Their widened eyes darted around in the darkness, their lower lip quivering as their whimpers escaped them. How long they circled about in the dark room, not even they knew or cared to estimate; it felt like forever traversing the dark.
Guiding Light's unexpected absence was of no help, and they burst into tears as they bumped into another wall. Toppling over, (Y/n) yelped as their ankle made a cracking sound. It wasn't broken, but (Y/n)'s immaturity had them believing they were unable to walk.
Their wailing had attracted an entity to the scene. His glowing eyes were trained to the child sobbing loudly in the corner of the room, the opposite end to the exit. Glitch was no use, locking the door they'd entered in because the humans ahead continued on.
Hovering above the ground, Screech debated over the many ways there were to approach the questionable situation, pondering over which would be the most fitting. Killing a child was something none of the entities had done before and, even if there was a first time for everything, he didn't feel like making it a first.
Their watery eyes shot open when the entity was positioned above them, levitating above the ground at an arm's length.
"Kid. Get up." Screech ordered, trying his best to be comforting to get them to trust him. He wasn't all that much older than them, he assumed, and he didn't know how to calm a crying child,"Come on, don't cry."
(Y/n) curiously took in the sight of the entity's glowing eyes, the only distinguishable feature that stood against the darkness; they were like two beacons to guide them through the lightless terrain.
His appearance was no help in comforting in the child, and they hid their face in their hands, blocking out the sight of the entity as if it were useful. Their shielded vision was an oddity to Screech, and his tentacle dove down to curl around their wrist. With a swift yank, Screech drew (Y/n)'s right hand astray, into the dark where they couldn't see it.
"Trust me, please." Screech's soft tone purred, as his cold stare was fixed onto (Y/n).
There was nothing to see, which was what worried (Y/n) to no end. How were they supposed to trust what they couldn't see? Screech's quite commanding attitude and forceful actions did him no justice, and (Y/n) lowered their head and withdrew their wrist from his tentacle. Unbalanced, Screech fell forwards onto the carpet, not preparing himself for the impact.
The thud of his fall caused (Y/n) to jump, shrieking in surprise as it made a thud.
A sound.
None of the entities they'd encountered yet had physical bodies, maybe it was a theme the monsters followed? None of them had hands, legs or anything tangible about them.
(Y/n)'s line of thought had them deceived, and they naively trusted Screech. Raising a shaky palm, they searched the ground in front of them to find the entity. The weird texture of a substance halfway fluid and halfway liquid made them recoil in shock, a reaction evident on their face.
Groaning at the throbbing in his head, Screech noticed the sensation of touch, the child caressing his back lightly. Their fingertips traced up his figure, rounding to the top of his head before they set their palm on it. Petting him so gently, they found themself smiling at the realisation they weren't as alone as they believed themself to be.
Twirling another tentacle on their wrist, Screech stabilised himself as he levitated off the floor. Slowly, he fluttered up towards their neck, entwining his tentacles around their shoulders and sitting himself on the right one.
"Don't worry, I'll help you." His hushed voice assured, his breaths tickling their ear.
"Who are you?" (Y/n)'s clueless tone had Screech on the verge of a laughing fit; the naive nature combined with the immature fear was a perfect mix to him.
Raising a tentacle near their right hand, he introduced himself,"I'm Screech, and I'll help you in the hotel."
(Y/n)'s childish chuckle made his face light up; this was his first ever friend,"I'm (Y/n)!"
Their fingers stumbled across his tentacle and they shook it with a loose, firmless grip. The tip of his tentacle snaked around until it ran up the back of their hand,"Well, it's very nice to meet you, (Y/n)."
"What do you look like?" (Y/n) pressed on, feeling pressured to ask all the questions they'd amassed.
Even Screech couldn't answer that question for one simple reason: there was not a single mirror in the hotel. Not that he'd stumbled across, as of yet.
His sheepish snicker was overlooked as he asked if they could continue. (Y/n) took no notice at their blown off question, left unanswered.
"Okay, do you feel the wall?" Screech inquired, raising a tentacle to feel the wall himself. (Y/n) let out an affirming hum and Screech continued,"Follow the wall until you find a full door."
Listening to their new guide, (Y/n) blindly followed the room. Many a time, they bumped into a table or a set of drawers, scuffing their shoe and injuring their right side.
(Y/n) practically cried at the sight of an intact door, complete with a working doorknob and no wooden planks covering it. Turning the doorknob, (Y/n) pushed their way out of the room, enjoying the joy of seeing their surroundings.
Finally, they got to have a good look at what had been guiding them, to discover it was an entity.
It was spherical, coated in a black slime-like liquid. The piercing white eyes didn't have the same solidifying effect now there was other light. Another noteworthy feature was the impeccably white set of human teeth it had. As they'd expected, it also possessed tentacles.
Screech thought (Y/n) would shove him off their shoulder, backing up in fear and dread. No such thing happened.
Dragging Screech off their shoulder, they pulled him up to their torso in an endearing cuddle, one he felt inclined to return. He was smaller than they were, taking up half of their torso at best.
His tentacles hugged them back, patting their back softly.
"Thank you!" (Y/n) smiled, their childlike innocence making Screech almost cry. This human was adorable; he couldn't bring himself to kill them, ever.
Letting go of (Y/n), Screech eventually turned to his dark room to leave, when (Y/n)'s disappointed tone froze him on the spot,"Please don't go. You're my friend, please stay. I don't want you to be alone in the dark."
"Oh, but I have to stay and wait for other people to come." Screech explained to them, motioning to the room with his tentacles,"The others won't be happy if I don't."
(Y/n)'s glance fogged up,"..If they're your friends, why aren't they here? Why did they leave you in a dark room, all alone?"
The tentacled entity mused,"I'm not sure they like me very much.."
"Well, I like you! You're really cool, and I don't want to leave you in a dark room. Come with me, and we can go adventure together!" (Y/n) piped up, that childlike innocence besting his typically sensible nature.
He was swayed by (Y/n)'s reasoning. Positioning himself back onto their shoulder, he smiled broadly as they continued into the next room.
