really think we can trust you?"

"Turn around."

Tom looks toward Allison and quickly strikes down a Searcher. Allison stares at me in shock.

"Don't just stand there. We have a feeding frenzy on us. Let's just talk about buddy-buddy town after we blow that Popsicle stand."

And that's what we do. We fight the Searchers and Lost Ones. It takes a long... long time. Those guys are relentless. But, we do manage to beat them and stay in one piece.

Henry looks over to Allison for guidance. Allison shrugs and walks toward the fence to open the gate.

I tap on Henry's shoulder and whisper in his ear, "Listen, there are going to be a few tough times head, so I just wanted you to know something. Stay calm and... keep an open mind."

Henry stares at me in confusion. I turn and skip away. Before Allison cuts the gate open, I hop over it and jump down the cavern.