I've had this plot bunny in my head for months now, and I've finally got it the way I want (I hope). I hope this offers some unique idea into the FNAF fandom. Read, enjoy, comment, etc. All characters (save for a few names) belong to Scott Cawthorn.
Now, I'm sure you're wondering just how this happened. Well, I can certainly say that this is right up there with the situation that lead up to this one. I know not everyone has gone through this, so why don't I just start at the beginning?
I'm the Night Watchman at a place called Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Nice little joint, if not a little antiquanted. That comes more from the fact that the management's so cheap, they haven't sprung for new equipment in years. It remains popular enough to keep running, so I guess they're doing something right.
So why does a place like this need a Night Watchman? At the time, I didn't know and I didn't care. Since the position was being offered, I thought it would be a nice way to earn a quick buck for emergencies. Even if it wasn't much ($120 is way below minimum wage), it sounded like the easiest job in the world. Sit down, watch the joint for a few hours, and collect my pay at the end of the week.
Check in to my first night to find out the place is haunted! And we're not talking "Casper the Friendly Ghost"! We're talking "Poltergeist" levels of horrifying! At night, the animatronics that entertain the guests when the restaurant's open start moving around, and according to the messages I've been left, they're looking to stuff me into one of those robots. That doesn't sound so bad, except for the fact that there's machinery stuffing them already that would kill me. Painfully.
Now, I know what you're thinking. "Why haven't you called the police or something?" Because I've seen this before, and there was a good chance that the police wouldn't find anything remotely incriminating or unusual. Given that the place has been around for years, this company was probably good at covering things up. Might also explain where all the money was going. One employee's hearsay wouldn't be nearly enough to warrant any kind of investigation.
That being said, it was up to me to look into the matter myself, so I stuck it out for another night. Then another, and another. The only thing I had learned out of those nights was that the robots got more agressive each night I was there, which made it nearly impossible to investigate on my own. I was stuck in that little security room, watching the cameras for any kind of clue as to what caused the robots to start moving on their own. The time I had to find it wouldn't last long, since they'd start moving, and I'd need to start trying to keep them out of my room.
If I seem uncomfortably calm about all this, it should be known that I've always had a fascination with the supernatural, ever since I was a kid. The fact that I hadn't heard about this place being haunted speaks a lot for how well the company has kept this under wraps. Any ordinary person would have quit by now, but there were so many questions that would be left unanswered if I just quit, and I have a bad habit of not leaving things alone.
So here's where I start: It was the fifth night working at the restaurant. It was also the night of a real bad thunderstorm. Rain and noise were hardly enough to keep me at bay, however, so I fought the weather in order to make it to work on time. Not that there was a manager there to make sure I made it, which confused me until I started working. I had already become well-aquanited with my animatronic friends, but I still prepared myself for the worst.
With the messages given to me discovered to be posthumous, I was on my own in this. Once it hit midnight, I'd need to steel my nerves and devote the entirety of my attention towards surviving the night. I stood ready with the camera tablet in my hand, counting down until it became midnight. Minutes turned into seconds. I stared so intensely at the clock, I should've paid attention to the storm getting so bad, you could hear from inside the building. A fact I didn't notice until it was right on top of me.
BOOOOM!
The noise made me fall out of my seat, but that was far from the worst part. The lights flickered and blew out with that last lightning strike. All the power in the building had gone out, in fact. I had had a close call with the power running out just before my shift had run out and it came back on, but what was I supposed to do if it went out right off the bat? Finding little other choice, I scrambled to a corner of the security room, and tried my best to stay quiet and hidden. Maybe if I was lucky, they'd just miss me. I knew they were smarter than that, but I held on to whatever odd thought of hope came to me.
A few minutes passed with nothing happening. I assured myself that only minutes had passed, but it felt far longer than that. My watch had a light built into it, but I was afraid turning it on would attract the robots, so I kept still. There being no power in the building never stopped them from moving around before, and I was certain it wasn't going to stop them now. I was so quiet, all I could hear was my heart pounding in my ears. If I could have kept that quiet, I would have.
After what felt like hours, the lights flickered back on. Checking my watch, it had only been twenty minutes. That would have been plenty of time for them to come get me, with how agressive I was sure they would be this night. Something felt off, and me being the ever curious fool, I had to find out what it was. I immediately went to the monitor. The first place I checked was the main stage.
To my utter surprise, the robots were still on the stage. In fact, it looked like they hadn't moved an inch. I was convinced they would have used the darkness to their advantage, but there they were: Freddy, Bonnie and Chica, all standing still. I kept the camera on them for a few good minutes before I decided to look at the other place a robot stood, Pirate Cove.
Usually, I'd find Foxy peeking out from the curtains, ready to start running to the security room the second the camera was off him. This time, however, he stayed behind the curtain, but there was something off. I noticed the curtain was moving just slightly, as if something just passed it. What could have done that, if the other three were still on the stage, and Foxy hadn't budged?
I decided to check the other rooms for anything strange. Backstage, clear. Restrooms, clear. Supply closet, clear. West hall...there was something. It was quick, but I saw something. Instinctively, I reached for the button that closed the door and pounded it, ensuring myself I was safe from whatever I just saw. Double checking the cove and the stage, everyone was still accounted for, so what did I just see?
Whatever it was, it was probably right by the door, so I turned on the light to take a peek. I saw something jump, almost like they were startled, when the light came on. It was a head of black hair, from what I could tell, short enough to just be below the view from the window. Completely confused now, I had to find out just what this was. Cautiously, I pressed the button for the door so it would open, and looked out. I was not at all prepared for what I saw.
A little Asian girl stood in front of the door, looking utterly frightened. Her straight black hair came down to about her neck, and the eyes looking at me with apprehension were a vibrant purple. I wish I could describe more about her, like perhaps where she came from by the clothes she was wearing, which would be helpful if she was wearing clothes at all. This little girl, naked and shivering, invited more mystery than the animatronics themselves.
"Hey," I started to try and converse with her. If she was some kind of ghost that could harm me, I was screwed. "What are you doing here?"
"I don't know..." the girl meekly spoke. She was catching her breath, likely from walking around scared out of her wits.
"You're lost?" I asked her. She nodded. "Do you know where your parents are?" Her head shook. This didn't help at all. Last I checked, all the doors into the building were locked. It shouldn't be possible for a girl who looks to be about 7 at least and without a stitch of clothing to be able to break in.
"Do you have any clothes?" She asked, looking hopeful that I had something I could cover her with.
"Um...I have this," I quickly slipped off my uniform's jacket. "It's not much, but it'll keep you warm." I help her into it and zip up the front. With the bottom of the jacket coming down past her thighs, all the important parts were covered. "There you go. Much better, yeah?"
"Where am I?" She asked me, her voice a little clearer now.
"You're in Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. My name's Mike," I introduced myself. "What's your name?"
"Beth..." the girl replied. She looked around, slightly confused. "This is Freddy's?"
"Yeah, I know. Looks completely different when it's closed, huh?" I said. She probably didn't recognize the place without all the lights on.
"That's not-" Beth began to say, but a clamor from one of the other rooms caught both of our attentions. "What was that?!"
"Keep your voice down," I told her. "I'll go check it out. You stay here. This room is safe." I lead her into the security office and sat her on the chair. Her toes barely skimmed the floor. "You hear something coming your way, you press these buttons, and a steel door will come down." I demonstrated how they work. She jumped a little at the noise, but she seemed to understand the concept.
"Are you gonna be okay?" Beth asked me. It was sweet of her to ask, given that we only just met. The fact that I gave her something to wear probably helped that.
"I should be," I reassured her. To be honest, I didn't know what was out there, but I didn't want to leave it to chance that it might be something worse, especially now with this little girl in tow. I grabbed the flashlight from the desk and stopped at the doorway. "I'll be back. I promise. You be a good girl and stay here, okay?"
With a nod from her, I set off to investigate the rest of the restaurant. I couldn't believe the potential danger I was putting myself into, but I didn't want to leave things hanging. My own curiosity about this event was about the only thing motivating me to keep moving. That, and the instinct to protect those younger and weaker than myself, obviously.
Just when I thought I had this place figured out, the universe decides to throw me a curveball. A curveball in the form of a naked little girl. She didn't know how she got inside the place, much less what the place was. She seemed to recognize the name, so I thought to ask her some more questions when I got back.
I reached the Dining Room by the time I brought myself back to the task at hand. So far, I hadn't seen anything on the way here. Scanning with the flashlight didn't bring anything up either, and I could only feel myself get more and more nervous. Something made that noise, and I'm sure it wasn't rats. Just then, I felt something bump into me from behind.
"Who's there?!" I whirled around and pointed the flashlight.
"Gah!" I saw a pair of small hands spring up in front of a face. Another child, a redhead, as far as I could tell from the mess of curly hair from behind their hands. From the voice of that small scream, I guessed them to be a boy, although I would be able to glean that if I looked down. Just like Beth, this boy was also completely naked.
"Woah! Sorry. You startled me," I turned the flashlight away from his face, and tried to sound as non-threatening as possible.
Once the flashlight was off of him, the boy proceeded to cover himself with his hands. "Hey, mister. Do you know where I am?" He asked, the smallest hint of a Scottish accent in his voice. "And why am I naked?"
"You mean you don't know?" I asked in response, to which the boy shook his head. "You're in Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, buddy. As for your clothes, I haven't the slightest clue where they could've gone. Do you remember when was the last time you had them?"
The boy shook his head again. "I don't know. I just remember waking up somewhere over there." He pointed towards Pirate Cove. "Foxy was right there, just staring at me. I got scared, so I started running, trying to find a way out, but I couldn't."
"And then you bumped into me," I finished his story. So he wasn't sure how he came to be in this place, nor did he know how he wound up naked. This was getting weirder, and I was coming up short on answers. "You can't remember anything from before?"
The boy looked down, trying to focus on answering my question, when he suddenly winced in pain and held his head. "Ow ow ow!"
"Are you okay?"
"I tried thinking about what happened before, and my head started hurting out of nowhere," he explained.
"Do you at least remember your name?" I asked, bending down to get to his eye level.
"Of course, I remember my name! It's Finn! Finn McCallister!" He answered indignantly.
"That's good, Finn," I told him. "My name is Mike. I'm the security guard here. I'm your friend."
"You are?" Finn asked, and I gave a reassuring nod. "Can you help me get out of here, Mike?"
"Yeah, I got keys out of this place," I replied, showing off the keys in my belt. "But we can't leave just yet."
"What?! Why not?" Finn stamped his foot.
"Because you're the second kid I've found like this," I said, putting my hand on his shoulder, "and I'm getting the sneaking suspicion there are more of you."
"Really? I'm not the only one here?" He asked, a small hint of hope in his voice.
"That's right, and I need to find them before we can leave," I explained. "If I decided to leave after the first kid and left you behind, that wouldn't be fair, would it?"
Finn shook his head. "I guess not." He then looked like he had an idea. "Hey, Mike! Why don't I help you look?"
"What?"
"If I help you look for the other kids, we'll find them much quicker, right? And then we can leave."
I sighed. "You're a good kid for wanting to help, Finn, but this is something I gotta do as the only adult here." Bless his heart for being in the right place, but this was no place to split up and look around. Especially for a little kid.
Finn moaned. "What am I supposed to do, then? Just wait here?"
"You can wait for me in the Security Office," I said, standing back up. "I have the other kid there. It's a safe room. Come with me." I held out my hand for him to take.
"Wait," he said suddenly. "Boy or girl?"
I let out an annoyed sound. "Does it matter?"
"If it's a girl, I don't want to be naked around them," Finn said as he nervously fidgeted around.
"I got a jacket hanging in the office," I explained. The security jacket I gave Beth was the property of the restaurant, so I would have to leave it behind after I clocked out. I still had another jacket I brought from home. "You can use that, but only if you come with me, deal?"
"Deal."
With one hand holding Finn's, and the other holding my flashlight, we made our way back to the office. I was hoping I'd find another kid on the way, but I didn't run into anything. For a boy, Finn was awfully concerned about his modesty, even when talking to a guy like me. Maybe he was raised that way by his folks, and it just sank into his habits, even with his apparent amnesia. We made our way through the West Hall to Security Office when Finn yanked my hand, forcing me to stop.
"What's the matter?" I asked.
"She's there, isn't she? I saw her through the window," Finn said. "Just give me the jacket from here. I'll die of embarrasment if I don't cover up."
"Fine," I sighed. I know I'm supposed to be helpful, but they're trying my patience already. I walked into the room where Beth was still sitting, looking to me and relaxing her shoulders.
"Mike!" She greeted me.
"Hey there. How've you been? You okay?" I asked her, and she nodded in reply. "Good. I'll be right back." I grabbed my green hoodie off the coat rack and walked out. It was a little drier now, which was good news, as this was the one I wore out in the rain. I handed it to Finn. "Here."
"Thank you," he said gratefully and snatched it from my hands. He slipped it on with relative ease, only needing help getting his head out. It was a big piece of clothing, so his modesty was kept intact.
"Better?" I asked him, and he responded with a nod. I thought it would be best to introduce the both of them. "Beth, this is Finn. I found him wandering around. Finn, this is Beth, the girl I told you about."
They both greeted each other with a shy, "Hello," which I found absolutely precious, but I had other business.
"I'm gonna go back out and look around some more. See if I can find anyone else," I explained. "You two be good and stay here, okay?"
They both nodded and returned to watching the screen. I hoped that wouldn't drain the power too much. With them content to wait, I walked into the hall and continued my search. That took top priority since, if I had my theory straight, there were TWO more kids to find!