A Real Monster

By: Miss-DNL

Excitable blue eyes looked around with youth filled wonder as Timothy Brown entered the Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria with his mother, Father and two little twin sisters. The place was an absolute wonderland! It was everything he imagined it to be and then some! Everywhere he could see kids around his age playing at the indoor play place, arcade, or just eating awesome looking pizza. Quickly he spotted the prize corner, eyes landing on a cuddly looking Bonnie the Bunny plushy. An awed gasp escaped his mouth and he eagerly tugged on his father's strong hand.

"Dad! Dad! Can I get a Bonnie plushy! Please?" Timothy asked pleadingly still tugging on his Dad's hand while pointing to the small doll. His pleas incited the twins to begin pinning for their own toys.

"Can I get Chica?"

"I want Foxy!"

Their father sighed softly to himself, he should have expected this. Oh well. First he checked with his wife who nodded saying, "It is family day."

Nodding the father motioned to the counter, "Go ask the man nicely for the dolls you want," when the kids ran off to the prize corner their father quickly added, "And don't forget to say thank you!"

"We won't!" Timothy assured as he hurried over to the prize counter, waiting with excited patience as his two siblings asked for their dolls. Blinking he noticed a large purple and blue box next to it.

That must be a big present, Timothy thought to himself. Above the presents he saw that there were pictures were drawings of a smiling black and white figure that handed out gifts to kids. Timothy's eyes widened a fraction in realization, Oh, one of Freddy's friends is in there.

Getting the larger twelve-inch size they both squeezed the life out of their new playmates upon getting them in their hands. Looking back, he watched his sister's head back to their parents. The six-year-old boy felt a frown tug on his lips recalling how much money trouble they were having. His mom and dad tried to make it seem like everything was okay but he could hear them discuss things from the upstairs rails...

"Which one do you want?"

Pulled from his thoughts Timothy looked up at the adult person behind the counter. The man was wearing a pink shirt which Timothy thought was weird, but he didn't say anything. Mom said making fun of people was mean. He wasn't mean. He looked back to the dolls and pointed to the smaller Bonnie plush, "I want the small Bonnie."

The person behind the counter looked confused briefly but obliged, handing the purple bunny over, "Here you go kid."

Grinning happily Timothy took the small rabbit doll, playing with his ears. Beaming he smiled up at the guy, "Thank you mister!"

The guy smiled back, "Your welcome kid."

Looking up Timothy spotted something odd, on the top row there were yellow dolls of Freddy and Bonnie. Both were wearing purple accessories two, and the yellow Bonnie had bright green eyes. This confused the kid a little, Bonnie and Freddy weren't yellow. They were brown and purple. Those toys were colored all wrong. He turned his puzzled look over to the guy behind the counter, "Mister, why are there yellow Freddy and Bonnie dolls?"

Briefly the guy glanced up to the dolls as if he hadn't known they were there prior. He gave a soft laugh before looking back to the kid, "Oh, those are dolls of Fredbear and Spring Bonnie. They were the ones before Freddy and the gang, we still make dolls of them for collectors." He gave a pause, wondering how to put it to the kid. His finger tapped the glass counter until he thought of something, "Uh, Fredbear and Spring Bonnie retired a while back."

"Oh, okay." Timothy responded not really knowing what retired meant. He didn't want the guy to know that though. He nodded his head, "Thanks again mister."

"No problem," The guy said. Grinning slightly, he gave a hinting wink, "You know, most kids don't ask about those."

Timothy perked, smiling at the fact he was more observant than most kids. Once his Dad paid for the dolls the family headed off to the main party room so they could eat and see Freddy's show when it started. This time he took his Mom's hand as his Dad having been taken by his sister's this time. As they walked he looked around at the place, drawings were pinned up on the wall. He wanted to draw a picture and get his put up on the wall too. He definitely was going to draw Bonnie, maybe Freddy too.

"Why didn't you get a big doll too?" His Mom asked as they headed down the hall, the walls speckled in a manner to look like confetti. "The bigger one comes with a guitar."

Her son didn't answer for a moment, he looked at his new doll, he would have liked that guitar. Timothy gave his Mom a smile, "Because I can carry this one better. I'll be able to take him places when we go out! Right Mom?"

His mother smiled at him, his tiny hand in her soft warm one, "Of course you can sweetie."

Timothy still smiling skipped a little as they neared the entrance to the main party room. The smell of pizza was making his mouth water a little. They hadn't eaten much prior to this in order to save room for the cheesy, pepperoni covered food. He loved pizza, and he loved playing. That's why he'd wanted to go to Freddy's so badly before this! All of his friends said it was the best place ever! His friends would come here have the best time ever, get toys and come back showing them to him. Bonnie had been his favorite from the moment he saw a plush of him. He was purple, had a neat bow tie and played guitar! How cool was that?

Finally, they came into the main party room. Timothy was left speechless; mouth open in pure awe. The tables were filled with people. The sound of people moving around and talking, the only sound rivalling it was pleasant family friendly music. Party decorations all over the place, confetti laying on the floor, party hats, paper plates, and steamers hanging from the ceiling. One table was filled with what was obviously a birthday group, the presents on the table made that clear. They weren't part of the party though, and Timothy was perfectly okay with that. He was just happy to be here.

As his parents scanned the room for an open place to sit Timothy and his sisters stared at the stage. There they were Freddy, Bonnie and Chica. Along with the cupcake Carl. Timothy felt his heart jitter in excitement, wanting to run up and hug the bunny's leg. His Mom's hand was the only thing keeping him in place. The kid's enthusiasm leveled a moment as something came to mind. He looked up to his mother, "Mom, what does retired mean?"

His Mom gave him a puzzled looked for a moment but then recalled what the clerk had told him, "It means that someone is done with their job and no longer has to work."

"Oh," Timothy said as they began moving over to a table. It was towards the back but that was fine. As they were walking over to it Timothy saw a taller man in a purple uniform standing against the wall, arms laxly crossed. Seeing a shiny golden badge on his chest the boy recalled one of his friends saying that the people in purple were the security. He couldn't really see they guy's eyes but that didn't bother Timothy, he was here to make sure everyone was safe.

He looked back to his Mom, "Does that mean I won't get to see Fredbear or Spring Bonnie?"

"Sorry, but I don't think so sweetie." Timothy's Mom said with a slight frown. She swapped it for a reassuring smile, "But you still get to see Freddy, Chica, Foxy and your favorite, Bonnie."

Although disappointed Timothy smiled and nodded, so long as he got to see Bonnie he didn't need to see the golden Freddy and Bonnie.

In a moment the family of five was seated at the end of one of the long party tables. It was pretty far from the stage but they were lucky to even be able to sit together. The place was already so packed that they had to share the table with another family. Timothy's father wasn't very happy about that. Their baby had started crying when they'd been giving their orders. Timothy's Mom calmed his Father, and it helped that the baby's Mom apologized and explained the infant was teething. Timothy wondered if he cried like that when he was getting his teeth.

Thankfully it stopped before the show started. The lights dimmed and everyone went quiet. Colored lights landed on the three animatronics, the kids began to get rowdy. Suddenly new life seemed to come to Freddy, Bonnie and Chica who'd just been playing rigidly before. A light ball came down through dots a lights around the room as Freddy announced he and his band would be playing for the birthday kid. The kids cheered as the brown bear began singing, Bonnie played his guitar, while Chica and Carl sang back up.

"Mom, Dad! Look at Bonnie!" Timothy called over the crowd pointing to his favorite rabbit, Bonnie was doing a sort of standing dance while playing his red electric guitar, "Doesn't he looks so cool?"

"Yes he does." His Father answered, amused and endeared by his son's enthusiasm, before taking a bite of some pepperoni pizza.

Timothy watched the show with stars shining in his eyes, hands gently yet firmly clutching his doll, and wearing the biggest smile his parents had seen on him in a long time. This made saving up for this big family outing completely worth it. They both hated telling their kids no when they knew for a fact that they didn't get to have as much, or do as much, as other kids. Thankfully this seemed to be making up for it tenfold.

Eventually the show came to an end, but to the kids' delight their parents said that they would be staying until night fall. Immediately Timothy's sisters wanted to go see Foxy's pirate show. Timothy himself though wasn't so interested, the fox's teeth and hook scared him, but he didn't let them know that. He was the big brother. He was supposed to be brave. Thankfully, neither of his sisters insisted on him coming and his Mother didn't ask why he didn't want to go. Timothy watched his sisters run off with his Mother trailing behind them, telling them not to run too far ahead.

"So, what do you want to do then champ?" His father asked his son, he looked back up to the stage, "Plenty of time before the next show starts."

Looking his plush Timothy got an idea, he held the doll up for his father to see, "Arcade! I wanna win some tickets to get Bonnie a friend!"

"Let's get going then, it's going to take a lot of tickets to win a doll, but," He ruffled his son's hair, "I'm sure working together when can do it. Right?"

"Right!" Timothy cheered as he hopped off his chair and followed his dad to the arcade. As they left he saw that the guard was still there. Hearing his Dad calling him Timothy hurried after him into the beeping room that flashed with so many different colors.

The two didn't manage to get enough tickets to win another doll but Timothy opted to save the tickets for the next they came to the pizzeria. His father praised him for the decision and treated him to some ice cream. That was plenty to make up for the waiting. It was around this time that Timothy realized it was going to be dark soon. He was getting pretty good at reading the watch on his Dad's wrist. He looked back to the stage, soon he'd get to see Bonnie play again.

It was almost time for the show when his Dad got up from his seat, drawing his attention, "I've got to use the restroom, be right back."

Timothy looked up at the ceiling as the lights began to dim, "But Dad, the show's going to start."

"I know. I'll be right back in a minute. Stay here, okay?" His father instructed, Timothy nodded and watched his father leave down the hall.

Even though people were around him Timothy still felt completely alone. It was so strange not to have one of his parents around him, they'd never left him alone in public before. He gripped his doll a little tighter, trying to gain some security from it. Its softness helped him, if only slightly. He perked suddenly and began to look around for the guard. If he was around, then that meant everything was okay. Specks of light covered the walls when the light ball came down, but Timothy hardly noticed when he saw the guard was missing.

Timothy fidgeted nervously when he couldn't spot him anywhere in the room. He told himself that maybe he just couldn't see him because the room was crowded. The boy stilled when he thought he spotted something yellow poking out of a hall. The hall was out of the way, mostly obscured by darkness, and he just barely saw it. Timothy furrowed his brows, had those been rabbit ears he'd seen? He watched the hall, trying his best to see past all the people, in case it happened again.

Again a flicker of yellow. Then his eyes widened, Spring Bonnie, he thought.

The six-year-old, looked around anxiously. His father told him to sit still, but he wanted to see if that was Spring Bonnie he was seeing.

After a moment of brief thought Timothy decided he'd just go check really quick. Holding Bonnie close to his chest for comfort the child hopped off his chair. Briskly he moved over to the other side of the room. He weaved around the people who hardly gave him a second glance or were other children who thought nothing of him. Reaching the other side, he looked at the hall that everyone else seemed to overlook. The show was in full swing now everyone else was focused on the show.

Timothy let out a silent gasp as a golden hand poked out, beckoning him before disappearing behind the wall. Timothy looked around, debating whether to follow the motion. When the hand appeared again, repeating the motion, the boy acted without thinking any further and headed into the dark hall. Turning the corner Timothy spotted the fabled Spring Bonnie already heading down the hall with a bounce in his step.

"Wait for me!" Timothy urged in a hushed voice, he was certain he wasn't supposed to be back here. Holding onto Bonnie he hurried after the golden rabbit.

Spring Bonnie spun around on one padded foot in a playful manner allowing the child to see the rabbit's face, hands held up in the air as if signing "Ta-dah". He looked slightly different than Bonnie, the snout more rounded, and the bowtie was purple. Continuing to move backwards in an almost prancing manner the rabbit waved him forward.

"Follow me, follow me, this way." Spring Bonnie's voice was gentle, friendly even, and lively enough to quickly excite Timothy with his voice. The rabbit turned back around skipping down the hall with quick strides. Six-year-old Timothy was having trouble keeping up and almost worried he'd lost the rabbit when he turned around a corner. This was alleviated when Spring Bonnie poked his head around the corner again, as if checking on him. The rabbit watched him until he neared the corner then pulled back, continuing deeper into the restaurant.

Following Spring Bonnie down the hall Timothy looked around, beginning to wonder where he was. It was a lot darker in these halls, he could still see but, it felt like people never used these halls. He could still hear Freddy and his friend so he assumed he was still near the party room. That was good, after this it wouldn't take him long to get back. Still he wondered where the security guard had gone…

"Where are we going Spring Bonnie?" Timothy asked the rabbit.

"I want to you to meet someone." He answered cheerily turning his head back to the child, mouth open in smiling manner.

Timothy perked up his excitement returning, "Fredbear?"

Spring Bonnie closed his eyes and nodded, "Mhm." The bunny's head lowered sadly, ears drooping forward, "People hardly remember us anymore." Timothy frowned, feeling sorry for the rabbit as he recalled the prize guy's words. The rabbit perked up again looking at him with his previous liveliness regained, "That's why I went to get you. Fredbear will be happy to meet someone who remembers him."

Finally, the rabbit stopped at a door, tilting his head Timothy saw that it read "Safe Room". There were words below the but he couldn't read them all with Spring Bonnie standing in front of the door. He did pick out the word "only" though. He figured the first one was animals. He looked up when Spring Bonnie crouched down in front of him. He noticed the rabbit's eyes weren't reddish pink like Bonnie's, his were more like a grey. Hadn't the doll's eyes been green though? Maybe the doll makers got that wrong.

Even crouched the rabbit was still bigger than him, especially if he counted the ears that were dipping forward. Spring Bonnie held a finger in front of his snout, whispering, "Fredbear is sleeping right now. I wanted this to be a surprise, okay?"

Timothy nodded that he understood. Standing back upright Spring Bonnie opened the door and let him inside. Entering the room Timothy saw it looked a lot more like a big closet than a safe room. Then again what was a safe room supposed to look like? His thoughts were put on hold when he saw the large form of Fredbear sitting on the ground. The bear's purple hat was still on his head but his hand was vacant of the microphone.

"Fredbear…" Timothy whispered softly. He heard a soft shush behind him from Spring Bonnie and covered his mouth reflexively.

"I just have to get my guitar. Then we'll surprise him." Spring Bonnie whispered, turning his head he saw the rabbit head behind some boxes that were stacked way up.

The six-year-old nodded even though the bunny couldn't see it. He took the time to look around, there was some arcade games against the wall. It was mostly boxes though, he wondered why Fredbear was napping in here. He guessed it was because of the quiet, Timothy couldn't even hear Freddy's show anymore.

He looked at Fredbear, he was sure quiet for a sleeping bear. Timothy blinked when he heard clicking noises. He looked back over his shoulder, it was coming from where Spring Bonnie was. Hearing the rabbit's fur shifting Timothy guessed he was just trying to quietly open something. He looked back to the sleeping Fredbear, stomach fluttering with nervous excitement.

"Can I ask you something?"

Timothy was confused by this, he looked back to where Spring Bonnie would be. The odd clicking continuing. Weren't they supposed to be quiet?

"Um, sure." He answered.

"Do you believe in monsters?"

The boy's brows dug downward at the seemingly random question. Why would Spring Bonnie ask that? He remembered his two little sisters, he was supposed to be brave for them. Timothy managed a brief laugh, putting up a bravado, "No, my Mom said there are no such thing as monsters."

"That's too bad…"

Something in the rabbit's voice had changed, he didn't sound disappointed it was like all the friendly liveliness had vanished. Suddenly the fact the door was shut and made of metal bothered the boy. He looked at the boxes with new wariness, something was wrong. The clicking continued to come from behind the box.

"Spring Bonnie…why's that?" Timothy asked hesitantly, his hands holding the Bonnie plush right against his chest.

"Because," The clicking stopped in a dreadfully final manner.

Timothy heard the sound of shifting fur again. A weight built in the boy's stomach when he heard shoes not paws moving across the floor. Out from behind the tall stack of boxes came the security guard from before. The cap that had been hiding his eyes prior was gone, exposing unkempt black hair. Something in the man's presence set off some sort of alarm inside the boy's mind. It was screaming for him to turn and run, run, far, far away! Timothy shifted backward, this seemed to cause a wide grin to slice its way across the man's face, showing unpleasant teeth.

When he spoke his voice wasn't like Spring Bonnie's at all. It was rough and caused Timothy to want to curl up in against the wall in fear, but he was too scared to move.

"Mommy lied to you," The purple glad guard cooed in a twisted manner, his grin leering at the boy. Timothy started to shake as the man moved closer, lip quivering. The man's grin lengthened, edging to split his face in half, "Monsters are real."

The boy's fear finally activated his flight instinct and he ran over to the door. He screamed when a hand snatched the back of his collar pulling him right up from the ground. His Bonnie plush falling soundlessly to the ground. Timothy screamed for his Mom, screamed for his Dad, for anybody. No one could hear him though, he couldn't hear the show that was still going on outside so how could they hear him?

Tears streaming from his eyes Timothy stared into the grey eyes of a real monster as a knife was plunged into his throat…

Author's Note: This story is the first to legitimately anger me while writing it, which was impressive and kind of interesting. This story goes along with an AU of mine that holds some elements inspired by the Five Nights at Freddy's novel. I'll be working on quiet a few of them as I build my AU, some will be horror related others won't. They'll all lead up to the main story of mine "Some Things are Better Left Buried."