BatIM Five Trials

Chapter Twenty Six

As she raced into the halls, she nearly immediately encountered a searcher, which immediately received a hard blow to the head. It came from a puddle with ink dripping down, so out of concern for her scabbed over shoulder, she turned herself to the side to avoid the ink shower. After this, she kept running, not wanting to chance an encounter with the Ink Demon. Her shoulder was a good reason why.

At the end of the hall where another searcher came, she saw a large sign part of her hoped not to see. TRIAL FIVE. It was just like Trial One's sign with the Bendy head symbol on the top center.

How many of these Trial things are there? There's been four before now. . . what does this one have in store for me? She didn't take too much more time to ponder it as she kept hurrying down the halls. She hesitated a bit when she saw planks going over an ink pool, remembering Allison's warning. Don't touch the ink for too long. Bracing herself, she took the first step onto the first plank and jogged, being grateful for her good sense of balance when she didn't fall into the ink. Once again a searcher came to attack, which since she had legs, she outran it for the time being, but as she approached the end of the hall she saw a dead end. For some reason, she also started to feel a familiar dread, like something big was up ahead, something dangerous. Something that was not good.

I can't swim through this, there's no way. There's probably something in there, plus my shoulder isn't fully healed yet. She thought as she looked down at the massive ink pool she saw ahead. She got the feeling that she wasn't seeing everything there was to be seen about the ink pool either, but the narrow tunnel forward was too shrouded in darkness to look inside.

The searcher caught up, and she dealt with it as she had the past two before it could use its sharp claws. After that, she looked around the room and saw a giant boat or barge looking vehicle. She also saw a lever, so going over to it, she gave it a yank. It was a bit stubborn, once again showing the studio's age and lack of maintenance, but finally, it went. The barge then started to slide down the slope, revealing a second lever on the other side. Giving this one a yank as well sent the barge down the rest of the slope and sliding into the ink river.

Jade headed down the ramp and climbed onto the barge, putting her Boris plushie in her pocket now. It was now she noticed that she forgot her book bag, mentally cursing herself for her carelessness. She looked at the control panel for the barge, seeing a button and a lever. Somewhat louder whispers told her to press the button first, so she listened. The boat's engine roared to life, which made her smile. Now we're getting somewhere! She then started to push the lever forward, which made the boat start to move. After realizing what this was for, she pushed it as far forward as it would go. It didn't take long for her to enter the dark tunnel, taking one last look back at the place from which she had left. She was just seeing the lighter parts of the ink web entering the area, which told her she had left just in time.

As she coasted through the ink tunnel, she placed the seeing tool and pipe down, since she didn't seem to need them for the time being. She made double sure the Boris plushie was nice and secure in her pocket, which it was. Its head was the only thing that poked out. The fact that it was there was a bit reassuring to Jade, since she found herself able to have kept a piece of her friend with her, even if she couldn't save him.

The tunnel suddenly seemed a bit lighter as ink started to seep down her arms slowly, and upon lifting them up to see it, she could see the ink shimmered as if the light source was her own two eyes. At first, she was quite surprised by this, but then she pondered for a moment. Should I really be surprised after everything that's happened in this madhouse?

Soon as she kept going through the ink river, she came upon a large opening in the tunnel. Suddenly the feeling of dread got much worse, like whatever she was sensing was right there. The barge suddenly stalled as the throttle forced itself back, the engine sputtering before the boat went back to idling. "I think something's stuck. . ." Jade muttered to herself as she turned to check on the back of the boat. On the way, she froze as she heard something surfacing from the ink. Looking over, the source of the sound revealed itself to be a giant clawed hand, feeling around. It touched another stray barge, then reaching and grabbing it, pulling it under the surface of the ink river.