"I can't believe you have me doing this," Dean grunted, crossing his arms across his chest. The security room of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria was small and there was hardly enough room for the both of them. Sam was set up in front of the monitor, being the tech guy and all, to track the progress of the animatronic puppets, whereas Dean was merely there to figure out why people still came to a pizzeria where some security guard got his frontal lobe bitten off by one of these animatronics in '87. Or why people would even keep the animatronics around after that. Apparently, before that incident, several children had gone missing and around that time security guards started to vanish. Some people said they merely ran off the job, others said that the place was cursed, as apparently no one had lasted more than five nights. So naturally…
"Bobby said this sounded like our kind of thing," Sam replied testily, cocking his head to the side.
"Yeah, well." Dean checked his sawed-off, running his palm against the metal barrel as the phone rang and a recorded message clicked on.
"Hello, hello? Uh, I wanted to record a message for you to help you get settled in on your first night," the voice said. "Um, I actually worked in that office before you. I'm finishing up my last week now, as a matter of fact. So I know it can be a bit overwhelming, but I'm here to tell you there's nothing to worry about. Uh, you'll be fine. So let's just focus on getting you through your first week. Okay?"
"Okay," Dean replied in a sarcastic voice. Sam let out a chuckle.
"Uh, let's see, first there's an introductory greeting from the company that I'm supposed to read. It's kind of a legal thing, you know. Uh, "Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. A magical place for kids and grown-ups alike, where fantasy and fun come to life. Fazbear Entertainment is not responsible for any damage done to property or persons. Upon discovering that damage or death has occurred, a missing person's report will be filed within 90 days, or as soon as property and premises have been thoroughly cleaned and bleached, and the carpets have been replaced."
Sam looked sideways at Dean who raised his eyebrows and clucked his tongue. Well, that explained what probably happened to the missing security guards. They were killed by freaking puppets. Fantastic.
"Okay, now I know that might sound bad, but there's really nothing to worry about. Uh, the animatronic characters here do get a bit quirky at night, but do I blame them? No. If I were forced to sing those same stupid songs for twenty years and never got a bath? I'd probably be a bit irritable at night too. So, remember, these characters hold a special place in the hearts of children and we need to show them a little respect, right? Okay."
"He's talking about them like they're freakin' people," Dean muttered. Sam narrowed his eyes and shushed him.
"So, just be aware, the characters do tend to wander a bit. Uh, they're left in some kind of free roaming mode at night…something about their servos locking up if they get turned off for too long. Uh, they used to be allowed to walk around during the day too. But then there was the Bite of '87. Yeah. It's amazing that human body can live without the frontal lobe, you know?"
Dean swallowed hard.
"Uh, now, concerning your safety, the only real risk to you as a night watchman here, if any, is the fact that these characters, uh, if they happen to see you after hours probably won't recognize you as a person. They'll p-mostly likely see you as a metal endoskeleton without its costume on. Now since that's against the rules here at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, they'll probably try to…uh, forcefully stuff you inside a Freddy Fazbear's suit. Um, now, that wouldn't be so bad if the suits themselves weren't filled with crossbeams, wires and animatronic devices, especially around the um, facial area. So, you could imagine how having your head forcefully pressed inside one of those could cause a bit of discomfort and…death." Dean looked at Sam with a rising expression of horror on his face as the voice continued on. "Uh, the only parts of you that would likely see the light of day again would be your eyeballs and teeth when they pop out the front of the mask, heh."
Dean felt the pit in his stomach drop further into his intestines. "Yeah, yeah, they don't tell you these things when you sign up. But hey, first day should be a breeze. I'll chat with you tomorrow. Uh, check those camera, and remember to close the doors only if absolutely necessary. Gotta conserve power. Alright, good night."
The voice stopped and Dean checked his watch. 2 AM. This was going to be a long night. "Dean, Dean," Sam suddenly hissed excitedly, hovering over the monitor. "Bonnie's moved backstage."
"Bonnie?" Dean asked with a huff. "You mean the rabbit?"
"Yes."
"Check the others."
Sam pulled the live feed of the show stage back up. Dean cocked his head to the side. "Okay, now go backstage again."
Bonnie's face was right up against the camera.
"Shit," Dean hissed as he jerked his head backwards.
Sam laughed. "What's the matter, Dean? Scared of the Easter Bunny?"
"No," Dean huffed. "No, it's just creepy." He shook his head from side to side quickly.
"Dean, Chica's moved."
"What?"
Sam clicked through the live feeds until he saw Chica standing in the bathroom. Dean turned around and pressed his back against the wall. There was a door open to his left and a door open to his right, each extending out into a long dark hallway. He was about to tell Sam that he was going to head out to check things out when Sam spoke. "The bunny's gone, Dean. I can't find it on the monitors."
"Okay this is getting too creepy," Dean hissed, pulling the sawed-off closer to his side.
"Dean, will you put that thing down?" Sam asked, clicking through the monitors. "They're just puppets, all right? I don't think that's really going to help."
"Well it's not my fault you forgot the salt." Dean struggled to keep his voice down, not sure if the puppets could hear him.
"We don't even know if these are spirits," Sam replied in an even voice. "They could just be-"
"What? Faulty animatronics?" Dean asked. "Bobby wouldn't send us if it was that simple."
Sam raised his eyebrows in agreement. "The thing about these machines is that usually when you have a puppet like this, they have like a brain and a spinal cord, a bunch of wires that attach to a central column and the rest is just…padding." He glanced up at Dean. "But these, you could fit a person inside if you wanted to. Not a whole person, it would kill you as Phone Guy said, but you could probably fit-"
"A kid?" Dean asked.
"Dean-" Sam swallowed hard as he closed the monitor and jumped to his feet. "Something just moved out there."
"What?" Dean asked, spinning around. He flicked on the light switch to light up just the right side of the hallway, known as the East Hall. There was Chica, peering in the security office through the window. Her head was cocked to one side, beak slightly open, eyes bulging against the glass. Sam couldn't be sure, but he thought he saw some discharge around her eyes, either blood or mucus or both.
Dean yelled at the top of his lungs and slammed his hand against the wall to close the large metal door.
"Dean-" Sam hissed, pushing past him to turn out the light in that hallway. Their view of Chica disappeared, but neither one of them thought she had moved. "We only have limited power to get us through to 6 AM."
"Fucking big bird," Dean hissed. "Check the cameras, check the cameras."
"Bonnie's in the West Hall," Sam answered, pursing his lips. Dean peered over his shoulder at the monitor, where he could distinctly see a bunny-shaped figure against the dim lighting of another room.
"It looks like that rabbit from Donnie Darko," Dean murmured as he pulled a flashlight out of his pocket. "Good thing we brought our own lighting." He shone the flashlight into the hallway but nothing happened. Dean hit the top of the flashlight against the side of his leg and shone it into the darkness again, but Dean couldn't see anything. It almost looked as though the darkness had swallowed the light whole.
"Worthless," Dean hissed. He hit the light switch against the wall carelessly to light up the West Hall only to see Bonnie standing in the doorway, no more than a foot away from his face. Her eyes were half-closed, a satisfied grin stretching across her plastic face. Its teeth seemed surprisingly small for the size of the face, and jutted out of the mouth at strange angles. Dean screamed louder this time, punching the door close button with his fist. He hit it so rapidly the door shut, opened, and then shut again. He grabbed at his chest, backing into a corner.
"Okay, Dean, calm down," Sam turned around to face him. "They're just puppets."
"Yeah," Dean replied, staring at Sam incredulously. "But it's fucking creepy." Sam turned around and hit the light switch for the East Hall. Chica was gone.
"Okay, where did that thing go?" Sam asked himself as he turned the light switch off and sat down in front of the monitor.
"Find it," Dean hissed, pushing his back further into the wall.
"Are you – are you really creeped out by this?" Sam asked. "Look, Dean, the doors are shut, they can't get in."
Dean huffed, pulling at the ends of his jacket. He did his best to put on a brave face. "How much power do we have left?"
"Twelve percent," Sam answered. "It's about 5:30 now. We should have enough power to make it to morning."
"Thirty minutes," Dean answered. "I can't die this way, Sam. I've faced demons and vampires and actual, you know, monsters. I can't die to some animatronic puppet."
"Interesting," Sam said, looking at the monitor.
"Interesting?" Dean asked, exasperated, as he ran a hand through his hair. "Oh, tell me, Sam. Please, do share with the rest of the class."
"Freddy hasn't moved," Sam answered. Dean stared at the monitor over Sam's shoulder.
"No, no, no, he's moved," Dean said. "Wasn't he facing to the left before? Now he's facing right."
"You sure?" Sam asked, staring at the camera. They were silent for a few moments, staring at the picture at Freddy on the screen, almost willing him to move. Suddenly, a loud alarm split through the air. It sounded almost like door chimes.
"Holy shit," Dean hissed as he jumped back. Sam laughed in spite of himself.
"It means our shift is up, Dean," Sam said. "We're done." He turned to Dean and lowered his voice. "You've survived night one."
"Dude, not funny," Dean said as he pushed his brother's shoulder.
"Maybe next time we can actually, you know, explore the place and try to figure out what's going on?" Sam asked. "Instead of just hiding in the security room the whole night?"
"Right," Dean nodded quickly. "Sure. I sure can."
