Nightmare

-The cries of the young boy echoed throughout the halls. He laid on the bed, screaming incomprehensive anguish, asleep. In his arms, he hugged a small golden-bodied teddy bear. He hugged the bear tighter and grew quiet. A soft smile appeared on his lips.

-The child walked beside his friend, blissfully unaware of where they were going. A moment, a beat. He looked up at the golden bear, forgetting the things that had been done to him.

-"You are my friend," the boy said, "You are all my friends. My only friends."

-"It's alright," he thought, "I don't need anyone else. I have you."

-He sat on the ground, holding the bear in his hands.

-"You'll never hurt me," he told the bear, "That's why you're my friend. Because you'll never hurt me."

-Sitting in his room. On his bed sat the little Fredbear doll. The other four stood in the small corner. Foxy was missing his head. His brother had taken it.

-A click. The door.

-He ran to it.

-"He's locked you in your room again." said the Fredbear doll.

-No, he thought, please no not again no please. He tried the door. Fredbear was right.

-He felt himself start to cry. No no please no please please please let me out please no please.

-Pressing his eyes shut, he felt the room suddenly grow smaller, more crowded. Occupied. The haunts of his nightmares. The things that looked like his friends. That lied to him. That were not his friends. No no please no not them no.

-Please please no.

-The boy felt nothing.

-He sat on the cold hospital bed and felt nothing. No fear, no pain, no joy. The Fredbear doll on the nightstand looked at him with its warm comforting eyes, but remained silent.

-The IV drip next to the bed slowly emptied, percolating through the rubber hoses that were stuck into his arm.

-"Fredbear?" he asked, looking at the doll.

-The doll said nothing.

-Click. The door was open. Free. Into the next room. Hello? No one. His parents' room. A dismembered Toy Foxy, otherwise empty. The living room. Door locked. Nobody home. They left him at home. Alone. A noise.

-Where?

-He looked to Fredbear, hopefully. The bear shrugged. No clue. Hello? Another noise. The television set. The noise again.

-Cautious, he tip-toed closer.

-Hump! The head of Foxy leapt at him. No no please no please. His brother laughing. Him on the floor crying.

-His nightmares drawing closer.

-Walking. A sound. Breathing. The door. Open. Light flashes. Closed. Safe. His nightmares safely drew away.

-Laughing. Children playing. Balloons everywhere. Presents. Sick smells of cooking burning pizza. The boy crying.

-"He left you. He knows you hate it here. If you hurry you can reach the door."

-Fredbear who was his friend. Fredbear. His friend-bear. They are his friends. The others are not.

-"You have to get up."

-Please Fredbear help me help me leave help me I wanna go home please Fredbear please.

-He crawled to his knees, then stood up. The entire restaurant to his left. A large red door to his right.

-"No not that way! Don't you remember what you saw?"

-He went the other wa. Felt something. Looked up. The 'not-his-friend Fredbear.' Running the other way. Deeper into the restaurant.

-"If you can just sneek past them-" Fredbear interrupted by the not-his-friend-Fredbear.

-Curled up. On the floor. Crying.

-His nightmares drew closer still.

-"Why am I afraid?" the boy asked his friend.

-Fredbear contemplated the question. Instead of answering, he drew the boy into a deep hug.

-Then, "As long as I am here, you don't need to be afraid."

-"Thank you," the boy replied.

-Dark. Afraid. Locked into a room again, this time not his own. Heads, body parts, metal endoskeletons. Storage.

-Help please help me I want out I wanna go home please HELP ME HELP ME I WANNA GO HOME please please please. The boy is crying.

-The door opens. Someone heard him. He runs out before he can see what his rescuer looks like. Out of the storage room.

-A girl playing with her spring Bonnie toy. Out of the restaurant. Teenage boys laughing at him for crying in the restaurant because he is the only one afraid. Running home. A boy with balloons by the road tells him that he has to go to his party. More running. Tears trailing behind him. Fredbear-friendbear follows. Home. The door's unlocked. Living room. Hallway. Bedroom. He runs to his bed, to the comfort of his friend.

-Jump!

-Foxy. Brother laughing. Him curling on the floor crying. He has nowhere to go. Nowhere is safe. He has nowhere to run.

-No place is safe anymore.

-His nightmares are almost upon him.

-Nothing. The boy hears nothing. He curls up on the metal bed and tries to cry, but cannot. He looks at his friends, all of them sitting in their corner. They do not say anything and neither does he.

-It is silent.

-He is safe.

-The restaurant. His brother. His brother's friends. They have taken his friends and wear them lie masks.

-It is the boy's party. He is crying. The masks scare him. The ones that look likes his friends but are not his friends scare him.

-Brother is laughing while the boy cries. Brother's friends laugh. "Come on, little man, let's get a closer look."

-He is picked up by his brother. He cannot escape. He is carried to the stage where he sees them singing. Them. His nightmares. Them.

-"Hey guys, I think he wants to give Fredbear a kiss."

-Brother laughs. So do brother's friends. He is lifted up. They laugh. His is forced onto his nightmare. Laughing. His head is forced into Fredbear's mouth. Nightmare Fredbear-not-his-friendbear's mouth.

-The boy cries and struggles. Afraid. Afraid. Crying.

-No please no please please no no no please no please help me no please let me out please please let me out please no please help me please please help me help me please no please help me help me HELP ME!

-Nightmare's jaws lock. The boy struggles to be free. The jaws lock together. The boy no longer feels it. Brother stops laughing. The boy no longer feels anything.

-His friends. He is with his friends. He is no longer crying. He doesn't feel it, but he knows he is happy.

-His brothers voice.

-"Can you hear me? I don't know if you can hear me."

-A beat, a pause.

-"... I'm sorry."

-Fredbear his Friendbear speaks:

-"You're broken."

-Foxy fades away.

-"We are still your friends."

-Chica fades away.

-"Do you still believe that?"

-Bonnie fades away.

-"I'm still here."

-Freddy fades away.

-"I will put you back together."

-Fredbear fades away.

-Crying, but not sad, the boy fades away.