Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

20 sheets of paper.

20 sheets of paper was all Charlie had to work with for the next scene.

20 sheets to draw 40 more frames on.

Charlie looked down at their already finished frames. They only had room for one drawing per sheet, and it was taking almost 30 minutes for each.

Charlie was way behind on schedule, and was currently staying after hours to get finished. They had to have all their frames done by tomorrow morning, and they were nowhere near close.

Panic was setting in- they had a VERY strict deadline to uphold and at this rate they wouldn’t be done anytime soon. Running out of paper would only make things even more stressful, especially since the studio was running out a lot faster than usual.

Things seemed to be getting worse at the studio- constantly running out of materials, pay being cut, people quitting left and right- Charlie was worried the studio might go out of business.

Their thoughts of anxiety only increased further as they rummaged through their drawers- where would they get more paper??

Things just got worse and worse as they tripped over their chair while moving towards their shelves, hand flying out to stop them from falling. In the process, they ended up spilling the paper on their desk all over the floor, and Charlie let out a frustrated groan as they began picking up their drawings.

They stopped, however, as a hand reached down to pick up a sheet of paper in front of them.

Charlie looked up to see a person standing above them, face hidden by the drawing they were looking at.

The person lowered the paper, and revealed themself to be a man, around Charlie’s age. He had long, curly blond hair and bright blue eyes.

“So this is where all that noise is coming from. Need a hand?” The man asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.

“Oh, uh- thank you, sir, but no. I’m fine.” Charlie replied, picking up a few more sheets.

“Please, call me Sammy.” He told them. “And I insist.”

He began helping them gather up their papers, neatly placing the ones he’d picked up in a stack on their desk. Charlie repeated his actions, placing their papers on top of his.

“Thank you, sir- er, Sammy.” They said to him, slightly awkwardly. “And I’m sorry if I was making a lot of noise- I didn’t know anyone else was still here at this hour.”

“Neither did I.” Sammy replied. “I thought someone had broken in for a moment. Glad that isn’t the case. So… what is it that you’re up here freaking out about?”

“I’m running out of paper. I have over 40 more frames to draw, and- and I already checked the closet down in the main office- I’m screwed. I’m gonna be fired!” Charlie reply miserably.

Sammy was silent for a moment before holding out a hand.

“Follow me. I think I know where you can get more paper.” Sammy told them.

“Really?” Charlie looked up at him with hopeful eyes.

Sammy nodded with a small smile.

Charlie looked at Sammy’s hand before they slid their own into his.

Sammy led them down the hall to the elevator, pressing the button for Level 2.

As the gates closed and the pair started their descent, Charlie gave Sammy a confused expression.

“Sammy- this is taking us to the music department. What are we doing down here?” They asked.

“In my office I have a couple stacks of paper you can use.” He told them. “I’m the head of the department.”

“I- you’d really let me borrow so much? Don’t you need it?” They asked him with a slightly worried tone.

“No, I don’t really. I’m almost finished with the last piece for this episode, and if I really need to I can buy more. It won’t be a problem.” Sammy shrugged, and the elevator soon dinged for level 2.

The two walked through the empty halls, and Charlie felt a shiver go down their spine. The studio was so creepy at this hour- the halls barely lit, the sound of ink slowly flowing through the pipes, that damned demon’s smile everywhere you turned- it was truly an uncomfortable atmosphere.

Sammy opened a door at the end of the hall and stepped inside, Charlie following after him.

(Its currently 12:18 am and i have refused to take my sleep meds bc i know i wont get this done if i dont finish it tonight and mama didn’t raise no bitch sleep is for the WEAK)
(Istg insomnia is a superpower when it comes to late night fanfic writing 💀 /j)

Sammy opened a closet and took out 2 stacks of paper, handing it to Charlie.

“Here. Will this suffice?” He asked them.

“Oh, this is more than enough- thank you. Thank you so much!!” Charlie smiled widely, gladly accepting the paper. Their face then fell as they noticed how low Sammy’s supply was now.

“Err, Sammy- actually, are you sure you want to give me this much? That’s more than half of your supply- wait, why does the music department have more paper than the art department, actually?”

“Oh, this isn’t the department’s supply- it’s my own personal one. And this isn’t anywhere near all of it- I have many backups in case that damned pipe breaks and ruins my supply again.” Sammy’s voice got slightly agitated at the mention of the pipe.

“Oh… well, in that case- thank you. It really does mean a lot, this is a huge help. I might actually get finished tonight!!” Charlie’s tone was excited, smiling down at the paper stacks as if they were a gift from a god.

“Of course. If you need anything else just ask, alright? I’m more than happy to help.” He grinned back at them as he spoke.

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.” They turned to leave, then suddenly stopped.

“Oh! I don’t think I ever told you my name.” They spoke. “I’m Charlie. Charlie Reese.”

(No but i genuinely forgot to have them tell him 💀💀💀)

“Well, it was a pleasure to meet you Charlie. I hope we see each other again soon.” Sammy said.

“Me too. Have a good rest of your night, Sammy!” They replied, waving before turning to leave after Sammy said his goodbye.

Charlie walked back down the halls, that uncomfortable creepiness crawling up their back once more- twice as bad since they were alone now. But they payed no attention to it as they practically bounced down the hall to the elevator, clutching the paper to their chest carefully as not to wrinkle it.

As they started back up towards the Art Department, Charlie thought about their interaction with Sammy.

They’d heard plenty about him- he was almost infamous in the studio for being short-tempered and constantly frustrated. It confused them quite a bit- the angry, snappy composer they’d heard of was nothing like the charming, kind person they’d just met.

Maybe he was just tired, Charlie wondered. They knew they certainly were- in fact, they could barely keep their eyes open.

Still, something about their interaction just didn’t align with anything Charlie knew about him.

Charlie continued to think about this until they reached their office. Once they stepped inside, they turned their radio on, dipped their pen in their ink, and got to work on the next few frames.

Hours and hours went by, until finally they were done. They had finished their work.

Charlie knew they should probably head home- sunlight was just beginning to peek through their window- but before they could even begin to stand, Charlie’s head collapsed onto the desk, instantly out cold due to their stress levels and lack of sleep.

Chapter Text

“Charlie…? You- you awake?”

Charlie groaned softly in slight annoyance and turned their head to the opposite side.

A hand gently shook their shoulder, earning another, louder groan.

“Wh… who’s…?” Charlie opened one eye slightly, and then both flew open at the sight in front of them.

“Mr. Drew?!” They jerked up, eyes wide, almost spilling their drawings all over the floor. They quickly scrambled to keep them all on the desk as they slid towards the edge, almost falling out of their chair in the process.

Joey let out a hearty laugh at this, giving Charlie a wide smile.

“Careful there, Charlie- don’t want to make a mess.” He said, amusement in his tone as he placed a lone sheet that managed to slide off back on the desk.

“I’m so sorry, I-“ Charlie began, but Joey dismissed them with a wave of his hand.

“It’s alright, you don’t have to apologize. I understand you were working quite hard last night. Even so… next time you’re planning on spending the night though, make sure you don’t knock over a very expensive inkwell.” He said, gesturing to something else on the desk.

Charlie, confused, turned to look- and with a sinking feeling, saw their inkwell laying on its side. A small puddle of ink was pooling out of it, slightly smeared across the desk.

“Oh… oh shit- I’m-“ Charlie began, but was once more cut off.

“Like I said before, there’s no need to apologize. I understand.” Joey said. “Just make sure it doesn’t happen again. Alright?”

Charlie nodded quickly, face still burning with embarrassment.

“Oh, and before you get to work- you may want to go wash off your face.” Joey added. “Now have a good rest of your day, and please don’t be afraid to come talk if your having any problems.”

Before Charlie could ask why they needed to wash off, he had left. They sat there in their chair for a moment, slightly stunned from their interaction and quite tired.

Wash my face off…?

Charlie rubbed their eyes and yawned, standing up, but paused midway when their hand came back covered in ink.

Their blood ran cold and they froze before dashing towards the bathrooms.

Once they made it inside, they looked in the mirror at their reflection. Instantly shock and horror struck them like lightning when they saw the massive ink stain smeared across their face. It even seeped into their eye- they couldn’t make out any details, just inky blackness. Charlie was surprised they could still see.

They began frantically washing it off, desperately rubbing the water and soap into their face until their face went numb, but it was no use. No matter how much soap they used or how hard they rubbed, the ink stayed put. It seemed to stick to their skin like glue.

What the hell is this shit made with to make it stick like that?! Charlie thought.

As they continued to desperately scrub at their face, a woman walked in through the door. As she looked at Charlie’s reflection she froze.

“Oh my gosh, are you okay?!” She exclaimed.

Charlie turned as she quickly walked up to them, concern in her eyes.

“What happened?? Does it hurt??”

“No, it doesn’t hurt- but it won’t come off, I- I don’t know what to do-“ Charlie said, panic in their tone as they stumbled over their words.

“We should get you down to the infirmary- maybe they’d be able to do something about this. I can take you down.” The woman told them, leaning closer to get a good look at Charlie’s eye.

“Yeah, yeah- you’re right.” Charlie agreed. “Thank you, uh…?”

“My name’s Maybelline. And you are?”

“I’m Charlie.” They replied.

“Nice to meet you. Now, let’s get you to the infirmary.” Maybelline said, motioning for Charlie to follow her.

—————at the infirmary——

“So there’s nothing you can do? At all??” Maybelline asked the doctor.

The doctor shrugged helplessly.

“This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. I’ve seem it time and time again. But there’s nothing that will make it unstick. Charlie, you may have problems seeing in the future, but nothing I can do will fix this. I’m afraid it’s going to be permanent.” He gave them an apologetic look.

“PERMANENT?!” Charlie exclaimed, eyes wide. “I’m stuck with this FOREVER??”

“I’m sorry.” He replied. “I know this is a shock, and a major adjustment, but there are other patients here I can help. So if you wouldn’t mind…”

Charlie nodded.

“Yeah, okay. I, uh- I guess we’ll leave.”

With that, the pair began back towards the elevator.

“I’m so sorry, Charlie- I really thought there would be something he could do.” Maybelline said as they began towards the upper levels.

“It’s okay, I’ll… I’ll be fine. He did say the worst thing that could happen would be bad vision, right? I- I can handle that.” Charlie flashed a fake smile at Maybelline as they spoke.

The gates to the 2nd level opened and Maybelline stepped out.

“Well… this is where we part.” She said, turning back to look at Charlie. “Hope to see you again soon. Watch that eye, okay?”

“I will- see ya.” Charlie replied, and waved as the elevator closed and went up to level 1.

Charlie hoped that their eye would be okay- they really did. They planned on asking Joey if they could take the rest of the day off to go see another doctor, just in case.

Still- other than the obviousness of the situation, something about this felt… different. Wrong. Very, very wrong.

Chapter Text

Charlie was walking through the studio to the elevator a day later.

Since Joey let them leave early the day before, they were once again behind on work- and once again worried they may lose their job because of it. They needed to be fast and work even harder today.

Even worse- since they weren’t able to replace their inkwell after the incident yesterday, they needed more ink. And the Art Department was quite low on that too.

It felt like they were low on everything.

Which was why Charlie felt so guilty about going back to Sammy to ask for ink.

As the elevator dinged for level 2, Charlie stepped out- and froze.

Yelling could be heard a hallway away.

“God damnit, Echo, again?! Can you stop dropping the only notes we have for this song??” Sammy’s voice shouted in frustration.

A second voice, one Charlie didn’t recognize, answered him equally as agitated.

“I didn’t mean to drop them, Sammy!! It was an accident! Can you calm down?! It’s not like they’re ruined.”

“I don’t care. Just get the damn papers to the place they need to be. Now.” Sammy hissed, and the sound of stomping footsteps followed by a slamming door echoed throughout the halls.

Charlie slowly walked around the corner to see a person crouched on the floor, grumbling angrily as they picked up the scattered papers off the floor.

“Hey… need help?” Charlie asked.

The person looked up at Charlie with slight surprise, but nodded.

“Uh… sure, yeah- I wouldn’t mind some help.” They replied. “Thank you.”

“Of course!” Charlie said, bending down to pick up some papers themself. “The name’s Charlie. You?”

“I’m Echo.” The person replied as they stood up, papers in hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you as well.” Charlie handed Echo the rest of the papers, who began to arrange them in order.

“Is Sammy… always like this?” Charlie asked.

“If you mean a grumpy shouty bitch then yes, he is always like this.” Echo said, a hint of frustration in their tone. “You do one thing wrong down here and he’ll have your head.”

“I… wow. I wasn’t expecting him to be that rough- I knew he was… short tempered, but I didn’t know it was that bad.” Charlie said.

“Dunno why you’d be surprised. He’s not exactly known for his kind nature.” Echo said with a shrug.

Charlie decided against telling Echo that was exactly what they knew him for.

“So what are you doing down here anyways? You new here or something?” Echo asked.

“Oh, no, no- I need to get ink, and… I figured that Sammy… could help.” Their tone was slightly unsure.

Echo gave Charlie an incredulous look.

“Excuse me, what?? You think Sammy of all people would possibly give you more ink. SAMMY. You do realize who you’re talking about here, right??” Echo sounded slightly shocked.

“Yeah yeah I know... but I just-“

Charlie was interrupted by the sound of a loud bang. They jumped, turning with wide eyes to look.

A pipe along the wall had burst near the stairs and the elevator, causing ink to spray all over the place.

Charlie stepped back with wide eyes.

“What the-“

“For the love of- ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!” Sammy’s voice shouted from further down the hall, furious. “AGAIN?! THAT’S THE THIRD TIME THIS MONTH!!”

Charlie stepped back as he rushed down the hall.

“FUCK!!” Sammy let out a groan of frustration and tugged on his hair.

“Wally? Call Maintenance- we have another pipe burst.” He called to someone sweeping the floor.

“On it!” The man said, quickly hurrying into another hallway.

Sammy’s eyes then landed on Echo and Charlie.

“Echo!! Why are you still standing there?! Didn’t I tell you to get those notes to the recording studio??” He snapped.

“I got a bit distracted by the exploding pipe, Sammy. I’ll get going now.” They growled, glaring at him. They then turned to Charlie.

“I’m gonna need to get going now. Maybe we’ll run into each other again- and good luck with Sammy. Like, seriously- you’re gonna need it.” Echo said.

“See you around, Echo. And… thanks?” Charlie replied as Echo walked away.

“Hey, you!” Sammy’s angry voice suddenly called to them, just as sharply as with Echo. “Where the hell are you supposed to be??”

Charlie slowly turned around, a heavily nervous expression on their face.

“U-uh- hey, Sammy.” They said, voice uncertain and slightly scared.

Sammy’s eyes widened a bit as he recognized them.

“Charlie? What are you doing down here? Don’t you have cartoons to be working on?”

Sammy still sounded frustrated and snappy, but Charlie could hear quite a decrease in how harsh his tone was.

“I do, and- and that’s why I came down here.” They said, still nervous. “I… I was wondering if I could ask one more favor of you.”

Sammy had walked over to them as they spoke.

“Hm? Oh, well- sure. I don’t- …mind.” His expression went from one of mild anger to concern as he spoke, his voice faltering slightly towards the end as he stared at Charlie’s face.

“Charlie? What the hell happened to you!? Are you okay?? Why is your eye- what happened??”

Sammy leaned in closer to inspect their eye, his concern only growing stronger, and without thinking he reached towards their face to get a better look.

Charlie gave him a surprised expression as he did so, jerking back slightly out on instinct.

“Sorry, sorry- but are you okay??” He asked, recoiling instantly, face slightly red from embarrassment.

“Y-yeah- I’m fine. It’s fine. I’ll be alright. The doctor told me that I should be fine.” Charlie replied, face tinted red a bit as well.

“Are you sure? That looks bad-“ he started again.

“I’m certain. I’ll be alright.”

Sammy still looked unsure, but nodded.

“If you’re sure… now. What, uh- what was that favor you needed again?” He asked.

“Oh, right, right! Ink. I need ink. I’m fresh out, and the Art Department is out until next Monday.” Charlie said.

“Huh. You’d think the Art Department would be the one place that would have more than enough of that stuff.” Sammy murmured, before looking at them again.

“I have a spare inkwell I wouldn’t mind you using. Here, follow me. We can go get it.” Sammy offered. He sounded completely fine now- just as kind as he had the first time they’d met.

Charlie nodded gratefully and the two of them started towards his office.

“Thank you so much, I swear this will be the last time this happens…”

Charlie’s voice slowly faded out as the two walked into Sammy’s office and closed the door.

Chapter Text

It was late at night.

Charlie was in their bed at home drawing, their radio playing in the background.

I hope I get to see Echo and Maybelline again. Charlie thought as they dipped their pen into an inkwell sitting on the nightstand.

They’re both pretty nice- I hope we can become friends. It was so kind of Maybelline to help me with my eye… speaking of which- I think I’m starting to lose my vision in one eye. Or at least- something’s changing.

Charlie closed their good eye, and as they did so suddenly the colors in the room dimmed until they were almost grey.

I dunno what’s happening- the doctor mentioned eyesight loss, but- I just can’t see colors. And how haven’t I gotten ink poisoning?

As Charlie’s thoughts wandered they barely even registered what they were drawing.

Sammy was so worried for me earlier as well… why was he acting like that, anyways? He was so… rude to everyone else- always snapping and shouting. So what’s different about me?? Why is he so nice to me, it doesn’t make any sense.

(THE SUGAR IS KICKIN IN FOLKS WAHOO I FEEL SO FUCKING MENTAL ITS NOT EVEN FUNNY I THNIK IM INSANE)

I hope I see him tomorrow too anyways. He is a pretty nice person when he’s not yelling at everyone else. Plus, he’s been so helpful so far- if it weren’t for him I’d surely be fired by now, if he hadn’t given me the paper and the ink… the ink.

Charlie’s thoughts stopped for a moment before they continued.

I wonder what ink tastes like, honestly. It looks like it would be pretty tasty.

They looked over at the inkwell on their nightstand, pausing their drawing.

I could try some. Just one small drop… no, no- what am I thinking? It’s ink. Why would I drink it?

Charlie smiled softly from amusement and went back to drawing.

But it wouldn’t hurt to try just a bit.

They thought once more.

No, no- stop that. It could be dangerous.

As Charlie drew, their thoughts warred inside their head, reason vs. these odd intrusive thoughts. It got so overwhelming they couldn’t even try to focus on drawing.

The thoughts telling them to drink the ink didn’t even feel like their own thoughts.

Finally, they gave in.

Alright. Just… one small drop. And that’s it.They decided, reaching over and picking up the small inkwell.

After dipping their finger in, covering it in the jet black liquid, they placed their finger on the tip of their tongue.

The strange flavor immediately bursted upon their tongue. It was bitter, very bitter, with a taste similar to that of vegetable oil.

Charlie swallowed the droplet, scrunching up their nose. That was utterly revolting.

Knew I shouldn’t have done that. They thought.

Looking at the clock, Charlie realized how late it was and decided to head off to bed.

They thought about the ink as they put on their pajamas.

They thought about the ink as they brushed their teeth.

They thought about the ink as they climbed into bed and turned off the light.

All they could think about was the ink.

It tastes horrible. Utterly disgusting. It made them want to throw up.

And yet they wanted more.

Charlie closed their eyes tight, hoping to fall asleep, but as the minutes turned into an hour, they couldn’t sleep at all. And the thoughts of the ink wouldn’t go away; they were only getting worse.

Another hour went by and they couldn’t take it.

Not even bothering to turn on the lamp, Charlie sat upright in their bed and grabbed the lone inkwell off the nightstand in one movement.

Uncorking the top, they lifted it to their lips and tilted their head back.

The disgusting, smooth liquid coated their tongue and slid down their throat, and in moments the entire container was empty.

The thoughts were silenced immediately.

Charlie stared down at the empty inkwell in their hand.

What the hell just happened?

Their thoughts were once more silenced though as a massive wave of exhaustion hit them so hard they could barely place the inkwell back on the table before they were knocked out.

Cold. Charlie was cold.

And wet.

They couldn’t see a thing.

Charlie tried to reach out into the dark abyss and was stopped by a slimy, smooth substance.

Heart speeding up quickly, Charlie tried to move their legs and was barely able to do anything.

What was this stuff??

Charlie opened their mouth to cry for help but were silenced by a thick, bitter liquid pouring into their mouth.

Ink. Charlie realized as they closed their mouth and gagged. I’m surrounded by ink.

They tried to turn their head to look around desperately, but once again could barely move. The ink was too thick.

Despair and terror set in as Charlie struggled to move, to speak, to think. Their heart raced and they once again tried to scream, but only swallowed more ink.

Then, a light appeared.

Charlie slowly and painfully moved their head to look upwards.

The ink above their head had parted slightly, revealing a bright yellow glow a couple yards above them.

Light meant an escape.

Desperately, Charlie began struggling harder against the ink, pushing their arms up with great effort to slowly swim upwards.

Slowly they made progress towards the light, their hope rising with them as they got closer to the light.

They were so close now that Charlie could almost touch it.

They reached forward to grasp at the light, to break through this endless abyss of ink- and felt something grasp their ankle.

Charlie’s movements were halted as they tried to tug their leg away from whatever was grabbing hold of them, but in the process was yanked down lower than before.

Terror quickly grasped onto Charlie harder than the thing on their ankle as they desperately attempted to swim upwards once more, but weren’t strong enough to fight against it.

Charlie reached their hand up one last time as an attempt to grasp at the light but it was no use; they were already further away than when they had started.

As they were dragged further and further into the darkness Charlie opened their mouth and managed to release a muffled, choked scream of fear for a split second before the ink came pouring in. They continued to desperately choke and thrash as their lungs filled with the thick black liquid.

The last thing Charlie saw was the now small sliver of light disappear before everything went black, and they lost all feeling in their body.

Chapter Text

Charlie jerked awake with a scream, sitting upright in their bed.

They panted heavily, eyes wide; sweat dripping down their forehead as they looked around frantically.

Charlie was back safe in their apartment, sitting in their bed.

There was no ink abyss. No unseen monster grabbing their ankle. And the only light came from the sun rising outside their window.

It was just a dream.

Charlie flopped back on their bed with relief, letting out a soft chuckle.

They were safe.

After a few more moments they sat upright again, getting out of bed. They’d slept in- they needed to get ready for work now.

Trying to put the dream behind them, Charlie got started on their morning routine.

———————————————————————

Weeks went by. And things only got worse for Charlie as the time went on.

Inside the studio, things were looking up. Charlie grew closer with Sammy and Echo and Maybelline. They were given a raise for how well they were working. They moved into a better office so they had more room to work.

But the ink still haunted them, as if it were a dark, dripping ghost.

Constantly they thought about it. Constantly they needed it. What started out as a mild craving every few days quickly snowballed into a massive daily need. Charlie was stealing more and more ink from the studio to consume at home- and each night they did came that same awful nightmare. Each time they had it, the light grew farther and farther away when it appeared.

Weeks turned into months.

Things were getting serious with Sammy. The two were closer than ever before- and so were Charlie’s friends.

But the studio was falling apart.

If Charlie thought things were bad before, they were even worse now.

It wasn’t just the Art Department having shortages- it was the whole studio. Pay was being cut even heavier than before- working conditions were slowly getting worse and the pipes were bursting more and more often.

Months turned into a year.

Charlie was consumed by the ink. And so were many others. Sammy included- no, if anything, Sammy worst of all.

The two of them slowly began to grow further apart due to this issue- as the ink consumed their lives completely, they could barely even think about each other anymore- they could barely think of anything at all.

More ink was being consumed by Charlie and the other ink-addicted workers than was being used in the cartoons.

The poor workers had to be at least in the room with ink in order to have relatively sane thoughts- and those sane thoughts were still entirely filled with the want to consume the damned liquid.

The ink consumed their life so heavily that they didn’t even realize they were alive.

Charlie was no longer Charlie.

They couldn’t even think anymore. Couldn’t function.

And slowly, everything finally went black.

They didn’t know how long they were trapped inside that darkness.

But it was hell all the same.

For what felt like forever they were trapped inside a dark void, their thoughts drowned out by the screams of the others.

Every worker that had been consumed by the ink were here. Their minds connected through the black puddles.

It was a constant ensemble of wails and screams, of cries for help, to be saved, to be free. They all wanted to be set free.

Charlie couldn’t stand the noise for long before they themself began to scream as well- screaming to drown out the sound of the others.

Screaming to be set free.

And then, after what felt like years, they fell.

There was silence.

They had feeling again.

A body.

All around them was ink, pressing in, suffocating them.

It was awfully familiar.

And above them came a light.

Desperate and determined, they began to swim upwards. The ink pulled back on them the same as it always had, but this time was going to be different. This time they were going to make it.

Closer and closer they came, slowly moving up, until the light was so blinding they couldn’t see a speck of the black ink surrounding them.

They reached their hand up, and for the first time in 32 years, they breached the ink and grasped onto the light.

It was warm.

It was comforting.

As they grasped onto the light, suddenly, they felt their body violently torn upwards, and they were sucked completely into the light.

It was even more suffocating than the ink.

They let out a cry of shock as they felt their body being squeezed through what felt like a cold, hard tunnel. The tunnel curved, and suddenly they were free.

Crumpled into a ball, the thing slowly moved their limbs, getting used to the feeling of a physical body. They flipped over onto their back, feeling the cold wooden floor against their back.

The ink creature then opened their glowing yellow eyes to stare up into the large pipe of the ink machine.