Chapter Text
You couldn't really Legally ransack an abandoned studio building. But it wasn't like you decided to build it buckle fuck nowhere after all. It was empty anyways since the folks who owned the place, Playfellow Workshop, built it then ditched town like way before you were born anyway. So above all else everything left inside, if there was anything, was up for grabs. At least that's what the post on the Mystery Delight forum said. You weren't sure how posted it, the thing seemed pretty recent and only contained an address which was really close to where you lived. Aka Buckle Fuck Nowhere. Seeing as it was your day off off work, it seemed like going out and seeing where they lead you would be better than holding up in doors all day until you went back to work tomorrow. So you grabbed your things, took a screenshot of the address and headed out.
Your car couldn't take you the full way unfortunately. It got you into the woods then you had to walk to rest of the way there. Which was fun Bec of course you had to deal with occasional sounds of gun fire. It was hunting season. Thank God you remembered to wear a safety vest. It was bright orange and made this attempt at a serious self investigation seem a little silly. Then again standing outside of a giant building left basically barren for what seemed to be an old children's tv company made it seem less serious. You were an overglorifed looter through and through, and you wanted some loot.
The door was locked pretty damn well but honestly, finding a broken window was short of a miracle. You circled the whole outside of the building but all of the windows were so high you couldn't possible reach them without a tall ladder. You could climb a tree but it seemed that none were relatively close enough for you to break open a window which left only one place.
The door.
It was battered, definitely like someone tried getting in once but was unsuccessful in their attempts. Good thing you were stupid resilient. You didn't have bolt cutters, you hadn't really owned a pair on a day to day basis, so there was no point in cutting the lock open. You could however try something like breaking it with a big rock. So starts the rock quest!
You began to wander around the area. Similar to the trees, you noticed how odd it seemed that there was no rocks near the building either. Sure there was grass and dead leaves but it was like someone intentionally kept the area clear of rocks and trees. You huffed. It meant that you'd have to go deeper into the forest and find one. You walked towards the woods still bothered by the detail when you realized another thing.
You stopped to listen. A heavy silence filled the air. Heavy, dense, silence. Even if it was fall. There should have been some noise of wild life like birds or-
The loud sound of gun cracked through the deafening silence and breaking the air around you. You gasped, leaning on the nearest tree to catch your breath. That definitely got your attention pretty well. Maybe it would be better to come back at a different time, you could even go get those bolt cutters.
You held up the bolt cutters up as you approached the door "Surprise bitch!" You mocked the lock and chains holding the door closed. You didn't a get response aside from the rattle of rusted chains as the bolt cutters took a bit of effort but cut the lock off. They fell heavily onto the leaf covered ground with the sound of crunching brittleness and firm clanking.
You placed the bolt cutter on the wall near by and struggled to open the door. For something so beaten up it felt heavy and weight a ton. The door opened with a groan as it moved slowly with all your weight put into opening the damn thing.
The building was dark and felt eerily quiet much like the empty wasteland outside. Taking a deep breath and pulling out a real honest to gods flashlight (you had seen enough horror movies to know not to use your phone even if you were technically walking into a horror setting) you entered the warehouse.
It was uncomfortable empty from what you could see which was genuinely surprising to you. There could have been at least something like high stacked shelves or abandoned studio sets or literally anything at all!
This was disappointing. You wasted a good day off, gas in your car, and ten bucks on a pair of bolt cutters. But still not wanting to be put off, you went further inside. The air was stale like the front door hadn't been opened in years and the only sounds was your footsteps echoing off the walls. The deeper you went in, the more disappointed you grew by the lack of anything. Until you reached the back wall.
There was a workshop table that seemingly had been left barren minus one thing. A dust covered large puppet. It was roughly around the average adult size, not to tall or short, with yellow felt skin tone and a large blue pompadour. He wore cute outfit consisting of a blue cardigan, white button down shirt, and rainbow pants. You touched him noting he felt, despite being made of felt, really stuff. He was so cute too. Definitely a good deal. You picked up the little guy and hoisted him over your shoulder. You expected him to have some weight but he barely weighed a thing! Leaving the shop behind you stopped outside the door to shove it close and doll the new doll in a vest just in case any of the hunters encountered you and your new companion. As you made sure the vest was on, you noticed a name stitched inside the collar of his cardigan "Wally Darling," you muttered and gave him a smile "Well you certainly look like a little darling," you teased him, booping his nonexistent nose.
You hoisted Wally back up, this time to carry him bridal style instead of over your shoulder like before. When you made it to your car, you placed Wally down in the back seat "I hope you don't mind," you said to him. He didn't respond but you certainly weren't expecting him to any way. You didn't want him stuffed in the trunk but you also weren't going to let him sit in the front and let anyone see him.
You began to back out eyeing the trees carefully. Momentarily halting you car when someone shouted "WOAH!" Behind you. Your head immediately whipped around to the back to see an older man standing behind you car. He was dressed in camo that blended him in with the surrounding trees.
You immediately hurried out of your car "Jesus Barnum, I didn't see you there!" You said. Barnum was an older man you had seen around town before. He had been a hunting buddy and friend of your dad's before your dad passed away.
Barnum laughed "It's fine (Y/n) I didn't expect to see anyone else out here, especially you," he said.
He was right, going out much wasn't something you did especially after your dad's accident "Just wanted to take some time in the forest, you caught me right when I was leaving," you said, not wanting to really say what you were really doing out here.
The man nodded "Yeah, I'm headed out myself. Got a nice one today," he said, motioning to the body wrapped up in blue tarp behind him. You looked at it to see crimson trickling out on the ground. Your eyes shot away "Wow, well I hope you enjoy your fresh meat. I'm going home now," you replied stiffly, immediately disengaging from the conversation to hurry back into your car.
You took a deep breath as you rested your head on the steering wheel. The air conditioner blowing cool air into your face as you breathed. Sitting straight again, you looked back to ignore Barnum's weary face and minded him as you backed your car out and hit the road.
As you adjusted your rearview mirror, something caught you attention in it's reflection. Wally's eyes were lazily staring back "Oh sorry Wally, guess you got tossed around during the incident?" You joked. The drive was mostly silent, even when began playing music at one point.
Finally you got home. You grabbed your supplies and Wally and made your into your apartment on the bottom floor. It was a small one bed thing but it was the one you could afford while working two jobs in town. You draped Wally over your couch as you laid down. You didn't remember when you fell asleep.
Carefully a pair of eyes blinked, mindful of the place he was in. It was new after all. He was positively delighted for living somewhere new! He shifted but found himself unable to move.
Ahh how disappointing, his body was still asleep yet his mind wasn't. He had hoped the ride was long enough to help him gain some control over his body once more but it seemed he would have wait wait a bit longer until he could properly get himself together. At least where the new person had placed him gave him a view of their home. It was very small unfortunately as he has seen them walk into the door nearby and now snoozed loud enough to be heard. His eyes raked across the room to take in the new sight.
There he saw a kitchen, propped up on the wall next to him was a flat black thing much like a big painting. What a silly painting to have! It lacked anything at all!
But oh ho ho! There he spotted the best thing of all! A green apple! It recently wasn't a red apple but an apple was an apple nonetheless. He certainly was going to admire it for hours.