Chapter 1 – Welcome Back
The late bus pulled up to one of its last stops for the night, only one of its residents stood up. The tall boy gave one last look around the near empty bus before stepping off and listening to the hydraulic doors shift behind him. And soon with it, the sound of the rest of the bus pulling away. "This is definitely right" he thought as he scanned the area in front of him. He remembered this, it had to be at least 6 years, but this was the place.
To others, this was just another mid-town complex, most of the dreary looking buildings already closed for the late hours of the night. A couple of small town burger joints, a pawn shop, and a thrift store lined the area. Such dark corners would normally be on the list of many places to stay away from for a scrawny teenager, but his thoughts were only on how much he missed his surroundings. He looked up at one particular building and chuckled to himself.
Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. Of course, the place wasn't much to look at right then. The usually bright and inviting neon sign adorned with lovable cartoon characters turned off, bringing attention back to how lifeless the concrete exterior looked. He remembered the place looking a lot better in his head. He idly checked his watch.
12:06 A.M.
"Shit."
He was told that the front door would be unlocked, so the teen quickly threw it open and dashed in blindly. Turning a corner very quickly he just barely managed to avoid crashing into a man, almost making him spill his coffee.
"Holy crap! Sorry about that." He quickly let out, steadying himself. The man he almost knocked over was older than him, mid 30s he'd bet. He was wearing a suit, and had a very annoyed look on his face.
"You Mike Schmidt?" The man barked.
"Yes sir!" Mike replied a little too quickly and offered a nervous handshake. "Are you... Mr. Afton?"
"You're late" he retorted, not answering the question. Although Mike guessed that meant yes.
"Just, uh, getting my bearings sir. Won't happen again." Mike nervously replied. The man looked like he wanted to argue a lot more about it but shrugged it off, grumbling to himself.
"Don't let it happen again." Mr. Afton muttered and began to walk past him.
"W-wait a second isn't there supposed to be an interview or something?" Mike interjected, stopping Mr. Afton.
Clearly irritated, he let out a sigh and turned back to Mike. "You fill in the application sheet?"
"Y-yes"
"You sign the confidentiality paper?"
"Yes, sir"
"And you showed up didn't you?" said dismissively, leaving a slightly shocked Mike.
"It's a summer job for kids without any skills or accomplishments to speak of. Like you! And besides, we don't exactly get a lot of applicants."
He handed Mike a set of keys. "You're hired. I won't be here the other nights so you will have to check in with someone else. One of the cleaners is usually still around. The rest of your job is pretty self explanatory. As a night guard you just have to sit on your ass and make sure no one is messing around. There's an info sheet and uniform in the office at the back. I expect you to wear it for your shifts." He tiredly explained, rubbing his temples.
"Sometimes kids try to sneak in after hours just for a bit of fun. Give them a stern lecture and send them off. If there is actual trouble you can... try... to be tough..." Giving the skinny Mike a look over. "But...There's always 911" He chuckled. "I'll be back at 6. Have fun, kid!" And with that he turned, opened the doors, and swiftly departed into the parking lot. Leaving a very stunned Mike in the dust.
"Wow" said Mike, feeling insulted. He locked the doors behind Mr. Afton and walked back into the lobby. "I can be tough..." He said to himself with a chuckle, flexing his muscles a bit. He heard a quiet laugh coming from the room.
Mike swiftly looked up from himself in shock, finally bringing attention to his surroundings. He was standing in the main party room. Tables filled the majority of his surroundings. The janitors had already come in it seemed. The tables were all scrubbed of any traces of pizza sauce and party hats were neatly set in front of the chairs on the colorfully patterned tablecloths. "It could have been my imagination" Mike thought, still nervously looking around. His own self consciousness could definitely have manifested as the noise he heard. Then he saw the stage. Wondering how he could miss it, he walked closer up. Completely forgetting about the laugh. A vast area in front of the elevated wooden platform had been cleared of tables. A nice space for all the kids, Mike guessed. The stage was a nice open area that looked out into the entire lobby. And standing on that were the furry icons that made this place what it was.
Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica. In the flesh. Or... metal... but you know what I mean. And even after all that time, they were still exactly as Mike remembered them. Bright, colorful, and giving off that nice, friendly atmosphere. Freddy Fazbear stood proudly in center stage, holding his microphone up to his face like he could break into song any minute. Bonnie Bunny to Freddy's right, clutching his guitar as if mid-strum. And finally Chica the Chicken, strange that her cartoon cupcake that she usually carried with her on stage was not in sight. Mike chuckled at the idea of the people who thought they were creepy and unnerving. How could those smiles be taken for anything other than friendly? Maybe it was because they were permanently plastered across their bulky faces.
That was pretty creepy once you thought about it. Mike shrugged. At least Chica's smile looked genuine. Her hands clasped over her mouth as if to stifle a giggle. See? Not creepy at all. Mike wanted to stay and reminisce about finally seeing them after all this time, but he probably should get going in order to find his office. He wasn't getting paid minimum wage just sit around and watch the robots. Well, he was, but to watch them more professionally. So, Mike reluctantly turned around and examined the lobby in front of him.
To Mike's right there was a door with "PARTS AND SERVICES – STAFF ONLY" labelled across it. On his left, a door with "KITCHEN – STAFF ONLY" written on it next to a large service window closed shut with a metal shutter. In front of him were two hallways leading back deeper into the pizzeria and inevitably to his new office. So, with a skip in his step, Mike proceeded down the hallway on his right. Excited to check out his workplace. Only to end up in a broom closet, and unfortunately thinking that actually was his office. Before, of course, finding his way out and further down the hallway.
He reached the end, which linked up to the other hallway through a small room Mike could discern with confidence to be his office. He peered through a window sitting next to the large doorway before stepping inside. It was, in essence, a generic workstation for the generic worker. A desk that took up the entire width of the room end to end, a fairly new looking desk chair, and a small metal desk fan that sat with the other assorted garbage on the desk.
"Well, I'm not sure what I expected" Mike sighed. He turned the chair towards him, finding both the uniform and slip of paper Mr. Afton had told him about sitting on the seat. The piece of paper looked like it had just been hastily torn out of some pocket notebook, Mike picked it up and scanned its contents.
12 AM – 6 AM
Watch the cameras
Keep the doors closed
"Brilliant." Mike said to himself, unimpressed. He guessed that the note was also written by the ever punctual Mr. Afton. He picked up his uniform and gave it a quick once over. The uniform came with a utility belt, holding just a simple flashlight. There was a white button up shirt with the pizzeria's logo stitched on its sleeves, black straight pants, and a military cap adorned with the same logo as the shirt. Mike wondered why a hat was necessary if his work was only in the small indoor office. He tossed the clothes onto the desk.
"Keep the doors closed." Mike repeated to himself. What doors? He had of course locked the front entrance and he couldn't recall seeing any other entrance to the building. He glanced at the doorways on either side of him, realizing they weren't just empty spaces. At the top of each doorway rested what looked like the bottoms of thick metal shutters. Beside each doorway, there were two buttons. "DOOR" and "LIGHT". "What would these be for?" Mike thought. Curious, he pushed the "DOOR" button on his left. Only to hear a small, mechanical clicking noise and nothing else. "Figures" Mike thought, dissapointed.
He was about to sit down when he noticed a black tablet sitting face down in his seat, almost completely blending into the chair. Glad, he didn't sit on it, Mike pulled it up and flipped a small switch on its side. After a couple seconds, it flickered to life. A basic camera system, he wondered when they had installed the cameras as he couldn't remember seeing any as a kid. He could check on every room inside the pizzeria while sitting in his crappy little office. "He was right." Mike thought. "This job really is just sitting on my ass." And gently set the tablet on his desk.
…..."That fan isn't going to get any less annoying." Mike sighed.
Mike didn't know how long it had been. He hadn't heard any noises from his office, so he didn't think there was really any reason to check on the cameras. And Mike's smartphone had died a while ago, he regretted not bringing his charger. Mike was then very quickly hit with the realization that this job was not as exciting as he would have thought. The boredom alone would soon kill him. He desperately tried looking for ways to entertain himself.
"...Doot, doot, doot..."
"...I wish that I could, be like the cool kids. Cause all the cool kids..."
"...Da-dum, dum,dum..."
This went on for quite a while. He desperately checked his watch.
2:46 A.M.
"Shit."
The minutes seemed like hours and Mike's eyelids had gotten more and more heavy, until finally reaching peak exhaustion. "Crap... I knew I should have went to bed earlier for this." Mike yawned. "I got a job to do..." He struggled to stop his head from hitting the desk. "Once I get home I'll sleep..." He rested his head on the table, settling for just keeping his eyes open. Then he realized the solution for both his boredom and fatigue. "Oh yeah." Mike chuckled and closed his eyes.
Bliss, rest, silence...
"Hmm, late on your first day. Employee of the month material, huh?" Someone spoke. Although sarcastic, the comment did not seem hostile at all.
Mike stirred, not wanting to open his eyes. He didn't know the voice's owner. It sounded female, clear and silvery.
"Yeah... sorry about that. My... bus... was late" Mike groggily responded.
"And sleeping on the job! My, my this will look just beautiful on your performance review!" Another voice chimed in, also female. This one spoke in a very cheery and sing song way.
In his tired state, Mike couldn't help but laugh a little. "Don't tell Mr. Afton." He giggled.
"You should start waking up, your shift is almost over." Another girl. This voice more sweet and soft-spoken than the others. When did they all get in his office? Finally he lifted his head and rubbed the sleep out of his tired eyes to see who the voices were coming from. And, as Mike half expected, there wasn't a soul in sight.
"Product of the tired mind..." he said to himself. Mike gave a long stretch and checked his watch. 5:57 A.M. "Well I'll be damned."
Mike had left his office and proceeded back into the main room, uniform in hand. Walking past the animatronics, he gave a little wave. Proud that they had not moved an inch during his shift. As he got closer towards the entrance he could hear a rhythmic tapping noise, progressively getting louder as he got closer. Mike peered through the large glass doors from his position and immediately recognized the familiar figure wearing a suit. Mike struggled a bit with getting the keys out of his pocket with one hand before opening the door for Mr. Afton.
"Ah, Mark! How was your first night?" Mr. Afton exclaimed halfheartedly as he stepped into the building.
"Mike actually, and it was fine" Mike responded, yawning after.
Mr. Afton noticed the young night guard's tired demeanor. He gave a smug grin. "Quiet night?"
"Yeah, quiet night. No miscreants on my watch." Mike responded, giving a small chuckle.
"See you next time. Welcome to the Fazbear family, Kid." Mr. Afton concluded smugly as the doors closed shut in front of him.
"Welcome, indeed." Mike repeated to himself, as he wandered down the street. Admiring the early sunrise.
-A/N-
Postponed by almost 2 weeks (I wanted to post by the 11th) because of
Losing my progress
Trying to beat Sister Location
Writer's block
And just basic procrastination.
But I managed. Not only is this my first fanfic, but it's also my first serious (if you can call it that) piece of writing, so reviews and comments really help out. Only characters from the first game because I've had this idea in my head since the first game and only just managed to get it into words. Hats off to F-ckthesystem125 with Five Night's at Freddi's as my main inspiration to work on my own story. Title is based off of the song "Tell Me The Same" by Michl. I'll try to make my own cover image soon. Peace
-IAmPatch