With a sigh, I walk through the halls of this old pizzeria, wondering why it's been so quiet the past month.
I'd been working the day shift for the past month, working birthday parties and school trips, but since some incident happened these types of events have been less and less frequent, reduced to the occasional birthday.
When the previous night guard quit due to what the head guard says was conditions, I volunteered to take over because no one else seemed to want to.
Arriving in the office, I sigh, taking a seat in the chair. My office is small, but not cramped, and I feel somewhat at ease here. After all of the unease I've felt over the past month ever since my best friends and my twin disappeared, leaving me and my little brother with only each other, I'm glad to find some sort of reassurance.
It's only twelve A.M., but I'm starting to check the cameras.
I pause when I reach the show stage camera again.
The animatronics on the stage have changed, and now appear more...Human..?...
And they look just like the people who disappeared on me a month ago...
"No. It's not possible," I tell myself firmly. "Get your head out of the clouds and stop hallucinating."
A thought comes to mind, causing a shudder to run through my body. Am I really hallucinating?
Given what I've heard happened here, I guess it's not entirely impossible...
But...
What happened to my friends?
My sister?
Are they still alive?
The sound of a breath outside my door snaps me back to reality and I immediately push the button, closing it.
Funny, I muse as I watch the figure from the corner. He kind of looks like Riku...
He's staring right at me with questioning turquoise eyes, looking almost identical to my friend Riku, just with bunny ears...
Weird...
Eventually, he leaves and I open the door again.
It's four A.M. now, and the night has been fairly quiet. I feel a particularly sharp stab of pain when, after Chica moves, I notice that Freddy, who also happens to somehow be in human form, bears a striking resemblance to Sora, the boy I think I might have loved...
I swallow back the lump in my throat, refusing to be reduced to tears.
It's just a coincidence that they all look like your friends, Mel, I tell myself, trying to calm myself.
After all, that is all it is...
...Right?
Sitting it out until six A.M., I leave when my shift ends. For some reason, I feel somewhat empty inside, as if a piece of me is still inside the pizzeria.
Like a piece of me stayed behind, with the people who look just like my friends.
I head home and lie down on my bed with my sketchbook, hoping to push away the nagging feeling that maybe, just maybe, those people were the ones I cared about.
Instead of pushing the thought away, however, I seem to absent-mindedly end up sketching myself with my friends and siblings...
Skip to Night 3, because writer's block
My third night...
I feel a twinge of unease as I sit down in my office, but I'm reassured by the head guard's call.
"Hey, uh...Can you work the day shift tomorrow? One of our day guards got sick and we need someone to fill in for him for a few days, uh...I understand if you don't want to, since you're already the night guard, and if you don't I can find someone else."
"Alright," I mutter quietly. "I'll do it."
"You will? Okay, so, uh...Listen, we're bringing back Chikyu the wolf tomorrow, so I need you to keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't malfunction. Uh, we had discontinued her before because she was so twitchy, but we've had some mechanics work on repairing her. So, uh, anyway, I'll leave you to it."
...Chikyu's coming back?...
No time to wonder why. It's only twelve A.M. and already the show stage is empty. Worse, I can't find Freddy anywhere.
Beginning to grow a little nervous, I lower the monitor and check the east hall light.
To my horror, there he is, standing there.
Instinctively, my hand flies towards the door button, but Freddy grabs my wrist before I can do anything.
"Wait. Please."
"..." I'm silent, staring down at my wrist. My hand is only a few inches from the button...
I look up into Freddy's eyes, and suddenly it becomes clear.
Sora.
It is, right?
Freddy -I mean, Sora- is staring at me with a pleading look, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes.
I instantly feel a rush of guilt.
"Don't lock me out...Please." He pleads, and I look at the door button, my arm, and back at him.
If I close the door now, I'll hurt his arm.
But if I don't, how can I be certain he won't kill me?
Finally, after a moment's hesitation, I slowly pull my hand back, my eyes averted to the floor.
Instantly I feel him throw his arms around me and pull me close in a tight embrace.
