Disclaimer: I do not own "Five Nights at Freddy's" or its characters.

[A/N - Hello readers! As announced, here is the first chapter of the story told from the POV of the Poor Child from FNAF 4, which in my AU is named Ryan Martins. He has been mentioned by other characters in others arcs of my FanFiction series, if you read them...

Anyway, I'll get this out of the way already - the Bite of 87 is a bit different here... When I came up with the story of how I thought the Bite took place, FNAF 4 hadn't been announced yet, so the one responsible for the Bite and the victim were not as they were shown in the game... I managed to put the story of FNAF 4 into my AU anyway though, but just be aware, the bot that causes the Bite is not Fredbear / Golden Freddy in my AU because of this...

Now that that's settled, on to the story!]


Why… Why did he have to be there…?

He hated that place, everyone knew that. He hated every single part of that pizzeria. The walls, the ceiling, the tables, the chairs, and especially the animatronics – he hated all of it. He hated it and he feared it. Still, they insisted on taking him there, day after day.

The seven-year old boy sobbed as he sulked in the corner. He followed all the children running around with his dark eyes, wondering how they all could look so cheerful and carefree. If they knew what he did, they wouldn't look so happy… If they had seen what he saw… they'd hate Freddy Fazbear's Pizza too.

That place they were in was, as far as the outside world knew, a fun place for "kids and grown-ups alike", but for Ryan Martins, it was a nightmare factory. A place he'd avoid if he could at all costs. Unfortunately for him, everything and everyone in his life seemed to be doing all in its power to make him as miserable as humanly possible.

For one, his house was practically right next to the pizzeria, so there was that. Even on his way on to school he had to see that monstrosity… Then, if seeing it every day from a distance wasn't bad enough, he had to visit it regularly with his brother. His parents weren't at home very often, and so, when he got home from school, he'd be at the mercy of his older brother – Erik Martins, a sixteen year-old brute whose biggest joy in life was making Ryan feel as upset as he could. As part of his "make Ryan cry everyday" campaign, Erik would often drag the reluctant child to the pizzeria, where the teenager did some work sometimes by helping out the entertainers or handing out pamphlets to spread the word about the pizzeria. Unlike Ryan, Erik quite enjoyed being at Freddy Fazbear's. Him and his stupid friends.

And so, this was just another day on the sad routine that was Ryan Martins' depressing life. Waking up in the morning, going to school without even seeing his parents, spending his day there with no friends, and finally arrive home only to be taken to the pizzeria where he'd spend the next two hours trying to merge with the wall and stay unnoticed. A wonderful life…

"I wanna go home…" he sobbed, burying his face in his arms as he hugged his knees. At least at home he had nothing to fear. For now. "I wanna go home…"

He looked up, trying to spot his brother in the crowd. As far as he could tell, Erik was nowhere to be seen. At home, this would be a cause for concern – it would probably mean he was out hiding somewhere… - but at the pizzeria, it was a good thing. He could escape. He could leave the pizzeria without Erik noticing.

Ryan knew that he'd have to hear it from both his brother if he left without telling him, but he'd handle it. As always, he'd handle it. It wasn't the first time he got yelled at by his brother anyway.

The child stood up, sniffed one last time, and tried to make his way through the mob of children that pushed and elbowed their way towards the stage, where a group of three animatronics were up to their usual performance. Ryan didn't look at the stage. He couldn't bear to even glance at them. They always made him freeze in fear.

To all the other children, there was no better way to spend the afternoon than to watch Toy Freddy, Toy Bonnie and Toy Chica sing their favorite songs. Ryan, to keep up with his habit to dislike everything that everyone else seemed to like, didn't enjoy their songs at all. Maybe it was because it was the robots singing them…

'I'm gonna make it,' he thought to himself, as he spotted the exit. 'I'm gonna make it… I'm gonna make it…'

He was just about to reach the exit, when he heard a voice calling. The voice had the same effect it always did – he flinched and whimpered. He knew that voice. And the tone it carried now only meant one thing – he had been caught.

"Ryan – where the hell do you think you're going?"

A firm hand seized his shoulder and forced him to turn around, facing his capturer. It was Erik, who, as usual, smirked at the prospect of torturing his little brother.

"Thinking of running away with your tail between your legs like a coward again, huh?" he spat, shaking Ryan harshly. "When are you going to grow a pair and be a man?"

Ryan tried to release himself from his brother's grasp, but his efforts were being wasted. He had never been able to outmatch his brother in strength, and he feared the day would never come when he would be able to accomplish such a feat. He blamed it on the age difference – his brother usually blamed it on the fact that Ryan was too much of a wuss.

"Please let me go," Ryan pleaded. "You know I don't like it here… Just let me go home, I won't bother you…"

"You're already bothering me with your constant crying and whining," Erik grunted. "If I have to put up with having to watch over you, at least make yourself small and insignificant and just sit in the corner like I told you to!"

Ryan shook his head, still trying to push his brother's hand away from him, to no avail. "I don't want to be here!" he cried. "Please, Erik, let me go home…"

Erik sighed with false despair and rolled his eyes. "Ryan, Ryan… Yet again you defy my authority…" he mused, which made his brother shiver even more. He was in for punishment now… "You know what? Since I can't trust you with the simple task of sitting in a corner, I'll have to ensure that you don't leave without my consent. I can't keep watching you, you know? Unlike you, I have stuff to do. So I'll have to lock you somewhere you can't run away from…"

"NO!" Ryan wailed. "Please, don't lock me in here, please! I don't want to – I promise I won't try to leave! P-please, Erik!"

His brother paid no mind to his cries, as usual. "Off we go, Ryan," he teased, dragging his brother through the crowed as if the young boy was nothing but a rag doll. "Now, where can I put you – ha! There we go, perfect spot don't you think?"

Ryan looked at the room his brother had led him towards in horror. It was a dark and ominous room, much different from the cheerful-looking dining areas of the pizzeria. There were only two animatronics there, ones that were not used very often – a golden bear and a golden bunny. Both looked worn out, and different in built from the other robots. The mere sight of the golden bear – called Golden Freddy -, in particular, was enough to make Ryan burst into tears.

"I-I don't want… Please, don't l-lock me in here w-with h-him…" he begged.

"What, old Fredbear?" Erik knocked on the bear's head and laughed. "Why would you be so scared of good ol' Freddy? It wouldn't be because of his big teeth and scary empty eyes, would it? Now, Ryan, get in there." He pushed his brother into the room carelessly, and then took a step back.

Ryan fell on the hard floor with a thud, landing right next to the large golden bear. "Ow!" he whimpered. "E-Erik, please!"

"See you in two hours, loser!"

Erik slammed the door shut, and what little light was coming in from the outside disappeared. Ryan was locked in that dark room now, with nothing but two golden animatronics serving as company.

Ryan wasn't sure how long he stayed in that dark room, pounding on the door. The noise outside made it hard for anyone walking by to listen to his cries for help, so he really wasn't counting on anyone showing up to rescue him anytime soon. That didn't prevent him from trying, of course.

"GET ME OUT!" he screeched. "PLEASE!"

The child refused to look back at his surroundings as he tried to make as much noise as possible. Of all animatronics, Golden Freddy slash Fredbear was the one he feared the most. He had seen what Golden Freddy was capable of… What he did when the doors were closed… when there was no one else around…

"P-please… I'm scared…" Ryan fell on his knees, his tired fists doing nothing but light knockings on the door now. "I… I-I want to go home…"

"Are you okay?"

Ryan froze. His eyes got very round. He sniffed. Someone had just spoken to him. Someone had just spoken to him.

He dared a peek over his shoulder, but all he saw were the same golden suits, slumped in the darkness. "W… who's there…?"

"Don't be scared," the voice ushered immediately. It was a soothing, gentle voice. Sounded like a girl, and from what Ryan knew, neither Golden Freddy nor Spring Bonnie were girls. "I won't hurt you."

A figure emerged from the shadows of the ominous room. A small child, shorter than Ryan – as he suspected, it was a girl. Her hair was black, and it reached her chest. Her eyes were amber-ish in color, and looked at him with a kind expression.

"Hello," she greeted. "My name is Rika. What is your name?"

Ryan sniffed. How long had she been there? "R… Ryan…" he responded, trying to wipe his tears away before she could see them.

She smiled. "What are you doing here, Ryan?" she wanted to know. "Why were you crying?"

"I wasn't crying!" he denied, though his voice was trembling. "I was j-just… I'm not supposed to be here so…"

The girl called Rika giggled. "Right, right."

"What are you doing here?" the boy wanted to know, pouting as he recognized the girl's giggle as being one of the "oh look at him, trying to play tough, so cute" variety. "I didn't notice you at all…"

"I heard you pounding on the door," she informed. "Can I ask who locked you in here?"

Ryan shrugged. He didn't really feel like talking about it. One look at the girl in front of him though, and he immediately felt the urge to spill his beans to her and flood her with information about his depressing excuse of a life.

"It was my brother," he admitted. "Erik. He always does things like this, to bother me… I guess he likes to see me upset… He hates me…"

"I'm sure that's not true…" Rika muttered, though she looked like she doubted her own words. She was probably just saying that to comfort Ryan. She couldn't know how bad things were between the two siblings.

He appreciated it though. No one had bothered to try and comfort him before, so that was new. He liked this Rika girl already. She was kind, and calm. The complete opposite of his brother, that's for sure.

"So… If you weren't here when I was locked in… how did you get in?" he asked.

Rika smiled. "Secret ~" she replied, teasingly.

Ryan pouted again. No fair. Also, suspicious. The door he had been pounding in was the only way to get inside that room – how on earth did Rika get in after the door was closed? Was there some kind of secret entrance?

Suddenly, the sound of the door being unlocked made Ryan jump. There was someone outside opening the door. Could it be Erik? Had the two hours gone by already?

"I guess time's up…" Ryan stood up, dusting his pants. When he looked at the spot Rika was – supposedly – standing on, he had to blink twice and rub his eyes to make sure he was seeing right.

She was gone. Rika was not there in front of him anymore.

"Rika…?" he called.

No answer. Before he could try and look for her, the door opened abruptly. Ryan, expecting to be, yet again, grabbed harshly and dragged out the pizzeria, winced out of instinct.

Instead, what he felt was a hand tapping his shoulder lightly, and he heard a voice that wasn't, thankfully, his brother's.

"Ryan? Uh, what on earth are you doing here?"

The little boy turned around, feeling relieved. He knew this person, but unlike with his brother, his presence made him feel calmer.

It was a tall man, sporting the security uniform correspondent to Freddy Fazbear's. He had hazelnut-colored hair and green eyes. Phil Grayson was his name, and he was the head of security there at the pizzeria.

"Hi Mr. Grayson," the boy greeted, not waiting to be invited out of the dark room to make his way out. The sooner he got out of there the better. "Sorry, I… I went in and couldn't open the door…"

Phil Grayson looked at Ryan with a frown. Ryan knew that the man could probably tell he was lying, but he doubted he would pester him with more questions. Not now, at least. He already knew how bad things were between the two siblings.

"Where's your brother?" the head of security wanted to know.

Ryan shrugged.

The man sighed and tapped the boy's shoulder with a small sad smile. "If you need anything, just, uh, call me, okay?" he offered. "You know, if your brother is bothering you or something… I'll, uh, I'll do what I can."

The boy smiled as Phil Grayson left, but the idea of what his brother would do if he knew that he was "conspiring" against him was not very appealing. What awful things that little evil mind of Erik Martins' would think of to make Ryan's life even more depressing… Ryan shivered just thinking about it.

"Better to be out of that room, uh?"

Ryan yelped at the sound of the voice, and took a couple of steps back. He looked over his shoulder with his eyes round with the fright, only to see Rika standing right behind him.

The girl giggled and tilted her head. "Jumpy, aren't you?"

"D-don't just pop up out of nowhere!" he scolded, looking around to see if anyone else had seen his reaction. "Where did you come from – how did you disappear from the room like that?"

"Secret~" Rika replied with the same teasing tone as before, which only got Ryan annoyed. "Did Mr. Grayson open the door for you? He's a really nice person, don't you think?"

"Yeah, he is," Ryan agreed. "I wish he was my dad…"

Rika blinked with a confused expression. "You don't… you don't like your dad?"

"Kind of hard to tell if I like him or not, since I rarely even see him," Ryan retorted, surprised at the resentment in his voice. He supposed it couldn't be helped – all of the bullying and neglect from his family had to have some kind of long-lasting effect on his personality…

"How about your mom?" Rika insisted.

"Same thing."

The girl looked at him with a sad expression, though she concealed it fairly quickly. "I'm sure things will get better for you, Ryan," she said cheerfully. "Tomorrow is another day."

"Yeah… And tomorrow I'll just go through all of this again…" Ryan mourned.

"If your brother brings you here again, just call me," Rika suggested promptly. "I'm always here."

Ryan made a small smile. Well what do you know; a positive side to his otherwise negative situation. "Really? Your parents bring you here often?"

Rika's smile faltered; it now seemed a bit bitter. "No… I just never leave."

The boy blinked, and frowned. What did that mean…? She couldn't actually stay at the pizzeria all the time, could she? How awful… well, at least to him it would be awful. Imagine that – having to face those robots 24/7, he'd go crazy! No, no, she probably meant that she spent a lot of time there… Maybe her parents also had to work a lot and left her there? Or her parents actually worked at the pizzeria, and brought her along for work?

"Well, thanks anyway. It's nice to have someone to talk to," Ryan admitted. "The only friends I have are my toys…"

He regretted saying those words immediately as he spoke them. It seemed so pathetic when he said it out loud – well, it was pathetic actually… His brother pointed it out… many times

To his surprise, Rika didn't laugh, or tease him about it. She just kept smiling her kind smile. "Well, you have one more friend now," she stated cheerfully, reaching to pat his head.

Ryan blushed lightly as he felt her hand in his hair, but when he looked in her face, he was surprised to see a look of horror in her features.

"Rika? Something wrong?"

The girl took her hand away, seeming a bit distraught for a few seconds. Only when she looked at the boy did she compose herself, going back to smiling as if that odd scene never took place.

"No, nothing… nothing's wrong…" she assured.

Ryan touched his hair nervously, wondering if she could have felt something that grossed her out, while he felt Rika's amber-ish stare carved on him.

"Ryan," she called. "Does your brother bother you at home, too?"

He looked at her with a frown. "Of course he does, why?"

"If you want, I can visit you," she said. "You know, go over to your house and talk with you. For as long as you want. When he bothers you, I'll be there with you. So you'll never be alone."

Ryan stared at her. Why would she do that for someone she literally just met? For him…?

"I… I mean… If you want…" he stammered, looking at his feet in embarrassment.

Rika smiled. "Do you have a Golden Freddy toy at home?"

"Yeah, I do…" Even though Golden Freddy was the one animatronic that haunted most of Ryan's nightmares, in his plush toy version he was very cuddly and cute. In fact, all of the animatronics looked cuter in stuffed toy version, reason why he didn't mind having those at home. "Why?"

"He's my favorite," Rika stated. "So I was just wondering…"

The two children's conversation was interrupted once Erik's battle cry was heard above the commotion of children being unwillingly taken away by their parents.

"Yo, loser! What are you doing out of time out?" he demanded to know as he stomped his way towards the already cowering Ryan. "You know you'll have to make up for it at home."

Ryan looked at the floor sadly. Of course. Why bother complaining at that point? It wouldn't do him any good…

He looked at Rika, to say goodbye, but the girl had disappeared yet again. How did she keep doing that…?

Well, at least he had the prospect of seeing her from time to time going for him… That is, of course, if she wasn't lying to him. At this point in life, it wouldn't surprise him. She looked so nice, though… He was really hoping she was being truthful… that she meant it when she said they were friends…

Wait… Did she even know where he lived…?