I have made this story in a format so as the nights progress, the story gets more and more intense. Please do not judge this story solely on the first chapter, but of course, no consequences if you do. :) Reviews are always welcome.

-- Night One.
Night Guard: Jaxon
12:00 AM

The red head sighed, glancing at the slip of paper one more time.

"Who would want to steal some arcade games anyway?" He collapsed in the dusty chair and stared blankly at the computer screen.

He whistled to himself, glancing around the room, looking at the various posters and news clippings.

Ding!

He jumped slightly as the computer blinked on, showing a lay out of the building. He moused over the rooms, and realised that the computer showed security camera footage.

The scene that was on by default was a storage like cupboard, where in the dim light sat several animatronics. He stared at them for a moment, before shrugging and moving on.

He scanned through all the rooms, and frowned when he saw a black screen staring back at him. He stayed on that dark screen for several minutes, before finally concluding that the camera was faulty.

He glanced at his watch and arched his eyebrows when he saw that he had spent a whole two hours looking at the rooms. It was 2:00 AM. Suddenly the telephone rang...

"WHAT THE $& #%#£€$& DO YOU MEAN THEY WON'T RECOGNISE ME AS A PERSON?!" The scream rebounded through the empty halls, ricocheting through the rooms before finally landing on rusty ears.

Yellow eyelids snapped open, squinting as they adjusted to the darkness of the room. Purple pupils narrowed and a dusty beak grinned as the metal skin keeping her alive booted up once more.

She stiffly lifted her head and took a shaky step forward, ignoring the twitching of her feet.

Fresh meat had arrived.

"Okay... Okay..." Jaxon tried to steady his breathing. "They probably won't even come near me... They'll just have a nice long relaxing..." He trailed off as he stared in terror at the screen.

"Wasn't there three?" He gaped at the two animatronics in the room and the very prominent space in between them where the other robot had been.

The purple rabbit animatronic snapped its head around and stared unblinkingly at the camera, smiling dementedly.

Jaxon screamed, throwing himself backwards and tipping over the chair he was sitting on. He scrambled to the left of the room and attacked the big red button, not even pausing to watch the iron door slam shut. He half sprinted half staggered to the other side of the room and finally smashed the other button, sliding to the ground at the same time as the door.

He whimpered pathetically before curling up in a ball and burying his head in his knees.

The rabbit breathed in, relishing the musty air that finally filled its broken lungs again. It grinned, giggling maniacally as it staggered out of the room, not caring where it went.

It didn't blink when it ran into cobwebs, didn't falter when it came to a closed door; simply plowed through it, and didn't react in the slightest to walking into several chairs.

The only thing that mattered was getting out of the storeroom... And finding the living one.

Jaxon shakily got to his feet, not even trying to stop his hands from shaking. He turned slowly to the buttons and gently tapped the one labelled 'LIGHTS.'

As the lamp blinked on, he craned his neck, peering into the darkness of the corridor. Nothing unusual greeted him, so against his gut screaming at him to go hide under the table, he pressed the 'DOOR' button and watched his steel protection slide away.

He proceeded to the other side of the room and repeated the process, cautiously looking out into the hallway, ready to jump back at any moment - but once more, nothing greeted him and he let his last line of defence slip away into the shadows.

He then trudged to the computer, already dreading looking at the blinking number he knew would be there. Perhaps he wouldn't have moved from his corner at all if he hadn't remembered the last piece of advice the phone guy gave him.

20% stared back.

Watch the power.

'Bonny' - as the kids had nicknamed her (what a stupid name... She preferred her first, Natalie was much better) stumbled into another cleaning cabinet and let a hiss of despair escape from her aching lips. (Now that she thought about it, everything ached. It was hard just moving a couple of steps without something failing, whether it be her leg or one of her lungs.)

Try as she might, she couldn't find the living one in her wreck of a body and felt her power wane every passing second.

CLANG.

The robot cocked her head, listening intently to the noise of a door. A memory stirred inside her, reminding her of the last living one, who used the same substance as her coating to protect himself.

Her eyes lit up and she laughed, allowing her body to shiver and twitch as she briefly relinquished control.

Turning away from the brooms, she followed the noise.

Jaxon stood up, his arms shaking. Both the rabbit and the duck had started walking to where he was. He had almost no hope now, the only positive in the situation was that the third animatronic hadn't moved.

10% at five o'clock. He let out a small squeek, realising how terrified he was. He walked over to the left door and pressed the 'DOOR' button, and walked over to the right door and did the same. He then sat down on the swivel chair and waited for his doom.

He closed his eyes, expecting any moment now to hear a banging on the door, a screeching of metal being torn apart, and then the silence of death.

He drew his knees up to his chest and waited. And waited... And waited. Nothing came. Slowly he poked his head upwards and stared at the screen. The duck was in the room to his right, head down, and with no sign of movement. He cautiously checked the room to his left and saw the rabbit in the same pose.

He stared incredulously at his watch, scarcely believing the numbers glowing back at him. 6:00.

He giggled slightly, then laughed, before breaking out into cheers, jumping up from the chair and dancing in delight. He had survived, and there was no doubt in his mind that he was never going to take up a job like that. That MacDonald's brochure suddenly looked appealing... First things first though, he had to get out and give the manager a piece of his mind.

"Why the hell haven't you told anyone!?" He shouted, slamming his hands on the desk.

The lady sighed, glancing ruefully at the coffee cup the boy had overturned in his frenzy.

"Do you have any idea what would happen if we told the government about this?"

"Innocent teenagers wouldn't almost die?" He scowled.

"They would order them destroyed. That of course would be a happy day for everyone involved, but it wouldn't work. People would get angry. Accuse them of feeling pain. Being 'real.' Then when they finally were released they wouldn't stop until every living thing on this Earth was dead."

"I..." Jaxon stammered. "That... That might not happen!"

"Are you sure?" The brunette leaned forward and stared at the red head.

"1892. Same situation as right now. Animatronics killed a night guard, it got looked into and they were sentenced to be destroyed. But the people got the facts wrong. Thought the things were innocent. Demanded them to be saved. Finally we had to take them back, just so they wouldn't kill any more people than necessary." She sighed and collapsed back in her chair. "We're stuck in a cycle of death, and all we can do is minimise the casualties."

"Well I'm not going back ever again. You'll just have to find someone else to save the world." Jaxon crossed his arms.

The lady sighed and closed her eyes. "I expected as much. Unfortunately, we don't have time to get any more flyers out. Is there anyone else you can call in?"

Jaxon gaped, astounded by her suggestion. "Your telling me I should willingly put my friends in danger, because you guys can't destroy a couple of animatronics that don't even work at day!?"

The lady ignored him and narrowed her eyes. "Son, this is a matter of national security."

"No way. There is no way in he-" he stopped. He looked to his left and realised that the body guard was almost certainly not for show. It didn't seem likely that the gun was either.

"Fine. But when they leave, you better freaking let them." He threatened one last time before picking up the phone.

He punched in a few digits, before reluctantly holding it to his ear.

"Zoe? I've got a favour to ask you." He stopped to roll his eyes. "No it's not burying a body, but it's not much better..."