ERGO | POPPY PLAYTIME & READER
TW , RELIGIOUS TRAUMA , DEATH
/ part 2 , they will do no wrong; they will tell no lies ,
I am sorry if this entire chapter is extremely inaccurate !!! Please feel free to correct me , I'll try to fix it and if possible , rewrite this !! I love you , have fun reading !!!
It has been a few weeks since your first arrival here and since you apparently became friends with Theo, who, seems extremely reluctant to leave your side and had forgotten all about his imaginary friend.
And it has also been a few weeks since Ollie sent you a letter, which you didn't particularly mind considering you never knew the boy and thus, you didn't exactly care. If anyone's being frank though, they knew you'd barely care if someone left you.
You suppose that was what made you, you.
"████ , ████! what are you staring at?"
You didn't flinch when theo came up to you and immediately stuck himself to your side, you stood so incredibly still, anyone would've mistaken you for a doll.
Anyone else would've been uncomfortable seeing a nine year old stand so unbearably still, but Theo had somehow managed to get past his fears about you and now he's become used to how you behaved.
".. Theo." You greeted solemnly and turned to your side to look at him. "I am not staring at anything. but don't you realize how weird the adults have been acting?" you asked with a tilted head, your facial expression as blank as it could possibly be.
Theo tilted his head in confusion, furrowing his brows as if he doesn't exactly get what you're saying, because of course he's still oblivious. You couldn't blame him though, he was a normal child after all.
But you knew your behavior would eventually rub off on him , whether that'd be how straightforward you are or how much of a good liar you are.
"umm.. not really.. but you're reaalllyyy weird again, ████!" Theo remarked. "And I thought the counselors told you not to act weird again! Look! I am not talking to my imaginary frien-"
As if on cue, theo immediately shuts up at the violent undertone in your voice. He suddenly felt bad and guilty, but he wasn't sure why you were upset, but if you were upset then so was he. He was also wasn't sure why exactly you were staring at the tram that was being crowded by a bunch of adults who wore white coats.
But that was the last thing on his mind, as paranoia quickly took over every part of his rational mind in fear that you were upset at him instead of anything else.
"..████ ? Are you upset at me..?"
All Theo received was radio silence. At this point he was getting anxious and scared, because what if you left him? He wouldn't have anyone anymore, especially not his imaginary friend. So, he did what you told him to do earlier, he shuts up but stayed glued next to your side.
Minutes passed by and theo was getting restless just standing there and watching you stare at the adults. You were standing so still for hours now, even way before he found you, you were just.. staring. Theo was convinced you had turned into a toy at this point, but he didn't say anything in fear of you snapping.
But slowly, curiosity got the better of him, and he followed your line of sight and saw what exactly you were looking at. Or rather, who exactly you were looking at.
"████ , you haven't said anything.. are you mad at me? I am sorry! I don't know what I did wrong, but you're so upset I-"
you blocked off theo's mindless droning of apologies, more focused on the staring of a certain doctor. he's been staring at you ever since he arrived here with the other doctors, but it seemed as if he had the higher authority amongst the crowd of people who wore lab coats, judging from how the other doctors listened to everything he said without so much as a question.
"he's really irritating me.." you thought, unsure of whether that was supposed to be directed at theo or the doctor, but nevertheless you were annoyed.
only then did the doctor finally catch you staring did his eye twitch, as if irritated that a child was staring back at him before his brows furrowed and he finally took his eyes off you. but you caught the faint smile he had graced on his face , and you weren't exactly sure why but that..
".. ████ and I am sorry, okay?! please, please say something! am I still your friend-"
"Yes theo, yes you are, calm down."
you sighed in frustration and finally looked at the boy, who seemed happy now that you weren't ignoring him anymore. but he was also a little anxious because you still seemed upset, but he was still more than happy. he knows he can't bite off more than what he can chew, so he took this one moment as a victory.
"y-you were really scaring me there, ████ ! I seriously thought you turned into a doll.. do you want to play now?" The hopeful smile in Theo's face would've made anyone just melt, but it didn't for you.
but theo wasn't easily deterred, seeing as he's now well accustomed to your behavior. so what if you were a little mean? you mean a lot to him, and you were his first ever friend!
However, on your side of perspective your mind was in a completely different world.
You were sure nobody needed that much people in lab coats for a toy factory, nonetheless an orphanage. You were also sure those weren't "doctors", they didn't exactly look the part.
What ollie had wrote a few weeks ago stayed stuck with you, the question on whether you knew what was happening beyond playcare. you hate to admit it but you felt as if ollie had a point , even if you barely knew the "boy".
Or whatever ollie was. As impossible as it sounded, you had a small hunch ollie wasn't exactly a human. At least, maybe not entirely.
Now, seeing the group of scientists gathered in one spot, in the very same place where hundreds of orphans reside, you realized what ollie had said was right.
There really was something going on here.
Whether you choose to dive in headfirst into the hypothesis you made like a suicidal person wasn't entirely up to your rational mind, but more so on the burning curiosity that you've decided would now control your decisions.
And oh, decisions it was.
It was late at night, where every orphan should've been asleep. That was partially the truth, if it wasn't for your awakening figure.
You slowly sat up on your bed, eyes instinctively traveling to Theo's sleeping figure beside your bed. You don't understand why it felt like a necessity to make sure he was there, though you suppose it was because you didn't want to lose the only acolyte you had here.
Or maybe a friend as well.
After making sure you weren't in a daze, or that theo was actually asleep, you let out a quiet exhale as you threw the covers away from your figure and retrieved a crudely made knife from underneath your bed.
It was homemade, anyone could tell. It wasn't as sharp as you had hoped when you made this, but if it's in the hands of someone capable enough, it can do many things.
And oh, you were oh so capable.
THEIR END IS THEIR DESTRUCTION
you crept quietly across the halls of home sweet home, though you were sure nobody was here besides the kind receptionist at the front that usually always helps newer orphans settle in.
Unfortunately for her, she's a victim to your insatiable need to feel something, to want to find out the things that would eventually lead to your very own death.
Starved off the very thing that had made who you were.
You slowly but surely started to make your way towards the front of home sweet home, the cameras slowly tracking your every movement but you didn't pay any attention to it, instead you deliberately let your crudely made knife show.
Because that's what you want.
You want them to know that what's left of the receptionist after is your dedication , your art, your work.
Not anyone else's, not anything else's.
The sound of the kind receptionist humming did not manage to escape from you and that's when you clocked that she was in fact still here. You looked up at the door, you were sure the receptionist would've heard you coming in before you actually stepped foot inside the room.
You looked around and found a vent that's been left open. It looked deliberate, seeing as nobody in this place is that incompetent enough to leave an open vent but nonetheless you took it either way because whoever left it open obviously wanted you to reach her.
Or is that even your rational mind even speaking for you, anymore?
You crawled inside the vent as easily as you fit in, given your size and height. The dust that was gradually collecting in the vent system hit your nose all at once but you held your breath to avoid sneezing otherwise the kind receptionist would find out you were here.
You quietly crawled through the vents system, trying your best to determine where exactly you were and where the lady was in the room using specific sounds that hardly aided you, until you heard the sound of her sweet humming.
AND THEY GLORY IN THEIR SHAME
She was underneath from where you were. You were sure of that.
It didn't take you long enough to tamper with the vent and before you knew it, you slowly started to lift the vent up and come to find out that she was in fact just underneath from where you were, directly as well.
Killing her from where you sat would've been incredibly easy but would cause her to scream loudly, but she would've died quick which would give you enough time to run. It would be a swift and easy death for her, but the insatiable hunger of yours that's been begging to hurt, kill and eat was slowly starting to take control of you.
To feel something one more time?
Let your hunger overtake you, my child.
You prepared your knife, eyes as blank as possible as you watched the receptionist wrap up a gift. It was a nice, pink little box with a golden ribbon. You knew it was for her daughter's birthday tomorrow, she told you this morning in hopes she'd get along with the only orphan she seemingly can't get a hold of. it was such a shame she had been the only person available for you to hurt.
You took a small, deep breath, gripping the knife in your hand as you watched her turn around and lean down to grab something that had fallen from her desk, her hair falling off as it showed you the back of her neck.
Just jump down and slam the knife down on the back of her neck.
She won't have enough time to scream., not like you'll ever let her scream anyway.
She was going to die one way or another anyway, so why are you hesitating now?
You've always been a gluttonous child anyway. Your insatiable hunger to hurt others just to satisfy that never ending need to see others hurt and cry because of you.
This isn't any different from when you ate that orphan. She was taken away even when you were sure she was still alive. You know something is going on here in this toy factory, don't you?
So do it, why don't you, sweet child?
Give in to me, my sweet child.
You'll be washed off your sins, reborn anew, you just need to give in.
WITH MINDS SET ON EARTHLY THINGS
"████ , ████ , looook what I found!"
You turn to look towards theo who was running towards you with a huggy wuggy plushie in his hand. You raised an eyebrow, ignoring the way he immediately crashed into you with a tight hug.
"That's nice." You acknowledged it, looking down to see the plushie he was holding. The fur was a little stained, but other than that it was in perfect condition.
Theo nodded eagerly as if excited you weren't in a bad mood as opposed to yesterday, hopping off of you as he sat down next to you closely. He held the plushie in his other hand and your hand in his other.
"████ , do you think huggy wuggy is real? like- like as in he's alive?"
"Don't be silly, dummy. It's just a toy."
"Yeah but-! what if he's real? wouldn't it be awesome?" Theo asked with a gleeful smile on his face, grinning as hard as he can.
You stiffled a chuckle and shook your head and chose to look around the place instead, watching the orphans run around playcare freely.
A loud scream suddenly pierced through the air, making theo yelp and immediately hold onto you on instinct, but strangely you let him. It came from inside home sweet home, you were surprised it took someone this long to realize it especially since the smell of the rot from underneath the floorboards wasn't exactly pleasant nor was it subtle.
You merely tilted your head at him and shrugged, but you knew exactly where that screamed came from and why that screamed even happened in the first place.
You supposed whoever the orphan is must've found the nice receptionist in pieces.
Stella has never failed to make others feel somewhat unnerved, especially to her fellow colleagues. though one could tell it's something she usually brings into the room, as eccentric as she may be.
The worker cleared his throat, and began to talk about the incident that had happened this morning with a grimace, remembering the amount of orphans that freaked out that morning.
The image of the receptionist , or what was left of her, has ironed itself inside his mind due to how gruesome it was. though it was beyond him how an orphan could do such a thing.
"Miss Greyber, as to what had happened this morning in playcare, we know who the culprit is but we weren't sure what action we should take considering.." He trailed off, watching stella's smile start to gradually drop before the worker took out a few photographs from his files and showed her.
Otherwise, the one orphan nobody else could touch under the direct order of Harley sawyer. Sawyer's order was basically just like Pierre's, that, and Stella didn't exactly want to be the one underneath the knife the day you'd get experimented on.
So she didn't know what to do here, either. On one hand, you proved yourself to be incredibly uncaring when it comes to killing people, and for what exactly? even stella herself is unsure as to what had triggered you to kill someone twice your own size, and to brutally torture them too is something stella has a hard time trying to understand.
And on the other hand, sawyer had made it clear to everyone not to touch you otherwise they'd be subjecting themselves as food to the toys down there. Sawyer had firmly pressed it on and even convinced pierre to tell everyone not to touch you, and even that is unclear to stella as to why he would want to keep you alive as an orphan despite all empty boxes you were basically green checking all.
So with a sigh, stella forced a smile back into her face as she grabbed the photographs and ripped them, momentarily leaving the worker stunned.
"As much as I'd like to take action against.. this, there's nothing we can do, not even I can do anything." Stella spoke with a firm smile on her face, dumping the ripped photographs into the trash bin inside her office.
"The best we can do is give the orphan counseling, but considering Sawyer's warning on not to touch them and how his warnings are apparently law here.." Stella trails off for a second, before she continues. "We can't do anything, and I'd rather not get on his bad side, don't you think?"
Stella says with a laugh, and the worker is becoming more uncomfortable as the second passes, unsure on what exactly he's supposed to do with you.
".. so, we just leave the orphan alo-"
"Yes, yes of course! we need to leave the orphan alone, because as I've said before, sawyer would probably turn me and you into a toy, instead, hm?" Stella says with an exaggerated grin, watching the worker gulp silently before he excused himself out of her office.
And that's when stella's smile finally dropped.
"why.." Stella asked no one in particular inside the empty office, sitting down on her chair as she pondered on whether you were just a dream or maybe that this was all really just a dream.
You were friends with Theodore campbell and that was one of her main concerns at first, worried that your behavior might eventually rub off on the boy knowing he had started to improve just recently. However you were also the reason why he's improved, it's hard for Stella to do anything right now.
She can't separate you from him knowing theo basically depends on you now, seeing how close the two of you've gotten. Stella just hopes that with theo, you'd also start to gradually improve too, even if slowly.
Stella sighs and leans back against her chair. This is the first time she's met with a case like this, and knowing she can't exactly take action was the most irritating part of it all knowing sawyer would absolutely kill her for it.
So stella sat up and looked to her left, and with a quiet exhaled she picked up the phone and dialed sawyer's number.
"And that is my concern, how exactly?"
"Your orphan just killed someone, sawyer! how do you expect me not to do anything?!"
"You don't. It's not that hard not to do anything, Greyber."
Stella scoffs into the phoneline, tempted to march straight into the labs and give sawyer a piece of his mind. But stella isn't that deluded, knowing sawyer would probably just kill her off before she even steps foot inside his labs.
"You know, greyber, I fail to see the reason as to why exactly you called me about ████. Haven't I made it clear that no matter what they do, you aren't to touch them? or do I need to make it even clearer?"
"It would've been a completely different story if they bullied someone, but sawyer they just killed someone! you've seen the footage, haven't you? it's not exactly what a child should be doing, especially not-"
"And my point still stands. Touch the child, you'll be underneath my knife next. Now, don't call me over trivial questions that have no reasons to be answered." And before stella could argue even further, sawyer hung up.
Stella puts the phone down and exhaled, feeling the headache slowly crawling up on her as she looks to her side and sees your file. She hasn't read it, at least not properly, as the most she's done is skim through it.
Well, she supposes it's due.
It was lunch time in playcare, and theo had somehow managed to convince you to go eat outside instead of the designated place, apparently because he wanted to have the feel of a real "picnic", in his words.
Which meant that you were sitting from across the large statue of the smiling critters, you weren't sure why theo chose this place instead of the ones underneath the multiple false trees.
But you guessed it was because he didn't want to interact with the other orphans, that, and he wanted to avoid hearing about the gossips from the other orphans about the dead receptionist from this morning.
Not that you're complaining, though. It was nice to avoid the potential lunch fights and the amount of vomit you'd have to witness, and having theo by your side somewhat made things feel.. better.
Who was talking for you, now?
"████..." Theo calls out to you as you're eating a sandwich. you hummed, assuming he wanted to say something but instead you felt your shoulders being shook aggressively.
You felt your eye twitch and you immediately looked at theo with a questioning look, before he immediately points at something.
"Look.." Theo said with a grimace. The irritation from earlier slowly started to fade as you followed theo's line of sight just to see..
You were momentarily caught off guard when you saw a neatly placed line of huggy wuggies on a table near the school, except.. their heads were replaced. You weren't exactly as freaked out as Theo was, but you were caught off guard, like extremely.
"who was this again..?" You vaguely remembered a counselor mentioning something about this happening before, something about a different troubled boy but you can't seem to remember who it was.
"████ , that's scary, right?" Theo's voice brought you back to reality, but all you did was shrug and frowned a little bit before you decided to stand up and find the culprit.
"████! wait! wait for me!"
You called out from behind the false bush. You saw someone ran in here, and if you had to guess who it was, it was definitely the culprit.
But they weren't.. really responding.
Whoever it was, they hid behind the bush, as if terrified of something. But you can guess they were probably just shy. Maybe scared of you? Now you're getting ahead of yourself.
Theo caught up behind you, panting heavily as he finally stopped beside you. Theo let out an exhale as he looked up at you to see you were staring at the.. bush.
Theo was confused, letting out a "huh" and turning around to look at you to see if you were really staring at the bushes. He knows you have this strange staring problem, but this is seriously getting out of hand.
"████? You're being creepy again.. I thought we promised each other not to-"
"Come out. We know you're the one who replaced the huggies heads differently."
Theo's head snapped towards the bush and back at you, caught between whether he should ask if you were seeing things and risk getting a nasty look from you or help you call out whoever you were trying to lure out.
But it doesn't seem like he has to do either, because just looking at your face would explain how this situation was gonna go.
"Are you gonna come out or what? do you want me to pull you out by your hair?" You said all that with a blank face but the irritation was evident in your voice.
Theo grimaced at the tone, it wasn't the first time he's heard it but it definitely won't be the last. You were after all, unpredictable and he'd hate having to be on the end receiving your fury.
Maybe he's just overreacting though.
"..████ , I really don't think anyone is hiding there.." Theo hesitates to say, watching you slowly turn to look at him with a blank look.
"I-i mean..! HEY! you in the bushes, come on out! o-or we'll.. we'll tell you to the adults!"
As if on cue, whoever was in the bushes sneezed loudly which further supports your assumptions that the perpetrator was in fact hiding in the bushes.
Theo's mouth immediately pressed into a thin line, as if surprised there was actually someone hiding in the bushes, but he felt a little proud and he convinced himself that he was the reason you guys knew there was actually someone hiding in the bushes.
But you were less of a friendly face, considering your patience was slowly thinning and the irritation was starting to become more evident. You were sure your threats might as well just be promises at this point.
You sighed sharply, and looked back towards the bushes and crossed your arms with your eyes narrowed towards the bush.
"If you're not getting out I'll drag you out myself, by hair-"
".. And I'll make it hurt, so you better-"
"Stop..! okay I'll get out, just please stop.."
Satisfied with the outcome, you uncrossed your arms and looked to your side and saw Theo beamed at the succession before he put out his knuckles for a fist bump, and was monetarily embarrassed when you just kinda.. stood there.
"I saw the other kids doing this.." Theo awkwardly said, putting his hand down rather quickly as he scratched the back of his head. He was kinda bummed when you didn't ask him any further about it, because he was hoping you'd be his first fist bump.
The culprit slowly got out of the false bushes, and the boy that got out was someone you do end up recognizing.
So he really was the troubled kid.
You don't exactly know who he is outside from the discussions you've eavesdropped from the counselors. All you really know about him is that he's another troubled kid but unlike Theo he doesn't have any imaginary friend, but he has a problem with cutting off the toys head and replacing them instead.
But that's all you really know.
Though what you can deduce right now is that he's definitely shy.
But all you can see is that quinn kinda has the potential to be a perfect acolyte if treated right. You can't make any final conclusions until you've properly talked to the boy.
So, with a surprise, you smiled at quinn (quite literally catching Theo off guard), and waved at him with a surprising amount of friendliness.
"Hi, do you want to be friends?"
It took you and both Theo to finally get quinn to talk to you properly, because he treated the two of you like fire, desperately trying to itch away but eventually you managed to wear down his resolve, much to Theo's disappointment.
Theo was a little.. bothered by this, he wasn't sure why, it's probably because of the paranoia he's had ever since he became friends with you. Knowing that he's an outcast and a little weird, having you as his friend in the first place is a blessing in itself.
But now.. he's not so sure anymore. He's worried you might drift away from him, but it doesn't hurt to put trust in the one friend that he's had in awhile, maybe his first ever friend too.
He knows he'll forever be your friend, no matter what happens to you or to him. He'll never ever forget you.
"Quinn, why did you do that to the toys?" You asked after awhile. As of now the three of you were hanging around play care, Theo opted to decide to draw a picture on the ground near the school with crayons. He was of course, as usual, close to you.
Quinn on the other hand, however, is sitting across from the two of you, hands in sleeves as he tucked his knees in to his chest.
Quinn was hesitant to respond, scared you were gonna think that he's weird. He was sure the guy beside you does think he's weird, maybe you do too? he's not sure.
But you seemed.. kind enough.
You were patient with him no matter how slow his responses were or if he even responded at all. And he's a bit guilty to take advantage of that so he ended up responding.
"I.. I want to make a prettier world, maybe prettier things.." He responded shyly.
You ignored Theo's concerned glance as if he wasn't in the guy's shoes at some point, though you were sure he just wanted to throw you off and convince you not to be friends with him because he doesn't want to lose you.
Yeah, you weren't blind. The signs were there.
Instead of responding negatively as Quinn was expecting, you responded with something that he has never heard from anyone aside from the kind doctor who had encouraged him to perform well during the test at the game station.
"That's beautiful. I think your way of making the world prettier is amazing actually. I've never met anyone who thinks like that."
At your response, Theo immediately drops the crayons and snaps his head to look at you with his mouth wide open, his expression perfectly mirroring any normal person's expression, when were you ever that nice to anyone?
"████! you can't be serious?! sure he's nice and all, but you can't say what he is doing.. is.. is beautiful!"
"Theo, does it hurt to be nice to others once in every while? I am being honest, anyway."
"N-no! of course not! but you didn't seem to think that when you looked at me like you wanted to punch me or something!"
At the sound of you two bickering, quinn finds himself giggling. He hasn't been in normal interactions like these for so long.. it felt so nice to feel included.
And what you said truly warmed his heart and he found himself becoming more comfortable around you and theo, as scary as you may be, and as awkward as Theo may be.
.. Maybe he did want to be friends with you.
It was night and the curfew had finally fallen.
And now, you have two orphans following you like lost puppies. You weren't expecting Quinn to get that attached to you quickly, but you didn't mind it, but you weren't sure what value Quinn could bring you, knowing you barely knew anything about the boy.
But you'll cross that bridge when you get to it.
You took the bed and theo immediately raced over to take the left one next to yours, and Quinn wasn't sure why Theo was rushing, but Quinn ended up taking the right bed next to yours. He seemed perfectly content and was comfortable as opposed to hours ago when he seemed deathly bashful of even looking at you and Theo's face.
You don't know how and why you keep managing to befriend people despite your nature. You don't understand why, and it's getting to you slowly, in a way that it's slowly eating away at your flesh.
And come to think of it..
No one came to grab you despite the fact that you were not trying to hide from the cameras after you ripped the receptionist into pieces. You wanted them to see your art and hoped that they'll take you somewhere so you can finally realize that what you've assumed about this place was right.
If anything, everything felt normal after just a few hours and its starting to bother you.
Do you need to amp up your game? do you need to hurt even more? Did you need to hang the body somewhere? Did you-
Theo's whispered voice monetarily broke your trance and you looked to your side to see him hugging a catnap plushie. He had the biggest smile on his face as he made himself comfortable, and fell asleep shortly.
You turned to your other side and saw that Quinn had fallen asleep as well, though his face was obviously in discomfort but you didn't exactly care.
You sighed to yourself, letting out a quiet exhale as you closed your eyes and decided to fall asleep instead of pondering on what you needed to do to be noticed.
However, it wasn't even a few minutes later when you heard the familiar sound of something sharp scraping against the ventilation from underneath your bed, and you immediately snapped your eyes open when you realized you weren't dreaming.
You slowly looked down and saw a single, blood stained paper with obvious dents in it, reminding you that Ollie still exists, and he coincidentally decided to talk to you after the death of the receptionist was discovered today.
You hesitated, caught on whether you should just leave it alone and go back to sleep, or take it and read the contents of it, whatever it may be. Either way, you were sure Ollie didn't want a response seeing as he had left the paper on the floor with no material to write with.
So with careful thinking, you decided to lean down and grab the paper.
You unfolded the paper one by one, and the moment your eyes laid upon words was the moment you felt as if everything was going downhill.
"He's coming for you, the doctor! please be careful :(" - ollie
N/A ; hiihiii !! I am sorry if this chapter is a little boring •́︿•̀ this chapter is mostly a lore filler and I need to introduce yarnaby and sawyer's first before proceeding with this !!! next chapter will probably come out earlier because it's much more fun to write about and I promise that's when the real stuff starts ˃͈◡˂͈ if there's any remarks you want to make about this chapter , please let me know and I promise I'll fix it asap , thank uuu for reading !! ♡⸜(ˆᗜˆ˵ )⸝♡
The next chapter is when I start to introduce some or the rest of the poppy playtime cast , by the wayyy !!
