The car turned into the crowded parking lot that bustled with various families walking towards the cheery building. My son was kicking my seat from behind, extremely excited that we arrived.
"Anthony, please stop kicking. We'll be there in a minute, I promise." I parked the car in a spot not too far from the entrance, and got out of the driver's seat to help him out of the car. I lifted him out and set him lightly on the pavement. He grabbed my hand and yanked me towards the building.
"Come ooooon! I wanna see Fweddy! Let's gooo!" I chuckled, following him inside the building titled Freddy Fazbear's Pizza Place.
When we entered, the room was loud with the cheering of children and people singing. We walked between cluttered tables to get a seat off to the side. The singing was coming from a stage of animatronic animals. One was a bear, one a chicken, one a bunny, and a fox.
A waitress came by to ask what we wanted, then left for the kitchen. I looked down at Anthony, who was bopping to the music eagerly in his chair. Then I looked back at the stage with the robots; for some reason, they made me feel nervous. I held the back of my son's chair, not wanting to have him run up to the stage with other kids.
Soon, the song ended and the loud music died down. It looked like another group was there for a birthday party. The animatronics made their way offstage, which I didn't know they were able to do. Kids were allowed to meet and take pictures with them.
"Anthony," I started, leaning towards his chair. "I want you to stay with mommy. Don't go running off now." He turned, frowning. "But I wanna see Fweddy! It's not fair!" I pat his shoulder, and made sure that he wouldn't get up. We both watched the large group celebrating a boy's birthday.
Before getting their pizza, the boy eyed the robot animals excitedly. He jumped up and ran towards the robot fox, Foxy, from 'Pirate Cove.' It did not seem like his mother was paying attention to what was happening.
Just as pizza arrived at our table, a loud shriek sounded throughout the restaurant. All of the customers including myself and Anthony looked in the direction that it came from, and our mouths dropped. Anthony quickly hugged me, averting his eyes from the gruesome scene. I cringed, holding him.
The boy cried, standing frozen in place, with his arms dangling by his sides. Foxy held the boy firmly by the shoulders, his sharp teeth sinking into the boy's forehead. Blood soaked down his clothes.
He whimpered quietly, tears rolling down his cheeks. "MOMMY!" He screamed, jerking his mother's attention towards him. She stood a few feet away from the action. Screaming, she grabbed a pizza-cutter from the table and threw it at the machine, denting and slicing through the metal and wires from his torso.
Anthony cried into my shirt. I couldn't take it anymore. I used the restaurant's phone, dialing 9-1-1. I waited for the police to answer, watching the victim's mother throw forks at the mechanical fox.
"9-1-1. What's your emergency?"
"Ah thank heavens," I gasped. "I'm in Freddy Fazbear's Pizza Place. One of the animatronics has his mouth on a young boy's head. The boy's head is being bitten!" I tightly held my son's hand as he stood next to me.
"No need to say more, ma'am. We're on our way." I hung up the phone. Another parent already went to find the restaurant's manager. The boy was paralyzed with fear and pain. His mother tried to pull him out of Foxy's grip without success.
I opened the main door, leading my son outside. We weren't going to stay any longer.
A couple days after the incident, a newspaper came out. The headline was: "Boy Survives Robot Malfunction." I decided to read it, worried for the little boy and his family. I learned that the fox had ripped out the boy's frontal lobe, but he survived after a long trip to the hospital. The owner refused to shut down the restaurant. The only thing he did was say that Foxy was 'out of order' and didn't use him for the stage performances. I shivered, setting the newspaper down. I knew we were never going to that restaurant ever again.