A/N: As you can see, this is a new story I'm working on! Firstly, updates on "Puppet Show" won't stop. I'm working on both at the same time because their stories co-exist. "Puppet Show" is just a prequel to this story. One doesn't need to read the prequel first to understand this one. You can read in any order you like! Anyway, hope you enjoy the first chapter and as always, feedback and reviews are always greatly appreciated.
Chapter 1: Him
The first thing Alex Lane felt upon walking into the overly-advertised pizzeria was a feeling of strange nostalgia. Even though he'd never stepped one foot inside Freddy Fazbear's pizza, he felt a strange wave of childhood memories that didn't exist followed shortly by a dread-driven sensation in his stomach, a feeling of forbearance. Something was coming.
To avoid looking like a fool after standing in the doorway for a good ten seconds, he pretended he was holding the door open for someone, only to realize this would make him look even stranger as there was no one on their way in. He decided to forget it and just close the goddamn door before noting how this place had the 'it seems a lot bigger on the inside' effect to it, which he found quite enchanting.
Alex always had a strange fondness for kids places. He felt right at home. There was a kind of presumed safeness about them that just couldn't be replicated. That is, until a large intimidating man charged straight out from a door labeled 'employees only' right across from the entrance. Alex winced as this big bulky stranger rushed right up to him, grabbed his collar and threw him into the wall. Dazed, Alex managed to begin muttering, "what the hell is-"
"You! It's you isn't it!? You sick bastard! I bet you enjoyed it!" The cumbersome worker whispered with enough ferocity to shake a man with a stone heart to the core. He towered over Alex (who was now on the floor) and picked him back up by the collar again, forcing him against the wall. "I got you now!" He expressed through gritted teeth.
"I swear I have no idea what you're talking about!" Alex whimpered as he squirmed in the unwavering grasp of this hulking man.
"You lie!" The man pushed Alex further into the wall, practically lifting the younger boy off of his feet.
"Let him go! What the hell, dude. Have you gone mad!?" Cried another employee from behind a counter to the right of the entrance. He looked like he was around his early-twenties. "You have more important things to worry about and harassing every older-looking customer who walks through that door is not one of them!"
Alex gratefully smiled at the other stranger who came to his rescue when
the large man let Alex go and walked back through the door from whence he came, mumbling something like, "it could be him...You never know...This Goddamned place is messed up..."
Alex brushed himself off before thanking his savior with a submissive nod. Alex was utterly bewildered. Wasn't this supposed to be a kid's place!? He wasn't too keen on staying in an establishment where he got physically abused by a stranger the second he walked in. He decided to find a solution to his troubles elsewhere as he turned back towards the door muttering, "the hell was that about. Uh, um, see ya later, then..."
"No! Wait!" The young boy piped up. Alex stopped in his tracks. This employee had been nice enough to save him from his tormentor, so Alex guessed he could let this guy try to explain his co-workers actions. "Sorry about that, uh, he's been like this since the beginning of the week now. Ever since, um, you know..." He trailed off as if he found it difficult to keep talking. "This is only our first week back in business and most people don't really want to come back here, so we'll take any costumer we get. Even if you're a teen who has seemed to have grown out of, uh, the, um, 'family pizzeria' phase. So please just-"
"Wait a minute! Back up just a little bit! What happened!? When did you guys shut down!?" Alex intercepted after he'd taken a moment to scan his memory for anything he might know about Freddy's. The only things he knew were what his little brother told him about the place. His brother was a Freddy fanatic. He had all the stuffed toys, he had his birthday there every year, and yet, Alex had never seen the inside before. Maybe he thought it was a bit too kid-ish or maybe a bit too boring. Nonetheless, after his initially nice reaction upon his entrance, he knew this place was being run by employees who attack random customers for unexplained reasons. But maybe that was only this local establishment. Alex guessed the other location might be different. That one might not be ruthlessly targeted by local teens like this location. Alex personally didn't like to take part in the stupid tradition of coming in here alone at night to steal some cash from the register. Hopefully, an unnoticeable amount to the poor guy who was responsible for managing the cash register, of course. Ever since this place opened up a while back, it's been some kind of initiation that made you a 'true' man. You didn't grow up until you conquered Freddy's. It was mind-numbly stupid to Alex. Had it ever crossed their minds what would happen if they got caught? Even his best-friend, Brian, had taken the challenge a couple weeks ago. Brian still hadn't let Alex know whether or not he got caught amidst his juvenile endeavors.
Alex's thoughts were scattered as his newly-found conversation partner screeched, "have you been living under a rock!? It's all over the news...The papers too." His voice progressively died down as he explained.
"What?" Alex asked.
"Uh, A kid went missing here, um, a couple weeks ago. The child is presumed dead...They haven't found the body...or a suspect. It's kind of hard to stay professional in times like this." His voice sounded as though he were stabbing himself with his own words. Alex's heart dropped upon hearing this news. How had he not heard about this!? His previously mentioned feeling of forbearance in his stomach turned to a more grossly disappointed sensation in his gut. "To make things worse, another boy, um, went missing just a couple days after the first disappearance. No body found there either. We were forced to be shut down for an investigation. The investigators told us they saw someone dressed in one of our animatronic suits lead the first kid into a...room that isn't shown or recorded in the camera feed. We aren't quite sure about the second kid, but we do know that the guilty party is among the employees because only they would have access to our wearable suits. It's eerie knowing the killer could be in the building right now and we still wouldn't know. At least we opened back up again, even though every worker here is still getting questioned like mad... We haven't gotten as many people coming in since we reopened...You know, It's disgusting; wasting lives like that!" Alex was still surprised he didn't know about this. I mean, his brother didn't talk about it and neither did his mother and they came here often.
"Well that, um, that...really sucks. It's terrible, actually," Alex agreed. "So I suppose that guy who attacked me was just looking for a suspect, then. I don't even work here!"
"Yeah. Don't worry, Ronnie really does mean well. I think he took the news real hard. Maybe he blames himself for not noticing anything strange happening on that day. He's our security guard, so it's kind of his job to inspect any shady characters who enter, but, um, maybe he took it a little too far with you," the guy gave a half-hearted giggle and Alex joined to avoid anything from being too awkward.
"Uh, who, um, who were they? The victims, I mean," Alex stammered awkwardly upon asking such a sad, serious question. It really made him sick to his stomach. For all anyone knew, the kids might still be alive. He doubted that though.
"I wasn't told any information like that. The police haven't released names yet," The young worker stated bluntly.
"Ok, um, well, uh," Alex was struggling to find his bearings in the conversation after discussing the horrible news and it seems the employee caught wind of it and decided to step in.
"So, without further ado, let me do my job and greet you! Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. A magical place for kids and grown-ups alike, where fantasy and fun come to life!" He boomed with a suddenly energetic voice. It sounded like he'd been trained and briefed on how to deliver the line with perfect precision. Alex guessed it was important, as this guy would be the first person people would be seeing upon entering. "Now what might I do you for?"
"Well, uh, my mom nagged me into getting a summer job and I've seen your help wanted ads in the paper. So, uh, I guess what I want is to know when I could get a job interview," Alex stammered meekly.
"Oh! Um, I guess I could go find the manager for you. He's probably in the building somewhere... I, uh, just need to go get him. Come with me," he said as he gestured for the adolescent to follow. They both walked forward and turned to the left to enter a long hallway with entrances to party rooms lining up the walls on either side. Less then half were occupied.
"By the way, if you do end up getting a job here, I'll be the one teaching you the ropes. That's my job. I record training messages for the new employees. Teach them how to keep themselves from dyin'-" he stopped mid-sentence, probably due to Alex's mixed look of horror and confusion, followed by a smile.
"Why would a job at a kids place have stakes of life and death!?" Alex chuckled as he found it quite amusing. What's the worst thing that could happen at a family pizzeria?!
"Shhhh! Keep it down! The kids might hear you! Look, it's got nothing to do with the job you might be getting. It's only concerning the performers/entertainers and the, uh, spring-suits. They're animatronic and mascot suit hybrids that are a bit tricky to get into. Eventually someone could get careless and hurt themselves," he explained strangely. Alex could see that this guy didn't really enjoy conversing about this topic. He'd probably explained it before, maybe even driven people off with his gloomy and eerily nonchalant way of describing these performers' potential injuries or deaths. For all Alex knew, this guy might be a complete bull-shiter, but he seemed quite sincere and kind, while still somewhat obliviously ignorant to the topic of death. Although, he did seem quite fazed about the disappearances of these children. Overall, this guy seemed to be attempting professionalism in this company's rough patch.
Alex demanded no further explanation as they continued down the hall and finally out into a huge main dinning area, with a curtained stage to his left and a smaller stage, also curtained, settling in the middle of hallway entrances on either side of the stage to his right. The room wasn't really packed, per say, but there were a sizable amount of kids running about the area. Straight ahead of him were two other hallway entrances, the left entrance seemingly leading to the restrooms and the right hall labeled to be the entrance to an arcade.
The worker began to lead him through the party room, while his eyes drifted towards the large eye-catching purple curtains closing off the main stage. "Is that where the animatronics are?" Alex wondered. Well, obviously, he then thought to himself.
"Uh, yeah. The main ones are up there. Their show's gonna start soon and then they'll move around a bit, greet the kids and then get back on stage. A new performance always starts on the hour. We have, um, the spring-suits entertaining the kids in the meantime. One of them is over there in animatronic mode," he explained. "The other one has been temporarily taken by investigators because it was the one that...he used." Alex followed the worker's gaze to see a yellow-tinted bear greeting and entertaining kids with strange jokes and annoying puns. The teen was truly amazed with the technology, albeit the robot being a little...off to the eye. Alex read somewhere that animatronics are part of a subset of human-like things along with puppets and mannequins that can activate a strange set of irrational fears. Your body can't tell if it's a danger or not. Alex wasn't completely petrified by these fears like some of his friends were, but he still was a bit more on-edge then usual. The two boys continued on through the room.
"Yes, friend! Your gaming skills have earned you tickets! And your tickets have earned you presents!" Boomed a robotic voice from the arcade as they passed by the entrance. Alex stopped in front of the doorway and peaked inside the room to spot a group of kids surrounding a large gift box containing a slender black-bodied puppet with a creepy white face emerging from the large present like a jack-in-the-box. It was handing out prizes to the children, when it suddenly looked up from the kids' faces and stared towards the door, right into Alex's eyes. It was truly spine-chilling. The strange puppet looked back down at the children waiting for gifts before looking right back up, but this time it's gaze was dead-set on the young employee next to Alex.
"Let's go..." The young man murmured while grabbing Alex's arm, pulling him away from the arcade entrance. They continued on through the room in silence. Alex was still quite fazed from being stared at by a non-sentient being. Maybe they were programmed to do that...but that couldn't be because that wasn't a robot. It was very clearly a puppet being controlled by some kind of metal lift. It couldn't be capable of turning it's head at will. Alex spoke too soon when he said he wasn't affected by irrational fears. Animatronics were one thing, but...puppets and marionettes were another when it came to population-frightening inanimate objects. How kids could stand creepy things like that, he'll never know.
A few seconds of silence later, Alex piped up, "Uh, was that one of your robots?"
"What? Oh, you mean that puppet thing. Well, no it's not an animatronic, but it definitely is one of our characters..."
Alex found this guy weirdly professional given the current circumstances, but ever since seeing the puppet, he'd started acting quite distant, as if his body was still present, but his consciousness was elsewhere. Snapped back to reality by one of Alex's question, he got right back to his competent self.
Alex looked around to make sure no one was listening before quietly and frightfully asking, "did you see that thing look at us? Is it supposed to do that with, like, the kids or something? If it's a puppet and doesn't have, like, artificial limbs like the other robots, than how the hell did it turn it's head like that?" Only after he barraged this guy with urgent inquiries did he realize it was probably only Alex's fear tampering with what was really there. He probably seemed mentally deranged to the worker. He was definitely just seeing-
"Creepy right? You aren't the only one who doesn't seem to like that puppet," the staff member admitted. Well, damn. For once, Alex hoped he was crazy. It turns out, there really was a twisted children's marionette at his potential new workplace. "I like all the other characters, but that thing is just...not right. I got a bit of a history with that puppet and I've always thought it didn't fit in with the gang. It's looked straight at me before. Almost like it's..."
"Like it's what?"
"Never mind it's, uh, quite strange," he said as they finally arrived at the end of the hall to the left of the smaller stage. They'd passed quite a few birthday rooms and even a supply closet before arriving at an office with entrances on either side. "Well, uh, here we are. The manager's in there. You wait out here, okay?" He walked inside the room and closed the door behind him.
Alex began to peak through the window near the door, but was suddenly shoved to the side as a young boy who looked around thirteen years old bumped into him. He backed right up into Alex, a camera in his hand.
"Oh, sorry," the kid apologized as he turned around to face Alex. "Ugh, now I have to retake this shot again. It's probably ruined," he mumbled, frustrated. The boy fiddled around with his Super 8 camera as he began to walk back into one of the party rooms lining up the hall.
"Uh, hey, kid, wait! Um, what are you doing!?" Alex asked suspiciously. He didn't want this boy getting in any trouble. The kid stopped in the doorway and waved his camera around as he explained, "You mean this? Oh, I'm, uh, secretly making a short horror film. It's also a bit of a murder mystery. This is my setting. I'm Scott, by the way. Scott Parks." The young kid reached out his free hand to shake Alex's.
The older teenager was impressed by this young kid's professionalism. It was quite charming. "Well, I'm Alex. Alex Lane," he said with a growing smirk as he accepted Scott's hand-shake.
"You know, some crazy stuff happened here a couple weeks-" He suddenly stopped speaking, silent for a good while with a confused expression on his face, and with a sudden start, he burst into quite speech, as if he was making some kind of shady trade in a back alley. "...Do you hear that?"
Alex wasn't getting the best first impression from the people who hung out around this place, but he decided to acknowledge the kid's question. "Hear what?" Alex asked hesitantly.
"Her. Do you hear her?" He was starting to sound quite upset. Alex was starting to get a bit freaked out.
"Who!? Who's 'her'?!"
"I'm...not...not sure. S-A-V-E M-E, she says... I will find you...Lucy. That's her name...I understand you...I'm sorry...," he closed his eyes and went silent for a moment. The teen, very mystified, debated finding someone to help.
"It stopped. She stopped. Where did she go? I can't hear her anymore," He suddenly snapped out of his trance-like state and re-acknowledged a very bewildered and borderline frightened Alex.
"...I-I'm sorry, but I, uh, I-I have to go!" And with that, Scott charged off, a worried look on his face, and with a wave of his hand, turned the corner around the hall. Obviously he wasn't too worried about getting his shot here anymore. Alex assumed he was joking, but if he was only pulling a strange prank, he sure was a good actor. In the scenario that Scott wasn't pulling his leg, Alex wouldn't want to be the one to tell Scott's parents that he was a little...different, to put it kindly.
Alex stood there, a little stunned, and waited for something to happen. Something was bound to happen, judging on the visit he'd been having so far. To start it off, he was attacked. Then, his soul was observed by a demented puppet, and lastly he met a proactive kid with a camera and voices in his head that brought him into randomly timed trances.
Abruptly, his previous employee guide opened up the office door and informed Alex to walk in. "Oh, hey! Um, I've gotta go do other things so good luck with getting hired! Oh, and also, if you do get hired, just remember to smile, you'll keep your job if you do. That's our motto, actually. 'Remember to smile; you are the face of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza!' Just remember that and you'll be golden! See you around!" And just like Scott, the man waved his hand and made his way back into the heart of the building.
"Wait! I didn't get your name!" Alex called down the hall. It was too late, though, as the job-searching teen's seemingly only friend he made was gone. He wasn't too sure Ronnie, that day guard looking for someone to arrest, was ever going to be much of a friend if Alex got the job.
Ignoring any other possible distractions, Alex went on through the squeaky door behind him to find a mildly messy office. He wouldn't say it was crammed, but he certainly wouldn't call the room gloriously spacious either. His eyes immediately drifted to a large eye-catching poster posted on the wall in front of the desk. All of the main mascot characters, cartooned, were smiling, Freddy taking center-stage. What were their names again? Alex could easily remember Foxy and his pirate cove, as his little brother couldn't let him forget. Foxy was all his sibling ever talked about when it came to the characters from Freddy's. There was also definitely a Bonnie, Alex was certain of that, but he couldn't remember whether it was the rabbit or the chicken. Anyway, he commented on how it was kind of stupid and lazy that they didn't bother to make new designs for the spring-suits.
The rest of the wall had been absolutely plastered with all kinds of children's drawings. That same strange wave of nostalgia as when he entered swept over Alex upon seeing the pictures. It was a bit creepy, yes, but still very reminiscent at the same time.
"Ah, so you must be Alex, then?" Asked the manager sitting in the office chair.
"Yep. It's me!" He did his best to put on his most Freddy Fazbear-like smile. After all, he was supposed to be the face of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. "And you must be the manager of this location?"
"You got that right," he sighed. He stood up and offered a handshake. Alex shook his hand and the manager sat back down. "The name's Mathew Burns."
"Uh, nice to meet you!" Alex hesitantly cheered.
"So from what I understand, you've come in response to the help wanted ad in the papers, correct?" Mathew asked, scanning through a pile of documents he took from one of the desk drawers.
"Yes, sir!"
"Now, I need you to know that the position was already filled. Earlier today, actually."
"Oh..." Alex's face of Freddy Fazbear faded away.
Dammit! He couldn't just leave! His mom had forced him to get a summer job! She suggested this place. He frowned, obviously cuing Mathew that he had upset Alex.
"No! It's just fine. We'll give you something else to do. You see, we'll take all employees we can get. I'm really not sure how loyal some of our staff members will be to the company after... what...what happened," Mathew blubbered. He picked out specific documents from the pile and signed them with a sigh.
"Oh! Well, uh, I'll do any job you ask me to do. I could clean up the place after everyone leaves," Alex suggested with new-found determination to receive this job.
"Sorry, uh, we already have an evening janitor..."
Shit! The teen's chances of obtaining a job here were dwindling by the minute.
"Now, uh, let's see...what could you do? We've got more than enough day shift workers. Oh, maybe you could...nope, that doesn't work either." He started stacking his messy pile of files, but looked twice after putting down a document. "Goddammit! Those teens are stealing all our money! In times like this, we can't afford to break-even." It seemed he was checking out a previous day's money total. He seemed to be getting pretty heated, so Alex took a tiny step towards the door. Especially since he was considered to be a part of the crowd who was guilty of such thievery. "Hey, you!" He suddenly addressed Alex as he looked up from the documents. "Do you know anything about this? Are they coming in the middle of the night? How are they getting in?!"
"I'm sorry, but I'm not sure. I don't really-"
Mathew's face suddenly lit up like a light bulb when he shouted, "That's it! How do you feel about taking a night shift here!? You can watch for any pesky trespassers entering. Look after the place from 6:00 to 12:00? What do you say?"
A night shift. Of all things, he could possibly have to do! The fucking night shift!? He didn't want to waste his time around here in the middle of the night! He had other things to do...like sleep! He was just going to pack up and leave. He'd tell his mother there weren't any jobs available and he'd try later in the summer.
"I'll just look somewhere else," Alex proclaimed, making his way back towards the door.
"No! Please wait! I need this..." He suddenly looked quite emotionally drained. Alex honestly pitied the guy; having to go through all this disappearance business. It must be hell. "Look, I don't how loyal my workers might be to the company. I'm not sure many of them want to be accused and eyed by society for working at Freddy's. A lot of people suspect the guilty party is an employee here.
"Uh, sorry," sympathized the minor.
"Look, kid-"
"Alex Lane."
"Alex Lane, I really feel that you're a good kid. I need people like you in rough times like these. I need someone who'll stay true to the company until the bitter end. I need to hire someone I can trust like I obviously didn't do in the past. Please. You're my glimmer of hope in this rough patch," Mathew pleaded.
"That was weird," Alex thought. It was almost as if Alex was interviewing Mathew, with the guy begging for him to take the job. If he wanted an employee he could trust so bad, then why didn't he just put Alex on day shift, or something. Nonetheless, however weird it might have been, Mathew's pleading eventually got to him and...
"Fine. I'll do it," Alex sternly accepted.
"Thank you! You won't regret joining the family! Oh, and always remember to smile-"
"You are the face of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. I know how it goes," Alex sassed. It was probably dangerous to be a bit rude to his new boss, but he was still very pissed that he had to work a night job. Well, at least he had the whole building to himself for six hours.
"Well, uh, at least you seem to be...one step ahead of me!" Mathew exclaimed optimistically. "Now, first order of business is too...Let's see here...find you a key..." He rummaged through one of the desk drawers as the adolescent started tapping his foot. "Ah, here it is!" He pulled out a single silver key from the drawer and waved it around so Alex could see. "Now don't lose this," he said as the key was tossed over to Alex. The teen fumbled with it, trying not to let it fall, but, naturally, he failed miserably and the key fell to the floor with a clink. He closed his eyes and sighed before kneeling down to pick it back up. His hand-eye coordination was never very good. "Keep dropping it like that, and you'll be losing it in no time at all," Mathew chuckled. Alex rolled his eyes as the manager continued briefing him, "so, uh, you'll be working from 12:00 AM to 6:00 AM, got that?"
"Yeah. I got it, Mat. Can I call you Mat?"
"Okay, sure. Now, uh, I guess I'll let you use this office too. Ronnie, our day-shift guard, has a small crammed office near the front of the building. You probably don't want to use that one.
"Oh, I've met Ronnie before," Alex fumed, hopefully unnoticeable to his new boss. He still hated that guy.
"Good! You've met each other! Already starting to get to know your co-workers! Speaking of Ronnie, he uses a neat little tablet that allows him to see every camera feed in the building. You can use it during your shift to spot any criminals."
"Neat," Alex said, uninterested. He was still a bit angry that he was assigned the night shift.
"I'll have one of my most loyal workers record you a message to help you get settled in for your first night, you know. You'll start Monday. You'll find your uniform and supplies here Monday night." Mathew quickly glanced away from his now resumed document signing to Alex and obviously detected an annoyed grimace on the boy's face. "Okay, I'll tell you what, get through five nights here."
"Five nights?"
"Yeah. The whole week to see how you feel about the job. You know, I've worked a night job before. They can be quite relaxing; with the silence and whatnot. Of course, I'm not saying you should slack off! All I mean is..." He stopped talking, trying to get his sentence back on track. "Just, uh, just get through five and if you truly hate the position, I'll squeeze you in elsewhere," he bargained.
"Alright, I accept," Alex proudly responded. He could manage five. His sleep schedule would be thrown off a bit, but at least his position would change afterwords. "Well, uh, I'll see you later, then." He turned for the door and opened it, but before Alex could step through, Mathew rapidly got up from his seat and grabbed Alex's shoulder.
"Uh, hey, also try to keep an eye out for, uh, for him. The guilty party. He might return in the night," Mathew shuttered. His voice was heavily hushed, he made certain of that.
"He might return for what?"
"Hell if I know! Evidence maybe. To destroy it. Anyway, no matter what they're doing in here, send all trespassers away. See you later, Alex." He gave a slight push for the teen to leave the office, and Alex obliged. He walked back out into the hall and the door was shut behind him.
Without a doubt, that was the strangest yet easiest job interview Alex had ever had. Also the seemingly nicest boss he'd ever had. The young kid commenced the walk back through the hall, passing all the party rooms mildly filled with laughing and/or crying children. On his way back, he considered how he wasn't too thrilled about the new gig he landed. He would have to tell his brother that he wasn't working the day-shift. His little sibling had this strange idea that all employees working there had some strange friendship with the characters. The kid had even asked Alex to formally introduce him to Foxy the next time he came. Guess he wouldn't be getting one-on-one time with his hero anytime soon. Only five nights, though, and he might be working among the elite, or in this case, the day-shift workers.
Coming up to the end of the hallway, the lights suddenly dimmed as he saw the purple curtains on the big stage begin to open. A large hush waved over the crowd of children listening. Even from behind him, children in the party rooms came silently flooding out, probably trying to get a glimpse of their favorite character. The children from the hall pushed past him and into the dinning area, where they found a place to sit among the legions of children who already found their place at the various tables. Like they had all been put under a freaky spell, every single child in the room fell silent. Nobody stirred either. Everyone waited as the purple curtains slowly revealed the animatronic band Alex's brother practically worshiped. From the corner of his eye, he could see Scott Parks, the kid he'd met a couple minutes ago, standing at the end of the opposite hall, preparing his camera to get the greatest shot of the band in action.
Finally the curtains opened and the eerie silence Alex wasn't too fond of was drowned out by the sudden cheers of children as the three smiling robots on stage were fully revealed. Without delay, the children hushed once again as the animatronics immediately whirred into robotic action.
"Hey there, everybody!" The bear from center stage beeped with an upbeat, baritone sounding voice. Alex had never seen them in action before, so this was kind of cool.
"Hello, Hello, kids!" Exclaimed a higher pitched voice from the bunny on Freddy's left.
"Hi, boys and girls!" Fizzled the female chicken to Freddy's right.
"I'm Bonnie the Bunny! Rock on!" So the rabbit was Bonnie. Also, Alex sarcastically commended Bonnie's cleverly thought-out catchphrase; Rock on!
"Hi again! I'm Chica the Chicken! Let's eat!" Chica cooed, flailing her cupcake laden tray around everywhere. Man, if that thing were real, the cupcake would have fallen right on top of the attentive kids sitting at the front table.
"And everyone knows me! I'm the world-famous, Freddy Fazbear!" Alex wasn't too sure about the whole 'world-famous' thing. Maybe he should have said, 'I'm the somewhat widely-known, Freddy Fazbear!'
"Are you guys crazy or something?! That's not everyone! We're forgetting our best friend!" Chica scolded childishly. Who were they forgetting again? Oh, yeah, it was-
"Yer all forgettin' ye first matey, Foxy! T' baddest sea-pirate on the seven seas!" Screeched the fox from his pirate cove directly to Alex's right. His loud intro caused the adolescent to slightly flinch, as he had completely forgotten he was right next to pirate cove. Foxy retreated back into his cove and the curtains closed again. Alex was sure he'd be back out later, though.
Alex saw Scott intently capturing footage of the show-stage. He had the same worried expression on his face as before, but this time it was mixed with a hint of sadness and a pinch of determination. After a bit of close examination, the teenager noticed that Scott wasn't directly filming the robots on stage, but whatever was behind the animatronics. The only other thing Alex saw on stage was a small door, likely leading to some kind of backstage area. What was he staring at so closely?
"So is everyone having the greatest t-Who-time," Freddy said, somewhat speak-singing. Only about fifteen seconds into their skit, and Alex was already noticing technical issues in their voices.
"I know I- Him-am, Freddy," Bonnie chuckled, riffing on his guitar. The bunny suddenly stopped playing his instrument, his head snapping sharply to face in Alex's direction. Oh, great! The last thing Alex wanted was another one of this pizzeria's animatronics staring into his soul. But as expected, the adolescent noticed Bonnie's plastic eyes scan him from head to toe. At least this one was probably programmed to make eye contact and scan the different people in the room, unlike that puppet.
"And how about my delicious pizza, kids? Great, huh?" Chica enthusiastically hummed. The kids in the audience seemingly couldn't hold in their attentive quietness anymore and roared upon Chica's mention of pizza. Alex was curious if it actually tasted like real food. Probably not. Places like this always seem to have lackluster food, but then again, when you're a kid, you don't really care. Pizza is still pizza in their eyes.
Alex had enough of this place for one day, as the suddenly overbearing scent of pizza wafted through the air, workers with trays-full of it heading to every table in the room. The children's abrupt cheers for the animatronic band were also starting to wear on him as well. He'd be spending more than enough time here on Monday night, so Alex began to awkwardly waddle across the room, trying not to draw too much attention to him, the lone teenager seemingly wandering through the pizzeria. Bonnie shouted something about the arcade being 'tubular', although the teenager wasn't really paying much attention anymore. He was about to reach the hallway near the show stage when he saw Scott give a timid, small wave. What was up with him?
It occurred to Alex that he might run into Ronnie again on his way out. He'd try to swiftly and stealthily make his way out the do-
He stopped in his tracks outside the hallway when he felt something warm grab his shoulder. It was now grasping his shoulder tightly, enough to start inflicting mild pain. Alex turned slowly turned around to see Bonnie, guitar in his other paw, smiling in front of him. Color drained from his face when he saw the other robots staying still on stage. They weren't programmed to move around yet. He struggled to remove Bonnie's artifical paw from his shoulder as it tightened it's grip.
"I'm your best friend, Br-Bonnie the Bunny! We're going to have lots of fun! Soon...," He said, his voice with a slight echo. In contrast to earlier, it sounded quite glee-less and lower pitched.
Alex could feel his shoulder undergoing more pressure then it ever should and began to cry out for help. Somehow, nobody seemed to notice or care because Freddy Fazbear had the audience's attention with his lousy jokes.
"Arggggg! Somebody...Help!"
Bonnie gave out a sickening, screeching whir as he haltingly spun his head to face the show stage. Freddy Fazbear gave a rapid glance, as quick as his animatronic body would allow, away from the attentive children and faced the malfunctioning bunny. The bear rapidly let out the same ear-piercing screech, seemingly unbeknownst to the remainder of the room, as the robotic rabbit had made earlier.
To Alex's great surprise Bonnie's paw retreated from the boy's shoulder as the bunny made his way back to the stage with a loud clunk every step he took. With the animatronic now back in it's proper place, Alex expeditiously sped into the hall leading to the exit as fast as his feet could possibly carry him.
His mind was racing as he quickly examined his arm, still making his way through the hall. There was a big bruise running down from the top of his arm. The wound was pretty noticeable due to the short-sleeved shirt he was wearing.
Had that actually just happened? Nobody else seemed to have noticed! Had he somehow seen a very vivid and unforeseen daydream? Nope, it definitely did happen, judging by his continuously aching shoulder. Whatever it was, all Alex could think about at the moment was leaving and getting back home safely. He'd for sure be telling his brother that Bonnie was now his least favorite character at Freddy's.
Reaching the reception area, Alex cautioned himself for his least favorite human at Freddy's, Ronnie. It seemed Ronnie wasn't too keen on being a dick at the moment, as his little office door didn't swing open. Thank god. He rapidly trod his way to the exit, but was interrupted by a young woman, wearing the Freddy's uniform, looking around the same age as the worker who helped him out with the day guard.
"Are you okay?" She asked, a perturbed look on her face.
"Yeah. I'm fine," Alex retorted in his eagerness to leave, regretting his rudeness when he saw the apologetic look on the young woman's face.
"Oh, uh, well, sorry, then. It's just your arm. It looks a bit bruised." She apprehensively approached the younger boy and gave him a light tap on his shoulder. Alex attempted to hide a painful grunt, but it didn't seem to work. "You don't sound fine! What happened?" She asked protectively.
He let out a sigh and began explaining Bonnie's strange actions. "That damn robot attacked me!"
"Well, I will definitely talk to my boss about that."
"You mean Mathew? I've met him. He seems a bit scattered, so I don't know how helpful he can be," Alex argued. He turned back around to leave.
"You've met Mathew? When?" She said, moving in front of Alex, blocking the exit.
"Just now. I got a job here as a night guard. Now, lady if you would please move out of the-"
"A night guard, huh. Well, uh, you be careful then. Them, uh, 'criminals' who try to bust in here can be very crafty and dangerous. I'm the only one who seems to know that around here. Also keep a lookout for F- him," she advised, grabbing Alex's shoulder. She moved out of the way.
"Okay, lady. I'll make sure of that." He opened the door, the cool summer breeze almost numbed the pain from his bruised arm.
"Hey, kid! My name's not lady! It's Vanessa!" She shouted as Alex was already making his way across the parking lot. "And trust me, if you know what's good for you, you'll listen to me!"
"Well, I'm Alex," he shouted back.
"Alex Lane. The night guard of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza."