She didn't know what all the fuss was about, but it seemed like everyone was talking about it.
A new game called Five Nights at Freddy's was released and playable on both holo-screens and scrolls. It was rapidly becoming popular among the students at Beacon. Everywhere Blake turned she would hear another avid discussion of theories, or babble of how scared students were when they played it. It was getting ridiculous in Blake's opinion, and she wished everyone would just shut up about it.
She wasn't even safe in her own dorm; her teammates and friends had also played the game and kept talking about it. She expected this from the more extroverted members, but even Ren, Pyrrha, and Weiss seemed interested in it.
Blake had tried to be patient about the whole ordeal, but after weeks of still hearing about the game she was becoming irritated with every mention of it.
When she once thought aloud about how something so dumb could become so popular Yang looked at her mischievously and said to her, "Why don't you try it and find out for yourself?"
Blake wished she hadn't opened her mouth.
They had her play at night; "they" being her teammates and Nora and Ren, both Pyrrha and Jaune were out training.
They prepared a desk with a computer and the game icon highlighted on screen. Yang offered her headphones for Blake to wear, but the Faunus simply pointed to her other set of ears. Yang instead opted to crank up the volume on the speakers.
Everyone settled around Blake, all but Ruby, displaying varying degrees of eagerness. Ruby had wrapped herself in a big blanket on the floor, only her anxious eyes peeping out a small opening. Weiss scolded her on being childish and had convinced the younger girl to share the blanket under the pretense of being cold. Ren had acquired some chairs to sit on while Nora would either sit on her own chair or the floor when she got too excited. Yang had moved a chair beside Blake; a front row seat at a chance to see Blake get scared and teach her the basic mechanics of the game.
When Blake finally started up the game its main menu was jarring, the noise of old television static ringing in her ears. She quickly started the game just to be rid of the noise, not bothering to observe the main menu screen.
Starting the first level of the game, Blake found herself easing into it relatively well. The layout was simple and Blake had to admit that she was becoming a bit bored after going through the first night without much activity from the so-called aggressive animatronics.
However the second Night of the game yielded much more frightening features. Blake was beginning to understand why everyone was so into this game. She thought it was just something with cheap jump scares and no plot, but a story was unfolding and the animatronics were becoming more active.
She couldn't quite hide her nervousness upon viewing the one called Bonnie staring at her with seemingly soulless eyes. Ruby had yelped in shock at the sight, scaring Weiss in the process and earning her another reprimand.
Blake could sympathize with her, it wasn't a sight that dissipated after it could no longer be seen. Strangely enough Blake sensed she had felt this jittery sensation once before in her past, but she merely brushed the feeling off and tried to focus on the game.
She made it through Night Two with some effort, a few times the robots had been close to getting her but she reacted quickly enough to keep them out. Blake sighed in relief upon finishing another level, but she became tense soon enough as the Third Night began.
Blake then noticed she was sweating a lot, making her wonder how long she had been like that. It was odd for her to let something like a game get to her this badly.
She was barely in the level when things were already becoming difficult. Her eyes darted all over the screen, her hand moving the mouse quickly to activate the necessary things to keep the nightmarish beings out. Blake was becoming paranoid and all of her focus was on the game, so much so that she had the sensation of being in the game, making the experience much worse.
When she saw one of the characters, Foxy, running down the hall to get her Blake didn't react fast enough, the sight of it running towards her location making her jump back in her chair. It wasn't until the screech of the animatronic's scream sounding in her ears that a horrible memory had resurfaced. It caused her to cover her human ears and flatten the animal ones as she screamed back at the screen before bolting from the chair and into the small bathroom nearby.
Everyone was stunned by the turn of events, a bit afraid to move at first upon processing Blake's break in character. They had expected something like that from Ruby, but not the ever cool and collected Blake.
Eventually Yang approached the bathroom door and knocked on it softly.
"Blake?" She called out quietly.
"Go away." Blake's muffled voice could be heard on the other side.
Yang attempted to open the door only to find it locked.
"I said go away." Blake could be heard sniffling on the other side.
Soon everyone was at the door, reassuring Blake that they wouldn't make fun of her and wanted to know what they could do to have her come out. It took longer than they expected, Ren having to turn off the computer completely before Blake felt convinced to leave the safety of the bathroom.
As soon as Blake stepped through the door Yang hugged her, using her strength to gently pick her up in the embrace and sat her down in the middle of the room. Everyone gathered around her, Yang never letting go of Blake as she now held the girl from behind with arms wrapped around her waist.
Ruby then wrapped her blanket over her head protectively and snuggled closer to the two. Nora laid her head on Blake's lap, telling silly jokes and making dorky faces that made her smile. Weiss and Ren completed the huddle and attempted to cheer her up with words of encouragement. Soon Blake had calmed down and they all listened patiently as Blake explained why she reacted the way she did.
It was a distant memory, one that had been forgotten due to all the drama going on with the White Fang, but it seems that fear never quite loses its grip.
When Blake was younger she had attended a birthday party at an old restaurant which had animatronics. Despite the bots being outdated they were still a wonder to young minds like hers, and the other kids loved seeing the way they behaved.
However one of the bots had slowly begun malfunctioning, though it wasn't obvious right away. At first its facial recognition device became corrupted, its eyes turning dark and unseeing as it would stare for long periods of time at someone before registering their face.
Employees had told customers it was fine as sometimes it would happen to that particular model since it was older than the others. Sometimes a barely audible screeching noise emanated from its voice box when it spoke, much similar to the sound Foxy made in the game. The human kids couldn't hear it, but for Blake and the other Faunus children with animal ears the noise was grating and horrible.
At last its memory chip fried as the animatronic forgot its purpose and began running around for no reason.
Blake shivered as she describe the scene and recalled how the bot suddenly seemed intent on pursuing her and almost tackled her. It was right then when the manager of the restaurant was finally able to shut it off remotely.
Although Blake was spared any physical injury the mental trauma was done. The machine seemed so alive, like it really had life and personality. Watching its sudden craze and seeing it drop to the floor in a lifeless heap had frightened her to a point that she could never see animatronics as a simple children's attraction. It was then, with its empty eyes still staring at her as its arm outstretched towards her, that Blake developed her fear.
As Blake finished her story she felt generous support from her friends. Weiss placed a hand over her own and squeezed it comfortingly. Ruby huddled closer to her to give a side hug as Nora did her best to wrap her arms around Blake. Ren shared a sympathetic look with her and patted her shoulder.
Yang's hold tightened slightly around her waist and she buried her face in her long ebony hair. Blake was surprised by the gesture, and even more so by what Yang said next.
"Sorry." Came the words muffled in her hair as Yang held her protectively. "I'm sorry for making you play the game and remember something like that."
Blake felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes. "It's not your fault Yang, it's not anyone's fault." She looked to each of her friends. "There's no need to apologize." Blake reached behind her to stroke blonde curls soothingly.
Yang nodded with her face still buried against her hair before leaning back. Blake turned her head to look behind her and saw the familiar bright grin Yang often sported. Looking back at the others she found them smiling warmly at her as well.
Blake felt like she could cry again, but happy tears from all the warmth and support her friends were giving her.
Jaune and Pyrrha entered the room then, the two looking bewildered at the scene before them. Once it was explained to them they also joined the cuddle fest, though Nora seemed adamant to hog Blake's lap all to herself. They shared a good laugh at their circumstances and eventually Blake found herself in much lighter spirits.
Afterwards it became the two teams self-proclaimed duty to, "stop this menace from being mean to Blakey!" or so Nora would so gallantly put it.
Blake felt like she had her own personal guard protecting her from anything that could possibly trigger her again. They made sure anything that sounded similar to the screeching of the animatronics was nowhere in Blake's vicinity. Nora even going as far as smashing someone's scroll during lunch when they didn't listen to her first warning. Nora received a detention for it, but she only smiled and gave Blake a thumbs up despite the punishment.
As time passed buzz of the game soon died down and Blake didn't have to worry so much about hearing or seeing the game again. At least until gossip of a second release was spreading. But Blake knew she wouldn't have to worry about it, because she had friends that would be there to help her.