And here we are at Chapter 2. Just want to mention that this story has no connection to 'Night Terrors'. Sorry if the pacing is a little slow, but you got to build up a story before you get to the good stuff.

As the restaurant closed its doors for another evening, Mike strolled in on time. His uniform consisted of a dark blue short sleeved shirt with the word "Security" stenciled on the back. On his pants he had a belt containing a many clips for anything he would gain later. He also wore a hat with the same "Security" title on it. As he came in, he saw very few people inside as the lonely janitor cleaned up the mess on the floor and Peters sat at a table waiting for him.

"Ah, Mike. I'm glad to see you arrived on time. Is your uniform comfortable?" he asked, smiling as Mike entered.

"Yes sir. Just a little stiff, but I'll break it in soon."

"Ah, but of course. Now, let me show you your work station," the manager said as he guided Mike down on of the hallways. As they came up to the curtain with the starry sky pattern, Mike paused at it. Wondering about what could be inside.

"What is this place here, Mr. Peters?" he asked. Peters sighed as he looked at the curtain, and Mike noticed the man's attitude had changed. His face was ashen and looked like that of a man who had witnessed something awful.

"That was Pirates Cove. Another attraction built by the original owner, Fredrick Fazbach. It shut down a long time ago, and hasn't been opened since. We thought about making it into a storage room, but the money to remodel it just isn't available. So, we keep it closed to the public," he said in a low quiet voice. "But not to worry. Nothing in there you need to worry about. Just spare tables and chairs and other junk," he said brightly, before giving Mike a nudge to continue following him.

Mike followed, still curious. Maybe after Peters left, he'd take a peek behind that magician's curtain. Peters lead Mike down the same hall to an open door revealing a small office of sorts.

Two doors lead into the room, to both of the hallways. A desk sat at the front of the room, covered with papers and other junk. Obviously the last guard didn't bother clean up before he left. Also on the desk was a black tablet with a white power cord running into it, a red light glowing from the power button to indicate a charge. The wall the desk was against had posters and drawings of the animatronic characters from children diners. The walls with the doors had two large windows on either side of the room providing a view of the two hallways on either side. A small rolling chair sat at the back of the room against the wall. As Mike walked inside, he noticed two large buttons. One marked 'Door', and the other 'Light' next to the two doors.

"Well, here you are. Your home away from home for the night," Peters said as he picked up the tablet. "This tablet is tied to all the cameras so you can access any of them at the touch of a screen. But try to resist using the camera too much. We are trying to conserve power at night, and the cameras use energy pretty quick. There will be an icon on the tablet screen showing your usage of the batteries before the power dies, and the food in the fridge spoils."

"What are these for?" Mike asked, pointing to the buttons next to the left door.

"Oh, those are for the light right outside the door. As I mentioned before, we are conserving power at night so almost all the lights in the restaurant will be turned off. Others will be severely dimmed down," Peters explained as he slowly worked his way into the small office.

"The door button closes the safety door," he said as he pushed the button, and in an instant a large heavy metal door came down with pneumatic thud. Mike flinched as he made sure his feet were nowhere near the safety striped edge.

Peters continued, "In case of break-ins and you need a safe retreat from them should trouble occur. You can call the police from the phone on the desk. They are not far away so no need to worry about waiting for them long." He then pushed the button and the door rose back up into the ceiling. Mike found it odd that he should retreat into his office if anyone did break in. It was his job to protect this place, not cower in a closet and wait for help.

Peters continued, not noticing Mike's expression. "But don't use it unless you absolutely need too. The doors and lights use the electricity like the cameras. If you should run out of power, a failsafe built into the doors programming will cause them to open. So you shouldn't be trapped inside. Any questions?"

Mike thought for a moment before saying, "One, sir; if I can't make it back here before being caught by a robber, how would I protect myself?"

Peters nodded thoughtfully. "I figured you would ask about that. I shall hand you some personal protection when I hand you the keys to the doors. In fact, let's return to the dining room so I may hand the reigns to you for the night." And with that, they exited through the door opposite the one they entered.

Back in the dining room, Peters handed Mike the ring of keys, a large metal flashlight, and finally for protection, a stun gun. Mike shrugged as he figured non-lethal force was the better alternative if someone did break in after hours.

"I believe that is everything. If you need some coffee, there is a coffee maker in the break room at the rear of the kitchen. Any last questions? Queries?" Peters asked brightly.

"I don't believe so, sir," Mike replied as he dropped his flashlight into his belt.

"Wonderful! Have a good night, Mike." And with that, Peters walked briskly out the doors and to his car in the parking lot.

Mike looked around to see if anyone else was around. The janitor seemed to have left while Peters gave him the tour of his office. It seemed quiet enough so Mike walked up to the entrance and locked the doors for the night. He checked his watch, noting that twenty minutes had passed since entering the restaurant. That meant he had time to spare before his shift began. Time enough to make sure all was in order, to plan for his shift, and to explore the premises.

He first walked up to the band on the stage. The three animatronics slouched down like a group of tired old men. As he looked at them all he found a few plates at their feet, telling who they were. The bear was Freddy, obviously. The rabbit was named Bonnie. And the… duck or chicken, Mike wasn't really sure, was named Chica. Probably a chicken, with a name like that. Mike settled on chicken.

He then moved over to Pirates Cove. He pulled back the curtain to look into the dark void beyond. Grabbing his flashlight, he disappeared into the darkness. As he shinned his light around he saw that the tiled floor was now wood planked, looking like a ship's deck. The beam of his flashlight found large support beams that became masts with tattered cloth sails. The walls were painted with a seascape, with rolling waves and seagulls suspended above it. There was a lot of dust in the room too, along with broken benches and tables that had ripped seat cushions or bent legs. As he turned the light around it suddenly landed on another animatronic sitting on a large pirate chest.

The animatronic looked like a red fox in traditional pirate garb; eye patch over one eye, tattered brown pants, and a hook on his right hand. It was different from the others in that it seemed to have a cloth upper torso, instead of sectioned parts like the others. This animatronic both interested and frightened Mike. The hook looked real, like it had been taken from a butcher shop and welded on the robot's arm. The jaw was full of what looked like sharp metal fangs. The jaw hung loosely, making the animatronic looked shocked as Mike's flashlight beam explored it. This animatronic looked like it had been abandoned and abused for years. Parts of the robot's cloth skin around its chest were ripped open, exposing his metal skeleton beneath it. His paws were bare metal, as was his left lower arm. Mike felt both sorry and afraid of this robot. He turned and scampered back into the light of the main dining room.

Mike decided that exploring time was done. Now to make sure all the ways into this place were closed. Front door, check. Kitchen, check. Hallway exit, check. Arcade exit, check. The last key was labeled, 'Backstage'. Mike had never noticed that there was a backstage to this place. As he walked back to the emergency door, he looked up at what the backstage was. Shelves of boxes labeled as parts were everywhere. And toward the back the shelves contained lots of spare animatronic costumes. They were laid out like corpses in a morgue, or a mausoleum. Mike didn't want to admit it to himself when he swore he felt a genuine chill run down his spine. He soon found the door and made sure the door with the crash bar was locked firmly, and retreated back once again to the light. The poor lighting made this place feel like a real morgue.

XXX

Mike had a seat down in his new office chair and placed his cup of hot coffee on the desk. He checked his watch and saw that it would almost be time for his shift to begin. He took the tablet and flicked it on. The usage bar on the bottom left of the screen showed the infinity symbol. Meaning that power was not being limited yet.

As he turned to the main dining room, the lights suddenly dimmed and almost went entirely out. But the screen brightened as what Mike figured were LED lights came on making the screen bright again. The infinity symbol then turned to show 0% Used. He closed the tablet so he wouldn't waste any more power tonight. His shift had now fully begun.