On the Ashes of Freddy's
It was a warm evening. The sky had only just started to darken with incoming twilight as children continued to play in the park. Many of them had left by now, but a few stayed; those who had parents sitting on nearby benches and watching. Most of them were under careful supervision as they climbed the jungle gym and dropped down the slide. All except for one.
One girl was there alone. Her parents were probably still at work, and even if they weren't she doubted they would notice how late she was. She was just one of the children climbing over the playground equipment and disappearing in and out of the small crowd. Her blond curls bounced as she climbed to the top of the slide and slid down. Her large, blue eyes were filled with adoring wonder as she continued to play carefree. She fought to keep her pink dress from coming up as she went down the slide, but then scampered around to climb up again.
Though that was cut short when she heard someone call her name from the edge of the playground. She looked over and the blue eyes widened once more as she spotted him standing outside the play area. She recognized him immediately. It was her 'uncle', though she couldn't recall how he was her uncle other than her parents saying he was. He had been gone for such a long time and she had missed him dearly. Without a hitch, the girl rushed over to him and threw her arms around his legs. He reached down to pat her hair as she buried her face against him. He smelled like cigarette and cologne; recognizable.
"Hey there, Kiddo," he greeted with a wide smile stretching across his unshaven face. "You've gotten so big! You're starting to look like a little lady already." She took it as a compliment, for she didn't want to look like a baby. The girl let him take her hand and eagerly followed along as he led her to his car, only hesitating to turn back and wave towards the other children. They barely noticed she had left, but she understood that they needed to play as much as they could while they could. She, meanwhile, climbed into the passenger side of his car.
Riding with her uncle was the only time she was allowed in the passenger seat. Her parents were always so protective, but he let her do it, and carefully drew the seatbelt over her lap before closing the door. He then got into the driver's seat. They then began to talk. He asked her something basic, something along the lines of, "How's school?" The girl eagerly began to babble about her art project and stories about the other children. He didn't seem to be listening, but he smiled, so she continued to talk until he stopped her.
"That's wonderful, Sweetie," her uncle finally said, interrupting her in the middle of an anecdote about something that happened in the lunchroom the week before. "Hey, I've got a question…" He shot her a wide smile. "How would you like to go to Adventure Park?" Her eyes popped open wide in surprise. Adventure Park might've just sounded like another dime a dozen amusement park without much fanfare, but to her it was something more. It was fun rides and games, cotton candy and popcorn, toys and prizes; it was everything that she ever wanted.
"I'd really, really love to go!" the girl gushed. "Momma says if I do good in school and be good at home then we'll go next summer vacation."
"Gee, that's a long time away. How about… We go right now instead?" He watched her mouth drop open in shock. "I've got the tickets right there in the glove box. Let's go to Adventure Park!"
"Really?! Yes!" The girl was so bubbly with delight that she could barely form cohesive words. "Yes, yes! I want to go right now! Will we get to ride all the rides?! There was this one kid who said there's a ride so big that if you don't hold on, you'll fly out! I don't really want to ride that one, but I want to see it!" She then paused to breathe and found herself trailing off. Nighttime was falling fast, and she only now noticed that they were driving the wrong way. "What about Momma and Daddy?" she asked in confusion.
"They told me I could take you. They need to finish work and pack, so it's just going to be you and me, Kiddo," he assured. He then reached out and rubbed her leg through her skirt, as he used to do all the time. "But don't worry. I'm going to take good care of you."
It was only right now, at this moment, driving in the car and heading in a direction she didn't know, that the girl suddenly started to feel very uncomfortable. Maybe it was the petting, which seemed too slow and lingered a bit too long, or maybe it was the sudden missing of her parents. Her mother was supposed to help her with homework and her father was supposed to cook burritos tonight, but now here she was not going to see them at all.
"Can we go home so I can say goodbye?" the girl asked. Her voice had fallen into a sadness, but maybe he didn't notice it as he barely acknowledged it.
"Sorry, Baby, but if we want to make good time then we have to leave now." He turned his head and smiled again with his yellowed teeth- her mother always warned her that it was caused by cigarettes. "Don't worry, by tomorrow morning we'll be at Adventure Park. You'll get to play all the games too. I've got special tickets that let you do everything without having to wait in line! But they're only good for tomorrow, so we have to hurry."
The girl was young and inexperienced, but even she noticed that something about the story seemed off. It just didn't seem to make any sense to her that her parents wouldn't have said anything. Yet she looked out the window quietly and tried to take in where she was. They continued to drive- she didn't know how far- and she watched as buildings became sparse. The entire time she was beginning to feel increasingly concerned. Especially when she didn't recognize where they were. Eventually the car pulled into a gas station. By now they were in a strange area with only a few unlabeled buildings. Even the gas station's name wasn't one she remembered.
"I'll be right back, Sweetheart. I'll bring you some candy, okay?" her uncle tempted with a squeeze of her leg. She nodded in agreement and watched his smile with uneasiness. He stepped out of the car and headed into the gas station.
Now alone, the girl opened the glove box and looked inside for the tickets he had mentioned, but there weren't any there. There was an empty pack of cigarettes, some other plastic wrappers, and loose change, but no tickets. She wondered if he had mistaken where he had put them or whether the whole thing was a lie. Between this and a strange feeling in her gut, the girl was becoming very wary of her uncle. Even his once friendly touches had become unwanted; she didn't like how he kept accidently pushing her skirt up, or how he would pull her closer if she got too far away.
The girl looked outside the windows and didn't know where she was, but the crazy thought that maybe she could walk home started to appear to her. Maybe if she just walked back the road they came she would able to get back to somewhere she knew or find a place with a phone where she could call home. She didn't want to go into the gas station while her uncle was inside.
She knew that she wasn't supposed to do what she was about to do, but something was wrong here, and so she opened the car door and stepped out. The girl looked towards the gas station and then down the sidewalk leading beside the road. With a deep breath, the girl started to quickly walk down the side of the road. She stopped every few steps to hesitate and look around. It had been taught to her many times that what she was doing was wrong. She was told to stay with an adult, to not wander off, to stay put, but she found herself to scared to do so. Adventure Park or not, she didn't want to be with her uncle.
The girl had reached a wooden fence lining the side of the road when she was caught off by her uncle calling for her from far behind. She flinched and looked back to see him standing outside the gas station, looking shocked and perhaps even angry. No, definitely angry, it just took a few more moments for him to show it. He called her name desperately.
"Come back here! I don't have time to play around!" her uncle called after her. "Get back here or I'm not taking you to Adventure Park!" The threat was minimal. Especially when added to the grotesque look that overtook his face. It wasn't like when her parents were cross with her, but pure, horrible anger. It scared her more than anything else. Reacting on instinct, she turned and began to run. Something was wrong with him. "Don't make me chase after you!" He called once more before swearing loudly and getting into his car. She heard the door slam loudly and knew he would follow.
The girl's legs burned as she broke into a wild sprint. Her heart was racing, and she looked around in panic but there was nobody else to help her. She took a sharp corner around the wooden fence and then saw salvation.
Looming in the darkening sky was a tall sign with a picture of a bear on it. Even in the darkness she could see the words "Freddy Fazbear's Pizza". She vaguely remembered going to Freddy's Pizzeria a long time ago, when she was very little. It was a children's restaurant, a sanctuary for kids, and her eyes lit up at it. Maybe she could hide in a jungle gym where her uncle couldn't find her, then she could go inside and eat pizza and play games while someone called her parents. It was the perfect plan. It was the only chance she had.
She continued to sprint down the fence to the large, wooden gate that blocked the way inside. It was closed tightly with a padlock secured on the gate. She looked over it and knew she couldn't climb over but saw a gap on the bottom of the gate's edge that maybe she could squeeze through. Though the dirt would ruin her dress.
Right when the girl had almost decided, the uncle's car squealed around the corner and came to an abrupt halt. He barged out of the car and ran out of her with that same look of anger. He was quick, but she was quicker, and she dragged herself under the tight squeeze of the wood and dirt. Her dress went ignored and she tried to hurry through. In the last moment her uncle grabbed her by the shoe, but it slipped off her foot. He swore again loudly and tossed it to the street in a tantrum. The child hurried about ten feet away from the fence and watched it with fear. As though he would somehow barge right through.
"You come out of there right now or I swear to God-." The uncle cut off, voice heavy, nearly panting in anger, and the girl backed away from the fence. "I promise I won't be upset if you come out right now, Sweetheart. I'm just worried about you," he assured through gritted teeth. "But if you make me come in there to get you, I'll be very angry."
The girl's mouth clenched, and she couldn't say a word. Large tears swelled in her blue eyes before running over and spilling down her cheeks.
"…Fine then. That's how you want to do this, then alright," her uncle vented with a bitter growl. His heavy footsteps could be heard as he turned and stomped to his car. It started to move again and drove of somewhere.
Even with him gone the girl was still frightened. In the back of her mind she knew that he would try to find another way in. Maybe he would even somehow find the key and drive the car straight in. She turned to look for a hiding spot and then caught sight of the pizzeria behind her. Or the mound of ash, burned wood, and charred cement that might've once been it. She knew that the pizzeria must have burned down and was in awe, for she had never seen the burned remains of a building before. Though this was soon replaced by dread when she realized that there would be no pizza, no games, no phone, and no help.
Stepping carefully over the rubble on the ground, the girl started to wander around and search for a hiding spot. Soon she was standing in the center of the building's leftovers. It had been so big before- if the tall walls were any indication- and she could see some pieces that barely survived. A heavily burned arcade cabinet no longer showed its colors or title any longer, but she stared at the smoke-stained glass sadly. Some old remains of burned flags and balloons, with their color drained, could be spotted under her feet. She climbed over a fallen beam and stepped around a wall, and then froze in her tracks.
There, in a small walled area that almost looked like a closet, sat a slumped bear.
It was an animatronic bear, as black as night, with a large hole broken in its belly and its mouth gaped open. The hole led into a dark abyss and she decided not to peek into it. She instead looked at the bear's face. One of its eyes was blackened out while the other, a yellow eye, was cracked and broken. The outside of its body was just as burned as the rest of the building.
"…Hello, Mister Black Bear…" the girl quietly whispered. She bit her lip tightly and blinked, more tears bubbling over and rolling down her cheeks. "…I wish you could take me home." The bear didn't move, as she expected it not to.
Turning away from the remaining husk, the girl started to walk away from it. She was stopped by a cracking noise from nearby, light the sound of weigh on broken glass. She paused and listened carefully but couldn't find the source. Her blue eyes carefully scanned the area before suddenly stopping on something nearby. There, stuck on an intact wall, was a phone. Ignoring how the rubble dug through her sock and into her unprotected foot, she rushed to it and grabbed it. The cord still was plugged in and it didn't look too badly burned, so she hoped desperately that it would work.
The girl grabbed the receiver and raised it to her ear. "Hello?!" she shakily asked into the phone. There were no sounds at all and she reached up to poke at the bottom buttons. "I need help! Hello?!"
This was a terrible mistake. For as soon as she said this she knew she was too loud. She covered her mouth and looked around at the charred remains of the building, but saw nothing of her uncle, and thought for a moment that maybe he went home. This was only for a moment, as shortly afterwards came the sound of distant footsteps by the far fence. He could've found a way inside with her. She dropped the phone and the receiver bumped the cement wall lifelessly, then she began to run back towards the burned closet with the bear. It was so close that she could see right inside.
At that moment, horrible pain shot through her foot. The girl gave a small scream and fell to her knees in the rubble. The pain was still there, and she quickly sat on her backside and turned her foot to look at it. A piece of glass stuck out of the bottom. Not sure what to do but knowing it hurt, she reached down and pulled it out, giving another cry of pain. She then covered her mouth with both hands as the fear returned. That had to have been heard by him. Nobody could've have heard that yell. Even though there was blood coming out of the bottom of her foot, the girl knew that she needed to hide.
She pushed herself up and limped to the burned closet, walking only on the ball of her injured foot. She hobbled inside and squeezed between the black bear and the wall. Between the burned exterior and the wall, it was less than comfortable, yet it still felt like the safest option. She could imagine herself disappearing behind the bulk of the bear and somehow being safe from being spotted. Then she waited, and waited, and time passed slowly. She couldn't tell how much time; it felt like nearly an hour passed without even the slightest noise from anything nearby. Perhaps her uncle hadn't heard her.
Or better yet, maybe he had just driven off. He could've been telling the truth and was going to get her parents. Then all three would return and scold her for running off. Even with the possible punishment, she hoped that was what would happen. That it was all a terrible mistake, and that she wouldn't go anywhere near her uncle's car again. She pressed her face into the side of the bear's body and cried. She had never felt so alone.
Time was massively confusing. The girl had assumed that it had been an hour and a half without word. It was totally nighttime now, but between her eyes adjusting and the streetlights outside of the wooden gate she was able to see well enough. It was only now that she started to consider leaving her hiding spot and make her escape. The new plan was the best one: she would leave her hiding spot, sneak out through the gate, rush back to the gas station, and call the police. Not her parents, but the police, as her parents always told her to do when it was an emergency, and now- with her bleeding foot- she deemed it an emergency.
The girl slowly slid out from behind the bear. As she rose to peek over one of the low walls, the fingers of the bear got caught on her skirt. It was almost like it was holding her back, but she knew better when its face looked so empty. She wiped the tears off her face and pulled her dress free, looking in the open hole of the bear's chest. It looked so hollow inside; part of her just wanted to hide inside and not go out into the danger again, but she couldn't wait any longer. She stepped out into what used to be the pizzeria once more.
The girl watched her feet as she tried to walk around the mounds of rubble in the direction of the fence opening that she had come through. She was slowed down by her hurting foot and tried to hop when she could to avoid touching the ground with it, but it only succeeded in slowing her down. She had to take the shorter route towards the fence, but this would put her right out in the open. Glass crunched under her shoe as she watched where she laid her feet.
And then she heard the rapid footsteps.
The girl turned and saw none other than her uncle rushing her. She only got out a scream before his hands were on her. His grip was painful on her forearms as he started to yank her back and drag her off in another direction, probably towards wherever his car was. She screamed in protest and tried to yank back.
"No! I don't want to go!" the girl cried out. She wailed and fought and was promptly answered by him turning and striking her across the face. Her cheek stung at the contact and the shock of the blow caused her to go quiet. Her mouth clamped shut and the only sounds were of her suppressed sobs as tears poured down her pinkened face. His hand tightened as he pulled her trembling body in closely.
"Be quiet," he growled through his teeth. He looked like a monster to her and she shivered underneath him. "You are going to be quiet, you are going to get back in the car, or so help me you don't want to know what I'm going to do. Do you understand?" The girl gave a shaky choke. He was obviously not pleased with this response. "I said: do you understand?!" He wrung her arm and shook her small body with it, to which she began to outright bawl and nodded in agreement. Though this was mostly just to get him to stop his aggressive tirade.
She didn't want to look up at him as she cried. Her head dropped, and her hair blocked her face as she let all the tears pour free. Her uncle gave something of an impatient sigh. "I don't want to have to scold you, Sweetheart, but I worry when you run off," he said in a falsely sweet voice. It almost sounded like he cared, if not for how hard he was gripping her arm. "Now if you're really good, and you stay quiet, then maybe, maybe I'll still take you to Adventure Park." He then started to turn with every intention to force her back into his car, to take her somewhere that she didn't know.
Neither of them noticed the loop of thick wire sticking out of the rubble. It almost seemed to appear out of nowhere and stuck out just enough that it hooked onto the man's foot. He stumbled and fell forward onto the ground, taking the girl down with him. Though his hand momentarily released enough that the girl was able to slip free. Without a hitch, she sprinted off to hide, half limping as she disappeared nearby. He swore and got back up, looking down only briefly at what had tripped him up. It was nothing more than a mound of burned wires and he scowled at it, now swearing at it, and then went after the sounds of the child. She couldn't have gotten far.
Following footsteps and crunching underfoot, the man followed her trail towards the back of the pizzeria. He held back on calling for her, as once her noises died down he knew that she was hiding. He would be able to easily find her and this time he would make sure she wouldn't get away. If she wouldn't be obedient willingly then he would just have to be more forceful. He hesitated at the sound of shuffling from a dilapidated doorway and headed in that direction. He looked inside and spotted not the girl, but what looked to be an abandoned animatronic bear. He gave a slightly disgusted look and turned to leave and continue looking.
If not stopped by a soft rustling noise from behind him. The man looked back towards the bear and vaguely heard a quiet noise. It sounded almost like fingers or fabric rubbing along metal or plastic, from the interior of the suit, echoing out through the gaping hole. It looked like a tight squeeze, but the man wondered if it was possible that she had climbed inside. He spoke her name and swore that he noticed the body shift. He stepped closer still.
"I know you're in there. Come out now or I'll have to pull you out myself," her uncle firmly commanded. He glared down at the bear, his hands tightening into fists again. If she made him fight to get her out, then there would be hell to pay. He wasn't against putting her into the trunk. Yet there was nothing except a slight shifting.
"I hear you in there!" he bellowed, losing any patience immediately. "Get out here right now! I won't ask you again!" His hands were shaking as he waited for a response. The bear's body slightly shifted. "Get out of there!"
As commanded, the hider finally reached out of the chest. But instead of the young girl, something inhuman climbed out.
He watched as long arms slid out of the suit. Slender black hands with long fingers reached out and flexed before dropping down onto the bear. The striped arms bent and started to drag it out of the tight confines. Its head was hanging down- an inky black with something white on its face- and its neck was bent unnaturally. It slowly slinked out of its hiding spot in a labored crawl, revealing long, spindly legs as they drew out of the interior of the bear husk.
The man's eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open as he staggered back. The thing, whatever it was, stopped crawling as soon as it heard something crunch underneath his boots. Slowly it raised its head to face him and his blood ran cold.
Its porcelain mask was frozen into a wide smile of gaping blackness. Its eyes were the same, a dead darkness. Paint peeled, and webs of cracks spread out of one of its cheeks, giving it a somewhat broken appearance. Its head cocked, then its neck twisted further than it should have, and it stared back at him. It was as though it knew what he had done. This monster, this puppet-like creature that crawled from the depths of another, was looking straight at him.
And then it sprung for him.
The man's back hit the ground at the newfound weight as the thin thing above him eagerly pinned him into the rubble. Within moments something feathery, like strings, climbed his body and soon weaved their way around his neck. They tightened so harshly that they cut into his skin. He choked and wheezed, grabbing at his neck, but his free hand couldn't get under the strings. All the while the mask was only inches away from him. Dots of light stared down at him as some sort of garbled dialing noise- broken music- rung out from the creature. It stared down at him with scrutiny, as though it knew what he was there for.
The pale mask began to shift from a wide smile to a sinister grimace. It watched the man choke and gasp and only tightened the strings on his throat. His vision started to waver as it leaned in, leaking purple tears down upon his face…
…
The girl hadn't heard the scuffle. Deafened by her own panicked breathing, she had limped her way behind an old dumpster. She tried to climb into it but found it was too high with her arms too weak to pull her up. So instead she just hid behind it and tried to listen for if he was coming. She heard something strange from back where she came from, but she wasn't sure what it was, and the lack of footsteps didn't suggest that he was coming after her.
A new sound started to slowly become audible. It sounded like something staticky with little chimes. It reminded her of a music making toy that had gotten broken- like that time she had taken a talking phone into the bath with her many years ago. It confused the girl but didn't scare her as much as everything else had. Though it did worry her that it was getting closer to her hiding spot. As quietly as she could, she crawled to the edge of the dumpster and snuck a peek out.
A tall monochrome being stood only a few feet away and was looking in her direction.
The girl jumped back immediately and scrambled back in the corner between the dumpster and the wall. She could hear the noise getting closer all the while and within moments the creature came around the corner. It turned its head and stared down at her with a wide smile. She screamed and covered her face with both hands, refusing to look, and drew her legs in close. She choked on her tears and wailed under her fingers, waiting for it to jump out and scare her. It didn't. It didn't do anything. It didn't even grab her like her uncle had and yank her around, and she slowly peeked out through her fingers.
It was still there. She snapped her fingers closed to block out the sight of it with a whimper. Then she waited for something to happen, but nothing did. After a few minutes she dared to look out again and found that it was now kneeling on the ground in front of her. It still was taller than her and was nearly hunched over to look down at her, but it didn't look as scary in this position. Its arms rested on its legs, its smile didn't waver, and the strange noises started to grow quieter. This time the girl didn't hide her face. She tentatively began to lower her hands and continued looking to it.
"H-Hello?" she squeaked out. It tilted its head at her almost curiously. "Who are you?" she asked, more boldly. Instead of responding, there came the garbled static, and the girl briefly recoiled at it. Once it became obvious that the creature wouldn't respond, she asked further. "Are… Are you a doll?" That was the closest guess she could make. It looked like there were strings hanging off it, so maybe it was a puppet. In its first moment of communication, the Puppet nodded slowly.
It seemed friendly enough, so she let her hands lower and dropped her guard. "Can you help me?" the girl asked. "I want to go h-home, but I don't know where I am!" Tears began to come again without her control.
The Puppet raised a long arm towards her and she slightly drew back. To her relief the doll's fingers simply brushed the tears off her cheeks. Its arms then slowly wound around her and pulled the girl to its chest. It had soft fabric that smelled faintly of the same smoke and ash as the building. It was a warm comfort, like hugging a doll would be. She hesitantly hugged it back.
The Puppet began to lift from the ground and pulled the girl to her feet with it. She willingly stood but recoiled and drew her injured foot up when she accidently let it fully touch the ground. It seemed to notice as it slid down to the ground and lifted her leg. She wobbled as it peered at the slice and then rubbed at the bottom of its mask. Seemingly getting an idea, it reached and tugged at her wrist, and she sat back down. It then removed her remaining shoe and the sock underneath it.
"We need to go," the girl whispered to the Puppet. She started to look around frantically in paranoia. "He's looking- He's going to be really made if he finds me." She now remembered the sting in her cheek and lightly rubbed it, but then squeaked in pain as the Puppet slid her intact sock over her injured foot. "Oww…" the girl quietly complained. The striped doll gave a rattling, chiming noise as it gently rested her foot in its lap. It then slipped her shoe back on her other foot.
Now with the injury covered, the Puppet reached out took the girl under her arms and helped her to her feet once again. This time she was more careful with how she stood and kept her footing. The Puppet took her hand and then began to guide her away. It was patient with her slowness, considering her limp, and watched her carefully as it guided her out from behind the burned remains. The girl looked around carefully as they started to head across the parking lot. There was no sign of her uncle anywhere and she wondered if her new friend had scared him away.
They stopped in the middle of the parking lot. She looked up at the Puppet and noticed it was looking over the long expanse of fencing for a way through. Taking this as her time to speak, she lightly tugged its striped arm.
"There's a hole over there. That's where I came in through," the girl said as she pointed to the front gate. She then started to lead it in that direction and he followed suit alongside her. The girl felt much safer with it at her side, especially when they reached the hole in the fence without her uncle appearing. She hesitated to look around the parking lot to double check and only then crawled through the hole again. She waited for the Puppet on the other side, but it never came.
Growing impatient and worried, the girl stuck her head back through the hole and found the Puppet floating on the other side. It looked as though it had raised to look over the fence at her, but then lowered itself when she popped underneath.
"What are you doing?" the girl asked in confusion. "Aren't you coming?" The Puppet hesitated and then shook its head. Almost immediately all that security was gone and the girl felt just as unsafe as before. "But- But why?! I thought you were going to help me get home!" It lowered its head slightly and looked back towards the burned building. The girl looked as well. "…Did you live in Freddy's?" It was only then that it clicked for her. "Were you one of the robots at Freddy's?" That was pretty much the one thing Freddy's Pizza was known for, its robotic animals that sung and moved 'for real'. To no surprise, the Puppet nodded.
"But Freddy's isn't there anymore!" the girl protested as she slid through further. She stared up at the tall doll with wide blue eyes and the clinginess only a scared child could have. "Please don't leave me alone… You could come home with me! Please?" The Puppet looked back to her with a tilt of the head, as though it was pondering it. "…Please come home with me?" the girl asked again and reached for him.
She had never smiled as happily as she did when the Puppet took her hand.
…
All the events surrounding the case were unsettling.
A man had abducted a little girl and intended to take her out of state. The man had been a friend of the parents and had an extensive criminal record but had somehow managed to coax the girl into his cat. They had been rapidly approaching the state border when the last recorded footage had been caught. Gas station cameras had recorded the man entering the store and buying a few non-essential items. At this time an outdoor camera had caught footage of the girl exiting the car and running down the road. Then it had caught the man giving chase in his car.
For some time after that there was nothing of note. Then, unexpectedly, the girl appeared back at the gas station. The outdoor camera footage had somehow gotten corrupted and video of her walking up to the store was unwatchable, but the indoor camera caught the moment the girl had entered and asked the clerk to call the police. The clerk had reported that she had been alone, and the working camera backed that up. Thus, a manhunt was launched to find her kidnapper.
They found his abandoned car outside of some broken fencing surrounding the burned down Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. It wasn't until morning that they thoroughly checked the area and found the body.
The suspect was found strangled in the middle of what used to be the restaurant dining hall. From the cuts and marks on the neck, it looked almost as though he had been strangled with something resembling piano wire. It was obviously a murder, but by whom was less clear. From the force needed to cause such wounds the girl was written off immediately. Being that the pizzeria was still being investigated for its mysterious fire and missing owner, it was believed that the murder of the man was somehow related to the pizzeria, or perhaps committed by the same person. The case was left open without leads.
The girl herself was shockingly well. She received minor treatments for her foot injury but had no other physical trauma. Upon seeing a psychologist, it was clear that the girl was shaken and frightened by the ordeal, but not traumatized. Mostly because she had not witnessed the murder. In fact, she still believed that he was very much alive, and it was agreed upon not to inform her of the death. Her parents just said that 'her uncle' was going away and wouldn't be coming back. She assumed that they meant jail; she believed them.
It wasn't long after that when the girl began to talk about a new friend, which from her drawings seemed to be a striped mime-looking creature with a wide smile. Her parents were confused about the presence of the imaginary friend when she hadn't had any before, but as she talked more about it, saying it was there to protect her and watch her, they came to believe that it was a coping mechanism. That she had created an imaginary friend to protect her when she didn't feel safe. They stopped worrying, and when they would hear her talking through her bedroom door they treated it like she was talking to a toy.
The girl still felt a little uneasy at night. She jumped when the bedroom door opened unexpectedly, but then smiled once she saw it was her father coming to tuck her in and not someone else. In the last few days her parents had become much more attentive, which she saw as a good thing. She slid down into her bed as he tucked in the comforter around her.
"Sweet dreams, Princess." Her father kissed her forehead and pet over her head. "Mom and I are going to be right down the hall if you need us, okay?" She nodded in understanding, even though she was certain she wouldn't need to go get them. He tucked in one of her stuffed animals beside her and leaned down to kiss her again. Days later and he was still feeling the guilt, even if he didn't want her to see it.
"Good night, Daddy," the girl answered. She watched as he flicked on the nightlight beside the door and stepped out into the hall. Pink stars were already shining up towards the ceiling as he closed the door. She waited a moment and listened for him to walk down the hall. Once sure he wasn't coming back, she squirmed to the edge of the bed and leaned over, reaching her hand underneath it expectantly. "Good night, Smiley."
She beamed as a black hand slipped out from under the bed and took hers. The girl had never felt safer. No more monsters ever again.
End