Chapter 1: A New Hope

Clutching the newspaper, in my hand, I scanned the pages for a job I could apply for. Day after day it was all just advertisements that cluttered the pages, hoping they could sell something that nobody needed.

As I was about to toss the newspaper into the trash, something caught my eye. A very small section of the newspaper in the corner had a picture of an animatronic bear. I had finally found a job application!

Freddy Fazbear's Entertainment needs a security guard to work the nightshift, 12 AM to 6 AM. Not responsible for injury or dismemberment.

I read the job ad aloud. What does it mean by dismemberment? I thought, pondering upon the question.

"Sounds cool to have a night shift at a children's entertainment place with animatronics! Maybe they're evil or something!" My sister, Katie, said. "What's the pay?"

"120 dollars a week," I responded, realizing that I get four dollars an hour. "But it's worth it!" I said quickly, seeing Katie's face of disapproval. "Just think of how happy those kids will be when they figure out I guarded they're animatronic heroes!"

"Yeah, I bet they'll be so impressed by your skills of sleeping in an office." Katie rolled her eyes.

"Yep! And I'll show you! I'm going to apply to that job and it'll be easy peasy!" I gave her orange-curl-topped head a playful push.

Katie frowned and ducked away from my hand. "Peter, really? You're 16 years old and you're first job is at a childrens' pizza place that pays 4 dollars an hour! And you work the night shift. Since when does a childrens' pizza place need a night watchman? Doesn't that sound fishy?"

"No," I responded, "It sounds like an easy job that'll give us free money! I get 24 dollars each shift I work, and I work Tuesday through Saturday morning! And if I work overtime on Sunday and Monday, I may just get a pay raise!" I said proudly, then I grabbed my jacket and checked my map, seeing where Freddy's was.

I walked out the door, into my car, and drove to Freddy's, completely unaware of what would happen on my first shift.

"You're hired!" My new boss, Emma said. "You know, we don't get very many people that sign up for night watchman here."

"Why not?" I asked, showing obvious confusion in my eyes. Why wouldn't anyone want a job where all you do is sit there?

"Oh, well that's not exactly important, um," Emma said, rubbing the back of her neck, "I mean, it is but, um, you'll see." She finished, looking proud that she hasn't messed up on something. Now I finally had a hope of earning money!

"We, um, just need you to sign this contract. It states that you won't, um, leave after the first night, not that I'm implying that there's anything to leave over, its just, um, um, um, how about I just show you your office?" I took the contract and signed it, then Emma told me to follow her.

She led me through the dining area, where children were eating pizza and watching the animatronics perform their songs.

I looked over in the corner of the room and saw some curtains, and a sign that said "Out of Order! Sorry!" I wonder what caused the curtains to go out of order. Is it a ride? I wondered, realizing Emma was 10 yards ahead of me.

I dashed closer and followed Emma down a hallway and into my new office. It was filled with posters and there was a desk that had some boxes and a pink cupcake with eyes.

"Now, um, if you're ever in trouble, just close these doors, and, um, you'll be safe. Not like you'll ever be in any trouble, I didn't mean that, just, um, like if there's a robber or something, or someone that wants to stuff you into a suit," Emma said, wiping a tear from her eye and staring into the distance.

"What was that last part?" I asked.

"Nothing, nothing," Emma laughed nervously, glancing away from me.

"So, when's my first shift?" I asked, putting my hands together.

"Um, well, tonight would be nice. Um, just come here at, um, 11:30 and I'll get you familiar with this place before um, you di- I MEAN, UM, start your shift! Yeah! That's it!" My new boss sounded very unstable.

As she walked out, I examined the room. There were two doors and two lights, one for each hall leading to the office.

When I turned the light on, it made a jittery sound and then flickered on, shining a little cobweb in the hall and showing me more of the hall. I walked down the west hall, the way I came in, and I turned around and looked at the corner. And I saw a poster of Freddy ripping his own head off.

I was back in the dining hall, bored to death while the children in front of me cheered. I was sitting at a table in the back, putting my face in my hands, sighing.

"Hey kids! Wanna hear a joke?" Freddy said, and the kids replied with a big, grinning YES! "Well, I'd love to tell you one, but mine are all unbearable," Freddy said, and all the children laughed.

"Just remember; Eat the pizza or Chica will be upset!" Freddy said in a friendly voice, and Chica came out of the kitchen with four pizzas that were supposed to go to Table 4.

I looked at my watch. 3:30 PM. Still eight and a half hours before my shift.

Since this job is awesome and I don't have to do anything, then why am I worried about it? Bah, probably just Emma making me nervous, I thought, but I don't think that that's all of the story.

CONVENIENTLY PLACED 8 HOUR TIME SKIPPY

I was at my house, getting ready for my first shift. I grabbed my jacket, my car keys, a cup of coffee, and then I headed out. Emma did tell me to meet her there at 11:30, and right now it was 11:17.

When I arrived at Freddy's, I saw Emma standing outside, cowering in fear and deathly pale.

"Hello," I said, and she jumped back, hitting her head on the door.

"Oh! Um, hello there, didn't um, see you, um. Well, um, we don't have much time before, um, the shift, um, so yeah, um, when you're um, in your office, just remember to, um, don't waste power, or um, something bad is gonna happen, um, yeah."

What could possibly go wrong? No one's gonna try to rob a children's entertainment place… I thought, wondering what the heck was going on.

Emma unlocked the door and very nervously looked at the show stage. The animatronics were all there.

I followed Emma as she showed me around. "And, um, these are the bathrooms," she said when we arrived at the bathrooms. "They, um, are a good place to look on your, um camera every once and a while. Um, yeah…"

When we arrived backstage, Emma told me, "Uh, these are the costumes that the animatronics wear, um, there are some spare ones just in case. Um, don't try to get it one, because all of the um, wires and beams and animatronic devices would probably, um, kill you. And um, I don't think you um, want that. And, I don't know if I told you this before, but um, if an animatronic gets you in your office, um, they'll stuff you into one of these, um, costumes." Her voice quavered, lowering and going too quickly for me to catch the last part. I heart something about 'office", though.

"How would they get it my office anyway," I raised an eyebrow. This had to be a trick that the play on the new guy every time. But, Emma looked so sincere… No. This was just an act. The animatronics weren't going to do anything.

"They, um, come alive at night, um, I didn't tell you this before…" She trembled and bit her lower lip. She made a terrified whimpering sound before rushing on. "Er, they think you're an endoskeleton, um, and that's against the rules at Freddy's, so they try and stuff you into the suit, thus, um, not making you alive anymore. And, um, I woulda told you, um, when you signed up, but uh, that's also against the rules, and um, you might run away. But now, um, you signed the contract, so um, you have to do this job for a week, or-or I h-have to, um, arrest you. Listen, um, I promise I'm s-"

"WHAT?!" I yelled, outraged. I knew it was all a trick, but I decided to play along. "You tricked me!" I said, wondering if the staff was laughing right now. Eh, they can laugh in their heads, I know it's all a trick.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to! Um, I had to! It's not safe here at night, and we um, need someone brave enough to make sure that um, the animatronics don't, um, wander off and do bad stuff. Um, I'm going to leave now." She gave a fearful yelp, and then raced off and slammed the door.

"Ok, are they really going that far to just get a laugh out of me?" I said out loud, hoping that the trickers could hear me.

I sat down, waiting for them to pop out and laugh, but no one came. Maybe it's not a trick, I thought, but then I pushed that thought aside. It obviously was.

I sighed and checked my monitor, horrified by what I saw. Bonnie was missing from the show stage.

I dropped my monitor in fright and slammed the button to close both doors. I was safe now. Wiping sweat from my forehead, I realized that my power was going down fast. It was 1:01 and I was already at 70% power!

I needed to stay calm. I could make it through this night! I hesitantly opened both doors and checked the lights. Nobody was there. I checked my monitor. Chica and Freddy were on the show stage, but Bonnie was still gone. I hurriedly checked the dining room camera, and I saw Bonnie there, relieved he wasn't outside my door, waiting for the pounce.

I sat back in my chair. I looked at my power and my watch. I had 67% power and it was 1:11. I was doing a bit better on the power usage.

Flicking both lights on just in case, I saw that nobody was there.

When I checked my monitor, I saw that Chica was missing from the show stage, leaving only Freddy. "No. Oh no. No, no, no, no, no," I muttered under my breath. I checked backstage, the dining area (Bonnie was still there), my halls, and the supply closet, but I couldn't find Chica.

Gulping, I slammed both of my doors shut, suddenly realizing it was a bad idea. Check the lights first, Peter, I told myself, calming down. 55% power at 2:43. I can make it!

Still wondering where the chicken was and a little spooked out, I checked my monitor once again, and she was still out of sight. Then, I remembered what Emma had said. The bathrooms are a good place to check on the camera, I recalled her saying, probably with a few 'ums' in there.

I set my monitor to the bathrooms, praying Chica was in there and not near me. To my relief, she was, but with a demonic face staring into my soul. Suddenly, the words "IT'S ME!" Began to flash before my eyes, and I yelled in terror and dropped the monitor on the ground, almost breaking it.

I rubbed my eyes for a while. 33% power at 3:59. My shift ended in 2 hours. I picked my monitor up from the ground, brushing it off.

I had 1/3 of the shift left and 1/3 power left. There wasn't anything to worry about. Or was there...

In a fit of paranoia, I forced myself to check both lights, sipping my coffee. I checked the east one first, and it was empty. Then, I checked the left one. Bonnie was right there!

Yelping gibberish, I dropped my glass coffee mug. The hot drink splashed into my lap, while the cup bounced away and crashed to the floor. Swinging to the door switches, I immediately slammed my fist on it. The panel dropped down, blocking me off from Bonnie. I couldn't waste too much power, or I'd be doomed, according to Emma. I cautiously opened the door and turned the light on, only to see that Bonnie was gone.

At this point I was going insane on my first night, and I still had a whole lot more. Ugh, Katie was right, I thought, scratching my hair.

I checked the monitor again, and at that point I knew I was doomed. I saw Bonnie in the west hall corner and Chica in the east hall corner. They were one step away from my door.

I quickly hit both doors buttons, even though my power was low. It was 5:12 and I had 12% power. This wasn't good. My power was draining very quickly.

I checked my monitor for a brief moment to see if Bonnie and Chica were still there. When they weren't, I was relieved and I opened both doors. Checking the lights just in case, I saw that Bonnie was leaning through the door and Chica the window.

Gasping in terror, I hit the door buttons again, safeguarding myself. It was 5:30 and I had 3% power. This was embarrassing. I would die on my first day, stuffed into an animatronic suit, stabbed to death by the animatronic devices and such.

The power went out. Everything was dark, except for the faint glow of something in the west hall. Turning my head, I saw Freddy there, his face ominously glowing in the dark. The toreador march played, and I was paralyzed with fear. Goodbye, life.

And then a miracle happened. I looked around and nobody was there. Checking the monitor, I saw Freddy, Chica and Bonnie all in their places on the stage. It was 6:00 AM.

I let out a sigh of relief and headed for the exit, running into Emma on the way.

"How was your, um, first night?" She asked.

"Oh, it was very splendid! Nothing dangerous or deadly happened here!" I lied through my teeth. Emma probably already knew my life was at stake with this job. Little did I know, but later, the nights would get even more 'splendid'.