Before Five Nights: Chapter One
October 7th, 1983
"Um, Ms. Schmidt? Mr. Fazbear will see you now."
Sunflower "Sunny" Schmidt stood up from her seat, crushing her now empty soda cup and throwing it into the nearby trash can as she followed the employee back to Mr. Fazbear's office. She passed in front of the stage, where the Freddy Fazbear the Bear, Bonnie the Bunny, and Chica the Chicken were all preforming for the children. For a split second, she could have sworn Freddy's eyes were following her, but when she turned around to look at him, his eyes were up front, facing the cheering faces of the children below.
Damn creepy bear. Sunny thought as she quickly shuffled after the employee, who was now a ways ahead of her. And Dad thought it would be a good idea to work here.
"C'mon, Sunny! How hard could it possibly be?" her father, a gruff and burly man of 50, said. "All the ad says ya have to do is monitor the equipment an' those robot things, an' make sure no funny business happens there. What could possibly go wrong?"
"What could possibly go wrong?" Sunny echoed with a frown on her face. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe something like burglars could break in! Or maybe a fire will break out! Or maybe the building will fall apart!"
"Or maybe you'll finally have an actual paying job that can get you through college." Dad said with a smirk. "Don't worry so much about it, Sunny. I'm sure there're security measures in place in case somethin' bad does happen like burglars or fires or whatever. An' besides, ya ain't exactly a helpless little girl, even if ya do look like one."
"Hmph." The petite 19-year-old glared at the paper ad in front of her as if it had personally offended her. Ever since she had gotten fired from her day job at the local pet store over three months ago, she'd been forced to search for another job to help her get through college. It had gotten bad enough that she had to move back home (her local college didn't have dorms, not that she had enough money to live in them), and though her father and step-mother welcomed her back home with open arms, she still felt awful for having to rely on them for survival once more. After all, they were already paying for half of her tuition as well as caring for her younger half-brother, Mike, and now they had to feed her and cloth her once more alongside him.
Holly never had to rely on Dad and Kerry once she left the house. She thought bitterly, thinking about her older and more successful sister. She got a college scholarship and an internship right off the bat! Lucky bitch.
"Just try an' get an interview with them, Sunny. I'm sure you'll get the job, no problem." Dad continued.
"That's what you said about that last ten jobs."
"Well, they don't know what they're missin' out on."
"I don't even LIKE Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Those animatronics always did creep me out…Don't see why Mike likes going there."
"Ya don't have ta like the place ta work there. Why, I remember when I used to work at – "
"At Mrs. Henderson's Tea Emporium, yeah yeah, I remember. You always tell us that story. And didn't you end up getting fired from there?"
"Uh, erm, well, yes, eventually, but that's beside the point. The point is, is that sometimes ya gotta work a shitty job just until you can get back on your feet."
"But it's a night job, Dad! I have school in the morning!" Sunny protested. "How will I get any sleep? Or do any homework?"
"Only until 2. Then you can come home and sleep until ya have to go to work. And I'm sure you can do your homework there. I mean, all your doin' is watching a bunch of nuts an' bolts. S'not like ya have to worry 'bout them gettin' up an' movin' around on ya."
"…I guess you have a point there." Sunny sighed, blowing a piece of her shoulder-length blonde hair out of her face. "Fine. I'll do it."
"That's the spirit, champ! And, hey, maybe we'll get an employee's discount next time we go there with Mike if ya end up workin' there."
"Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza!" came a booming voice as soon as Sunny entered the office. Sitting behind the desk was a rather rotund man with a balding head and a bushy mustache. He seemed friendly enough, yet there was something about him that made Sunny's skin crawl. And the strange jingle that was playing non-stop around the office definitely didn't help. "I'm Frank Fazbear, owner of this wonderful, kid-friendly place! And you, young lady, must be Sunflower Schmidt. Please, please! Come and sit down."
"Uh, thank you, Mr. Fazbear." Sunny said, quickly sitting herself in one of the two seats that were in front of the desk. She quickly straightened out her pretty, floral pink dress (God I hate this dress. Sunny couldn't help but think as she stopped it from ridding up) and put on a smile, despite feeling unnerved by the cheerful man in front of her.
"Please, call me Frank. Everyone does. Mr. Fazbear is my father." the owner chortled.
"Sure thing, Frank. Whatever you say." Sunny grinned.
"Oh ho! No hesitation! I like that!" Frank said, grinning back. "Most people hesitate to start off on a first name bases with their boss, but not you! I can tell that you and I are going to get along just fine, Sunflower."
"Ah, if you don't mind, Mr. – er, I mean, Frank, I'd prefer to be called Sunny. Sunflower is what my dad says when I'm in trouble."
"Ha ha ha ha! Of course, of course! Forgive me, Sunny. I'll make sure to remember that. Now, pleasantry's aside, let's get down to business, shall we?" the middle-aged man leaned back in his chair, causing it to creak with strain. Sunny was surprised it didn't break right then and there, given how overweight Frank seemed to be. He picked up some papers –presumably Sunny's resume- and shuffled through them. He glanced over them briefly, squinting, then grabbed a pair of spectacles nearby on the table and put them on. "You're here for the open security guard position, correct?"
"That's right."
"You do realize that this is an all night shift?"
"I am well aware, sir. I'm willing to work wherever and whatever you need me to work, if you'll have me."
"Hmmm…I see." Frank murmured as he continued reading through the papers. All the while, Sunny was anxiously glancing around the office, taking in her surroundings.
The room had obviously seen better days, with wall paper beginning to rip and peel off at the corners. The carpet was old and frayed, and Sunny was sure there were pizza stains on the floor there (or, at least, she hoped those were pizza stains). There was no other furniture besides Frank's desk and the chairs around it. The desk itself was cluttered with papers and empty paper plates, along with a large paper cup full of soda that Frank was currently drinking out of. Pencils and pens stuck out of a Freddy Fazbear pencil holder, and a small Freddy Fazbear toy sat on the edge of the desk with a happy little smile on its face. Looking back to the walls, Sunny noticed that all around the walls were posters of the pizzaria's mascot Freddy Fazbear the Bear, along with his crew, Bonnie the Bunny, Chica the Chicken, and Foxy the Pirate Fox. There were also drawings posted up next to some of the posters that some of the kids drew, although for some reason, all of the animatronics in the kids' drawings had completely black eyes.
Weird. Sunny thought. Her attention was brought back to Frank as the man cleared his throat and set down the papers. Taking off his spectacles, he looked at Sunny with a smile on his face.
"Well, it seems everything is in order. Welcome to the crew of Freddy's Fazbear's Pizza!" he shuffled around in his desk and pulled out an old key, which he handed to Sunny. "Here's the master key to the restaurant. Danny, the guy who showed you in, will give you a tour of the place tomorrow, and after that you should be all set. You'll start your shift at 12:00 a.m. sharp next Monday!"
Sunny's jaw dropped in shock.
"W-Wait. That's it?" she sputtered.
"What do you mean?" Frank asked, tilting his head quizzically.
"I-I mean, don't you have to do background checks, or call my contacts? Don't y-you want to know why I was fired from my last job? A-And what a-about a-a-a uniform? I saw the other guy wear one!"
"Well, you seem like a nice enough young lady, so I don't think I need to call any of your contacts and bother them. And at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, we give everyone a chance, no matter what their pass may be. I'm sure you're firing was all just a big misunderstanding." Frank stated. "And as for the uniform, since you're the night shift and no one will be around, you don't really need one, although I can give you one if you really want one. Frankly, I don't care what you wear to work. Hell, you could come in nude if you want, though it might get a bit chilly!"
As Frank laughed heartily at his own joke, Sunny couldn't help but stare in shock. Either she just landed herself the best job on the planet, or the worst. After all, there had to be some reason the last guy quit. Some catch that Frank wasn't letting onto.
"Well, it was nice meeting you, Sunny. I do hope I get to see you again. You're definitely more entertaining that the others." Frank said, standing up. "If you have any questions, just give me a call during day time hours or come on in, and I'll be happy to help you out."
Others…So there's been more than one night guard…What made them all quit? Sunny thought as she shook Frank's hand.
"Thank you Frank." Sunny said. "However, I do have a question now, if you don't mind."
"Shoot!"
"Well…If you don't mind me asking…Why did the other guys quit?"
"Quit?" Frank asked, confusion written clearly on his face. He looked as if he'd never heard the concept of quitting a job before. "They never quit."
"Then they were fired?"
"Nope. They were fine workers for as long as they worked here. Never had a problem with any of them."
Confusion etched onto Sunny's face.
"Then what did happen to them, if they didn't quit or weren't fired?"
Frank paused for a moment, as if debating whether he should tell her or not. He hummed and hawed for a minute, until finally he said, "Well, what happened to them is in the past. Certainly nothing you need to worry your pretty little head over. What's done is done. For now, let's focus on the future, which is you and your new job, eh?"
Sunny couldn't help but feel a chill go down her spine. The way Frank avoided her answer certainly couldn't mean anything good.
"Er, right. Of course. Thank you for your time, Frank."
"Sure thing. Have a nice day, Sunny!"
"You, too."
With that, Sunny made her away out of the office as fast as she could without running, nearly running into Freddy Fazbear himself, who was now off the stage and wandering around entertaining children. She muttered an apology as she passed around him (though she didn't know why she did – it was a hunk of metal after all, not a person with feelings), yet she as she headed out the doors of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, Sunny couldn't help but feel that the animatronic bear was watching her again. Yet once again when she turned around, its eyes were on the children in front of it, not her.
Calm down Sunny. Calm down. It's just a stupid robot bear. Nothing to be afraid of. It's probably just part of its programing or something to look at things that move. It wasn't staring, and even if it was…
It can't hurt you.