"Bonnie… Bonnie… Bonnie's in the Dining Room. Chica… Restrooms. Freddy's onstage. Check Pirate Cove." I flicked through the monitors with lightning speed. If people watched me do this job without hearing the context, they'd think me crazy and some may say that it was as if my life depended on it. It did.
I had four killer animatronics after me, trying to stuff me into a suit that would kill me iron-maiden style. "Bonnie's in the West Hall. Chica's moved." I flicked to the broken kitchen camera and listened. "She's in the Kitchen. Freddy hasn't moved. Check Pirate Cove."
The job wasn't supposed to be this hard when I first took it. Be a night guard at a local pizzeria where kids' dreams come true! Yeah, yeah, bullshit. I mean, yes, it might be nice during the day, despite the place's reputation, but I was here at night. With killer robots. Thank god this was my third night. Halfway there. But the night was still young.
I flicked back through the monitors in my usual pattern. First, I looked for Bonnie, a purple rabbit who was my most frequent visitor. Then Chica, a yellow chick, who came less often, but stuck around longer. Then, I checked for Freddy, who so far hadn't moved my entire week. Then I checked Pirate's Cove, where some other animatronic was. I don't know what. He ran so fast, his place was out of order, and I could only spare a passing glance as I rapidly flipped through the cameras. "…Check Pirate's Cove." The animatronic was now peeking out of the curtain. "Shit," I muttered. Then I flicked on the hall lights. Bonnie was at my door. I slammed the door button, shutting the door and keeping him out. Chica was still only in the East Hall.
So far, the night had gone without a hitch. Then I heard some kind of strange, deep laugh. I checked the halls for Bonnie and Chica. Both were gone, so I opened the left door and flipped through the monitors. "Bonnie's backstage. Chica's still in the East Hall. Freddy… Where's Freddy?!" I started running through the monitors faster, panicking. Finally, I found him in the Dining Room. He was hiding in the dark, only small pinpricks of his eyes showing. "Check Pirate Cove." I muttered.
It was empty. "Dammit, dammit, dammit!" I heard fast footsteps running toward me. I flung myself at the door switch. I smacked the door closed. Just after the animatronic got in. SCREEEE! I collapsed to my knees, almost fainting as it screamed at me. A cold, metallic hand grabbed my shirtfront, pulling me up so my feet couldn't reach the floor. And then… nothing. It was so quiet I could hear my heart pounding in my ears.
Finally, I gathered the courage to look up at my attacker. It was a fox. That's what the animatronic was. Some kind of pirate-themed fox. It was red, with a black eye patch over one of its yellow eyes. Its jaw hung loosely, broken, with sharp teeth. As I evaluated it, it evaluated me.
It spoke. "A lass?"
The fox set me down without another word, opened the door, and left. My heart still pounded wildly, and I could barely breathe.
"I'm… I'm alive…" I gasped. How was that possible? The fox had grabbed me. I was supposed to be in the storage room backstage now, getting my guts squeezed out. Not sitting in the corner of my office, alone.
Some chimes started going off. What? Already? It'd been three when I was charged. I'd been sitting here like a sitting duck for three hours, and nothing had come for me. I went to my laptop, turned off the alarm. It was definitely six.
I left the office and went through the dining hall to the front door. The main animatronics were just standing on their stage, frozen, as if nothing had happened. The curtains of the Pirate Cove were closed, no doubt its occupant inside there somewhere. I kept moving. But as I left the building, I swore the curtains rustled slightly, and it felt like someone was watching me.