Waking Up
Playtime.Co, a place that was once every child's dream of visiting or staying to get taught their by their kind, and intelligent teachers. It truly was a great place once, a place made for comfort, a place kids could come and feel safe, that's what it was, until the experiments started. Making us into animals for the public and even the children's enjoyment. It only stopped once we had enough, it only stopped when we fought back, it only stopped after The Hour of Joy.
Yet things only got increasingly worse.
I should have noticed, I should have been a more comforting presence for my friend than let him get manipulated by something we've never even seen before. At the same time I felt angry, angry that he betrayed us, chose that thing over our history of being his friends and killed us.
Killed us.
That's all I could remember, I could only remember being mauled by him in cold blood after the Prototypes order. The only ones I knew that escaped were Hoppy and DogDay. Yes. That's what I was so sure I remembered. So why am I alive and laying on this soft cushion? Why can I still smell such a strong scent of lavender around me and not feel terrified by it?
Why are the rest of my friends still alive and snoring next to me.
'Just keep your eyes closed Bobby, just keep your eyes closed.' I repeatedly said in my head.
I felt my hands slightly shake and lip quiver when I heard his footsteps passing by me casually. Only to hear those same footsteps passing me again and come to a stop. I don't know what's going on at all. Do I even want to know? I do, but will the answer truly satisfy me? I'm supposed to be dead. Dead and gone. Yet here I am. Alive, breathing, and clearly capable of feeling fear.
It's been thirty minutes since I woke up.
Thirty minutes spent trying to rack my brain and figure out what is going on. From what I can remember, me and the other critters— aside from Catnap— had executed a rebellion against the Prototype. Because of this, Catnap.. delt with us. I truly never believed he would, but when I saw the red smoke fill the room, I knew he was no longer on our side. Hoppy and DogDay got out, the rest of us? I was so sure we had died. So sure.
When I first woke up my first instinct was to sit up and look around. My body was so sore and nearly unresponsive. When I had finally sat up, I saw him. I first noticed how dark the room seemed, only the glow in the dark stars illuminated what it could. The second thing I noticed was my friends lined up next to me, peacefully sleeping, and of course, Kickin was snoring.
The last thing I noticed before I slowly lowered myself and pretended to be asleep— was Catnap. That traitor. Although I was still so angry for what he did, I also felt a strange sense of pity wash over me due to his appearance. His skin laid directly on his bones, his smile large and unnatural— it looked like it hurt— long, deep scars littered his entire body. As much as I wanted to hate him, my first instinct was to want to hold him and ask if he was ok. That was what I always did, he was never that receptive to me, only to DogDay, but it was still something I did, always.
I knew I couldn't do that though. Not until I figure out what's going on. Not until I know what his intentions are.
When is he gonna leave.
My fear has dwindled to nearly nothing after the last hour. The reason? A mouse just scared the shit out of him. A mouse. I'm afraid of a cat that's scared of a mouse. He is scared of a mouse that's the same size as his toe. I've occasionally opened my eyes to peek at what he's doing, and what I saw made me more confused.
Apparently his smoke has changed a bit. He's able to bring us in and out of consciousness. Not awake enough to realize it's him, but awake enough to feed us and give us water. It's like he's doing rounds; first Kickin, then Crafty, Bubba, Picky, and finally, me. It was hard acting like I was half asleep and let him feed me when I wanted to strangle him. He didn't seemed fazed when I looked him in the eyes while he did so, maybe it was normal to him.
He laid us back down gently and let out that god awful red smoke after our last swallow of the mushroom soup he made. I hate how I actually liked the taste. I held my breath as soon as the smoke came from his mouth.
I've also come to realize he cleans us. Wiping us down with a washcloth that has lavender scented soap. Why lavender? I honestly don't know. But I'm getting used to the smell, and his reaction to the mouse made me less scared of him.
Because of that I've thought of ways to get out of here. Maybe I could tackle him and knock him out? Throw something and create a distraction to hopefully find a way out before he notices me? Maybe I could.. try to talk to him? But what is that going to do? DogDay tried to talk to him, if he didn't listen to him why would he listen to me? Especially since.. their relationship was more intimate than with the rest of us.
For now I'll watch, I'll keep peeking every now and then and listen to his every move. He hasn't done much, just walk around and mumble something I couldn't hear. His broken voice box definitely isnt helping me actually understand him.
"Miles." I froze, sweat slowly forming on my forehead as I waited.
That was the first time I've truly heard him talk. It sounded broken, staticy, and low. It surprised me, his voice box wasn't that damaged before, how long has it been since the Prototypes order to kill us?
"Kit?" I felt my face scrunch.
The voice was unfamiliar, it sounded small and young, like a little kid who barely left the toddler stage.
"Catnap. Not 'Kit'." He corrected, his steps moving further from me and my friends as he did.
"Kit!"
He growled, the kid started giggling as if it was the funniest thing in the world to make him mad. His giggling only increased as he let out a playful scream, the kind you hear children do when they're parents pick them up.
"Tail," he said, I peeked for just a moment, not sure what I was expecting to see.
But it definitely wasn't Catnap casually lifting the small DogDay up by his torso with his tail. He lifted him slowly and placed him in the big pipe in front of them. The small DogDay— Miles I suppose— looked behind him, giving Catnap confused eyes with a large smile.
"You're not following?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowed up and he tried to walk closer to the edge with his hands reaching up to Catnap. His sudden ability to speak a full sentence caught me off guard.
"No." Catnap said, his tail reaching up and lightly pushing the smaller critter further into the pipe.
"Go to him alonetoday." He instructed, gesturing to the inside of the pipe.
The small critter looked dejected but tried to reach for him again only for Catnap to repeat the action.
Finally he huffed, "Ok.." He said, pouting while still clutching Catnaps tail in his paw. He soon let go and began pushing the basket full of canned fruits, beans, and bread inside the tunnel.
"Remembertoavoid—"
"'To avoid his cameras' I know! I know!" He interrupted, his voice echoeing throughout the tunnel.
"Smartass..." He mumbled, turning back to me and my friends.
He looked at me and stopped, a complete stop you only see when someone is startled and in shock over what they saw. My body froze as I realized why he was staring at me with such a look. I must have moved on instinct. How. How did I not realize I stood up?