Spoiler Warning for Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes novel
Rating: T for graphic violence and gore. Trigger warnings for depressing content, murder, humiliation and mention of suicide.
Setting: Hurricane, Utah, 1985
Summary: This is a short fanfic based on the scene in the novel that described the aftermath of Henry's death, only in this story that incident didn't go down the way everyone thought it did.
Author's Note: Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes and all canon characters, settings, etc. are the property of Scott Cawthon and Kira Breed-Wrisley. This is a non-commercial fan tribute and was not written for profit.
You are free to use any original concepts, headcanons and characters from this fanfiction in your own work (fanfiction, art, etc.) if you'd like.
Views expressed in this fanfiction do not necessarily match the writer's.
Henry stood at the kitchen sink, washing out a coffee mug and gazing through the window at his beloved workshop for what he had accepted would be the final time. The previous evening he had emptied the little garage of its contents, his life's work, stowing them away elsewhere for safekeeping. Reluctantly, he forced himself to turn from the window and fumbled for a frayed kitchen towel, carefully wiping down the mug that had always been his favorite, with its simple reminder to "SMILE!" accompanied by the classic yellow, vapidly-grinning cartoon face. He paused before closing it behind the door of the wooden cabinet, wondering whether it would ever be used again by someone else or sit, forlorn, in its storage place forever. At any rate, this would be no day for smiles.
The fate of a chipped old coffee mug is the last thing I should be concerned with now, he inwardly scolded himself. He returned to the living room, fretting at the sight of the horrendous creation he had designed and built for the even more horrendous task that awaited him today. Its steel frame was slumped in its position near the coffee table, its head dipped low almost as if it was slumbering until it would be needed. Secretively building the animatronic in his garage over the past few weeks had been the exact opposite of the enjoyable work he had always been able to happily lose himself in, and the tedious labor had never failed to leave him agitated and weary, obsessively unable to put the project away in his mind even after his young daughter returned from school each afternoon.
The robotic creature, its consummate moment not far away, had deliberately been left devoid of the usual features that would identify it as a friendly and cheerful mascot animal, such as the long ears of a rambunctious rabbit or the dapper bow tie and top hat of a teddy bear come to life just for the privilege of entertaining the young. Cheery accouterments would have been jarringly out of place for an animatronic that would never see the inside of the children's pizzeria he had once run. However, even without these, Henry had never planned for it to resemble a human, either, and so it had simply remained a creation entirely of its own design; merely an undetermined being. Once activated, its sole mission would be nearly imminent and its existence ephemeral, as its artificial intelligence was already set to essentially self-destruct after the deed was done.
Henry, a mild-mannered individual who could barely find it in himself to scold his daughter when she was out of line, was about to do something truly terrible, but not doing it would be even more terrible. The time - no, his very obligation - had come to end everything. Not wanting to delay any further, he paced back to the kitchen and reached for the only telephone that had ever been installed in the rambling old house, turning the dial to reach the man who had been his long-time friend and partner in his defunct business.
"Hello. Hello?" he asked, resorting to his usual quirky habit that often struck others as a way of reassuring himself he had actually reached someone on the other end of the line and would be capable of carrying on the ensuing awkward conversation. "William, it's finally done, and you won't believe it when you can see what it can do."
He had reached the man at the phone number William had hastily scrawled out for him on a scrap of paper before he had left, or practically fled, town. Several months ago in the aftermath of the latest round of criminal tragedies that had struck their shared business, both men had finally agreed the enterprise they had fought so hard to make successful was by then far too tainted by grief and pain, perhaps even too cursed, to attempt to sustain any longer. As the police investigation into the incident stalled out for lack of evidence, the duo falling under suspicion at various times themselves, William had pulled up roots and quietly moved several towns away almost overnight, confiding in Henry that he was no longer able to live under the dual burden of constant scrutiny and guilt that he hadn't been able to prevent another disappearance of a child from the restaurant.
"Oh?" William's usual genial voice was larger than life, tinged with curiosity but, much to Henry's relief, not a hint of suspicion. Retreating into pained solitude after the event, Henry had only recently made good on his business partner's invitation to "keep in touch," skittishly admitting that maybe they could bring their enterprise back to life yet again, if only he could create a flawless fortress of security for their young visitors, as well as a new generation of animatronic so incredible and ahead of its time that it could draw in hesitant crowds and help ease the memories of the past.
"I've been hoping for the 'big reveal' for some time, to see this project you've undertaken to bring the old place back." William cleared his throat. "And no doubt it also helped you take your mind off...other things. I'm proud of you, Henry. Lesser men would have walked away from what they loved doing had they only suffered a fraction of the pain you've been through, but you've persevered. Lord knows you barely talked me into reconsidering it myself; but for all the sweat and tears we put into that place - both places - until this recent development, I'll admit I entertained the thought more than once of just taking a match to that last restaurant and calling it a day."
"C'mon, you know I don't take praise well," Henry said dismissively, mentally adding, especially false praise. "Your motel's what, forty-five minutes from here? That's admittedly a bit of a haul, but I swear it'll be well worth your time."
William stood in the center of his business partner's living room with his arms crossed over his broad chest, looking down with apparent doubtfulness at the animatronic Henry had invited him over to see for himself. Resembling for all the world a child eager to show off his new puppy or bicycle, Henry paced impatiently between the rather pitiful pieces of furniture populating the room, some of which looked worse for the wear than those one might see abandoned on the curb, awaiting the refuse truck. After the first pizzeria disappearance had claimed their own son, Henry's wife had only been able to bear the steady diet of grief for so long and had left, becoming estranged from her husband and surviving child. William had long ago noted on his occasional visits to the house that, despite having an artistic flair for the design of his restaurants, his partner apparently had been content to make do with what little he had left when it came to the furnishing of the home that he and young Charlotte had retreated to after the split.
"It...doesn't look like much," William remarked as innocuously as he could, and in response Henry dropped to his knees, one arm across the automaton's shoulder, the other gesticulating wildly as he expounded on its unseen value.
"It doesn't, but that's only because it's merely a prototype, not much more than an endoskeleton right now," Henry said in the usual humble yet enthusiastic voice he reserved for the times he presented a new innovation he had come up with for their restaurant. "We can plan a costume and a persona for this guy later, but just imagine being a child at your most favorite happy place of all time, and instead of being confined to the stage or even wandering around singing for you and your friends, the characters can actually play right alongside you!" From under a fringe of messy brown hair, he flashed the hesitant smile William had always found strangely endearing.
"Guys like him will be able to play right in the dining area and on the jungle gym with the kids, and they can even react if anyone gets hurt or someone's feeling left out," Henry continued, his dark eyes taking on a certain gleam as he rose to his feet, subtly inching between William and the only exit from the room. "Would you, uh, like to see what he can do?"
His partner's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. "I most certainly would, so don't keep me waiting, switch 'im on!" Obediently, Henry activated a switch at the back of his creation's shoulders, and its nearly-featureless face bobbed upward, its frame straightened to its full height and it swiveled, recognizing the two men in the room for the first time. The animatronic stepped forward on its legs toward William, moving for all the world like a shy child approaching an adult he was told to greet, and Henry followed just behind it until William had effectively been cornered.
"I lied," Henry suddenly snarled, instinctively dropping to a nearly feral fighting stance. The same man who appeared perpetually distracted to the rest of the world was now sharply focused. "No child will ever lay eyes on him and he'll never see the inside of the pizzeria, because that place is gone for good, thanks to you." His partner looked up in startlement, his face a false and unconvincing mask of innocence.
"You heard me, William Afton," Henry continued, sweat beading on his forehead as he spat out his partner-turned-nemesis's name with pure detest. "It took me forever until I saw what you really were, and even if the cops couldn't nail you for your crimes, I can. Or he will, and I'll take the manslaughter charges for 'carelessly' building something so dangerous. Life in prison seems like a fair trade-off if it ensures you'll never hurt another kid again!"
Henry's impassioned speech was cut off when the animatronic suddenly whirled, closed the gap between itself and its creator before he could so much as step backward, and clutched its spindly yet strong metallic arms around his shoulders, causing him to stumble to his knees, suspended in its clutches. His bewildered gaze darting to William, he was horrified to find a sneering expression of accomplishment on the man's face.
"Henry," William reprimanded as Henry struggled against his imprisoner, knowing full well what it was capable of and what he had built it to do. "You underestimated me. I'm insulted that you invited me here today, truly believing I had no idea what you thought you had in store for me. You really didn't think I'd had the time to learn how to program animatronics myself, that I couldn't find my way into your workshop to make some changes when your latest project sounded a little suspicious?" He leaned in closer, one finger caressing the animatronic's hollow right arm, which was slightly wider than the left and spring-loaded with a lethally sharp knife.
"And isn't this a strange embrace you've found yourself in, even if you always did have an odd fondness for your creations?" he teased, chuckling coldly and reaching out to tousle Henry's hair like he was an unruly child. "I guess it's been a good while since you've hugged anyone other than your own kid, what with your wife being long gone and all." He shook his head in mock sympathy. "Nothing sadder than a loving type like you with hardly anyone left to love, hmm?" William tugged on Henry's shirt collar, forcing his terrified, bloodshot gaze his way, and for a moment the trio stood suspended in motion, William relishing the sight of Henry's chest rising and falling with shallow breaths before he gave his icy command to the robot.
"Go for it." The animatronic did as it had been told, and then promptly released its captive, allowing William to catch his business partner in his arms as he slid from its grasp. Its misdirected purpose fulfilled, the creation deactivated, quietly deleting its own programming and falling silent forever.
No! Henry couldn't even cry out, but he had felt the knife as it slammed forward into his chest, piercing the cotton fabric of his favorite flannel shirt right through the pocket, its blade pushing between the plastic ballpoint pens he carried around more often than not. Helpless in the embrace of his true killer, he already knew he had been mortally wounded, his shirt feeling warm against his skin as it became soaked with his own escaping blood.
"William," he managed to gasp, feeling the searing pain in his chest as he struggled for each syllable. "You've got to...stop this." He stared pleadingly into the madman's eyes, silently begging him to put an end to his years of preying on all those around him, those who had never had any reason not to trust him.
William laughed cruelly, his words echoing strangely in the large living room. "Stop what, Henry? Don't you get it? When it came to Fazbear Entertainment, you were always the weird one, 'gifted but unique.' Nobody trusted you! Without knowing it, you set yourself up to take the fall when things started going awry." He continued, his voice tinged with an air of superiority.
"You do realize this is only going to put more suspicion on you, that everyone will believe you took your own life in a final act of insanity? That you couldn't handle the guilt of what you did any longer?" William shifted his grasp on his former business partner as he bled onto the unvarnished wooden floorboards, then abruptly released him, letting the man catch himself - barely - against the corner of the coffee table.
"I'm not a total monster," William announced, rising to his feet and swiping his hands together as if clearing himself of the entire matter. "I'd hate for that little girl of yours to come home from school and find you like this, so on my way out I'll dial emergency services and leave the phone off the hook. They'll find their way out here soon enough, though it'll be far too late to do anything."
"Charlotte...no," His fingers loosening their grip on the edge of the coffee table, Henry slumped to the floor, rolling with his face turned so that he could see under the sofa. Among the dust bunnies rested a single object out of place, and he recognized it as the cup and saucer that had once belonged to Ella, the animatronic doll he had lovingly built for his daughter. His final thoughts were on how Charlotte had cried out of guilt just weeks before when she'd lost the little plastic dishes, and he had reassured her they could be replaced if they didn't eventually turn up.
Henry shivered, his vision fading rapidly. He thought he heard William twisting the rotary dial of the telephone in the kitchen, but in his twilight state of failing consciousness he couldn't be sure.
His Charlotte. He had promised she'd never be alone again, but by failing to stop William he had left her in that very state.