So my plan is to have a switching POV with Drew and Haesel, him trying to looking into the past of Henry and his work while she is dealing with what had become of the studio.

Haesel

Haesel looked up at the dilapidated building, boarded up to the teeth and suspiciously looking like it came out of a cartoon itself. The door hung open, possibly signifying the fact there could be another person inside the dark building beside the owner. Double checking the address written on the back of the note, Haesel heaved a heavy sigh before hiking up her bag on her shoulder. She hated to have leave her friends in the dark about where she went, but something about the note she got from Joey didn't sit right with the young animator. Pushing open the door, Haesel stopped in the front hallway to let her adjust from the bright sunlight to the dimly lit studio. The front door swung shut, almost causing the stoic animator to jump.

"Alright Joey, Lets see what you went through all the trouble of tracking me down to show. I can only hope Drew doesn't pester Henry about this." Haesel muttered to herself as she walked carefully further in, unaware of the ink trailing behind her.

A short hallway off to her left caught her attention, so she decided to check there first. Tucked in a corner to her left was a single old drawing desk, character sheets tacked around on the walls. Seeing a set up similar to her own, which was a mimicry of Henry's, had her smiling the small smile that no one every got to see. She knew in an instant this had been Henry's desk when he worked there, where he created some of her favorite shorts with the little devil darling. Behind her, was a newer animation area, possibly built after her father left the studio. Nothing seemed of interest to her so she moved along back toward the main area and to the rest of the studio.

Following the studio's signs, it was a surprise when she found ink staining the wall, spelling 'Dreams Do Come True'.

"Who the hell needs this much ink anyway? Not my top priority, but who left this here? I hope I can help others, if they are here like Mr. Flynn said." Haesel continued to mutter to herself as she avoided the ink puddles.

Eventually she made her way to the room that said Ink Machine on it. Looking around she noted the chains diving into a pit on the level below where she stood, and a switch that most likely operated the chains. The power box next to it, however, was empty.

"Good grief. Looks like I'm going to be handling power cores. Maybe there are extra nearby." Haesel muttered as she started to scan the area around her.

One of the cores was on the shelf and the other in a chest in front of it with a gear. Deciding to leave the strange gear alone for now, Haesel turned her attention back to the switch and its power box.

Sliding in the cores, Haesel saw out of the corner her eye what looked like energy move through the wires to the switch, as if she was in a cartoon.

"Creepy." She said as she pulled down on the switch.

Once the chains stopped screeching from disuse, they started to haul something up from the depth of the building, prompting the thought of 'how deep is this place?', and showed the fruit of Joey Drew's labors.

The ink machine was massive and impressive. The very machine that created the life she had gave her the creeps, almost as if someone was watching her from behind. Moving back from the edge, the animator started to look around for a way to start it, even with thoughts urging her to leave the studio, going back home to her friends and telling her father of what had happened, and to leave the place that could very well become her prison. But another part urged her on, further into the studio, begging her to investigate, to help, to free the people she hoped weren't but knew were trapped in its depths with a monster in human form.

Turning from the machine, she steeled her nerves and made her way back through the halls. Despite Shawn Flynn's warnings of what Joey Drew was doing to the employees, Haesel knew she had to do something from the inside while Drew would be working from the outside, if she knew her best friend well enough. A new area opened up and Haesel hesitated at the entrance. On one hand, going deeper meant that she would be signing away her soul to the devil in the walls, if she had one, while on the other mean she was willing condemning the people who came before her to death and eternal damnation if she left now.

The choice of helping versus fleeing was one she always made the same way. Haesel kept her eyes wide as she moved deeper, checking everywhere she could. She made the mistake of relaxing going down a hallway, only to jump when a board fell from the ceiling in front of her.

"Stupid old decrepit place." She muttered, absent-minded as she wiped at her nose.

Going to her right first, Haesel entered a area that seemed more like a shrine rather than a break room to her. The six pedestals, each with a hand drawn picture of what should be placed there.

"Wrench, Gear, Record, Plush, Book and Ink well. Now where have I seem one of these things? Oh wait, the ink machine room. Funny assholes. Real funny." Haesel said, as she copied her list down on a piece of paper from her bag.

Moving back out of the supposed break room, the animator almost didn't notice the cutout in front of her as she put the paper back in her bag, jumping when she did notice.

"Geez, if Drew saw, he wouldn't let me live that down. Who put you here? I sure didn't hear anyone walking around here. Why do I find demons cute? I'm blaming Dad." Haesel said, her eyes moving past the cutout to something behind it.

"Omne nefas... is that Boris?" Haesel asked, as she tripped over feet to get a closer look.

Her brain couldn't accept what her eyes took in, and once again Haesel was glad for her ability to not throw up bile upon seeing the horrible sight that greeted her.

Wanting to get away, Haesel cautiously reached for the wrench tucked into the broken rib cage, almost slipping on the ink and falling in to the pit under the cartoon corpse, only to feel inky hands grab her waist and stabilize her for only long enough to grab her objective.

"Creepy. Shoot." Haesel looked around for what could have helped her only to see what was on her hand from earlier.

Pulling out one of the handkerchiefs Henry gave her, Haesel held it to her nose to collect the fluid falling from it.

Making her way around the studio, Haesel was able to find everything she needed, including taking a break to play darts in the area where she found the book 'Illusion of Living' written by the very man who invited her to the decrepit studio.

"Why do I always make the worse decisions when it comes to choices? I'm sure somehow, I'm either gonna die or be changed in someway. Lets march forward to my death." Haesel muttered again as she made her way back to the break room to deposit all the donated items on their pedestals. Turning to the switch, the blinking words had changed.

'Low Pressure'

"Now someone is messing around. Why so much effort to turn it on?" Haesel asked, once again turning to leave to find a way to increase the pressure.

In place of the cutout, which had disappeared when she came back from collecting, an ink shape stood, watching her without any visible eyes.

The only defining factor was the slightly melted horns.

"Bendy? Were you the one to help me earlier?" Haesel asked, her voice starting to squeak as her nose started to drip again.

The figure didn't say anything, melting into a puddle before it merged with Haesel's shadow, making it darker than the other ones.

Slightly concerned with the actions of the ink creature, Haesel made her way through the studio again to find some way to increase the pressure. A slight pressure in her core, from the creature in her shadow, led her to an area she barely explored before in her search for the offerings, as a tape marked with the name Wally Franks stated.

Now aware of another sentient figure, if she could call the ink creature that, Haesel was far more careful with her reactions when the cutout peaked around the corner.

When the projector turned on, the ink creature pulled itself from Haesel's shadow, waiting just outside the room as she entered.

"Still cute and I'm still probably selling my soul to the devil for this, if I had one that I cared about." Haesel said, finding a button labelled FLOW and pressing it, causing a flow of Ink into the room.

"deorum mei da fortitudinem, I hate being covered in Ink." Haesel grumbled, making her way back to the entrance, and to the ink creature.

"Are you laughing at me? Its not funny asshole." Haesel turned to the creature, once her ears registered the slight wheezing sounds as a laugh.

Angry mutters, both towards the demon and herself, followed Haesel like a cloud, near visible like in a cartoon, as she made her way back towards the break room again, hoping it was for the last time she had to make the walk. While she was glad for her black boots to hide the ink, when it dried, it made they stiff and annoying.

Pulling on the slightly stuck switch, Haesel listened for anything over the roaring of the ink as it moved fast through the pipes lining the walls. Something twisted in her gut, begging her to leave, even as she pushed it away to investigate the ink machine again.

'Rest in peace as this will be my grave. I will end up just like them.' A high pitched voice, similar to the one she used for Mackenzie, said in the back of her mind, as dark as ink and as deep as the studio apparently.

The ink demon that sat in her shadow disappeared, unease settling further into her gut.

The entrance was suddenly boarded up, causing pause in the young animator, before she slowly made her way closer.

A different version of Bendy, as off-model as the one that helped her, appeared and seemed to regard her with a sick kind interest, like a killer would when they try to decide how to carve up a victim.

'Haesel Ross' It called to her, swiping a large arm towards her, as if it couldn't control its limbs.

"Mr. Drew, I'm guessing then. What abomination have you created?" Haesel inched backwards slowly, keeping what eye contact she could.

'Not an abomination. A new way of life. Life for Henry.' The demon replied.

"By testing on your employees? Dad wouldn't like what you've done. He tries to bury you in his past, something I don't even know." Haesel replied, almost back to where she could flee.

'Then join them in your grave, your prison. Henry will come. This I know.' The demon bared its sharp fangs as it started to flood the studio.

Haesel gave up the pretense of calm and collected as she turned tail and fled through the studio, dodging ink puddles and falling pieces from all over the place.

Her boots were loud as she splashed through the areas back towards the entrance, but couldn't drown out the roaring of the ink demon behind her, calling for her head.

The ink creature that had helped her before appeared, bigger due to the influx of ink in the area, and directed her back to the entrance. As she went for the final dash to get out, her eyes registered the faint glow of something just before it under the ink, when the ink creature grabbed her, surrounding her in ink that felt warm, like it was a body wrapped around her, as boards gave way under her feet. It couldn't stop her head from bouncing against floor when they reached the bottom of the drop.

When Haesel could open her eyes again, all she saw was black ink that felt like fur against her face. Raising her head, she saw the white bow tie and the floating head above that, her mind connected the dots. Bendy was curled around her, protective in how tense his shoulders were.

"You're finally awake. I was scared my attempt to save you was all for naught when you weren't moving after the fall. I'm sorry I left ya at the mercy of the Liar, but had he sensed me, it woulda been worse. We should move lower. He sticks to the upper levels since some of his 'creations' want his head on a platter." The cartoon demon said, helping the animator to her feet.

"Do you know what he has been doing? What he is doing with the machine or why he wants Henry?" Haesel asked, wiping ink from her eyes.

"The Creator? I don't know, toots. Come on, we can't go up so we might as well keep moving." Bendy said, grabbing her wrist to pull her along.

Haesel knew the demon was telling the truth and she had no way of getting back without trying to scale the walls, probably slick with ink to get back up. Further in the studio, with only candles and Bendy's advance eyesight in the dark lead the animator to a room that would have scared her if she had seen it before the abomination that had become Joey Drew.

A pentagram drawn in ink, surrounded by candles and coffins that the animator hoped were empty. Walking ahead of the ink creature, Haesel went to inspect the pentagram, seeing if she could match the symbols to its purpose, when her vision blurred. Flashes of visions passed through, showing things she didn't understand, and when she could finally see again, it was blacking out with the demon with her calling her toots as she fell into obliviousness.

Drew

One of the first things that Drew did when he found out that Haesel wasn't at home was check her room. As rare as it was for any of them to enter her room without her already in there, Drew knew that there had to be something up for her to disappear so suddenly and without any indication of where she went. Ink bottles, some empty and some half full, littered her floor. Nothing seemed out of order at first glance until Drew decided to closer inspect the cork boards. Some of the character models were missing, carefully removed from the boards, and so was one of the newer sketch books that laid in piles around the room. The portfolio book and a few of the full ink bottles were gone, along with her bag. A quick look in her closet showed it had been wreaked, as if Haesel was digging for something she had hidden in a hurried matter. Her desk was also in an unusual matter of disarray. A check through the drawers noted that her phone and portable charger were gone, along with the portable drawing tablet. The question that still plagued Drew was why? Why take certain things but not others? Why change her routine? Why leave no note?

Turning to leave, Drew noticed something that was newer on the cork board closest to the door, usually reserved for reminders to Haesel from herself or Henry, when he couldn't reach his daughter and got one of the others.

Contact Henry if I'm not back or dead from the Studio by tomorrow night. -HR

Ripping the note off the board, Drew retreated back to his own room to do research. Haesel knew something and it was up to Drew to figure out what she found and help her. The note was obviously meant for him, as she knew he would be the first to check out her room when her lack of presence became known. There was also a print of ink in the lower corner, something that wouldn't be there if Haesel written it last night, preferring to be online rather than working on one of the newer shorts when she was angry about something. There was also code written in the short message, something Haesel only did when she knew she was being watched by someone she didn't trust.

1) No number. Henry changed his often enough that Haesel always included the most recent on her notes to Drew, meaning Drew would have to use one of Haesel's account to contact the old animator.

2) use of 'or dead'. Haesel only used when she was sure of a deadly presence was involved in some way. From experience, Drew knew that Haesel had a hard time dying from practically anything.

3) Studio was capitalized. They always referred to Henry's old work place as the Studio, giving Drew a point of reference of where she went.

4) Tomorrow night. By the code, it meant as soon as dusk hit. Henry always had Haesel return home by dusk, giving her some wiggle room in curfew.

Drew took the time to check the sun outside, seeing that it was getting close to dusk, and he still had no answers as to why Haesel disappeared as she did. Turn his attention back to what he knew, Drew started to think up a plan.

First on his list was getting in contact with Henry. If the anyone knew what was going on with this mystery Joey Drew, it would be the old animator. Drew figure the best way to spend his time waiting for dusk to arrive was to do research. His best bet was to look into the cartoons made during his time at the Studio and see where he went from there.

Hours later, Drew had a list of names of workers from the studio and current living addresses. Most of the names were crossed off, people who got a mystery letter in the mail and disappeared the next day, with no communication afterwards. Others said that the one he was calling for had never came home thirty years ago,gone forever. All they had in common was they all worked at the same studio that shut down thirty years ago, not long after Henry himself left. The disappearances date to around ten years ago, with the exception of the ones from after the studio closed, with Shawn Flynn and Haesel being the most recent. Dusk had hit and passed and Drew opened a new tab on his computer.

Logging onto the network in Haesel's room, Drew navigated his way to the chat client that Haesel and Henry used.

Muse: Henry, we have a problem.

Ink: Drew? Where is Haesel, she should have messaged me by now.

Muse: Thats the problem. She left a note for me on one of her cork boards. She went to the studio today, and isn't home

Muse: she also mentioned a potential death situation

Ink: THE STUDIO?!

Ink: Why did she go Drew? How did she know where to go? I tried so damn hard to keep her away from there

Muse: Why? What is so bad about the studio?

Muse: she got a letter from some one named Joey Drew.

Ink: Joey? No Drew this is very bad

Ink: Joey has wanted her since I stole her from under his nose thirty years ago

Ink: The studio will become her prison if not her hell or death trap

I hate how long it took to write this and how much my shoulders hurt hunched over my laptop. I hate school but college at least has interesting people.

Next Chapter: Haesel makes her way through the music department with a demon in tow and Drew learns more about Henry's past.

Ciao!