Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Audrey just woke up from another nightmare about the Ink Demon.

Of course this would happen. Just as Audrey thought life could return to a semi normal and she could move on from the horrors of the studio, the Ink Demon had to make a reappearance and ruin what was going to be a great evening with Bendy. Sure, the pair were able to decorate those cookies and put up the decorations the next day (even if the tree lights didn’t work due to a few broken bulbs) and they had a good time while doing it, but the thought of the Ink Demon returning again put Audrey on edge through most of it.

What was about just as worrying to her though was the lack of Ink Demon now. It had been about a week since that incident, and she hadn’t seen horn or hoof of the devil. She wasn’t sure if that was because he hadn’t freed himself from Bendy since then or if she just hadn’t noticed him if he was around. Audrey was starting to lose sleep over the whole situation.

After lying in bed for a while, trying to fall back asleep but to no avail, Audrey gave up. Her clock said she had to get up in half an hour anyway, so she might as well start the day early. Maybe she’ll make a nice breakfast for Bendy and herself.

After getting ready, Audrey went to the kitchen, getting out everything she needed to make pancakes. After pouring all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl, she set a greased pan on the stove, turned it on, and began mixing up the batter with a hand whisk. There was a window above the kitchen sink that she stared out while stirring. Despite being mid-December, it was raining outside. Audrey made a mental note to take her umbrella with her today.

“I thought it was supposed to snow in December?” Audrey yelp at the sudden voice, fumbling with her mixing bowl as she tried not to drop or spill any of its contents. Fortunately, she didn’t as she set the bowl on the counter, looking around for the demon. She found him sitting on the floor of her living room next to the window by the tree. He was looking back at her, head cocked slightly. Despite how big he was, she hadn’t noticed him sitting there before.

The Ink Demon chuckled at her reaction before turning back to the window. Audrey slowly let out the breath she was holding. She gave the batter a few quick stirs before pouring some into the pan.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“O-oh, uh, well…” she didn’t know. Audrey was an animator, not a weather expert. She knew how rain worked sure, but why it was raining now instead of snow? Sure it was because it was not cold enough for snow, but what if he asked why wasn’t it colder? Her answer then would be “because that’s just how it is,” but would the demon take that as an answer? She settled for something simpler. “I… don’t… know? I don’t know, I mean, uh, New York isn’t exactly known for snow. It rains here more than anything. But, uh, it normally snows more later in the winter when it’s colder; January, February, that sort of deal.”

The demon hummed thoughtfully before going silent again. Good, that seemed like it worked. Audrey flipped the pancake over, drumming her fingernails against the counter.

“What are you doing up so early?” Audrey gasped, his voice was much, much closer than before. She turned to see him standing next to the kitchen table. How could someone so large move so quietly? He had hooves and had walked on tile floor for Pete’s sake! “Normally you get up at 6:30.”

Yes, because the fact that he knew when she normally got up wasn’t alarming at all.

“Oh, it’s nothing really. I just couldn’t sleep.” Audrey just managed to get the words out before a rumbling growl emanated from the demon.

“Don’t lie to me Audrey.” The Ink Demon growled, advancing towards her as she took a few steps back.

“D-don’t hurt me.” Audrey whimpered, protecting herself with the spatula in hand as she was backed against the counter. The demon let out a sharp huff, surprisingly warm breath tickling her face.

“How many times do I have to say it? I won’t hurt you. Like it or not, Audrey, I am no liar. When I said I won’t hurt you, I meant it.” After saying that, his demeanor quickly changed with a menacing and low growl. “That being said, I despise liars. If you keep up that inherited trait of yours, then I may have to go back on my word.” The Ink Demon glanced over to the stove before turning back to Audrey and taking a few steps back. “Take the pancake off the stove before it burns, then answer my question.”

After a moment of hesitation, Audrey moved the pancake to the plate she got out earlier. Then, she replied, “I… I had a nightmare. It woke me up.”

“About whom, Audrey?” He was toying with her, at this point, he had to have been.

“About… you.”

The demon chuckled, satisfied with his answer, “See? Was being honest that hard, Ms. Drew?”

With that, the demon backed off as he went to the table. This time Audrey could hear his hooves clack again the hard kitchen floor as he made his way over to the table, taking a set at one of the chairs. With him a good distance away, Audrey continued to make more pancakes. Except now she was stuck in an uncomfortable silence as she stood there, feeling the demon’s eyes on her back. Well, there was no harm in trying to have small talk with the demon, right?

“What are you doing up?”

“I wanted to watch the snow before the ink spot woke up, but clearly, there’s no snow to watch. Besides, that cot you gave him is far too small for me to sleep in.”

“Well, if you need sleep, you could try the couch.”

“Pass.”

He put his elbows on the table, resting his head in one of his large, clawed hands as he watched Audrey make pancakes.

“What happened to those cookies you and that ink spot made?”

“The gingerbread cookies? We decorated them and put them in the cookie jar by the fridge.” She gestured in their direction before flipping over her current pancakes.

“What do pancakes taste like?” man this guy sure asks a lot of questions. Audrey hadn’t taken him to be the talkative type. But, then again, this was his first time out of the ink machine, it’s not like he had other people around to ask people about whatever he found curious, she supposed.

“Well, they’re kind of like a sweet bread that people put other toppings on, like maple syrup and fruit, to add more flavor.”

“Could I have one?”

“Oh, uh, sure.” She did not want to refuse him, who knows how he’d react. She grabbed a plate from the cabinet, set a decent sized pancake onto it, and brought it to the demon. “Do you want anything to put on it?”

“No, just this will be fine.” He poked the fluffy food a few times before picking it up gingerly, watching it flop around when he gave it a little shake. Now it was Audrey’s turn to watch the Ink Demon as he played with his food briefly. It almost reminded her of when Bendy first had food back at her apartment, just less messy.Holding the pancake in both hands, he gently bit it and tore a piece off. After contemplating it for a moment, he looked over to Audrey and growled.

“The pancakes are burning Drew. Pay attention to them, not me.”

“Ah! Sorry.” She took the pancakes off the stove – which were only slightly charred around the edges – and poured a couple more in their place. By the time she turned back, the rest of the demon’s pancake was gone. “I can’t help but be fascinated, I guess. I didn’t know you ate.”

“You’ve seen me eat before you moron, at the studio. You’ve walked in on a few of my meals.”

Ah, that’s right. She had caught him eating a few Lost Ones while at the studio. As grim and terrifying as that was, Audrey couldn’t believe she forgot. “I guess I just assumed you only ate ink people.”

“Last I checked, the only ink person around here is you. Unless you wanted me to-”

“N-no, no. No thank you.” There were a few minutes of silence, Audrey making pancakes while the Ink Demon just watched. At this point, Audrey was torn between being terrified because of the Ink Demon sitting right there or amused because the same demon seemed to be content just watching her cook. Both sides agreed – though – with getting the demon to look at something else aside from her. “Would you like another pancake?”

“I would.”

After flipping the last pancake over, she grabbed another pancake, a bit larger than the last, and set it on the demon’s plate.

Similarly to the first pancake, he picked it up in both hands. Except this time instead of being gentle he tore the thing in half, tilting his head back before dropping one of the halves in his mouth. Clearly, he had never been taught table manners.

…

Because that’s the thing that should stand out right now. Clearly.

Turning back to the stove, Audrey transferred the last pancake from the pan to the pile on the plate. While cleaning up the area a bit, she heard coughing sounds from behind her. The Ink Demon must have tried to take on more than he could chew. Pancakes probably don’t slide down as easily as ink does. Turning to make sure he didn’t need help, Audrey gasped.

Because it wasn’t the Ink Demon that was choking, it was Bendy. She rushed over to the struggling toon to help out, but he managed to cough up a less than appetizing piece of now inky pancake onto the table.

“Bendy! Are you okay?” rubbing his chest with one hand, the toon gave Audrey a shaky thumbs up with the other. Audrey let out a sigh of relief, “Thank goodness. Had I known you could swap while he was eating I wouldn’t have given him another pancake.”

The toon perked up at the word “pancake,” glancing at the glob he spat out as if he were to say “so that’s what it was.”

“Oh, yeah, I made pancakes. I don’t know if you-” Bendy swiveled his head to look up at Audrey, nodding ecstatically with stars in his eyes. The toons overwhelming positivity and excitement was just what Audrey needed to put her at ease. She couldn’t help but laugh, “Alright, I’ll get you some.”

After taking away the plate with the gross blob and taking care of those, Audrey got him a clean plate of pancakes, setting out butter, maple syrup, and some fresh blueberries she got at the store the other day. Unlike the Ink Demon, Bendy piled on the toppings, excitedly digging in with a provided fork and knife. Audrey joined in, and the two had a nice breakfast together before Audrey had to head to work. Bendy, of course, wanted to come along, however Audrey stood firm with her stance on the idea.

“I know you want to come along,” she began, pulling her shoes and coat on while Bendy gave her puppy dog eyes, “but I don’t want to risk you being seen. I don’t know how people would react to seeing a living toon. It could bring you all sorts of unnecessary attention. I’m sorry Bendy, but not today. I’ll tell you what, one of these days I’ll take you out again. If there’s a day with a good bit of snow, I’ll take you to the park. How does that sound?” Bendy blinked a few times, clearing away the tears. After rubbing his chin in thought, he nodded, giving her a big smile and thumbs up. “Good. I’ll be back later tonight. See you then.” Audrey grabbed her umbrella and closed the door, locking it behind her.

On the subway to work, Audrey thought. There was more to why Bendy couldn’t come with her to work. While she was worried about him being caught, it was the Ink Demon she was more worried about. Had he promised not to hurt her? Sure he had. But her coworkers? She shuttered at the thought. Besides, even if he had no intention of harming anyone, he’s massive. If someone came in her office while he was around, she wouldn’t be able to hide him. It would also be much harder to explain his presence than Bendy’s. At least the toon was cute.

There’s another reason, though. As much as she hated herself for this reason, it still lingered faintly in her head: she was scared of Bendy. It wasn’t his fault, not at all, and it wasn’t even anything he did that scared her, it was what he symbolized. She loved being around that adorable toon, he made her so happy. But being around Bendy makes her afraid that the Ink Demon will show up. It was really dumb and she felt terrible for feeling that way. But as much as she tried to dismiss that fear, it was to no avail. He was a biproduct of the Ink Demon; if the demon somehow managed to get rid of his cartoon counterpart or permanently break free, well...

She needed some help with dealing with this. But who could she turn to when it comes to dealing with literal demons?

Chapter Text

Audrey has been at a loss for what to do for days now. The Ink Demon has made several reappearances, finding more “fun” ways to torment both her and Bendy. Most things have been harmless, a bit annoying if anything, such as things going missing only to reappear either days later or somewhere they shouldn’t be, such as Audrey’s pillow being shoved in the fridge or Bendy’s train being placed up in areas he can’t reach. As annoying and frustrating as these things were, they were better than the other things the demon did.

A few things were more threatening. One day Audrey woke up to find a pot filled with water on the stove. It hadn’t been turned on, but when she opened it, she found a Bendy doll floating face down in the water. What was just as frightening were the nights Audrey would wake up and see the demon standing in the corner of her room, watching her sleep. He would never say word if he got caught, and would even remain there until Audrey told him to leave. Only when she asked would the demon stalk out of the room, darkly bidding her “Good night” or “Sweet dreams”.

After many of those nights Audrey found it harder to sleep, fearing one day she would wake up to find the demon in her face. It got bad enough to where she passed out at her desk one evening and didn’t wake up until the next morning when a coworker jostled her awake. It was after that moment she realized that she had to find a solution to this problem.

At first Bendy was willing to help. The two demons had been communicating via note. While not being allowed to see these notes (some promise Bendy made so that he could get the Ink Demon to talk to him), from what Bendy told her things were still pretty rough. The demon would often brush aside requests to back off with rude remarks or by completely ignoring them. There was one particular note that Bendy received one morning that got him stomping around the apartment. Audrey had never seen Bendy get mad before. It was quite the surprise to say the least. She helped calm him down before heading off to work, wondering what on earth the demon had said to get her little friend so worked up. After no results out of that plan, Audrey had to think of some other tactics to try.

There weren’t many people Audrey could turn to for advice. If she talked to some of her coworkers, they’d think she were being abused (which, she was, but not in a way they could be able to comprehend or help with). She needed someone who knew about the Ink Demon and had dealt with him before. When she thought about it that way, she knew exactly who to turn to.

After escaping the ink machine, Audrey had inherited her father’s journal. It allowed her to reshape the ink world, which she had been doing off to the side for a while until the residents of the ink world were happy. Nowadays, she hardly changed it, she had fixed everything that the residents had requested of her, and if anymore requests came then she’d get to adding or fixing that. Now though, she just used it to communicate with various key residents. She had given out 4 special journals that people could use to write directly to her that she could use to write directly to them. She gave one to Porter, Heidi, Allison and Tom to share, and to Henry. Out of all of them, only two really knew about the Ink Demon, but considering only one of them has a unique relationship to him, she decided that he was her best bet.

Hey Henry, Audrey wrote, If you have a bit of free time to talk, I would really appreciate it. I could really use some advice.

She didn’t have to wait too long for a response from the fellow animator. Sure, give me a few minutes.

A few minutes passed and Henry made contact again. “Alright Audrey, I’m here. What did you need?”

His voice rang clear from the pages. Aside from just being a journal, it could also act as a telephone, just without the cord. “Henry, I just want to say, thank you so much for your help in advance. This is going to be a lot.”

“Of course, is something wrong? Did something happen to Bendy?”

“Sort of,” she hadn’t told anyone that the Ink Demon was alive and in her world, pestering her nearly daily. She hadn’t wanted to worry any of them. But now she really needed help before things got worse. So, she explained everything; she told him about his first appearance in her living room that fateful November evening and the various other appearances he had made since.

“Bendy has been doing his best to not let him come out, but the Ink Demon mostly comes out at night when Bendy is asleep, and I don’t want him to not sleep just for my sake. I don’t know what to do. He seems to be hellbent on making me miserable and it’s working. I don’t know how much longer of this I can take.” Audrey had started crying at that point, causing Bendy to wander into the room with a box of tissues. She thanked the toon and took a tissue, wiping away the tears and blowing her nose.

After a long silence, Henry spoke up.

“I’m so sorry all of this is happening. I wish I could be there to help.”

Bendy climbed into Audrey’s lap as she spoke, “Thank you. I wish I could bring you here, all of you. But I’m not even sure how Bendy made it out. At least I’m able to contact you and ask for some advice, if you have any.”

“Advice. Let me think.” Henry was quiet for a while, a fain hum emanating from the pages before he continued. “How much do you know about the Ink Demon’s past?”

“Not much. I just know what the Keepers did to try and- terminate, him.”

“Yeah, I heard about that too.” There was a brief pause on the other end, followed by a sigh. “It makes me sick, hearing about all that. The Ink Demon may be evil, but even he didn’t deserve that. I’m sure that’s what made him worse.”

“You say that as if he was good once.”

“No, he was never good, but he used to be more mild before. Here, let me tell you what I know about the Ink Demon.” As Audrey made sure Bendy was comfortable in her lap, Henry began. “After I – the real me – left the studio, Joey was furious, but also more determined than ever. He wanted to bring cartoons to life. With the help of the Gent corporation, he created the ink machine. After that, he tried to create Bendy. That’s how the Ink Demon came into being. Of course, Joey wasn’t happy with how he came out. He came out ‘wrong’; the form I’m more familiar with.” A sketch drew itself on the page, forming something that was a happy middle ground between Bendy and the Ink Demon. It was far less intimidating than what the demon looked like now. How did he change so much? “Apparently, he came out that way because he didn’t have a soul. I don’t think I buy that reason.”

“So, wait, the Ink Demon is… Bendy?”

“He’s supposed to be, yeah. I know it’s hard to see those traits in any aspect of him nowadays. You can still see some semblance if you look for it; it’s mostly there in appearance. But anyways, from what I’ve gathered, they locked him away somewhere. I’m assuming they put him back in the ink machine somehow, which is why he has such a strong connection to this world. It was first made for him.” So the Ink Demon had been in the real world for a time before being put back in the machine. No wonder he hated her father and by extent her. “I don’t know how accurate all of this is, I got a lot of this information second hand and I’m sure I’m missing some pieces.”

“Either way, I’ll take what I can get. Assuming all of this is accurate, though, what do you recommend I do?”

“Try and do what I did once: offer your help. I tried that once. After hearing about him getting locked away, I had an inkling of a feeling that he may not have always been the way he is. So, I found out as much as I could and tried to reason with him. It took me countless cycles to do, but eventually I made progress. The cycle before Wilson and his Keepers showed up, I was able to talk to the Ink Demon without him tearing me to shreds right away. I even managed to hug the guy.”

“And he didn’t kill you?”

“No he did. Ah, don’t worry, the ink always brings me back after dying. But he hesitated. I believe you could pick up where I left off, we’d just have to find something to start moving him towards that direction again.”

“But how? Even with knowing what you know, I’m not sure where to start.”

“Well, you mentioned not long ago that it’s December where you are, which means Christmas is coming up, right? If I were you, I’d start by giving him a gift, something he likes.”

“The only thing he seems to like is making me miserable.”

“Yeah, that’s the main issue. I’m not entirely sure what he likes either, aside from the studio cardboard cutouts. I’ll do some looking around the studio, meanwhile you need to find out if he likes or misses anything from the studio.

A little bit of kindness goes a long way. The best thing you can do is refuse to give up on him and try not to let his antics get to you. I know it’s rough and you have every right to be afraid of him, but you’re tough. I’ve seen you shine through the work you’ve done for the studio. I know you can do this.”

“Thank you, Henry. I really appreciate your help.”

“Any time. If you need more advice, you know how to contact me. Oh, and hey, if you ever need a helping hand in your world, then see if you can find me – the real me. If I’m anything like my real-life counterpart, is that I’d be willing to help you. After a bit of time processing the situation, of course. I still have a hard time believing that all of this is even possible.”

“I understand that feeling all too well.” Audrey scratched Bendy between the horns. The little demon leaned up into her hand, purring like a cat. She had no idea he could purr; it caught her off guard. She started laughing.

“What’s so funny over there?”

“Bendy has been sitting in my lap this entire time. Apparently he can purr.” The toon beamed, purring more as Audrey resumed scratching his head.

Henry also chuckled at the news. “Really now? Also, Hi Bendy.” Bendy waved to the book, letting out a trill whistle in greeting. “Anyways, I wish I could stay longer, but I need to get going. It was nice talking to you.”

“Yeah it was. Again, thank you so much for your help. I’ll start coming up with some ideas and get back to you soon.”

“Sounds like a plan. Take care. And good luck.”

With that the “call” had ended, Audrey closed the book and leaned back, thinking about her next step.

“A gift, huh? Hmmm, what do you give an ink demon?” while the question was rhetorical and mostly to herself, Bendy shrugged, looking up at Audrey. Looking back at him, she pondered something for a moment before asking, “Is he aware of what you see and hear?” Bendy thought for a moment, thoughtfully rubbing his chin before shaking his head. “Good, then you can help me with his gift.” The toon gave her a large grin and a thumbs up before jumping off her lap. “Come on, let’s eat dinner, after that we can do some brainstorming.”

~~~

One day after work, Audrey came home with a few more ideas she wrote down in her notebook. She had gotten them during the white elephant gift exchange and decided to share them with Henry to see what he thought. When she opened her book to send a message to Henry, she found that he had written something for her.

Hey, while looking for something the Ink Demon might like, we found this note crammed between the seat cushions on his throne. Do you think this could work?

Audrey read the note, a design and plan forming in her mind as she finished. She wrote back.

Yeah. That might actually work.

Chapter Text

The Ink Demon was pissed.

As soon as the cycle finished resetting and he was free from this dormant state he was going to tear the first living creature he saw to shreds. That wretch, how dare she take control of their shared form and make him use his own hands to play that accursed reel. If he were ever given the chance, he’d give her a torturous and long death. But alas, she was an outsider to the cycle, she had likely been sent to her home plane despite being made by the machine.

No matter, it was only a matter of time now until he bubbled back to the surface to continue his torment. Besides, he wouldn’t have to worry about being imprisoned inside of that stupid little ink spot. That mockery of a prison cell, a biproduct of Wilson’s inhabitance, now gone by the rules of a new cycle.

However, there was one thing that was concerning: this didn’t feel like he did at the start of a new cycle, before Henry turned on the machine, it felt like he was still trapped inside that toon. Bound in chains, suspended in a void filled with a blinding darkness.

Another item of concern was his inability to look through his cardboard cutouts. Usually he could look through them to see how the old man was progressing, but he couldn’t even sense the cutouts.

Something was wrong.

After what felt like an eternity, certainly far too long for that old animator to turn on his damn machine, the chains binding him weakened, allowing him to break free and resurface.

Before he even saw anything, he could feel his form being squished from most sides as he took shape. Once fully formed, he found himself crammed under a desk, staring at a white wall. After a bit of wiggling (and maybe breaking the desk just a little bit), the demon managed to get himself unstuck, tumbling onto a checkered tile floor.

While trying to readjust into a sitting position, the demon could feel his hand bump into something. He looked at the object that was now rolling away from him. It was a small red ball with a big yellow star on it.

A red ball with a yellow star.

Red and yellow.

Those were colors. Real colors, not just black and sepia. The demon quickly took in the rest of the room. While dimly lit by faint lights outside, the room was in actual color, not just the ink walls of the studio.

He wasn’t in the studio anymore; he was in the real world.

Rising to his hooves, he tried to stand to his full height, but his horns poked holes in the ceiling. He hadn’t even been around for a minute and already he hated this place, wherever it was. Looking around, he spotted a noteworthy picture on the wall. It was a picture of Audrey, the words “Employee of the month” on it.

Audrey, this was Audrey’s office. And, if the toys scattered on the floor were any indicator, she took that dreaded little ink spot with her. Which meant he still had to deal with imprisonment.

Dammit.

Well, at least he could get his revenge on Audrey now. As soon as he saw her walk through that door, he was going to grab her and- and then what? It had to be good. He crouched around the corner, out of sight of the door as he thought. He could just grab and kill her just like that. She’d never see it coming. But he wanted her to know it was him who got her. So maybe he should slit her throat and watch her slowly bleed out. But he also wanted it to be more hands on, as well. Whatever, he’d figure it out as he waited. So, he waited.

And waited.

And. Waited.

Fine, if Audrey wasn’t going to come back, he’d find her himself. He walked over to the door and tried to turn the doorknob, but it hardly budged. It was locked. The demon hissed, pulling his hand away from the doorknob like it was a hot iron.

Of course she of all people would lock him away in a small space. What else would he expect from a Drew. At least it had a window he could look out of this time. He paced a few laps around the room, hooves clopping softly against the hard floor. In the middle of one lap, the demon looked out the window. It was dark outside. Well, the sky was dark. The city outside – similar to the underground city in the ink machine, but brighter and busier– was glowing in city lights, cars driving on the street.

Oh, duh. It’s night. The animator was probably at home asleep. Which, looking back over to the desk he was briefly stuck under, what probably what the toon was doing before he awoke. Great, Audrey wouldn’t be here until morning now, however long what would be from now. After hours of alternating between laps around the room and staring out the window, his restlessness caused the demon to grow tired. He decided to sleep to pass time. So, he curled up on the floor and fell asleep.

In the morning, Bendy awoke, wondering how the heck he ended up on the other end of the room.

~~~

Being in the real world was annoying. The Ink Demon’s powers were practically nonexistent due to the lack of ink everywhere. Sure, there were the small ink pots at each animator’s desk, but that wasn’t enough to do anything big with. The most he could do was manipulate the ink to form small shapes and animate tiny figures before he got bored and squashed and ate them. He couldn’t make ink portals, couldn’t control a large amount of ink to stain the world around him, and he couldn’t free himself from his prison like he used to. He needed ink to do all of those things, and a lot of it. The only place he could get a good amount of ink was from the ink machine, which apparently was now gone! He used to spend a majority of his waking moments next to the machine (assuming Audrey left her door unlocked). From there he could see through his cutouts and observe his changing domain.

The Drew had taken after her father by making edits to his world, adding new areas, changing others, patching up the place. Watching the denizens of the ink machine live better lives without him haunting their steps was beyond infuriating. Audrey was making changes to his world, making it a better, happier place for its inhabitants. He could feel the shift in mood from everyone there from the Dark Puddles, which he still had a faint connection to no matter where he was. It was sickening.

For once in his life he wanted to go back to living in the ink machine. He hated the place when he was first banished there, but then he made it into his own personal hell. He had power there, both literal with his abilities and metaphorical over all of the feeble-minded schmucks that roamed his halls. Or, maybe they were both literal? Didn’t matter, the point was that the real world was a pain in his boney ass and he couldn’t even watch his own realm anymore.

The demon desperately needed something to do, something fun to spend his time on. He wished someone would stay after hours so that he could kill them and taste real blood again. Of course, he also wouldn’t mind if that someone was Audrey. Sure, she may not have real blood, but he’d do just about anything to enact a painful revenge on that girl, the daughter of Drew.

For now, though, he just had to play the waiting game. The slow, and painfully boring waiting game.

~~~

His waiting finally paid off. Entertainment came one fateful November evening.

Ever since Audrey took the little ink spot home with her, he had only been able to come out once or twice. Something about that traitor’s presence made the toon feel safe, he guessed. The Ink Demon had only been able to take form a few times, only at night when it was asleep. That’s when he was able to get somewhat acquainted with his new surroundings. Audrey would either never be there or never be awake, leaving the demon to his own vices. He familiarized himself with her belongings, what time that annoying beeping would go off in the wee hours of the morning and why, and would stare out the window from time to time, watching the bustling city below.

Still, those times were boring. He already counted how many appliances, utensils, plates, etcetera she had in her kitchen. One day while home alone he even took everything out of their cabinets and drawers and put it all away again. But the night was even more boring, since he couldn’t be loud since Audrey was sleeping. He had woken her up only once, part of a planned reintroduction and a show of “you’re a fool to sleep so soundly, I’m still here,” but the stupid warden caught onto the plan while it was in action and swooped in like some hero, locking him away again. It was like that damn infirmary all over again. The Ink Demon didn’t waste the effort of freeing himself for a long while after that night. It wouldn’t have been worth it, anyway.

The Ink Demon didn’t fight his imprisonment until one particular night. He could always generally tell what caused his prison to loosen up the shackles. For the longest time it was because it went to sleep, letting its guard down. However, this time the shackles loosened out of fear. A raw terror, formed from past experiences and tortures inflicted what felt like ages ago. A nightmare, perhaps. But no, it would have been weakened by sleep first, so maybe, something else? Curious – and also because he hadn’t been out in a while – the ink demon broke free from his bonds.

The demon awoke to find himself ensnared in some sort of bindings, some pointier bits of it digging into his inky form. Well, that explained why his counterpart had been so afraid. Just as he was about to try and set himself free, he turned his head to find a familiar, albeit less ink covered, face trembling at the opposite end of the room.

Oh. Great.

“Audrey.” He growled, sending the woman scrambling towards what he assumed would be an exit.

As he tried to tear himself free to chase after her, the demon was quick to realize that those bonds were far stronger than he first anticipated. They were also very tight, and struggling seemed to make matters worse if anything.

This wasn’t good. If she left, who knows when he’d get the opportunity to see her again. He had to get her to stop.

Audrey, wait.

He heard her stop. Okay, that was a start, now what? He needed to say something to get her to stay, but what? He knew he didn’t have much time before she changed her mind and ran away, so he said the first thing that came to mind.

I’m not going to hurt you just… come back.

That was not a promise he wanted to keep, he still badly wanted her dead, but he supposed he could not kill her right away. Besides, he had to convince her to come back over to free him somehow. The demon’s keen hearing could pick up on her sharp sigh and muttering before she closed the door, shuffling around the kitchen for a moment before reappearing around the corner with a pan in her hand. The demon would have normally laughed at the pitiful means of defense, but he wasn’t in the mood to laugh right now.

The Ink Demon had to prompt the useless human to untie him, to which she hesitantly complied. Before he knew it, he was free, standing in her living room, stretching out his slightly aching joints.

Now what?

He was back. Audrey now knew he wasn’t truly gone. He noticed the woman take a step back unprompted. At least, it seemed unprompted at first, the demon was just stretching. Maybe he took what seemed like a step towards her while readjusting his footing.

Hang on. He took another step towards her; she took two back. If his face had the structure and muscle capacity, his grin would have turned far more sinister then. He said he wouldn’t hurt her. Walking towards her wasn’t hurting her. Neither was backing her into a corner and taking her “weapon” as he basked in her fear.

Oh, how he missed this. The feeling of being in control as a lowly creature cowers before him. Was this really the daughter of the “great Joey Drew”? What a joke. Whatever fight she had in their last encounter must have been all she was allowed to have for the rest of her pathetic life. Pathetic. That’s a good word. He made sure to bring it up as an insult as he twirled the pan in his clawed hands on his way to the kitchen. The demon put it back on the hook he had seen it on in one of his previous roams of her apartment before a strong smell caught his attention. He inquired about it, the woman said they were gingerbread cookies. How interesting.

From then on, he started doing his own thing as Audrey watched him intensely. The Ink Demon could feel her fearful gaze upon his back as she scurried to the “safety” of the kitchen.

As much as he would have loved to torment the woman more, he had run out of ideas. He had begun to suspect this day would never some, and yet it had. So, for the time being, he would leave her alone. Besides, right now he was curious about all of the colorful and shiny objects in this big box. He hadn’t seen decorations like these before, but he had a hunch as to what holiday they were for. After standing to get a better look at one of the items in the box, the Ink Demon felt one of his hooves bump into something. It was the toy train that he knew was important to the ink spot. Picking it up, he began to examine it when a ringing sound came from the kitchen.

The cookies were done. Neither of them moved.

The Ink Demon had to prompt Audrey to get the cookies out of the oven. Geez, she was really that scared, huh. As she got to work, he looked back down at the train, wondering if he should do something to it. Maybe carve his initials into the side. And then, it was like a switch had been flipped. The demon lost sight of the colored world around him and was thrown back down into the void. Great, that train must have kicked the ink spot back into motion.

Well, at least that evening had set a precedent for what was to come in the Drew apartment. He encountered Audrey many more times during the next couple weeks, each just as fun as the last. He even got to eat a couple times; it was nice. He had a pretty good thing going so far and nothing could ruin it.

~~~

The Ink Demon awoke with a brief scream, garbled and higher in pitch. Slapping his hand over his mouth, he pushed himself up a bit, grounding himself in reality. He was in the ink spot’s room, nowhere else. He had been tucked into the small cot that belonged to the demon’s Most-Hated-Thing-Ever-Second-To-Joey, except most of his form had been hanging off the side. Tossing off the covers, he slipped onto the floor, groaning as he rubbed his face.

He hadn’t had a nightmare in so long, why now? A voice broke him from his thoughts.

“Bendy? Is everything alright?”

Great, he woke Audrey up. Not only that, but she thinks it was the runt that made that sound. If she finds out it was him that made that accursed noise, then he’d never hear the end of it. She wouldn’t have a reason to fear him anymore.

The door started to open. As much as the Ink Demon wanted it open, he also did not at the same time, because that would mean Audrey would see him. Scrambling over to the door, he used his weight to slam it shut. There was a brief moment of nothing from other end of the door before Audrey spoke up again.

“Did you have the nightmare about me again?” What? The ink spot had nightmares about Audrey? How could he fear such a pathetic and sickeningly sweet woman? Apparently, that woman took his silence as a yes. “It’s been a while since you had that one. Do you want to talk about it?”

The Ink Demon didn’t want to talk about anything. He just wanted the animator to shut up and go back to bed. But no, she was seemingly determined to not let him have his way.

“Hey, it’s okay to be scared. You’ve been through a lot; I don’t blame you. You probably don’t want to talk about it right now.” Exactly, so shut up and go away. “But I’m here to help you if you need it. I made a promise to protect you, and I plan on keeping it, no matter what. Just like how you said you didn’t want to hurt me. But unless a new threat comes along, you’re safe. The cycle reset in the ink world and everything that hurt you is gone: Wilson, the Keepers, my father.” The last part came out soft, “You’re safe now, you’re free.” The woman was quiet for a moment before wrapping her speech up. “If you need anything, then feel free to come to my room.” After that, she finally left. Man, that was annoying.

…

So why didn’t the Ink Demon feel annoyed? It could have been because he was more shocked than anything. He never thought he’d hear words like that come from a Drew. Well, he heard similar things from Joey before, but these words felt genuine, real. It made the demon feel… warm. Why were her words having some sort of effect on him? They shouldn’t, they weren’t meant for him.

But, at the same time… it felt like they could have been. Those last words lingered longer than they should have. You’re safe now, you’re free. He tried to think of a rebuttal for those words, but, he couldn’t think of anything. All of his wrongdoers were gone (except the ink spot, but, eh) and he didn’t Audrey had the guts to hurt him. And free? There was a rebuttal for that one, his little personal prison was still around. But then he had to remind himself that the words weren’t meant for him and his thoughts looped like a cycle.

Fine fine, shut up. Let’s just say that those words were meant for him, just to play with the idea for a second. If they were then it would make no sense whatsoever. All he’s done to the woman since they first met in the studio was torment her, chase her endlessly with the threat of death. Sure that threat was gone now, but it didn’t mean that he made her feel safe. He went out of his way to make her as uncomfortable and afraid as possible whenever he reared his ugly head. And after all of that she turns around and decides to help him and make him feel as safe as possible?

An emotion caused his chest to tighten. Dammit, he hated this one.

It had been a long time since he felt this emotion. Hell, the last time he felt it was when he was naive, a fool. So trusting and innocent. An old memory came to mind; colored, unlike most of his memories of back then.

“That sounds like guilt.” The gruff mechanic, Thomas Connor, explained while fixing a recently busted pipe. The burst pipe was a result of a bitter Ink Demon who was out for petty revenge against Joey Drew in the most evil way he could think of: covering him in ink. Of course, he miscalculated how much it would burst, so instead of just soaking his intended target he ended up soaking the music director – Sammy Lawrence – as well, who was walking with Mr. Drew at the time. “Ya feel bad for what you did, and so you regret it.” The Ink Demon in the memory let out a garbled whine, rubbing his chest in distress. Thomas had gotten to know the demon’s mannerisms over the past few months, so despite his lack of speech, he could understand him 90% of the time.

“How do you stop feeling guilty? It can be hard to get rid of guilt. Sometimes people live with it for years, some the rest of their lives. Everyone carries a bit of guilt in them, it’s what makes us human, I guess. But you could get rid of it by doing a few things. First, ya gotta apologize to Mr. Lawrence. It shows that you feel bad about what you did and want to make it up to him. This next step depends entirely on Mr. Lawrence: forgiveness. If he decides to forgive you, then that means he accepts your apology and has no hard feelings on what happened. And lastly, ya gotta-”

The Ink Demon cut the memory off there. He didn’t want to think about the past anymore. Besides, it started because of a hypothetical. There was no reason to think about any of that right now. Or ever.

The Ink Demon grabbed a fresh sheet of paper and wrote something down for the ink spot to find in the morning. It was only to protect the illusion that Audrey had been talking to the toon, no other reason whatsoever. He stuck it to the door and curled down in front of it, quickly falling asleep.

~~~

Bendy woke up on the floor, cold and a bit sore. Either he was sleep walkin, or someone else was doin the walkin. He assumed the later. That suspicion was confirmed when he saw a note on the door. Ready for another threat or insult, he sighed and plucked it off the door, reading it.

Then he read it again.

And again.

This couldn’t be real, could it? There wasn’t a single threat or insult on the page, it only read: “Give Audrey a hug when you see her.”

He stared at the page, dumbfounded at the order. Why would the Ink Demon tell him to do that? Oh no, he probably did something terrible last night. Shoot.

Shoving the note in his box with the rest of the other demon’s notes, he hurried off to the kitchen, spotting Audrey at the stove. Something was sizzling on the pan she was tending to. She noticed him almost immediately.

“Ah, good morning Bendy.” She said, a smile on her face. Before the toon could express any form of concern for her, she kept talking, “How did you sleep last night? I know you had that nightmare, but did you have any trouble sleeping after that?”

A nightmare? But he didn’t- oh. Oh. Remembering the note, Bendy walked over to Audrey, arms outstretched for uppies. After turning off the stove, Audrey stooped down to pick him up, supporting him in her arms. Bendy wrapped his arms around her neck and shoulder, head resting on her shoulder as she spoke soft words of comfort. The toon’s widows peak furrowed, wondering what the heck happened last night.

Later that night, Bendy wrote another note, telling the Ink Demon that he gave Audrey a hug, just like he was told to do. There was still room on the page. He stared at the blank area for a while before adding something else. After that the toon stuck it to the door and went to bed.

~~~

“I gave Audrey a hug in the morning.” There was a break in the page, followed by the words: “Are you ok?”

The Ink Demon stared at the note for a long time.

“Are you ok?”

…

Was he ok? Did anyone ever ask him that before? He doubted it. If someone did, then he forgot. It didn’t matter, he was just fine. He tossed aside the note to acknowledge that he read the thing, but the question lingered in his mind.

“Are you ok?”

The emotion from the night before returned, weighing him down, causing his usually tense shoulders to sag. He sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall. What was happening to him? Why did he feel like this? He was fine.

Thomas Connor popped up in his memory again. He picked up where he left off.

“And lastly, ya gotta forgive yourself. Oftentimes guilt is carried because, even if the person you hurt has forgiven you and you’ve made amends, ya still feel bad about what ya did. Forgiving yourself is the hardest step in the process. I’ll admit, I still struggle with that one.” Thomas finished fixing the pipe before giving the demon a hearty pat on the shoulder. “You’re a good devil. Never change, ya hear?”

Oh, how he changed since then.

“Are you ok?”

A sound got clogged in his throat, threatening to dislodge itself. He managed to swallow it down like a bitter pill. Why of all creatures in the whole damn world did this one specifically have to ask him that? He’d rather be insulted, tortured, locked away for eternity than be asked that ever again, especially by him.

He was fine.

He was…

He-

Grabbing the blanket from off the toon’s cot, he curled up in his normal sleeping position on the floor, except this time he had the blanket covering most of himself. He trembled for a while, often jittering harder when he whin- wheezed. His lungs sucked sometimes, like right now. It was just normal wheezing, nothing else. At some point, he fell asleep.

The note remained unanswered.