A/N: Hey guys! Five Night's At Freddy's is a franchise that has seen both great heights and extreme lows, but something that I've always loved about the games is the rich story that's behind them all. And today, I bring you a slightly different take on the classic story of the first game. It doesn't have to do with the events of the game, per se, but it's definitely based around it.
DISCLAIMER: This is a non profit fanfiction. Five Night's At Freddy's is owned by Scott Cawthon. Please support the official release.
"Ok class, remember, the talent show is coming up in 2 days, so make sure all of those who are going to participate have their acts ready – you'll have to be at the top of your game to snag first place! Any questions? Yes, what is it, Roxas?"
"What's the prize money for first place?"
The entire class suddenly leaned forward, suddenly interested. Mrs. Parker looked at them and sighed. "Is that really the important thing here, Roxas? The point of the talent show is to exhibit the wonderful diversity that the students of this school have in them, and to show all of us that we're not alone – frankly speaking, it shouldn't matter how much money the winner gets." Roxas leaned back in his chair and scoffed. He leaned towards Angelo and said under his breath, "That new bong I had my eye on the other day tells me a different story." Angelo sniggered and nodded. In front of them, Dawn sighed. "Won't those guys just give it a break, already? I mean, don't they get high enough every day?" Zaden shrugged and replied, "Well, the thing about weed is that you're never satisfied – you always want more and more of it."
"Have you done it before?"
"Once. Took three hits; didn't feel a thing. You can imagine how disappointed everyone in the room was." Dawn laughed and said, "Of course – imagine that. Mr. Goody Two Shoes taking bong shots? Wow – I would have loved to see that." Zaden smiled and asked, "Have you?" Dawn shook her head. "No – I try to stay as far away from drugs as much as possible. Drinking on the other hand…."
"Trust me, you don't need to go into that – I've seen enough to last a lifetime."
"Dawn and Zaden, if you have anything useful to contribute to the discussion, feel free to share with the entire class."
There were loads of sniggers coming from every direction of the class as both Zaden and Dawn stiffened and looked at the floor, slightly red from embarrassment. A voice from the back of the room faintly said, "Get a room, you two." Dawn's eyebrows narrowed at this and she had a half mind to retaliate using a few choice swear words, but she remembered where she was and forced herself to keep her mouth shut. Mrs. Parker sighed and said, "Anyway, as I was saying, the prize money should be irrelevant. The whole point of this talent show is for all of us to come together in this time of need and remind each other that we're all here for each other." Zaden sighed and stared absentmindedly out the window, pondering what his teacher hoped to achieve by saying stuff like that.
It had been 3 weeks since the incident at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, an incident that no one really liked to talk about. Five children had been brutally murdered and stuffed inside the animatronic suits of the mascots of the pizzeria. Zaden knew that the pizzeria had always been a shady place, but he never suspected it would be the site of such a horrifying event. He had been there twice or thrice, and it always looked run down and cheaply made, almost as if the person behind it decided to continue on with a bad business plan because he had no viable backup options. The walls were stained with cheese and pepperoni, and the white paint had started to fade, giving the entire place an almost empty look. The floor creaked and the tables seemed ready to collapse every time someone lay a finger on them. And to top it off, the animatronic characters themselves, despite being designed to be kid friendly and inviting, looked downright terrifying. Freddy always looked like he was going to take a bite out of your head, his unusually large hands making all sorts of weird gestures all the time, Chica just creeped you out by staring at you with her head tilted to the right, her bright purple eyes boring into your soul, and whenever Bonnie lifted his guitar, you felt a desire to run away, because you felt like he was going to use it to smash you into the ground. It didn't help that Foxy was kept in the backroom, permanently out of order due to a malfunction that resulted in a little girl's frontal lobe being bitten off completely. Quite frankly, it was a wonder that the restaurant had even re-opened after that, but somehow it managed to survive, if only just. However, after the child's bodies were discovered, it was only a matter of time before the restaurant shut down for good.
When he and Dawn had talked of the incident in the weeks after it happened, Zaden always attributed the deaths to carelessness of the parents in both leaving the children to their own device and going to the damn pizzeria in the first place. "It's so fucking shady – I don't know why any kid would want to go there to eat pizza, or why any parent would want to take their kid there even after seeing how shitty it is.", he said to Dawn after she asked why he was so apathetic to the deaths. He and Dawn didn't talk about it after that, but he always suspected that his girlfriend was a little freaked out by how he looked at the situation.
RINGGGG!
Zaden slowly stood up as the students all rushed to the door, wanting to get out of class as soon as possible. He calmly packed his bag, making sure he didn't leave anything behind, before approaching Dawn's table. By this time, she had finished packing as well, so the pair walked towards the door in silence. Since they both lived within walking distance of the school, they usually went home together.
"So what are you going to do for the talent show?"
Zaden shrugged in reply. "I don't know, really. I mean, I guess I'm half decent as singing, but it's always been something I'm personally interested in rather than something I do because I'm good at it." Dawn playfully punched his shoulder and said, "You should sing an original song – I'm sure people will love it." Zaden looked at her as if she had gone completely insane. "Are you kidding? I've never written a song before – it takes loads of hard work to do that! And I don't want to give some kind of half assed performance…..so that's pretty much out of the question."
The pair had been walking home for a while now, and as was the custom, the walk took them past Freddy Fazbear's. Today, as they approached the dilapadated building, Zaden paused and stared at the entrance. Dawn stopped in front of him, puzzled. Zaden said slowly,
"Five kids died that day, right?" Dawn nodded, her expression grim. Zaden continued, "What happened to the killer?" Dawn sighed. "The killer was caught soon after the act itself. It was like he wasn't even trying to prevent himself from getting caught. The trial is set to happen in a couple of days. I hope the bastard gets executed on the spot." Zaden raised his eyebrows, surprised at the venom in Dawn's voice. He said, "That's unlike you – doesn't everyone deserve a chance?" Dawn shook her head and stared at Zaden resolutely.
"Not people like him – they deserve to burn for what they did." Zaden thought about saying something, but figured it was better to remain silent. Dawn shook her head in sadness and continued on. Zaden caught up to her and held her hand tightly. She looked down before smiling and moving closer to him. The pair continued home in silence, the wind blowing gently against their faces.