Author's Note: Well. Here's a new story for you guys. I didn't have a lot of time so I just put a bit out there. If I get enough support from reviews I will make sure that chapters are at least 4k words. Make sure to leave a review if you want more.
Something was off. Mike couldn't put his finger on it. but something was definitely wrong. He had just walked into the pizzeria after his nightly dose of 3 hours of sleep. He had woken up feeling like he was being watched and the feeling had grown into a prickling of fear and unease in his stomach. He knew that there was nothing different about that particular day, but still, he knew something was up.
Groaning, he looked up at the stage and saw that the three animatronics were standing on the stage, still as always, but he could just imagine the black eyes of the robot murderers as they stared through the cameras at him. Mike shivered involuntarily and made his way back to the office, unaware of two eyes watching him from the shadows.
This was his last day of his 3rd week at Freddy Fazbears Pizza. He knew that if he stayed he would just have a higher chance of being killed and stuffed in a suit. He had never known why, but whenever he tried applying for other jobs, he would be denied on the grounds that he wasn't experienced enough. He had never understood what the problem was. You didn't go to college to study as a mechanical engineer just to get turned down at all of the jobs he applied for.
Grunting, he looked at the tablet, just as the device that had kept him alive for the past few weeks struck twelve. Immediately, the adrenaline surged through his body. After the first week, he had realized that the robots were still going easy on him by night six. He was actually a little bit grateful to the animatronics for making him think fast on his toes and his reaction times had definitely improved tenfold.
Another effect of working at the haunted pizzeria was that hours seemed to pass in minutes. The clock had already gone to one and none of the animatronics had moved. Frowning, Mike quickly checked the camera that monitored Pirate's Cove, only to find that the star curtains were untouched.
His frown increased when his shift ended without activity. He became increasingly worried when he noticed that not only had the animatronics not been moving, but he almost got the sense that the life had been drained out of them.
As he was pondering this, a short man came through the glass door of the pizzeria, making Mike whip around, pulling the baton that he had finally convinced the asshole of a manager to get him.
Hands up, the manager gave a small grin. "We wouldn't want to have to fire you, now would we Mike," he said, his tone iced with the smallest hint of loathing.
No sir." he breathed and immediately replaced the baton on his belt. "The weirdest thing happened tonight sir," Mike said nervously.
The manager looked up, clearly uninterested as he fiddled with the pizzeria's keys. "And what might that have been?" he said, his voice in a monotone as he couldn't manage to get the lock to open.
"Well... tonight none of the animatronics moved at all. And as far as I can tell, they weren't even turned on tonight." Mike said, trying to be the tiniest bit gentle with the man, so not to make the managers legendary temper explode. He could name a few employees that had gotten onto the man's bad side and were fired.
Immediately, the manager dropped the keys and swiveled to face Mike. "Did you just say..." he muttered, before dashing over to the animatronics and waving his hand in front of their faces.
"They should be turned on by now," he muttered pacing, clearly exasperated. Finally, he looked up. "If these animatronics don't move by the end of the day, we're going to have to shut down for the week, and if they don't move by the end of the week, they'll have to be scrapped, and we'll be out of business!" he yelled, throwing his hands up in the air as he spoke.
"But how am I going to get a repairman on such a short notice. Last time I tried to get one, the stupid bear nearly killed him. Got us a one-star review too." he said under his breath.
Mike, still standing there decided to go for broke. "Sir? I have a degree in mechanical engineering and if you wanted to, maybe I could fix the animatronics in turn for some money?" he asked hopefully, a little bit flustered.
The manager sighed. "I know son, it's just that the restaurant is so tight on money that we can't afford to pay you anymore. We could, however, offer you food if you come to fix these robots?" the manager asked hesitantly, reaching out his hand.
Mike though about how bad the situation at his apartment was for food, so giving it careful consideration decided that life couldn't get much worse for him. Sighing, he reached out and shook the manager's hand. "Deal."
He opened the door to his apartment and collapsed on his bed, feeling like he had caught the flu, or maybe something worse. He got up and went to look in his fridge. Nothing but a half drank soda and some moldy cheese. Sighing, he realized that he was really going to have to work if he wanted to eat.
Before he fell asleep, he thought about which one of the animatronics he was going to fix first. He didn't just want to make them operate. He wanted to make them like new again. Looking over to the table by the side of his bed, he gave a small sigh as he looked at the picture of a red-furred fox holding a small child with messy black hair and a huge grin on his face.