This is a birthday gift to my friend YumiBarahime. I had been thinking all day as to what to get her and this came to mind. Happy birthday, Yumi!
Quick thing - when I make mention of a character called Jackson in here, know that he's Phone Guy (in case you don't pick it up on the whole 'he goes missing' part).
Everything belongs to their respectful owners!
[xXx]
It was finally time, Desdemonia Kontigrou-Delaraeux thought to herself. The big auction. It was big news, she thought, simply because of what exactly was being sold; the items salvaged from the now burned down ruins of Fazbear's Fright: The Horror Attraction. Some original figurines of the Freddy Fazbear crew, some old parts, some masks, and the like. Nobody knew exactly what caused the fire that burned down the attraction before it even had the chance to open, but there were many a rumor about it. Some people argued that maybe it was the security guard who was working the night shift, that the attraction was freaking him out quite the bit. After all, who wants to be in a place where the stories of murdered children and killer animatronics originated? Of course, others thought simply that it was faulty wiring. After all, the location was rather old and, well... decrepit. It wouldn't be that big of a surprise if it that and that only. The rest thought that someone just didn't want it to open and burned it down promptly before the grand opening.
Not that it really mattered to Desdemonia. She had been to the original Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria when she was a small child, back in 1993, just before it closed down forever. She had only been six years old at the time that she first went. Oh, the memories of the place were forever imprinted in her mind, even now as she was thirty-six years old... Foxy the Pirate Fox was the first of the Freddy Fazbear's crew that she remembered meeting. Granted, he had been out of order the whole time the final location had been preparing for its final days, he had caught her attention. How? She remembered having seen him move some over in Pirate's Cove.
"Mommy, if the pirate fox is out of order, why is he still moving?" Desdemonia had asked, her shining golden eyes bright with wonder. At that age, her hair was nothing more than a black mop of adorable, thin ringlets and curls that tumbled their way down to middle of her back.
"Well... Sweety..." her mother had started, her own golden eyes shifting some from side to side. She, personally, had no idea as to why the animatronic was still moving, but thankfully, a guard had heard them and walked over, offering a kind smile.
"Sometimes, Foxy tends to move," smiled Jackson, a guard at Freddy Fazbear's. He usually worked night shift, but he had offered to stay up a bit longer to do a quick party since another guard called in sick. They had been short handed, it seemed, not only with the day shift guards, but with the night shift as well. That day had been the one and only time the little girl had seen him before he was declared missing a little over three months later.
The man knelt down in front of her, his brown eyes kind and gentle. "See, little...?"
"Desi," the girl chirped, smiling innocently.
Jackson chuckled. "See, little Desi, Foxy runs on something called energy. Even though he's out of order, he needs to move to burn off what energy he has in his system or else he locks up and freezes forever."
Desdemonia gasped, her eyes going wide. She started to move from side to side in a very antsy way.
"What's wrong, sweety?" frowned her mother, watching the girl. "Do you have to go to the potty?"
The little girl shook her head. "I'm burning off energy so that I don't lock up and freeze forever," she said innocently. Both adults laughed, savoring the sweet innocence that the girl had.
Jackson beamed at the little girl before pulling something out of his back pocket. "Desi, you seem like a really good little girl with an amazing mother," he informed her. He handed her a folded up piece of cardstock. When she opened it, she gasped. It was a picture of Foxy playing with little children in Pirate's Cove before he had gone out of order.
"Y-you're giving me this?" Desdemonia asked him, hesitating some.
The man nodded. "This place isn't going to last forever, kiddo, and neither am I," he said softly. "One day, I'll have too much energy in me, and I'll lock up."
Desdemonia teared up. "And freeze forever...?" she asked innocently.
Jackson looked a little grim and sad at the sight. He placed a tender hand on top of her head. "Hey, now, don't cry. You'll make Foxy sad if he sees you crying," he told her softly. As if the animatronic heard that, there was a small noise of a robotic neck moving. When the older man looked, he was a little stunned to see Foxy looking at the little girl.
"No!" whined the girl, wiping her eyes quickly. "I'm not crying, Foxy! I promise!"
Foxy seemed to watch a moment more before returning his head back to its stationary place, his chin tucked against his chest.
Even now, Desdemonia kept the old picture in her pocket, pulling it out every now and again whenever she needed something to calm her down. Looking at it always brought that memory back to her, and she simply hated feeling down and out when she looked at it. She would always whisper, "I'm not crying, Foxy... I promise..." Why such an old photo that didn't even belong to her in the beginning mattered so much to her, she really had no idea. Maybe it was because of the fact that it was a token of her first time there at the restaurant... Maybe it was because it had been given to her so freely and kindly...
Well, whatever the reason, the woman had kept it, treasured it even. It was her personal good luck charm.
Especially on the day of the auction.
Dressed in a red sweater and black khakis and black, two inch heels, Desdemonia took a seat at the very front of the room where the auction would take place. She wanted nothing more than to at least take home one item that day.
Her golden eyes, now lined with a bit of crow's feet due to her growing age, were anxious as the room started to slowly fill up around her. Once the room was filled up, the bidding began. Many things went up for auction - some small figurines (Desdemonia managed to outbid everyone on the Foxy one, much to her pleasure), a nonfunctioning arcade machine, some of the old masks, an old 'Spring Trap' animatronic (with as bad as it looked and smelled, the woman was honestly surprised that someone bought it), and so on.
With at least one item of each of the Fazbear crew (both old and new), the woman felt rather satisfied. It would be through her and the others that bought things at the auction that day that the legend of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria would continue on. When she got home to her children and husband, she couldn't help but feel just a touch of sadness. Her husband had been only a year younger than her, but he had never been to the original Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, and her children never even had the chance.
"How was the auction?" her husband, Jacob Delaraeux, asked, walking up to her and wrapping his arms around her.
Desdemonia offer him a small smile before stealing a small kiss from his lips. "It was alright. I managed to get a few things..." she said softly, looking up into those alluring brown eyes of his.
"Need help carrying them in?" he asked her, giving her a delicate smile.
"I've got it. Just keep the kids distracted, will you?"
"The television is already doing that for me."
They both laughed. The woman went back to her car, retrieving the box of items that she bought at the auction. Once she was back inside of the house, she sat the box on the table. Before she called for her children, she pulled out the old picture from her pocket, unfolding it delicately. It was worn out and yellowed some with age, the places where it had been folded nothing more than white lines now. She lightly touched the forever frozen picture of Foxy the Pirate Fox as he played with the children. "I promise to tell them all about you, Foxy," she said softly before folding it back up and putting it back in her pocket. If there was one thing that she had learned, it was that things that had once brought happiness to many should never be forgotten.
Calling for her children, Desdemonia felt more ready than ever to tell her children all about the place that had been meant for family and fun and cheers and joy. A smile adorned her lips as she saw her four children run up to her in the kitchen, looking way more excited than they needed to be. "Jacob," she scolded teasingly. "Did you tell them about their surprise~?"
Jacob laughed, shaking his head. "No, you know that I didn't," he informed her, walking over to her and kissing her cheek.
"Ew, mommy and daddy are being icky!" whined their youngest child, little Alexandria, her adorable button nose scrunching up in distaste. Small since birth, little Alexandria was the only girl that the two had had. With her mother's pitch black hair and her father's brown eyes (though some days, they swore that they were red), the girl was only three years old.
"We should go back and watch more TV," stated the oldest at seven years old, Michael. He had dark brown hair and his mother's golden eyes.
"But mommy has a surprise for us," frowned the second youngest at five years old, Ciel, cute little dimples forming along his cheeks. His eyes were hazel and his hair was a deep red.
"Yeah! What is the surprise, mommy?" grinned the second oldest at six years old, Mark. His eyes, like Ciel's, were hazel, but his hair was a pale blond (something that neither parent could really explain until they remembered Desdemonia's mother had blond hair and Jacob's father did as well. Recessive genes, what can you do?
Desdemonia laughed softly, smiling at her four children. "Weeeeell..." she drawled out, turning to the box. "For little Alexandria... I have... These~." She turned back to her daughter and handed her two things - the mask of Chica the Chicken and her legendary cupcake.
"Can I eat the cupcake?" the girl asked innocently as she took both items.
Jacob laughed before his wife could respond. "It's plastic sweety. it's not a good idea," he told her kindly.
"Ooh," Alexandria breathed. She held both items close to her chest.
Desdemonia stood and turned back to the box. "For Ciel, I managed to get the mask of Balloon Boy from the second location," she said softly, turning around with the mask and handing it to little Ciel.
"Why does Alex get two things and I only get one?" whined Ciel as he took the mask.
"Because I'm going to take you out to eat somewhere special to make up for it," smiled the woman.
"Really?" grinned Ciel, his eyes wide.
"Really," smiled his mother.
The little boy cheered happily.
"For Mark, your mother got... a rabbit head and fake guitar?" frowned Jacob, pulling the items out.
Desdemonia took them delicately. "Bonnie's mask and the instrument he played," she corrected softly, handing the items to Mark. He sat the guitar down and put on the mask, blinking before quickly removing it. "It smeeeeells," he whined.
"We'll wash it," his mother promised before turning back to the box. She then pulled out a microphone and a bear mask. "For Michael, here is Freddy's mask and his very own microphone."
Taking the items, Michael did what Mark had done - put on the mask. He took it off quickly, wrinkling his nose in disgust. "Really stinky," he nodded to Mark.
Laughing softly, the woman told the kids to go put the masks on top of the washer and take everything else back to their rooms. Once the kids were out of the room, her husband pulled her close and kissed her sweetly on the lips. She reached up, tangling her fingers in his red hair for a moment before pulling away. "I almost forget..." she whispered softly. She turned to the box and pulled out the mask of Foxy and his little figurine. "A pirate fox for my foxy pirate~."
Jacob laughed, taking the items. "I'll take his mask to join his friends for now," he smiled. He kissed her cheek. "Promise to tell the stories of the restaurant at dinner?"
"Just some memories," Desdemonia informed him softly. "I'll tell them the rumors when they're older..." As her husband nodded and left to go have Foxy's mask join the others on top of the washer, the woman took a moment to go look out the window. She saw her reflection some, seeing her golden eyes staring back at her as she focused on it. Her now thick, long, curly black hair was getting a few gray streaks in it, and the corners of her eyes were marked with crow's feet... But other than that, she stood looked rather young.
"This place isn't going to last forever, kiddo, and neither am I," the day guard had said softly. "One day, I'll have too much energy in me, and I'll lock up."
"Like him, I'll lock up and freeze forever one day..." she whispered. Taking out the old photo one more time, she relaxed. "But not today... No, today, I'm going to enjoy my life... And I'm going to enjoy whatever I have left of it..." Folding it once more, she went upstairs to Ciel's room, knocking lightly on the door before she entered. "Sweety?"
"Yes, mommy?" Ciel asked as he looked up from his spot on the floor. He had been playing with some of his toys... Something that made his mother smile.
"I forgot that I did get you something else..." Desdemonia said softly. She handed him the folded up photo. She was happy that her son was delicate with it as he opened it and looked at it with awe. "An old guard gave it to me when I went to Freddy Fazbear's as a child," she told him softly. "And now I'm giving it to you."
Ciel beamed and got up, hugging his mother around her knees. "Thank you, mommy," he told her softly against her leg. Desdemonia picked him up and held him close.
"Promise mommy that when you get to be my age, you'll give that to one of your children," she said softly. "Foxy will be sad if he's all forgotten..."
"I promise, mommy," Ciel smiled. He kissed her on the cheek before she sat him back down on his feet. He then seemed to remember something. "Can we still go eat at that special place?"
The woman laughed, kneeling. "Of course, sweety," she told him. "All of us can go. As a family."
[xXx]
Read and review, please!
~Alexandria