Trapped in PlayTime

by Becca_Stone_2001

Summary:

Childhood survivor of PlayTime CO's experiments, Allison Payne, returns as a Detective to the sight of her sister's death/murder. Allison is on a mission to find out what happened not only to her sister, but also what happened to the long list of current day teens who venture into the long abandon PlayTime Co factory, but never come out again.
As she traverses the dark and twisting hallways of her long ago prison, she discovers that maybe her abduction and her sister's death might not have been as cut and dry as she first assumed. When the toys inside the factory come to life, Allison is forced to rethink everything that she thought she knew, and tear apart her memory as she tries to remember what they were TRULY doing there at the factory.

Notes:

Hey y’all, I’ve been watching MatPat on the Game Theory YouTube channel talk about/play these games, and it’s inspired me to write this short (on going) fanfiction. Hopefully this is something you can pull up and read if you ever need to kill some time. (Pun intended)
Enjoy~
B

Chapter 1: The Factory

One

The Factory

 

 

    Detective Allison Payne looked at the abandoned PlayTime Co factory out of the rain splattered window of her car. The pounding of the drops made a white noise that was easy for her thoughts to get lost in. The factory was dark, the windows boarded over, the walls stained, and the parking lot scattered with debris from the crumbling building and growing weeds. It had been a long time since she had been there, since her last investigation, of which she found nothing. 

    More and more kids were going missing by the day, more and more of them disappearing into the depths of the PlayTime Co factory, only for them never to be seen again. They were probably all dead, from what Allison could guess. No one went into a building that ragged and made it out alive. 

    She let out a heavy breath, strapping her flashlight onto her belt, covering her gun with her shirt, and pulled the hood of her windbreaker up and over her head. She slid out of the cop car, locking the door and closing it behind herself. She left the keys in the middle console, knowing that if she lost them in the factory all hell would break loose. 

    Allison looked up at the building past the rain, making one final note to herself about what her purpose there was, then walked towards the gate. 

    It was chained shut, but the bars had been forced apart enough for a small person to climb through. Allison wasn't one of these people, but she slid past the bars without too much trouble; struggling to squeeze her belt past the bars but not running into any other issue after that. 

    Her steps were soft, but the sound was wet as she trekked along the slick pavement. She stepped over boards and weeds, chunks of cracked concrete, glass and cardboard soaked by the rain, posters that were sunbleached, and papers that were slicked to the ground. She hurried along the worn path towards the building, climbing the few steps up to the front doors of the building, pushing them open with her shoulder. 

    The front room was dark, the sound of the door crunching against the linoleum loud and echoing around the space. Allison pulled her flashlight from her belt, clicking it on and sweeping the spot of light around the room. It was littered with paper and cardboard, with the skeletons of chairs and tables. Counters lined the far end of the room, monitors behind them, doors behind those. The air was still and stagnant, dust filtering slowly in front of Allison's light. 

    She took a breath, the sound echoing hallowly around the space, and she stepped into the room. Her steps were as silent as she could make them, the light sweeping the floor as she tried to find any sign of the missing kids. 

    T-shirts and toys were thrown around the room, piled up in corners collecting dust, crushed or shredded or pulled into pieces. Allison glanced at these things, something about the abandoned building pulling at her chest. She remembered the toys this place had produced, how amazing they had been, but it was over now, and nothing was left. 

    She pointed her light at the ceiling, then at the halls on either end of the building, then at the doors behind the counter. She stopped, hearing rustling nearby, and turned her light towards it. She was silent, knowing better than to call out in unfamiliar circumstances, but she searched the direction the sound had come from, not seeing anything and turning away again. 

    Allison bent down slowly, a stuffed animal laying face down on the floor; one of the only ones left intact. "Hey, Huggy," she said softly, brushing the dust from the toy's fur, smiling at it slightly. "I didn't think I'd ever see one of you again," she let out a small breath, coddling the toy in her arm like it was a baby. "This might sound silly," she said, not noticing as the toy's smile became manic, "But I feel better with you here," she let out another anxious breath. 

    The Huggy doll froze, it's innate nature to kill whatever crossed it path, put on hold at the words that were uttered with such familiarity. 

    "I never thought I'd have to come back here," Allison said, walking farther into the factory. "Not after they shut this place down," her mind flashed back to her time at the factory; the tests they made her do, the scientists that came and went like rabbits, the toys she was told to treat as extensions of herself. 

    Alli glanced around, "They killed my sister here," she said softly, jumping over the counter and landing on the other side, reaching for the grate covering one of the arched doorways, "And I want to know why."

Chapter 2: Huggy Wuggy

Two

Huggy Wuggy

 

 

    The halls of the factory were tall and bland and quiet. Alli felt like her steps were too loud, the multicolored tiles under her feet looking dull compared to what she remembered. The blocks in the hall felt smaller, the posters seeming more forced and less chipper, the doors looking more ominous now that she truly knew what happened beyond them. 

    Alli held the Huggy doll closer to herself, watching the ceiling warily. "Don't worry," she muttered, more to herself than anything else, "I won't let anything happen to you, 'kay?" she glanced down at the doll, giving it a small, reassuring smile. She didn't know why having the doll with her made her feel safe, she didn't know why she wasn't more afraid of this place. 

    "Find the kids," she muttered, "We have to find the kids," she took a breath, "Their parents are worried, they shouldn't be in here-" she let out a slight huff, "No kids should have been in here." 

    She tried every door in the hall, each one being locked until she reached the last one. She opened it, looking inside, eyeing the electrical boxes. "Right," she muttered, putting her flashlight back on her belt and pointing it in front of her, leaving both of her hands free. "Alright Huggy," she said, sitting the doll on the floor against one of the electrical boxes, "I'm going to see if I can figure out how to get that door open-" then she paused, "How would kids have gotten that door open?" she muttered, glancing over her shoulder and the electrically locked door at the other end of the room. "Why do I even need to open that door?" she looked back at the Huggy doll, tipping her head at it. "Right, well- to save the kids, we'll have to go through that door, will we not?" 

    Alli stood, putting her hands on her hips, "Don't move, I'll be right back," she turned, beginning to open the doors of the panels, looking at what all the fuses connected to, their parings written on paper on the inside of the door. She was muttering to herself as she worked, noting that the power boxes went from left to right, the front of the building first and the rest of it following. "PlayLand," she muttered, "PlayCare," she shook her head, the sound of that word making the back on her head hurt, "PlayTime Office, Play Cafe, PlayRooms, Naptime Nook," she frowned slightly, not remembering a lot of these name, nor the places they correlated with. 

    "Hey," she said, "You wouldn't happen to know what these are, would-?" She looked over her shoulder, looking for the Huggy, but it was gone. She glanced around, "Huggy?" she asked, only the echo of her own voice answering her. "Well, okay then," she whispered, trying not to feel shaken by the doll's disappearance. 

    "Hall A," Alli read, pulling open the door of another electrical box, "I think this is it," she read through the list on the paper, "Accordion door," she said, nodding to herself as she flipped the switch left to start the circuit, then right to complete it. 

    There was a grinding sound from outside the electrical room; not the door she had wanted. Alli paused, unsure what to do now that she had opened the wrong door, but she doubted she was going to find the right switch after all, and called it good. She paused before the door, searching the room again for the Huggy, but she didn't find him. She paused once again outside of the room, looking back. 

    "'Kay," she muttered to herself, going back into the room and flipping all of the fuses that said 'Accordion Door', in hallways B1 - G11. "That should give me a good way out," she nodded, brushing her hands together before finally leaving the electrical room again. 

    Crouching under the accordion door she blinked up at a skylight, with a sign for PlayTime Co hanging from the tall ceiling. There were doors surrounding a hexagon shaped room, blocks and balls of all sizes and colors were in the corners of the room, 'Maker Station,' 'PlayCare,' 'Offices,' and 'Play Cafe,' were written above rolling doors in the walls. Other doorways were blank and empty from the looks of them, the halls dark and abandoned, and their signs having fallen to the ground and shattered. 

    Alli's eyes widened at the statue in the middle of the room, surrounded by worn velvet ropes and podiums was a large sized Huggy Wuggy. She stood, mouth open, at the sight of him, memorizing flashing back to her. "I remember," she said, voice low and bouncing around the space. Everything was so empty there, so hollow, it made Alli feel very alone, like no one would ever truly believe their suffering. 

    She was lucky. She was one of the few to have gotten out of the factory alive, in one piece, with their sanity still slightly intact. It was harder to say for the others she had left with, two of them had instituted themselves, one was missing an arm, and the other was blind. Alli had gotten the best draw of the lot, and she was sickened by how grateful she was for it. What they had witnessed there- it was hard for them to talk to each other let alone think about it all. 

    It had been proposed as such a great thing, The Program. It had gotten Alli and her sister off the street, Marie being older than Alli by four years, Alli being only twelve. They had been sisters by name, only half by blood. From what Marie had said, their mom hadn't been around much, and from Alli remembered that was true. They had left after their mother's fourth boyfriend became a raging alcoholic, and as most protagonists stories start, they had been on the move ever since. 

    Alli didn't ever quite feel like the protagonist of her life, she felt like a random side character, sent on random quests, to help the actual protagonist move along faster in the game of life they were all forced to play. She was often left behind, bullied, or forgotten; that wasn't a very 'main character' life in Alli's own and biased opinion. 

    She looked around the room, turning in a slow circle, taking it all in. She didn't remember any of this, she had never seen it before, she had never been here. She had never known this part of the factory even existed. She had been here before with other cops, when they were chasing out the squatters, but she didn't remember this part of the factory existing before that point. 

    There was movement behind her and she froze, turning slowly and pointing her flashlight in the direction of the noise. 

    "Huggy?" she asked, the doll she had been carrying was slumped lifelessly on the floor, its fuzzy blue body bathed in the dim light that was pouring through the windows. Rain was dripping into the room, the skylights obviously not as water tight as she had first noticed. 

    She glanced around, sure now that someone was messing with her. "Hello?" she asked, the noise echoing loudly, making her flinch. She looked back at the Huggy doll. "I'm either going crazy," she said, stepping closer and picking it up again carefully, "Or you moved," she raised an eyebrow at the doll, studying it. "Right?" she asked, knowing it wouldn't answer her. 

    Metal jangled above her head and she jumped, holding the smaller Huggy to her chest as she looked up at the large Huggy Wuggy statue in the middle of the room, a large gold key hanging from its raised hand. It was waving at her, mocking her ability to leave whenever she wanted, unlike when she had been younger. 

    Alli felt her heart racing, her nerves starting to fray. She shouldn't have accepted the case, she shouldn't have come back, she wasn't ready to face this place again. She wasn't ready to face the memories and the demons this factory had produced. Her heart was beating not to keep going, but her head was in the mission, her head wanted to find answers, she wanted to know what happened. 

    Don't go. Don't go. Don't go. Her heart pounded. But I want to. But I want to. But I want to. Her mind said in reply. 

    She eyed the key in Giga Huggy's hand. "Tsk," she tisked, "I'm not gonna be able to reach that," she muttered, glancing around, eyeing the blocks stacked against the wall. "Excuse me, for a moment," she said to Mini Huggy, "I need both hands free," she set him carefully on the floor propped up so he could see her as she works, then went over to one of the stacks of blocks. 

    She put her back to it, shoving it across the tile and towards the Huggy statue, lining it up with his hand. The three stacked blocks looked high enough for her to grab it, and she looked down at Mini Huggy. "If this is a bad idea I think I prefer to know now," she said, waiting. "Right then," she sighed, then glanced over her shoulder once more. She stopped, turning around fully, looking at a wad of pink fur. 

    With her attention momentarily distracted, she walked over to the pile and picked up the doll. "Missy," she said, smiling slightly in adoration. "Well then Huggy, looks like we've gathered another friend," she put the pink Kissy Missy doll down next to the Mini Huggy Wuggy, and looked back up at the key. "Right, right," she ran her tongue over her teeth, "Back to business," she climbed the stack of boxes easily, taking the key from Giga Huggy carefully, giving him a small high five. "Teamwork," she said, brushing the dust from his fur slightly. "Awe, you sweet thing, you're dusty," her lips parted in a soft smile. "That's okay, once I figure out if those kids are okay, I'll come back and clean you up. Alright?" 

    Alli descended the boxes and pushed them back to their corner, looking back for Mini Huggy and Mini Missy. "Huggy?" she asked, looking around for the small doll again. The factory no longer felt right. It no longer felt dead. Alli glanced around, the key in one hand as she picked up Missy with the other. "He seems to do that a lot," she said, looking down at Missy, "We'll find him again eventually, right?" 

    She didn't get an answer. 

    Alli moved farther into the factory, the halls feeling wrong, either too tall or too long for the size of the factory from the outside. She had Missy cradled in her arm, trying every door, the key far too large to open any of them. "What should we do?" she asked softly, sighing as she found herself at the end of the hall, unable to go any further. "Just try another hall, I suppose," 

    She started back down the hall, the circle of her flashlight casting strange shadows on the walls. They emerged from the hall and Alli froze, her breath catching in her chest as bile rose to the back of her throat. The Giga Huggy Wuggy, was gone.

Chapter 3: Friend

Three

Friend

 

 

    Alli wanted to throw up, the fear was making her heart beat out of her chest. She glanced around, trying to figure out where it might have gone, how it could have moved. Images flashed in the back of her head and she put her hands to her temples, pressing into them with the heels of her hands. She fell to her knees, going dizzy with the images flashing across her vision, her ears starting to ring. 

    She didn't understand the things she was seeing versus what she was remembering: the tests, the scientists, the sounds; everything was the same yet none of it made sense. There had been points where Alli thought she had made up the fact about the giant living toys, how she had seen them and no one else remembered. Maybe she had just been different, or maybe that had been part of her training the entire time. 

    She remembered someone, a voice, a girl, about her sister's age. Lilly. Lilith had been her name, she had been there at the factory, she had been with them. There was something about her, something different- Lilly had seen the toys too. 

    Alli was gasping, her vision completely gone, she had no idea where she was except for the dusty tile under her hands. She pressed her palms into it, centering herself, trying to calm down. She didn't know what had happened to Lilly, but she had seemed scared when Alli had talked about leaving, something Alli had said made Lilly look over her shoulder, eyebrows creased in fear. 

    Marie had known Lilly, they had been roommates. When they all went down to PlayCare together, Lilly and Marie had been side by side, directing the kids. Alli remembered them, the way they had acted, like they were the mothers of all of the other children. 

    There was a memory digging at the back of Allison's mind, digging at the walls she had put up to protect herself from those memories. It wanted out, it wanted her to remember. Something had happened to Lilly, then something had happened to Marie. Lilly had gone, her sister had died, something had happened to them. The experiments became worse after that. 

    Alli held her jaw shut, forcing down the lump rising in her throat, trying to breath past the restrictive nature of her chest. There was something terribly wrong with this place, something that Alli didn't want to let herself remember. 

    Footsteps were the only thing that brought Allison back to reality, her eyes peeling open slightly as she looked up from the floor. She sat back on her heels, pulling the Kissy Missy doll to her chest, and putting her hand to her gun which she still kept concealed under her jacket. It was better to look unarmed and harmless, then give anyone the impression that you were there to hurt them; she had learned this the hard way. 

    "Allison?" called a voice that echoed down the halls. 

    Alli froze, then she became angry. Rage and irritation bubbling up in her chest. "That fucking–" she stopped, putting a hand to her mouth, "Excuse my French," she muttered, standing slowly. "Janson!" she called, irritation evident in her voice. 

    Janson, the other detective that had been assigned to the missing children's case, entered the large central room, ducking under the accordion door. "There you are," he said, breathing a sigh of annoyed relief, "I told you to wait for me-" 

    "I told you I didn't want to get stuck in here overnight!" Alli said, interrupting him, "You were off who knows where and said you'd meet me here at five, well, five wasn't good enough!" she glared at him, "I'm running this case alone, thank you. You can go," 

    Janson was looking around the central room, and whistled slightly, obviously uninterested in Alli's outburst. "Look at this place," he breathed, "I remember when they were still making toys here," 

    Alli swallowed, slightly glad that her deadbeat partner had decided to show. "Me too," she said, then let out a shaky breath. 

    "You remember those toys, the uh- the-" he snapped his fingers, trying to think of the name, "The little green robot thing?" 

    "Boogie Bot?" Alli supplied, trying to remember if there had been anything else remotely like what Janson was thinking about. 

    "Yeah!" He said slowly, "That was it," He smiled slightly to himself, "Loved those things," 

    Alli let out a slight breath, "Yeah, well-" she glanced around, freezing as she saw the slithering hand of a blue doll disappear around the corner of a hallway. "Uh- Caleb," she said, voice wavering. 

    Janson turned around to look at her, his hands in his pockets, "What?" 

    "We uhm- we-" she couldn't finish the statement, she was going to throw up. "Merde," she breathed, "Excuse my French," she said again, using actual French to swear. Something about the place made her want to be as unassuming as possible. 

    Janson studied her, his face falling into a slight frown, "You okay, Al?" 

    Alli swallowed, nodding, "We need to get out of here," she breathed. "There's something not right with this place," 

    Janson glanced around, "It's just an empty building-" 

    "Nothing about this place is empty!" Alli said sharply, the warning bells in the back of her mind going wild. Get out! Get out! Get out! "There's something here," 

    "Did you see someone?" he asked, walking towards her as he looked in the direction she was staring, down the hall where she had seen what she could only pray wasn't real. 

    "No," she breathed, trembling all over, "Not someone," she said, teeth chattering. 

    He looked at her, eyes wide and brows furrowed. "You're really not okay, Al," 

    She hugged Missy closer to herself, rubbing the doll's hand gently, the fabric soft despite how much it had been through. It felt warm close to her like that, as if the factory had breathed life into every toy it made. 

    Alli froze, "Breathed life-" she said breathlessly, "They breathed life into–" tears burned the backs of her eyes, her mind no longer unwilling to remember. 

    "Al, we should go," Janson said, holding out a hand to edge her towards the accordion door. "This place isn't good for you," 

    Alli shook her head, "I know what happened here," she said, voice weak. "I remember," 

    "Woah, Al, listen," Janson said softly, trying to calm his partner, "You- weren't here. What could you remember?" She had episodes like this often enough, he was used to them now.

    "I was here," Alli breathed, stepping past him in the direction she had seen Huggy going. "I was here, such a long time ago," she looked over her shoulder at her partner, "You remember when they made toys here," she said, "So you remember the Game Day Project?" 

    Janson thought for a moment, "Y-yeah, I do," 

    "I was there," Alli said softly, "I was apart of the Game Day Project," she glanced down, "So was my sister, and we- so many things happened to us," 

    Janson watched his partner. Alli was younger than him by almost eight years, her history and scattered past had never been of much concern to him, although there were bits and pieces that hadn't made sense, that had made him suspicious. "You were... an orphan?" 

    Alli nodded, "Although, not legally," she looked towards one of the tunnels again. "But they brought us here, and so many people died- it was horrible," 

    He frowned, "How did they die? They have protocols for that-" 

    "They killed them," Alli turned back to look at him again, "I was there. I watched it happen," her eyebrows furrowed as the memory unfolded itself, "I watched what they did to my sister, I couldn't let it happen to anyone else. We ran away," she looked down at Kissy Missy. "I left them here to die," she breathed, guilt washing over her like water. Janson didn't believe her, she could tell when she looked at him again, her eyes blurry with tears. 

    He didn't not believe her, on the other hand. He had been made aware of the Game Day Project, every kid in his day had wanted to be a part of it, but it was very exclusive. Invite only, he had imagined. It was only after coming on one of the factory tours as a child that he had learned that the factory adopted kids to attend the Game Day Project, and that he would never get the chance to experience it. It was probably a good thing. 

    "I have to find out what they did to my sister," Alli said finally, her voice stronger than it had been. "I need to find out what happened to everyone here," she looked back towards the hall that Giga Huggy had wandered down. "I need to find closure."

Chapter 4: The Grab Pack

Four

Grab Pack

 

 

    Allison and Caleb wandered down the dim hall where she had been sure Huggy had escaped down. She wasn't sure where he had gone, their lights didn't even touch the ceiling in this hall, which made both of them uneasy. The doors were all locked, the posters peeling from the walls. There was dirt and what looked like mold caked into the edges of where the floor met the wall, the smell feeling heavy and damp in their lungs. 

    "We probably shouldn't be breathing this," Janson said, putting his sleeve covered hand to his face, covering his nose and mouth. 

    Alli glanced at him, not noticing the smell until he mentioned it. "That's probably smart," she said, trying another door to her left. 

    Janson tried the door to their right, then they continued on. The factory was silent; not the type of silence that you can hear your heartbeat in, the type of silence you can hear someone else's heartbeat in, the type of silence that lets you know you're not alone. Their footsteps were matching as they walked, making it sound like there was only one person in the hall, making it easy to hear if someone, or something, was following them. 

    Janson tried the door to their right, then Alli turned and tried the door to their left. It opened. 

    "Well then," he said, coming up behind her as they both looked into the room. "That's- frightening," 

    Alli glanced around the room quickly, taking it all in. It was a simple office, or a closet, no windows or vents, with a high ceiling; at least they could see one. It had a desk with a TV, a cassette, and a player. 

    "This has got to be a set up," Janson breathed, his voice low as he shined his flashlight around the room. 

    "I don't think so," Alli breathed, stepping into the room. 

    Janson followed her, looking at a large crate in the corner of the room, the top covered with a sheet but the wooden slats were visible where it didn't touch the floor. "How can you tell this isn't some weird trick?" 

    Alli, who had circled the desk, picked up the cassette tape. "Because," she glanced at him, "this is simply a test," she inserted the tape into the player, turning on the TV and the player also blinked to life. 

    "Test? What sorta test? Test for who?" Janson asked, coming over to where she was standing, her arms crossed. 

    "My test," Alli said, "I think they know I'm here," she lifted her chin slightly, trying to remain brave, but her exterior was starting to crumble slightly. 

    "Who?" Janson asked, "What-?" he stopped as the TV began to make noise, the tape having been rewound and started to play. 

    "Welcome to Playtime Co! A place for growing imagination! This is the instructional video–located in the Game Station–for the Grab Pack; 'A Fun Contraption to Help You Navigate the Factory!' The Grab Pack is worn similarly to a backpack, the straps go over your shoulders, and the Grab Pack's Grab Pack Hands are worn facing in front of you. To use the Grab Pack's Grab Pack Hands, simply aim the Hands at what you're trying to reach, and pull the trigger on the control sticks to release the Hands. To retract the Hands, pull the trigger again. 

      The Grab Pack's Hands are multi-colored, each color has a special function, and as you traverse the factory, you will have the options to collect these hands for your future use. Never aim the Grab Pack's hands at another person, you can seriously injure them! Make sure to only use the Grab Pack in open spaces. The Grab Pack's Hands can pull and hold up to 200 pounds. Remember to use this equimpent safely, and have fun!"

    The video ended, the instructional images melting from the screen and replacing it with black, before the black turned into static. 

    "How was this a test?" Janson asked, the room feeling deadly quiet after the noise of the video. 

    Alli glanced around, "I'm not sure yet," she said, eyes locking onto the covered box, "But I have a feeling we'll find out," 

    Janson sighing, obviously stressed. "Listen, Al-" he started as Alli walked over to the covered box. "I get that a lot happened here, and you're dealing with it all super well-"

    Alli, who had tucked Kissy Missy into the pocket of her windbreaker—the doll's head sticking out of the top of the opening—pulled the sheet off of the wooden crate. "I know you don't believe me," she said as she dug her fingers under the edge of the lid, "But I know what I'm looking for," she lifted the lid; with a squeak and a crunch it pulled away from the box and Alli pushed it back. "And I'm going to find out what happened to Marie," 

    She and Janson looked into the crate together, a single Grab Pack lake in a bed of old straw and sheets. 

    "Are you going to-?" Janson started slowly, glancing at Alli. 

    "Not if you wanted to," she said, looking over at him with a placid expression, her eyebrows slightly raised. "You wanted to be apart of the Game Day Project, here's your chance," 

    He eyed the Grab Pack, "You make it sound really ominous," he said warily. 

    "It is," she said, turning to face him, "You have a responsibility when you wear this" she lowered her voice slightly, "Plus, I've already had the chance to wear one," 

    He pursed his lips, narrowing his eyes at her. "Right-" he said slowly, suspicious of her. "Of course you did," 

    "Do you need help putting it on?" Alli asked, raising an eyebrow at him, crossing her arms loosely. 

    "No," he said quickly, scoffing slightly, "Of course not," 

    Alli's face grew with a small, smug smile, "Alright then," she said, wandering back to the TV set. "I'll just be here-" her attention was diverted by images that were flashing behind the static on the screen. 

    Alli frowned, stepping closer, slapping a flat palm down on the cassette player, watching as the static jumped then faded slightly, the images becoming clearer. She watched as the film showed rooms in the factory, Game Station rooms, PlayCare rooms, the PlayCafe, even the front entrance. They all panned across the screen, faces jumping out at her as she watched, recognizing who and what she saw. The static jumped again then the screen went clear, the words, 'Lillith Darling Ludwig' appearing on the screen, along with the flashing image of a doll's face. 

    "Ready?" Janson asked, adjusting the pack on his back. 

    Alli blinked away the images from her eyes, looking up at him, "Yeah," she said softly. The feeling of remembrance was making her chest tight, her breathing shallow. She knew who Lilly was now and she also knew that she had been in the Game Day Project, but she wasn't sure how any of it helped with finding out what happened to Marie. 

    "Let's keep moving," Janson said, motioning to the door of the office. 

    "Right," Alli said, nodding slightly and following him.

Chapter 5: The Hallway

Five

The Hallway

 

 

    The hallways seemed to stretch on forever, the more they walked the less they saw, doors becoming sparse and randomly spaced apart. They watched their surroundings, Janson stopping Alli for a moment, motioning for her to look up with the beam of his flashlight. She did, following the circle of light up the wall to a door that was halfway up between the ceiling and the floor, the door swinging slightly as if blown by wind. 

    “What is it there for?” He asked, looking back down at Alli. 

    She pressed her lips together, swallowing hard. “It’s for Mommy Long Legs,” 

    “Who?” He choked, pointing the flashlight at her. 

    Her eyebrow furrowed and her nose wrinkled slightly as she thought, “I don’t remember,” she said softly, “I just… I know,” 

    He nodded slowly, “Maybe we should head back and come back later with SWAT-” 

    “No,” she said simply, turning away from him and continuing down the hall, “I’m finishing this,” 

    “Finishing what-? Allison!” He said, voice sharp as he grabbed her arm, forcing her to turn and look back at him. “What the hell are you talking about?” 

    “The Project!” Alli said, pulling her arm easily from his grip. “It ruined my life, and I’m going to find out why… and what happened to my sister and everyone else who was-” 

    “Alli, why the fuck would anything horrible happen? I get your trauma, I accept it, but this… it’s honestly so unbelievable,” he said softly, his face betraying how hard he was finding it to believe what she was saying. 

    “Because-” she stopped, “They didn’t tell us why. That’s sort of the point of being a captive,” 

    “Why would a toy factory abduct children? What did they do with them, and why? This… this is crazy Al,” he said holding his hands up to her but not touching her, “I’ve seen what happens when you get here, I know the trauma is real for you so I’m not discrediting that, but this is a toy factory. How, ethically, could they get away with everything you claim they did?” 

    “Pay off an inspector? Hide it deep enough under the factory?” Alli shrugged slightly, “I was a kid, and they weren’t into explaining why they did anything, they just did it,” 

    He took a breath and dropped his hands, “Right, okay. I don’t think I can keep going, it’s late and I have to get home-” 

    “So you’re leaving?” Alli’s worried frown deepened into an irritated one. “We’re on a case-”

    “Yeah, but this has been a forty-eight hour shift, and I’m salary,” he eyed her, “We need to go,” he nodded behind himself down the hall.

    Alli’s breaths were becoming heavy, “But-” 

    “You can come back- you can sit outside even. I’ll send McCarrie over and the two of you can come back and explore, but I have to go,” Janson’s face was set, his seriousness making Alli resent him. 

    She took a breath, “Fine,” she said softly, clearing her throat with a soft cough, “Let’s go,” 

    He looked relieved, deflating slightly, “Sorry I can’t stick around,” he said, turning and starting down the hall in the opposite direction they had been going. “But it’s not like we’ve made too much progress, so you and McCarrie will be able to make it back up,” 

    Alli was glaring at the back of his head, irritated. “Right,” 

    The hall didn’t seem to want to end as they retraced their steps, watching their footprints in the dust travel in the other direction that they were now going. They kept going, the hall not becoming any different, the doors still too far apart, the paint still looking sick in color. 

    “I didn’t think we had walked this far,” Caleb muttered after they had been walking for much longer down the hall then up it. 

    “We didn’t,” Alli said evenly, “But the factory doesn’t want us to leave,” she let out a small shaking breath, glancing around quickly, her light darting around the walls. 

    “That’s creepy as fuck, don’t say that,” Jansen muttered, glancing over his shoulder at her. 

    “Here,” Alli said, ignoring him and walking up to a door with a side plaque that said stairs. “This way,” 

    “That’s not the way we came-” 

    “But this is the way out,” She looked over her shoulder at him as she jiggled the handle of the door, “This hallway doesn’t act like it’s ending any time soon, our best bet is to head up,” 

    He studied her, “I think we should keep going to way we came-”

    Alli slammed her elbow into the thin rectangular window in the door, the glass shattering and she reached through, unlocking the handle from the inside. 

    “You can’t-” Jansen started but Alli let the door swing open, soft lights illuminating the hall from inside the stairwell. 

    “We’ll find a way out this way,” Alli assured him, “I’m sure,” 

    He eyed her, shaking his head ever so slightly, “I feel safer in the hall-” 

    A loud clang interrupted him from behind them down the hall, metal scraping the linoleum, the sharp sound ricocheting against the walls. 

    Alli reached down, taking Kissy Missy from her pocket and setting her on the floor, something itching the back of her brain. “Alright, Missy, let’s go,” she looked down at the toy, who was sitting on the dusty floor. 

    Jansen looked from the pitch blackness of the hall to Alli, then to the doll on the floor. “Al, what the hell-?”

    Kissy Missy shifted. 

    Alli’s breath caught in her throat as she accepted the fact that her feelings had been right, even if her memories were lost to her. 

    “Holy fu-!” Jansen started, but another loud clang shuttered down the hall, the echo vibrating in their bones. 

    Kissy Missy turned slowly, looking up at Alli, her mouth widening and sharp teeth gleaming out at her. Her head lolled then she rolled, pushing up from the ground onto her plushy feet, looking at Alli with dark glittering eyes. Missy breathed, taking a shaking step towards Alli, her paws reaching for the soft body and the flesh beneath the fabric. 

    Alli waited, her heart in her throat. 

    Missy wrapped her arms around Alli’s leg, and hugged her. 

    Alli’s breath was almost a sob, her terror settling back into the bottom of her gut. 

    Missy pulled away from Alli, looking down the dark hall towards the noise that was drawing closer. Her plushy face had settled back into its soft smile and clear eyes, she looked as normal as when Alli had found her. 

    Alli watched as Missy stumbled into the middle of the hall, facing the blackness, then the stuffy took off sprinting in the direction of the sounds, her feet making soft patting noises on the dusty floor. 

    A sharp wailing replaced the banging and scraping, a second wailing joining the first. 

    Chills covered Alli’s skin and she slowly backed into the stairwell. 

    Jansen, whose face was frozen in shocked fear, stumbled weakly towards the open door and Alli closed it behind him. “What- uh… what the..?” 

    “We have to go,” Alli stated, starting to move up the stairs, ignoring his stuttering. “She can only distract them for so long-”

    “What the fuck was that!” Jansen shouted, following up the stairs after her. “What the hell is going on?” 

    “I tried explaining it but you called me crazy,” Alli replied, irritated at his slow uptake on the situation. 

    “No, I said I didn’t believe you! That’s two completely different things!” Jansen was still yelling. 

    “Be quiet!” Alli hissed, the stairwell echoing too loudly already, “Someone might hear you,”

    “Someone?” Jansen hissed, but quieted down regardless. 

    “I’m guessing the giant Huggy Wuggy statue I saw earlier is after us,” Alli explained, “Sentinel,” she muttered to herself, then rolled her eyes with an irritated sigh, “That’s what Kingsley was ranting about,” 

    “Who?” Jansen asked, still behind her. 

    “They’re- there’s a support group for the survivors of The Project,” Alli explained quickly, “Kingsley was always going on about something called The Sentinel,” she let out a breath, becoming winded from her upwards climb, “I understand now,” 

    “What does that mean?” Jansen asked, also becoming winded, “The Sentinel?” 

    “The Bigger Bodies Project,” Alli stopped on a landing, turning around to look at her partner as she struggled to catch her breath, her chest tight, “One of the experiments done during The Project,” 

    “What is it though?” He asked, stopping next to her. 

    “I don’t know,” Alli said, her irritation evident in her voice, “Like I said, they weren’t the type to recount their evil plans,” 

    “Right,” Jansen said softly, taking a chance to look around the hallway, “Well… where are we headed?” 

    Alli glanced up the next set of stairs, “To find a way out… the PlayStation.”

Chapter 6: Make A Friend

Summary:

This chapter is a little longer than the others.

Six

Make A Friend

 

 

   The hallways turned into tunnels as Alli and Jansen kept moving deeper into the factory. 

   “This is probably what happened to the teens who came in here,” Alli said, trying to keep her voice down but still trying to make sure Jansen could hear her. “They got lost in the hallways,” 

   “It isn’t possible for a building to do that,” Jansen muttered irritably, “I should have been on my way home by now,” 

   “Sorry,” Alli said under her breath. 

   “My wife was making lasagna,” he grumbled, “Then we were going to finish watching the fourth season of Weirder Things,” 

   “That sounds fun,” Alli said, mostly distracted as they approached an open door and a dark tunnel. 

   “Yeah, it was supposed to be a good night,” he eyed her as she shone her light down the maintenance tunnel. He sighed, “Do we have to?” 

   Alli looked at him, taking a breath, “No. Sorry, no. You’re right, I should wait for SWAT-” 

   “Oh thank god-” 

  “I’m waiting for SWAT on the other end of the tunnel, though,” She finished without giving him a chance to breathe and turned on her heels, starting down into the blackness. 

   “Oh- my god… Alli!” Jansen whined, obviously annoyed. “Come on, it’s late- and we can always come back tomorrow!” 

   Alli followed the pipes and roots of wires that ran along the walls and ceiling of the tunnel. Light shining under the door at the other end. The pipes were live, pressure making them rattle, water dripping from loose joints. The wires were live, the ground wires humming at a pitch that apparently only Alli could hear. 

   Jansen followed her down the tunnel, muttering to himself, sighing deeply every chance he got. 

   She reached for the door, pushing it open, and there was a loud slam that rattled the pipes in the hall. Alli turned back slowly, Jansen’s eyes were wide and his face was white. She looked past him, the door they had just come through was now closed behind them. 

   “Go through the door,” Jansen whispered so light Alli couldn’t hear him. 

   “What?” she asked, leaning closer to hear better. 

   “Open the damn door!” he said, practically shouting at her. 

   Alli jumped back and pushed the door open, light streaming into the hall, making the appearance of the pipes and wires official. 

   Both detectives stepped into the warehouse, looking around at the cracked and ragged crates and boxes. Dismembered toys were scattered around abandoned carts that were losing their chipping paint and dark color. There was what appeared to be something mimicking blood on the floor, but it was too red, and the room didn’t smell like death. 

   “This is shipping,” Jansen said, looking around at the cardboard boxes and strips of shipping labels. 

   “I suppose so,” Alli agreed, “I’ve never been here-”

   “That means we can get out from here,” Jansen said, voice becoming hopeful, “If we can get the accordion doors open we can get out,” he looked at Alli hopefully, “You can come eat dinner with me and my fami-” 

   “No, thanks,” Alli interrupted him, “I- don’t do… dinner. Thanks,” 

   “Everytime,” Jansen sighed as Alli clicked off her flashlight and began to look around, “Everytime I invite you to meet my family you say it’s because you don’t eat dinner, but you have no problem eating dinner at the department,” 

   Alli was silent, “It’s different,” 

   “How? I’m really trying here, kid, I don’t really know how to be any nicer than this-”

   “Who said you have to be nice to me?” she turned around, frowning at him, “You’re a good friend to me, Cal, and I appreciate the lengths you go for me- but when I’m off the clock I’m not looking to connect with work outside of work. You know?” 

   He seemed to understand what she meant, his face clearing, “Then you should have said something, I wouldn’t have pushed it so much,” 

   “I was hoping to change my mind someday… but I just never did,” she glanced at the ground, having been ringing her hands together while she spoke, “Sorry,” 

   “You don’t need to be sorry,” he assured her, “I understand, I do,” 

   She looked up at him again, giving him a small smile, “Thanks for being so willing to-” she gave a small shrug, “To be there, I guess. It’s been awhile since… I don’t really have anyone else to be there anymore,” 

   “Anything, kid, you’re my sister in the field, sister outta it,” he gave her a reassuring smile, “I have your back, always,” 

   “And I got yours,” she nodded, “So trust me when I say, I will get you out of here, by tomorrow morning.”

   He sighed, his smile falling but only slightly, “I’ve accepted my fate by this point,” 

   She nodded slightly, “Come on, the only way to go is up,” she turned and started up a flight of corrugated metal stairs. 

   Jansen started to follow her, “So- can I ask about the stuffy that you were carrying around?” 

   “Kissy Missy?” Alli asked, looking out her shoulder at him when she reached the balcony. 

   “I know it’s name,” he said, verbally rolling his eyes, “But- uhm… it came to life, Al, I don’t think toys are supposed to do that,” 

   “I don’t remember why they do that,” she said, looking thoughtfully at the mess on the stairs, stepping on paper that was covered in footprints and meshed into the metal underfoot. “I just… knew that they did,” 

   “But- how is it possible?” he asked, following her through a door and into another storage room. “Like, are they robots? AI controlled?” 

   Alli shook her head slightly, trying to think, “I don’t think so,” 

   “So then… what is it? Magic? Witchcraft? If you tell me Harry Potter is real I might believe that too if it explains what I just saw,” Jansen said, starting to ramble, “I don’t think I’ve ever experiences hallucinations before, so maybe I’m seeing things,”

   “It’s not a hallucination,” Alli said mildly, pulling open a heavy metal door that had been painted yellow, “It’s not magic,” 

   “Well you don’t know that-” 

   “It’s science,” Alli looked back at him, “I don’t know how… but it is. It was all just- experiments,” 

   “You’re telling me that they Frankensteined those toys to come to life?” Jensan obviously didn’t believe her, his eyes and the way his arms were crossed showed her as much. 

   She glanced away, doubting herself for a moment, unable to remember enough details to prove to herself that she hadn’t made it all up, “Yeah,” she said softly, looking up at him again, “They did,” 

   His body language changed, the air feeling more hostile, fear creeping towards them from the edges of the room. He sat back on his heels, studying her, trying to decide if she was making it up or not. “How?” 

   She shrugged lightly, “Don’t know,” she turned and went through the door, climbing onto another set of metal scaffolding, taking the stairs towards the floor.

   “Why then? Do you know that at least?” he asked, following her, their footsteps echoing metallically around the room they were now in. 

   “No,” she said, voice hollow as it bounced around the walls, carrying across the room, “I don’t remember,” 

   “But you know they’re giant animatronic-science-toy creations though,” he said, stepping from the last stair and onto the tiled floor after her. 

   “Just because I know something for a fact, doesn’t mean I know how it works,” Alli said, beelining for a ring of light and podium in the middle of it. 

   “But you know for a fact that these things are… alive?” Jansen asked, coming up to stand next to her in the spotlight, looking at her with furrowed eyebrows and wide eyes. 

   She looked at him placidly, “Yes,” 

   He let out a heavy breath, putting a hand to his forehead, “I can’t- oh my god,” 

   Alli looked back at the podium.

Make A Friend.  

   She eyed the large red button under the words, the other words around it blurry and faded. She reached forward, pressing the button with a flat hand; waiting.

   The room flashed to life. Lights came on with large clicks, the hum of the bulbs making Alli feel like she was going deaf. The machines came to life, their large eyes opening and the conveyor belts starting to run. The eyes seemed to watch them. There was puffing and squeaking and grinding, metal on metal, plastic crunching. Bells rang and whistles were whistling, doors in the machines were banging, the trap doors of the toy-parts-tubes were slamming.

   Both Alli and Jansen looked to their left, watching large clear tubes filled with toy parts. The tubes came to life, lights flashing, the inside corkscrew spinning, music starting to play low and slow. 

   “This is-” Jansen started, mouth open in wonder. 

   “Horrible,” Alli finished in a whispered, lip trembling with grief. She could feel the sadness leaching off of the building, out of the walls. Everything here was so tired, it wanted to rest, it didn’t want to make toys anymore. The things that came from this place, the experiments, it made the building feel alive. The factory wanted to die. 

   “Hey, can’t I use this thing on these?” Jansen asked and Alli’s gaze snapped to him, he was pointing at the levers next to the toy-parts-tubes with the Grab Pack. 

   “I mean during the factory tours I think they were supposed to-” Alli started, preparing in the next breath to tell him to not touch anything.

   Jansen turned as she spoke and using the Grab Pack, pulled one of the levers of the machine. 

   Alli let her words fall into silence, shaking her head at herself for being so slow to warn him. 

   He pulled the next lever and started for the third. 

   “Cal-! maybe we shouldn’t-” Alli started, reaching for him as she walked up behind him, but the Grab Pack’s hand shot forward and Jansen pulled the final lever. “Nevermind,” she muttered, drooping her hands as she watched the parts of the toy bounce along the conveyor belt. 

   “What?” Jansen turned to look at her, “Why not? We’re here-” 

   “It’s legally still theft,” Alli eyed him with a look.

   “I’m taking it as evidence,” he gave her the flicker of a smirk, “Regular police business, nothing more,” 

   She blinked in exasperation and watched the machines do their work. They groaned, shuttered, squealed. 

   “Hey, look!” Jansen said excitedly, holding his phone out to Alli, “I have service,” 

   Alli blinked at the phone then reached for her own, pulling it out and checking. “How-?”

   “I haven’t had service since I got in this place,” Jansen said, putting the phone up to his ear, “Let me call Laura real quick, I need to tell her I’ll be home late,” he turned and stepped away, waiting for his wife to pick-up the call. 

   Alli turned away from him and walked towards the machines, watching them as they produced what looked like a colorless cat. She stepped around a machine, watching through the foggy glass windows, but her attention was caught by something else. She wandered further into the mass of machinery, ducking under a large tube and coming face to space with a large void. 

   She stepped back, pressing her back to the machine as she looked down at the void. Lines with swinging baskets, rails with carts, conveyor belts, assembly lines, were all visible in the pitch grayness of the hole. Her eyes were wide and she felt sick at the height, wondering how on earth it was possible for something to go so deep and still be considered a safe and ethical workplace. She looked up, the same situation meeting her, lines and rails and conveyors for as far as she could see up. She felt herself going pale. She and Jansen had just run up at least six flights of stairs, they should have been at the top of the factory, but now here she was, staring at a drop she could only assume was infinite up and down. 

   She backed up slowly, not wanting to trip and fall into the unknown abyss. She crawled out from the tubes and glass and wires, emerging once again into the Maker Space. She was shaky, hands clammy, cold sweating. She was in a daze, unable to believe what she saw, but also not surprised that the factory had broken so many safety codes. It wasn’t like they hadn’t been doing it before. 

   “Hey, Al? Where’d you go?” 

   “I’m here!” Alli called back to Jansen, belly crawling her way under a conveyor belt and into the light again. 

   “What were you doing back there?” Jansen asked, turning and spotting her. 

   “I was… watching the toy,” she said, turning and looking for which machine the toy was now in. 

   “Anything else back there?” he asked, coming up to her and bobbing his head to look past the tubes and wires behind her. 

   “No,” Alli said, brushing off her front, “Just a lot of dust,” 

   “Hm,” Jansen hummed, almost sounding disappointed. 

   Alli turned as the machines went quiet, the cat the Alli had seen had been colored, its finish shiny. Cat-Bee stood on the conveyor belt, waiting as it made its way out of the plastic tubing and down the rollers into the collection bin. 

   Jansen grabbed it, turning it in his hands to look at it. “Is this one alive?” he asked, holding out in Alli’s direction. 

   Alli looked at it in a daze, “No,” she said lightly, “We should be clear,” 

   Jansen gave Cat-Bee a crooked smile, “My wife is gonna love this,” 

   Alli smiled a little at this. She had always found her partner's dedication to his wife sweet. He’d call her before she went to bed when he worked an overnight shift. Would stop by on his breaks to see her, grab food, or give her flowers he picked up while shopping for the department. He’d save all his Paid-Time-Off to take her on trips and to fancy restaurants. He talked about her all the time and often brought her ceramics into the department as gifts for his co-workers. 

   His eagerness to give her this small thing, something that he had also been so passionate about, made Alli a little sorry she had forced him to stay with her in the factory for so long. 

   “Hey,” Alli said, “Since we’ve gotten this far, we should try and head out,” 

   Jansen looked up at her, “Like- out of the factory?” 

   Alli nodded, “I haven’t seen any signs of the teens, they probably didn’t come this far… we should get going. It’s late,” 

   Jansen nodded, “That’s a good idea,” he glanced around, “But are you sure you want to leave?” 

   Alli took a breath, “I’ll come back later with SWAT, like you said I should,” 

   He eyed her, “You’re not going to come back with SWAT,” he stated, giving her a knowing look. 

   She tried to feign innocence, furrowing her eyebrows slightly, “Of course I will-”

   “No-! you won’t,” he said, holding up a hand to stop her, “I know you well enough by now, you’re going to come back alone if I don’t stay… so I’ll just stay,” 

   Alli started to shake her head, “I don’t-” 

   “I already told Laura I’m going to be home late, and I let the Chief know where we are and if he doesn’t hear from us in the next two hours to send Search and Rescue,” Jansen shrugged one shoulder, “This- this is important to you,” he said, softening his voice, “I know how much you need this- this closure. I’m not going to be the one to take that away from you-” 

   “But it’s not that important,” Alli said, her words coming out forceful and almost as a humorless laugh, “I don’t need closure I need-” she paused, trying to figure out what she really wanted, “I want to know what happened, sure, but- that isn’t as important as your family,” 

   He blinked at her slowly, unconvinced, “It’s just one dinner, Laura will be fine, she knows how the job works,” 

   “But this isn’t our job,” Alli muttered, “Is it? I dragged you here-” 

   “Can we stop with the self-blame, it’ll be fine,” he was watching her sternly, “I’m more into figuring out what’s going on here than I am getting home, at the moment,” 

   Alli was chewing on the inside of her cheek, “Yeah, alright,” she looked down at her hands, once again picking at her nails, “As long as you’re sure-” 

   “Very! Now let’s go!” he said, pointing a hand in the air and turning on his heels, “Where to next?” 

   Alli looked up at him, surprised by his readiness to go, “Uhm, I imagine back to where we came,” she said, trotting to catch up to him, pointing, “That door should take us back to the lobby, and from there we should be able to find another way to the Game Station,” 

   “Right-o! Let’s go,” he said, reaching forward and putting Cat-Bee on the little platform by the door that said, Quality Control. 

   They were quiet as the accordion door rolled up into the ceiling, revealing another drab hallway. 

   “I’m getting sick and tired of these hallways,” Jansen said, taking Cat-Bee back off the podium and starting into the hall. 

  “Yeah,” Alli agreed, “I don’t remember there being this many when I was a kid,” 

   They stopped respectably to check the doors on either side of the hall, but froze when another accordion door in front of them started to rise. 

   “Did you-?” Jansen started. 

   “No,” Alli said, watching the door. 

   Light from the Make A Friend station filtered from the hall and under the crack of the accordion door. 

   Alli didn’t see anything at first, but then large yellow feet shuffled into view and a soft bang rattled the door. Alli’s heart jumped into her throat and she looked at Jansen, who was looking confused and a bit alarmed at the feet as well. “Jan-” Alli started slowly, keeping her voice low. 

   A yellow hand reached under the accordion door, pulling it up faster. 

   “Go!” Alli shouted, waving for Jansen to run and he did. They both ran out of the hall and back into the Make A Friend station, looking around for an exit. 

   “There!” Jansen said, pointing at the stairs of the metal scaffolding, but the moment he said it the entrance was blocked by a roll-out metal gate. “Shit-” 

   “That way!” Alli said, pointing to the open door of the conveyor belt, “We need to get down to Shipping!” 

   Jansen bolted and Alli followed, footsteps sounding behind them from the hall. 

   Jansen climbed onto the conveyor belt, reaching back for Alli. “Allison let’s go!” he shouted, watching as she stood in between him and the large, mutant, Huggy Wuggy. 

   “Go ahead!” Alli called back to him, not taking her eyes off of the Huggy Wuggy in front of her, “I’ll be right behind you!” 

   “I’m not leaving you-!” he started, but slipped as he had tried to turn and step down, falling down the rolling conveyor and crashing at the bottom. “Allison!” he called, voice echoing.

   Alli heard Jansen fall but didn’t dare take her eyes off of Huggy Wuggy, “Do you know who I am?” she asked, running towards the opposite end of the room, leading the Huggy away from the conveyor belt. “I was here- during The Project,” 

   Huggy didn’t seem to care. With black glassy eyes and a wide gaping mouth, he hissed at Ally, sharp teeth glinting at her in the light. He trotted after her, swatting at her with big meaty paws, his legs looking like jelly. 

   “You’re the Sentinel!” Alli said, “Kingsley spoke about you- Ezra Kingsley!” 

   Huggy faltered, his steps uneven, pupils dilating. 

   “Ezra Kingsley made it out alive that day!” Alli continued, feeling sick in knowing that it could understand her, that it had memories, “He talked about you- since you were always his favorite!” 

   Huggy sagged, arms falling to its sides, but it didn’t stop chasing her. It moaned, the sound almost a scream, but desperate and grieving. 

   “He said- he said you’d remember,” Alli stuttered, starting to lie now, “That you had been friends!” 

   Huggy wailed, putting its head back and screaming into the darkness coating the ceiling. 

   Alli bolted for the conveyor belt, jumping up and sliding through the door. She hit the bottom feet first and ran into Jansen. 

   He grabbed her, “I thought you were- you’re insane!” he shouted, shaking her shoulders in his irritation. 

   “Less talking!” she said shrilly, “More moving!” 

   The conveyor and walls around them rattled, Huggy’s wailing becoming louder. 

   “Shit,” Jansen spat. 

   “Move!” Alli said, pushing him along the rolling belts. 

   They ran, slipping and sliding, following the words that would lead them to their exit. 

   No. Don’t. Shipping. Go back. Danger. Authorized Personnel Only! Danger! DANGER! 

   Alli kept a hand on Jansen’s back, holding the flashlight up for them to counteract the red emergency lights. They twisted and squeezed down the conveyor, the walls being banged and slammed into around them. There were vents in the walls and occasionally Ally would see an eye or blue fur, and she would push Jansen to move faster. 

   Eventually Jansen fell, sliding down a length of rolling belts and Alli, despite also not trying to fall, slid down after him. They got up together and ran from the conveyors, along more metal scaffolding that seemed suspended by nothing, looking past it and into a void a lot like the one Alli had seen behind the Make A Friend space earlier. 

   Jansen turned as Alli looked around the maze of mental pathways. “What is-?” she started, before a loud banging made her look back. 

   Huggy Wuggy slithered out of the tunnel, his limbs floppy. He stood slowly, tall and menacing, but when he looked up at them he looked normal. His smile was closed and his eyes were no longer black abysses on his face.

   Alli’s eyes went wide. “Huggy-” she started, stepping forward past Jansen, and the plushy stepped forward too. 

   “Don’t-” Jansen started, grabbing her arm and pulling her back, making her stumble. Using the Grab Pack he reached forward, a large crate hanging from another set of metal pathways, was right over the middle section between them and Huggy. 

   “Wait-!” Alli said frantically, gripping the railing of the pathway, but Jansen pulled on the crate. 

   Huggy stepped forward again at the same moment, both the crate and the metal scaffolding coming down right on top of him. 

   “No!” Alli shouted, stepping forward, but the pathway they were on shook, then the pieces started coming apart. 

   Jansen pulled her back as the pieces fell away and they both watched as the crate, Huggy, and the pathway fell towards the abyss, before crashing onto a pathway far below them. 

   Alli put a hand to her mouth, regret washing over her. “Wh- why the hell would you do that?” she asked, turning to Jansen with horrified eyes. 

   He gawked at her, “It was going to kill us-” 

   “We don’t know that!” Alli shouted, pushing him out of her way as she stalked past him, “He understood me, he knew what I was saying- he remembered Kingsley!” 

   “I don’t give a flying fuck what it does or does not pretend to know! That thing was out to get us!” Jansen shouted back, fists balled by his sides. 

   “Because that’s it’s job!” Alli yelled, “Its sole purpose was to protect that factory! That’s what Kingsley kept going on and on and on about! I didn’t know what he meant until now, but then I did! It wasn’t going to hurt us- but you still killed him anyway!” 

   “You’re acting like it’s human!” 

   “It was human!” she screamed, putting a hand to her mouth a slight gasp, eyes wide. 

   “What the hell are you going on about?” Jansen asked, his voice low as he stepped up to her. He looked down at her, eyebrows furrowed, chest heaving. “Tell me what the fuck is going on,” 

   “I don’t remem-” 

   “Bullshit,” he spat, voice dangerous, “How do you know things you can possibly seem to remember?” 

   “Be-because I…” her voice broke, “I blocked it all… and I can know things happened here, without having to relive them every time I have to think about it,” she looked up at him, eyes watery, “I didn’t know this was here- I didn’t believe Kingsley either,” 

   He searched her face, eyes stony, “I don’t believe you,” 

   Her face crumpled, “I’m sorry,” she said, voice shaking, “I really really didn’t know-” 

   “But you knew enough to drag me down here,” he said, stepping even closer to her, “You knew enough to say that you needed to find out what happened- because you indeed knew something happened,” he took a deep breath, “You knew people died here, I knew people died here, but you didn’t have the decency to tell me the toys were alive,” 

   “I didn’t remember-” 

   “Then start remembering!” he shouted and she jumped back, “I trusted you, Allison. I’ve stuck by you through everything, and this- this is where I’m going to die? All because you can’t bring yourself to remember something that happened–what?-twenty years ago?” 

   “It wasn’t twenty years ago,” Alli muttered, trying to keep him from becoming angrier with her, “I was sixteen when I got out-” 

   “I don’t need that sort of information from you!” he said forcefully, “What is the Game Station? Why are we going there? Are there other things like that thing? Should we be worried?” he was counting off his questions on his fingers, “Are we going to die? Should I start writing my obituary? What’s so important in the Game Station? Are we going anywhere else after that? How do you know the information you’re looking for will be there? When will this all be over?” he took a breath, dropping his hands, “Al, I’m sorry- but we almost died,” 

   She swallowed, “I don’t-” she started softly, “I’m sorry,” 

   He shook his head in response, “I know people died, people you cared about, but what happens after you find out what happened to them? There’s no one we can arrest, no one you can sue… what’s the point of all this?” 

   “Because I need to know what happened to my sister,” Alli said softly, looking up at him, “I need to know which toy they made her into.”

Chapter 7: Here’s Poppy

Seven

Here’s Poppy

    He opened his mouth then closed it again, letting out a slow breath. 

    Her heart was beating in her throat, tears burning the backs of her eyes. “Cal… I don’t-”

    “Alli- stop,” he said evenly, defeated. “Just- stop,” 

    “But-” she started, wanting to explain; to make him understand. 

    “No. No no no, no.” shaking his head as he held up his hands, stopping her, “Stop talking,” 

    She pressed her lips together, taking a breath. 

    “What are you talking about? You just- none of this is making sense right now… you aren’t making sense right now. What do you mean, made into? And how was that thing alive?” he took a breath and ran a hand through his hair, “This is insane,”

    Alli dropped her gaze, looking at how far up they were. She hadn’t been paying attention at first, but dim light and gray emptiness were all around them. Rails and conveyor belts were the only things interrupting the void, chains clinked and metal creaked, but there was nothing else but the wall behind them. 

    “Keep moving,” Jansen said evenly, turning and walking along the pathways with their thin metal railings, rusty joints and loose paneling. “We’re leaving. I don’t care what you think needs to happen anymore- we’re done with this,”

    “Yes sir,” Alli whispered, following him quietly as he led the way across the twisting maze of pathways. 

    “There’s a door up ahead,” Jansen said after a while, pointing. 

    She looked up, looking at the ring of light that illuminated a wall. There was a large red flower painted around a door, and she glanced up, looking at the toys stabbed through with meat hooks and hanging from chains that disappeared into the blackness of the ceiling. 

    “Hopefully it’ll let us out of here,” Jansen continued, leaping a gap between two sections of the corrugated metal. 

    Alli’s heart jumped into her throat as she watched him, the metal bowing beneath his feet, before he kept walking as if he had simply hopped over a puddle. She looked at the gap, palms sweating, heart pounding, ears ringing. She took a step back then, looking up at the next section of pathway, she took two large steps and jumped over the void. She latched onto the metal handrails, sinking to her knees as the pathway shook under her feet, then she weakly got to her feet. She looked up, wondering if Jansen had noticed her, but he was still walking, his back to her. 

    He stopped in front of the door, looking at the painting around it, the warnings painted on the petals. “This… this is weird.” he said, still not looking back as Alli stumbled up behind him, still gripping the railings as if her life depended on it. 

    “It’s a poppy,” she whispered, looking at the door. “This is Poppy’s room,” 

    He finally looked at her, “Who’s Poppy?” 

    She blinked, the memories coming to her. “Poppy… was a girl. She- died, or something. I don’t-” she put her hand to her face, pressing the heel of her hand into her eye, “She was Mister Ludwig’s daughter- no,” she shook her head, “No- that was Lilly- but Lilly and Poppy… what happened to Lilly?” she couldn’t remember, the thoughts jumbled, images fuzzy. 

    “Listen- don’t worry about it,” Jansen shook his head, “It’s not important,” he reached forward and grabbed the doorknob, twisting it open with a click. 

    The door swung open, the light beyond it pink and the air warm compared to the gray air of the void behind them. It was inviting, even though it smelled like dust and flowers. Light music was playing from what sounded like a music box, the sound of the pins hitting the metal fingers echoing around the room. 

    Jansen stepped in first, as if called to something within the room. 

    Alli eyed him then followed, wrapping her arms around herself as she followed him across the plush carpet. Pillows were stashed around the room, bookshelves were pressed into the pinstripe wallpaper, half walls separating a sitting room from a playroom. 

    BAM! The door slammed closed behind them. 

    Alli and Cal both turned to look back at it, both holding their breaths as they turned back to face front again. 

    “Look at this,” Cal said, pointing to a stack of papers, taking the top one and reading it allowed for them both. “Dr… blank. Case 293, Subject… blank. The Experiment is reacting well to our pushing, although I wouldn’t suggest repeating this process. It’s dangerous not only to us involved but also the delicate mental state of The Projects. Blank, has reacted well to the Big Bodies Initiative, she’s doing well despite her anger towards, blank. The other Doctors and I are starting to think that Mr. Blank, isn’t telling us the entire truth about what he wants from this project, but unless we comply… the rest is missing,” Jansen looked at Alli, “This is what you were talking about, The Big Bodies Project. You’ve mentioned this,” 

    Alli nodded but stayed silent. 

    “What about it? You need to tell me what was going on,” He turned to face her fully, holding up the paper and shaking it slightly. 

    “I don’t- remember,” she started softly, “Not a lot… but, enough,” 

    “Okay… explain,” he said, obviously growing impatient with her. 

    “The Big Bodies Project- if I remember,” she took a breath, “The orphans; they tested us… then they would disappear, I don’t know forsure what happened after that- but after a kid would disappear one of those giant toys would be walking around. They would join us in the GameStation,” she took a shuddering breath, “The toy would have the nickname of the kid that went missing- they would respond, interact, act the same way that our friends would,” 

    “So what are you saying?” He asked, watching her, “That they stuffed the kids into giant toy suits?” 

    She shook her head, “They- took their souls, and transfused them into the toys,” she furrowed her eyebrows as she watched him. 

    He blinked at her then guffawed, “Okay kid,” he shook his head and tossed the paper back onto the stack, “Let’s just find a way out of here,” 

    She deflated as he turned away from her. No one else had ever believed her either. 

    He walked farther into the room and she followed him silently. “What about this?” he asked, the music growing louder as they walked. “Who’s this?” 

    She looked up, “Poppy,” she said evenly. “Poppy Ludwig- Elliot Ludwig’s favorite daughter…” her words fell flat as she realized that she knew those words from somewhere, someone that always said them. “Lilly Ludwig,” she thought, “Lilly always called Poppy the favorite,” 

    “The same Poppy you just mentioned?” Cal asked, looking over his shoulder at her. 

    She nodded, “Yup,” 

    They both looked at the glass box full of velvet, a porcelain doll with curly red pigtails sitting close-eyed inside her confinement. She had a blue dress, pink cheeks and red lips, ruffles and shiny black shoes, white socks, and hands too small for the rest of her proportions. 

    “She looks-” 

    “It’s a shrine,” Alli said, stepping past him and approaching the glass. 

    “Well then don’t touch it!” he said, sounding horrified. 

    She retracted her hand slightly, having been reaching from the clasp of the glass door. “Why not?” she asked, breathless, looking at him over her shoulder, “You don’t believe it’s alive, do you?” 

    “Alive? Hardly. Possessed? After what I’ve seen tonight, yeah,” he eyed the doll behind the glass with a disgusted and wary expression. 

    She looked back at the box, an itching in the back of her mind, “But she can help us,” she said, “If she’s the true Poppy-” 

    “True Poppy,” Jansen said testily, “Yeah, that doesn’t sound creepy at all. Thank you for that comfort,” 

    Alli reached for the clasp again, unlatching it and letting the glass door swing open. “Poppy?” 

    They waited, watching as the music grew louder, then- the lights went out, the music going silent. 

    “Allison…” Jansen said slowly, reaching forward and grabbing her by the arm gently, “What the-” 

    “You opened my case,” said a voice that echoed hollowly around the room. The lights were red when they flicked back on, bathing them all in bloody light. “Thank you. It’s been so long,” Poppy said, standing at the edge of her podium, staring at Allison with wide blue eyes. “Nice to see you again, Allison.” 

Chapter 8: The Game Station

Eight

The Game Station

     Allison stumbled away from the case, feeling Jansen’s hand on her back as they watched Poppy with wide eyes. 

     “I’m sorry,” Poppy said, “Do I frighten you?”  

     Allison’s chest was heaving with shallow breaths, “Wha- uh… what-?” she couldn’t get the words out, her mouth dry and voice a whisper. She swallowed hard, stuttering the next time she tried to speak so she gave up trying. 

     “I can get you out of here,” Poppy said, lifeless eyes snapping back and forth between Allison and Jansen, “You don’t belong here,”  

     Allison doubled over, putting her hands on her knees as she took ragged breaths. “Oh god,” she breathed before sinking into a squat, pressing her hands together and putting them to her forehead as she silently prayed. 

     “How- um,” Jansen cleared his throat, “How can you help us out of here?” 

     “I have the code to the train in the Game Station,” Poppy said, voice lowering, “It will take you out of the factory,”  

     The creepiest part about Poppy, when Allison looked back up at the doll, was that her mouth didn’t move when she talked. She sounded like she was speaking from a voice box in her chest; which Allison confirmed by noting the cord in the doll’s back when it turned around later. 

     “You know my name,” Alli whispered, words barely a breath. She looked up at Poppy with watery eyes and an open mouthed expression, shock and wonder mixed on her face. 

     “Yes,” Poppy said, tipping her head to the side as she studied Allison, “You were here with me. I never forget a face,”  

     Allison shuttered involuntarily. “Never?” 

     Poppy shook her head. It was a mechanical movement, snapping as it turned back and forth, making her curls shake. 

     Alli took a breath, “Okay…” she said slowly, “Then- where do we go for the code to the train?” 

     “Oh!” Poppy said lightly, walking around the edge of her case with soft taps of her porcelain feet, “It’s in The Founder’s office,” 

     “You know who Elliot Ludwig is?” Alli asked, watching the doll through the glass sides of the case. 

     Poppy stopped, as if frozen by the name, then her head turned slightly and she looked back at Allison. “We don’t say that name,” her tone had dropped, the words ringing with danger. Allison was to never mention Elliot again. 

     Alli swallowed, chills running down her arms, “Okay,” 

     Poppy turned around again, voice chipper, “Just follow me to the office!” 

     The lights flicked off again with large industrial clunks, making Jansen and Alli reach for each other instinctually. When they flicked back on again both detectives looked around through the swimming red lights, trying to find where Poppy had gone. 

     “Here, sillies,” Poppy said, directing their attention to a vent over their heads in the ceiling. “Follow me,” she disappeared into the vent, her feet making soft tinks along the metal as she walked. 

     They followed the sound, coming to a door in the wall that was blocked by a tall bookcase. The sound went past the door, leaving Alli and Jansen with not much choice but to shove the bookshelf over and force the door open. The hall beyond the door was dark, but Poppy’s footsteps in the vent were still audible, so they pulled out their flashlights and followed her. 

     “Good,” they heard Poppy say from over their heads when they past a grate in the vent ceiling, “I thought I lost you for a moment there,”  

     “How are you sure the train will get us out?” Jansen asked, but the question went unanswered; most likely because Poppy didn’t hear him. 

     “The train is most likely the shipment train,” Alli answered it instead, “Or it’ll take us down to shipping, at least,” 

     “This is crazy,” Jansen hissed, “Like- living toys, maybe I could reason my way out of that one. But talking toys?” he shook his head in disbelief. 

     “Welcome to my childhood,” Alli’s eyebrows flicked up and she pressed her lips together. “You learned to accept the insane after a while,” 

     “Jeez,” he breathed. 

     “Here!” Poppy called to them, redirecting their attention again. 

     They wandered into a lobby-like room, doors with wooden letters spelling out the names of their occupants hung above them. The lights were dim, cracks spiderwebbed across the tiled floor, some letters had fallen and scattered across the room, and some of the doors had broken off of their hinges. But still the room was light with color, spots and lines and splashes, colorful posters, and large building blocks. 

     “This is the door,” Poppy said, disappearing into the vents again and disappearing past a door that had EL IO  LU W G, written over the top of it, the other letters fallen to the floor in front of the door. 

     Alli glanced at Jansen then stepped over the fallen letters and chunks of plaster to open the door. 

     The room beyond it was in perfect condition, which caused Alli and Jansen to frown at each other with suspicious unease rising in their chests. 

     “It should be right on the desk!” Poppy said from inside the vents, “I would come in and help you- but… I don’t like this room,” her voice dropped again at the last sentence.

     Alli and Jansen crossed the plush rug to the mahogany desk, staring at it for a moment. 

     “We shouldn’t touch it,” Jansen said, “Chain of evidence,” 

     Alli snorted, giving him a look, “What are they gonna do? For all we know SWAT won’t even investigate this far,” 

     “Wha- what is SWAT?” Poppy called to them and they both fell silent with wide eyed glances to each other. 

     “The good guys,” Alli said after an aching moment of silence, “The people who are going to help us get out of here,” 

     “Oh…” Poppy said slowly, the word falling quiet. 

     Alli turned her attention to the desk and Jansen scoured the room, taking in all the information. She ruffled through the papers on the desk, most of them blacked out, their writing illegible. She pulled open drawers, unsure of what else she was searching for; besides the code to the train. She wanted something, to find one piece of evidence that would prove to the world she wasn’t crazy. To finally give her closure on what happened to her sister. 

     “Hey, Al, look at this,” Jansen said, motioning to a framed picture on one of the walls. 

     Alli looked up at him then crossed the room to look at the picture. 

     “Look familiar?” he asked, looking at her to see if she would recognise anyone in the image. 

     Alli frowned, “Yeah,” she said softly, putting her fingers gently to the glass, “This is- Lilly,” she said after a pause, “But… it’s not, at the same time,” 

     He watched her for a moment, “Go on,” he prompted after she went quiet. 

     “Lilly didn’t look like this,” she said, unable to pinpoint exactly what was different, “She- she didn’t look…” she frowned at herself, “Happy?”  

     “Right,” Jansen said softly with a single nod, “Okay,” 

     She let out an irritated breath, “Well the last thing I knew about Lilly is that she was dead-” she stopped herself, “But she was also a toy,” she glanced at the photo with a sickening feeling growing in her chest, “Who does this look like to you?” she asked, pointing to the other girl in the photo, glancing at Jansen. “This is Elliot Ludwig,” she whispered, “This is Lillith Ludwig,” she pointed back to Lilly, “And this- was Poppy,” her words fell with a hush. 

     He looked at the picture for a moment then face fell in realization. “No-” 

     She nodded slowly, glancing behind him at the vents. “Same as Huggy,” 

     He shook his head at her, “How is that possible?”  

     She gave a helpless shrug, “Hell if I know,” 

     He put a hand to his head, “I can’t even start to believe this right now,” 

     She took a breath, “Let’s just- get out of here, yeah?” 

     He nodded in agreement, “Sooner the better,” 

     She went back to the desk, ruffling through the papers in the drawers and coming up empty. 

     “Here,” Jansen said, holding up a file he had forced from the filing cabinet. He held it out to her as she approached him, her eyes taking in the remaining contents of the drawer before she took the file from him. 

     She flipped it open and glanced through the papers, “This is it,” she breathed, tossing the file back onto the other hanging files in the drawer. She help up the paper to him, “I’m sure we would have been able to figure this out at some point,” 

     He nodded with a look of agreement, “We could have guessed that for sure,” 

     “Got it!” Alli called to Poppy. 

     “Good!”  Poppy said from outside the office door, “Let’s get going!”  

     Alli and Jansen made their way out of the office again, shutting the door behind themselves. Poppy was standing on the floor waiting for them as they turned to look for her.

     “May I see?” Poppy asked, “I can confirm that it’s the correct code,”  

     Alli held it out to her, the glass fingers clasping down on the paper. “Couldn’t you have just told us the code since you need to confirm it?” 

     “No,” was all Poppy said, starting to walk away. “This way to the Game Station!” she said, voice light and breathless. 

     Alli and Jansen followed her away from the lobby and down a hall. 

     “I’m glad to be able to help you,” Poppy said, “Help was something I never got- no one came to save me- so I’m glad I’m able to save you both from the monstrosities here,”  

     All and Jansen glanced at each other nervously. 

     “We must move quickly though, before he notices you’re here,” she continued, leading them into another vestibule. “Mind the gap,” she said, motioning to a large hole in the middle of the floor. 

     Jansen let out a breath and crossed himself; fingertips touching his head, chest, and shoulders. 

     Alli took a breath, “Who is he?” she asked Poppy.

     Poppy turned to face her, pale face shining against the dim light, “He-” she started but there was the sound of loose rumble tumbling into the sinkhole to their left. 

     Both Alli and Jansen scrambled back, terrified that it was about to sink more and the edges would creep towards them, pulling them in. 

     “Oh god,” Jansen breathed. 

     “You were fine when we were hanging precariously over a void of nothingness,” Alli hissed at him as he gripped her shoulder. 

     “These scare me more,” he hissed back, “I can’t explain it!” 

     She shook her head briefly. 

     “What’s wrong?” Poppy asked, watching them as they pushed their backs to the walls of the room. 

     “Nothing!” Alli said, trying to keep her voice light. “G-go on,” she waved a hand for Poppy to continue her explanation. 

     More rubble tumbled within the body of the sinkhole. 

     Poppy looked up at them with a wide expression, “They know you’re here,”  

     “What?” Alli squeaked, not understanding. 

     “I-” Poppy started, but she didn’t have the chance to finish her sentence. 

     An arm slithered out of the hole, pink and rubbery, with a large hand and boney looking fingers. They wrapped around Poppy, consuming her within a cage of plastic and rubber, before she was pulled back into the hole with a scream. 

     Alli put a hand over her mouth, horrified. 

     Jansen started to quietly pray. 

     “What was it?” she hissed to him, looking over her shoulder to see he hand his eyes closed and head bowed, “Sheesh-” she elbowed him, “Could have started that a while ago if you wanted it to mean something,” she let out a shaky breath, looking around at their situation. 

     The Game Station was painted in large bubble letters over a door in front of them. 

     “We’re here,” Alli said, “She brought us this far at least,” 

     “Thank god,” Jansen breathed, “You remember the code for the train, right?” 

     Alli shook her head, “I didn’t have a chance to look at the paper,” 

     Jansen closed his eyes and groaned a sigh, “Damn it, Alli,” 

     “I’m sorry!” Alli croaked, “I didn’t know our guide was going to take it with her when she was dragged into a giant death pit by a giant pink hand!” She snapped a little at the last words, and took a calming breath. “Sorry,” 

     “No, you’re right,” he said, “I looked at it,” he shook his head, “I should have memorized it, part of the job description,” 

     Alli started to inch her way around the edge of the room, “Right, well,” she reached for the handle of the door, “We can figure it out. We said it’d be easy to guess anyway,” 

     He nodded in agreement, right behind her. “Yeah- let’s just get out of here,”

     She pulled open the door and slipped past it into an almost dark hallway, Jansen right on her heels. 

     They followed the hallway, feeling as it started to slant upwards, then they were pushing past another set of doors. Opening this set of doors, light met them, and they emerged into a bright and colorful room with skylights and windows. The train was right at the center of the room, as well as more sets of doors that were slanted into the floor like storm cellar doors. A play structure was to their left and a covered train station was to their right, with other jungle equipment scattered around it and the rest of the room. It felt like a giant Play Place from a fast food restaurant, except for the skybox and overhead scaffolding where the scientists would watch them. 

     This room made Alli go cold, the memories coming back to her so harshly she could hear the music that had been playing, and hear the doors opening and closing. The smell of the room hit her and deja vu settled over her like a cloud, making her vision go blurry and ears start to ring. She couldn’t breathe, all the air ripped away from her as she looked around, feeling the same terror she had the first time she realized they were going to kill her. 

     Jansen looked at her, noticing the shift and the glassiness of her eyes. He put a heavy hand on her shoulder, grounding her to that spot, to that moment. “They aren’t here anymore, kid,” he said evenly, his voice pulling Alli from her living nightmare and making her take another look around. “Nobody’s here,” 

     She nodded slightly, still feeling sick to her stomach, hoping she wouldn’t be ill. 

     He looked towards the train, “Here’s our ticket out,” he said, nodding towards it before starting to walk in the same direction. 

     Alli took a breath, even though it still felt suffocating, and followed him. 

     They stepped up to the platform and Alli glanced at the train. 

     “There's no power,” she said, looking behind herself at the doors built into the floor. “Nothing is going to work,” 

     “How do we get the power back on?” He asked, turning to look at her. 

     She started to chew on her lip as she thought, “We’ll have to go back out there,” she nodded behind herself at the door they had just come through, “See if we can find another power station,” 

     He nodded in agreement, “Alright,” 

     She took a shaky breath and shook out her arms, “‘kay,” 

     He watched her, “You alright?” 

     She nodded with an audible swallow, “Yeah-” but her voice cracked, “I’ll be fine,” 

     “If anything gets to be too much-” he started. 

     “It won’t,” she assured him, “There’s no one here to hurt me now,” she said, “You’re right,” 

     He nodded at her, “And your friends with the giant toys, so I’m not quite worried about them either,” 

     Her heart dropped and apparently it was obvious on her face too because he tried to quickly cover his mistake. 

     “Sorry,” he said hurriedly, “What I meant-t-to say was-”

     “It’s fine,” she cut him off quietly, “Just- don’t bring it up again.” she looked away from him, “Let’s move. I don’t want to be here longer than I have to,” 

     He nodded in agreement, and they turned back towards the doors. 

Chapter 9: Mommy Long Legs

Nine

Mommy Long Legs

     The hallway they found themselves wandering was no different than any other hallway. High ceilings. Pitch black on both ends. Yellowish light. Posters. Dust. 

     Alli was starting to drag, shoes making scuffs in the dirt. It was late, the time on her watch reading a few past one in the morning. They had already been trapped there for almost seven hours and were not any closer to finding what they were originally looking for. There was no sign of any of the missing teens, not even a footprint in the dust that surrounded them. 

     Despite the tiredness Alli felt energized, adrenaline still pounding through her veins. 

     The flashlight beams reflected off of a door, sending flashes of light into their eyes. They approached it, with the hand pads on either side, and Jansen readied the Grab Pack. Alli crossed her arms as she waited for him, letting out a heavy and exhausted breath. 

     He shifted to grab the triggers of the Grab Pack, adjusting it on his shoulders as Alli shone the light at the door. 

     Dust dripped down onto their heads and Alli shielded her eyes from the grainy substance as the ceiling above them creaked.

     “What the-?” Jansen started, safety squinting against the darkness over their heads; dark dust falling onto his face and contrasting against his cheeks. 

     A pink hand, the same as the one that had grabbed Poppy, shot down from the darkness with the sound of stretching rubber and wrapped around Jansen’s arm. 

     He yelped and stumbled back, dropping limp to the floor as the arm started to retract with the Grap Back arm in tow. 

     Alli jumped forward, grabbing Jansen’s arm and pulling back against the tug of the pink hand. 

     The Grab Pack hand stretched, the pink arm disappearing into the blackness again before the Grab Pack arm snapped completely. Metal screeched and the compact arm flew back at them, smacking the floor near their feet. 

     They both took a breath, scared and surprised all in one. They were silent, terrified. Hearts pounding in their throats. 

     Metal raked across metal in a hollow ring. The sound of sticky rubber peeling away from smooth plastic made Alli’s teeth hurt, it was sweaty sounding. Pipes rattled and there was an aching creak of weight being applied to beams that couldn’t hold it. 

     Slowly, shadows blossomed across the yellow walls. A face looked down at them, with bright green eyes and a manic smile. 

     “You can’t leave yet,” said the face with the pera-smile, head jerking from side to side as it watched them. “Where do you think you’re going?” 

     Alli and Jansen’s mouths dropped open, too stunned to speak. 

     Mommy Long Legs looked down at them, long arms pulling from the ceilings as her body twisted and contorted. She watched them with unseeing eyes, dilated pupils and green irises. She smelled like old rubber and flowery perfume, dust and plastic. 

     “It’s been so long since I’ve had a new play- friend,” Mommy’s face drew closer to theirs, eyes rolling back and forth in her plastic head. “I won’t let you leave… they always left me to go play the games. Then they would never come back,” 

     Alli swallowed despite how dry her mouth was, she felt like was breathing chalk dust. 

     Mommy looked at Alli, cocking her head, “You look like… a friend,” 

     Alli couldn’t breathe. 

     “I know you,” Mommy continued, “You-” she shuttered, entire body quivering, “You!” she repeated, but Alli didn’t know what for. 

     Jansen had Alli by the arm, pulling her back slightly the closer Mommy Long Legs got to them. 

     “You want to leave too,” Mommy continued, “I’ll give you the code to the train– if you play my games. It’s been so long since I’ve had someone to play with,” 

     “What happened to Poppy?” Alli asked finally, taking a deep breath afterwards. 

     “Poppy?” Mommy said sharply, voice grating across her throat, “Who cares about Poppy?”  

     “Is she okay?” Alli asked, “She said-” 

     “Now you listen to me!” Mommy screamed, face contorting, “You will play my games or I will rip you apart and eat your insides!”  

     Alli jumped at her first outburst, then slowly sank in on herself the longer Mommy screamed at them. 

     “I’ll turn on the lights for you,” Mommy went on, voice lightening as she talked more sweetly, “You play my games– everyone is happy. You get to leave and I… well we’ll see,” 

     Alli pressed her lips together, “Alright,” she said, “But let me ask you a question-”

     “I’ll answer your questions if you’re still alive by the end of our games,” Mommy said, grinning insanely. 

     Alli started to shake her head, “But-” 

     “Don’t-! Make me repeat myself!” She yanked Alli up by the front of her shirt, pulling her away from Jansen and off of the ground, “You’re so disrespectful towards your-” she dropped Alli without finishing. “Find your way back if you wish to live,” 

     Alli sank to her knees and watched as Mommy Long Legs regressed back into the pitch black ceiling over their heads. 

     “Allison-” Jansen said, grabbing her by the shoulder, “You good?” 

     She nodded silently, taking a shallow breath. 

     “Are- are we really going to do this?” he asked softly, looking up at where Mommy had disappeared to. 

     Alli nodded again, unable to formulate her thoughts. 

     “Al… this is crazy,” 

     “I know,” she breathed, slowly coming to the realization that Mommy had known her. 

     “We can’t actually go along with this… can we?” 

     “I have to find out-” Alli started, “I need to know if… well, you know,” 

     He shook his head, “No, I don’t think I know,” 

     “She’s Marie,” Alli said, feeling her face fall into a horrified and slack expression, “I’m sure of it,” 

Chapter 10: The Memories

Summary:

Hey y’all, sorry it’s been a minute. I don’t get much response about this fic so I didn’t know people were actually reading it. Sorry :P
I’ve actually been working on writing my actual book and just finished the first manuscript in November of last year. (Sounds weird to say that lol) Hopefully I’ll get it published. *fingers crossed*
I’ll try to keep up on this, I’m sort of balancing a lot rn between two job, but I did drop out of school, so that’ll free up some time I’m sure.
Enjoy this, idk when I’ll have time to post the next one.
<3

Notes:

If you are reading this and enjoying it please take a moment to let me know in the comments. It’ll help me feel motivated to continue if I know people are expecting it.
Leave a “PP” in the comments. (lol, pp)
Thx
~B

Ten

The Memories

 

 

      Alli followed Jansen back into the Game Station. 

      “So what are we doing?” he asked, turning to look at her. 

      She had gone back to feeling suffocated again, the room closing in on her, her skin feeling too small. Her breaths were heavy in her ears and every time she swallowed she thought she was going to choke on her own tongue. “It’s Marie. I know it. I know it is… but how? How?!” The thoughts were thick, they were loud, they were terrifying. 

      “Allison,” Jansen said, starting for the first time to sound a little bit irritated with her trauma. 

      “Sorry,” she said softly, “I’m sorry. Just–” she took a breath. She didn’t know what she was apologizing for, didn’t know why she felt obligated to. “You can’t play with that broken Grab Pack,” 

      Jansen glanced down at the Grab Pack and its missing hand, the woven metal arm dragging on the floor by his feet. “Right…” 

      “This way,” she said with too much confidence, “We’ll find a better one–one for each of us.”

      He nodded and followed her. 

      They went to a door mostly hidden in the cushions against the walls; soft cutouts that looked like trees, animals, and clouds. The door was the same blue color as the walls around them, making it harder to find against the screaming vibrant colors of everything else. She tried the handle, knowing it would most likely be locked, but this was the only door to the equipment room. 

      They had taken her here, she remembered it most vividly. She had always been trusted by the doctors, they thought she was the easiest to control, that she didn’t have any idea what was happening. They were right. She hadn’t. Not until that day. One fateful mistake that they made. She had seen their papers, their notes on the games, on the experiments; their notes about the kids. She had seen the title of Marie’s file, saw their plans for her, saw what they were going to make her. 

      The walls were down now. All the walls Alli had built up to protect herself were on the floor around her feet. The bricks chipped away slowly by the memory that had been plaguing her for years. It was all gone now, the things that had been protecting her from herself. The things that had been protecting others from her; from her living nightmares. 

      She took a breath and a step back. She was done running. Done being afraid. It was so exhausting to be afraid. With a firm step forward she kicked out, planting her foot right next to the doorknob, driving her heel into the wooden door. They had never thought that children were dangerous enough to need metal doors in the Game Station. She felt the door give a little beneath her foot, Jansen saying something behind her that she didn’t hear. She fell back then went again, planting another hard kick on the door. 

      It slammed open, the strike plate having broken the latch off of the door, sending it flying into the hallway beyond. 

      “Damn,” Jansen muttered as Alli brushed past the door and into the hall. 

      Stepping past the door she immediately turned right, the hallway only one way, and she followed it. It felt like a dream–a nightmare, to be back here. She hated it. 

      Another door in the hall held the name plaque “Equipment Room” right next to it on the wall. Allie tried the door, letting it swing open before reaching in with only her hand and feeling along the wall for a light switch. 

      The room illuminated, lighting up both itself and the hallway behind them, their shadows cast on the wall. 

      “Holy shit!” Jansen blurted, looking at the equipment room, “This is crazy!” 

      “It looks like Barbie’s closet, doesn’t it?” Alli agreed, looking down a long room lined with shelving units and racks. 

      “They– didn’t take any of this when the factory shut down? This is probably worth a lot of money,” 

      Alli shrugged, “Doesn’t matter. It’s good for us that they left it,” 

      He raised his eyebrows in agreement as she stepped into the room and walked down the rows of shelves. 

      There was everything from packs of paper, to printer ink replacements, folder files, and other office supplies. There were stacks of paper plates, plastic solo cups, boxes on boxes of plastic cutlery. On the racks hung clothes, childrens of all sizes and colors; no prints, no patterns, just plain and simple colors. There were racks hung full of simple white office jackets, long and with too many pockets, some of which still had pens or other items outlined in them. Some shelves had boxes, cardboard or plastic, some clear but most opaque. They had labels on them, names mostly, some with more supplies and others with tags too worn to read. Dust coated every flat surface, thick and gray, dulling every color it touched.

      Alli stopped at the end of a row of shelves lined with Grab Packs, eyeing the alleyway between the two towering structures. 

      “What are all the different colored hands for?” Jansen asked from over her shoulder. 

      “I–” she was going to say she didn’t know, but she did. She remembered now. “They all have a different purpose,” she explained, “The green one is conductive, like a battery. Yellow glows in the dark like a glow stick. Purple is used on the jump pads, pink are extra sticky, but neither of them are conductive like the red and blue ones. And the brown one shoot flares.”

      “Interesting,” 

      “Here,” Alli said, “You’ll probably want this one,” she grabbed a pack with a blue hand and a green hand. 

      “Okay,” he shed his old Grab Pack and put it on the shelf in place of the new one. 

      Alli grabbed herself one as well, with a blue hand and a purple hand. But her eyes caught on something in the dust. Finger prints, scuffs. Someone else had been here. Her eyes moved to the place where the Grab Pack had been, the clean spot where it had lain looking back at her. Someone else had definitely been there. Her heart started to pound. 

      “How do these games work, exactly?” Jansen asked as they both pulled on the packs and strapped them across their chests. 

      The breath was shallow as she took it, terrified despite herself. “I’m not sure what she’ll have us play, but since the building still has power the instructions will be given to us over audio. When playing the game, you have to follow the instructions exactly or you will– lose.” she finished. Die is what she would say, but that was too morbid. Too real. 

      “Okay, easy,” he said, too confident as always. 

      “Right…” she said slowly, “The games are–Musical Memory, which is typically very easy. Whack-A-Wuggy, which is less easy. And Statues, which, depending on your physical mobility, is easy but tiring.” 

      “Awesome,” he grinned at her, “I always wanted to play Whack-A-Wuggy.”

      She gawked at him, “What is your problem?” 

      His smile faltered then faded completely, “Sorry?” 

      “Do you have no awareness?!” Disgust overwhelming her conscious. “People have died here! My sister died here! And all you can think about is yourself? I get it, okay? All you wanted as a child was to come here and do what this–all I wanted as a child was to not be here! All I wanted was to not be couch surfing, was to not be called names at school for the clothes that didn’t fit me and for my hair never being washed. I didn’t ask for this to happen to me, and if I had a choice, I would love to have switched childhoods with you, since you can’t seem to find contentment in not being traumatized! Is this truly what you wanted? Do you still not realize what happened? Do you not know what’s going on right now?” 

      “I was just saying-” he started quietly, hurt by her outburst. 

      “We’re being experimented on!” She shrieked, “They’ve found me again! They know I’m back. And this time… this time, you’re here too.” 

Notes:

If you are reading this and enjoying it please take a moment to let me know in the comments. It’ll help me feel motivated to continue if I know people are expecting it.
Leave a “PP” in the comments. (lol, pp)
Thx
~B

Chapter 11: Musical Memory

Eleven

Musical Memory

      They were silent, anger still evident in Alli’s scowl, and awkward hurt evident in the furrow of Jansen’s eyebrows. She was angry, an irrational, trembling sort of anger. His feelings were hurt, he was embarrassed, he was scared. 

      Her outburst felt unwarranted. He didn’t think he had said anything wrong. Maybe he wasn’t taking this seriously enough, but he didn’t understand her issue with the factory. 

      He definitely wasn’t taking this seriously enough. She had been here, seen things, there was a giant mutant Mommy Long Legs threatening their lives. He was starting the grate on her nerves. 

      “I’ll–um–do the first game,” he offered, voice soft. 

      “No,” she said, trying to mimic his tone, “I should do it. Who knows what sort of changes she’s made to the rules.” 

      “Okay.” Was all he said. 

      “Welcome to the Game Station! Your new Home Away From Home!” Started the same mechanical voice that had always seemed to put Alli on edge. She was happy to know that nothing had changed, her jaw clenching as the voice reverberated around the room. “For your first game we’re going to play Musical Memory! Go ahead and start down to the Musical Memory room, the doors will open for you now.” 

      “Can’t we go together?” Jansen asked as they watched two doors, similar to storm cellar doors, open automatically for them. 

      She shook her head, “It’s against the rules.” 

      “What if something happens?” 

      “To you, or me?” She asked, looking at him finally. 

      “You,” 

      She took a breath, “I’ll be okay,” 

      “Are you sure? I really can do it–”

      She put a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to stop talking long enough to look at her, “I’ll be okay. I’ve done this before, I can do it again. If anything happens… better me than you. You have to get home at some point,”

      He started to shake his head. 

      “If you absolutely feel the need to be heroic, go ahead and see if you can find a way to get us out of here besides the train,” she said before he could start to argue. 

      “I’ll see what I can do,” 

      She nodded, “See you on the other side,” 

      “Good luck,” he said, “Be safe,” 

      She turned with a nod and started up the platform, then turned and started down the dark ramp into the underground playroom. There were lights lining the floor, but they didn’t produce enough light for her to see clearly, especially when the doors closed heavily behind her. She froze, turning and looking at where she had been, breaths starting to slow. The rest of the walk down was slow, silent, and nerve racking. The tunnel echoed her footsteps, dust coated the back of her throat, and the smell of something metallic covered with bleach was searing her nose. 

      The doors at the end of the hall opened, leading to a metal pathway and a platform in the middle of a dark room. Alli stopped here, looking at the platform, then up at the glass room over her head in front of her. She could see the spindly body of Mommy Long Legs, her arms and legs twisting around each other as she crawled around the room, like a spider in a tank. 

      “Come on! Come in,” she said, stopping to press her face on the glass as her voice vibrated around the room. Her smile was still manic, eyes wide and black, voice sounding more and more deranged. 

      “Will you answer a question for me?” Alli asked, still standing at the edge of the platform.

      “Play. The. Game.” Mommy said, her voice dangerous, a warning. 

      “Will you answer my questions when I win?” Alli asked, still not moving. 

      Mommy lifted her chin slightly, “Yes,” 

      Alli studied her, “I don’t believe you,” 

      “You should always believe your mother–” 

      “That’s what you were to me, weren’t you?” Alli said evenly, “You were my mother?” 

      Mommy’s head twitched, “I was all of their mothers,”

      “But you were mine first,” Alli prompted. 

      She shook her head violently, “I don’t know what you mean–” 

      “Can I talk to Marie?” 

      “Who’s Marie?” 

      Alli’s heart felt like it fell to her feet, “Isn’t she here?” 

      “I don’t–” she twitched again, “Who are you?”

      “Don’t you remember?” Alli raised her eyebrows, “You acted like you did,” 

      “Should I?” 

      “My name is Allison Payne. I’m looking for my sister, Marie.” 

      Silence met her. 

      “I would suggest playing my game, Allison Payne, before I decide to kill the man you left up in the Game Station.” 

      Her breath caught, “He hasn’t done–” 

      “You brought him here. You knew the risk. He is as dead as you are.” 

      Alli’s nose scrunched in aggravated fear, “Fine. I’ll play your games. But you leave him out of this.” 

      “I can’t promise anything,” Mommy twisted around herself in her glass showcase. 

      “You have to,” Allison said forcefully as she finally stepped onto the bridge and towards the platform. 

      “I don’t have to do anything.” 

      “And so should I kill myself right here?” Alli made an obvious show of looking at the empty edge of the platform, and the dark nothingness beyond it. 

      “NO!” Mommy cleared her throat, “I mean– there’s no point,” 

      Alli took a step towards the edge. 

      “You won’t actually kill yourself over that man.” 

      Alli took another step. 

      “What a waste of potential.” Mommy said, crossing her arms, but she didn’t take her eyes off of Allison. 

      Alli took her final step to the edge, turning her back to it as she looked up at Mommy. “I tried to warn you–” 

      “Alright!” Mommy barked, “Fine! I won’t kill the man upstairs!” 

      “I still don’t believe you,” she worked her foot to the very edge of the platform. 

      “I mean it! I won’t!” 

      Alli shook her head forlornly, “You’re such a bad liar–” 

      “I’m not lying!” Mommy’s voice was strained, panic set in on her face, “Allison– don’t do anything stupid.” 

      “It’s not my fault,” Alli gave a half shrug, “I’m sorry–” 

      “Allison Charity Payne!” Mommy’s words were sharp and commanding, “Do not take another step.” 

      Alli froze, her middle name sending sharp pain through her chest. “What did you call me?” 

      “What do you mean?” 

      “Why do you know my middle name?” 

      “I– I don’t–” Mommy stuttered, shaking her head, then shaking it again, “I–” 

      Alli took a breath, stepping back onto the platform, “You are Marie! Aren’t you?” 

      “I’m–no, I can’t. I’m Mommy. I’m your Mommy! I’m–!” she shook her head, harder and harder, until her head hit the glass and spiderwebs of cracks decorated the glass. 

      Alli’s breath caught. 

      Mommy rose up to her full height in the box. “Play the game, Allison. I will not ask you again.” And she was gone, out of the box, away from the game. 

      Alli’s breaths were short and light, the reaction Mommy gave was replaying in her head. “That’s not right.”  

      “Welcome to Musical Memory!” said the same voice that they heard upstairs. “In this game, you will have to match the colors on the screens, to the colored buttons in front of you. Good luck!” 

      That was even less instruction than Alli remembered. 

      “Oh boy,” she muttered, looking up as cymbals started to crash above her. Bonzo Bunny looked down at her, fur and overalls painted in red spots that were starting to turn brown. The cymbals had been cleaned, or at least an attempt had been made, but they were still stained in what looked like smears of blood. 

      She didn’t understand. Who had been there before them, and why was it only one person? The reports they had gotten stated that it had been multiple teens. 

      “Unless they all died before the final person got here.”  

      But there was no proof for that theory. 

      “Ready? Begin!”  

      She wasn’t ready, hadn’t been. 

      “Red.” The screens lit up with the same color. 

      She used the Grab Pack to hit the red LED button in front of her. 

      “Red. Blue.” The screens lit up with both colors in order. 

      She hit both buttons in sequence. 

      This was easy. She had played this game too many times before to lose her knack for it now. 

      “Red. Blue. Red.” The screens lit up in the same sequence. 

      She hit all three in order. 

      “Red. Blue. Red. Green.” The room flashed with the same colors, lighting everything up in the same sequence. 

      She complied. Her breath started to catch as the crashing of cymbals came closer to her overhead.

      “Great job! You made it past round one. Moving on to round two!” 

      She took a breath, getting herself ready for the next sequence. 

      “Red. Blue. Green.” 

      “Red, blue, green,” she repeated to herself. 

      “Red. Blue. Green. Green. Yellow. Green.”

      She took a breath. “Red, blue, green, green, yellow, green.” This was harder than she remembered. Maybe that was on purpose. 

      “Red. Blue. Green. Green. Yellow. Green. Blue. Red. Green.”  

      She blew a breath out of her mouth, “I can’t believe this. R, b, g, g, y, g, b, r, g.” She repeated, feeling slightly overwhelmed. 

      “Congrats! You made it past round two. Time for round three!”  

      She shook her head with a tired blink, “O~kay,” 

      “Red. Blue. Green. Blue. White.”

      “Pardon?” Alli asked, blinking as she hit all the previously named four buttons, then glanced around for the white one. “Oh, I see,” she said as the white button illuminated behind her. “Bitches.” 

      “Red. Blue. Green. Blue. White. Blue. Purple. Red. White.” 

      “Holy–” she started, trying to remember all of the words it just spit out at her. 

      The screens started flashing, the cymbals crashing louder and louder, faster and faster, the more that the screens flashed. 

       “Shit,” she spat, looking up at Bonzo, then back at the buttons around her. They were flailing, coming up and down, turning off and on at random, flashing different colors that they weren’t originally. 

      “Error. Error. Error.” said the voice, a big red button started flashing. 

      Alli turned to it, glancing up at Bonzo once before hitting the big flashing caution button. 

      The entire game fell silent, the doors behind her opening, but the metal bridge didn’t raise for her to walk across the void. 

      Her breaths were harsh against the back of her throat, raspy and inconsistent. She looked up at Bonzo again, his fuzzy body hanging limply from the ceiling. 

      The metal walkway finally started to move, creaking slightly as it lifted to meet her. 

      She crossed it quickly, running up the tunnel. Squeezing out of the slowly opening doors she looked around the Game Station. “Jansen?” she took a breath, “Caleb!?” 

      “I’m here,” he said and she whirled on him. 

      “Thank god,” she let out a breath, putting her hands on her knees as she finally caught her breath. 

      He came up to her, “What happened?” 

      “It went crazy– everything was crazy. She’s crazy,” Alli said, not feeling like she was aware enough to explain. 

      “Are you okay?” he asked. 

      “Are you okay?” she asked instead, straightening and looking at him. 

      “Should I not be?” he asked warily. 

      She shook her head, “They don’t like you here.” 

      “Just me?” 

      She nodded. 

      “Right,” he said under his breath, “Well–”

      “Good job! Who gave you permission to be so smart? Go line up for your next game, Whack-A-Wuggy!” 

      They both glanced at the door across the room as it slowly started to open. 

      “I should–” 

      “You can’t!” Alli said urgently, grabbing his arm despite herself. “I don’t know what will happen–” 

      “I’ll be fine,” he assured her, “I’m a cop–” 

      “You were a cop,” she muttered, “You gave that up to sit behind a desk all day and eat take out,” 

      He scoffed at her, “Have a little faith, Payne, I can still rough it with the best of them,” 

      “Rough it, is a choice of words,” she said, looking back at the door. “If you insist on doing this, just remember, it’s a room full of Huggys, not just one like in the Make A Friend room.” 

Chapter 12: The Theater

Notes:

*!TRIGGER WARNING!*
Please be warned this chapter has an attempted suicide.

Twelve

(The Theater)

 

     She watched him go, watched the doors fold closed behind him; the silence deafened her. There was nothing to do now that he was gone, now that she was alone again in that room. Nothing to do but drowned in her thoughts. 

     Time dragged, everything seemed to slow as she wandered the room. This world was a prison, had been her prison, had been their prison. She still couldn’t believe that they had been so foolish, so desperate. Why hadn’t they seen the signs? Far off screams echoed in her mind, but her heart plummeted to her feet anyway, making her question how real the sound had been. She wandered to the train, going inside and looking at the code, the panel on the control board. 

     She frowned. “I know this code.” She thought, taking a breath that stuck in her throat. 

     They didn’t have to play the games at all, she knew the code.  

     She bolted from the train, running down the platform stairs and to the door of the Wack-A-Wuggy game. Pounding on the door with clenched fists, she screamed. Terror was thumping through her veins with every pounding beat of her heart, she could feel the chill of fear prickling down her neck and across her arms. He was going to die, they were going to kill him, she had sent him to his death. 

     Metal clashed against tiles, ringing around the empty Game Station. She turned, breaths heavy, looking for the source of the sound. 

     “He’s gone.” The voice breathed down her neck, so close to her that she choked on her scream and whipped around again. 

     Alli looked up, then around, stopping when she saw Mommy watching her from the overhead viewing chamber. 

     She turned her head, wide black eyes and sharp smile peering down at Alli like she was something injured, something easy to catch; prey. 

     Alli took a breath, the feeling of the voice behind her shoulder making her feel sick. 

     The doors to Wack-A-Wuggy opened slowly and Alli watched them, taking another thick breath, praying she was wrong. 

     He was there, he had to be. 

     There was no sound in the empty chasm, no one emerged from the gaping wound in the side of the station. 

     Her ragged breathing was the only sound that filled the space. “Jansen?” she called softly, her voice bouncing down the tunnel. 

     No reply. 

     She looked up to the tank that Mommy was writhing around in, then back down at the tunnel. She didn’t have much choice, and her feet moved despite her lack of desire to. “Jansen?” she called again, keeping her footsteps silent as she edged down the tunnel. 

     The room beyond was dark, the walls punctured with gaping holes. Sand drenched the floor, the entire space smelled like blood. She didn’t see him in the space, not a body, no evidence that he had ever been there. This gave her a false sense of hope. There was no blood, none that was fresh anyway, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. That scared her even more. 

     She emerged from the tunnel again into the fake sunlight of the Game Station. She was trembling, horrified and terrified alike. He was gone. She was alone. “Mommy!” she called, looking at the observation booth, but the twisted creature that was Mommy Long Legs was nowhere to be seen. “Damn it,” she muttered. She didn’t have time to wonder what had happened to him, she had to-

     “Congratulations! You’re better at this than I thought! Move on over to your next game!”  

     The recording cut off her thoughts and she watched as the final set of cellar doors opened. 

     Her eyelids drooped slightly as she blinked away her exhausted anxiety. “Fuck this,” she breathed, ignoring the doors and starting up the station stairs. She wasn’t going to sit around and do nothing, and she definitely wasn’t going to sit around and end up dead. 

     She pulled the door of the train closed behind her, looking down at the buttons on the pad. She pressed them in order, lighting them up then pressing them again to change the color. It was always the same with these things, always the same patterns; it was easier for the scientists to remember. That just made it easier for her to remember too. 

     The train rattled, then shifted on the tracks, then the whirring sound of the engine started to pump through the machine. 

     She pushed up the lever, forcing the train forward, watching as the station sank away behind her. The train edged into a dark tunnel, then downwards, down the tracks and towards anywhere but there. She kept the train at an even speed, cruising it along the tracks until she came across a sign that said Playtime Theater. This was familiar to her and she pulled the handle back, forcing the train to stop along the station of the theater. 

     The station was gray, everything down this way was. Rows of colorful plastic seats had been overturned or chewed apart, their color starting to be leached along with the life of everything else around them. Papers, fliers, posters, and banners were either plastered to the tiled walls or stuck to the tile floor. Arching entry ways with turnstiles were roped off with yellow caution tape, signature Playtime blocks were pulled towards the entrances; but they had obviously been moved previously. The lights were dim and yellow, making everything appear sickly and sluggish, flickering shadows putting her on edge. 

      Alli creeped through the blocks in front of the entrance way, then hopped the turnstile, feet landing on a stretch of wrinkled red carpet. It was the length of the room, almost wide enough to reach wall to wall, but it was nothing more than a pathway to lead people towards the main stairs. It had been shredded, twisting and knotted around itself in some sort of previous scuffle. The posters lining the walls had had their protective glass shattered, the lights fixtures overhead pulled from the walls. Vending machines were turned and glass was broken, Playtime snacks were scattered and squished across the floor. She continued on, up the main stairs and to the overhead balcony of the theater. Looking down, she watched the mini-Wuggies slink around the main floor, the rows of chairs having been ripped from their bases and piled along the walls, only long metal tracks remaining. 

     She looked up, watching the dripping chandelier shake as Mommy Long Legs crawled across the ceiling. Alli ducked, watching as Mommy grabbed one of the chandeliers and lowered herself to the floor. It shook with her touch and crystals rained down on the Wuggies who were sitting under her feet. 

     “My children,” Mommy said, watching the Wuggies as they turned to look at her, then went back to wandering aimlessly around the room. “I have a special task for you,” Mommy went on, ignoring the fact that the Wuggies were uninterested in her being there. “Will you watch this for me? I have to find a missing one of our own.”  

     Alli watched as Mommy deposited something on the floor, then reached up with the sound of squeaking rubber, and grabbed the chandelier again. 

     “Don’t eat him, now, or I will eat you!” Mommy sang as she pulled herself back up onto the ceiling and crawled towards a large hole in the corner of the room. 

     Alli put a hand to her mouth and caught her breath, looking down at Jansen. From this distance he looked virtually unhurt, but she couldn’t be sure. 

     The Wuggies converged on Jansen, standing around him with wide smiles full of sharp teeth. They wailed, waving their arms and screaming as they conformed around his body. 

     Alli took a breath, standing finally and starting down one of the two sets of stairs that snaked around the edge of the room. Her foot touched the carpet of the main floor and the Wuggies went silent, she froze. The sound of heavy feet hitting the floor rattled into her bones. Boxy Boo lumbered into the room, mouth gaping open and thick, bloody saliva dripping from his teeth. The smell that followed him made Alli silently gag, the crook of her arm finding her face, covering her mouth and nose. Boxy Boo’s head swiveled on its spring, bloodshot eyes roaming the vast chasm that used to be the theater. 

     The Wuggies looked back at the other toy, then their attention turned to him fully as they raised their hands again and started screaming, flailing in his direction. 

     Boxy Boo rumbled, the sounds making Alli feel like her head was vibrating. Its voice was more of a moan, an echo of a past life, the sound pulsed around the room and felt as deep and hollow as a freighter’s horn. 

     The Wuggies forced him from the room as Boxy Boo continued to argue against them. They disappeared down a decrepit hall and into blinding darkness, leaving Alli alone in the room with the motionless body of her partner. 

     She crept silently across the floor, dodging debris and trying to avoid the crystals that crunched under the souls of her shoes, and finally knelt down next to Jansen. Her hand found his wrist, her finger searching for a pulse, her entire body trembling with anticipation. 

     “I thought you were one of them,” he breathed, turning his head slightly to look up at her from over his shoulder.

     She released a shaky breath, the trembling stopping at the same time, her anxiety released. “Are you alright?” 

     “I’ll let you play the next game,” he said, “I’ve learned my lesson.” 

     That didn’t answer her question, and she didn’t need him to. She could see it in his eyes that he was now just as haunted by this place as she was. Just as lost. Just as broken. 

     “Let’s go,” she said, “Before-” 

     “I can’t,” he said softly. 

     “What-?” she started, ready to drag him up the stairs if he needed her to. 

     “Whatever grabbed me- in the game,” his breathes were short, stunted, “broke my back,” 

     She choked on her breath. 

     “I can’t move,” he sighed. 

     She had started shaking again, “But— I am not leaving you here,” 

     “You don’t have much of a choice-” 

     “I’ve always had a choice, and this is not one of them. No way,” she said, “I can lift you-” 

     “No you can’t-” 

     “I will lift you, and we can get to the train— and-” 

     “Alli,” he said weakly, “I’m not worth it,” 

     “But you are,” she hissed, her hand gripping his arm, leaning over his shoulder to meet his eyes, “You worth it to someone,” 

     He scoffed lightly, a smile playing at his mouth despite their circumstances, “But not to you,” 

     “I didn’t mean it like that,” Alli corrected, “I meant- your wife. The department. Your family. Even me. You’re worth it to me,” 

     He shook his head against the floor, “No, you’ll die-” 

     “And we both will if you don’t let me do this,” she said, “I know it’ll hurt-” 

     “It’s not like I’ll walk again anyway, right?” 

     She leaned back on her ankles, taking a breath and looking around. “I can find something-” 

     “Alison,” he said so softly that she almost didn’t think it was him at first, “Go without me,” 

     “I won’t.” She snapped, keeping her voice low, “And you can’t do anything to make me leave you here!” 

     He gave her a hard look over his shoulder, “You are not dragging a dead man around this death trap,” 

     “You’re not a dead-” she started, then froze when she heard the click of his gun. “-don’t you dare.” She warned. 

     “You either go now, or you go after I do it,” he said, shaking. 

     “I will fight you on this,” she said, “I will always fight you on this,” 

     “There is no point in you dying over me!” he said more forcefully. 

     “There is no point in either of us dying, period!” sShe said in the same tone, “I can get both of us out! Caleb- you have to get home to your family!” 

     “And what about yours?” he snapped. 

     “I don’t have anyone but you!” She said shrilly, chest heaving, “If you— what happens to me if you-?” She couldn’t finish her question, but he knew what she wanted to know. 

     A shutter rippled through him as he took a pained breath, “Damn you,” he dropped the gun from his chin, flicking the safety back on. 

     She let out a relieved breath, lowering her head then dropping it to his shoulder, her hands balled into the fabric of his jacket. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks and she felt his hand find her head, then her shoulder, squeezing it. “You fucking-” she started, but a sob interrupted her words, relief drowning her. 

     “I’m sorry.” He breathed, his hand still on her shoulder, “I’m sorry.” 

     She lifted her head, wiping away her tears, and looked down at him again. “If you ever do something like that again-” 

     “I won’t-” 

     “Give me your gun,” she said instead. 

     “Al-” 

     “Caleb, give me your fucking gun. I don’t trust you not to do anything stupid,” she held out her hand to him. 

     Slowly, and with a short breath from the pain of moving, he pressed the metal of the barrel into her hand. 

     She took it from him, double checking the safety, and tucked it into the back waistband of her pants. “Now, we go.” She said simply. 

     “I really can’t be moved-” He started. 

     “Then we’ll have to hide you,” she shrugged, “Or you can breathe through it and I can get you on the train,” 

     He shook his head again, “It’s going to be hard-” 

     “We’ve done worse,” she raised her eyebrows at him, “You either want to get home or you don’t.” 

     “I do-” 

     “Then let’s get moving.”

Chapter 13: Play Care

Summary:

Chapter Three of “Poppy Playtime” is out now bbys so here we are with more chapters!

Thirteen

Play Care

 

     “I’m sorry,” she breathed as Jansen clenched his teeth around the pain, “I know-I’m sorry,” she gave him a pained look of her own. 

     His breathing was staggered and uneven, body bound by the board she had strapped him to. “Shit.” 

     “We’re almost to the end,” she assured him from where she stood at the control panel, watching the lights in the tunnel whip past them as the train moved farther under the factory. 

     “How big is this place?” He breathed, voice raw. 

     “I– don’t know,” she said weakly, “Too big.” 

     The train squealed, metal scraping metal and Alli pulled the lever back, forcing the train to slow. 

     “What happens when we get to– uhk, shit- Play Care?” He asked around his pain, pressing a hand into his side. 

     “We-” her voice trembled, “I don’t– that’s how we got out… when I was a kid, that’s how we escaped.” 

     He was silent on the floor behind her. “How old were you?” He broke his own silence. 

     “I don’t remember,” she said, “Too young.” 

     The train rolled on, the light on the front not doing much to light the path in front of them. The tracks split in front of them and Alli just barely got a glance of a sign that read Shipping before they were on their way down the right hand tunnel. 

     “Damn it,” she muttered, looking back then pulling the lever down to slow the train, “We could get out that way–” her words cut off as she realized that the train wasn’t slowing down. The brakes screeched against the tracks, but the locomotive didn’t slow, its weight and momentum forcing it onwards. She reached forward and pulled the emergency brake, then ducked down with her back to the control panel. 

     “What’s wrong?” Jansen asked, watching her carefully, but there was not a drop of worry in his voice or eyes. 

     “The train won’t slow down,” she said, clenching her jaw against the shrill squeal of the emergency brake. 

     “Are we going to crash?” he asked calmly. 

     “I don’t know,” she said, “but I’m not going to watch and find out,” 

     The sound of the squealing grew hollow, then echoey. Before Alli could take another breath, the front of the train crashed and crumpled against a wall of chunky debris. She was flung back at the force, metal crunching behind her, her head hitting hard against the control board behind her. The air had been forced from her lungs, making her gasp and cough as the feeling from the crash subsided. 

     Jansen had slid into her, letting out a pained cry as she had tried to keep him from moving too much. 

     Her ears were ringing from her knock to the head, blinking away tears as the back of her skull smarted and hot blood dripped down her neck. “Hell,” she breathed, glancing around, “at least we’re alive,” 

     Jansen croaked, “If that’s what you call this,” 

     She pushed the board and him more towards the middle of the floor, standing slowly as she touched the split at the back of her head. It wasn’t huge, and she wasn’t going to die from it, so she decided to let it ride and scab over itself while she figured out where to go from here. “There’s a platform out there,” she said to him, trying to push the door open, but it was blocked closed, “Damn it.” 

     “We just have the worst luck,” Jansen said hoarsely. 

     “I can clear it,” she said, “Just give me-” 

     “Why don’t you just move me to one of the cars further back and go on your own?” he suggested, “It’ll be the safest bet for both of us,” 

     “I don’t know if I’ll make it back to you,” she said, looking down at him, “This place- it forces you to move forwards,”

     “I know,” he said, “but you don’t have any other options,” 

     She took a breath, then looked at the door to the passenger’s cars. “I– okay.” 

     Moving him from the engine to the passenger’s car was a struggle for both of them. Jansen was crying, trying to steady himself with his hands as she slowly tried to drag him through the doorway. It was hurting her heart to see him that way, to watch him in pain. His face was red and shiny from tears when she finally settled him on the floor again, every breath hurting him more, despite how much his body was begging for air. She knelt down next to him, digging around in the pockets of her jacket, feeling them inside and out, hoping somewhere she had stashed some sort of medication. 

     “Here,” she said finally, pulling out a thin plastic puck and opening the lid, “You’ll have to take it dry,” 

     “Anything,” he said, voice pitched with pain. 

     She handed him three pills, “This should be enough,” she said, “but I’ll leave this with you for when it wears off.” 

     “Thanks,” he said weakly, taking the pills and downing the three, then clutching the puck in his fist. 

     “I’ll be back,” she said, putting a hand on his shoulder, “I’ll- I’ll–” she tried to find any words to comfort him. 

     “Just get out of here,” he said, “If you have time to bring someone back, I’ll appreciate it, but just focus on getting out,” 

     “I’m not going to leave you here-” 

     “You keep saying that,” he said, then grunted, “just focus of finding a way out of here before making too many promises,” 

     She swallowed hard, her throat starting to hurt, “I will be back for you.” 

     “I don’t doubt it.” he assured her. 

     She stood finally, feeling shaky from the crash, the adrenaline, or her head wound but she wasn’t sure. She slid open the door of the car and hopped onto the station, then slid the door closed behind herself. Looking around the Play Care station made a sickening feeling of dread and deja vu wash over her, her heart finding its way to her throat. She crept along the platform, looking at the closed doors, the scattered paper, the bloody remains of toys. There was a grand entrance into Play Care, with a wide, long set of stairs that was lined with photos of kids with PlayTime Co toys beside them. 

     Everything down here was gray and covered in dust. The facade that was the cheery, bright, colorful factory above was now crumbling along with the lower levels of the building. Nothing down here was the same, nothing down here was anything like she remembered. It was almost like childhood, or innocents, or even her sense of wonder had made everything look a little brighter. Only now that she knew better was the reality of the factory visible to her. 

     Laughter reached her ears, creaking, staticky. Horrifying. 

     She climbed the stairs, watching the portraits of the children. Children she remembered. Children she knew. Air was thick and hard to breathe as she looked at each portrait, looked into each set of eyes and saw the joy that had been there. Some of the pictures were torn, shredded, ripped from the walls. It was as if they were a reminder, a sick and twisted reminder of who they had used to be. 

     Alli stopped at the portrait of her sister, bright smile and glittering hazel eyes. The image made her feel sick, and she almost had the same instinctual urge to rip it from the walls of the factory and tear it to shreds like the others. Let the pieces get lost together, mixed in with the memories of people who didn’t exist anymore. 

     The next portrait she saw made her dry heave, her own glassy eyes looking back at her. She could see the wonder, the joy, the happiness at finding a place to belong in her own eyes. Feelings that she’d never have again, an expression she couldn’t remember ever wearing. She did tear this picture from the wall— digging her nails under the peeling paper next to the frame, and giving a hard tug to free it from its prison. Parts of her were still trapped here, always would be, but this at least would finally be free of the graying yellow halls and blood stained tile floors. 

     The top of the stairs was another platform, but this time for the sky tram that would go to Play Care. She looked around at the rows of chairs, the vending machines, the ticket desks behind glass windows. It looked so normal, so ordinary. Nothing about this place looked as disturbed as the train station or even the hallway behind her. She pulled open the door of one of the trams, listening for any sound from the livewires above her; the cables the tram hung from. They were just as dead as the rest of this place, but it wasn’t hard to break down the door labeled Authorized Personnel Only and flip on the power. That’s when the wires started to buzz. 

     The tram started to move slowly along the length of the platform and Alli ran from the room, jumping into the carriage and closing the door behind her. The carriage was dirty, but not destroyed, and she allowed herself to sit down as darkness overcame her as they entered a tunnel. 

     The scene beyond the windows, however, when the tram finally passed out of the tunnel, was worse than she could have ever imagined. Red smoke, the same transparency as mist, hung around the bottom half of the cavern. The dome of Play Care, was surrounded by a cave system so massive that Alli had a hard time imagining that half of the real world above them hadn’t fallen into the sinkhole. Stalactites and stalagmites reached towards each other like teeth, the dome enclosing the Play Care facility settled in the deep jaws of the cave. It hadn’t been like this before, not where she could see the crawling scaffolding and tunnels in the cavern’s walls. She looked down, seeing the drapes that had enclosed the tram system torn and fainted around the sharp spikes of rock below her. The red mist looked like water, churning and rolling in waves over the stones and around the chasm as the tram drew closer to the dome. Her anxiety had returned, her body screaming for her to stop, her head starting to pound. 

     The tram pulled into Play Care, the dome dark, the ground below her a mess of play equipment and debris. The tram followed the twisting tracks around the perimeter of the dome, then dipped down towards a platform that was stationed on the tallest rise of the manufactured town. She slid the door open–the tram barely slowing–and jumped out onto the platform. She watched the tram continue on the tracks, traveling back up the rise and out of the dome again, through a tunnel behind one of the fake clouds pinned in the sky. 

     Her breath shuttered in her chest, the air in the dome feeling cold. Her eyes were barely adjusted to the faint light produced by the fake moon. It was so familiar, so, so familiar. It was horrible. 

     She started down the platform steps, dodging chunks of rock and crunching over glass from the shattered skylights. The metal railings were twisted and broken away from their bases, the fake grass worn down to its under-layers. Nothing looked real, nothing felt real, Alli could have almost convinced herself she was having a nightmare. 

     Then a phone rang. 

     She jumped, whipping around and running up the stairs to the Platform Master’s shed, pulling open the door and pulling the phone from its cradle. “Gaw- shut up!” She said, hating that the sound was possibly drawing attention to herself. 

     “Sorry-” said a soft voice from the other end of the phone. 

     Alli went cold, “Sorry— who is this?” 

     “I’m here to help you,” the voice said, “My name’s Ollie,” 

     Alli blanched, “Not- not Ollie Baratone?” 

     Ollie’s voice crackled over the phone, “I- maybe?” 

     “What are you doing here?” Alli asked, looking out the window and across the town. 

     “I’ve been here,” Ollie said, “and now I’m here to get you out of here without- CatNap,” he said, though some of the words were lost. 

     “Do you know who I am?” Alli asked. 

     “I–” he choked, “Poppy mentioned that you needed help-” 

     “That’s not what I asked,” Alli said, “Where are you… Ollie?” 

     Silence from the phone, “That’s not important right now,” 

     “I think I’m owed an explanation,” Alli said, trying not to sound aggravated, but it was becoming harder to remain respectful. 

     “You are,” Ollie agreed, “But I’m not the one to give it to you. I can only get you out of here,” 

     “I already know how to get out of here,” Alli said, lowering her voice, “I invented it,” 

     Ollie sighed, “She said you’d say that,” there was a long stretch of static, “You need to reroute the gas, it’ll- you just have to.”

     She took a breath, “Fine, yeah,” 

     “Take the phone with you… I’ll keep in touch that way,” Ollie said. 

     “Can you see me?” Alli glanced around again, “How are you-” 

     “Just-” he interrupted her, “-go to the statues in the middle of Play Care, underneath them is a control room, you’re going to need to get there to divert the CatNap gas,” 

     “You just have all of this figure out, don’t’cha?” Alli said sarcastically, finally exiting the shed and starting down the steps towards the monument in the middle of the dome. 

     “You’re sounding patronizing~” Ollie said, voice lilting. 

     “Am I? I didn’t notice,” she said, still feeling sarcastic. She pushed the door under the statues open and it creaked ominously, the hallway beyond was dark and musty. She let out a deep sigh and dropped her head. 

     “What? What is it?” Ollie asked, sounding concerned. 

     “Nothing,” she breathed, “I’m just- tired.” She climbed down the stairs and flicked on a light, the switch clicking and the sound felt as loud as a gunshot in the space. 

     “Do you see the control screen for the power?” Ollie asked. 

     “Mm-” Alli hummed as she walked around the room, “Yeah,” she stopped in front of a dark screen. She wiped the dust from the glass, making tracks in the grime. The buttons clicked loudly in the mild silence as she tried to wake up the machine. 

     “What does it say?” 

     “Nothing.” Alli snapped, then added quickly, “Yet. It’s turning on,” 

     Ollie made a sound. “Alright,” he said eventually, “I’m going to send you the key to Home Sweet Home,” 

     Alli guffawed, “If you think I’m going in that house-” 

     “Alli!” He cut her off, “You have to divert the power-the gas,” 

     She took an annoyed breath. 

     “What does the screen say?” he asked after a moment. 

     “Thirty-six percent,” Alli said, “What does that mean?” 

     “You don’t have enough power to divert the gas, you’re going to have to find the generators under the buildings and diver the power,” Ollie explained, “I’ll walk you through the entire process-” 

     “Ollie,” Alli said with eerie calmness, “I am not going in that house.” 

     “You don’t have a choice, you have to save us-!” 

     “I’m not here to be your savior!” Alli snapped into the phone, “I was here because kids have continued to go missing here. I made it out! I was out of this place! I’m not going deeper if I don’t have to!” 

     Ollie was quiet. 

     Alli swallowed hard, “Damn- fine,” she said after a minute of thinking through her words, “I was dead the moment I stepped foot in here, wasn’t I. What do I have to do?”

Chapter 14: Home Sweet Home

Fourteen

The PlayHouse

     Ollie had easily directed Alli further underneath the PlayCare dome, into the maintenance tunnels and around and around until she found the chamber where the CatNap gas was being housed. The factory no longer produced the gas itself, but it was coming from somewhere and they needed it to be diverted. Ollie didn’t say much to Alli as she worked, she assumed he was probably irritated with her hostility, but as she emerged from under the statue monument of the Smiling Friends, she heard him take a staticky breath over the phone. 

     “Are you ready?” he asked, seeming more sympathetic to her now that she was complying with his instructions. 

     “As I’ll ever be,” she replied, taking deep breaths as she slowly climbed the creaking, rickety stairs of Home Sweet Home. 

     “You’re going to be fine,” Ollie assured her, “Nothing really happens inside the house, and CatNap is more into the ruins than the house itself,” 

     “Sooo~ comforting, Ollie, thank you,” she said sarcastically, her tone turning into an eye-roll. 

     “You’re welcome,” he said with fake cheeriness coating his voice. 

     She pushed open the door, dust whirling out onto the porch like waves. The smell was heavy; blood, dust, and mold. It settled in her lungs like water, making it hard to breathe. She forced out a breath, trying to clear it from her lungs, before taking another breath just to fill them up with death again. “Where is this generator?” 

     “Uhmmm~” Ollie said slowly, “Down?” 

     She huffed a half scoff, “Right, well.” She didn’t finish. 

     “Good luck,” he said softly, “I probably won’t have a good signal to talk to you… so just– be careful.” 

     “Thanks,” Alli said, “I’ll–uh–make it quick,” 

     “Good– shhhhhhhhhrk,” The phone went staticky and Alli hung up, putting it in one of the straps on her belt. 

     Her steps were soft, tracing her way around the house slowly. She was in a downstairs foyer, a balcony stretching over her head and around the perimeter of the room. The carpets were dirty, worn with foot tracks, filled with dust. There were scratch marks dragged along the floor, the walls, even the ceiling. Furniture littered the room, broken and trashed, smattered with blood. Pictures in wooden frames were cracked, Alli picked one up as she ascended the stairs. She couldn’t see the picture clearly, but she knew it was a child, probably one of the children’s portraits she had seen in the stairwell. 

     She didn’t know why she was going up, but something felt like it was calling to her, something wanted to be seen. 

     The door she pushed open creaked, then thumped against something wooden pushed behind it. She slid past the crack, barely fitting with her Grab Pack but she made it. The room beyond the door was dark, light barely filtering past the covers over the windows, dust falling like snow in front of the streams of light. Bunk beds lined the room, and more were tucked in rows in the middle of the room. There were so many beds, they were so small, personal pillows and blankets the kids made were still tucked on the mattresses. 

     The back of her throat hurt with the tears that were forced up by the memories. She remembered this place, remembered the late nights, the early mornings, the nurses who lined the halls. It was hard not to feel sick, not to feel like the air was being forced from her lungs, like the ceiling was falling down to crush her. Everything hit her so quickly, it was hard, heavy, like someone was standing on her chest. She couldn’t feel her hands as she walked around the bedroom, couldn’t wipe the tears that were running down her cheeks and dripping off of her chin. Shivers snaked up her spine and down her arms, her skin chilled beneath her sleeves. 

     Pushing through more doors she forced her way farther into the house, through the mazes of halls and past rooms and rooms of beds, desks, and dressers. The halls were lit by barely-living light bulbs, yellow light almost making it harder to see rather than aiding her. The long runners in the halls were wrinkled and rolled, torn, shredded, or pressed against the walls, revealing the wood covered scratches underneath. The wallpaper peeled away from the walls, water staining the drywall and molding baseboards. 

     Alli knew where the basement door was, she had used it, had broken into it. That was how they had gotten out, had climbed from the hole dug in the basement wall, and down the edge of the dome; down the rocks and through the labyrinth that was the cave bottom. They had followed the small winding river that had run through the stalagmites. Working against gravity, scaling the walls as everyone else remained asleep, and followed the water-cut gutter into the earth and out of sight from the PlayCare dome. They had found the crack the water was leaking through and dug it out, forcing the stone apart until they were drenched and the stream had turned into a rushing cascade of cold spring water. She had thought she was going to die, the water had filled her lungs, had frozen her limbs–she wasn’t sure how they had reached the surface–but when air filled her lungs and she saw the real sky for the first time in way too long, she had known it had been worth it. 

     Her hand shook violently as she reached for the doorknob, the memories making her bones hurt. It was hard to forget when the scars of your past were carved into your skin as much as they were your brain. She didn’t want to touch it, didn’t want to open the door, didn’t want to go down the steps. There was no one to save, nothing that had to be done, she could turn around and leave; run. 

     Jansen.  

     She wrapped her hand tightly around the round brass handle. She did have someone to save, something to work for. There was no part in the house that could scare her enough—that could tear her apart again—that would make her turn and abandon her partner. The door swung open, Alli rolled her shoulders back, taking the first steps into the pitch black basement. 

     Creaking from the depth met her and she retreated back up the stairs silently, pressing her lips closed tight and closing the door behind herself. 

     “I am not the one,” she said with mild disdain, shaking her head, “No, uh uh, not today.” She turned on her heels, retracing her steps back towards the bedrooms. She searched the rooms, looking for a flashlight—or any source of light—to take back with her. She finally found one, it was dim, about to die, but she had lost her flashlight somewhere along the journey from the Game Station to here. Her palm met her forehead as she remembered leaving her flashlight sitting in the equipment room in the Game Station. She peaked past the crack in the basement door again, poking the flashlight around the edge and shining the dim light down the stairs. She took a breath, then started down. The stairs creaked under her feet, dust dripping down on her head and shoulders. “Good thing I have two guns,” she sneered at herself, “Stupid. Idiot!” 

     The floor was cold concrete under her shoes, the air feeling drafty. She looked around for the generator, spotting it in the corner. Her hand found the cool handle of her gun, her breaths remaining heavy, her fear unwavering and the gun bringing her no comfort. She reached the generator and thumped on the dial with her knuckles, then pulled the lever on its left. The generator groaned then rumbled to life, the lights in the basement finally flickering on. 

     Alli turned, starting back towards the stairs, but she hadn’t even put her foot on the bottom step when she noticed the red mist creeping down the stairs towards her. She swallowed hard, taking a step back on looking around the basement desperately, searching for a mask. Her heartbeat hurt in her chest as she began to feel fear again. 

     The mist swirled around her ankles as it flooded into the basement. Something was trying to gas her out, or force her to sleep for something else to grab her. 

     She pulled her collar up over her mouth and nose, taking a deep breath before the mist completely engulfed her. She listened in the silence, hearing the floor creaking over her, the sound of heavy footsteps making her muscles tremble with adrenaline. The air refused to clear, thick mist still pouring into the basement, but she saw why the basement had felt so breezy. The mist swirled around a crack in the stone walls, the crack that had been reinforced after her escape. It hadn’t been fixed, just patched over, and with the decay of the PlayHouse the concrete had shifted and freed the escape route again. The mist swirled and slipped past the crack in the wall, disappearing into the void beyond. 

     She took a breath, gasping despite the shallow breaths she was trying to take. She waited to feel faint, tired, dizzy, but nothing came. Nothing changed. She let out a relieved breath and let her collar drop, then started up the stairs. There was nothing in the hall by the door, so she started back towards the main foyer again. It was easy to get through the main dorm and into the foyer, but when she tried to open the front doors they were stuck closed. 

     “You’re not aff-ff-ffect by my gass-ss-ss,” said a stuttering voice box from behind her. 

     She tensed with fear, then melted into a fake confidence as she turned and faced the wide gaping face of CatNap. “I was taught not to be,” she said evenly, watching the pinpricks of glowing eyes in the chasm of their sockets. 

     His head twisted, neck cracking, spine rippling, “Why-yy-yy are you he-ee-eere?” 

     “To get out,” Alli said, still forcing the calmness of her voice, “I won’t be trapped here again,” 

     “We-ee-ee are not trapped-dd-dd here,” CatNap said, not blinking, mouth not moving, just his head continuing to twist back and forth farther than looked natural. 

     “You aren’t,” Alli agreed, “I am. I don’t belong here anymore,” 

     “You-uu-uu?” He took a lumbering step towards her, claws sinking softly into the wood planks under their feet, bones pressing harshly against his skin as he lowered his head towards her. “And who-oo-oo are you?” 

     “Allison Payne,” she lifted her chin to face him fully, “And you are?” 

     “O-o-o… CatNap,” he stuttered, muscles rippling behind his shoulders. “Get-tt-tt out of he-ee-eere, Allison Payne,” he hissed. “Or I will be forced to kill you.” 

     “Then why haven’t you?” She asked evenly, lowering her voice. 

     His head twitched, as if it was a question he couldn’t answer of his own free will, “There is no need,” 

     She wanted to question him more, wanted to know why he wasn’t killing her, but she wasn’t willing to test her luck. “Let me out,” 

     “Go-oo-oo yourself,” he said, the doors creaking open behind her. 

     She took a breath, and turned her back to him, pushing out past the doors and letting them close behind her. Her legs felt like jelly as she forced herself down the steps of the house and leaned heavily on a remaining fence that lined the walkway to the porch. 

     The phone rang against her hip and she pulled it roughly from the strap, answering it. “Hello?” she asked, sounding breathless. 

     “You’re alive!” Ollie said, elation and surprise mixed in his voice, “She said you were good… but– doesn’t matter what I thought.” He finished softly, “Around the back of Home Sweet Home is the electric box, you should be able to run the cord from there to the statues,” 

     Alli took a breath, sweat beading her forehead as she trembled from the visions roaming the town before her. Mutant monsters crunched over mangled and broken bodies, she could hear the screams and the hollow thump of palms on glass windows. She might not have been forced asleep, but she wasn’t immune to living in the nightmares that CatNap produced. 

     “Alli?” 

     “Yeah?” she grunted, legs jittering from where she sat, body consumed by shakes.

     “You okay?” Ollie asked. 

     “I’ll live,” she assured him. 

     “If you insist,” Ollie said, matching her previous sarcasm. 

     She couldn’t help but huff a small laugh, dropping her face to her hands and closing her eyes against the hands that were slithering towards her over the sidewalk. “Yeah,” she said again, “I insist.”

Chapter 15: Two Sisters

Summary:

*!TRIGGER WARNING!*
This chapter mentions childhood death and child abuse.

Fifteen

Two Sisters

     Alli plugged the power cord into the generator under the statues. “Done,” 

     “Good job,” Ollie said, “We’re… gonna need more power. Ideally you would have to drain the generators from all the major buildings around PlayCare, but we might be able to do it with just the School and Counselor's Office.”

     “Why am I doing this?” Alli asked, “All I need to do is get out of here,” 

     “He won’t let you leave, and we need him dead.” Ollie said evenly as Alli made her way up the stairs again, “If you want to get out, you have to help us kill him,” 

     Alli took a breath, “What is he?”  

     “The Prototype,” Ollie said, his voice lowering, “He saved CatNap’s life, now CatNap serves him without question. The Prototype kills whoever doesn’t obey him– Mommy Long Legs is also following his orders,” 

     Alli’s mouth went dry, “Really?” 

     “Yeah, she-” his words were cut short as something hit Alli heavily in the back. 

     She fell, hitting the ground hard and rolling as she faced her assailant. 

     A huge Kissy Missy looked down at her, pupils narrow as she approached Alli again. 

     Alli stumbled back, tripping over rubble as she tried to turn and outrun the mutant monster. 

     “Wait! Stop!” Cried a voice as Missy put a paw to Alli’s back and slammed her to the ground again. 

     The wind left Alli’s lungs as she hit the ground, the only thing keeping her from breaking her ribs on a jutting piece of stone was the hands of the Grab Pack. Kissy’s hand left her back and Alli turned to look back. Poppy looked down at her from her perch on Kissy’s shoulder, her smile small and eyes bloodshot. 

     “Sorry,” Poppy said, “She’s… tense,” 

     “Alli?” Ollie said urgently, “You okay?” 

     “Yeahhh~” Alli wheezed, trying to suck in breaths with lungs that didn’t want to respond. 

     “Good,” Poppy said, “I’m glad you’ve met,” 

     “Have we ever,” Ollie said sarcastically, “Glad you’re here, Poppy,” 

     Poppy nodded, but otherwise didn’t acknowledge Ollie. “Come with us,” she said to Alli, “We have to turn on the dome– it’ll help you a lot,” 

     Alli was on her knees, hands pressed to her thighs, “How are you here?” 

     Poppy eyed Kissy, then looked back at Alli, “While you might have left me with Mommy… that was probably one of the best decisions you could have made.” 

     Alli waited half a second. “Explain.” 

     “None of us are afraid of death,” Poppy said, “We’re afraid of becoming a part of him. She’s willing to help us–Mommy–and that’s probably the best thing that could have happened to us,” 

     Alli ran her tongue over her teeth, “Great.” 

     Poppy blinked at her, “I think she’s taking your friend back to the Theater, it’s the safest place for him right now-”

     “What?” Alli finally had her wind back, “No, he’s fine- I need to be able to get him out of here!” 

     “And you will,” Poppy said, “I know how important people are…” her words trailed off, “The Prototype can’t get into the Theater— if you don’t want him dead, that’s where he needs to be.” 

     Alli swallowed hard, “Fine,” she said softly. 

     “Now,” Poppy went on, “Let’s head up and turn on the dome,” 

     Alli got to her feet slowly, following Poppy and Kissy around the dome and back towards a door labeled Crawler.  

     “Go on,” Poppy said to Kissy who pushed the door open and ducked in first. 

     Alli followed them. 

     “You probably have a lot of questions,” Poppy looked back at Alli. 

     “You could say that,” Alli agreed. 

     “Ask away, I’ll see if I can answer them,” Poppy looked forward again. 

     “What are you?” Alli asked, “Were you… human…?” She had already seen Poppy’s mirror—human—imagine in Elliot Ludwig’s office, but she needed to know for sure. She knew in her head that all the mutant monsters had been human once, but her heart still had trouble beating with the same belief. She didn’t want her sister to be a monster. 

     Poppy froze as Kissy climbed onto an elevator platform, “I– don’t know,” she said after an aching moment of silence. 

     Alli didn’t believe her, but she didn’t feel it was appropriate to push her disbelief. “Then, how did you get here?” 

     “I don’t remember,” she said as Kissy sat down on the platform. 

     Alli glanced around as she stepped on after them, then hit a button on the control board. Crawler was imprinted into the metal surface of the control panel. The platform didn’t move, and she took a short breath before kicking the base of the control board. The power gauge on the panel lit up and she hit the button again, then flicked up a lever. The platform moved upwards. 

     “I know, for certain, that the Prototype is not to be trusted. He- I’m not sure what his plan is, but he wants us, wants control,” Poppy went on. 

     “Does he want to get out of the factory?” Alli asked, suddenly horrified at the thought that hundreds of mutant toys would be allowed to roam the surface world. 

     “I don’t think so,” Poppy said, “But I’ve never talked to the thing.” 

     Alli was chewing on the inside of her cheek, “Why does he want you?” 

     “We were the only experiments that succeeded,” Poppy said, “The only ones that remained… human.” 

     Alli took a breath, “But they were using the kids,” she said softly, “Experimenting on us,” 

     “Yes,” Poppy said, “So- if I ever was human, I don’t remember who I was,” 

     Alli glanced down, “Do you think anyone else remembers who they were?” 

     Kissy sighed, wrapping her long arms around her bent legs. 

     Poppy looked down at her, “Yes. Some of them do,” 

     Alli’s breaths were shallow, “I see.” 

     They reached the top of the elevator shaft and Alli looked out onto another control room. 

     “Hit the power,” Poppy said, “This is the beginning of the end.” 

     Alli ignored the ominousness, and stepped off of the platform. She crossed the room to a wall with a humming electric box, wires and cords protruding from it like veins. She flipped open the lid and looked at the fuses, then flicked the main power switch. The room hummed, then slowly, all the lights flicked on. Alli watched out the windows to her left as the dome lit up, rows of lights flickering on at a time, artificial sunlight flooding the town. She turned to leave, shutting the fuse box as she did, but a tall filing cabinet caught her eye. 

     Ignoring Poppy and Kissy watching her, she disappeared behind a section of wall to pull open the filing cabinet, flipping through the folders within it. Names, so many names, too many names. Too many kids. She shut the drawer to open another, looking for it, for Marie’s name. For her own. 

     Payne. Written in bold black letters. 

     She pulled out one of the files, opened it. It was her own, but there was nothing important in the file. Her name, 1221, age, her success with testing in the Game Station, and where she lived while in Home Sweet Home. She put the paper back and pulled out the second one labeled the same, Marie’s name was written in bold at the top of her paper. This information was about the same, but when she flipped the page, her heart began to pound with anxiety. 

     Marie Payne. 1222. (Mommy Long Legs)

     That was all she had to read to know her biggest fears had come true. It would have been better for Marie to be dead, for her to have died with everyone else. Any outcome would have given Alli more comfort, but now that she knew, now that she had proof, now that it was written out in front of her– Alli threw up. Trembling with fear, anger, disgust, all of the above, she wiped her mouth and forced herself to continue reading. 

     Marie has taken on the role of house mother. She does very well with the children, especially the young ones. She and Lillith have become very close, and have developed their own schedule to take care of everyone. They are both working closely with the nurses, and have shown great initiative. 

     We are considering moving forward with the testing of 1222, but with 1221 still present in 1222’s life, we are unsure how proactive Marie’s attitude will continue to be. The best course of action is to dispose of 1221, (Allison), and continue with our schedule for Marie’s transformation with the Bigger Bodies project. 

     The best way to do this, with 1221’s unwillingness to cooperate, is probably to let her leave. We will assist in her escape and keep an eye on her when she is finally returned to the outside world. Marie will not be with her, and her desperation will be too great that she won’t even notice. We suggest dosing 1221 and 1222 with Red Mist and using their fear against them, to make both of them more… compliant. 

     Alli had to stop, too many questions swirling around in her head.

     They had let her escape?

     They thought she wouldn’t notice that Marie wasn’t with her?

     They had been drugged into submission with their plan?

     She was being monitored?

     She blinked; they had been monitoring her. She folded the papers onto thirds then in half again, shoving it into one of her pockets and zipping it closed. 

     “Allison?” Poppy asked, her shoes making small clicks against the tile under them. “We don’t have time for you to-” she stopped when she saw the file Alli was holding. “What is that?” 

     “Proof.” Alli said simply, “Proof that my sister was turned into a monster,” 

     Poppy came up to her, “Where’s mine?” 

     Alli looked down at her, “You’d have one?” 

     “Wouldn’t I?” Poppy said, “Look for me,” 

     Alli opened the drawers again, filtering through all the folders, all the papers. She stopped when she hit the name Ludwig, pulling out the file. She knew this name. 

     “Lillith,” Poppy said, reading the name on the front of the file as Alli opened it, “That’s– familiar,” 

     “Yes, it is,” Alli agreed, knowing exactly why it was familiar. 

     Kissy crawled into the room, too tall for the ceiling, and sat criss-cross as she watched Alli. 

     Poppy stepped onto Kissy’s hand as she lowered it for the doll, being lifted to Alli’s height as she read over the papers in the file. 

     “Lillith Darling Ludwig. Elliot Ludwig’s eldest daughter. Experiment 1085.” Alli said evenly as she read to the two toys beside her, “Lillith was brought to PlayCare and left by Elliot after the death of his youngest daughter, Penelopy (Poppy).” Alli glanced at the doll beside her, waiting for a reaction, but Poppy didn’t have one. Alli continued, “After Poppy’s death, her body was stored in PlayTime Co in preparation for the success of the Living Toys revival project. While none of the experiments had succeeded up to this point, Elliot was willing to sacrifice his eldest child for the new life of his youngest. Lillith was under the impression that she was only to remain in PlayCare as a trainee for the company, for the duration of a summer; but in PlayCare, summer lasts forever. Lilith was with us for two years before the experiments finally became repetitively successful, and finally she was used for her intended purpose. Lilith was reborn, and not soon after, so was Poppy. Elliot’s children were finally reunited with life.” 

     If Poppy could cry, Alli swore she would be. It was hard to read the emotions of a porcelain doll, but she could still see the anger in Poppy’s eyes. “He- Elliot… was my father? And he killed Lilly–for why? To save me?” 

     “I don’t have an answer for that,” Alli said softly, “But at least now-” she let out a breath, “we have closure.” 

     “You! You have closure, I have questions. I have– guilt.” Poppy’s small hands were balled into tiny fists. “I don’t– why would he– I don’t understand!” 

     Alli closed the file quietly, “Is she still in the factory?” 

     Poppy shook her head, “I don’t know. I– I was in that case for so long,” 

     “Maybe she-” Alli started, trying to come up with a suggestion, “decided to find a place to take of the toys not affiliated with the Prototype?” 

     “Maybe she is the prototype,” Ollie said finally, the reminder of his presence making Alli jump. 

     “She’s my sister,” Poppy said softly, “Why can’t I remember my own sister?” 

     Alli didn’t have an answer, so she remained silent. 

     “I don’t understand,” Poppy went on when Alli didn’t speak, “I just–” 

     An echoing wail from the grounds of PlayCare interrupted her and they all fell silent. 

     “We need to get moving,” Alli said, taking control of the situation. 

     “Go, back down and to the School,” Poppy said, “We’ll wait for you under the statues,” 

     They all moved back to the lift and Alli pulled the lever down, the platform moaning with rust and slowly inching down the elevator shaft again. 

     “Move quickly,” Poppy said to her, “I’m not sure how much time we’ll have left now that he knows you’re here.” 

     Alli nodded. “Got it.”

Chapter 16: Miss Delight

Sixteen

Miss Delight

     Alli stood outside the School, starting to tremble again, still feeling the effects of the Red Mist. She could still hear screaming, still feel the breath of some large creature standing over her shoulder. Sometimes she thought she felt hands gripping her clothes, something pulling at her hair, tangling around her legs. The information in the file had brought back her memory, she remembered the day they had started testing the gas on her, remembered the pounding in her head every time she woke up after being forced asleep. She had stopped falling asleep eventually, just living with the nightmares that roamed around with the doctors and nurses that had tended to her. It was the same now, the same as it had been then, the only difference now was that she knew better. She knew better than to be afraid. 

     She pushed into the School, the cold halls lined with hooks and lockers. The tiled floor was a checkerboard of white, blue and red squares. The walls were gray in the dark, no lights in the building. Book-bags spilled their contents like coins; papers, pencils, and binders scattered the floor. There was so much blood. She didn’t understand how there could be so much blood. Posters were peeling from the walls, pictures posted on locker doors, names carved onto the metal. She traced the words with her fingers, the metal cool. The smell was never going to come out of her clothes, dust and blood and mold. 

     Her footsteps were soft and measured, the backs of her ears prickling from the strain to hear. She wasn’t going to be snuck up on again, not by whatever was living in the ruins of the School. 

     “Be careful,” Ollie breathed from over the phone, forcing Alli to choke on her yelp of surprise. “CatNap doesn’t usually come in here, but there’s something else that roams the School, they’re not your–” his voice cut off and turned to static before he had a chance to finish. 

     “Convenient,” Alli muttered to herself, putting the phone back in her belt. 

     The slow creep into the School was starting to put a strain on her knees. The beam of her flashlight dodging and dipping around the halls, around corners, into classrooms. There were papers, notes that she forced herself to stop and read, the writing too fresh for the state of the rest of the building. 

     Today, I am the last one. I didn’t mean for this to happen, but… I was just so hungry. I tried so hard to stop myself. Barb said, everytime I stood still, or sat down, that I looked dead. I can’t help but feel this is all my fault. What would have happened to them if I hadn’t… if I could have… I don’t know anymore. 

     Alli didn’t understand most of the notes, the scribbled writing and vague wording, but there were too many of them to ignore. 

     I miss them. But I’m not sure if I miss them because I loved them or because… I needed them to live. Time seems so slow now, poor Barb. Nothing is the same anymore, but at least that awful CatNap leaves me alone. 

     Alli continued on, checking door after door in the hall. The classrooms were more of a wreck than the hall had been, and Alli traced her way through each one, trying to find anything more useful than stupid pieces of paper. 

     I ate them all. I force myself to remember. I leave myself these notes so I don’t have any choice but to remember what I’ve done. Awful things to someone else, someone who doesn’t know, but to me– I would do it over and over again. I really don’t care. 

     Alli felt her mouth growing dry with the more notes she collected, more pieces of the story she put together. 

     I need to eat. I can’t seem to fill the void inside of me. The growing chasm of desire that lives within my ribs. I’m growing desperate, so desperate that Barb says the best bet is to eat the other teachers and spare the students. 

     Alli swallowed down the lump in her throat, realization growing like a pit in her stomach. She felt ill, the knowledge that a teacher, someone she had known in her childhood, had eaten her friends. It made Alli want to throw up again. 

     “Aa–ttention students,” crackled the PA system, causing Alli to swear under her breath, “Please remember to stay in your classrooms until the bell rings! And don’t go into the halls without a hall pass!” 

     Alli’s breaths were heavy in her chest as she tried to calm the racing of her heart. That voice, something about it was itching the memories at the back of her mind. 

     Footsteps sounded behind her in the hall and Alli turned, but no one was there. 

     She turned back, trying to remain silent despite the heaving of her chest. She climbed over a row of desks that had been stacked into a barricade across the cross section of one hall. 

     The footsteps ran through the halls again and Alli felt her heart jump to her throat. 

     There was nothing there, nothing but the notes, nothing but the voice over the PA. 

     “The voice over the PA,” she thought with a sinking feeling in her gut. 

     The feeling of her being watched followed her as she walked through the halls, looking for a maintenance door of any kind. She was making the executive decision that the generator was in the basement, just like anything else would be. 

     “Oh!” said the voice over the PA, “A new student! I guess you haven’t learned the rules of the school yet. I can let you off with a warning this time, but next time… well, let’s just say that I’m not very forgiving.” 

     Alli glanced up at one of the many security cameras positioned at the end of every hall, giving it a look to let whoever watching know that she really didn’t care about what they were threatening. She knew when she was being followed, she knew that they were watching her over the cameras; she had been trained for these types of situations. 

     The footsteps continued, every step she took the thing following her took two to match it. 

     She finally found a door that she thought would take her to a basement, or be a maintenance room at least, but when she opened it nothing met her but a brick wall. She let out a tired and heavy breath, closing the door and turning back down the hall. 

     Something skittered across the floor and the sound made her skin crawl. She really didn’t know who was doing it, or what was following her, but she was starting to get tired of it. 

     Her feet were starting to drag as she walked in circles around the school. There was nothing there, she had checked every room, forced open every door, and still there was no sign of a generator inside of the school. 

     She turned back to the front door, tracing back her steps, prepared to ask Ollie to send her to another building but she never got the chance. The front door, or where she had thought she left it, was gone; a blank wall in its place. 

     “Do you have a hall pass?” The voice came from behind her this time, not from the PA system. 

     Alli turned with an exasperated look plastered to her face, “You’re joking,” 

     Miss Delight cocked her head at Alli, mechanics in her neck cracking. Her mouth was a gaping hole of teeth and wires, her eyes glowing in their sockets. The mic to the PA system was stabbed into her neck, right next to her voice box, the cord wrapped around her neck, torso, and left arm. She held a flail in her right hand, the spiked painted with dried blood. Her dress was dirty and torn, her mechanics exposed where the fabric was now missing. 

     “Hall pass,” Miss Delight said, her voice crackling, “Now.” 

     “I don’t need one,” Alli said evenly, “I’m an adult,” 

     Miss Delight twitched slightly, “You– no. You’re-” she shuttered. “Hall pass?” 

     “What are you? A broken record? Batteries running low?” Alli asked, her hand sliding to her back, “I don’t go to school anymore,” 

     Miss Delight just watched her silently. 

     Alli waited, “I’m– here to check on your generator,” she said slowly, seeing if Miss Delight was still so ingrained into her character programming that she’d be able to get away without killing the teacher. 

     Miss Delight’s eyes didn’t blink but Alli imagined that she did, “Are– the children coming back?” 

     Alli took a short breath, “Yep! I’m just here to make sure everything’s in running order for their return,” 

     Miss Delight put her head back slightly, only appearing mildly less ominous, “Oh joy! This way, let me take you there,” 

     Alli took her hand off the gun against her back and followed the teacher back into the school. 

     “It’s been so long since I’ve had fresh pre–prospective students,” Miss Delight stuttered over her words. “I’ll be glad to fill the void that has found its way into my chest since they– left.” 

     Alli remembered the teacher now, and the fact that she was now covered in blood and holding a melee weapon did little to shake Alli’s previous opinion of her. Miss Delight had always been strange, her and her sisters being the main teachers in the school, Miss Delight had always had a weird obsession with the human body. Even a ten year old Alli had known the way Miss Delight spoke had been a touch– out of it. 

     “When will they be returning?” Miss Delight asked, her head whipping around to look at Alli, but her body remained walking forward. 

     Alli took a breath to calm herself, “Next week,” she forced a smile. 

     “Happy days!” Miss Delight said, turning back around; her head had done a 360 at this point. 

     Alli’s chest heaved with heavy breaths as she followed Miss Delight to a door that she had apparently missed in her rounds. 

     Miss Delight pulled the door open and started down the steps. “I have missed having bodies… in the halls,” she added slowly at the end. 

     Alli was starting to hate the way the teacher was talking, even more than she previously had. 

     “Here!” Miss Delight said excitedly, “Work away,” 

     Alli eyed her as she stepped into the dark room, raising her flashlight again. “Thanks, I appreciate it,” 

     “So,” Miss Delight said slowly as Alli walked around the room. “How many children are coming?” 

     “I think they’re planning on filling up Home Sweet Home again,” Alli said, stopping in front of the generator. 

     “Really?” Miss Delight said, but her tone had changed. 

     Alli looked up, watching the reflection of Miss Delight in one of the many gauges on the machine. “Yep! We’re bringing this place back to life,” her heart had started to pound in her chest again. 

     “Does, he, know about this?” Miss Delight asked, the question was a trap. 

     Alli pressed her lips together and resisted sighing in regret at her choice of lie, “I- who’s he?” She asked instead. 

     Miss Delight started to cackle, the voice box crackling and her head tipping back, revealing the extent of her neck puncture. 

     Alli felt sickly heat coat her skin, adrenaline starting to thrum through her veins. 

     Miss Delight raised her flail and Alli turned at the same time she was bringing the weapon down towards Alli’s head. 

     Alli flung herself to the right, dodging the attack, but turned to watch as the generator took the blow instead. Miss Delight turned to face her again, raising her weapon again to strike. Alli grit her teeth, pulled out her gun, and shot Miss Delight through the head. 

     Miss Delight’s head snapped back, and when it came down again, the light in her eyes was extinguished. She fell hard onto her knees, then onto her face, the mic puncturing all the way through and out the back of her neck. 

     Alli took a breath; her first kill inside the factory. She put the gun back in her holster and stood shakily to her feet. 

     The generator was ruined, liquid that didn’t smell like gas leaking onto the floor. 

     She let out an exhausted sigh, all she wanted to do was sleep, or die—she wasn’t feeling picky at that moment. Turning away from the body and the smashed generator–realizing slowly that Miss Delight had been much stronger than Alli had thought–she looked for the door back up to the main floor of the school. 

     She didn’t find it. It was like the stairs, the door, any existence of the upstairs world had simply vanished. 

     Instead she found a hole in the wall, and beyond it, a hall and grated door into an underground hallway system. 

     She glanced around the basement once more, then disappeared into the hole in the wall, and started towards what she hoped would be freedom.

Chapter 17: The PlayHouse

Seventeen

The PlayHouse

     The maintenance tunnels were dark. Her footsteps echoed harshly, and water dripped somewhere. She was cold, the brick tunnels built into the earth radiated frigid air. She no longer wanted to be here, no longer wanted to be stuck in this place, with these things. She wanted to go home, make herself a magnificent bowl of ravioli and eat it in a nice hot bath. But no, she was here, battling demon toys. 

     She slammed her palms against a door at the end of a tunnel, channeling her frustration on the objects in front of her. It swung open violently, giving her access to the blue tiled room beyond. She marched on, her flashlight beam flailing as she sped walked. The halls split and she took a breath, glancing back and forth before saying a prayer to whoever would listen and starting down the left hand hall. 

     The doors within this hall were locked until she got to the end, where a single door finally opened and she found herself looking up a stairwell. She took a breath and started up, around and around until she reached a single door at the top. The door moaned with tired hinges as she peeked past it and into the area beyond. The room was dark, the colors appearing gray, but she emerged from the safety of the door anyway. 

     The floor felt squishy under her feet, and she looked around at the PlayHouse. She hated the feeling of familiarity that being in these places brought to her, the false sense of security that it brought her. She forced herself to move forward, through the padded walls of the PlayHouse and into the blue haze of the main room. Castle walls, tunnels, and bouncy pads were littered around the room, creating a maze that was easy to get lost in. Everything was covered in a checkerboard pattern of quilt knit squares; blue, yellow, and white. It was very dark, even with her flashlight, but still it looked like a psych ward.

     Alli stepped forward and looked down from the balcony she was standing on, taking it all in. The PlayHouse never looked this big on the outside, but here she was, in a room far too big for the shell it was confined to. She turned and took the stairs behind her down into a room on the edge of the PlayRoom. She was surprised to see a room of equipment, including more Grab Packs and a shelf of colorful hands. 

     “Grab Pack 2.0,” she muttered to herself, taking one of the packs and holding it up, sizing it up. Her attention turned to the hands lined up on the shelf to her right, abandoning the Grab Pack she was holding to take a brown hand. “Flares,” she said to herself, starting to feel lonely in the silence. She took the brown hand, exchanging it with the blue, then moving to take another flashlight with–hopefully–better batteries. She considered the brown hand after a moment– maybe she wouldn’t need the flares. 

     She kept it anyway.  

     Her next move was to take her first step out into the PlayRoom. 

     The smell hit her like a brick wall; blood, vomit, and rotting. She gagged harder than she expected to, covering her mouth with her hand. It wasn’t like she had never been dealt this concoction of smells before, she had handled bodies in their final stages of decomposition, but this somehow was worse. She forced herself to keep moving, slowly walking through the maze of padded walls and large building blocks. The source of the smell was becoming more obvious; human remains littered the maze. 

     Her heart was pounding in her ears, vision going hazing as she wandered around disembodied limbs and clothes crusted with blood. 

     Squeaking sounding behind her, tiny pattering following it as something, or things, skittered through the maze. 

     She whipped around, watching as clothing billowed and rippled with movement. Eyes glowed from the darkness of a button down shirt, soft, squeaking laughter sounding from the void. Chest heaving, she waited for the thing to move, to attack, to do anything but stare at her. 

     Slowly it crawled out from the shirt, soft brown ears and a mouth caked with blood. It would look sweet if it wasn’t for the harsh breathing that emanated from its large, gaping mouth. It tipped its head at her, crawling on all fours towards her as she just stood there and watched in silent terror. It came up towards her leg, mouth twisting harshly as it hissed at her.

     She twisted, bringing her leg back then kicked it hard, punting it across the room. 

     It squeaked at the impact of her foot, then again as it hit the wall then the floor. 

     She took a harsh breath, then turned and moved on, not wanting to stick around to see where the rest of the hoard was; the chorus of squeaks and harsh breaths starting to surround her in the maze. 

     The door she pushed past at the other end of the room was cold against her hands, and she found herself in another dark hall. This one was lined with cells, bars covering alcoves in the padded walls. She felt her breath catch while looking at it, feeling a sense of horror at the idea that children were trapped here. She had been trapped here. 

     The door at the end of this hall looked like freedom, an unwarranted sense of relief flooding her, her blood starting to cool. She started down the hall, a new spring in her step, but the harsh breath to her left stopped her cold. She turned, looking in a dark cell, the breaths becoming more ragged. 

     “Who are you?” A voice from the dark asked. 

     Alli’s let out a terrified exhale, remaining silent. 

     “Are you… Poppy’s angel?” The voice asked another question. 

     Allison took a more calmed breath, “I~” her voice wavered, “I’m just…” she couldn’t finish. 

     “You are!” The voice sounded relieved, “You’ve come to deliver us!” 

     Alli finally regained her muscle control, lifting her light to shine into the cell, “You’re-” she choked. 

     DogDay looked back at her–or at least he would have if he hadn’t been blinded, dried streams of blood having trailed down his furry face. “You’ve come for us,” his tail wagged slightly as he pulled against the chains holding him to the cell wall. 

     Alli felt like she was going to hyperventilate, despite not having taken a breath in what was probably minutes. “Youuu~” she tried again, not truly gathering what she was seeing, not knowing what she was trying to say. 

     “Will you- help me?” He asked softly, sounding nervous to even ask. 

     She stepped forward without a thought, reaching for her pockets, knowing her lockpick kit was somewhere. “Sure,” she said softly, feeling like that little girl again. That little girl who had done whatever anyone asked without question. 

     Not until it was time for her to start asking questions. 

     “Thank you,” DogDay said lightly, “I- I’ve been keeping tabs on CatNap for Poppy and Ollie, but… I’m now the last of The Smiling Critters.” 

     Alli put her picks to the shackle around DogDay’s wrist, but something inside of herself screamed for her to stop. “I-” she started weakly, “I can’t-” 

     He turned his head to look at her, a breath rattling through his thin and tired frame. “I understand, angel.” he said softly, “I wouldn’t trust me either, if I was where you are,” 

     “I’m sorry-” Alli breathed, feeling a sense of growing fear mixed with regret. 

     “Don’t be sorry,” he tried to reassure her, “I- I have survived this long,” 

     Alli felt tears burning at her throat, “I… can come back for you,” 

     He took another weak breath, “It’s not worth it,” he said, “I should have never asked you to begin with– I will not survive much longer anyway,” 

     She swallowed hard, “I just-” 

     “There’s no need to explain, angel,” he said, still trying to be assuring, “You have been through so much already,” 

     She was shaking now, “But I can’t leave you here,” 

     “Yes you can,” he nodded carefully. 

     She didn’t want to leave anyone else, even if this anyone was a giant mutant puppet. “I’ll- let you out,” 

     He shook his head, “You shouldn’t trust me,” his tone had changed, “I can’t- trust me either,” 

     She took a half step back, “I don’t understand,” she whispered. 

     “They take a part of you,” he went on, “Eat you from the inside out, take away every bit of your humanity,” 

     Her breath had stuck in her throat again, her feet taking another step back. She stumbled out of the cell. 

     “Run! Angel, take them and run!” He was becoming frantic, “Don’t let them become a part of him. I’ve already been lost to them,” 

     Her eyes were wide with horror, unable to comprehend what he was starting to yell about. 

     “Go! GO!” He shouted at her, writhing against his chains. 

     Alli stumbled back, her eyes still trained on the trapped toy. 

     Then she was running. 

     She ran down the hall in the same way she had come, hopping the walls of the maze and kicking through the swarms of regularly sized Smiling Critters. 

     They hissed at her, lunging for her legs, trying to tear her apart as she forced her way through a door and up a sloping hallway. 

     She found herself back on another balcony, looking over the edge and onto the PlayRoom again. Climbing onto the edge of the railing, looking up at the metal rafters over her head, she took a breath and fired the green hand of the Grab Pack. It grabbed the metal lip of the I beam and pulled her up to the ceiling. She grabbed the metal with her hands, pulling up her legs and wrapping them around the beam. Slowly, she inched her way across the PlayRoom, looking down at the swarming, churning, boiling pile of Smiling Critters below her. They were like piranhas, sharks, even alligators; waiting for their prey to fall. 

     She was wheezing as she made it to the other side of the room, to a vent high in the wall, and she hung upside down from her legs as she tried to pry it open. The blood was rushing to her head as she fumbled with her lockpick kit, fishing for the screwdriver within it. Her vision was going dark, face pounding with the beat of her heart, legs starting to shake. She forced the screws out of the vent one by one, dropping the grate into the pile of Smiling Critters, who converged around it and pulled it into their mass of bodies. 

     She pulled herself into the vent, pulling herself farther into the tube by her arms, her legs having lost most of their feeling. She flopped onto her side, breathing hard against the dust in the vent and the effort of the climb. Her lungs burned as much as her legs, everything felt like jelly. She wanted to sleep–that’s all she desired right now. 

     She forced herself to continue. 

     Crawling through the vent, her black jacket going gray from the dust. She took as many turns as she could away from the PlayRoom, ending up at another grate and peeking through the gaps at a room with windows and double doors. She had made it to the front. She pushed against the grate, but it didn’t budge. Closing her eyes in annoyance, she twisted and crawled around herself until her feet were at the grate, then she started to kick. The sound vibrated through her brain, making her ears ring, but she continued to pound against the grate. Eventually, it flew off of the wall and into the room beyond, finally freeing her from the metal prison. 

     She fell into the lobby and stumbled towards the door, pushing past them and out into the relief that was PlayCare. 

     “Alli?” Ollie asked over the phone, “I lost you for a while-” 

     “I’m done,” Alli breathed, “I’m done with this bullshit,” she was stumbling towards the air tram station, cars continuing to drag past the platform. 

     “What are you talking about?” Ollie asked, voice edging hysteria. “You can’t leave-!”

     “I’m out of here, Ollie!” She said forcefully, making her way up the stairs unsteadily. 

     “But we need your help-!” 

     “I can’t!” Alli shouted at the phone, “I can’t do anything! I can’t help you! If you haven’t been able to finish this mission in years, what makes you think I can do it all in just a few hours! I- I just-” she took a heavy breaths, letting tears slip down her cheeks, “I need to talk to Jansen,” she said weakly, “I’m going back to the Theater,” 

     “B-but,” Ollie stuttered, “You’ll have to come back- for the gas!” 

     “I’m done, Ollie,” she said, voice void of all emotion, exhaustion overwhelming her. “I’m just- done.”

Chapter 18: The Hour of Joy

Eighteen

The Hour of Joy

     The tram ride back to the station would have been silent, and mildly pleasant, if it wasn’t for Ollie begging her to return to PlayCare. 

     “I know it’s a lot,” he said, “But just think about how much we’ve been through,” 

     Alli remained silent, she wasn’t going to play advocate for herself. It wasn’t worth her breath. 

     “Please, Alli, Poppy’s waiting for you,” Ollie said, voice growing desperate. “We really need your help,” 

     Alli would have hung up on him again, but he just kept calling back, the ringing of the phone almost worse than his constant chattering. 

     “You can’t get back to the Theater this way, you have to keep moving forwards-” 

     “Ollie,” she said in a tone so devoid of life she almost didn’t recognize herself saying the words, “please stop talking.” 

     Everything was silent after that. 

     The tram car started to roll past the platform and she stood from her seat, muscles burning, and pulled the door open. She jumped out onto the platform silently, listening to the creaking of the car and wires behind her, before she started across the platform and towards the train tracks. The train car where she had left Jansen was empty, her heart pounding with fear, and she jumped down into the track well. 

     “Allison,” Ollie whined, “please, go back,” 

     “I will leave you right here,” she warned him, preparing to chuck the phone back onto the station platform, “Don’t tempt me,” 

     “I’m sorry,” he said softly, “But… we need you,” 

     She took a breath to calm herself, “Bye, Ollie,” 

     “Alli-! No, wait! I’m sorry! Don’t put me down! Don’t leave me here!” Ollie started quickly, voice slowly growing more alarmed. 

     Alli tossed the phone up and onto the platform, listening to the sound of the plastic hitting the tiles. 

     “Allison!” Ollie’s voice was distant, “Alli!” 

     She walked along the tracks, up towards the top of the factory. She probably could have traced their steps all the way back to the front door of the factory, abandoned everything and simply left. But that would mean leaving Jansen too. 

     The tracks were dark, every sound amplified tenfold, her anxiety barely starting to dwindle. It had taken them less than five minutes to get to PlayCare by train, but they had also been going at a considerably faster speed than Alli was walking now. She stumbled over the ties, catching herself and her breath as her legs started to give out. She was tired. So tired. But there was nothing to do but keep walking, watching the flashlight beam illuminate the tunnel, pray nothing came for her and hope to die quickly if something did. 

     Eventually she came to the split in the tracks that she had seen before, the shipping sign still hung, but a roll-down grate door was now covering the tunnel entrance. She didn’t remember seeing it before. A sense of overwhelming exhaustion hit her with the realization that one of their escapes was now blocked, and she had trouble fighting the urge to just sit down and give up where she stood in front of the chain-linked cover. 

     The only thing that kept her moving forward was her dedication. She had made a promise to get Jansen home, she was bound by that word, determined to keep that promise. 

     The station of the Theater was light, a glowing sense of refuge in the dust and blood and dark. 

     She pulled herself up onto the platform, so relieved she could have cried, but first she needed to see him. She needed to know he was alive. 

     The stairs felt too long, the balcony too high, the space too quiet. 

     She didn’t see him on the floor where she had found him the first time, panic starting to settle over her like a second skin. 

     “Are you here for him?” Asked a voice devoid of the mania it held the first time they had met. 

     Alli turned to Mommy Long Legs, “Yes,” 

     “This way,” she said evenly, a complete difference from before, the change making Alli double take. 

     She followed Mommy around the Theater, avoiding the mini Wuggies, and through a door. It was a quiet sitting room, an office at the most, with soft light glowing from disemboweled vending machines. It was warm in this room, compared to the rest of the factory which fell victim to a chronic case of draftiness. It was homey, as close to a living room as you could get in the middle of a warzone. 

     Alli saw him then, face ashen and beaded with sweat, laying still on the board she had bound him to. “Caleb!” She said, panicked, rushing towards him. She shed her Grab Pack and fell to her knees next to him, once again having to search him for a pulse. 

     His eyes fluttered open, but she didn’t think he could see her. He wasn’t very coherent at all. 

     She pried the pill case from his clenched fist and opened it, mouth going dry from how many pills were missing. “How many did you take?” She asked, taking his face and forcing him to look at her, “Caleb? How many did you take?” 

     His eyes rolled back into his head and he became unresponsive again. 

     “Damn it-” her voice broke, she doubted the Theater had Narcan sitting around anywhere. 

     “Here,” Mommy said, dropping a first-aid kit beside her, “I didn’t know what to do with it,”

     Alli looked up at her quickly, then grabbed the first-aid kit and ripped it open. “How long has he been like this?” 

     “Mm,” Mommy hummed, “As long as I’ve had him,” she said, then gave a light laugh, “He was fairly conscious when I grabbed him for Poppy, he screams a lot,” 

     Alli looked over her shoulder to give the mutant toy a disgusted look. Her attention redirected to the first-aid kit, she pulled out a bottle that looked like Narcan, and had a name that was half-way similar. OD-Be Gone. She didn’t have time to read the label, the warning, the instructions; she simply shook the bottle and prayed. 

     Putting the injector in Jansen’s nose, she pressed down on the cap, shooting a dose up his nose and into his sinuses. 

     She put the cap back on, praying, and waited. 

     “What is wrong with him?” Mommy asked, sitting down close to Alli but not next to her, wrapping her arms around her legs. 

     “He’s-” Alli started softly, “dying.” 

     Mommy was silent for a moment, “Why?” 

     Alli swallowed, “He took too many drugs,” 

     “And that’s bad?” Mommy asked, her voice soft and almost compassionate. 

     “Yeah,” Alli breathed, “It’s really bad,” 

     Mommy went quiet for a moment, “Will he die?” 

     Alli’s nose pinched with tear and she covered her mouth with her hand, “I don’t know,” 

     “Will he become one of us?” 

     “No-!” Alli choked, turning back harshly to glare at her, “Just- no more questions,” she softened slightly at the concern painting Mommy’s face. 

     “I don’t want him to become one of us,” she said, voice so soft it took Alli a moment to register it. “He- doesn’t deserve it,” 

     Alli swallowed and turned back to Jansen, “No. He doesn’t.” 

     She didn’t realize she had fallen asleep until she woke up, tucked within the soft fold of a pile of pillows and blankets. Jansen was breathing evenly near her, and when she sat up to look at him, she was relieved to see the color returned to his face. 

     “No, no one’s in there,” Mommy’s voice came from somewhere outside the door. “I wouldn’t bother going in there,” 

     The haunting moan of Boxy Boo floated through the door and settled in Alli’s chest. 

     “Go away,” Mommy said sharply, “I said no, now obey,”  

     Boxy Boo made a rumbling sound in the back of his throat, then thumping footfalls padded down the hall away from the door. 

     Alli let out a relieved breath, and settled back into her pile of bedding. 

     Mommy crawled back into the room through the ceiling, and it was then that Alli realized the door they had come through before was now blocked with large, heavy furniture. “You’re awake,” Mommy said lightly, creeping over to Alli, “That’s good,” she lowered her voice as she approached, not wanting to disrupt Jansen, “He woke up earlier, and seemed relieved that you were here,” 

     Alli glanced down at Jansen again then back up at Mommy, silent. 

     Mommy waited half a moment, “Oh- uhm, Poppy is coming,” 

     Alli twitched slightly but still remained quiet. 

     “She- didn’t seem very happy,” Mommy went on, trying to fill the silence that Alli was leaving. 

     Alli was too emotionally exhausted to care, “How do we get out of here?” 

     Mommy blinked, “Mm- what do you mean?” 

     Alli closed her eyes in exasperation, “You know what, it’s fine, nevermind,” 

     Mommy settled down on the floor again, watching Alli, “Are you- comfortable? Do you need more blankets?” 

     Alli shook her head, “I’m fine, thanks,” 

     Mommy shifted, “Do you want-?” 

     “Just-” Alli held up her hand, “stop.” 

     Mommy fell silent, fidgeting slightly. 

     Moments stretched awkwardly between them, Alli’s eyes locked on the ceiling tiles. 

     “I’m going to-” Mommy started, “I’ll be right back,” 

     Alli didn’t acknowledge her. 

     Mommy crawled back out of the hole in the ceiling, and Alli was left alone with a lump of a man and her thoughts. 

     Minute past, and Alli’s eyelids dropped heavily, sleep overwhelming her again. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed between her falling asleep again, and her being shaken awake by a big, soft paw. 

     She jolted awake, hand to her gun, but her eyes met Poppy’s. 

     “You left us!” The porcelain doll accused before Alli had a chance to swear at them. “We needed you and you– left us!”  

     “Yes,” Alli said evenly, “I made an attempt, almost died, attempt finished.” 

     Poppy trembled mildly, “You’re our only chance at finishing this nightmare!” 

     “Then find someone else, and try harder,” Alli said, her voice mild. “We’re getting out of here-” 

     “You can’t leave.” Poppy interjected, “The Prototype will kill you before you even reach the front door,” 

     “Then I’ll find a back one,” Alli leaned forward, elbows on her knees, “I’m done playing savior. I came here for one thing, and that thing isn’t here, so it’s time for us to leave.”

     “He won’t let you. What aren’t you understanding?” Poppy stepped up to her, “He has all of us trapped here. There’s nowhere for you to go,” 

     “I’ve escaped from this place before,” Alli said, “I have more than enough confidence to do it again,” 

     Poppy let out a breath, “Let me tell you what happened then, to everyone in the factory,” 

     Alli waited, uninterested. 

     “They called it- The Hour of Joy.” Poppy said, voice growing solemn, “It was a senseless slaughter, a day- when all of the toys attacked. Everyone died, no one was safe. Innocent and guilty alike, no one was spared. I remember hearing it, from inside the case, the screams. They littered the factory with bodies, then, they took them all down and ate them. Lived off of the corpses. I can still remember every moment of it, ‘what’s happening?’ ‘Why are they doing this?’ ‘What’s going on?’ ‘Someone, please, help us!’ ” Poppy repeated, “There was no point, no need for something so unnecessary, but it happened anyway. That is why we need you to help us. We need you to- help us, kill the Prototype.” 

     Alli was silent, the weight of the words settling in her chest. “I-” she started slowly, voice cracking. 

     “Don’t- say anything yet,” Poppy said, “Just… think about it. Please. But we need to move quickly, we won’t have much time left. He knows you’re here now,” 

     Alli took a breath. 

     Poppy looked back at Kissy and Mommy, “Let’s give her some time,” 

     Mommy moved back to the hole in the ceiling, crawling up, then reaching down to grab Kissy and Poppy. 

     Poppy watched Alli until she couldn’t anymore. 

     Alli watched the doll disappear into the darkness beyond. 

     Jansen took a labored breath, “You-” he wheezed, “need to finish this.” 

     Alli slid from the comfort of her blankets and onto her knees next to him, “Caleb-” 

     “I’m sorry,” he breathed, looking up at her with glassy eyes, “For putting you through that again,” 

     She swallowed hard, “Why do you feel like the only option you have is to die?” 

     “Because that’s the easiest way-” 

     “For you!” She said urgently, “Not for me. Not for your wife, or the department. How am I supposed to go back to them alone and explain what happened? How am I supposed to knock on your door and look her in the eyes and lie to her about how you died?” 

     He shook his head slightly, tears running down his temples. “I don’t know,” 

     “I know you’re in pain,” she said weakly, “But- this isn’t the better way,” 

     “I know,” he let out a shaky breath, “I’ll try to- hang in there,” 

     She took a shuddering breath, “I don’t know what to do anymore,” 

     He watched her carefully, “Yes you do,” 

     She frowned, looking down at him. 

     “You know exactly what to do. Always have, always do,” he repeated, “What are you supposed to do?” 

     She rubbed her face tiredly, “Cry,” 

     “That’ll do for now,” he agreed, “But what about later? In an hour? In two? What are you doing?” 

     She took a breath, calming herself, “I’m getting us out of here,” 

     “How?” he urged. 

     She pressed her lips together, biting down on her bottom one, “By killing the Prototype.” 

     “That’s my girl.”

Chapter 19: The Nurse

Nineteen

Nurse Ludwig

     “Ollie was pretty upset that you left him on the station,” Poppy was saying, but Alli was having trouble listening past the heavy thumping in her ears. 

     She was on her way back, moving back towards the place she had just escaped from again. There was no true reason for her to take herself back to that place, no true reason to help them, but here she was. 

     “I’ll-” Poppy started, “-take care of Ollie in the control room under that statues, you just need to finish what he told you,” 

     Alli continued to wallow in her silence. 

     “After we get the gas rerouted, we’ll have to head down to the crypt, and that's where you’ll…” Poppy’s voice trailed off as she watched Alli, her lack of expression and no words to counteract Poppy’s own. Poppy swallowed hard, “Allison?” 

     Alli ignored her. 

     “Alli, please-” 

     “Stop talking,” Alli said finally, voice rough yet weak from crying, “I’m doing this to save his life.” 

     Poppy looked at Kissy, “I understand that-” 

     “Why me?” Alli asked softly, “Why did you have to choose me?” 

     “Because you’re strong,” Poppy said, voice hollow in the train tunnel, “You’ve won against the company before– they can’t win against you,” 

     Alli snorted and regressed back into silence. 

     They climbed back onto the PlayCare station and waited for a car to roll down the wires towards them.

     Kissy settled down into a corner of the car they hijacked, Poppy still standing on her shoulder. 

     Alli sat on a bench seat, elbows on her knees as she leaned forward with her head down. She was starting to tremble again, knee bouncing and shaking her entire person. 

     “What will you do when you get out?” Poppy asked, breaking the silence that Alli was reveling in. 

     Alli took a short breath, “I’ll be going back to therapy,” 

     Poppy waited half a beat, “Oh, that’s… nice,” 

     Alli glanced at the doll out of the side of her eye, “I’ll have to find a very specific way to explain Jansen’s broken back,” 

     Poppy eyed Kissy, “Yes, that will…” she fell silent. 

     The car rolled into PlayCare, then down and down until it approached the station. She stood, silent, and pushed open the car door, jumping out and onto the platform. Kissy and Poppy followed her, falling into a plushy pile of limbs on the concrete behind her. Alli glanced back, but didn’t pay them much mind as adrenaline started to pound through her again, her limbs going numb. 

     “We’ll go down to the maintenance room,” Poppy said to her, “Just get into the Counsellor's Office and get us that power.” 

     Alli gave Poppy an expressionless glare, all of her emotions behind her eyes, and turned away without a word. 

     “G-good luck!” Poppy called after her with a stutter. 

     Alli lifted a single hand in parting, and trotted down the steps and towards the Counsellor’s Office. 

     Emotionally, she was drained, she didn’t think that anything else would surprise her anymore. She had no more motivation to try hard or succeed. 

     Opening the door of the Counsellor’s Office, she didn’t try to be quiet, to sneak, to not draw attention to herself. She was tired of running, of being afraid, of just being.  

     Door slammed against walls and rattled on their hinges as she kicked them open, one after the other, down the hall and around the corner. She ignored the main stairs near the door, no need to go up since that’s not where the generator would be; from her experience. Ignoring the names on the doors, the fogged glass windows pressed into the wood, she continued to kick down the doors. She had been on SWAT when she was younger, when violence helped her feel in control, when breaking things made her feel whole. That had been a different part of her, a part of her that hadn’t known how to cope–a part of her that continued hiding behind the healing she had done. 

     A door slammed open, then swung back at her, her flashlight bouncing off the glass and the name pressed onto it. It made her pause, that name, and she pushed the door open more slowly to look around the office. 

     Lilly Ludwig – Head Nurse

     Alli’s eyebrows had creased into a frown, shining her light around the office until it glossed over the shiny face of a human sized porcelain doll. Her breath went silent, and she stared with wide eyes at the icy blue eyes staring aimlessly at the wall in front of her. Alli jerked, trying to decide if she was backing away or going further into the room. 

     The icy blue eyes were trained on her now and Alli jumped, feeling her bones almost crawl out of her skin. 

     “Hello,” the word was light, breathy, almost nonexistent. 

     Alli’s eyes went even wider, her mouth opening in a silent expression of shock. She wanted to say something, was desperate to, but she had nothing. 

     Lilly finally turned her head, still positioned in her desk chair, “You-” she started softly, “look familiar.” 

     Alli closed her mouth then tried to open it again to speak, but her level of disbelief was shattering once again. She hadn’t expected to see Lilly again, let alone in this state; not as a… doll.  

     Lilly blinked at her, “You haven’t changed much,” 

     Alli finally found her voice, “You-” her voice broke and she cleared her throat, “you’re here,” 

     Lilly’s smile was dazzling, despite her situation, her smile had remained the same. “I am,” she said lightly, “and so are you!” She sounded like she could have laughed with delight, “I knew it- I knew I remembered you! Allison,” 

     Alli took a breath, “How are you…?” 

     Lilly raised her eyebrows, “Alive?” Her vibrant expression faded, “I don’t- know,” 

     Alli blinked, “Are you…” she tried to find anything to say, “alright?” 

     Lilly snorted lightly, “I’m–uh–yeah, I’m alright, all things considered,” 

     Alli was still frozen in the doorway, “What are you doing here?” 

     “I work here.” Lilly said, her tone starting to betray her concern with Alli’s inability to cope with what she was seeing. “Why are you here? I thought you- you got out,” 

     “I did,” Alli said weakly, “but…” 

     Lilly waited for her to continue. 

     “I was on a job,” Alli finished weakly. 

     “What job?” Lilly asked softly. 

     “I was looking for kids that went missing in the factory,” Alli said, “But- I haven’t been able to find any sign of them,” 

     Lilly’s dark eyebrows furrowed, “If they were upstairs… they’re not alive anymore,” 

     Alli’s nose scrunched in discomfort at the thought, “I know,” 

     She took a breath, “What are you doing down here then?” 

     Alli ran her tongue over her teeth, “I- don’t know, honestly. I think I was led down here. Poppy wants me to help her kill the Prototype,” 

     Lilly blinked at her, “Poppy? She’s here?” 

     Alli pressed her lips together, “Y-yeah. She’s here,” 

     Lilly’s expression darkened slightly, “I see,” 

     Alli’s breaths became shallow, “She saved my life. And my friend-” 

     “Someone came with you?” Lilly asked, her voice clipped. 

     “Yes,” Alli breathed. 

     “Are they well?” Lilly asked. 

     Alli glanced down, “No. Not right now,” 

     Lilly gave her a sympathetic look, “I’m sorry,” 

     Alli gave a slight shake of her head, “He’s why I need to kill the Prototype. I need to get him home,” 

     Lilly took a breath, “I’ll help you,” 

     Alli stared at her, distrust settling into her gut but she didn’t have any more wherewithal to care. “Okay,” 

     Lilly smiled softly, “Would you… untie me?” 

     Alli frowned slightly, “What?” 

     “They tied me to this chair after The Hour of Joy,” Lilly said softly, “They- didn’t like that I wasn’t willing to kill for them,” 

     Alli stepped farther into the room, finally seeing that Lilly’s wrists were tied to the arms of her desk chair with red and blue wires. “How long have you been here?” She looked up and met Lilly’s eyes. 

     Lilly’s expression fell, “I lost track,” she glanced up at the clock, “Eventually, everything here did,” 

     Alli stepped around the desk and pulled her knife from her belt, cutting through the wires and pulling them away from Lilly and dropping them to the floor. 

     Lilly stood slowly, “I think I’d be sore if I had real joints,” she said, remaining optimistic despite her situation. 

     Alli watched her, studied her. 

     Lilly hadn’t aged a day. Her porcelain body resembled her human one so similarly that she would have been exactly the same if it wasn’t for the obvious lack of flush beneath her skin. Her eyes remained full of wonder, her smile just as genuine as it always had been; a beacon of light in the darkness and despair around them. She was five feet tall, pale skin, dark hair full of loose curls. She was dressed in a white dress that resembled something from the 50s, with shoes to match, but her glass hands and starched apron were caked with blood. 

     “What happened to you, during The Hour of Joy?” Alli asked as Lilly ran her fingers through her hair. 

     “I tried to save them,” she said weakly, “There were too many children- too many bodies. I couldn’t help them all, but I did everything I could… it wasn’t good enough.” She looked like she might be ill, “I wasn’t good enough,” 

     Alli pulled her eyes away from the doll and glanced around the room, “Do you know where the generator is?” 

     “Why?” 

     “I need to reroute the power,” Alli looked back at her. 

     “I do,” Lilly nodded, “But first- will you tell me, who else is down here?” She lowered her voice like she was afraid of being overheard, “Who’s stayed down here?” 

     Alli took a breath, “CatNap-” Lilly shuddered, and Alli continued, “DogDay is in the cells below the PlayHouse-” 

     “He is!” Lilly’s eyes went wide, her face lighting up, “Oh thank god,” she put a hand to her chest with a relieved sigh of her shoulders, “We need to get him-” 

     “He told me not to-” Alli started, not willing to let herself re-live the situation with DogDay. 

     “That’s not right,” Lilly said, “We need him,” 

     “Why?” 

     “He’s the only one who can stop CatNap.” 

Chapter 20: The Rescue

Twenty

The Rescue

     They had turned on the generator in the Counsellor's Office way too easily, nothing coming out to hunt them. 

     “We should start towards the PlayHouse,” Lilly said, turning to Alli in the dim light, dust and cobwebs stuck to her white dress. 

     “I need to get the power rerouted to the maintenance room,” Alli said, “We can go after-” 

     “Why?” Lilly’s brows furrowed. 

     “To reroute the CatNap gas,” Alli explained, “away from- something.” 

     “They didn’t tell you?” Lilly asked, squinting slightly. 

     “You expected them to?” Alli snorted, “They don’t tell me what they don’t have to,” 

     “Mm,” Lilly hummed, a strain in her voice. “Well… fine.” She tisked, “Let’s get out of here, and we’ll just waltz into the PlayHouse after,” 

     Alli rolled her eyes to the ceiling, “Oh lovely,” she said sarcastically. 

     “Sorry, I didn’t know you had a better plan,” Lilly said, her voice becoming tense, “Please, enlighten me!” 

     Alli gave her a mild glare, “Let’s just get the power diverted, then we can use the tunnels to get back into the PlayHouse,” 

     Lilly gave a small shake of her head, “If you divert the power now he’s going to know for sure that you’re trying to get to him,” 

     Alli chewed on her lip, “Oh yeah?” 

     Lilly nodded, “So let’s go grab D-Day before we set off the alarm bells for the Prototype,” 

     “What about the others in the maintenance room?” 

     “They’ll be fine,” Lilly said, “For all they know you got lost, or died,” she gave a small shrug. 

     “Comforting.” Alli said tensely. 

     They backed away from the generator, the rumble growing quieter as they walked. 

     “This way,” Lilly said, “I remember being down here,” she explained, “Before- way before,” 

     Alli watched the back of the doll's head, shiny dark hair tied back with a white bow. “Do you remember the before?”  

     Lilly was quiet for a while, only the sounds of their footsteps meeting them. “I-” she took a breath, “I do,” 

     Alli’s eyebrows rose, “All of it?” 

     Lilly pressed her lips together, “Yeah,” her voice was so soft, so sad. 

     Alli didn’t know what to say to something like that, something so awful. She had been lucky– as lucky as a staged escape could be. At least she hadn’t lost her humanity. 

     “Is Poppy…” Lilly’s words were creaky, “is she-” she couldn’t find the words. 

     Alli waited for her. 

     “Is she alright?” 

     Alli lifted her chin slightly, training her eyes forward again, “Hard to say. She doesn’t say much unless she’s trying to convince me to die for her,” 

     Lilly sighed, “Right,” 

     Alli pressed her lips together; maybe that hadn’t been the right thing to say. 

     They passed through hall after hall tinted with blood and dust. Alli kicked down doors at Lilly’s instructions, leading them through the labyrinth under the PlayCare. Eventually they could hear the sound of squeaking, a swarm of feet padding across soft floors. 

     “This is it,” Lilly whispered, looking up at Alli, “This door will open to the back of the cells,” 

     Alli looked at the door for a long moment, “I hope you know what you’re talking about,” she whispered back. 

     Lilly searched her face, “Trust me,” she said, “For all it’s worth,” 

     Alli nodded, then pulled her lockpicking kit out of her pocket. The lock clicked open and Lilly slid past the door and into the cells beyond. Alli followed her, crouching as they creeped down the length of the hall. 

     “Here,” Alli said, jerking her head to motion at a cell. 

     “You’ve returned, angel,” DogDay breathed, voice raspy. 

     Lilly poked her head into the cell as Alli shone her light into the room. 

     “How do you know?” Alli asked, searching the face of the critter. 

     “You’re the only thing in this place that doesn’t wreak of death,” DogDay said softly, “And you’ve brought-” his nose twitched slightly, “Lillith,” 

     “Dog,” Lilly said, her voice weak but a small smile curved her lips, “I’m glad you’re alive,” 

     “You’ve come,” he said, head dropping slightly, “I thought– I’m not sure what I thought,” 

     Lilly pressed her lips together, “We’re here to get you out of here,” 

     His head lifted slightly and he wagged his tail at her, “You were too kind for this world, Darling, but no, you should leave me,” 

     Lilly took a breath, “We need you,” 

     His tail drooped slightly, “Oh?” 

     “You know why they named me Lillith,” Lilly was forlorn, “I know you can stop CatNap,” 

     DogDay hummed slightly, “Angel of death, you grant me relief indeed,” 

     Lilly looked like she could be on the verge of tears, “Please help us,” 

     “Anything,” DogDay agreed, “Always.” 

     Lilly looked up at Alli and nodded. 

     Alli stepped into the cell, picking the cuffs around DogDay’s wrists, and the dog slipped limply to the floor, struggling to find his feet. 

     Lilly stepped into the room and grabbed DogDay by an arm, pulling it over her shoulders as Alli did the same. 

     Together they dragged a struggling DogDay down the hallway and back through the door and into the maintenance tunnels. 

     “How long were you trapped there?” Alli asked, voice breathy. 

     “I’ve lost count of the years,” DogDay said, “I was harboring people away from the massacre, then they caught me, and– no one was spared,” 

     “Everyone else is gone?” Lilly asked, looking up at him. 

     “I am the last of us,” he confirmed. 

     Lilly’s face scrunched in grief, “Horrible,” 

     “It was,” DogDay agreed. 

     Alli was quiet as she listened to them talk, memories that only the two of them shared, experiences that only they had borne witness to. 

     “Have you eaten?” Lilly asked softly. 

     “No,” he said, “I won’t,” 

     Lilly chewed on the inside of her cheek as DogDay slowly gained back the strength in his legs, leaning on her less and less. 

     “Have you eaten?” 

     “No,” she replied, “Never.” 

     Alli didn’t understand; why would they need to eat?

     “When did they find you?” he asked the doll. 

     “Not long after it happened,” Lilly explained, “I- they asked me to give them over and I simply… couldn’t.” 

     “The best of us,” he patted Lilly’s back gently with a paw. 

     Lilly let out a small huff, “You give me too much credit,” 

     They fell into a soft silence as they climbed back up and into the heart of the Counsellor’s Office. The door was forced open and they stumbled down the front steps of the building. 

     “I need to get the power cable,” Alli said, stepping away from DogDay and Lilly. 

     “We’ll wait for you here,” Lilly assured her as Alli turned away and went around the side of the building. 

     She pulled the cord from the electric box and started back around the building again. She took pause as she watched Lilly and DogDay embracing, Lilly’s face was buried in DogDay’s shoulder, eyebrows furrowed into harsh lines. Alli watched them, two friends, separated in the heat of war, finally reunited. She approached slowly, not wanting to disrupt them prematurely, but Lilly spotted her. 

     “Ready?” Lilly asked, looking at Alli past DogDay’s furry arm. 

     Alli nodded, “Let’s go,” 

     They retreated towards the statues in the middle of the town square, pulling open one of the maintenance doors and heading into the core of the PlayCare. 

     Poppy and Missy looked up as they came down the stairs, “Where were-” her words stopped as she saw Lilly then DogDay right behind her. “Where did you-?” She couldn’t finish the words. 

     Kissy got up from her place on the floor and trotted over to Lilly, flapping her soft arms around the doll’s shoulders. 

     “Kissy!” Lilly said lightly, “You’re here!” 

     “DogDay,” Poppy said, “I’m glad you’re here,” 

     “Poppy,” DogDay said, nose scrunching as he took in the room. 

     “How long have you been here?” Poppy asked, “Why didn’t you do more-” 

     “I could say the same,” DogDay interrupted her, “You could have done more from upstairs,” 

      “I was trapped,” Poppy said evenly. 

     “So were we,” DogDay stated, “CatNap, isn’t very happy, lest you haven’t noticed.” 

     Lilly turned to Poppy, “What happened to you, that day?” 

     Poppy looked at the other doll, “They trapped me in a case, in my room,” 

     Lilly’s eyebrows rose, “All this time?” 

     “Well I assume the same thing had happened to you,” Poppy said. 

     Lilly glanced away from her, “In a way,” she agreed. 

     “What did you do?” Poppy asked, searching her sister’s face. 

     “It’s more what I didn’t do,” Lilly said, finally looking back at her younger part. “What I wouldn’t do.” 

     Poppy blinked, then trained her eyes on Alli, “I’m glad you found them,” 

     Alli was rubbing her forehead, “Sure, no problem,” she sighed. 

     “We need to head down now,” Poppy said, “That’s our next step,” 

     Alli shook her head, “No, our next step is going back to the Theater. I need to check on Jansen,” 

     “We don’t have time-!” 

     “I have as much time as I want,” Alli said sternly, “I will do this, or I will not help you.” 

     Poppy took a breath, “Fine.” 

     “Good.” 

Chapter 21: The Plan

Twenty-one

The Plan

     “What’s the plan now?” Jansen asked, the room quiet and empty around them. 

     Alli scratched her temple, “I have to kill the Prototype,” she took a pause, “I don’t know any part about how to do that though,” 

     Jansen’s eyes searched the ceiling, as if the answer would be plastered there. “You said- that DogDay will be able to stop CatNap,” 

     Alli nodded. 

     “That’s what you’re doing first then, correct?” 

     She nodded again. 

     He took a breath, then winced, “Ow-uhm, just- focus on that first then,” 

     Alli was chewing on the inside of her cheek, “‘kay,” 

     “They haven’t told you anything, though?” He confirmed, and she answered with a nod. He let out a heavy breath, “That- is a choice,” 

     “I don’t know what sort of questions to ask either,” she said, “It’s not like I could get answers if I wanted to,” 

     “Ask what the Prototype is?” he offered. 

     “It’s an experiment like all the rest of them, an amalgamation of failed Bigger Bodies,” Alli explained, “It’s not that I don’t know things, it just— I don’t know why I’m doing this for them.” 

     “What did the Prototype do?” Jansen asked. 

     “Poppy said- all of them have said, that the Prototype was the reason that The Hour of Joy happened,” 

     “The massacre,” 

     “The Prototype is the reason everyone is dead,” Alli nodded, “And I- honestly, don’t really blame it,” 

     Jansen let out a contemplative breath, “I understand the motive,” he agreed, “but nothing is ever worth costing human life, especially of the innocent.” 

     Alli wasn’t sure she could agree with that anymore, “Right.” Was all she said. 

     “Here’s an idea,” he said, lacing his hands on his torso, “Go back up to the Game Station with Mommy,” he watched Alli as he said it, “See if you can get the Huggies from that game down to PlayCare to help you,” 

     Alli blinked at him once, then directed her attention away as she thought. 

     “It might not work-” he started. 

     “Actually,” she started slowly, interrupting him, “It just might.” Alli looked back at him, “Poppy said that no one here is afraid of death, they’re afraid of becoming a part of the Prototype,” she shook an extended finger at him, “Using them might just work.” 

     He gave her a half smile, “Great! Happy to help,” 

     She returned to look, “Now~” she started slowly, humming and hawing, “I’ll just have to convince everyone else.” 

     “All the power is in your court, Al,” he assured her, “They’ll be convinced.” 

     She took a slow breath and looked down at him, “Thanks,” 

     He searched her face, “Nothing to thank me for. You’ve saved my life- thank you,”  

     She pressed her lips together, “You would have done the same for me,” 

     “Doesn’t negate the point,” he lifted his eyebrows slightly, “From the moment we stepped in here you’ve been on your toes to get me out,” he watched her downcast face, “You didn’t have to come in here- do all this- save me over and over again, yet here we are,” 

     She finally lifted her eyes to meet his, “It’s been healing,” she said softly, “It might be killing me, but at least- at least now—” she took a shaky breath. 

     He put a hand on her knee, “You’ve got this.” He nodded slightly, “How ever it ends up, at least you’ve got your closure,” 

     She pressed her lips into a tight smile, “Thanks. You’ve helped me a lot through this,” 

     He looked like he had tried to shrug but just grimaced in pain instead, “What are friends for?” 

     Friends.  

     She swallowed hard, “I’ll go talk to them,” she said, “Try to get more—” 

     “Man power.” He finished, knowing what she was going to say. 

     “Bodies.”  

     She nodded, “We’re going to get out of here,”

     “I don’t doubt it,” he grinned, “It’s the Payne Game. Outlast, overcome.” 

     Her mouth quirked in a small smile, “You know it,” 

     “Knock’em dead, kid.” 

     “Ten-four good buddy.” She said with mild sarcasm, then she left him; scaling the furniture stacked against the door and slipping into the ceiling, leaving him alone again. She dropped out into the hall after a short crawl and started down towards the lit end, entering into another, larger office. All of the Bigger Bodies toys stood around the room. Lilly stood next to DogDay against one long wall, across from Poppy and Kissy who were slumped against the other. Mommy stood at the far end of the room, the first to see Alli as she entered the room. The light was yellow and dim, the desk having been pushed against the wall with the rest of the furniture, leaving the middle of the room bare. 

     Alli’s eyes dragged back and forth from Lilly to Poppy and back again. “What’s going on?” 

     Poppy’s head snapped in Alli’s direction, “Why did you bring her here?” 

     Alli’s eyebrows rose lazily, “Sorry?” 

     “She’s working with the Prototype, I know it!” Poppy’s voice was urgent. 

     Lilly and DogDay shared a look. 

     Alli looked at Lilly tiredly, then back at Poppy. “Okay?” 

     “She can’t be here!” Poppy said forcefully. 

     Alli simply blinked, “I’m too tired for this.” She looked at Mommy, “Can you take me back up to the Game Station?” 

     Mommy tipped her head at Alli, “I could- why?” 

     “Jansen suggested using the Huggies in the Wack-A-Wuggy game as manpower for taking down the Prototype.” Alli explained, “You said you’re not afraid of dying,” Alli looked at Poppy, “Then why not use what we have?” 

     Kissy Missy shifted uncomfortably. 

     “All of those Huggies work with the Prototype,” Poppy said evenly, “You can’t convince them to die for you,” 

     Alli looked at Mommy, then at DogDay and Lilly, “I can try,” 

     Lilly looked at Mommy, “I think you could talk them into it,” 

     Mommy looked back at Lilly, “Do you?” Her voice was clipped. 

     Lilly glanced at Alli then back at Mommy, “You were easy to convince,” 

     Mommy glanced at the floor, “I know PJ is still in the maze,” 

     Alli glanced between the two toys, watching them carefully. They were uncomfortable with each other, it was clear. 

     “He’ll definitely help you if you ask,” Lilly nodded, “He’s always been good like that,” 

     “What about Huggy?” DogDay asked, staring blankly at the floor with unseeing eyes. 

     The room was quiet for a moment.

     “That’s our fault,” Alli said finally, “He’s- dead, maybe. He fell into the void upstairs,” 

     DogDay huffed, “The void you say,” he chuckled softly, “He’s probably wandering in the gas outside PlayCare,” 

     Alli watched him, “W-what does that mean?” 

     Lilly scratched her neck, “It’s not a void, that’s not possible… I say while being a living doll,” she gave Alli a chagrin look, “He just- fell, from upstairs all the way down to the caves outside of PlayCare,” 

     Alli took a sharp breath, “Okay.” She said weakly, “So- what?” 

     “He could still be alive,” DogDay said simply. 

     “If-” Poppy started, “-he is alive… do you think he’d actually help us?” 

     Alli was nodding slowly, “I think so,” she looked up at them, “I think he- remembered me,” 

     “That settles it then,” Lilly clapped her glass hands together, “Someone needs to search the caves and make sure he’s alright,” 

     “I can do that,” Mommy said, “Or I can try and convince the Huggies in the Game Station,” 

     “You can’t do both,” Alli agreed, “So- let’s do this. Poppy, Kissy, and I will head to the Game Station for PJ and the Huggies. Mommy will search the caves because I do believe she’ll be able to do it the fastest,” Alli looked at Mommy for confirmation, and she nodded her pink head, “That leaves Lilly and DogDay.” 

     “I need to get back to PlayCare,” Lilly said, “We need to help Ollie get the power and gas diverted,” 

     “I cannot do much of anything,” DogDay said, “So I will stay here and- hold down the fort?”  

     Alli nodded, “That’s fine.” She looked back at Lilly, “Hasn’t it already been diverted?” 

     Lilly shook her head, “He needs someone down stairs to use the machinery,” 

      Alli was chewing on the inside of her cheek, “I don’t like the idea of you going alone,” 

      Lilly glanced at DogDay, “You can come with me, if you wanted to, Dog.” 

     He shook his head, ears flapping, “I’d rather save my strength,” 

     Lilly gave him a sympathetic look. 

     “I’ll come with you,” Alli said, “Just wait until I get back from the Game Station,” 

     “Sure,” Lilly nodded. 

     “I’ll start off,” Mommy said, “I have a lot of ground to cover,” she untangled herself from her position on the floor. 

     “Be safe,” Poppy said. 

     “Good luck,” Alli added as Mommy moved past her. 

     Mommy looked at her, searching for any insincerity, then left the room without another word. 

     Alli turned back to the group in front of her, “Now-” 

     “Let’s get moving,” Poppy said next, before Alli could get another word out. 

     Alli blinked at her before she and Kissy also left the room. 

     “Come on, Allison!” Poppy called after herself from out in the hall. 

     Alli looked at Lilly, “We’ll be back,” 

     “I know you will,” Lilly smiled at her, sinking into the rolling desk chair, “You always do.”

Chapter 22: The Wuggies (Pt 1)

Twenty-two

The Wuggies

     The walk back to the Game Station along the steep, winding tracks of the tunnel, took about twenty minutes. Alli’s legs, which had already been sore from her first run-in with the hoard of Smiling Critters, were now burning with every upward step she took. She was fighting off her urge to collapse, to take her final breath and die right there on the tracks, but her pride wouldn’t let her succumb to something so meaningless. Kissy and Poppy walked on ahead of her, no words shared between the three of them. 

     Eventually they turned a bend and Alli spotted a split in the tracks she hadn’t noticed before, this new tunnel led towards a place called The Quad. Elation struck her like cold water, then realization washed over her like hot, making her feel warm with sickening dread. The tunnel to The Quad was covered by a grate door the same way the tunnel to Shipping had been. There was no escaping the long twisting tunnels under the factory. 

     “Come on,” Poppy said, looking back at Alli from Kissy’s shoulder, “You wouldn’t have been able to get out from there anyway,” 

     Alli followed on silently. 

     The arching exit of the tunnel came into view, darkening artificial light meeting them as they emerged from the shadows and into the dully colored space of the Game Station. 

     “Kissy and I will go up and try to get the doors open,” Poppy said to Alli. 

     “And what about me?” Alli asked, looking up at her. 

     “You’re going down to talk to the Huggies-” 

     Alli guffawed, “Ha-like hell I am!” She shook her head at them, “You are going down there to talk to them. You’ve already convinced Mommy, I have no doubt you’d be able to talk them into it too,” 

     “So you’re going to sacrifice me?” Poppy basically squawked. 

     “And you were going to kill me!” Alli retorted, “We can go together, if you’re so afraid, but I am not going down there alone,” 

     Poppy’s mouth was held shut by her frustration, “Fine,” she said around her clenched teeth, “We’ll all go together,” 

     Alli gave her a patronizing smile, “Good! Not so hard to compromise, now is it?” She said lightly, starting up the emergency stairs built into the tracks and strutting across the station. 

     “Kissy, I swear-” Poppy started, muttering to herself and her friend. 

     “Chop chop everyone,” Alli spun on her heels to walk backwards while facing them, “We don’t have all day,” 

     Poppy rolled her sickeningly blue eyes and frowned as Kissy followed after Alli. 

     Alli kicked in a door on the other end of the Game Station, walking into an office, then up a set of stairs towards the Game Master’s look-out. She could see the entire station from there, the scaffolding, the overhead walkways where the scientists used to watch them from. She redirected her attention, looking around for any sort of operating system. 

     “Here,” Poppy said, her and Kissy looking down at a control panel, “I don’t know how to work it,” 

     “We can definitely figure it out,” Alli said in the back of her throat as she looked down at the panel with them. 

     Kissy let out a wheeze that could have been a sigh, and plapped her plushy mitts down on the control board. She then moved her arms back and forth, hitting every button and flipping every switch on the board at the same time. 

     “Wait-!” Alli started, but it was too late. 

     Kissy sat back confidently, looking proud of herself. 

     “We don’t know what that’ll do-” Alli started, but the sound of doors opening past the glass behind them made her stop. “Well,” she looked up at Kissy, “Good job.” 

     They made their way back down the stairs and into the Game Station once more. 

     “Maybe…” Alli started slowly, “we should make a plan. If no one is up here to close the doors when we get out, and we make the Wuggies mad and they chase us out of the game…” she let the thought finish itself. 

     “Kissy will stay,” Poppy said, glancing down at the toy before looking back at Alli, “We’ll go,” 

     Alli nodded, “Alright,” 

     Kissy lowered Poppy to the floor, then turned and lumbered back towards the office and up the stairs. They watched her come up to the window, looking out at them, and raised her paw in parting. 

     “Alright,” Alli looked down at Poppy, “Let’s do this,” 

     Poppy started to trot after Alli, “Alli- will you carry me? I have little legs,” 

     Alli was already at the Wack-A-Wuggy door before she turned around and watched Poppy trying to run after her, the doll’s plastic shoes making soft tack tack tack s across the linoleum floor. She walked back to Poppy, taking her carefully by the hands to lift her up to stand on Alli’s shoulder and twist her fingers into Alli’s hair. “You good?” Alli asked, her hand hovering around Poppy’s legs as the doll adjusted herself. 

     “Yes. Thank you,” 

     Alli nodded–to the best of her ability with Poppy clinging to her hair–and started towards the doors again. 

     The passageway smelled like death, the odor rolling out and into the Game Station in waves. 

     “Oh- gross,” Poppy said, putting a hand to her mouth and nose. 

     “You can smell it, huh?” Alli said, face scrunched up in disgust against the smell. 

     “It’s unfortunate really,” Poppy confirmed, “Out of everything I could have lived without,” 

     Alli didn’t have anything to say to that, so instead she asked, “Ready?” 

     “Sure,” was all Poppy could muster. 

     They started down the passageway silently, Alli’s heart starting to pound at the memory of losing Jansen there. Why had he even suggested they come back, surely he would want nothing to do with the Huggies after whatever happened to him. 

     Alli stopped suddenly, the words finally hitting her. Jansen had never said it was a Huggy that had grabbed him in the game; he honestly didn’t tell her what had broken his back. 

     “Why are we stopping?” Poppy whispered in her ear. 

     “What if-” Alli started softly, “It was the Prototype that attacked Jansen here?” 

     Poppy went rigid, “Why?” 

     “He never said it was the Wuggies that grabbed him and broke his back,” Alli said softly, “And- Mommy had him after that fact, and Mommy was working with the Prototype up until… well, not that long ago,” 

     Poppy trembled slightly, “You think- that he’s still down here?” 

     “I think,” Alli said, starting to walk backwards back up the passageway and towards the Game Station again, “That the Wuggies are more intertwined with the Prototype than we bargained for,” 

     Poppy took a moment to think, “Then- leave them. There’s no point in trying to convince them,” 

     Alli was about to nod in agreement, but a long, wailing echo bounced down the passageway towards them. “Damn it,” she breathed. 

     “Language,” Poppy corrected. 

     The sound of soft feet pounding up the tunnel towards them echoed around the passageway. 

     “Shit!” Alli spat, ignoring Poppy’s previous warning. She turned and ran, holding onto Poppy as she did, emerging from the passageway as Poppy started screaming to Kissy. 

     “Close it! Close the doors!” Poppy shouted, looking up at Kissy.

     The pink Wuggy turned and trotted towards the control panel. 

     Alli spun, facing the tunnel entrance and pulling her gun from her holster, the second from the back of her waistband. 

     “Kissy!” Poppy shouted to the plushy as the other doors around them jerked to start closing, then stopped to start opening again. 

     Alli had her attention trained on the doors in front of her, both guns raised in level and steady hands. 

     The first manic smile and horrified eyes flashed at her from the entrance, and a yellow Wuggy emerged into the light of the Game Station. Its eyes rolled, taking it all in, before settling on Alli and Poppy. It screamed, a cocktail of blood and drool dripping from its crookedly upturned mouth. 

     She didn’t wait for an explanation, didn’t try to reason with it, didn’t want to see if the soul inside the creature happened by chance to remember her. She just shot. 

     All it took was one bullet through the middle of the head, right between its eyes, for it to fall to the ground in a pool of blood and a pile of matted yellow fur. 

     Poppy yelped at the sound of the gun shot, putting a hand to her mouth as she stared in horror at the puppet before her. 

     The next came up the tunnel, the same wild eyes, same manic smile. Purple fur crusted in rust and blood, the sediments almost the same color. 

     Alli pulled the trigger again. 

     A second body on the pile. 

     Poppy was trembling on Alli’s shoulder as the third Wuggy came towards them, Kissy still struggling with the control panel. 

     “Go help her,” Alli said as green fur collected on top of purple fur and blood mixed with blood on the floor. 

     Poppy slid down Alli’s back, landing on the floor behind her and running towards the office door as fast as her doll-sized legs would carry her. 

     Alli added orange fur to the pile, then red. 

     There were so many of them. So much blood. Too many bodies. 

     The Wuggies started to pile up at the exit, converging in the bottle neck, barely giving Ally enough time to mow them down where they stood. They flailed, long rapid limbs reaching for her, wails and screams echoing forgotten around the Game Station. There was no one to hear them anymore, no one to care. 

     The doors to Wack-A-Wuggy started to close, forcing them out of an even smaller exit. 

     Silver fur shimmered in the light as it slid off of the pile and into the blood surrounding it, bathing itself red. Glassy eyes looked up at her; so many eyes. None of them had suffered, she was too good of a shot for that. 

     The doors crunched closed on the body of a peach colored Wuggy, severing its torso in half. It wailed as it writhed on the floor, dragging itself towards Alli despite missing half of its limbs. 

     Again, the ringing of her own gun bounced in her ears as the Wuggy fell limp to the floor. 

     It was a massacre. Again. Another. 

     She hadn’t been meaning to count them, hadn’t meant to feel guilty, but she couldn’t help herself. Thirteen. Thirteen less… or thirteen too many. 

     Poppy burst from the office door, running towards Alli as she was holstering her weapons. 

     They both stopped, staring numbly at the carnage for way too long, the image burning itself into their minds. 

     “Why-?” Poppy started, but she didn’t know what she was asking for. Didn’t know what she was asking at all. 

     Alli swallowed down the hard lump in her throat, feeling the weight of her growing guilt in her gut. She couldn’t answer Poppy, couldn’t bring herself to look at the doll, just shook her head silently. 

     “They-” Poppy started again, but she still found it hard to come up with the words. 

     Alli rubbed her eyes with a hand, trying to breathe past the feeling of nausea that was creeping up her throat. 

     “He had too much control,” Poppy said finally, “They wouldn’t have helped us.” She looked up at Alli, “You did the right thing, Allison,” 

     Alli looked up, training her eyes on something far across the room. “It doesn’t feel that way,” 

     “Would you kill a man who attacked you with a weapon?” Poppy asked, watching her. “They were the weapons, nothing you could have done otherwise. You saved us. Thank you,” 

     That didn’t help, just forced Alli to look away so the doll wouldn’t see the tears forming at the edges of her lashes. 

     Poppy let out a breath, “You feel bad because you’re a good person,” she put a hand to Alli’s leg, trying to be comforting as she looked at the pile of bodies; glassy eyes and lolling tongues. “You didn’t kill them because you’re a bad one,” 

     Alli wiped her cheeks, “Were they human before?” 

     “I’m not sure,” Poppy admitted, “More likely than not.” She took a beat before saying, “You’ve freed them,” 

     Alli pressed her lips together, “Right,” she didn’t believe it, but tried to take the words to heart. 

     “We can try talking to PJ,” Poppy said, “But… this time… I think I’ll go alone,” 

     Alli looked down at her finally, “Why?” 

     “Because if they want you dead, they aren’t going to listen to us,” Poppy said, “I’ll have better luck on my own,” 

     Alli blinked slightly, “If you’re sure,” 

     Poppy nodded as she walked towards the open doors to the final game, “I can do this.” She smiled at Alli. 

     Alli watched her, “I’ll be right here,” she said, “If anything happens-” 

     “You’ll come to the rescue,” Poppy said with a slight shrug, “Like always.” She turned and faced the tunnel, straightening her blue dress, before disappearing into the dark. 

     Alli swallowed hard, approaching the hole silently, listening to soft taps of Poppy’s footsteps. Fear was pounding hard in her chest, but whatever she did, she wasn’t going to move unless she had to.

Chapter 23: PJ Puggapillar (Pt 2)

Twenty-two and a half

PJ Pugapillar

     Poppy walked down the tunnel quietly, fear was something she had learned to handle, something she had learned to cultivate in her chest and use to her advantage. You learned not to be afraid in a place like this, you didn’t have a choice to be anything otherwise. This, however, was something Poppy was scared of. Not the small, dark vents; not being abandoned in her case; not even being alone; everything was just so much bigger than her, and she was oh-so small now. She felt lost. 

     The lights in the maze flickered, the room was silent. 

     She had been hopeful when Alli had first arrived in the factory, when she had looked out past the glass of her case and saw the adult the girl had become. There were moments of her life that Poppy remembered more than anything, bits and pieces that were so incredibly vivid they felt more like a never ending dream than a memory. Alli was one of those pieces, one of the many things she had fought to never forget. 

     Then there were moments like Lilly. Pieces of herself that she somehow had too easily forgotten. Lilly was her sister, Lilly cared about her, but still somehow Poppy forgot that she had existed in the Before. Maybe Lilly had never existed in the Before for Poppy, maybe she had simply been another body, another face in the sea of faces she had seen when she was sick. 

     Lilly might not even be her actual sister. 

      There were lots of questions, too many questions, too many moments that Poppy didn’t remember. 

     She looked around the maze, trying to see PJ, trying to figure out where the fifty foot giant was hiding. 

     Heavy breathing rattled through the room, the sound of many heavy feet patting towards her across the sticky, plastic floor. 

     Poppy turned, looking for the source of the breathing. “PJ?” she asked, still searching for him. He should have been easy to find. 

     PJ’s large, dark eyes glistened in the dark of his hole in the walls. He sounded like he was choking on his tongue every time he took a rattling breath. 

     She let out a breath, trying not to be afraid of how big he was. “Good! I’m glad you’re here,” 

     PJ waddled towards her, out of the tunnel and across the space separating them. He groaned at her, a deep and heavy sound in the base of his chest. 

     “Have you eaten?” Poppy asked, watching as PJ wandered around her, encircling her, trapping her within the space he created. 

     He moaned, low and long in reply. 

     “I’m asking for your help,” Poppy said, taking he no at face value and moving forward with her next question, “Will you help me?” 

     He grunted slightly, then flopped down, moving his head to watch her as his body relaxed. He had fenced her in. 

     She swallowed down her panic, “We need to kill the Prototype,” she said softly, trying not to be overheard. 

     He let out a breath that was a mix of a sigh and a groan. 

     “No- I know,” Poppy said, holding up a hand, “But I have help this time, good help, the best!” 

     He lolled his head, whining as he rolled onto his back, feet dangling limply as he scratched his back on the floor.

     She let out a breath, “It will work this time, I know it,” 

     He sighed, looking back at her finally. 

     “I’m not asking you to die,” she said evenly, “I’m asking you to fight to live,” 

     He snorted slightly, then got back to his feet, waddling back towards his hole in the wall. 

     “PJ, please,” Poppy started to beg, feeling desperate, “Alli can’t do it alone-” then she clamped a hand over her mouth. 

     PJ lifted up on the back half of his legs, looking down at her. He towered over her, growling in the back of his throat. 

     “No, I know-” she started. 

     He continued to chastise her in a series of grunts and growls. 

     “She came back,” Poppy finally interrupted him, “I know- I know. But she’s here, and she’s finally willing to do something,” she urged. 

     PJ thumped back down onto his feet, shaking himself out, the shake rolling through him like a wave. 

     She clenched her jaw, “Fine. But if you change your mind, we’re in the Theater,” 

     He coughed at her and turned back, disappearing into the hole and not bothering to speak to her again. 

     She clenched her fists, feeling helpless, and started back up the tunnel. 

     Alli was waiting for her with her arms crossed as she emerged from the darkness of the passageway. Black jacket and knees covered in dust. Her eyes were trained on something across the room that Poppy couldn’t see, body trained to work even when her mind was anywhere else. 

     “He said no,” Poppy said simply, cutting down the answer to the simplest parts. 

     Alli looked down at her, dark lashes rimming eyes that were shining with determination. “That’s fine,” 

     Always so callous. Poppy forced herself to not take the curtness of the answer personally. “I told him to join us if he changed his mind,” 

     “The most you could do,” Alli agreed, nodding once. “We should probably head back and see what everyone else is doing,” 

     Poppy nodded in agreement, taking Alli by the hand and letting her lift her to her shoulder. 

     They were almost there, the freedom from their fear was palatable. She could taste what the celebration was going to feel like. They just had to buy time, wait it out; they couldn’t rush this one.

Chapter 24: The Search

Twenty-three

The Search

     Mommy crawled from the office, her mind reeling from the previous conversation. That girl, who had come into the factory and torn everything apart, had told her to be careful. Something itched at the back of her mind as she entered the main room of the Theater. Memories came hard to her, at least the ones she refused to remember. She didn’t want to remember this, couldn’t stand to remember the Before. She reached towards the ceiling, pulling herself up and into the darkness, ignoring the calls of the Wuggies below her. Phantom pains ached in her arms as they stretched, feeling the pain from the Before. She could remember them pulling her joint out of their sockets, “training” her not to feel anymore. It had always been that way, the training. Out of everything that she did remember about the Before, those memories were the worse, those were the ones she couldn’t get rid of.

     She tumbled through the support beams in the ceiling, her eyes trained to ignore the darkness around her. 

     She wouldn’t let him stop her again, not this time, not when there was hope. 

     Rocks tumbled out from under her feet as she stopped at the end of the caves, looking out at PlayCare and the gas swirling below it. She crawled out of the cave she had squeezed into from the holes in the factory’s building, how the entire thing hadn’t fallen into the cavern below she had no idea, it wasn’t a question she had ever thought of before. 

     The gas felt like nothing as she stretched from spike to spike of craggily rock, swirling through the mist as if it was nothing; as if it had never affected her. She ducked beneath the gas, trying the peer through it, but everything looked the same and nothing could be seen. She took a breath, listening to the sound of feet above her and she turned, looking up towards the noise. 

     CatNap crawled along the cart tracks, towards the cliff that was illuminated by dying lamps and battery powered light cores, torn from the chests of other toys. 

     She watched him, watched him stop in front of a shrine perched on the back half of the cliff. Disgust coated her mouth, she couldn’t imagine worshiping the thing that had caused all of this suffering. She shook her head, disappearing back into the mist. 

     The void that Huggy had fallen down was Poppy’s Void, the walkways leading towards her room. Everything led to Poppy. Everything had started with Poppy. Mommy watched the top of the cave, watching the scar of the void come closer as she approached where it started. She couldn’t see up into the void, unable to tell if Huggy had been caught in the tracks or on any of the walkways, so she turned her attention downwards instead. 

     “Huggy?” she asked softly, looking blindly through the mist. 

     A soft moan met her, the sound similar to that of a whale. 

     She turned swiftly, limbs stretching out in front of her, searching for the source of the noise. “I’m here,” Mommy said, feeling over the rough texture of the stones. 

     Huggy groaned slightly, the sound turning into a desperate cry. 

     He was in pain, it was making her heart hurt. “It’s alright,” she said, hand meeting soft fur and she approached him. “I’m here,” 

     His fur looked purple in the mist and the darkness that surrounded them. He looked at her with pain filled eyes, searching her face for any sign of hostility. 

     “I’m going to get you out of here,” she said, “Where are you hurt?” 

     He gurgled in the back of his throat and she felt her face flinch with the explanation. 

     “Alright,” she breathed, “I’m going to move you,” she explained, “I know it will hurt you, but we must remain silent if we plan on escaping him,”  

     He grumbled slightly but didn’t object. 

     She wrapped an arm around him carefully, holding him still as she reached up and slowly started to crawl back around to the cave she had emerged from. 

     He cried softly, a painful sound in the back of his throat. 

     “I’m sorry,” she said more than once, feeling terrible that this had happened to him and even more terrible that she was making it worse. 

     The cave was dark and she maneuvered him slowly through the rocks and debris, through the hole in the stones and back through the scaffolding. 

     He complained to her more verbally once they felt safe inside the confines of the ceiling. Shrieks and wails that echoed hollowly around them. 

     Finally she lowered him slowly into the Theater, the ache in her arms growing worse the longer she held him. He sank onto the floor, the mini Wuggies swarming him, saying things too fast for her to understand. He chirped at them, communicating as if they actually knew each other. 

     Mommy retreated back to the office, knowing Lilly would probably know how to help him, she was the nurse after all. 

     Everyone else was already there, looking as if they had never left. 

     “Did you find him?” Poppy asked from her perch on Kissy’s shoulder. 

     Mommy nodded, “But he’s in pain,” 

     Lilly stood up silently from her chair. 

     “How badly?” Poppy asked. 

     “He won’t be able to help us,” Mommy said. 

     Poppy let out a breath. 

     Alli looked tired. 

     “What about PJ, or the other Wuggies?” Mommy asked, looking around the room at the others. 

     “PJ said no,” Poppy said, “And the Wuggies…” she trailed off, “...they’re too dedicated to the Prototype,”

     Mommy was quiet, she wasn’t sure what to say. 

     “Is there no one else?” Alli asked, “We need more manpower,” 

     “Besides Boxy or the mini Wuggies,” Poppy said, “neither of whom are interested in working with us, no,” 

     “What about Ollie?” Alli asked, “Is he just a disembodied voice?” 

     Poppy was silent. 

     “So he is,” Alli accused, “That’s lovely,” 

     “He’s been an asset-” Poppy started. 

     “He literally can’t help us with anything,” Alli put her hand to her face, letting out an irritated breath. 

     “Lilly,” Mommy said, “Can you look at Huggy?” 

     Lilly nodded, “Come, Dog,”

     DogDay put a hand on Lilly’s shoulder as she followed Mommy out of the room. 

     “You’re my seeing-eye person,” DogDay said to Lilly, who laughed. The sound rang around the Theater, a sound that none of them had heard in way too long. 

     Mommy led them to the main room of the Theater, extending a hand in Huggy’s direction. 

     “Huggy!” Lilly said lightly, the only source of joy in the death that surrounded them. 

     Huggy looked at her from the pile of Wuggies surrounding him. 

     Lilly pushed past the ring, the Wuggies only as tall at her waist. “Where are you hurt?” 

     He explained to her in a series of deep grumbles. 

     Lilly pressed her lips together, “Mm. That doesn’t sound too good,” she said, barely under her breath. 

     Huggy flapped a paw on the floor in DogDay’s direction. 

     “Hello, friend,” DogDay said, reaching down and patting Huggy’s mit. “It’s good to s– know you’re here,” 

     Huggy chittered slightly, letting Lilly take note of his injuries. 

     “The most I can say,” Lilly said, touching the gash at the back of Huggy’s head, “It cast the broken bones and rest,” she looked up at Mommy, “There’s nothing else I can do for him in this state,” 

     Mommy nodded slightly, “I can fetch the first aid kit,” 

     “Thank you,” Lilly said, sliding on her knees to face Huggy straight on again, “How have you been?” 

     He gave her a curt reply. 

     “Have you eaten?” she asked, watching his face. 

     He couldn’t answer her. He had. 

     Lilly bit down on the inside of her cheek, “Right,” 

     “I– have also eaten,” Mommy admitted softly. 

     Lilly looked over her shoulder at her, “Okay,” she breathed, trying to reason with herself, “I shouldn’t be surprised,” 

     Shame washed over Mommy, making her feel warm and the memory of feeling hot tears, pricked the backs of her eyes. It was such a familiar feeling, even if she couldn’t cry anymore. 

     “That’s fine,” Lilly said softly, “We just-” she stopped, “I don’t know.” 

     Mommy swallowed hard, “I’ll go get that kit now,” she turned slightly, preparing to run away from the shame, from the guilt. 

     “Okay,” Lilly didn’t take her eyes off of Huggy, leaving Mommy to go alone.

Chapter 25: The Reunion

Twenty-four

Reunion

     Alli was sitting with Jansen in the secluded office. 

     “There’s no one else?” He asked softly, watching as she tapped her fingers against her lips. 

     She shook her head, “We’ve exhausted all of our options,” she confirmed. 

     He glared up at the ceiling, “So they expect you to do it all alone?” 

     “Of course not!” She said with light sarcasm, “Poppy will be with me,” 

     He rolled his eyes at her. 

     She took a breath and wrapped her arms around her knees. “I’m starting to not think well,” she admitted, “I’m starving,” 

     He nodded against the floor, “Yeah, me too,” 

     She lowered her head to her knees, “I’m so tired of this,” 

     “I know,” he said, his tone gentle, “but you have to keep going,” 

     She lifted her head again, chewing on the inside of her cheek, and stared blankly at the wall across from her. 

     The ceiling creaked above them, plaster dust drifting into the room. 

     Mommy slipped into the room, meeting Alli’s eyes. “PJ just walked into the Theater,” she said breathlessly, “And you won’t believe who’s with him,” 

 

     Alli looked down from the balcony and onto the main floor below. Her heart was thumping in her chest as she looked at PJ and Bunzo sitting with Huggy, Lilly, and DogDay. 

     DogDay and PJ were greeting each other, tails wagging as they recognized the other. Bunzo sat with Huggy, Huggy talking to the bunny in a series of moans and chirps. Bunzo clapped his symbols in response. Lilly was scratching PJ behind the ears, the large toy rolling onto his back and kicking his right set of legs as Lilly grinned at him. He was like a puppy, a largely overgrown puppy. 

     “I’m not sure why they came,” Mommy said softly, standing slightly behind Alli but looking down at the others as well, “but they did,” 

     Poppy walked into the main room, greeting PJ and Bonzo. 

     Alli watched them together, “What do we do now?” 

     “I’m sure Poppy has a plan,” Mommy said, settling in to sit next to Alli. She put her hands on the railing in front of them and rested her chin on them, looking down at the growing crowd. 

     Alli looked at her from the edge of her vision, “That’s what I’m worried about,” 

     Mommy looked at her, “Why?” 

     Alli looked back down at the red headed doll, “She’s so desperate now, I’m more than positive she’s willing to sacrifice me if she needs to,” 

     “And isn’t that what you’re doing with us?” Mommy wasn’t accusatory, but her point was clear. 

     Alli frowned at her, “No, I want to get you all out of here,” 

     Mommy looked back at the floor below them without a word. 

     Alli took a breath, “Do you think it’s safe for me to go down there?” 

     “I would think so,” Mommy said, “But I’ve also learned you can’t trust things down here,” 

     Alli was chewing on the inside of her cheek again, “Splendid,” she said with a verbal roll of her eyes. 

     Mommy shifted, standing and crawling over the railing, “Let me go down and check everyone out first,” she looked back over her shoulder, “Then I’ll come back for you.” 

     Alli watched her, looking for any ounce of insincerity, “Alright.” 

     Mommy crawled to the floor and started towards the group of toys. 

     Alli watched her. 

     The toys below her greeted Mommy, Mommy greeted them. They had been together once upon a time, too long ago. Alli was slowly realizing that even though years had passed, nothing about the minds of the toys had changed. Nothing about the kids trapped within the plush and silicone had been removed to make way for the toys. They were broken and tortured maybe, some of them were shattered, but in the end they were all still children, they were all still friends. 

     Mommy looked up at Alli, drawing the attention of all of the other toys as well. 

     Alli leaned over her elbows on the railing of the balcony, looking down at them as they looked up at her. She was their angel, their savior— their friend. She was going to get them out of here, the same way she was determined to get Janson home, she wanted to make sure that they had a home as well. 

     “Join us!” Poppy called to Alli. 

     Alli started down the stairs of the balcony and towards the ground floor. She crossed the litter and rubble and joined the group. She looked at PJ and Bunzo, more than aware that the giant bunny had been prepared to kill her earlier in her escapade. 

     “We’re going back to PlayCare,” Poppy said, “We’re ready now,” 

     Alli snapped her attention to Poppy, “Are we?” 

     “Aren’t we?” Poppy countered, “We have more help, we can take care of CatNap,” 

     Alli looked at Lilly, who was patting DogDay’s paw which remained on her shoulder. She retrained her attention on Poppy. “And what is your plan, then?” 

     Poppy watched her evenly, “Divert the gas, get down to the crypt.” 

     “That’s it?” Alli raised her eyebrows. 

     “That’s the only thing we can do,” Poppy said. 

     Alli ran her tongue over her teeth, “And have you talked to Ollie?” 

     Poppy was quiet for a moment, “Not in the last three hours-” 

     “Then do that, and see what he has to say,” Alli said with a tone of finality. 

     “Why?” Poppy snapped, “What has to happen for us to finally get this over with?” 

     “You need to make sure everything is ready,” Alli said. 

     “You can plan as much as you want but that doesn’t mean the plan will go perfectly!” Poppy said, “What are you so afraid of-?” 

     “I don’t want to go down to a crypt and leave Jansen up here alone, especially if I don’t know for certain that’ll I’ll be able to come back up for him!” Alli snapped, “I can’t leave him here! I refuse to abandon anyone else!” 

     Poppy searched her face, “We’ll come back up-” 

     “You don’t know that!” Alli said forcefully. 

     “I do!” Poppy countered, “Do you think I would go down with you if I didn’t think we’d be coming back?” 

     “I can’t trust you.” Alli made a point to say every word stiffly. 

     Poppy furrowed her eyebrows, “Then why help us?” 

     “You didn’t give me a choice,” Alli crossed her arms. 

     “You always have a choice. You’re the only one of us who ever did-” 

     “Would you have let me leave?” 

     “What?” Poppy stuttered slightly. 

     “Tell me. Would you have let me leave?” Alli asked again pointedly. 

     “The Prototype-” 

     “No! Not the Prototype!” Alli interrupted, “You! Would you have let me leave?” 

     Poppy was taking shallow breaths, “I don’t-” 

     “You wanted me here, did you not? So tell me honestly that way I know who I’m working with. Would. You. Let. Me. Leave?”  

     “No.” 

     The word was clear, guilty, terrified. Poppy was trembling slightly, watching Alli with terrified eyes. 

     “I was— desperate.” Poppy started softly, “I couldn’t let you go. You were- you felt like the only hope.” 

     “And when it’s over?” Alli asked, “When all this is done, what happens?” 

     Poppy looked down at the floor, hand squeezed together, “You go. You and the man. No questions, no— deception. You can leave.” 

     Alli felt like her throat was tightening, leaving her to choke on the air trying to enter her lungs. 

     “I’m sorry.” Poppy said softly. 

     Alli wasn’t looking at her, staring at an empty spot on the carpet, trying to sort through all of her thoughts. 

     “Allison,” Lilly started softly, watching the woman. 

     Alli flinched, looked up. “I’m going,” she said, voice weak. “I’ll see you in PlayCare.” She turned without another word. 

     “Alli-” Mommy started softly, reaching for her, but then retracting her hand when she couldn’t bring herself to touch the human in front of her. 

     Alli was up the stairs again, leaving them all on the floor to watch her. 

     “Come, Dog,” Lilly said, standing and leaving Huggy’s side. She had splinted his broken bones and wrapped his bleeding head, but there was nothing else she could do now; so she followed Alli. 

     Alli knocked on the door to Jansen’s office, “I’m headed to PlayCare!” she called. 

     “Be safe!” Came his muffled reply. 

     “Allison,” Lilly said, coming down the hall towards her. 

     Alli looked at her then past her as she refused to say a word, brushing past them to head towards the train tracks. 

     Lilly let out an irritated breath, “I know you’re upset-” she started after Alli, dragging DogDay after them both. “But-” she didn’t have many words to say. She’d probably be feeling the same way if she was in Alli’s position. 

     “I know it’s not your fault,” Alli said as they thumped down the main stairs of the Theater, “But please- just go,” she looked over her shoulder as she stopped on the steps. 

     Lilly came up next to her, “I can’t let you go alone,” she said, watching Alli’s eyes. 

     “You should stay and figure out the plan with the others-” Alli started down the stairs again. 

     “They don’t have one,” Lilly said, “You’re right to question them,” 

     Alli shook her head, “I’m not surprised,” 

     “I do know,” Lilly said, “That they’ve been waiting for a hero for a long time,” 

     “They?” Alli snorted, “You mean, just Poppy? All of the others have tried to kill me,” 

     “That’s what they were trained for,” 

     “Not an excuse,” 

     “That’s fair,” Lilly glanced over her shoulder at DogDay, patting his paw again and his tail began to wag. 

     Alli took a breath, stopping at the bottom of the stairs. “You really should go back. They need you,” 

     Lilly shook her head, “You need us more,” 

     Alli’s throat tightened slightly, forcing her to glance away with the emotion of gratitude. 

     “We aren’t going to leave you,” Lilly put a hand to Alli’s arm, “You aren’t alone here anymore.” 

 

     Alli and Lilly watched out the window of the tram as they rolled closed to PlayCare. 

     “It looks better with the lights on,” Lilly said softly. 

     “Does it?” Alli asked in the back of her throat. 

     “I wouldn’t know,” DogDay said, standing with them, but not seeing anything they were talking about. 

     “I still think it’s super creepy,” Ollie said from the phone that Lilly was holding. They had grabbed it from the train station platform on their way up to the tram station, redialing the phone and calling Ollie again as they had entered the space of PlayCare. 

     “At least,” Lilly started, “we’ll be able to see now,” 

     “I’m happy for you,” DogDay said, mild sarcasm coating his tone. 

     “Oh- Dog, I didn’t-” Lilly started, looking over at her friend.

     He chuckled slightly, the sound was nice but a slight be unnerving. 

     “Won’t help much,” Alli interrupted. “We have to go down, under PlayCare, no amount of light will help with that,” 

     “I’ll see what I can do,” Ollie said, “I mean- the power is already rerouted to the mist chamber, so we might have enough to reroute to the main power of the production room.” 

     “That would be helpful,” Lilly agreed, “Thank you, Ollie,” 

     “No problem,” Ollie said, “Let me go do that real quick, I’ll call back,” 

     “Alright,” Lilly agreed. The line went dead, ringing until Lilly hung up the phone. 

     Alli was taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself as the tram came closer to the platform. She forced open the door as it leveled with the station, and the three of them jumped out and onto the concrete. 

     “Ready?” Lilly asked softly, putting a hand on Alli’s shoulder. 

     Alli nodded silently. 

     “We right here,” Lilly assured her, “the entire time,” 

     Alli glanced at her with a tightlipped smile. “Thank you.” 

     Lilly returned to look, “Always.” 

     They started down the stairs and started around the circle that was PlayCare Main. It was silent in the dome, eerily silent. 

     The phone rang and Lilly answered it. “Are you ready?” Ollie asked, “I was able to divert some of the power, hopefully it's enough to be helpful down there.” 

     “We’re ready,” Lilly confirmed, following Alli down the steps and into the maintenance room under the statues. 

     “Good luck,” Ollie said lightly, then the line went dead again. 

     Alli stopped in front of a lift with a chain-fence cage surrounding it. 

     “We can do this,” Lilly breathed, sounding more like she was trying to convince herself than be encouraging to Alli. 

     Alli nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. 

     “This is the beginning of the end.”

Chapter 26: Metal

Twenty-five

Metal

     The lift ride down to the gas production chamber was silent, breath mixing with breath as the air grew stale and cold. It no longer smelled like blood and rot, but mold and dust coated their throats instead. Lilly was trembling under DogDay’s paw and Alli watched her cautiously out of the corner of her eye. She didn’t need the living doll turning back at the last moment. 

     “How long has it been?” Alli asked after the rattling of the lift had grown obnoxious. 

     “Since what?” Lilly asked. 

     “Since you’ve seen him,” Alli elaborated. 

     Both toys were silent, the answer ‘ too long’ stretching in the silence they gave. 

     Alli took a breath. “Ollie?” 

     “Mhm?” Ollie hummed in reply. 

     “How’s the power looking?” Alli looked down at the receiver in her hand, waiting for the reply. 

     “Fine,” Ollie said simply, “You’ll be okay to divert the power and still have some left over to take the lift back up.” 

     “Good.” Alli said in the same tone, looking back up as the lift finally settled on the production floor. 

     They all stepped down from the lift and crossed the room towards the gas production machine. Their shoes left scuffs in the dust on the concrete, the machine flashing lazily with a single red button. 

     Alli tapped the control board, pressing buttons and flicking joysticks. “You sure this is on, Ollie?” 

     “Yep,” Ollie said, “It should be ready to go,” 

     Lilly blinked up at the machine, “It’s… not doing anything,” 

     Alli ran her tongue over her teeth, “What do we need to do to get this working?” 

     “I don’t know,” Ollie snapped, “It should be working!” 

     “Okay, geez, cool it,” Alli muttered, searching the dark and dust covered buttons and keys on the control board. 

     Lilly glanced around the room, “Is there a breaker somewhere?” 

     Alli glanced over her shoulder but ultimately went back to scouring the control panel. 

     “Stay here,” Lilly said softly and DogDay let her walk away. 

     “Allison?” DogDay said softly, “Where are you?” 

     “Here,” Alli extended a hand behind herself as she pressed a series of keys on the control board. 

     DogDay reached for her, waving his paw aimlessly in the air until he connected with her hand. He took it, then moved his paw to her shoulder to stand with her. “What do you see?” 

     Alli took a breath, “A bunch of buttons and keys on a panel in front of a giant machine full of red mist,” she let out the breath. 

     He made a sound in the back of his throat, “I understand,” he said. 

     The mist machine beeped loud and long, the screen in front of them lighting up and Alli looked up at it. “How did-?” she started. 

     “I got it!” Lilly called, trotting back to them, “I found the breaker!” 

     Alli nodded, then turned back to the machine. 

     “Let’s send it out,” Lilly said, taking DogDay’s paw, and he moved to rest his hand on Lilly’s shoulder again. 

     Alli started to hit buttons on the machine, taking the swivel lever and pushing it to the far left. The machine rumbled, the gas filtering out of the far right cylinder and away from the production room. They stepped back to watch as the level of the mist lowered, a collective sigh of relief emanating from them all. 

     “Where is it going?” Alli asked. 

     “Probably into the caves,” Lilly said, “There’s no place else for it to go,” 

     Relief was palpable on Alli’s skin, she could practically taste fresh air and freedom. 

     The machine was only two-thirds of the way empty when there was a crash from somewhere behind them and the lights flickered, the machine jolting and shutting down, everything going dark. 

     “Shit-” Alli started. 

     “Ollie,” Lilly said, “What’s happening?” 

     “I don’t know!” Ollie said quickly, “You’ve lost all power- I can’t reroute it!” 

     “It’s him.” DogDay said evenly. 

     “The Prototype?” Alli asked, turning and looking at him in the dim light of her downward pointed flashlight. 

     “CatNap.” DogDay said, dropping his voice, “I can smell him,” 

     “What does he smell like?” Lilly hissed. 

     “Death.” 

     The emergency lights snapped on, prompting Alli to turn off her flashlight and store it away on her belt. As their eyes adjusted to the lights, red mist started to roll into the room towards them. 

     “He’s here,” Lilly whispered, turning to press her back to DogDay’s watching behind him as Alli took the front. 

     Alli hooked the phone receiver onto her belt and drew her gun from its holster. “This is bad,” 

     “We should have waited for the others,” Lilly said weakly, shifting back and forth on her feet. 

     “I have a second gun,” Alli said softly, “If you want it.” 

     “No I don’t want it,” Lilly snapped in reply, the disgust obvious in her voice. 

     “Sorry,” Alli whispered, watching the smoke as it rolled towards them, then enveloped their feet. 

     “Take a breath,” DogDay put a paw on Alli’s shoulder, “You are the one it will affect.” 

     “Comforting,” Alli said as it crawled up her stomach and around her chest. She took a breath, letting the mist enfold her in sheer red light. 

     “She can’t hold it forever,” Lilly said, “We’ll lose her,” 

     Alli’s lungs were already starting to burn. 

     “Stay calm,” DogDay instructed, “It’s best to not panic.” 

     Alli could hear Lilly let out a softly irritated breath behind them. She couldn’t hold it anymore, letting out the breath in a rush and involuntarily taking a gasp of the mist. It burned in her lung, the smell of vanilla and lavender. She let out the breath again, letting out as much as she could, watching the mist swirl in front of her face at the exhale. 

     “We need to move,” Lilly said, “We need to get back up to PlayCare,” 

     “You can’t,” Ollie said, “No power. You need to start the emergency generator.” 

     “Where is it?” Alli breathed, voice weak. 

     “If you’re facing the machine, it’s past a door to your left,” Ollie explained, “All the way in the wall.” 

     “We can make it,” DogDay said, “Keep your hands on me.” 

     Lilly and Alli both took one of DogDay’s paws, letting him lead them through the mist. 

     “Who’s the seeing-eye dog now?” Lilly muttered, gleaning a chuckle from DogDay in response. 

     They pushed through a door and into a room still full of the red mist, but it wasn’t as thick and they could see through it for the most part. The room was lit by the emergency lights, breakers and batteries scattered around the room. 

     “What is this?” Alli asked, looking around as DogDay finally released them both. 

     “The generator,” Ollie said, “Or at least, the way to start it.” 

     “What do we do?” Alli put her gun back in her holster. 

     The sound of claws scraping concrete echoed around the room and shipping crates. 

     “We’re not alone here,” DogDay said, “He’s followed us,” 

     “That’s lovely,” Lilly rolled her eyes. 

     “There’s a pattern to flipping the breakers,” Ollie explained, “I don’t know why they never made anything easy here,” 

     “It’s just another test,” Alli said, “That’s all this ever was, tests.” 

     “You need to find the pattern,” Ollie continued after a momentary pause, “Flip the breakers, and finally get that gas moving,” 

     “We can do that,” Lilly said, “You and me, Al. We got this,” 

     Alli looked back at Lilly, nodding. 

     “Leave me somewhere out of the way,” DogDay said.

     “No way,” Lilly shook her head, “I won’t leave you helpless like that,” 

     “I’m a burden,” he said, looking down at her, “I will be alright,” 

     “Actually,” Alli said, looking at a wall of wires and levers, “We need him to help us,” 

     Lilly followed Alli’s gaze. “That- we need to do that?” She sounded objectively putout. “This is so stupid! Who would come up with something so dumb?” 

     Alli scratched her neck, pressing her lips together, “I learned not to ask questions,” she said mildly. 

     Lilly let out a deep sigh, dropping her head, “This is the singularly most stupid way to do that,” 

     “You need to get going!” Ollie interrupted, “Stop yapping about how stupid it is and just get it done, we don’t have all day!” 

     “Here,” Lilly dragged DogDay towards the wall of wires and levers, “These two are yours,” she said, placing his paws on both levers, “Whenever we say, just… pull.” 

     He nodded once, “I can do that.” 

     Lilly looked back at Alli, “Ready?” 

     “We need to run batteries back and forth to the generator,” Alli said, pointing from the wall behind them to the wall DogDay was standing in front of. “Charge here and input there.” 

     Lilly let out a tired breath, “Right,” she took a deep breath and put her hands on her hips, “I really hope Poppy knows what she's doing with this.”

     Alli pushed a battery into its charging slot, “DogDay!” She called over her shoulder, “Left!” 

     He pushed up the left-hand lever, the charging port in front of Alli lighting up green. 

     “Good!” 

     The sound of thundering paws and claws cutting the ground echoed around them as Lilly pushed a second battery into the charger. 

     “Right!” She called as she and Alli both whirled around to track the noise. 

     “He's messing with us,” Alli said, looking at Lilly’s back, “Right?” 

     Lilly swallowed hard and shook her head; she didn’t know. 

     Alli’s charging port beeped and she pulled the battery out of the charger–it felt heavier than when she had put it in–and lugged it across the room to the generator. She plugged in into one of the battery ports on the left side of the machine. Turning back, she picked up another battery from the floor and pushed it into the charger. “Left!” 

     DogDay pulled the lever again. 

     The port lit up. 

     “Ah!” Lilly yelped, looking down a corridor in the shipping containers. 

     Alli came over her shoulder, looking into the mist at the looming shadow of a boney CatNap, with red glowing eyes watching them from the alley beyond. She fumbled around with her belt and pulled out a flare, snapping the top and stepping around Lilly to chuck the light into the corridor. CatNap backed away, disappearing back into the opacity of the mist. 

     “Take it,” Alli said as the port beeped at her shoulder, pulling the battery from the charger and shoving it into Lilly’s arms. “Move as fast as possible.” 

     Lilly ran the battery across the room as Alli plugged another one into the charger, and pulled the full battery from the other side. She ran it across to the generator as Lilly plugged in another, then stopped to wait a few seconds for the battery on her side to fully charge before pulling it and running it across the room. They called back and forth to DogDay with each battery they put into the charger. Alli plugged an empty battery into the open slot and turned to go to her side of the charger, choking on her yelp of surprise at the shadow of CatNap watching her from the alley in front of her. 

     Alli pulled another flare and threw it at the shadow, revealing nothing but an empty passageway. 

     “Illusions,” Lilly said, “He wasn’t there, even before you threw the flare.” 

     Alli turned to look at her, “Then you have to keep a lookout, because I won’t know what’s real anymore.”

     Lilly nodded in agreement, “I will.” 

     They continued to work, swarming back and forth, plugging batteries in and taking them out as the generator slowly sucked the power from each battery. 

     “It’s not going to be enough,” Lilly said after more than a few agonizing moments of work. 

     “Or it’ll take too long,” Alli agreed, taking deep breaths as she tried to gain back her stamina, “We need to change tactics. 

     “There might be a cable behind the charger,” Ollie said, “You can plug it straight into the generator.” 

     “That would have been lovely to know ten minutes ago!” Alli snapped. 

     “It wasn’t a guarantee!” Ollie snapped back, “I had to do some research!” 

     Alli went around to the back of the charger, looking at the gap between it and the wall, looking for the plug. “What does it look like?” 

     “I don’t know, this book doesn’t necessarily have pictures,” Ollie said irritably, “Look for something– it’s on the right side, in an inlay in the back near the bottom… uhm… about the size of a plate.” 

     “What sized plate?” Alli asked as she crossed around the machine and settled into the gap on the right side. 

     “What do you mean what size?” Ollie barked. 

     “Is it a dinner plate, cake plate, toast plate, tea plate, coaster?” Alli listed quickly, “Give me something, Ol!” 

     “I don’t know! How big is 40.67 centimeters?!”

     “I don’t know!” Alli retorted, “I– found it,” she finished calmly, pulling the plug from the machine and starting across the room, “What do I plug it into?” 

     “There should be an import plug on the right side of the generator,” Ollie said, “I’m going to say that it’s also 40.67 centimeters, in case you were wondering.” 

     “I wasn’t actually, thank you,” Alli shoved the plug into the outlet of the generator and stepped back, brushing her hands off. 

     “It’s working!” Ollie said excitedly, “Good job.” 

     “Alli look out!” Lilly shrieked, finger pointed over Alli’s head, 

     Alli, without looking up, jumped and ducked out of the way of whatever was over her head. She turned as she stumbled into the open space of the room, looking for what she assumed was CatNap, but instead it was a wiry hand made of sharp metal bones. 

     “What the-” 

     “The Prototype,” Lilly was trembling, dragging DogDay away from the generator controls. 

     Alli’s heart hammered as the words sank in. She looked back at the hand, needle-thin fingers crawling down the side of the generator and stopping right above the plug. The gun was in her hand and raised at the Prototype’s arm before she had a chance to react to her reflexes. Bullets bounced around the metal walls, the sharp sound of the release shocking her as much as the push back from the gun itself. The sound echoed around the space, and the Prototype retracted from the room and back into the ceiling as quickly as possible, disappearing in a flash of silver and wires. She could feel how shallow her own breaths were as she lowered the gun, trembling slightly as she toyed with putting it away or leaving it available in case of another attack. 

     DogDay lowered his hands from his ears, and Lilly’s face softened as she stopped cringing at the sound. 

     Alli took a breath, and finally put the gun away. “That’s-” she started but her throat constricted on the words. 

     “That’s him,” Lilly confirmed. 

     Alli looked from Lilly to the hole in the ceiling, then back at Lilly. “What-?” But she still couldn’t find any words. 

     “I didn’t-” Lilly started, but she couldn’t finish before the sound of screaming interrupted them. 

     They all turned to look at the plug, and CatNap writhing next to it. He pulled his paws away from the plug, the electricity no longer flowing through him, and he rolled across the cement floor. 

     Alli’s hand was on her gun again but she didn’t draw it, watching as a cripled and wriggling CatNap scooted across the floor towards them. 

     They all moved back, their backs pressed to the charger as CatNap wailed and writhed on the floor in front of them. Eventually, he stopped moving, the gas dissipating as the now small figure of CatNap lay on the floor. 

     “Is he dead?” Alli whispered. 

     “I- I don’t know,” Lilly whispered back, DogDay in between them. 

     They waited, expecting to see CatNap move, but he didn’t. 

     “What if he doesn’t move?” Alli hissed. 

     Lilly swallowed, “Oh well?” She offered helplessly. 

     CatNap stirred and they all jumped, except for DogDay, who didn’t know what was happening besides for the girl’s commentary. CatNap rolled over, reaching for them, groaning in the back of his throat. 

     “Heeelppp,” He begged, “It huuurtsss,”  

     Alli’s first instinct was to step forward, but DogDay had her firm by the upper arm. 

     “I wouldn’t,” he warned. 

     Alli looked from DogDay to CatNap; the reminder of the horror and the thing halfway responsible for it. “I can’t just leave him…” she started weakly, the urge to help stronger than her aversion to horror. 

     “Pleeeaaassseee!” CatNap breathed, desperate. 

     Dust fell down from the ceiling and Alli looked up, watching as the silver-needled hand of the Prototype reached down for CatNap. 

     Her breath caught, “I can’t,” she pulled away from DogDay, “I won’t let this happen.” 

     “Alli-!” Lilly started, voice terrified. 

     Alli was already at CatNap, glancing up at the hand of the Prototype; the claw machine of death. She grabbed CatNap by the arm, dragging him away from the hole in the ceiling. 

     CatNap grabbed Alli by both arms, “Heeelppp,”  

     “I’m trying!” She snapped, trying to drag the toy away. 

     He forced himself shakily to his feet, leaning on Alli heavily, and she started in the direction of the door to the production room. 

     “Duck!” Lilly called, forcing Alli to shove CatNap harshly to the side as she jumped away as well. 

     The Prototype’s metal finger slammed into the concrete, bending harshly, then retracting. He struck again, pinning Alli to the floor threw her back as he dragged her across the floor. 

     “No!” Lilly cried, running forwards and grabbing Alli as the Prototype tried to lift Alli off of the floor and pull her away and into the darkness. 

     Alli fell to the floor, laying on her back as the Prototype retreated, blurry eyes watching the metal disappear into the shadows. 

     “Oh no- oh god,” Lilly breathed, her hands pressed into Alli’s side. 

     Alli didn’t feel the hole the Prototype had pierced through her, and she tried to sit up to look at it. 

     “Don’t move,” Lilly said, as Alli tried to move her hands. 

     Alli sat back again, looking at where DogDay was holding CatNap against the generator. 

     “Sssheee saved meee,” CatNap breathed, looking so much less like a monster now. 

     Alli reached for her wound again, “You have to stuff it,” she said, even if she didn’t feel it, “Find something to stuff it with,” 

     Lilly was trembling and pulled away from Alli, whipping her hands on her skirt, but they were already clean. 

     Alli touched the wound finally, trying to breath, trying to feel something, but there was nothing. She sat up, looking down, touching the entrance wound in her back, but there was no blood. Wires and twigs of metal sticking out past the layers of her kevlar vest, shirt, and jacket. “What is this?” She asked softly, not understanding, “What did he put in me?” 

     Lilly, who would be more pale than she currently was if she could be, looked at Alli with wide and horrified eyes. “He didn’t-” she stated softly. 

     “Then-” Alli looked down again, “It’s the gas- I’m bleeding out. It’s just my fear- this is my fears…” she felt herself starting to hyperventilate, “Please- Lilly, help me!” 

     “Lilly,” DogDay said, “Help her.” 

     “Help- what?” Lilly said, still in more shock than Alli was, “She- there’s nothing for me to do-” 

     “What is this!?” Alli belted, “What is in me? Why aren’t I bleeding?!” 

     “I don’t know!” Lilly retorted, “But- whatever you are…” she said more carefully, “You aren’t human.”

Notes:

(Always willing to retcon cyborg Allison 👀)

Chapter 27: Humanness

Twenty-six

Humanness

     Alli couldn’t breathe, watching her hands as she tried to keep down the feeling of panicked nausea that was pushing at the back of her throat. It still didn’t hurt, despite Lilly poking around the gaping hole in Alli’s back. She shone Alli’s flashlight into the wound, taking in the wires and metal bones. Alli was in a state of denial as Lilly continued to take in the situation in front of her, still unable to accept the fact that she had no blood and her bones were not her own. 

     “We need to go,” DogDay said softly, after minutes had passed, “Before he returns.” 

     Alli looked up at him, not understanding what he was saying past the ringing in her ears. 

     “Come on,” Lilly said, taking Alli’s arm and trying to force her to stand. 

     Alli swallowed, remaining on the floor, just staring at them blankly. 

     “Alli,” Lilly leaned down into Alli’s face, “we need to go.” 

     “Where?” She heard her own voice. 

     “Back to the others,” Lilly said softly. 

     Alli looked at DogDay then back at Lilly, “Why?” 

     “We need to keep going,” Lilly said, “It’s almost over.” 

     Alli blinked, looking down. Acceptance was slowly starting to settle over her, like a thick blanket that was suffocating her. Maybe she had always known that she wasn’t human, when she had found out that they fabricated her escape to the surface, she should have known that they wouldn’t have let her leave without consequences. She swallowed hard, looking back up at Lilly, “Can we go?” 

     Lilly nodded, watching Alli closely. “Let’s go.” She helped Alli stand. 

     Alli felt herself regressing farther into the back of her mind, trying to figure out if she ever had a moment of doubt in herself. She couldn’t remember if they had ever talked about her in a certain way, if she had lapses in her memory from her time in the PlayCare, if they had ever made it even slightly obvious that they had done this to her. 

     “Wheeere are the othersss?” CatNap asked, watching them as DogDay patted Alli on the shoulder lightly. 

     “No,” Alli said quickly, looking up at the toy, “You stay here.” 

     Lilly glanced at CatNap then Alli, “What do we do with him?” 

     Alli looked at her, taking a deep breath and clearing her head as she tried to focus on the present. “I don’t know.” She glanced CatNap up and down, “What happened to the others?” 

     CatNap’s glowing eyes bore into hers, “Othersss?”  

     “The other Smiling Critters, what happened to them?” Alli asked more sternly, turning to face the toy. 

     CatNap kept her gaze, turning his head from side to side shaking it at her, all while his eyes never broke contact with hers. “Not heeereee,”  

     “I know that,” Alli said, “Did you kill them?” 

     “No.”

     “Then where are they?” 

     “I don’t knooowww.”

     Alli ran her tongue over her teeth in irritation, “This is pointless.” She turned back to Lilly and DogDay, “We’ll leave him in PlayCare while we deal with the others. We don’t have time for this,” 

     “We’re not taking him with us.” Lilly confirmed. 

     “We can’t.” DogDay said, not seeing Alli nod her head. 

     “Right,” Lilly said simply. 

     Alli looked back at CatNap over her shoulder, “You get to live. But you stay in PlayCare,” 

     CatNap let out a breath that verged on a hiss. 

     “Let’s move,” Alli said. 

     “Alli,” Ollie’s voice came over the phone, “Start the machine and get back to Poppy.” 

     “We’re moving.” Alli assured him. 

     They started the machine again, pumping the gas out of the production room and into the ether beyond. 

     “Uhm…” Ollie started, “Alli?” 

     “Yeah?” Alli asked as the lift ascended towards PlayCare again. 

     “What… what did Lilly mean by, you’re not human?” He asked softly, voice full of delicate sympathy. 

     Alli felt the breath leave her lungs, vision going blurry as she tried to push past the weight of realization crushing down on her. 

     Lilly grabbed the phone from Alli’s belt, “Listen- Ollie, we aren’t really going to talk about that right now.” 

     “Oh- oh my god, you meant it,” Ollie whispered, “She- Alli… Allison?” 

     Alli swallowed hard, tears stinging her eyes. “Lillith. How can I cry, but not bleed?” 

     Lilly looked up at her, breath catching, watching the streaks on Alli’s cheeks shine in the dim light of the liftwell. 

     Alli looked down at her, “What am I?” 

     Lilly blinked hard, “Y-you’re Alli. You’re…” she trailed off. 

     “I’m a monster.” Alli said weakly.

     “Am I a monster?” Lilly watched her carefully, “Are you any different now than what we are?” 

     Alli looked away from her, “You’re different,” 

     “How?” Lilly frowned at her. 

     “You’re…” Alli glanced at the floor, “Better.” 

     Silence followed them the rest of the way up the lift, then out of it. Into the control room and up the stairs, and into PlayCare. 

     “Stay here,” she said to CatNap, “Go into the house,” 

     CatNap watched her, “And wheeere will you gooo?”

     “You don’t get to know that,” Alli said evenly, waving for Lilly to follow her towards the tram station, “Just be grateful that I let you live,” 

     “I do not haaave to be grateful for anythiiinggg,” CatNap said after her and she turned to face him again. 

     “Then I should have let you die? Is that what you wanted?” Alli countered, putting her hands on her hips, “Because I can arrange to send you back downstairs in pieces.” 

     He blinked at her slowly, eyelights disappearing then reappearing. “No.”  

     “Then have some respect, and take the hand you’ve dealt yourself.” Alli dropped her hands, “You’ve broken the trust of everyone here, we don’t owe you anything, so go ahead and go inside the house.” 

     His eyelights narrowed into slits, then he turned without a word and started silently towards the house. 

     “Let’s go.” Alli said without missing a beat, turning on her heel and walking towards the trolly station. 

     “Is it safe to leave him here alone?” Lilly asked softly. 

     “Better than bringing him with us,” Alli said, itching to get back to the others and take a moment to unwind and finally think about everything. 

     “Sure.” Lilly agreed. 

     The tram ride was silent, as was the walk back to the Theater. They didn’t speak to each other, there was nothing to be said. What could someone say to a person who just discovered they’re not human? Nothing. There’s nothing anyone could say to that. 

     They got into the Theater and the first one to greet them was Mommy. 

     “How did it go?” 

     Lilly, who was still holding the phone, glanced at Alli warily. “Can you-?” She started to reply to Mommy but stopped when Alli walked away from them silently, starting up the stairs to the balcony, then across it and down a dark hallway. 

     Alli pushed past the door of Jansen’s room, not bothering to climb through the ceiling and waste more time than was necessary. 

     Jansen opened his eyes drearily, blinking her into focus. “What’s happened?” 

     “We have the gas diverted,” she said, pulling off her coat and dropping it on the floor. 

     He watched her sink to the floor next to him, her hands pressed so hard into the rug her knuckles were turning white. “What happened?” He asked again. 

     She tried to take a breath, dropping her head so her chin was pressed into her chest, “I–” her voice cracked. 

     He reached up, pushing at her shirt slightly. “What is this?” 

     She swallowed, sitting back on her ankles, looking down at him with more tears running down her cheeks, “It’s me.” 

     He looked back down at the wires poking out of her shirt, “What is? This?” 

     She pulled the hem of her shirt out from her pants, exposing the hole in her stomach. “I don’t know what I am.” She said, voice pitched in anguish. 

     He put a finger to the wound, “This- you’re–” he frowned. 

     “I’m not human,” she said weakly. 

     “Can you feel it?” His eyes were concerned as they met hers, “Are you in pain?” 

     She shook her head, sniffing hard. 

     “But… you’re crying,” 

     “I know!” She said sharply, “What am I? Why did they do this– I don’t know when they did this?” 

     “You don’t have any scars-” 

     She let out a strangled sob, bending over her knees and burying her face in her arms. 

     He took her by the shoulder, squeezing it steadily as he waited for her to take a breath. “Al-” 

     “What am I?” She sat up again, looking down at him, “How am I—? I don’t understand,” 

     “You’re Allison,” he said simply. “Nothing more, nothing less.” 

     “And what is Allison?” She breathed. 

     “A cop. A really good fucking cop. You don’t ever give up, on nothing and no one, and I’m living proof of that. You are exactly who you alway have been, and nothing that happened here– nothing that they did– will ever change that.” He was watching her so intensely as he said it, forcing her to believe it with his eyes. “You bleed. You cry. You fear. I don’t know what this is, I’m just as lost here as you are, but this-” his pointed to her wound, “-doesn’t change anything about you.” 

     She wiped her face with the backs of her hands, trying to take a steady breath. “I’m not human-” 

     “You are. You are, Al!” He said forcefully, “You’re as human as you were before. Being human doesn’t constitute what your bones are made of. You have a soul, that’s where your humanness comes from.” He took her wrist and pressed her hand to her chest, “You have heart.” 

     She gripped her shirt hard, feeling the anxious pound in her chest. She took a breath, held it, then let it out slowly. “My heart hurts,” she said weakly, “What if it’s fake?” 

     “Nothing about the way you feel it is fake,” he assured her, “And most of you has to be organic, because how else would you cry?” 

     “What if that’s fake?” She whispered. 

     He pressed his lips together, dropping his hand from her wrist, “Then they put in a lot of effort for no reason,” he said simply, “None of the other’s can cry, right? They can’t breathe–don’t have organic functions. Why would they put so much effort into you?”

     She tried to listen to that, tried to see his logic, but if nothing about the factory had made sense before she doubted it would make sense now. “Why wouldn’t they? Nothing here makes any fucking sense-” 

     “But we’re talking about you,” he said, lifting a hand to stop her, “You.”  

     “And I-” she started slowly, “I am made of metal. I don’t have organs,” 

     “You do, do you not? Don’t you shit?” 

     She took a short breath, realizing she did, usually quite often. “But that doesn’t mean-” 

     “It does!” He prompted, “You’re organic, you’re human. You’re messy, and wild, and full of emotion. You make friends, you’re warm, you care way too much. You are exactly who you always have been, always who you were meant to be. You were shaped by this place, but it did not create you. And it definitely won’t break you, didn’t before, and I sure as hell know it won’t this time either. You’re too strong for that.” 

     She felt sick, confliction swirling in her chest. 

     “You are Allison Payne, the single best detective in the district. You love sappy romance novels, sitting in corner booths in cafe’s, watching nature documentaries, and you listen to way too much rock ‘n’ roll music; but that’s what makes you you. You are Alli, always and forever have been and always and forever will be.”

     “Thanks,” she said softly. 

     He gave her a comforting tight lipped smile. “I got you kid, always here to keep you grounded,” 

     She tried to smile back, but just burst into tears again, pressing a hand to her face. 

     “Come on now,” he shook her lightly by the shoulder, “You’re almost done, right? We’re almost out of here,” 

     She took a congested breath, and nodded. 

     “You’ve got this. You’re going to get out of here again,” he assured her. 

     She took slow, tired breaths. “I’m tired.” 

     “I know, kid. But you have to keep going,” 

     She shook her head, “I can’t,” her voice was so weak, so much weaker than she intended it to be. 

     He searched her face, “Then rest. Take a break. They can wait,” 

     She wiped her face with the backs of her hands again, sitting back and taking a moment to breathe. 

     The ceiling creaked, and Mommy slipped into the room. “Alli?” She asked softly. 

     Alli rolled her shoulders back. 

     “Can I get you anything?” Mommy asked softly. 

     She blinked slowly, “Do you have water?” 

     Mommy watched her for a moment, “I can try and find some,” 

     “Thanks,” she said simply, grabbing her jacket and rolling it up, before flopping onto her side and tucking it under her head. 

     Mommy nodded, then disappeared back into the ceiling. 

     Alli was half asleep by the time she came back, letting Mommy shake her awake as she presented a bottle of water to Alli. She took it gratefully, opening it and drinking almost half of it before holding it out to Jansen. 

     “Thank god,” he breathed, more than obviously relieved to have hydration. 

     “Alli,” Mommy said softly, “Can we talk about it?” 

     “I’m tired.” Alli said simply, settling back in to take her nap. 

     “I’ll make sure to send her out to you,” Jansen said to Mommy, “You can ask her anything then, but I don’t think she’s ready yet.” 

     Mommy looked at Alli’s sleeping form sympathetically, “Alright. Thank you, Caleb.” 

     “No problem, Marie.”

Chapter 28: Reconcile

Twenty-seven

Reconcile

     “I don’t want them to know.” She said softly, looking up at Lilly, a water bottle held between her hands as her elbows rested on her knees. 

     Lilly took what looked like a breath, trying to reason with the logic behind such an idea, but there wasn’t any. “Alright,” she said evenly, patting DogDay’s paw on his shoulder to get his attention. “We won’t tell.” 

     Alli looked down at the floor again, “I don’t know what this changes-” 

     “It doesn’t change anything,” Lilly cut her off. 

     Alli kept going after a momentary pause, ignoring the interruption. “We do have one thing we need to do,” she went on, “We need to get back upstairs.” 

     Lilly blinked at her, “What do you mean?” 

     “I need to get Jansen back upstairs,” Alli reiterated. 

     Lilly glanced from Alli to a sleeping Jansen then back again, “The Prototype-” 

     “Can’t kill me,” Alli interrupted, “I can distract him-” 

     “No,” Lilly shook her head, “Poppy won’t let you.” 

     “Poppy doesn’t get a choice any more,” Alli said, a tone of finality in the words. “I’ve put up with too much shit to be told what I can and cannot do anymore.” 

     “And what if you do die?” DogDay queried, “You bleed, angel, which means you can die.” 

     Alli glanced stared at her hands, the blue veins beneath her skin, the metal bones hiding in the pallor of her flesh. “I’m willing to take that chance.” She looked up at them both again, “I have nothing left to lose but him,” she looked at Jansen then turned to stare sternly into Lilly’s eyes, “I will not lose anyone else.” 

     Lilly nodded once in understanding, more than familiar by now with the fact that once Alli got an idea in her head no one was going to change it. No one but Jansen. Maybe he would be able talk her out of this stupid suicide mission. 

     “We get him up to the surface,” Alli continued, “I call an ambulance, it comes, it takes him away, I come back down and we finish the job.” 

     “You talk as if it is simple,” DogDay said. 

     “Isn’t it?” Alli questioned, “Nothing else has been difficult.” 

     “This is different,” DogDay argued, “The Prototype has control of the entire factory outside of this area. He won’t make it easy for you,” 

     “Then he should have tried harder to kill me,” Alli said pointedly, “I don’t care what happens anymore as long as I get Caleb out of here.” 

     “That’s the issue,” the voice was clipped, and the blue eyes behind it were angry, “You need to start caring.” 

     Alli stared at Poppy, “Why? What good has it done for me?” 

     “We need you to care!” Poppy interjected. 

     “Keep your voice down.” Lilly chastised her sister, taking a wary glance at Jansen before looking back at Alli. 

     “Why do I care about you?” Alli tried again, approaching the root of her aversion to helping them. “What have you done for me? What sort of sin have I committed that I need to atone for? What’s the point?” 

     “You can’t leave- we can’t leave if you don’t help us kill him-” 

     “And? So what?” Alli gave a careless shrug, “It’s not like I’ll be able to leave this place anyway. Not with what they’ve done to me,” 

     Poppy scoffed lightly, “You have it so hard,” she rolled her eyes. 

     Alli ran her tongue over her teeth in annoyance, “And you do?” 

     Silence settled over the room like a wet blanket. Hurt flashed across Lilly’s face, causing guilt to flare up harshly in Alli’s stomach. Poppy pressed her lips together, trying to control her breathing, obviously moment’s away from completely losing it ant Alli all together. 

     “We all-” DogDay started, “-have suffered at the hands of the evil here. None of us were safe. Some of us were lucky, sure, if that’s what you want to call it. But no one gets to negate the fact that we all lost ourselves here. None of us had control, none of us had a choice. You, Allison, at least have a life outside of this factory. You at least get to leave. We don’t get that, and we never will. Say what you want about your suffering–I will support you through your struggles–but that doesn’t delete what happened to us, and that doesn’t make my suffering less traumatic than yours. So please, talk to us, but at least remember what our human minds went through when you do.” 

     Alli felt sick to her stomach. Shame creeping up her neck and guilt bristled over her skin in a cold sweat. “I’m sorry.” 

     “I know,” he said softly. “I would suggest going and talking to Mommy. She, out of all of us, will be of most help to you.” 

     Alli couldn’t look at them, “Thanks.” 

     “We need to go,” DogDay said, “Come, Lillith, let’s go check up on Huggy.” 

     “Alright,” Lilly agreed, leaving the room rather quickly, leaving Alli and Poppy alone. 

     “Is that how you’ve felt?” Poppy asked softly, no hint of hostility behind her words. 

     Alli, ashamed, continued to look at the floor between her feet, “I guess so,” 

     Poppy clasped her hands together, “I know it’s been hard for you,” she said gently, “I can’t imagine what you’ve gone through.” She took a breath, looking up at the ceiling, “I’ve always been resentful of the fact that I don’t really remember life before this, but I think I’ve slowly started to realize how much of a blessing it is.” She looked down at Alli again, meeting her eyes, “You’re haunted. I’ve known it. I can see it in the way you breathe, the bags under your eyes, how pale you’ve become. I guess I’ve been… selfish, thinking that you would be able to forget it all in the way that I was forced to. That’s not fair of me.” 

     Alli blinked at her, “Sorry.” 

     “Don’t apologize,” Poppy shook her head, red pigtails swishing, “There’s nothing for you to be sorry for. You’re just as broken as the red of us. Just as human.” 

     “You believe you’re human?” Alli asked under her breath. 

     “I feel it.” Poppy said, “It’s something you’ll know when you’re not it.” 

     Alli bit down to chew on the inside of her cheek. 

     “All of us are human, inside these shells,” Poppy explained, “We all bleed, we can all die. We have blood and bones, heart and brain, all that’s missing is what we used to be.” 

     “Did they ever say why?” Alli asked, “Why they did it?” 

     Poppy shook her head, “When they did the answer was so different from person to person that there never truly was an answer. They didn’t say much in front of me.” 

     “Who?” 

     “The scientists,” 

     Alli watched her, “And what did Elliot Ludwig do?” 

     Poppy raised her eyebrows at her, “Nothing. I don’t think he ever did much of anything.” 

     Alli frowned slightly, looking down at her hands again as she thought. “I swear I remember…” she trailed off, “But memories can muddle,” 

     Poppy nodded, “I’m sure they can.” 

     Alli looked up again, “Is it okay if I go talk to Ma-Mommy?” 

     “Yeah,” Poppy said, “Whatever you want.” 

     Alli got up, brushing off her clothes. “Listen- I am sorry, for what I said.” 

     “Don’t worry about it,” Poppy said dismissively as they walked towards the door together. 

     The door had been cleared of all the rubble; all of the toys now knowing who Jansen was and were comfortable with him being there. He was no longer in danger of being eaten alive by Boxy Boo. 

     Alli opened the door for Poppy, then closed it behind them as they walked down the hall. “Do you know what sort of metal they used?” 

     “What?” Poppy raised her eyebrows at her. 

     “In me,” Alli said, “Do you have any idea?” 

     “Are you magnetic?” Poppy asked. 

     “Mm-no,” Alli said, “At least, I haven’t been.” 

     “Then I would say they probably used something not magnetic.” Poppy nodded with the words. 

     “Oh ha ha,” Alli rolled her eyes, “That’s helpful.” 

     Poppy suppressed a smile, watching her feet as they descended the stairs towards the main room of the Theater. 

     Lilly and Mommy looked up at them as they approached. 

     “Where’s PJ?” Poppy asked. 

     “With Kissy,” Lilly said, “They went off with Boxy Boo and the Wuggies.” 

     “May I talk to you?” Alli asked, looking at Mommy. 

     Mommy nodded, uncurling herself from her spot in front of Huggy and following Alli away from the group. 

     “I- first of all- uhm, okay,” Alli stammered, “I–” 

     Mommy watched her patiently, before finally interrupting, “Are you alright?” 

     Alli finally looked at her, “How do you mean?” 

     Mommy shrank down to size, her limbs knotting around themselves until she was the same proportions as Alli. “You’re hurt,” 

     Alli instinctively put a hand to her said, “It doesn’t hurt,” 

     “Not that,” Mommy said, sounding so much more like Marie than she had before. “You’re hurt.” 

     Alli felt the tears coming again, aggravated with her inability to keep face. “I’m alright,” 

     Mommy was shaking her head as she watched her, “No you’re not. And that’s okay,” 

     Alli swallowed hard, a last ditch attempt to keep back the tears, but it didn’t work. “I’m scared.” 

     Marie gave her a sympathetic smile, “Me too.” 

     Alli watched her through watery eyes. “Of what?” 

     “Losing you again,” she breathed, “You don’t know how hard I cheered when I heard that you had gotten out that night. I was too relieved to be upset– and after it all, I was more terrified of finding out you had died than of what they had planned for me.” 

     Alli stuffed her hands into her pockets, “I wanted you with me,” 

     “I know why you had to go,” Marie assured her, “They weren’t going to let you stay,” 

     “I tried so hard to come back,” Alli insisted, “But every time I got to the gate-” her voice broke. 

     “I never wanted you to come back,” Marie whispered, “I never wanted you to see me like this,” 

     Alli’s chin trembled, “Why?” 

     “Why would I want you to see me as a monster?” 

     “You’re not a monster,” the words were so soft, so shallow in her mouth. 

     Marie looked down at the floor, “What other word would you use to describe this then?” 

     Alli searched for something, lips moving to find a word, but there simply wasn’t one. 

     Marie looked up at her again with an understanding smile. “It’s alright. I’ve come to terms with it.” 

     “It’s not alright,” Alli protested. 

     “I can’t go back to how I was,” Marie countered, “So I’ve just learned to make the best of it.” 

     Alli took a breath, “I’m sorry I made you come here,” 

     Marie’s face fell, “Sissy, you never made me do anything I didn’t want to. And to know you turned out okay, I would make the same choices I did over and over again. Everything I did was for you, and nothing would have made me do otherwise,” 

     Alli burst into tears again, if not at the confession and relief that came with it, then at the use of the nickname that she had always yearned to hear again. “I’ve missed you every day,” she cried, body begging to hug her sister. 

     “And I’ve rejoiced those same days knowing that you got to live that life we dreamed of,” Marie said, her voice also thick with tears even if she couldn’t cry. 

     “My dreams had you in them.” Alli sobbed, “It wasn’t a life I wanted without you,” 

     Marie reached for her, enveloping her in a hug that Alli had only hoped for. “I’m sorry,” 

     Alli hugged her back hard, “You were my whole world.” 

     “And you were my entire purpose.”

Chapter 29: The Up and Down

Twenty-eight

The Up and Down

     “I know what you’ve said,” she said while looking at Poppy, “I know he doesn’t want us to leave, but I have to get Jansen out of here.” 

     Poppy looked at Mommy, “It’s up to you,” 

     “Me?” Marie asked, looking at Alli, “That’s what you want?” 

     “That’s all I can do,” Alli nodded, “I have to get him out before I can focus on anything else,” 

     Marie glanced at Poppy then looked at the floor, “I…” 

     They waited, watching her as she thought, struggling with the thoughts swirling in her head. 

     “Okay,” Marie said finally, softly. “We’ll take him up,” 

     Alli nodded, relieved, finally headed in the right direction. “The moment we get him out of here, the moment we can finally focus on killing the Prototype.” 

     “Fine,” Poppy said, “But we can’t guarantee you’ll make it out the door,” 

     “I know,” Alli said, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice. “Thank you,” 

     “We’ll ask PJ to help,” Marie said, “If we can get your friend onto his back he can ride all the way to the top, hopefully causing him as little pain as possible.” 

     Poppy eyed Mommy, “And if PJ doesn’t want to help?” 

     Marie took a breath, “Then I’ll just have to carry him.” 

     “We’ll help too,” Lilly said, coming up to the group of three. “Huggy’s doing okay, there’s nothing left to do here anyway,” she shrugged, DogDay’s paw shifting on her shoulder, “We’re ready to be done with this.”

     Alli looked at her, feeling the urge to apologize for her earlier outburst, but too proud to do it in front of the others. “Thank you.” 

     Lilly nodded slightly, “I’ll go… check on Jansen,” 

     “Alright,” Alli agreed, watching her go for a moment, before turning back to Marie and Poppy. “How long will it take to get to the top?” 

     “The same way you came?” Marie asked, lifting her eyebrows and letting out a breath, “Too long, probably. He’ll know what we’re trying to do,” 

     Alli chewed on the inside of her cheek, “Damn.” 

     “What if…” Poppy trailed off, “No, sorry, that won’t work.” 

     “What?” Alli urged, “What is it?” 

     Poppy shifted her gaze between Alli and Mommy, “What if you use CatNap?” 

     Alli and Marie shared a look. 

     “How?” Alli asked. 

     “Go down and tell him his only worth to use is as collateral.” Poppy said evenly, “He’s the distraction,”

     Alli make an uncomfortable sound in the back of her throat, “I don’t know how I feel about that,” 

     “That’s your best bet, isn’t it?” Poppy pressed. 

     Alli took a breath, feeling a strain behind her eyes. “I don’t know-” 

     “What if-” Marie interrupted, “-you go down, Sissy, and you get Cat to show you the tunnels. Make a mess, draw the attention of The Prototype, while PJ, Lilly, Dog, and myself take Jansen up to the top.” 

     Alli started to nod slowly, “I can do that,” she agreed, “I can definitely do that.” 

     “And me?” Poppy asked, her voice sharp, “What am I doing?” 

     “You stay,” Marie said, “He wants you too, we can’t let that happen.” 

     “Then I should go with Alli,” Poppy said, “I’m safest with her,” 

     Marie eyed Alli. 

     “Fine,” Alli’s voice was clipped. “She can come with me,” 

     Marie nodded, “That’s fine,” 

     Poppy clicked her tongue, “Let’s get this started, I’m sick of hiding from that freak.” 

     “Let’s roll,” Alli said from the back of her throat. 

     “Be safe.” Marie said, watching Alli with intense eyes. 

     Alli met her gaze, held it, “You too.” 

     Poppy took Alli’s hand as she lowered it to her, letting Alli lift her onto her shoulder. 

     They passed the stairs on their way towards the station, Jansen coming down on PJ’s back. DogDay sitting with him, holding him on the wriggling beast. 

     “Allison!” He called to her, unable to lift his head to look for her, “Al?” 

     “I’m here!” She called back as PJ continued to slowly take the stairs down towards them. 

     “You’re coming, right?” 

     She swallowed hard, prepared for a verbal beatdown, “Not yet.” She watched his face contract slightly before he turned his head to look for her. 

     “When will you come?” 

     “Once I know you’re safe upstairs,” she said, catching his eye. 

     He watched her, “And what will you be doing?” 

     “Making sure you're safe upstairs,” she pressed her lips into a tight line. 

     “You’re coming back, right? I’ll see you soon,” she could hear the anxious desperation in his voice. 

     “I’ll be there,” she assured him, keeping her voice light, “I’ll meet you in the lobby.” 

     PJ passed them and Alli reached up to take Jansen’s hand as he passed her. 

     “Be safe down there,” he said, voice raw. 

     “You too.” She said, “Marie will take care of everything,” she explained, “just take care of yourself.” 

     “You’re one to talk,” he said as she walked alongside PJ, following them. 

     “I’ll be alright,” she promised, “Just get out okay,” 

     “No promises,” he said, “But I’ll do my best, you know, with my lack of mobility,” 

     Guilt-strengthened nausea struck the back of Alli’s throat and she clenched her jaw shut.

     He slapped her shoulder lightly, “Don’t take it too hard. It’s not your fault. Part of the job, I swore my life to this, don’t take too much credit.”  

     She forced a comforted smile and looked back down at her feet. 

     Eventually they parted ways, jumping into the train tracks, PJ, Jansen, Lilly, DogDay, and Marie headed to the right, while Alli and Poppy headed to the left. 

     “I’ll see you on the other side,” Alli called after them. 

     “You better!” Jansen called back. 

     Alli turned silently and started down towards PlayCare again. 

     Silence enfolded them as Alli walked, nothing but her footsteps to keep them both company. 

     “You really love him,” Poppy said softly, ruining the tranquility like someone screaming in a grocery store. 

     “Love is a strong word,” Alli said. 

     “But that’s what it is, isn’t it? Unless I don’t know what love is anymore either. You care about him, at least.”

     Alli let out a short breath, “I do. He’s my partner, has been for years. You get used to people in that time. I wouldn’t want to be here with anyone else,”

     “So you love him.” 

     “He has a wife,” 

     Poppy made an irritated sound in the back of her throat, “You’re mutually invested in each other's well beings. I would consider that more than a friendship. You don’t have to make it weirder than it is,”

     Alli licked her teeth, “I don’t know if I can call it love. It’s… more of a familial bond at this point,” 

     “So you feel the same way about Mommy that you do about him?” 

     Alli thought for a moment, “Yeah. I do.” 

     They retreated into silence again, getting onto the trolly and heading down towards PlayCare. It pulled into the dome, revealing the cracking structures and flickering lights. 

     “I’m almost missing Ollie right now,” Alli said softly. 

     “Almost?” Poppy said in the same tone. 

     “Lilly kept the phone,” Alli breathed, “It’s making me nervous.” 

     The tram pulled into the station and they jumped onto the platform, walking down towards the middle of the dome. 

     “Look!” Poppy pointed, directing Alli’s attention to CatNap wandering into the Home Sweet Home. 

     “Hold on,” Alli said, starting to jog towards Home Sweet Home. 

     Poppy held onto Alli’s hair as she trotted up the front steps and onto the porch. 

     They entered the house, Alli looking around. 

     “CatNap!” She called, “Come!” 

     Poppy took a shaky breath. 

     “CatNap!” Alli said louder. 

     “Heeereee,” he hissed, coming into the lobby from the shadow of a doorway. 

     He stopped in the middle of the room and Alli approached him, “Show me the tunnels in the cave,” 

     He blinked at her, “Whyyy?”  

     “Because, I need to know,” Alli said, “Where does the Prototype stay?” 

     He just continued to stare at her. 

     “Take me there,” Alli said more sternly, “Now.” 

     He took a breath that shuttered in his chest, “No.”  

     “Let me rephrase,” Alli took another step towards him, “You will take me, now, or I will kill you right here, right now,” 

     The pinpricks of his eyes narrowed into slits. 

     Alli lowered her voice, “The others are headed upstairs, I need to know where the Prototype is, I need to distract him. You are going to help me with that whether you want to or not,” 

     “You knowww I don’t,” He said.

     “That’s why you don’t get a choice anymore,” she said, “You’ve made some shit choices up to this point, you either do what I say or you die.” 

     His gaze shifted to Poppy. 

     “You’ve sinned, Cat, repent.” Poppy said so evenly and in a tone that Alli had never heard from her before; chills raised on Alli’s skin. 

     CatNap’s eyes narrowed again. 

     “Just help us,” Alli said, “You did almost get me killed,” 

     Cat looked at her hard, practically reading her soul, “I will help youuu.” 

     Alli raised her eyebrows in surprise, “Good! Thank you. Where to?”

Chapter 30: To The Top

Notes:

This the second to last chapter for this run of Trapped in PlayTime. Thank you all for being here for this section, thank you all for the support and love you’ve shown this story. I can’t wait to see you all for when Chapter 4 of Poppy Playtime comes out, and we can once again reunite over this fan fic. <3
See you in Chapter “30.” (The real chapter Thirty.)

Twenty-nine

To The Top

     “This is bad,” Poppy whispered into her ear as they followed CatNap down a narrow, brick hallway. 

     “Don’t make prejudgements,” Alli whispered back. 

     “Pre- prejudgments?!” Poppy hissed, tone full of offense, “I don’t need to prejudge because I know what he’s done down here.” 

     “Alright,” Alli dismissed her, “Just stay chill about it.” 

     “Chill!” Poppy snapped, “Easy for you to say,” she tumped Alli on the top of her head with a small, balled up fist, “You’re the police.” 

     “I’m a detective,” Alli corrected, turning the squeeze sideways through the narrowing, bowing part of the cinder block walls. “We’re different.” 

     “You’ve killed things,” Poppy said, voice tight, “You’re the same.” 

     Alli remained silent after that, fighting off the urge to drop Poppy to the ground and force the doll to walk on her own. 

     “Thisss wayyy,” CatNap said, turning his head ever so slightly within the tightening walls to look back at them. 

     “What if it’s a trap?” Poppy whispered, her fears very real and very valid. 

     “Then…” Alli trailed off, unable to come up with a proper answer, “We’ll- get out of it.” She gave a slight shake of her head to cement her point. 

     “This was foolish,” Poppy sighed. 

     “I’m known for that.” Alli agreed, turning a sharp corner to continue following CatNap further into the darkened halls. 

     These halls hadn’t been built by PlayTime. They weren’t utilized by the workers, Alli was sure, there was nothing here but dust and trails of dark blood on the cement floor. No, these halls were used by someone else– something else; something PlayTime Co hadn’t been aware of. No overhead lights illuminated the halls, only Alli’s weakening flashlight and the faint glow coming from the pinpricks of CatNap’s eyes. Poppy held the light high for Alli to see, but even then between the dust that fell like snow and the matte walls, the light did little to help them. Alli moved with her hands, keeping her eyes steady on the back of CatNap’s head, her palms pressed to the rough stone on either side of them. 

     Finally, after the air had turned stale and Alli was confident she had breathed the same breath at least six times, the hall widened. The walls pulled away, allowing her to take a real breath–a breath of relief–and follow CatNap more closely without the worry of losing him in the corners of dark shadows. 

     They turned another corner and red light illuminated the end of the hall they were descending. Alli watched it, watched as her skin turned pink with the haze, how CatNap was silhouetted in the dark crimson of the cave entrance before them. He looked like the devil walking into Hell. 

     They stepped out onto a ledge, the edge of it not but fifteen feet in front of them, the effortless fall into the red mist not guarded by anything willing to protect them. CatNap stopped near the edge, looking out at the dark dome, the trolly line, and the cave. Alli stopped too, but kept her distance from the edge. 

     “This is-” Poppy started, but couldn’t finish through the awe that held her mouth agape. 

     “Hooome.” CatNap said, looking out upon his wasteland of a kingdom, “Beautiful, hooome.” 

     Alli swallowed down her anxiety-fueled bile, studying the tracks that crisscrossed the caves like threads of a spider’s web. Two parallel, metal beams suspended above the mist by long poles impaled into the ground, or jutting from the cave ceiling, attached to the ties that held it all together. It was impressive, disgustingly impressive. 

     “Where does it all go?” She finally forced herself to ask, forcing herself to meet CatNap’s eyes. “The tracks, and the other cave entrances?” 

     “Anyyywheeere,” he said simply. That was an explanation enough he was sure. 

     “Can we go to the Game Station? To the Play Cafe? The Naptime Nook, or the Playrooms?” Alli insisted, “How far can we go from here?” 

     “Loook.” He extended a hand out to the void of red mist; the level of which had risen since the last time they had seen it, so maybe they forced it out of the production zone and into the cave system afterall. 

     “Mm,” Alli hummed, taking another step back, “I don’t do heights, especially when I can’t see the bottom.” 

     “Look, Alli,” Poppy said, pointing to their left, “That’s where Mommy said she found Huggy, so if we were to get to those tracks we’d make it back up to my room.” 

     Alli followed Poppy’s finger, “Good start,” she praised, “And if we go even farther-” she started to walk to her left, following the curve of the ledge around the cave. 

     “Wheeere are you goiiinnnggg?” CatNap asked as he followed them. 

     “I’m going to cause a distraction,” Alli said lightly, keeping her eyes off the edge of the pathway they were climbing up. She didn’t need to have another panic attack like before, not when there was so much at stake. 

     “Maybe we can get back up to the offices,” Poppy suggested, “There was that big sinkhole that Mommy abducted me from,” 

     “The one right outside of the Game Station,” Alli stated, remembering, “If we can get there, I think that would help a lot.” 

     “He’sss not heeereee.” CatNap said, still following them. 

     “We don’t need him to be,” Alli said, “We just need to make as much noise as possible.” 

     They climbed onto another ledge that jutted out of the cave wall, a hole carved into the stone behind them, but Alli’s focus was the PlayCare dome. She looked up, following the path of a set of tracks that looped down from a hole in the wall and towards PlayCare, then around it and up again, into a dark abyss that seemingly had no top. 

     “We’re–you’re not climbing that thing, right?” Poppy asked, tracking Alli’s eyes as well as apparently her train of thought. 

     “Feel free to stay here,” Alli said, turning to the cliff face behind her. 

     “No no, that’s alright,” Poppy said quickly, “I was just- confirming that, that was indeed what we were doing.” 

     Alli gave her a disparaging look out of the edge of her eye, “Sure,” 

     Poppy sat down on Alli’s shoulder, wrapping herself around Alli’s neck and the loops on her jacket. 

     Alli let out a breath, “That’s not going to work,” she said as she pressed a hand to the ragged stone in front of them. She looked at Poppy, “You’ll have to go on my back.” 

     “How?” 

     Alli gave a small, one shouldered shrug. “Inside the back of my jacket, hang onto my collar?” 

     Poppy's face settled into a doubtful expression, “Don’t you have nylon rope or duct tape in that belt of yours?” 

     “You mean with my shark repellent and Batling hook?” Alli asked with a raise of her eyebrows, “I’m not Batman.” 

     Poppy let out a slight scoff of annoyance and weighed their options, “Fine. I’ll ride on your back.” 

     Alli pulled back her shoulders and dropped her jacket slightly, letting Poppy nestle herself into the fold of the neck, before pulling it back up and tightening it down with a shake of her arms. 

     “Don’t squish me,” Poppy said, brushing Alli’s ponytail away from her face as she sat with her arms over the back of Alli’s collar. 

     Alli glanced back at CatNap, “Will you stay, or should you jump on my back too?” It was a joke, mostly. CatNap was just as large as DogDay, who towered over Alli by quite a few feet; she wouldn’t be able to carry him if he agreed. 

     “I will waaaiiit for youuu.” CatNap said simply. 

     “And if we come back and you’re gone?” Alli asked, the question behind her question blatant. 

     “Kill me.” He said, not a drop of feeling behind his hiss of a voice. 

     Alli eyed the toy, “Right,” she said, then turned and put her hands to the cave wall again. “All aboard?” 

     “Keep it moving, chippy,” Poppy said mildly, unimpressed by Alli’s new found jovialness. 

     Alli started to climb, reminding herself to breathe as she tested foot holds and hand grips. She wasn’t going to fall, it wasn’t more than a twenty foot climb to the tracks, but she still hated the idea of being that high off the ground. Her fingertips started to burn, the silt from the stone making her hands dry yet slippery. Her arms and legs trembled with the unassisted climb up, her eyes trained on the tracks above them as her breaths became shallow. 

     “You’ve got this,” Poppy encouraged her, “You’re almost there.” 

     Alli had to rest, sucking down harsh breaths that smelled of dirt and sediment. 

     “Don’t stop!” Poppy warned, “You’ll be too tired to keep going,” 

     Alli took a deep breath, reached up and gripped another hold. She pulled them up higher, the tracks level with her shoulder before she reached over and grabbed the metal with one hand. Adjusting her feet against the wall, she rushed to grab the track with her other hand, pulling herself up. She kicked with her feet, forcing her torso past the breach of the track until her hips were aligned with the metal. She swung herself over and scooted on her stomach onto the tracks, lying across the ties that joined both tracks. Laying facedown, her forehead pressed into the wooden tie, she forced down deep breaths into her restricted and burning lungs. 

     “Good job,” Poppy said, patting Alli’s shoulder as she watched her. 

     Alli’s arms trembled as she pushed herself up, looking down the dark cavern of the cart tunnel, before turning to look over her shoulder at the rest of the length of track. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to do that twice,” 

     “You’re such a human,” Poppy said, her tone a verbal eyeroll. 

     Alli swallowed the dryness in her throat, standing unsteadily on the tracks before sinking back down to her knees. “You know, it’s probably better if we just crawl,” 

     “We, huh?” Poppy muttered. 

     Alli started down the slope of the tracks and towards the dome, over the endless drop into the red mist. 

     “Alli,” Poppy said stiffly, “Not to panic you. But CatNap is not where we left him,” 

     Alli lifted up onto her knees, putting a hand to her gun as she swiveled to look back at the ledge. “Damn it,” she muttered, then her eye caught on a shifting shadow crawling onto the tracks behind them. “There-” she started, but as CatNap stood Alli felt her heart drop to her ass. “Shit.” 

     “Alli~” Poppy started, “We need to move,” 

     Allison stood, shakily, and without remembering that there was nothing under her. She stood with each foot on a separate tie, half facing CatNap as he stalked towards them. 

     His eyes glowed red as mist poured from his mouth, fur rippling as his body morphed from his Smiling Critter’s form into a boney and spider-like, nightmare version of himself. 

     Alli trembled, her hand still on her gun as she tried to pull it from its holster, but she couldn’t make herself. 

     “Alli!” Poppy shrieked in her ear, “Move!” 

     “Fuck,” Alli spat, before pivoting and slowly jogging down the tracks, trying to keep her feet from sliding between the gaps in the ties and forcing them to fall. “What’s his problem!?”

     “How should I know?!” Poppy retorted. 

     Alli caught a rhythm in her running, taking her eyes off the tracks for longer and longer moments as she tried to calculate the best choice for action. If they got to the dome, she could jump down onto the top of it, but that didn’t mean the manufactured skylights would be able to hold her weight. She could keep going, running up the tracks and into the great beyond, but that could take them anywhere and nowhere. 

     “Alli!” Poppy yelped, but not before Alli felt a swipe at her ankles and she jolted into the air from the fear and adrenaline. 

     Her foot slipped between the ties and she fell, sliding up to her thigh, her other knee pressed into the ties as she turned to look up at the monster that was CatNap. Training took over her emotions; the gun in her hand the safety off as she pointed it at the spot right between his eyes. Shallow breaths were the only sound as CatNap stopped, watching first the gun then shifting his gaze to Alli. Her hand trembled, muscles still winded from the climb, but she never lowered it, never wavered from the spot between his eyes. 

     Poppy clung to the collar of her shirt, the only steady thing on the tracks as even those seemed to tremble at the prospect of a gunshot deafening the silence. 

     “Turn back,” Alli breathed, begging him to turn around, to leave, to do anything but force her to pull that trigger. “Please.” 

     He watched her; so steady; oh so steadily. Too steady. Too–

     She looked back at the ledge, CatNap watching them from the edge. She trained her eyes back on the thing in front of them. “Who are you?” 

     “Who?” Its voice warbled, crunching almost. 

     “Please don’t make me pull this trigger,” Alli begged, pulling her leg from the gap in the ties. 

     “Pull it, pull it,” It chanted in voices–too many voices–emanating from its gaping mouth. “Pull the trigger,”  

     Horror washed over Alli like cold water, her gaze dropped to CatNap on the ledge again. She had a feeling she knew what this was–who it was. “What’s your name?” 

     “Name? Name. Name name name– who? Who.” The voices jumbled, talking over each other as the eyes bore into Alli’s. 

     “Are you the Prototype?” She asked finally. 

     “Prototype? The Prototype? He’s here. Here here here. Watch out–he’s here. The Prototype.” The voice hushed, whispered, washed around them in a flurry and flutter of breath and pitch. 

     Alli was slowly thawing from her fear, but the caution never left her. She stood on the tracks again, leaving the gun level with the thing’s head. “Go away.” She tried to remain stern. 

     “Away. Go go! Go away–run. Run away! Go-hurry. Hush. Run away–go!”  

     To Alli’s surprise, and doubt, the thing turned and started to crawl back along the tracks in the direction that they had come. Then, practically molding into the shadows, it disappeared into the minecart tunnel in the caveside. 

     Alli didn’t lower her gun until she was sure the thing wouldn’t be back, then, “What was that?” 

     “I’ve never seen it before in my life,” Poppy breathed, sounding more in awe than afraid. 

     “It’s not the Prototype?” Alli asked, feeling sticky from cold sweat. 

     “No,” Poppy said numbly, “I don’t know what it was.” 

     Alli turned slowly, trying to remain steady, then continued walking down towards PlayCare. 

     Eventually they were over the dome, and they both had their attention trained on the void above them and to their left. Alli weighed their options, then jumped from the tracks and onto the top of the dome. She froze, waiting for the sound of cracking glass or bending metal, but there was none, so she looked over to where a second set of tracks intersected the dome top. 

     “Where are we headed?” Poppy asked and Alli pulled them up onto the second set of tracks. 

     “To the top.”

Chapter 31: Escape

Summary:

Thank you so much for reading this far! This is where we’re going to leave off until Poppy Playtime Chapter 4 is released. Thank you for all the love, I’ve had an amazing time writing for you all! Feel free to leave any questions and comments down below, I love hearing from you all. Let me know what your favorite part of this story has been.
Thank you so much, again, and I’ll see you for Chapter 4!
~B <3

Notes:

OMG Allison has FanArt! That’s crazy!! Thank you so much to CallmeSonrisaTag here on AO3 for drawing her, she’s awesome!
https://www.tumblr.com/a03-anonusers-art-blog/744167490256617472/trapped-in-playtime-chapter-1-beccastone2003
😆❤️

Thirty

Escape

     Alli and Poppy continued to ascend towards the ceiling of the caves, deja vu settling over Alli like fog; the memories of her escape coming back to haunt her. She had escaped from PlayCare before the mist had covered the bottom of the cave, before extra measures had been taken, before she discovered everything had been fabricated. Maybe it had all been on purpose then, maybe they had been testing her all this time, making sure her metal bones could stand the wear and tear of normal life. 

     She wondered now if her adoptive parents had known. If they had ever taken her to the doctors and if they had been made aware of her condition. She had escaped as a young teen, found herself wandering into a woman’s shelter, then CPS had been called. They hadn’t even bothered contacting her bio-mom, she had been dead far too long at that point. It had meant nothing to Alli at that point in her life, the death of her birth mother. Now, years later–with enough time to sit with that knowledge–it still didn’t mean much of anything. 

     “What happens when we make it to the top?” Poppy asked, once the awkward quiet only disrupted by Alli’s heavy breathing and mild grunting had grown tedious. 

     Alli, whose hands were clamped down on another set of tracks, sagged from her own weight, hanging from the metal bar. “Haven’t gotten that far yet,” she breathed. 

     A high pitched moan echoed across the cave; pain and fear. 

     They both froze where they were, listening to the sound behind them as Alli’s heart started to pound rapidly in her ribs. 

     “Move,” Poppy breathed, “Keep going!”

     Alli pulled them up onto this new set of tracks, jogging across a chasm in the caves far beyond PlayCare. Her limbs still felt like jelly but she kept moving, not willing to be caught by whatever was the producer of the screaming. They stopped at the cart hole in the walls, Alli looking into it. “It goes up.” 

     “Better than being out here,” Poppy said, ducking her head as Alli crawled into the cart shaft. Poppy flicked on the flashlight as Alli continued to crawl up the slope, fingers and the toes of her boots gripping the edges of the ties. 

     “What do you think it was?” Alli asked, breaths ragged in her chest. 

     “The screaming?” Poppy asked softly, “I can only guess.” 

     Alli didn’t have anything to say to that as the cart shaft widened and she moved from crawling to hunched crouch. Wires and lights lined the walls, but nothing was on. There were maintenance tunnels that jutted off this part of the tunnel, but they were small and protected by metal doors. Everything in this part of the shaft felt childsized, and Alli looked for any confirmation for that suspicion, but there wasn’t any. 

     The tracks turned around a bend and Alli followed them, standing straighter as the tunnel widened again. They continued to wind their way up, the dust starting to clog Alli’s throat as she tried to cover her mouth with the collar of her shirt. The flashlight grew dimmer and dimmer as they walked, until, finally, it gave its last breath and they were sunk into striking darkness. 

     “Darn,” Poppy muttered, shaking the flashlight and pounding it with the palm of her hand, but nothing revived it. 

     “It’s okay,” Alli pulled one of her three remaining flares out of her belt, twisting the top and lighting the tunnel in red. 

     “Who did you say you weren’t, Batman?” Poppy asked. 

     Alli resisted the urge to roll her eyes and pressed forward, holding the sparking flare out in front of herself, her other hand pressed to the wall at their left. 

     Finally, the tunnel widened again and they emerged into a second sort of cave. This one resembled a train station–it was obviously some sort of base of operations–but it wasn’t as clean cut as one. 

     Alli pulled herself up onto the platform next to the tracks, taking a moment to let her legs rest and she sat with her palms and knees pressed into the cement. She lifted her head, looking around at the abandoned platform. “What was this?” 

     “I- don’t know,” Poppy said slowly, her tone wary. 

     Alli forced herself to her feet, taking a better look around. “It’s- well honestly it looks like they were growing weed.” 

     “What’s that?” Poppy asked, leaning over Alli’s shoulder. 

     “Drugs,” Alli said simply. 

     “You can grow those?” Poppy whispered, eyeing Alli. 

     Alli turned her head slowly to look at her, “The entire point of this factory was using poppy flowers to bring stuff back to life,” she said at the same volume. 

     Poppy sat back, “True.” 

     Alli walked around the platform, taking in the planters and flower boxes, each with their own set of lights hanging over them. She tested some of these lights, trying to see if there was any power in this part of the factory, but there was none. 

     “At least there are signs down here,” Poppy said, pointing to the doors at the opposite side of the platform from the cart tracks. 

     Alli looked up, taking in three doors with plaques above them. “Convenient,” she agreed. But her attention was drawn back to the want-to-be meth lab in front of her. “It looks like they weren’t just growing the flowers down here,” she started gently, “They were making something with them.” 

     “These weren't poppies,” Poppy said, pointing at another plaque on a planter. 

     “Lilies,” Alli breathed, “What could they use-” she stopped herself. “Poppies, and lilies.” 

     “What a lovely coincidence,” Poppy grumbled.

     Alli glanced at her again then directed her attention forward again, “Let’s keep moving,” 

     “Lead on,” Poppy said numbly. 

     Alli tried the handle that had the ‘Offices’ plaque above it. “Locked.” 

     “It’s never been a problem for you before,” Poppy said, her tone casual. 

     Alli took a step back, and with a breath, slammed her heel into the spot right next to the doorknob. The door rattled but didn’t budge otherwise. “It’s metal,” she said, hopping around in a circle as she nursed her smarting ankle, the force from her kick making her foot feel numb. 

     “Just unlock it, stupid,” Poppy said with a verbal eyeroll. 

     Alli dropped her foot, walking tenderly back to the door as she pulled her lockpicks from her belt, kneeling in front of the door again. 

     The door clicked and Alli twisted the knob again, letting the door swing open. 

     Stale air rushed down the hall and out of the door past them, making Alli narrow her eyes as the pressurized hall released everything it had been holding for the past almost decade. 

     “What was that?” Poppy whispered. 

     “A decompression chamber,” Alli said, “Better yet, a decontamination chamber,” 

     “Are we contaminated?” 

     “Don’t think so.” Alli assured her, walking into the hall. 

     She unlocked the door on the other side as well and finally they were released into the off-white, yellow, blue, and red of the factory walls. The tiles were gritty, the air pungent, the lights off; but at least they were no longer in that god forsaken cave system. 

     “Let’s get moving,” Alli said, putting her lockpicks back into her belt and starting off at a steady jog. 

     Poppy clutched Alli’s shirt collar. “What’s the rush?” 

     Alli didn’t bother to answer that, since she thought she had made it obvious since the very start of the endeavor what the rush was. 

      They wound their way up stairwells and down halls, following the signs towards the offices. Through the dark and into shadows. Past open doorways and around sinkholes in the floor. Alli pushed past a door in the stairs and onto the floor that claimed to be the main level, and into light. The lights were on. She let out a relieved breath and heard Poppy do the same. They continued to move through the tall, narrow halls, until they pushed out of a door and into a room that seemed to be a central lobby. 

     Alli looked around at all the doors, the names plastered above them. She knew where they were now. “We made it,” she said lightly, “This way,” 

     “Like I have a choice,” Poppy said as Alli started down another hallway and ducked under a gratedoor. 

     Alli burst into the room where she had first seen Giga Huggy, where the doors for the Play Cafe were located. The large toy blocks and skylights that revealed the pink sky from the rising sun. Relief was as cold as water over her skin as she pulled up another gratedoor and ducked into the first hallway she had walked down. They were exactly where she had started over twenty-four hours ago. Alli checked her watch; make that forty-eight hours. 

     She jumped the turnstiles and looked around the front lobby. Surely it wouldn’t have taken them longer than her to get here. 

     “There!” Poppy pointed, knowing what she was looking for. 

     Alli looked, spotting them all stuffed into the gift shop. She started over, patting PJ’s back where he was blocking the entrance doors. “Hey!” 

     Marie looked down at her from the ceiling, her attention distracted from the small toy train that looped around the room. “You made it!” 

     “Let’s go,” Alli said, starting to feel uneasy. Was that too easy? Was the Prototype really going to let them go so quickly? 

     PJ turned, facing Alli and forcing her to back up as he waddled out of the gift shop. 

     “Al,” 

     “I’m here,” Alli said, taking Jansen’s hand as he passed her. 

     “We’re out now,” he sounded delirious. 

     She took a breath, “Almost.” 

     Marie came up behind Alli, wrapping an arm around her waist, “He’s not doing well,” 

     Alli looked at her, then passed her at Lilly. “Thank you,” 

     Lilly inclined her head slightly, “I only wish I could have done more,” 

     “You did more than enough,” Alli assured her. 

     “Kissy!” Poppy said lightly, letting the big pink stuffy take her out of the back of Alli’s jacket. 

     Alli glanced at her then directed her attention to the front doors. “Here goes,” 

     “We didn’t encounter any trouble on the way here,” Marie said. “So…” she trailed off. 

     Alli put her hand to the door and pushed. It didn’t move. 

     “It’s a pull door,” Lilly whispered softly from behind her. 

     Alli’s heart, which had dropped to her stomach, regained control of itself as she let out a breath. She tugged on the door, jiggling it hard. Still, it didn’t move. “Shit.” 

     “It’s okay,” Marie said, “We can just-” 

     Alli threw her elbow at the glass, causing it to shatter into a pane of spiderweb cracks. 

     “-do that, I guess.” Marie finished.

     Desperation was the only thing Alli felt as she slammed her elbow into the glass again, causing it to fall onto the steps on the other side. Fresh air blew through the hole, relieving Alli’s growing sense of claustrophobia. She pushed the remaining glass out of the door, leaving herself an Alli-size hole to step through. She looked back from her spot on the front steps, “Alright, let’s go,” 

     Marie brought Jansen down from PJ’s back, her and Lilly carrying him towards the door. 

     Alli took the end of the board that they passed out to her and she and Lilly started to carry him past the door, but the moment Lilly’s hands passed the door frame she froze. Her hands froze and the board slipped from her grip and Jansen fell, the board slamming against the bottom of the doorframe. 

     He let out an agonizing cry, swearing as Alli pulled him out of the factory the rest of the way. 

     She turned to Lilly, “What the-” 

     Marie pulled Lilly back into the shadows of the lobby, watched as the stiffness in her fingers melted and she flexed her hands, fear cast across her face. Marie looked up at Alli, a horrified understanding crossing between the look that the sister’s shared. 

     “You can’t leave,” Alli breathed, voice cracking slightly. 

     Lilly looked at Mommy, lip trembling slightly, “What is this?” 

     Marie looked like she was fighting back the homicidal urge to kill someone, “This doesn’t make sense,” 

     “Alli-” Jansen groaned, forcing her attention back to him. 

     She looked down, then back at the door. “I’ll be right back-” 

     Marie shook her head, “No. Don’t come back.” 

     Poppy watched them from Kissy’s shoulder. 

     “But- I need to-” 

     “Sissy.” Marie said firmly, “Don’t come back here.” 

     Alli looked at Poppy, “But I promised-” she looked down at Marie. 

     Marie shook her head, “Don’t come back.” She said every word like it was a threat. 

     Alli’s breaths were shallow. “Fuck. Damn it!” She pushed her hair away from her face, “I’m not fucking leaving you again!” 

     “You don’t get a choice to come back this time,” Marie said, “If you come back, I will kill you this time.” 

     And Alli knew she meant it. 

     Lilly took a step away from Mommy, taking DogDay’s paw as they witnessed the interaction. 

     Poppy shifted on Kissy’s shoulder. 

     They all knew she meant it. 

     Alli took a sharp breath, “But- if I don’t-” 

     “We will figure it out on our own,” Marie said, “We’re safe in the Theater. There is no life or freedom out there for us,” she nodded to the lightening world behind Alli. “At least in here we’re alive.” 

     Alli’s face contorted in anger, “Why would you make me choose again!” She shouted, pressing her hands on the doorframe as she leaned in to stare at Marie. 

     “I’m not letting you choose, because I know what choice you would make if I let you.” Marie said simply, crossing her arms. “Go home, Allison.” 

     Alli pushed off the doorframe, “Shit.” She breathed, “You fucking suck,” 

     “I’m not letting you throw your life away,” Marie stated, “If you come back here, you will die.” 

     “And that’s better than being out here without you!” Alli shouted. 

     “Then you’re a fool.” Marie was monotone, unfeeling towards Alli’s plight. 

     Alli looked down at Jansen, “I’m not finished with this conversation-” 

     “Then that makes one of us.” Marie said, “Goodbye, Allison.” And with that she disappeared past the top of the doorframe and into what Alli assumed was the ceiling. 

     Alli started towards the door frame again, but Lilly stepped in front of it. “Let us talk to her,” she said quickly, “Get your friend the help he needs, then come back. She may have calmed down by then.” 

     Alli took a breath to argue, but she didn’t have anything to say, so she turned. “Thanks.” 

     “Be safe out there,” Lilly said, retreating into the shadows with the others. 

     Alli grabbed the board under Jansen and started pulling him towards the front gates of the factory. The walk from the doors to the gate felt longer than from the gate to the doors, but eventually they got there, and Alli stopped right behind the gates. She looked at her car, a relieved breath escaping her. They were free. No longer trapped in PlayTime Co. 

     “Alli,” Jansen breathed, “Will you call–my wife?” 

     Alli nodded, “Yeah, right after I call an ambulance.” 

     “Detective Payne, can you tell us what happened?” 

     No. She couldn’t. Not without sounding like a lunatic. Not without them taking her badge. 

     “The floor of the factory was unstable,” she started truthfully, “There were many sinkholes down to this cave system under the building. Detective Jansen fell.” She picked at her nails from where her hands were on the cold metal table, facing the man in front of her and the one way window behind him. They were watching her. The Department Chief, Jansen’s wife, the FBI. Didn’t matter. “I did what I could to keep him comfortable, to find a way out from under the factory.” 

     “So you fell with him?” 

     “No,” Alli corrected, “I climbed down to him after it happened,” 

     “How is it possible that you were in the factory for over forty-eight hours?” The detective in front of her asked, standing with his back to the glass. 

     “We were under the factory, it was all maintenance tunnels and back rooms. There weren’t any signs and I didn’t have a capable flashlight.” 

     “What made you go into the factory to begin with?” He asked, arms crossed. 

     “There were reports that kids were going missing there. Parents looking for their children and the factory was the last place their phone’s were located. Sometimes people said there was smoke coming from the production side of the factory.” 

     He didn’t seem to believe her, but he also didn’t seem skeptical of her either. “What do you know of the, Bigger Bodies Project?” He asked, annunciating every word. 

     Alli felt her heart start to hammer harder in her chest, “What do you mean? What is that?” 

     He raised his eyebrows at her, “You were a part of the factory's adoption program as a child, were you not?” 

     “I was,” Alli agreed. 

     “Did you ever hear of the Bigger Bodies Initiative?” He was prying. 

     “No.” Alli shook her head. 

     He made a sound of disbelief in the back of his throat, humming. “Detective Jansen seems convinced that there were larger than life toys that live in the factory.” 

     Alli guffawed, then composed herself, “I mean, he was delirious pretty much the entire time we were down there. The air wasn’t very good and he was in a lot of pain. I remember him saying that he was seeing things, but there weren’t any huge toys.” She hoped that was convincing enough. 

     “I’m glad you agree,” the detective said, “Now, what else happened while you were down under the factory?” 

     “Nothing much,” Alli gave an eerily calm shrug, “My main focus was getting him back up to the surface. I knew I had to get him home.” 

     “So you didn’t find any of the teens you were originally sent in to look for?” 

     “Honestly, I didn’t see any indication that anyone had gone into the factory recently at all. Nothing was disturbed, there was no one in that factory but us.” 

     “You’re sure?” 

     “Positive.” 

Notes:

To Be Continued…

Chapter 32: Recovery

Notes:

Heyyy, hope y'all didn't forget about me! Since PP Ch 4 is coming out NEXT YEAR in August-(at least from what daddy google says)-omg that's so far away, I figured I'd try and drip feed some chapters between now and then. Hopefully my craft has improved, but the charm of the story and characters are still there. I've been writing a lot and directed my first stage play this summer so it's been a good time. Would love to hear how everyone is doing down below. Miss y'all! Hopefully I can deliver more chapters once ch 4 is out.
Love you always!
~B

Thirty-one

Recovery

 

“How are you feeling?” She was holding her coffee cup between her hands.

Months had passed. He looked different.

Jansen looked at her from behind his coffee cup. 

She chewed on the inside of her cheek, waiting for him to say something. 

He lowered his cup with a sigh, putting it on the table between them. “You couldn’t even bother to call?”

She lowered her head, unable to outweigh her guilt with reason anymore. “I’m sorry–”
“You told them I was crazy.”

“What else did you expect me to do? What did you expect them to do, learning that there are living souls stuffed into jumbo sized toys?” She gave him a hard look. “My sister is one of those toys. You know what happens to them if we confessed? They become experiments again, that or they kill whoever goes in to get them. Neither option is good, Jansen.”

He took another drag from his cup. 

She had brought it for him; dark americano with a splash of heavy cream. 

“They took you off the force.”

“They put me on leave while they investigated,” she corrected. “I’ve been back for a month–”

“Well good for you. That makes one of us.”

The LED lights overhead began to buzz. 

Alli’s hand trembled against her will and her coffee splashed out of her plastic lid. It was hard to stay stable now, since discovering she was less than human. It had been something she had struggled with, grieved over, and finally come to terms with. 

“Are you ever coming back?” She asked softly. 

He let out a breath and stood up from his chair, legs and weight supported by the experimental treatment they had introduced to him. Metal braces, but they weren’t simply external. A horrifying thought, but what other option was there?

“I can’t move well enough.” His tone was dark. 

“You can sit at the desk–”

“Who wants a desk job!” He bellowed, slamming his hand on the table. 

Alli jumped, then looked around the cafeteria at the rest of the recovering patients and their guests. 

“Sorry–” he breathed. “I’m sorry.”

She took a shallow breath, but couldn’t find anything to say. Her eyes lingered on the outline of the braces under his shirt, then flicked up to catch his gaze again.

“Al–” he started slowly, sitting back down again. “What happened in the factory…” he sighed, dropping his head as he rested on his arms pressed into the table top. 

“It was my fault–”

“Shut–! Up,” he finished softly. “Just, shut up.”

She clenched her jaw shut, waiting for him to continue. 

“I know you want to protect them–”

“I want to free them.”

“Free them?” He sounded horrified. 

“They’re in a living hell–”

“Then wouldn’t the best thing be to put them out of their misery?”

She frowned, face portraying her betrayal. “They’re innocent in this.”

“Are they?” He looked up at her with a stony expression, nostrils flaring as he controlled his breaths. “They did this to me–”

“They were scared–”

“They have nothing to be scared of!” He snapped. “They’re not even human.”

“On the inside–”

“Damn it, Alli.” He rubbed his face with his hands, sighing hard. 

“Jansen,” she started slowly, “If they can’t be human, even on the inside, then what am I?”

He looked up at her, arms falling to the table top. “You are Alli.”

She shook her head, watching him carefully. “You either believe I’m human or you don’t. You told me I was!”

“And you ar–” he choked on the words. 

“Am I?” She pushed. 

“Yes. Of course.”

She shook her head again, diverting her gaze from his. “Tell what I am. If I am not one of them but I am not one of you. What am I?”

“You are exactly who you have been.” 

“That’s not an answer and you fucking know it,” she said, sitting forward against the table to hiss the words at him. “They are more human than I am. I know what you went through in there, I went through it too. Lest you forget that I was the one who dragged you out of that factory and kept you alive enough to make sure there was a point to it. You don’t think it traumatized me too? You don’t think that for months afterwards I couldn’t sleep with the lights off? You don’t think I can’t hear their voices every time a room is silent? Don’t you fucking dare invalidate me just because you feel your anger is justified.”

He took a breath and let it out slowly. “Have you… Been back, since then?”

She swallowed audibly, and shook her head. “I can’t. I can’t bring myself to.”

“What you need to do is go back in there and take a squad this time–”

“Marie said she would kill me if I stepped foot in the factory again.”

“And you’re trying to protect that!” His voice was much too loud and stray gazes were cast in their direction again.

She took a breath. “She’s trying to protect me.”

“There are living toys under a rotting factory,” he hissed at her, “and she’s trying to protect you?”

“Because there are living toys under a rotting factory,” she repeated with a nod. “I don’t get how it’s difficult to understand.”

“Difficult to–” he had to take a dramatic breath as he pressed his palms into his eyes. “Allison, it’s a little more than difficult to understand.”

“I’m not going to leave her there, but she can’t come out.”

“Sure as shit she can’t come out!”

“There’s something tying them to the factory.” She explained. “You were pretty out if it, but the moment they crossed the door frame they froze, and became just toys.”

“Splendid. Bring them out and stick them in a museum or something.”

“Are you hearing yourself right now?” She blinked at him. “Those are my friends. People who I knew and now know again. I can’t just put them into glass cases, especially Poppy.”

“I can’t believe I’m having this conversation again with you.”

“Again–?”

He pressed his hand together. “We had a variation of this conversation when we first got into the factory. I can’t– do this again!”

She let out a tired breath. “Right. Sorry.” She stood. “You’re still recovering. I should get going.”

He gave an exasperated blink. “Al–”

“No, you’re right. It’s not like they have minds or memories or souls or anything. I’ll just– set the factory on fire. I’m sure it’ll be fine.” She shook her head at him and stepped out from in front of her chair. 

“Alli!” He sounded hurt. 

“Call if you need anything, my line’s always open.” She said, shoving her hands into her jacket pockets and walking away from him. 

He watched her go, before lowering his head to his hands.

Chapter 33: The Wall in Her Closet

Thirty-two

The Wall in Her Closet

 

She needed a better plan than this. Whatever, this, was.

Pulling off her jacket she tossed it onto her coat tree, turning and locking all three deadbolts on the inside of her front door. Her landline was beeping with a voicemail, and the main room was dim from the evening light trying to crawl past her curtains. Walking into the kitchen, the light from the fridge illuminated her face as she grabbed a can of coffee from the top shelf. 

She heard the door shut behind her as she crossed the living room to her bedroom door, pushing it open and flipping on the light. The ceiling fan started drifting slowly, swirling the stale air of the room. Alli took a swig of her coffee and put the can down on her desk, before walking over to her closet. She wanted to change, but she still had errands to run tonight. Sliding the mirror door open she looked in at all of her hanging shirts and pants, then parted the sea with her arms, revealing the wall behind the fabric. 

Reaching up she grabbed the chain of the lightbulb in the closet and pulled it, letting the yellow light reveal the newspaper clippings and red yarn tacked to the wall behind her clothes. Photos were plastered to newspaper clippings and firsthand reports that she and the other survivors had written–trying to tie together their memories. She had sketched to the best of her memory every room she and Jansen had been in, what every living toy had looked like, and how many bodies she had felled. There were dates and times and locations and maps, so many maps. She had pulled Marie’s personal file from where she had put it in her jacket pocket and pinned it in the middle of the wall. 

That was her starting point. 

If Jansen wasn’t going to help her–she shouldn’t even be asking him to help her. She shouldn’t have even told him she planned on going back. 

With a sigh she lowered her head, stepping backwards out of the closet and back into her room. Rubbing her eyes she stopped in the middle of the floor between the closet and her bed, staring around at the furniture in the room trying to convince herself she had never seen it before. Everything was too ordinary, too the same, too normal. 

She hated it. 

How was she supposed to act as if everything was normal? She had returned to her apartment that night to find everything just as she had left it–but nothing was the same. She was covered in blood, sweat, dirt, tears. The room had smelled comforting at first but slowly comfort turned into the stench of metal and burning plastic as she tried to scrub the grime from her skin and hair. She had thrown away her clothes–not before shaking out her pockets–and changed into something she hoped would make her feel normal. 

Metal Bones had been scratched onto a piece of paper that was taped to the wall. She wasn’t able to gather enough courage to ask her parents about it; how they were able to take her to the doctor without suspicion being raised. 

Human Toys

The Prototype

Lilly and Poppy

There were a lot of questions, too many questions, so many questions that she couldn’t not go back to the factory.

That’s where the plan came in. 

She was going back.

It didn’t matter to her that Marie had told her not to, she was going to go back there.

There was a contract killer on speed dial on her cellphone, one she knew wouldn’t ask any questions if the price was right. They were going to come with her to the factory once they were back in the country. She wasn’t going in unprepared, not this time. 

This time, things were going to be different.

Chapter 34: Baptismal Waters

Notes:

Y'all, Chapter Four just came out! *squeals*
I watched Jacksepticeye play it but I'm going to wait for another play-through to come out before I start posting chapters, mostly because I feel like I need to see everything in more detail. I hope y'all are as excited as I am!

Thirty-three

Baptismal Waters

 

“No can do, hun. I won’t take on anything like what you’ve described for less than 500.”

Alli pressed her lips into a tight line and let out a practiced sigh. “I know it’s a reasonable price, but if you could just see it–”

“If you can’t pay that’s a you problem–”

“Cass, you haven’t even seen what’s down there.”

“I never will if you don’t choke up my money.”

She closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose as she planted her elbows on her knees. “Would you consider a payment plan?”

Cass guffawed over the phone. “You’re really pullin’ my leg here–”

“I’m not. I need help with this.”

There was a slight pause. “No. I’m not going to risk being caught because I set up a fucking payment plan for some shit ass job.”

Alli sat back, giving her living room an exasperated blink. “I’m running out of patience Cass.”

“You're running out of patience?” Cass sounded baffled.

“Yeah. I told you I needed help, I was turning in my favor that you owe me, and you refuse.”

There was nothing but a sniff from the other end of the line.

“Where are you right now?” Alli asked softly.

“Down south, hiding out.”

“Are you safe?”

There was a contemplative pause. “Yeah. I don’t think anyone knows I’m here and they don’t know who I am if they do.”

She ran her tongue over her teeth and nodded. “Good.”

There was a short breath on the other end of the line. “I’m sorry I can’t do this for you.”

Frustration heated her chest and made her bite down on her tongue. “Fine.”

“Alli–”

“Goodbye Cass.”

“Alli!”

She didn’t wait to hear what was said, simply hung up. This had been her entire plan, and now her entire plan had bailed. With a frustrated sigh she shoved a hand through her hair and stood from the couch. She should have never put her faith in other people—people who had no skin in the game. 

This was going to have to be something she did on her own. 

That was easy. She had bought way too many necessities for the next time she entered the factory and it was all packed into a bag that was sitting in her closet. The only thing she couldn’t buy were nerves. Talking herself into going back was going to be much harder than preparing for it. On top of that, she needed a way in. With Cass she would have just simply stormed the entrance, but on her own she needed to be more creative. 

Her best bet was probably going back in the way she had gotten out originally.

Standing at the edge she looked out over the water, at how still it was, the moon reflected perfectly on its surface. It wasn’t a pond, or lake, it was less impressive than that. It had felt endless when she was smaller, fighting her way to the shore, lungs burning. Looking at it now she realized it was nothing more than a gravel pit, man made and hand dug—though they had to stop digging because of ‘contract issues.’ She knew the real reason now; the caves.

The water was cold as it over took her boot and soaked through her soles and socks. She took another step, deeper, closer. Under her feet were the caves, PlayCare, and whatever else rotted away in the factory. Another step took her closer. Her escape had come from this water, like a rebirth, the moment she broke the surface relief like she had never known overcame her. The water was up to her waist now, lapping at her belt and backpack. 

She wasn’t sure how big the hole would be now. She figured it would have been filled, and on top of that it had been years and she not not only grown taller but stronger. Maybe she wouldn’t fit at all and she would have to go back in the front door of the factory. The thought made her feel sick and she stopped with the water at her neck, standing on her toes. She turned and looked back at the bank, trying to make up her mind. She wasn’t even halfway into the pond, she could stop and go back, or she could continue forward. Never did she think she’d be using her way of escape to dig her way back into the factory. 

Taking a breath she turned back again and kept going, her backpack neither keeping her afloat or weighing her down. She swam onward, trying to determine exactly where she remembered the crack in the pond being; the drain, if you will. It had been pouring slowly into the caves, or at least that’s what she had assumed. How the pond didn’t completely drain was beyond her, it’s not like it rained enough to keep it full.

She turned in a circle, feeling directly in the middle of the pond now, and took a breath, readying herself to dive under the water. There were only two places she could go, down to hell, or out of the water—reborn. She would have preferred to be reborn again, to give herself the luxury of forgetting everything that happened. While less than likely she could pray, but prayer had never helped her before. 

The water engulfed her, silencing the outside world and leaving her alone with the consequences for her actions. She swam down, and down, and down; much too far for a simple gravel pit. She had expected this—remembered how much her lungs had burned. It was too dark to see so she felt blindly out in front of herself, hoping to touch the earth but it never came and she had to ditch the effort and return to the surface and beg for air.

Slicking the water from her face she took another glance around. What the hell am I doing? That wasn’t a question she asked herself often—or at least it hadn’t been. 

Fumbling for her belt she pulled the waterproof flashlight from its loop and flicked it on, hoping to shred some once of the darkness. With a deep breath she disappeared from the world again and pointed the beam towards the bottom of the pit, only to see that it didn’t make a difference, the bottom still evaded her. Emerging from the water again she took a few practiced breaths, readying herself for another dive, then took the plunge. 

Nothing helped in the darkness, it was as if the light itself was being eaten. Still, she pressed on, forcing herself deeper, her ears popping. That meant she had reached at least the twenty foot mark. She stopped and looked back towards the surface, watching the caustics of the water created by the moon, which she could also see past the surface. 

Then where was the bottom?

She must have been going crazy, even just a little. Surely it was there, just below her, she couldn’t have swam so far in such a condition as she did, or at such a young age either. She hadn’t even learned to swim until she had been adopted. 

The air was cold as she took a breath, lungs burning. The water was starting to fog, releasing wispy clouds from its surface and letting them dance over the bank around her. 

Maybe I didn’t escape. This thought made her feel sick again. Maybe it was all another test. Maybe her memories had been fabricated. Maybe she had only thought she escaped because they let her. Maybe the Prototype had always been watching her. 

She swallowed hard, shaking her head, then shook it again. 

She was going to have to go in the long way. 

The idea alone made her heart sink like a stone. 

Slowly she made her way back to the bank, kicking hard until her feet finally struck gravel. Her legs felt like jelly as she walked from the water, letting it drip off her in streams. Her backpack had flooded and was in the process of un-flooding, feeling lighter every step she took farther from the water. Her hair hung limply from her ponytail, the jacket of her hood a pond of its own, boots more than full. 

She almost didn’t believe she failed in finding a way back into the factory, but then again it made sense that there wouldn’t be one. No one was supposed to know it existed underneath what was basically the entire city. The zoning office would have a field day.

Pulling off her boots one at a time she dumped a healthy dose of pond water from both of them, before dredging back up the bank and towards her car. She was partially there when flood lights illuminated her and she put a hand up to shield her face. 

“Identify yourself!”

“Detective Allison Payne!” she hollered in return.

“Shit,” the voice muttered, and the lights diverted, letting her see the squad car behind them. “We got a call.”

“Sorry,” she said, approaching the officer.

He glanced her up and down. “What were you doing?”

“Swimming,” she said breathlessly.

His gaze landed on her backpack. “Successfully, or did you fail a prerogative?”

“A bit of both,” she admitted before understanding his full meaning. “Oh– no. I’m not suicidal.”

“You sure about that?” He crossed her arms.

She narrowed her eyes. “Am I sure that I myself am not suicidal?”

He nodded once.

“It’s not like I have bricks in my bag.”

He cocked an eyebrow at her and she let out a breath, sliding it from her shoulders and holding it out for him. He took it from her and unzipped the top, pulling out a bundled length of rope, questions obvious in his expression.

“You think I was gonna hang myself underwater?” She was going to sneer at him but kept control of her face enough to decide against it.

“What’s it for?”

“I don’t know, whatever I needed it for.”

“What are you doing out here, Payne?”

She took a breath and glanced at the ground, stuffing her hands into her pockets. “I thought there was something in the pit that I needed for an investigation.”

“You’re practically still benched; what investigation?”

“The one I was working on before they benched me,” she grumbled.

He let out a small breath.

“I know that’s the Feds’ job now but I feel like it’s something I need to take care of.” She searched his face. “For Jansen.”

He let out a more understanding breath this time. “I feel that, but you’re going to end up hurting more than you’re helping.” He zipped her bag closed and held it back out to her. “Go home, Payne.”

She took the bag from him and pulled it over her shoulder. “Planned on it. I’m freezing my ass off.”

“Anyone could have told you swimming in this weather was a bad idea.”

“Too bad no one was around,” she said and turned, then stopped and looked back at him. “How did you know I was here?”

He shrugged and said nothing. 

Suspicion clouded her for a moment. “Ravens?”

“Jansen might have called. He’s worried for you.”

She scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief.

“He has a right to be worried.”

She glared at him then turned. “Thanks for the check up.”

“Payne–” Ravens warned.

She lifted a hand in parting. “I’m going home. Goodnight Ravens.”

Chapter 35: The Lion's Den

Thirty-four

The Lion’s Den

 

Her thumbnail was in her mouth, teeth digging at her nail bed. 

She didn’t want to do this. Couldn’t force herself to take a step closer to the fence. 

She glanced down at her phone again, the text that sat there, waiting, patient for her to finally hit send.

 

I had to go back.

If you don’t hear from me in 24 hours, it’s taking longer than I thought.

If you don’t hear from me in 48 hours, I’m missing. 

If you don’t hear from me in 36 hours, I’m dead.

I’m sorry I couldn’t stay away, and I’m sorry I dragged you into my mess. 

I plan on ending this. I will die in success or I will die in failure, whatever 

happens I want you to know that I respect you not only as my partner but 

as a friend. Recover for me. Never give up.

 

Taking a breath she looked back up at the factory. Her chin trembled and she clamped her jaw together, trying to force herself not to feel fear. There was no point in being afraid, not now, not after seeing everything she had—living through everything she did. She had survived once, surely she could do it again.

“Whoosh!” The text sent and Alli turned, tossing her phone into her car before shutting the door and locking it closed, keys and all inside.

The only way forward was through the gate, through the door, and into the lion’s den once again. 

Swallowing hard, she couldn’t talk herself out of it any longer. Shoving her backpack through the gap first she followed it, still getting stuck on her belt. Deja vu hit her hard as she pulled her pack onto her shoulder and crossed the parking lot, crunching glass and debris under her boots. 

It was a cycle, over and over and over again. Pain was a cycle. Abuse was a cycle. She could never truly escape the factory, as much as she wanted to.

She took a breath, stopping at the doors. They had tried to board them up, to keep her out, but she wouldn’t be turned away. She wouldn’t let them suffer on their own. Marie wouldn’t be made to suffer. With a step back then a breath, she kicked her heel directly into the glass of one of the remaining doors. It rattled but didn’t break. She bit down on her lip, cringing at the sound that the glass shaking in its frame made. If they didn’t know by now that she was coming back to the factory, surely all the noise she was making would alert them. 

If Marie meant what she said about killing her, she was going to get her opportunity. 

The glass rattled again, worse this time, as she kicked it again. She had prepared for this, pulling the glass breaker from her belt and holding it against the door. With some force, the breaker snapped, popping against the glass and sending a spider web of cracks across its surface. She took a step back while putting the breaker back in her belt, then with a skip slammed her heel into the apex of the cracks. The glass shattered, flying into the lobby of the factory.

It exhaled a breath of stale air at her, making her scrunch her face against the smell of rot and death. Just another gaping wound in the factory. If people wanted in she had given them the perfect vantage point. Hopefully though, there would be nothing to explore once she was finished here.

It was dim inside the factory, darker than she knew it had been from her first return. She didn’t waste any time with pleasantries, simply jumping over the counter and heading for the gate behind it. They had chained it closed, but she had prepared for that too. It wasn’t a thick chain, and while she could have carried around something like bolt cutters, she had opted for a battery operated dremel. It was going to be noisier than bolt cutters, she had known that, but weight and space were an issue she had to account for, so noise was going to have to be something she suffered with.

Drilling through the links was easy and she pulled the chain from the rolling gate and pulled up on the handle, forcing the gate up and giving her access to the hallway beyond. Putting the dremel back into her bag she pulled it on and started into the darkness. She flicked on her flashlight and tucked it in the loops of her backpack strap, letting it shine in front of her so her hands could stay free. 

Everything was just as she and Jansen had left it–just as she remembered–the only difference was she was alone now. That always seemed to be the case for her.

The main hub of the factory was exactly the same, with the exception that Huggy was no longer standing in the middle on his platform. She turned to the Game Station door and was greeted with another rolling gate and chain. At least she could say they had put in some effort to stop people from continuing to break in. It was unfortunate that she was so persistent. 

She stopped when the gate rolled up and she was faced with the abyss of the hallway beyond. Turning with a contemplative look, she glanced around at the other doors in the hub, the ones she hadn’t been down. There were the offices and the PlayCafe, among others: Maker Square, PlayCare, Playtime Theater. She could look around– should look around–see if there were answers, but that felt like a waste of time and a more likely way to be caught. 

But still… she stared at the hallway for the offices. Maybe there’s something.

With a shake of her head she turned her back to the hub, walking towards the Game Station. 

There was nothing for her behind her anymore. Whatever life she had built died the day she decided to come back into the factory, the same way the life she had lived inside the factory died the day she escaped. She was free only because she believed she was, now that she knew she never had been, it changed things. 

She was only free now because nothing was going to control her again. Not her fear. Not her anger. Not her grief. For the first time she truly felt free, and nothing was going to change that.

Chapter 36: Down Under

Thirty-five

Down Under

 

The Game Station looked the same as when she had left it despite the noticeable lack of bodies. 

She didn’t think she wanted to know what happened to the Huggies she had killed there, but it was hard not to guess when their blood trailed towards the train tracks and down towards the Theater. Her only choice was to follow the trails along the tracks, through the gap in the doors sealing off the Game Station from the tunnels, and down until she hit the Theater. 

It was a much longer walk than she remembered, also much darker, much colder, and much more terrifying. She wasn’t sure if the electricity had been cut off to the rest of the factory on purpose but it didn’t matter as long as she was able to get to PlayCare. 

The tracks became much steeper, curving towards the Theater and she stopped for a moment to look at the path that diverged. 

Shipping.  

Letting out a breath she continued. She tried to keep her steps quiet, using the wooden ties to stifle some of the hollowness. Dust coated her lung, stuck in her throat, tickled her nose, but she refused to cough, sneeze, or anything to draw attention to herself. 

It was hard to know how much farther she had to go, her watch told her she had been walking for over a mile but it hadn’t felt that far last time. She looked back. Maybe she had missed a turn somewhere. She looked in the direction of her destination. There were no other turns. This was it. She either found it or she didn’t. 

I’ll find it, she assured herself. 

She continued. 

The silence was starting to make her feel a bit mad; sounds, whispers, other footsteps. They could have been completely real but also she had no trouble believing she was making any of it up. There was nothing to see, nothing to smell but metal and dust, all she had was the ground under her feet. The tracks continued down, turning and turning like a corkscrew, she could barely see thirty feet in front of her, all there was was wall. 

Finally, the walls started to lighten. It was a warm glow that turned the white tiles yellow. 

Alli flicked off her flashlight and approached cautiously. She didn’t hear anything but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t hear her. The last thing she needed was something to see her and tell the others. 

The platform for the Theater was inviting, warm and bright.

She had to keep going. 

Getting to the PlayCare station shouldn’t take her very long now.

She abandoned the light, choosing to take on the darkness again. She was trying not to think about it too symbolically—attempting not to get caught up in her head and personal emotions. The darkness is where I belong. I came from the pits of hell and that is where I will return. So much for not getting caught up in her own emotions.

It didn’t take her long to make it to the PlayCare station and she pulled herself onto the tile, trying to ignore the rubble to her right. The train had been there. Now it was not. Where did it go?

She hurried up the stairs, starting to feel breathless and panicky. She couldn’t let herself freak-out now, it wasn’t convenient and there was no time. 

There wasn’t a tram for her as she climbed to the top of the trolly station. 

“Shit,” she breathed, looking around. She hadn’t wanted to climb down the wires to get to the daycare but it was looking like she might not have a choice. Dropping her back to the ground she pulled out her pulley and handle. Glancing up at the wire she then looked around the station for something to climb on to reach it. Her gaze landed on the doorway of the office, the door still open. With a breath she moved, pulling her pack up after her and putting it on her shoulder and walking into the office. 

The rolling chair was dangerously unstable, but it was also the only thing tall enough and yet not bolted down. 

She latched the pulley on the cable and looped the handle through it. Then she took a strap from her bag and looped it around and through the handle, then around her legs so she could sit from the pulley. The last thing she needed was to be absolutely exhausted by the time she got to PlayCare, or slip and fall during the descent and not even make it halfway through this God forsaken plan she had come up with.

Her watch beeped alerting her to the fact two hours had already passed. She was making better time than she had planned on. 

With a breath she stepped off of the desk chair and hung for a moment, before the pulling took the momentum and started to descend from the station. She passed through the tunnel of the station and blinked against the stale air of the caves. They looked practically the same, though she now knew where all the factory’s power was going. Every inch of the caves seemed to be illuminated in some fashion, every crack and crevice and railway. 

The pulley started to buzz, her weight and gravity pulling her faster down the cable. Her hair was flying and she had to narrow her eyes, her stomach dropping as the cable turned and she was swung out to the side. She was going much too fast, faster than she had expected for sure, but still way too fast. 

PlayCare came up hard and fast and she curled into herself as she passed through the hole in the ceiling and sped down towards the in-dome station. She zipped past it, the force taking her partially up the other side, but she didn’t have any mechanics to keep her going up so she ended up falling backwards towards the station again. This happened a few times, back and forth, back and forth, until she was finally comfortable climbing out of the strap and jumping to the ground on one of her down swings. 

She climbed onto the platform, taking a heavy breath and looking around the PlayCare. It was exactly as she had left it. 

Splendid.  

Now that she was here she was going to have to find the elevator to the lower levels on her own, Poppy was no longer going to be her tour guide. There wasn’t quite a place to start, she wasn’t sure where it was or where it would be, but she could search the employees offices hidden in the walls around the dome–where they looked down at the kids who had lived in the PlayCare. That was probably about as good a start as anything. 

There was a buzzing around her as she walked away from the platform, a humming in her ears and a trembling in her fingers. She stopped, looking around, unsure what was causing it or why it was affecting her. 

“Alli?”

“Holy shit!” Alli spat, swinging around to look at Lilly. “What the hell is your problem, sneaking up on people like that?”

She started to shake her head. “You really shouldn’t be here.”

“I came back to fulfill my promise–”

“No, you need to listen to me; Mommy meant it!” She sounded panicked. “You need to get out of here.”

“I can’t,” Alli said as Lilly grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the Counselor’s office. “It was one-way.”

“That’s not going to convince Mommy,” Lilly said as she shoved Alli into the building then glanced behind herself at the stillness of PlayCare.

“Why are you here?” Alli turned, crossing her arms as she watched the doll.

“This is where I need to be–”

“I promise it isn’t–”

“Just–!” Lilly put up a hand to stop her. “Don’t question me. You’re in no position.”

Alli conceded. 

Lilly then passed her and started down the hallway towards her office.

“Where is everyone else?” Alli asked.

Lilly sucked in a breath. “Dog is with me. Cat’s still in Home, I think. Mommy went back upstairs to make sure no one came in. Kissy and Poppy have been taking care of Huggy in the Theater.”

Alli frowned. “So nothing changed? Everyone’s simply gone back to the way it was before.”

Lilly let out an irritated breath. “It’s not as simple as that,” she had her hand on the doorknob as she turned to face Alli. “We don’t have any army. We don’t have guns, or weapons. We are the weapons, and unless we want to die just like everyone else, there’s no one to sacrifice ourselves for.” She pushed the door open, revealing DogDay sitting on the floor inside, reading a braille book with his nose. 

“Lillith?”

“Yes,” Lilly said with a breath.

“Who’s with–?” He didn’t bother to finish the question. “It can’t be.”

“It shouldn’t be,” Lilly grumbled.

“Angel?”

Alli took a breath. “Yeah, it’s me.”

He tipped his head at her. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“So I’ve heard,” she said, closing the door behind her.

“Mommy is not going to be happy– Poppy is not going to be very happy.”

“Neither of them need to know,” Alli said. “Actually it’s a good thing I found you. I need to go down to the crypt.”

“The crypt?” Lilly glanced at Dog. “No, down is the prison.”

“I’m sorry, the what?” Alli’s eyes went wide and she blinked at Lilly as if she couldn’t believe that was something she had just said.

“The prison is under us, and the crypt–as you call it–is below that.”

“They got a whole ass prison under this bitch?” Alli squeaked. 

“I wouldn’t use those choice words, but yes.” Lilly laced her hands together.

“Oh my god,” Alli practically choked.

Silence melted over them for a moment before DogDay decided to break it.

“Should we tell anyone you’re here? Is Ollie allowed to know?”

“No,” Alli said with a shake of her head. “Ollie and Poppy are working together, and the last thing I need is for Poppy to tell Marie.”

“So you’re going to be doing this completely on your own?” Lilly’s eyebrows were furrowed.

Alli nodded once.

“You don’t know what’s down there,” she whispered.

“I can guess, that’s all I need.”

“No.” She said sternly. “You don’t know what it’s like down there.”

“Enlighten me.”

Lilly looked at Dog again.

“The prison is where they took the toys that didn’t meet their expectations with the transformation.” DogDay faced down towards the book that was held in his lap. “It’s where they sent the bodies. Everyone they killed during the Hour of Joy ended up down there to feed the hungry.”

Alli’s nose twitched with a sneer.

“You say you’ll be able to imagine, but I don’t think you have the knowledge to make something like this up. I can’t even believe someone human came up with an idea like that.” Lilly shook her head.

“Will you help me get down there? I need to kill the Prototype–”

“You can only kill him if you get past everything else first. He has a lot more security than just Huggy.” Lilly was watching her.

Her pack hit the door as she leaned back, trying to take everything in. “I already came to terms with the fact that I’m going to die here.”

“That doesn’t mean you need to,” Lilly said gently with a small shake of her head. “You should have stayed outside.”

“And left Marie here to suffer? Left you?”  

She glanced down. “You didn’t need to come back for me.”

“Any of you then.”

She shook her head again, curls bobbing. 

“What did you honestly expect me to do?” Alli asked, tone harsh and snappy.

“Forget about us! For your sake and ours.”

“Do you not realize how inane that sounds? You expect me to honestly forget everything after what’s happened to me? To Jansen?”  

Lilly crossed her arms and tossed her head in annoyance. “I can see now why she threatened you to stay away. Unfortunate that it didn’t work.”

“I was just as affected by what was down here; in case you forgot, I have metal bones.”

Lilly glanced her up and down. “And you think that gave you the right to come back?”

“I’m not doing this for you, then. I’m doing this for me.”

She snorted. “Sure, Mommy will believe that.”

Alli studied her for a moment. “What happened to you?”

Lilly blinked. “Nothing.”

“No, you’re different.”

“I got wiser. Something you could learn from.”

“Oh my god–” Alli put up a hand.

“I would think that out of anyone you would be wiser than this!”

“I got down here in one piece, doesn’t that give me some sort of credit that quite possibly I know what I’m doing?”

“No, it doesn’t!”

Alli tisked. “You sound just like her.”

“Who?” Lilly sneered.

“Marie.”

This made her pause. “We were best friends.”

Alli looked at her from behind her brow. “Yeah. I remember.”

Lilly took a breath, then shook her head as if she couldn’t believe what was happening. “Fine. I’ll take you to the lift–”

“Lillith!” DogDay warned.

“But that’s it!” Lilly went on. “I will get you there, I will push the button, and if you come back up you come back up, if you don’t…”

Alli nodded. “That’s all I was asking for.”

Lilly looked more than disapproving when she turned from Alli to kneel in front of DogDay. “I’ll be back.”

“Don’t let him see you.” DogDay warned.

“He said he was going to the tunnels.”

“That doesn’t mean he’s not back.”

Lilly patted DogDay’s paw with her hand. “I’ll be okay.”

“You better be,” he growled.

She gave him a small smile. “Be right back.”

He let out a breath and nodded.

She stood and turned back to Alli, smile dropping. “Let’s get this over with.”

Chapter 37: Piles

Notes:

TBH, if this chapter feels short/lackluster/low effort that’s because I didn’t really feel like writing this lol. I wanted to, so I started, then I got to the point where I got bored so I just ended the chapter as quickly as possible T.T
I’ll get back into the swing of things, I promise, but first I have to get through the end of this semester. Thanks for all the support this far, I promise I’ll make this chapter of PP just as good as the previous ones.

Thirty-six

Piles

 

“Here,” Lilly said, turning to face Alli as she stopped in front of the lift. “Once you go down, don’t expect to come back.”

“No shit,” Alli muttered at her. “You think I came here expecting to save some form of myself?”

“I don’t think anyone knows what you do, not even you; so no, I never expected anything.” 

Alli ran her tongue over her teeth. “Whatever.” 

Lilly eyed her. “I hope you achieve what you’re planning.”

Alli slid the railing closed behind her, turning to face her. “We both do.”

Lilly inclined her head then turned and started back down towards the Counselor's office.

Alli ran her tongue over her teeth again then turned and pulled the lever on the control panel. 

The lift rattled and started to lower, the ground coming up to swallow her. The rusty sound of crunching metal echoed around her as the strips of lights running up and down the shaft flickered and the lift continued to lower.

She grabbed the gun out of the back of her waist, starting to feel the pounding of her heart in her hands. Breaths were thin and shallow, palms clammy with sweat, throat starting to tighten.

The lift settled at the bottom of the shaft, echoing hallowly.

She glanced around silently, vision feeling dark around the edges.

The steps down from the lift were slick with dust, the soles of her boots leaving prints in the layer. 

The beam of the flashlight clipped to the side of her gun swung side-to-side as she looked around the space outside the shaft. 

Everything down here smelled like rot and metal.

She took a breath that rattled in her chest, blinking in horror at the piles of toys that were heaped along the edge of a roughly carved pathway. 

The smell of metal was stronger here, the dirt under the toys having crusted over with blood. 

She shifted a small step forward, shining her light up and down the piles, knowing something had to be out there, watching her.

Everything was illuminated red, the pipes of red mist blowing over her head, drifting down even lower under the factory.

A forced exhale escaped her and she put the back of her hand to her mouth. Holy shit. Swallowing hard, she started forward, keeping her steps as silent as possible as she moved through the valley, between the piles, and towards whatever was on the other side.

Turning around a bend in the path, she stared towards a building so large it was built past the view of the ceiling and floor.

She gawked at it more a moment, struck into bamboozled stillness. How the fuck is this possible?

Squeak. Squeak. 

She whipped towards the noise, gun raised, flashlight warbling around the mountain of bodies as she tried to pinpoint the source of the noise.

A small CatNap doll tipped its head at her.

She asked no questions, had no patience, didn’t care whose mind was possibly trapped within the metal and stuffing.

Bang

The toy fell limply from its spot on the pile, rolling to the floor where its blood joined the rest.

Alli inhaled, looking back towards the building—the prison—and continued forward.

Squeak. Squeak. Squeak, squeak.

Things started to shift behind her and she let out a tired breath, glancing over her shoulder before turning back to the prison and jogging towards the open gate.

Floodlights illuminated her and she squinted against the sudden flash of light, then turned to face the pile of bodies. 

“Mm~” a voice hummed. “How interesting.”

She didn’t have the option to turn and look for the source. By the crackle in the words she assumed the voice was coming from a speaker and not a voicebox. Her gun remained raised as the lights of the prison dragged her shadow towards the valley of bodies.

They shifted and rolled, soft, plushy limbs pulling themselves up from the clutches of long past friends. 

How can there be so many? She exhaled. How many kids did they kill? She inhaled.

Eyes glowed at her from beyond the beam of light burning down on the back of her head.

Were all of them kids? She swallowed. 

The first toy stepped into the light.

Bang!

It dropped to the ground without a sound.

Something wailed from far behind the wall of toys encroaching on her.

Bang!

Deja vu itched the back of Alli’s mind. It hadn’t been that long ago that she had done this exact same thing in the Game Station.

Bang! Bang!

The bodies continued to fall.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! 

Click.

She looked at the gun and grabbed for her belt, pulling out the second glock.

“Enough.”

Alli looked up, watching the toys retreat from the light and back into the shadows of the crypt.

“You may enter,” said the voice from before, the door of the prison squealing open.

Alli turned slowly, looking from the valley to the door. “HA!” she guffawed. “Hell naw.”

“You think you’ll survive out here on your own?”

She shook her head. “If I wanted in, I'd find a way in.”

The voice hummed thoughtfully. 

She eyed the door then turned, starting to walk around the outside of the prison.

“What do you think you’ll find?”

“Are you the Prototype?”

They made a sound of disgust in the back of their throat.

That answers that; she thought with a raise of her eyebrows. “Do you know where he is?”

“I wouldn’t tell you.”

She started to climb the rocks piled on the side of the prison. “Shame.”

“You won’t find a way in besides the front door.”

She licked her teeth, stopping at the top of a large chunk of rock, pulling out a fresh magazine and refilling her emptied glock. “Who are you?”

“You don’t have the right to be asking questions.”

She frowned, putting the gun back in her waistband. “Says who?”

A pause. “Me.”

“And what would give me the right?” She started down the landslide of stone along the side of the prison.

The voice sighed. “You’re too far away, I can’t hear you.”

She paused and looked back. “And what would give me the right to ask questions?” she shouted. Even if they couldn’t hear her she could hear them, the speakers surrounding the prison on all sides.

“Ah,” the voice said. “Nothing.”

“Great!” she called over her shoulder.

“Where are you going?”

She didn’t bother to answer, too far away from the front of the prison.

“Hello?”

She shook her head.

“Damn it,” they muttered.

Stopping, she crouched to look at a grate in the side of the prison. There were no bolts, and because the prison was made of stone it wasn’t welded into place. 

“Friction fit,” she assumed, mumbling to herself as she grabbed two rungs of the grate. Pressing her feet to the wall she pushed away with her legs, leaning back so she was parallel with the ground.

It didn’t budge.

She let out a breath and fell onto her back, resting on her pack. “Fuck.”

“Will someone find where she went?” The voice was still muttering, like a phone call that both ends forgot the hang-up from.

Alli rolled her eyes, forcing herself to her feet again.

“I don’t care if you think it’s grunt work.”

She continued walking, one hand on the outside of the prison.

“I’m the one who put you in that body, if you don’t go out there and look for her I’ll take it back!”

Alli tisked. “I can hear you!”

“Damn it–” the speaker went silent.

She shook her head. 

The ground had split and she looked down into the crevice, eyes trailing down the wall of the prison as it disappeared into the depths of the earth.

She needed to keep going.

A large opening in the earth dropped down into a tunnel that was lined with steel beams and pipes of red mist. Alli turned and dropped through it, landing on concrete instead of natural rock. She followed the tunnel in the same direction that she had originally been going, the air starting to feel damp around her. The tunnel twisted and turned until it eventually spit her out onto another train station platform.

She let out an irritated breath. “What is with this place and their fucking trains?”

The station door was locked—until she shot it—and she kicked open the door while trying to ignore the corpse rotting against the steps next to her. 

This was the first human body she had seen; the first confirmation that it wasn’t just the toys that had suffered here.

She looked around the office, taking in the dust and dirt and blood. What she wanted was a map, or something to show her what the hell the factory looked like on this level. She pulled open the filing cabinets and dumped the papers onto the floor, searching for a document that probably didn’t exist.

“Fine,” she said, then sighed deeply. “I guess we’re going in blind.”

Chapter 38: Inside

Summary:

Going to be so honest right now, this chapter of Poppy Playtime kinda sucks. Like there really wasn't much going on until the end and no one's around. It makes me sad that I left off Chapter 3 the way I did for this story because now Alli is alone and it's lowkey boring. Sorry y'all, trying to get my steam back. Before anyone suggests it, no I don't think Jansen is coming back, it just doesn't work for the end of the story I have planned. We'll just have to make-do with less dialog for now.

Thirty-seven

Inside

 

Alli climbed up the steps to the station platform and looked at the train and cars, twisted wires and crates stacked to the sides, the crane that creaked overhead and the cables that twang ed with rust-burdened tension. She took a breath full of dust, peering into the open train cars and at the mold and blood inside the padded cells.

There was no obvious way to get the train moving, the engine looked to be crushed against the wall of the tunnel in front of it, though there was a path if she decided to waste her time and walk. She wasn’t sure how long it would take if she did, but any other option looked futile.

The station was eerily still, making her feel ill with unease. She missed Jansen and Marie, and at this point, even Poppy. The shadows were whispering, making her check over her shoulder more than she needed to. She wasn’t willing to admit that she was in over her head, because she wasn’t, not yet, but she could admit she was getting close. The moment she walked into that prison, what was to say that she would ever walk out?

That was the point of this mission, wasn’t it? She didn’t want to sacrifice herself, but she also understood the consequences if she continued to let The Prototype continue to move without restrictions.

She pulled open the door of one of the cells and stepped in, shining around her flashlight as she took in the peeled back padding to reveal the metal behind it. Her light landed on a figure consisting of nothing more than fur and bones. Heart dropping to her stomach, Alli stepped closer, shining her light on the figure and the writing scratched onto the wall next to it. 

I tried to save them

Alli’s face twisted with grief and she turned, just to watch as the door of the cell swung closed and locked. “Fuck!” she spat, running up to it and pushing against it, pounding on the metal.

A low chuckle emanated from the car around her and she turned, looking up as a small screen flickered to life in the corner. “This is what happens when you chose not to heed my warnings—”

“You didn’t warn me of shit!” Alli argued, offended.

The Doctor paused, then sighed. “No, you’re right. This is what happens when I go off script.”

“Does this happen often?” Alli eyed the static on the screen.

“No,” he admitted, “but I like preparing.”

She nodded slowly to herself. “What happens now? I was gonna walk—”

“I’ve trapped you.”

“No shit.”

“What else is there?” he asked after a momentary pause.

“I’m here to kill The Prototype,” she said as if talking slower would help him understand better.

“Why on earth would you want to do that?”

She sucked in her cheeks. “Take a wild guess.”

“Well I can’t just let you in to find him.”

“Well yeah,” Alli agreed.

“I’ll bring you into the prison, and only if you survive will you be able to go down and find him.”

Alli gave the screen an exasperated blink. “I think I’d rather rot in here.”

“But I had my endoskeletons set up a nice puzzle for you,” he said, almost sounding disappointed.

She scratched the back of her head. “Are you lonely?”

“Pfft,” he scoffed. “No. Why would I be? What makes you think that? Who were you talking to?”

Alli rubbed her face with her hands and sighed. “Alright, I’ll bite. How are you going to get me into the prison?”

“Oh goody,” he said, but didn’t sound overly thrilled. “That’s for me to know and you to find out.”

With that, the cell rattled and Alli felt the floor come up to meet her, buckling to her knees. She was being moved, that much was obvious, but to where and by what she couldn’t tell. The cell turned and swung, making her stumble and roll into the walls, the bones crashing to the floor and flaking into dust. Something outside creaked, then the sound of skipping gears met with scraping metal, and with a large ca-chunk the cell started to fall. Alli was in free-fall for half a moment, rising off the floor as the cell plummeted, then everything came to a crashing halt and she was slammed to the floor again, the wind forced from her lungs.

The door of the cell popped open on impact, a red light slipping into the dark box to meet her.

Alli rolled onto her side, coughing as she tried to force herself to breathe.

“Good luck,” the Doctor said, then the screen went dark.

Alli stood and leaned against the doorway, looking out at the prison beyond, then she pushed out and onto a grated, metal catwalk. Looking around, all she saw were cells. Rows and rows of doors for many, many floors. Stepping to the rail of the catwalk she looked up through the protective cage at the rows of floors above her and down at the too many below her. It didn’t seem possible, none it should have been possible, but she supposed she wasn’t giving the factory enough credit.

The vastness started to settle on her then, the realization that there was a heavy possibility that this was going to take her much longer than she had hoped for.

She forced herself to breathe, to look around, and to make a choice. Keep moving.

Walking down to the left she found herself at a cast iron gate and door. This was more heavy duty than upstairs had been, and also a lot more concerning.

How had they gotten so much raw material down here?

There was nothing else on this floor that she could see. Her options were limited: force her way through the cast iron gate, or squeeze through the protective cage covering the opening in the middle of the catwalk.

“You look confused.”

“I’m just pissed off,” Alli assured him, looking up at the red eye of the camera that was peering down at her.

“I thought you were supposed to be this great hero—”

“Who did you hear that from?” Alli gave the camera a disparaging look. “I think you need more credible sources.”

“Do you want me to open the door for you?”

“Why would I want that?” she asked in her most condescending tone.

“Because I’m starting to think you’re not very bright—”

“You don’t even know me!”

He sighed. “This is going to be so tedious.”

“I didn’t make it that way,” Alli grumbled. She flipped open a pouch on her belt and pulled out her lockpicking kit, starting on the deadbolt of the door.

“Now I understand why Poppy hated you so much.” His tone was much darker than it had just been before, an eerie distinction that made Allie freeze.

She looked up slowly at the camera. “You’ve talked to Poppy?”

“I– well— no, not me,” he said, sounding startled, as if caught off guard.

She frowned then turned back to her lockpicking. Then it’s someone else I know who talked with him.

The door popped open and Alli returned her kit to her belt and started down the stairs, there she came across another door of the same make and material.

“There are going to be so many doors,” she whined to herself.

“I suppose I can admit,” the Doctor said, “I’ve been watching you for a while.”

“Great.” Alli rolled her eyes, grabbing the handle of the door and shoving it open, stepping out onto the next floor.

“You really are such an interesting specimen.”

“I prefer speciwoman.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

There was a crackle of static before the Doctor continued. “I’ll be very interested to see how you traverse this trail in your quest.”

“You’re acting like this is some side mission,” Alli retorted. “This is simply a means to an end.”

“If you say so.” He went quiet after that.

She wasn’t sure where she was going, just that down seemed like the best option.

Coming up to another cast iron door she opted to not use her lockpicks this time, instead reaching between the bars and simply opening it from the inside. Time was a luxury that she preferred not to waste.

Thundering down another set of stairs she came to—

“Guess what, another fucking floor of cells,” she muttered, stepping out of the stairwell. “How original, I love this for us.”

The difference with this floor was it was a solid piece of cement, not grates and rusty handles with janky fall-guards. There were still cells lining the walls, but there were also stacks of crates and boxes as if someone at some point had built a barricade.

Alli looked around, stopping at a wall at the far end of the room with a grated double door in the middle. The gaps of this one weren’t wide enough for her to reach through, so she pulled her lockpicks from her belt.

“This is your first great test, Allison.”

She went cold, looking up at the camera. 

“Your silence indicates surprise. Did you not expect me to know your name?”

“This isn’t the Doctor, is it?” she asked quietly.

“I am who I am, you need not worry yourself with the technicalities.”

She put her lockpicks back on her belt and instead drew her gun, an uneasy feeling having settled at the base of her neck.

“You seem lost about what you’re doing here. Warring within your own mind. You were told not to come back, do you remember?”

“Are you the Prototype?”

“You’ve slain a lot of my projects, but this is the first time I can watch up close and personal.”

The doors of the cells around her creaked open. 

She turned, raising her gun, back to the door, waiting.

“Does it help you to know that I have your sister?”

Alli trembled despite herself. Ignore him. Don’t let him in your head.

“She broke my trust. I don’t take very kindly to being betrayed.”

Shadows moved within the cells, large and sluggish. Hallow groans echoed around the block, making Alli break into a cold sweat.

“How will you die, Allison? Quietly? Or will you scream in your agony?”

Lowering her arms she took a breath and closed her eyes, giving herself two seconds to center her thoughts and calm her racing heart. The moment she opened her eyes it would be over for whatever was crawling out of those cells. For two seconds they were safe from her, but the moment her eyes opened, the moment she saw them, there was going to be no stopping.

With her finger on the trigger she inhaled, lifted her arms, and opened her eyes.

Chapter 39: Their Wills

Thirty-eight

Their Wills

 

Nothing in the cell block moved.

Alli waited, air going stale in her lungs as she listened to the ragged breathing coming from inside the cells.

A shadow to her right trembled then surged, the sound of metal scraping against the concrete echoing in the stillness of the cell. Something slithered across the floor, Alli’s view mostly obscured by the large door of the cell. A low, hollow gurgle emanated from the creature that slunk out of the cell, its red eyes illuminating the inside of its boney face. There was no skin, only metal bones, mechanics hissing and pumping within the skeleton. Ribs that resembled a birdcage protected a beating heart. Wires contracted and squirmed, rolling across the surface of the skeleton, bulging and constricting like muscles.

Despite the chill that had decided to make itself at home on her skin Alli didn’t hesitate to aim directly at the machine’s heart. She didn’t waver, simply pulled the trigger, and the sound of hissing air and fluid spilling onto the floor met her ears the moment the reverb of the shot faded away.

The machine fell, collapsed on the floor, and went still.

Alli waited for half a moment before turning to the next monster coming around its cell door.

A plushy body faced her, large button eyes and a painted smile. It cocked its head at her, dress tattered and dirty, mit-like hands stained blood brown to the elbows. The doll stepped into the dim light of the block, feet squeaking with every step.

A bullet punched its way through the ragdoll’s head, a spray of blood painting the floor behind it, but it didn’t fall. A second followed the first, then a third lodged itself in the doll’s chest. Finally, it fell, splashing into a pool of its own blood and twitching before going still.

Alli turned to the third cell, there were eight open in the block, and she was trying to keep track of her bullets as she faced the third monster.

A ball of rubber tentacles rolled towards her, no visible eyes or body other than flailing limbs. She shot at it, over and over again until the only sound in the block was the ringing echo of discharging bullets. The ball of slithering limbs continued towards her, leaving a trail of dark fluid behind it, and only slowing slightly.

Alli forced herself to move, skirting around the edge of the block, moving over the skeleton, while continuing to release bullets at the inky black not-quite-octopus. She stopped with her back to a stack of crates, pulling another magazine out of her belt and releasing the rest of the bullets at the ball before replacing it. She turned, climbing onto the stack of crates, shoving her empty magazine into her pocket and replacing it with the new one, no longer occupied with the tentacle ball as her attention was fixed on the new figure who had entered the arena.

It was eight feet tall and completely black, almost sucking the light from the block. White eyes bore into her, arms nothing more than tubes that dragged on the ground. It seemed fuzzy around the edges, as if it were living at a different frequency that everything else, faster maybe.

The tower of crates trembled under her and Alli looked down at the tentacle monster that was digging at the base of the stack. Without any other ideas she pulled a flare from her belt, grabbing the end with her teeth and lighting it, before dropping it onto the monster below her. The flare bounced off the tentacles but landed in the pool of liquid under it, bursting into flames and engulfing the monster. The ball writhed and squealed, sounding like frying mushrooms, and withered into a wrinkled version of itself, the fire still burning.

Alli looked back up at the shadow monster, raising her gun and giving a test shot.

It dodged, moving faster than she had ever seen anything else move before. It stopped at the other side of the block, still facing her.

Alli turned to the next monster that had bothered to emerge from its cell, long spider-like limbs attached to the body of a little boy, whose skin shone like porcelain. That was the only detail that saved Alli from losing all focus and being sick, watching the head lull and the blue eyes stare back at her. He fell easily enough, her bullet not only traveling through his head but shattering it into an unknown amount of tiny shards.

The shadow monster watched her, seemingly uninterested in coming much closer.

She opted to take the win and ignore it for now, turning to the next beast.

Mommy Long Legs looked back at her.

Alli went cold, her mouth went dry, and the air froze in her lungs.

Mommy stared at her.

If there was any emotion Alli had expected to see on Marie’s face it wasn’t indifference.

“How does it feel,” the voice echoed around them in the silence, “to stare face to face with what could be your greatest failure?”

Alli couldn’t move, mind reeling.

“You’ll have to kill it. Put it out of its misery.”

Alli trembled.

“If you don’t, it will kill you.”

Mommy blinked once, almost as if not hearing the voice over the speakers.

“Despite what you think, I’ve always had control. Nothing you’ve done here has been without my knowledge. Not even the Theater was safe from my watchful gaze.”

“Marie,” Alli breathed, hoping that it wouldn’t set her off.

“It won’t hear you.”

“Marie, please,” Alli tried again.

“Only I control their wills.”

Mommy twitched.

“I wish it didn’t have to be this way, Allison, I think we would have been good acquaintances in another life.”

Weird. But she didn’t bother to say so.

“How will you deal with this? How does your human mind work? Will your feelings take over your logic?”

Mommy twitched again.

“Can you kill the part of yourself that loves her? Or will you die to it?”

It. Alli looked at the Mommy Long Legs, studied it. Such specific wording for this Mommy Long Legs, compared to when he talked about Marie before.

“Make the choice Allison.”

Her hands trembled as she tried to force herself to lift the gun. This can’t be Marie.

“Kill it.”

But I can’t be sure.

“Fine. If you won’t kill it—”

Bang

Mommy Long Legs crumpled to the floor.

“Interesting,” he drawled, before the speaker crackled into silence.

Alli’s chest heaved and she resisted the urge to throw-up. Turning, she looked back at the shadow monster.

It stared at her, then pivoted slowly and went back into its cell, the door drifting closed behind it.

Alli looked at the double doors, then turned and looked down the length of the cell block to the other end. In the wall above her was a window that stretched the width of the block. That’s where she decided she needed to go next.

Chapter 40: The People

Notes:

Heyyy~
Sorry I've been gone for so long. I've been writing non-stop for a drama club I'm running, 10 scripts in a month, so everything else was cast aside. I'm hoping to try and get back into this story but honestly I've hit burn out and just writing a chapter this short was a struggle. Hopefully you all enjoy this chapter regardless, but I'll defiantly try and make the next ones better.

Thirty-Nine

The People

 

Alli worked her way to the end of the cell block and forced open the door blocking her access to the stairs. She started up, around and to a second door that she made her way past and into a room off the stairwell. There was nothing special in this room except a window and a door into an adjoined observation office. She tried the door and when it failed to open for her she grabbed a chair that was tossed into a corner and chucked it at the window. 

Reaching past the glass she unlocked the door from the inside and entered the room, taking it all in. There were a couple desks built into the walls and a control panel sitting in front of the window that faced the cell block. She approached it, looking at the number pad and pressing the four most worn out keys. 

A second door in the office opened and she glanced at it before her attention was directed to the other end of the cell block and the door that was opening there.

RIIIING!

“Holy shit!” Alli felt her bones try to jump out of her skin.

RIIIING!

She looked at the phone, bewilderment crossing her expression.

RIIIING!

“I would answer it.”

Alli looked up at the camera in the corner of the room.

“I wouldn’t usually put through a call like this but you’re… special.”

“I don’t think I will.”

“They already left a very strongly worded voicemail for you.”

RIIIING!

Alli looked at the phone.

“He didn’t sound very happy.”

She closed her eyes. “Fuuu—” 

RIIIING!

She grabbed the receiver of the phone and took it off the base.

The ringing stopped.

She put the phone to her ear. “Hello?”

“Allison?”

She let out a breath. “Jansen.”

“What the FUCK are you thinking?”

She swallowed hard, emotion clogging her throat. “I need to do this.”

“Leaving me a fucking suicide note on my voicemail?”

“I’m not killing myself,” she argued, “I just might end up dead.”

“You should have called SWAT.”

“No one else needs to die. You haven’t seen what it’s like down here. It’s… well to put it bluntly, it’s hell.”

“You’re allowed to have back up!”

“I don’t work for the department any more.”

He was quiet. “You’re really not coming back, huh?”

Her nose pinched with tears. “You were the best partner I could have asked for.”

“Alli please, don’t do this.”

“I don’t really have a choice at this point. They won’t let me go.”

“Why?”

She paused, trying to find an answer.

“Alli, WHY?”

“Because I wasn’t satisfied,” she said quietly. “I couldn’t let them sit here and rot. They’re afraid, and alive, and I just—” her voice caught. “Maybe I was hoping to save her.”

He let out a heavy breath. “You should have called me—”

“You almost died—”

“WE almost died, Al. We were in this together.”

She sniffed, vision starting to go blurry. “I’m sorry.”

“What am I supposed to do? You know no one at the station will put up with my ass.”

She chuckled despite the tears now sliding down her cheeks.

“Promise me something.”

“Yeah.”

“If you make it out, I’ll be the first to know.”

A smile brushed her face. “Every time.”

“I love you kid.”

Her hand instinctively covered her mouth as she suppressed a slight sob.

“Alli?”

“I love you too, Jansen.” She said, voice quavering. “Thank you for everything.”

“Don’t talk to me like this is the end.”

“Yes sir,” she breathed.

“I’ll see you on the other side.”

“Okay. Can you— would you bring Checkers when you come and pick me up?”

“You’re usual?”

“Yeah, with a large Coke.”

“You got it.”

“I’ll see you soon.”

“I know.”

The line went quiet.

“Jansen?” She asked, pulling back the phone to look at it only to remember there wasn’t anything to look at. “Jansen?” Grief kicked her hard in the chest and she put the phone back on the base, unable to hold back her tears.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Such human emotion. How weak it makes you.”

She crouched in front of the desk, holding herself up on the edge as she cried, chin to her chest.

“There’s a reason I left my humanness behind.”

She covered her mouth and nose with the crook of her arm, trying to stifle her own sobs but the reality was finally starting to settle in. 

What have I done?

“You really are such an interesting specimen.”

Alli sucked the air past all the snot stuck in the back of her throat, rubbing her face dry on her sleeves.

“You won’t be getting another call, just so you know.”

She stood, still ignoring the voice over the speakers, and looked at the cell block.

Keep going.

There was nothing else to do but move forward, so she did. 

The cell block was empty and unimportant but the room on the other end of it was most interesting to her. The main hub. She approached the guards desk, looking at the dead monitors and many control panels. One of the lights was blinking on the panels and she eyed it but had learned not to touch anything until she was ready. Instead she turned to take in the rest of the room. It wasn’t much unlike the main room upstairs in the factory, a hub to many different hallways.

Finally she turned back to the blinking light. 

Beep.

The door behind her began to roll open and she turned, starting down the hallway that had opened to her. At the end was a pile of rubble and what used to be stairs no longer were. She climbed onto the rubble, looked up, and gasped at the sight above her. Bodies, at least a half dozen of them, were hung by their necks from the ceiling of the stairwell.

Horrified was not the right word.

The factory had been fine until this point. Up until this moment she had not seen proof of the Hour of Joy. Up until now she had been able to easily dismiss Poppy. There had been no reason for Alli to focus on it, to think of the possibility that she might eventually find bodies here, that the factory was not only a hell-like prison but a tomb. A catacomb for all the employees who had been there and all the children who would never get to leave.

She dropped her backpack to the rubble at her feet, forcing herself to look away from the rotting clothes and flesh fused to bones. Opening her backpack she pulled out a long rope with a knob of weight tied to one end, it was ten pounds of pure concrete and with any luck she’d be able to toss it up to the last remaining bit of the stairs that was hanging over the well.

Pulling her backpack on again she took the rope about a foot from the weight and started to swing it. Looking up, she eyed the part of the railing she was hoping to catch and released the rope. The weight arched towards the railing and caught, wrapping around it and itself, and securing a position on the rail.

Alli adjusted her pack and wrapped the rope around her hips. Reaching up, she grabbed the rope high above her head and pulled herself up, twisting the rope around her feet to anchor her spot, then pulled herself higher again. Reach, anchor, pull. Reach, anchor, pull.

The rope swung slightly but not enough to force her off balance. The weight of her pack was making her progress slow but at least she was progressing.

She wrapped her hand around the railing and pulled herself up onto the stairs, then she wiggled her way onto the landing beyond them. Considering how much of the well had already collapsed she found it hard to trust the structure of whatever was left.

Standing, she took a few deep breaths, feeling the burn in her arms and legs, then started forward.

The hallway she found herself in was lined with doors. As most people would, she tried each one and when they didn’t open on their own, tried to forcefully kick them down. Some of the doors opened easily when she kicked them, others remained shut, almost like they were blocked from the inside.

When she turned the corner at the end of the hall she was once again met with a litter of bodies. 

She closed her eyes, letting out a slight breath as she tried not to think too hardly about the implications. Were all of these people missing-person cases? Had anyone tried to come find them? Why had they trapped themselves down here?

Weaving her way through the barricade of bodies she ended up at the end of a hall. Sitting there in a pool of dried blood was a corpse with a Head Guard nametag pinned to his uniform.

Alli glanced back at the cave of bodies at her rear then back at the head guard. Reaching forward she prodded his pockets with a forefinger before finding a ring of keys. Pulling it from the rotting clothing she shook it off and turned quickly, slithering back through the bodies and to the crumbling stairs again.

Landing at the bottom of the well she looked up at the rope and weight, but there was no way to get them down. Heading back to the guard’s desk she tried all the keys on the ring and unlocked the caps covering more large, flashing buttons. She pressed all of them, setting off lights and sirens as the doors to the other halls began to open.

She wasn’t sure where she needed to go so she closed her eyes and chose at random. What harm could it really do? The one she ended up choosing was one she decided she didn’t want to go down, after looking at the dimly lit hall lined with windows and no doors, so she chose again.

The doors around the hub began to close and she turned back to the desk to press all the buttons again. She stopped as her hand hovered over the buttons, gaze lingering on the only door that hadn’t closed. Her head snapped to the right, eyes trained on the camera that was watching her, and she flipped down all the caps of the control panel and started towards the one open hall.

This is so stupid. She stepped past the door frame and the door slid closed heavily behind her.