Darkness. Pain. The gash on his stinging cheek... At some point, a slot is opened up, and he is given food. But he would much rather starve.

Voices draw near. Doctors take their notes, then they leave. He does not dare to even glare, for he would be punished. 

Someone steps in, collar in hand. He bows his head as the humanoid cuffs his neck. He is then forced to follow, on his scraped knees, to a chamber. He hears it now; more distant heartbeats, quite irregular, such as his own. 

"In we go," the man toon shoved the demon into the chamber, pulling him along as he gets to watch curtained cells house hidden deformed ones, all of them spitting, some even snarling at the man. They knew what the choke felt like, and they felt pity for the newcomer. "Now now, get back!" the humanoid toon commands. "Back away! Don't scare him, now!" 

But he was scared. 

Bendy was led into a freed empty chamber. He noticed Shelly's presence already there, with a smug look on her face. ¨Tie the chain,¨ she ordered. The humanoid nodded. 

¨Of course."

The demon met the fox's eyes and stared. She held a small device, and she then leaned close to him. "Darling, do you want to know what happens to creatures like you who disrespect?"

He quickly shakes no, his lips pulling back into a snarl as the fox presses the button, and an electric shock pulsed through the collar, and he immediately writhed in pain. 

"It's not very pleasant, is it now?"

He tries to tug at the collar, eyes begging her as she presses it again. "I can do this all day," she grinned. Bendy screams, loudly as the humm pauses. He feebly reached for the chain, and tried to pull the collar off. She presses it once more. Agony.

"Sweetie, stop. You're embarrassing yourself!"

He huffs on the cold, bare metal floor, body uncomfortably tense, racked with the sting. Please... Stop...

"Now, be a good monster and I won't have to do it."  She presses it once more. "Oops! Silly me~"  he writhed, throat gurgling. "There there," she said. "Go to sleep." 

His eyes softly closed, and he obeyed. Soft exhaustion washed over the demon, and he curled into a tight ball, the choke hold on the collar a prison in itself. What... Did I do to deserve this? he thought. What... Did I do? A tear swept down his cheeks, and he calms. 

"Sleep."

- - - - - -

Bendy awoke, cold and shuddering. His head snapped up at the humanoid toon, who held a thick blanket in hand. The demon flinched as the humanoid steps closer, and lets it fall on him. His eyes were kind. "I'm sorry," he said. "I took the collar off, though. You were sleeping like a rock."

Bendy's expression switched from fear, eyes grateful. 

"Well," the humanoid began. "Sleep. Food will come shortly." He left, and the demon sighed before curling into a messy, inky ball beneath the blankets. 

At least he gave me this, Bendy thought. That was... Nice of him. The demon sighed, warmth spreading to his bare feet. His hot breath warmed the scrunched space in which the blanket bore. But he could not sleep... Instead, he listened to the deformed ones in their cells, where some even muttered to themselves about nonsense. He felt a sharp jab in his cheek as he poked his head out, and rest it against the cool floor. He hissed, the floor somewhat dulling the pain, possibly such as ice. That woman... He cringed at the sound of a scream spill through the air. And then,

"Oh shut up, Brute!" Shelly.

"It hurts!" The deformed one snapped. 

Other growls of protest erupted, obviously directed towards the fox lady. She huffed and left the toon clutching its arm, which was bleeding black blood. 

The demon sighed, and worked his magic. Breathe, Bendy urged silently, and calmed his heartbeat. 

A bang crashed the wall, and he flinched. 

"Stop that," a whispery voice pleaded. "Don't mess with him. He just is always angry!"

Bendy eased his power away from the toon. 

"Ya know, you seem as though you're new." It sniffed. "Ya smell pretty fresh. Like... Medicine."

The demon wrapped the blanket around himself and stepped to a small slot where yellow eyes watched. They were clearly intelligent. He cocked his head. 

"Oh. Ya can't speak?" he sighed. "A shame..." his eyes brightened. "But that's okay! Not many of us can even function our voice boxes," he explained. "And, you're power- it's quite nifty!"

The demon stepped closer to the slot, and grinned. A friend?

"The name's Yo," Yo smiled back. "Yo the- well, I'm not exactly sure what I was s'posed to be, but!" he shrugged. "I honestly don't care at this point."

Another voice erupted. It was surprisingly female. 

"Yo, don't pester the kid."

The demon scoffed. Kid? he thought. 

"Yep." Another voice; elderly.

Bendy froze. He understood me.

"'Course I understood," the elder voice rasped. "It's my power." the voice paused. "Uh-oh! Food's here."

All of the deformed ones scrambled into sitting positions. The humanoid toon pulled a trolley with soup. Bendy's stomach rumbled as the tiny slot in front was opened. Once Bendy edged closer to it, his stomach only rumbling louder. He sighed, and picked it up, drinking the liquid. It was tasty- a tad bit bland, yet it was still quite good. 

The demon set the emptied bowl down and stood, ready to face the side slot in which Yo's yellow eyes waited. He was already done.

"So..." Yo began. "You a demon?"

Bendy nodded. 

"Hm... That's interesting." He tilted his head and called back. "Hey, Mama!"

"What?" The female voice was exasperated. 

"Show him your power!"

The voice sighed, and a clapping noise sounded, and the lights flickered off. "It's nothing much... But it comes in handy when the lights get too bright."

Bendy blinked in the darkness. Huh...

The sound of curses rang. "The lights!"

The old one sighed. "Watch out, Bendy."

The demon clasped a hand on the celled bars and read the closing heartbeats. Shelly. His teeth grit.

Yo was surprised. "Your name's Bend-?"

The door was thrown open, and Shelly stood there, whip in hand. "Was it you?"

The yellow eyed deformed one shouted, "It wasn't him-"

"Can it, Yo." The female deformed one sighed. She clapped, and the light returned. Shelly whirled around. "It was me. No need to get your panties in a twist."

Bendy's door remained open as a glimmer of hope flared. He could escape- with the help of that open door...

But then, Shelly slammed to door shut and, still carrying the whip, the fox opened the door ot her, and grabbed her by the collar. "You're comin' with me," she hissed quietly. She then yanked the chain away, and Bendy's breath hitched at the sight of Mama. 

She was beautiful- inhumanely so. Tiny horns poked from her head, and a broken halo adorned it. She had a sharp pointed nose, and one side of her face was wickedly ruined. Oh God...

She turned and smiled at Bendy. "Take care, sweetie."

His heart thudded. She was then led to the dark metal doors, and disappeared from sight. 

"No... Mama Alice..." Yo sighed. "Another shame..."

Bendy's heart raced. Alice? He gasped. No wonder she looked so familiar...

She was the embodiment of the angel from his cartoons.  He felt a sudden fear creep through him. He whirled to Yo. Where are they taking her? he pleaded silently. 

Yo's everglowing golden eyes closed as he left the tiny slot. "They're taking her away. And that place..." he cringed. "Oooh, it ain't pretty."

Bendy's breathing hitched once more. Alice... he growled. That lady's gonna pay.

He felt a flare of anger as he gripped the bars, his hands trembling. A sudden thought popped in his head. They took her 'cause she used her powers? His eyes narrowed. Then, let's start some Hell. He turned, a plan forming inside his twisting mind. 

END OF CHAPTER!

To be continued...

1334 words