Chapter's theme:

[Projections- by CG5 ft Dawko]

~

A Flashback comes.

Claire opens her eyes just after she finishes one of the songs for the next cartoon. She feels more and more tired than before, her eyelids feeling heavier as the minutes pass.

"Okay. That's enough. You had finished for the day. 6 am tomorrow, and don't be late, right?" he says with a very cold tone.
"Yes, mister Lawrence. I'll not be late."

Claire sighs as the man nods, discharging the young brunette with a sign of the hand. Turning around, she puts her hand on the doorknob behind her, and exits the recording booth.

Searching in one of her front pocket of her jeans, she takes her pocket watch and opens it.

It's 2 a.m.

She sighs deeply. She's not gonna rest well, today. Her throat is sore: indeed, singing isn't that resting and cool. As the studio doesn't provide anything in order to heal the throat, she has to deal with her concoction of honey, lemon, brown sugar and vanilla. But it's not enough for her, as Sammy pushes everyone and mostly her so that the songs are made quicker than the animations.

And everyone is tired, and with all the efforts she's trying to do, her under eyes are becoming more purple, and her throat is always sore, even with her recipe. Why would everyone, without Mari, talk to her so badly? She hasn't done anything.

But she knows that's Susie's the responsible for all her issues. The second she had arrived here, Susie was already hating her. And-

Her thoughts are suddenly interrupted by someone bumping into her, making her falling on the floor. She quickly tries to apology, but a man's voice interrupts her.

"It-it's my fault, don't be sorry for that."

Claire lifts her head in order to meet the face of the voice. It was a young and brown-haired man, with a pale skin. His blue eyes are piercing in her khaki ones. His short hair is waving in the little breeze which comes from nowhere. He wears a long-sleeves shirt with dark trousers, and big black boots. In his right hand, he firmly holds a projector by its handle.

"My name is Norman, by the way."

His expression soon changes as he notices that the woman is still on the floor. He quickly puts his projector onto the floor, and holds a hand for the woman. She takes his hand, and he helps her in order to stand up again.

Claire lowers a bit her head so that she can look into his glacial irises. He's smaller than her, and his expression is oddly familiar.

"I'm Claire, you can call me Ms.Lockwood if ya want. Thank you."
"You're welcome."

The young man takes his projector back, and tilts a bit, making a little bow. The voice actress giggles deeply, and does the same. He continues in his way, as Claire resumes hers too, the two people rolling away.

She suddenly comes back into reality. Sitting back to the wall of the room, she looks in front of her the tall creature.

The ink creature has a big projector upon his head, wires coming out of it and connected to different parts of his body. A speaker is inlaying in his chest, connected by a wire to the projector.

His big boots must be the reason of the big squishing noises of the ink. His thin and long arms are resting on his sides, his montionless shape getting weird by the minute.

Dinah realizes that ink his dripping zon his yellowish projector, and that his light is flashing at her, but without blinding her. The Devil doesn't insist on thinking about how does the light doesn't blind her. The woman stands up with all her greatness, taller than the inky character.

With her tall shape, the Projectionist backs slowly away, but is soon trapped as Dinah walks forward toward him, taking a hold on his thin arm.

"Where do you think you can go like this, little Projectionist? Do you think you can flee from me?" Dinah asks, her great smile shaking.
"N-n-o... I was a b-i-t ner-vous."
"Hm hm..."

Her devilish head turns around, her cute pie cut eyes under the ink are looking left and right, all over the flooded place.

"It's been a long time since you've seen the whole studio, is it?"

The creature slowly walks toward the tall Devil, nodding.

"Since I was human, and thrown into the Ink M-a-c-h-i-n-e."

The woman nodds, analyzing what he had said. So he was a human too? And thrown in the Ink Machine by Joey?

"I know what to do about that. Would you join me and get out of this prison?"

The Projectionist stops dead in his tracks. Why would she ask him to do that? What does she want in return?

"Why?" he asks, his light shining upon her thick ink.
"Why? I need some company up there. I know that I can count on ya. And you could help me too. I know you want revenge too."

The ink creature slowly nods, deep in thoughts. Indeed, he couldn't decide anything else than following her. He had an eerie thought when she came and were sitting, so vulnerable, on the ground. It reminds him a distant memory, when he was human.

He then nods surely, taking a step towards the Ink Devil.

"I accept, but I'm kinda afraid if..."
"Norman, you are not a monster. I..."

Norman stops listening to Dinah, and dives deep into his mind. How could she have known? It's been so long... Nobody had called him Norman, listened to him, or even talked with him. Alice would always talk to him coldly and not so much.

" So?"
" Y-e-a... Thanks you so much."
"Don't thank me."

As Norman nods shyly, Dinah looks around, trying to find an exit. Resting her eyes upon him, she soon notices that if he takes an inky puddle, he will not be able to walk just after that, it'll take time before he puts himself back together.

" I don't think you'll like to teleport with ink puddles, you'll not-"
"We can use the elevator" he points it with his bright light, pointing the cabin upstairs.

Dinah shares with him an accomplice gaze, soon walking towards the stairs, walking slower in order to be at the same level as him.

Following and eyeing every single movements of the Projectionist, the Inky Devil steps into the old cabin of the elevator, and gazes as the doors close.

"Where are we going, Dinah?"
"Hm... My territory is at the first floor, I'm afraid to say that we'll need to teleport as soon as we reach the condemned iron door after Heavenly Toys."
"And so?"
"I'll do my possible to put you back together but don't worry, you'll be the same as before. Just a matter of time and skill."

The Projectionist freezes when Dinah talks. He doesn't want to return into the ink puddles, he hates when he's nothing more than a drop in the infinite ocean.

He comes back into reality and pushes the button for the level K. The cabin slowly but surely ascends.

~

It's difficult to choose. He doesn't know if he should trust her or not. She has something not good behind what she's showing to him. And that's making him feeling nervious and anxious. He remembered Dinah from the cartoon he projected, and he doesn't know if she's different or not. She can be the same devil within the cartoon, who bother Bendy.

"We don't have all life in front of us, Norman." she grolws deeply, getting impatient.
"I-I..." he stutters.
"Look, trust me, I won't do anything more than teleport you with me and then put you back together. Don't cha listened to me before?"

The inky man shrugs, unsure of what we could decide. He has to find a response, a quick one.

"Yes. Okay. Fine. I trust you." he responds.

Oh dear, why yes? He sighs under his breath, unable to form thoughts for the moment. What has to be done must be done. If she uses him and then throw him into the ink, it'll be his fault.

"Perfect. Get ready."

Before he could do a movement, Dinah grabs his shoulders with one long arm, forcing him and herself into the Ink Dimension. His ink under the grasp of her arm sting a bit, his ink bubbling.

Everything is black, and only Dinah is darker. He could easily form her shape into the ink

The sound of her breath is covered by whimpers and cries of agony. Suddenly, a light shines in front of us. It's not the light from his projector, it's the studio.

~

Dinah gets out of the portal in one piece, soon followed by the melted Projectionist, coming out of the portal on the wall, dripping on the wooden planks. She grabs the projector before it falls on the ground, and creates a great bowl with her ink. She puts his ink in it, with his projector and his speaker.

Turning around, she notices as she's right in front of the entrance door, that famous wooden door, where all the things started.

Not now, she needs to find a room where she can establish her lair. She walks quickly, she mustn't waste that precious time she has.

Storming within the corridors of the first floor, she couldn't find an appropriate room for that. Between her hands, the bowl shakes, and the ink starts to bubble.

"It's so weird in there, please Dinah!" the speaker talks.
"I'm trying to do my best, Norman."

For the third time, Dinah passes nearby the Ink Machine, those three doors with nothing in them, turns to the right then the left, and encounters the main room. She had seen too many times those sketches of Bendy on the table in the complete middle of the room.

An idea flashes within her mind. Maybe she can search at the second floor, near the Music room! Turning around, she leads her steps toward the great hole, carefully sits at the edge of it, sliding directly and holding a grasp on the wall, so that her speed can reduce. Landing on the floor down the big hole, the Ink Devil doesn't waste time and runs within the stairs and corridors.

"Hang on tight, Norman."

~

Dinah stops. Her ink bubbles for no reason. Turning her head toward the wall, she earn a really strange sensation within all her being. Small white flashes are lighting in her vision, soon placing a door on the wall.

White flashes appears another time, and the door disappears. Out of the blue, an eerie new force throbs into her thick abyssal ink. An odd and yet familiar sensation envelopps her ink, like a sort of rage, and grows up as the second pass.

She puts Norman on the floor, and her two hands, previously balled into fists, break a lot of wooden planks each time. With a final hit, the broken planks fall, and reveal a well-preserved wooden door.

Dinah's inky tentacles takes the bowl from the door and follows the Ink Devil as she bursts into the large room. A puzzled smile is curled upon her face.

Indeed, her eyes landed on a white ripped dress, resting on a chair, with some big white gloves and a mask... Of Dinah herself, in her cartoon form. This ripped dress was partially covered in deep dark ink. Just beside the items, the inky woman notices a cassette tape player.

She swallows her inky saliva, while her ink his starting to rush all over her body. Dinah reaches for it, and pushes one button for playing the cassette tape.

"                   Claire Lockwood

Ah.. What else can I say? It's been better these days... I don't know why he did harassed me, but now... We're just crazy in love for each other... I'm living in a dream, oh dear...

Joey accepted my request for building a little sanctuary for me. I've always wanted to have mine since I've seen his one. It's so cozy and so... I don't have words to describe this privacy we have... We could kiss and hug each other without the others to notice us and to tell Joey about our couple... We're doing nothing wrong, we're loving each other like no one can do, and still, that... Argh... That bitchy Susie wants to see me on the ground, defenseless, vunerable. She's angry because I stole his beloved one? And she's jealous 'cause I've done a single outside the studio? Sorry, but you're the most horrible person on Earth I've ever seen and met, I couldn't still even make out why did Joey hired her?

Just don't ask. She's that lil bitch that everyone follows like a goddamn sheep.

I've nothing wrong with sheep, since he's calling me 'my little lamb' ... I couldn't resist for him... He's so handsome... So gentle... So perfect for me. I've found a man that cannot hurt me anymore, and that's the best part of my life... Now, I have to quit this goddamn studio with him. But first, I need to seek for jobs. We're so close to be happy together without hiding each other from the world. I'm almost... Happy... "

Dinah's eyes are opened wide. The memories she had wasn't nothing... It was... Real ? So she had that poor soul in her? Claire was thrown in the Ink Machine by Joey?

She's suddenly taken aback as her words are echoing in her head. Retreating too far, she hits the bowl with her foot. Jumping backwards, she takes the bowl in her hands before it touches the ground, looking at Norman's projector.

~

"Thanks you, I thought-"
"Don't, Norman. I'm the one who should thank you for helping me." she replies deeply.

The Projectionist steps out of the bowl, then the great pentagram on the floor. He stands in front of her, waiting for Dinah to make a move or to talk.

"Now that I had put you back together, we need to find Gargoylya-"
"What are you doing here my lit-"

The mysterious voice cuts itself. As it came from the opened door, Dinah turns around, looking at the curious character.

He has a humanoid form, with a dark inky skin, which shines with the bulb at the ceiling. He wears yellowish overalls, tainted by inky stains. Upon his face, lays a Bendy mask, broken and tainted by the ages and ink.

"C-Claire?" the voice shakes.