Down The Drain Pt. 5 (TWAU Horror Fanfic)
TJ awoke with a gasp, taking deep, shivery breaths. He didn't remember much - just being down by the river at The Farm, and then...nothing. But even without that, he awoke with a sense of dread, like whatever he couldn't remember had been truly, truly horrible. Or maybe he'd just had a nightmare?
His fears were sadly confirmed as his eyes adjusted to the dark, and he felt a hard, cold floor underneath him, rather than the softness of his bed. He sat up with a gasp, looking around with swiftly watering eyes at the concrete around him, almost looking like he'd somehow fell down into the sewer. He looked up, half-expecting to see a pipe overheard, where he'd possibly fallen, but there was none.
He didn't see any bars, at least not the kind that would be used to keep one in a cell, but even without chains or padlocks, he couldn't shake the feeling of being imprisoned. After all, how else could he have gotten here? This didn't look like even the most rundown portions of The Farm.
He oh so cautiously flip-flopped out from the corner of where he was, passing by half-walls - still far too tall for him to climb, but to an adult, they could easily see over the side. As he walked to the edge of the room, towards where he presumed some kind of hall was, he started to realize what this layout reminded him of - a barn. The way each part was segmented for each livestock. The kind that didn't talk, of course.
He was right; when he emerged from the space, he saw several other cells, cubes, whatever one wanted to call them, all lined up, on either side of his corner and several across from him as well. The one directly across from him was the only he could see, and it was empty, but he could hear sounds, echoing across the concrete; shallow breathing, sniffling, and soft little sobs. He whimpered, backing up and clutching his little flippered hands together.
His breath hitched, as little tears began to fall down his wide cheeks, curling up where he stood as he shut his eyes tight. He wasn't even sure how long he stood there honestly, just reeling - how he got here was far from the most important thing now; it was how could he get out. -Could- he escape?
He knew his dad well enough to know that if his dad knew where he was, he'd be safe at home already. His dad might be really loud and mean, but he's the loudest and the meanest to people that hurt him, there's no way he'd still be here if he knew, he just knew it. So, if his dad didn't know, then nobody else did either - and if nobody else did...
His breath hitched with surprise at a new sound; a thick door creaking open slowly, farther down the sprawling hall. His mind wanted to look, hopeful that someone might be looking for him, but the rest of him stood frozen, feeling a sharp chill all across his little froggy form. The door swung open fully, and footsteps somehow both light and horribly heavy clunked across the cold floor, slow, menacingly steps down, down the hall...
Finally, as the footsteps grew closer, the source of the sound loomed into view. It was a tall, wide woman, clad in a puffy blue and white checkered dress overlaid with a pearly white apron, and a matching white bonnet. Curled blue shoes were filled out by massive feet, and the only parts of her body he could see were big, bloated hands, and long, frazzled locks of white and red hair, alternating in a pattern almost akin to a candy cane.
His breath practically stopped, and his poor little heart along with it. He was already terrified, but just the sight of this bloated old woman was near enough to make him faint. The context already made her bad enough, but her form...it reminded him of what he imagined Sherrif Wolf must've looked like, when he was pretending to be that old granny. A big, hulking monster, all that hunger and savagery smushed tight into a facade of motherly sweetness.
She was looking ahead at first, but after glancing about, swiftly turned her gaze towards him, unable to stop himself from releasing a gasp. He couldn't see her face past all her matted hair, just briefly glimpsing a narrowed yellow eye as it tussled about with the movement of her head. She stared, then let out a harsh, shrill little giggle.
"Oh, goodie, you're awake! I was beginning to wonder if you'd -ever- wake from that little nap of yours...don't worry, sweetie, mommy's going to make you just the bestest little meal in the whole wide world!" Her let forth another giggle, her kind words betrayed by the sadistic glee laced under her seemingly loving voice.
He was still too scared to speak, already wide eyes widened even further as he just, stared at her. A voice whimpered down the way. "P-Please...I wanna go h-home..." Said the little voice, followed by a sob from somewhere else, and little fists banging on a wall somewhere else still. The woman looked around, letting out a soft, hissing breath, before looking back down to the poor little toad.
"Aw...don't be scared, dear." She said, leaning forward, making TJ recoil so much he was nearly sitting on the ground rather than standing. "..W...W-Where's my dad?" Came his little voice finally. She let out a soft, mockingly sad little hum. "Gosh, sweetie, I just don't know. But chin up! Who knows, he -might- find you. After all, there's still plenty time til supper."
She let out a loud, piercing laugh, before lumbering on past his cell, out of sight for a few moments, before coming back into view, dragging along a plump little kitten girl by the wrist as she cried and wailed, pulling against the witch's grip to no avail, as the two moved back towards the far door, with another long, hopeless creak as it closed.
And again, TJ was alone, left with nothing but the sound of whimpers and sobs to keep him company, until the witch returned...
