Chapter One
everything happened ever so slowly. One by one they stopped laughing as they heard the snapping of spring locks and the creak of old gears. And then, everything was silent aside from the sickening crunch that would haunt Michael for the rest of his life. He had killed his younger brother for some sort of sick joke. Sudden yelling managed to pull him out of his trance as he watched on in shock.
"Micheal Benedict Afton what is going on here! You better not-" his father, William, paused as he suddenly was able to see the show stage mid march to reprimand him.
"Percy…. no…" Was all he could say as he ran over and fell to his knees in front of the stage. Henry exited his office to see what all the commotion was about. It only took a moment for his face to form an expression of horror and disgust, whether he was disgusted at the actions of the bullies or the sight of the blood would always remain a mystery.
"Henry, call an ambulance a-a hospital. ANYTHING! JUST CAll now..." his voice faltered as his body was wracked with sobs whilst he tried to find the spring lock reppresor he always had on him. He managed to eventually find it, allowing him to lock the springs and release Percy from the maw of the beast known as Fredbear. As William cradled Percy in his arms, purple dress shirt smeared with blood, he looked up at Micheal with a rage in his eyes that shook the boy to his core.
"You… you did this didn't you," he chuckled slowly, "you did this for some sick joke huh? Thought it would be funny to hurt him bad didn't ya? You're a horrible person Mikey. I hope ya know that…" his voice drifted off as his eyes lost the rage behind them. He continued to cry over Percy's spawning body until the paramedics had to rip him from his arms.
They arrived at the hospital about an hour later, neither of them saying a word to the other until they were alone in the waiting room.
"Dad I-" Micheal was quickly hushed by William, who turned to him slowly cold and stone faced.
"Save it, kiddo. Now ain't the time. We deal with Percy first, and we get to the issue of you later." He turned away, refusing to say anything else but a quick gushing noise whenever Michael attempted to speak.
"Mr. Afton?" A doctor exited one of the many doors into the waiting room, looking exasperated.
"Yes. That's me." William quickly straightened out his shirt, realizing that it had been smeared with thick, wet blood that was just now crusting across it, a scabby and grim reminder of why they were here in the first place.
"May I speak to you in here? It's about your son, Perseus" the doctor said already inching towards the door.
"Of course. And please, call him Percy. Perseus brings back bad memories" The doctor gave a quick nod, noting that she heard him but not showing whether or not she really cared. They quickly entered the room and Michael was left alone with his thoughts.
It seemed like a million years before they came back out of the room. His father was crying (only the third time he had ever witnessed such a thing). He was unsure what emotion it was with, as his father had always been a wildcard. Was it happiness? Sadness? Anger? He would know soon enough as his father was coming for him fast.
"Michael come with me." Was all he said as he grabbed his wrist in a death grip, not really allowing him any options. They went into the room William had just left, and Michael was surprised.
"Your lucky he made it through," his father said, looking at him with a dark expression, "or else you wouldn't be here anymore kiddo." His father had always threatened him when he bullied Percy, but he had never actually believed him before this moment. Staring into the inhuman violet eyes of his father made him realize he had the capacity to do terrible things if he felt like it.
"He won't wake up for a while," he began explaining, his expression changing back as he heard the door knob click, "they have him in a coma. They had to remove part of his brain. He will be different…" William trailed off as he weighed wether or not to tell him the next part, eventually choosing an option "...And that's all."
A new doctor quickly entered the room, tapping his fingers on his clipboard as he cleared his throat to draw attention to himself.
"Sir, we ask that you please leave for the day. Visiting hours are ending and the boy needs his rest." The doctors words flew out of his mouth like a series of bullets, he seemed to have experience with people who felt the hours didn't apply to them.
"Of course!" His father grinned, straight teeth in a crooked mouth that didn't want to smile on one side. "We'll be going now then" he grabbed Michaels wrist, pulling him through the far too sterile hallways out into the parking lot and only letting go when they arrived at the car.
"Now That we're done with that, let's discuss what we ought to do with you to sort out your habits" he pushed the pedal down before Michael could reply, not allowing him to speak once again.
They arrived at home again, everything still with all the others out of the house. Lewis, the middle child, was at their mothers for the week end. Elizabeth was… gone, and Percy was in the hospital and would be for who knows how long.
They didn't speak at dinner, or afterwards for that matter. He only heard his name called when he was going up the stairs to get ready to sleep.
"Don't think I forgot the conversation we need to have. Just know it's not going to be tonight, because I currently want to see as little of you as possible. Go to bed. We can talk in the morning about what you did" he could tell his father was worrying about something. He always got tense like this, and Michael couldn't blame him. He had done something terrible for his own entertainment. He wondered if his father was right. If he was a terrible person.