I closed my eyes tightly, counting down the seconds before I'd be free.
3... 2... 1...
I opened them.
The clock said 6:00. Was I safe? My shaky legs pushed me up and brought me to the door, and I reached out to open it. As they revealed the hallway, I braced myself for an attack. None came. I saw an empty space in front of me, and I felt a large weight fall off my chest.
Thank god.
I was safe. For now. Nothing was around. I went back inside and fetched my hat of the ground, where it ended up during my brief period of paranoia. I sat it on my flat haired head and stepped out, hand on my baton as I exited my safe room. I then heard something stepping on the concrete to my left, and pulled my only weapon from my belt, raising it to swing the-
Short guy.
I managed to stop myself from smashing the guys head in, stopping just inches from his head,
"Oh! I'm sorry I startled you!" The stranger exclaimed, backing away from my hand.
"Ah- N-no! It's my fault!" I frantically apologized, put my weapon into the belt,
"Ha! I don't blame you! I'm betting your nerves are all in a bunch!"
I took a closer look at the guy I almost killed, and realized this wasn't some sort of random dude wandering around this place. He was wearing the same uniform I was, though it was a lot smaller. He was a rather skinny guy, and he looked as if he was still in high school. His red hair was falling into his face, covering the top half of his blue eyes, and at first glance, you'd probably have mistakened him as a short haired girl. His voice gave him away though, because it was pretty damn deep, even deeper than mine.
Once more, he seemed to know, based on his words, what I just went through, which made him a great source for information,
" You... You know?" I asked. The watch guard nodded, smiling a bit, "
Yes! New guy! You're Michael, aren't you? Pleasure to meet you! I'm Alexander, but please; call me Alex!" He stuck out his hand, intending to shake mine,
I nodded, "Yes... But I'm not talking about that." I ignored the others plea for polite greeting, crossing my arms as I glared down at him.
"Ah! Silly me! Of course you're not! You're talking about them, aren't you? The sweet little animatronics!" Alex let his hand fall back to his side, still grinning.
Sweet? I scoffed, "Sweet is hardly the word I'd use to describe those beasts. More like... Monstrosities."
At this the guard chuckled. It wasn't funny; it was terrifying; so why was he laughing?
"I guess they have their scary moments, but they aren't that scary looking! I mean, they do have their flaws... But the kids love them!"
Wait.
"you mean.. You don't know?" I whispered, almost too quiet to catch anyone's ears,
"know? Know what? That the night makes everything all the more scary? I bet it is! I mean, the dark gets a person hyped up! I'm guessing those robots probably have a creepy vibe going on during that time."
So he didn't know.
I sighed, "When you said my nerves were messed up, I thought..." I shook my head, "... Never mind. I should let you get ready for the day ahead."
Alex smiled, giving me an over-enthusiastic thumbs up, "Gotcha. It was nice meeting you, Michael. See you tonight!" And with that the oblivious guardsman hopped along to the office, leaving me confused as all hell. So no one else knew about what was going on? It seemed to be only me and the boss...
Why was I just standing there?
I turned around and left the hall, going through the dining hall rather cautiously. How was I supposed to know if they actually stopped moving? I knew they were on the stage without looking. It was as if I could feel their presence, now that I knew they weren't just metallic robotic animals. They were alive. Or haunted. Either way, it terrified me. It still does. I walked through the exit, feeling suddenly much better. God... I did not want to go back...
I heard the honk of a car and turned to see that old, beat up truck I knew and loved. Inside was my mom, who looked pleased to see me, "Ohh mike! How was work?" She asked, eyes shining.
I hesitated. How was I supposed to explain? Where would I start? As I contemplated this, I hopped inside, buckling myself in and tightening the belt as much as I could without hurting myself,
"... Mike?"
"Its fine mom... It went okay..." I sounded exhausted, but she just thought it was because I wasn't used to the hours and smiled, "Now when we get home, you're going to , eat and go to bed. Your boss called. said something about meeting you a bit earlier tonight before your shift starts. I hope you didn't mess up, dear."
Shit.
He called my mother? Seriously? What did he-
Ah. Of course. He called her so I'd be forced to go back. Well... I wasn't going to run away. As I said before, I knew he could hurt me and my family, and I really did not want him to hurt my mother. My father, sure, but you do not touch my mother. My dad wasn't around though, so unless he was specifically trying to locate him, dad would be okay...
Not that I cared.
Let's skip through a good chunk of the rest of the day. Went home, cleaned my body of its sweaty layer (I always sweat uncontrollably when I'm stressed), ate a sandwich, and passed out on the couch. I don't know how long I was sleeping, but apparently pretty long because my mom had to wake me up, and that never happened. I usually had a feel for when I had to get up. I got dressed in my clean uniform and headed out, waving farewell to mom as she drove off. I stood a few minutes in the parking lot, glancing at my wrist. I was smart and decided to bring the watch I bought myself a few months ago. It was 11:45 when he showed up. He was a very large man, both in height and width. He had a full head of black hair, but it was slicked back to make him look professional. His hair matched his suit, as well as his thick framed glasses.
Once more, he seemed to be holding something in his right hand.
Was that- a gun?

I backed away, all sorts of alarms going off in my head. I mean, shouldn't I be if there's a gun in a strangers hand?
The man smirked, the gun still aimed at me, "Nice to meet you, Mike. I'm Mr. Smith."
What a... boring ass name, I remember thinking, despite the problem I was facing. His eyes gestured over to the door, telling me to go inside. It wasn't as if I had much of a choice, so I grabbed my key and unlocked the door slowly, hands shaking as I did so. I slipped inside, feeling the cold metal of the gun pressing into my back, "Is this what you do with all of the night guards..?" I managed to squeak out. The door closed and I couldn't see anything,
"I have to get them to stay one way or another." Mr. Smith answered.
I stood there silently, waiting for something to happen, for him to kill me or just leave the place,
"I didn't come here just to threaten you. Here. Hold your hand out."
Even though I was very skeptical about this order, I did it anyway. I didn't want a bullet in my brain.
I felt a cold, rather heavy object press into my palm.
"it's a tazer. One of those rod types." He explained, "They're going to get increasingly active as the nights go on. You might not be able to survive just sitting in that room. There may be times when you need to take action. That will paralyze them for a short while. It'll overload the circuits."
So I finally had something useful. I was probably grinning, I was so relieved, but this 'happiness' was stripped from me when Mr. Smith continued,
"Now when I say short while, I mean very very short. You're going to have a hard time running from them if it comes to running, and if they get into the office, you are going to have to leave, but that place is the safest out of the whole building."
In short, I was still screwed,
"So... Are you saying that yesterday was only the beginning?"
"Well yes. They get more and more intrigued with the new guards as the nights go on. In a way, I suppose you're intruding."
"intruding?! I was hired!"
Though I couldn't see his fame, I was pretty sure he was grinning, "They don't know that."
I just stood there, dumbfounded. What was this guys deal? He didn't care about the threat I was dealing with? How many guards before dealt with this same shit? How many died?
The boss cleared his throat, "I guess it's time for your shift to start. Have a good night~"
There was a brief moment of light before the door was closed, the man with the gun finally gone. I heard a click. And stepped forward, grabbing at the handle and turning it. Locked. I felt around from sort of keyhole, but there was none. I pulled out my flashlight and checked again,
"It figures..." I muttered to myself as I quickly shuffled over to the office door. I slipped inside, setting the electric rod on the desk. "
Ah... I'm back..." I whispered, feeling the terror pressing into my very soul. I really didn't want to play this game again...
I didn't have a choice though, did I?
I flicked the switch to the monitor, the screen flickered briefly before it came to life, and the icons I could click to view the cameras popped up. I started looking through them when the answering machine went off again.
"Uh, hello? Hello? Uh, well... If you're hearing this and made it to day two, congratulations!"
I scoffed. Yeah. Thanks. Congratulations to me! I get to come back and possibly die by the hand of animal robots. Huzzah! Time to party!
I sort of tuned out the rest of the message, only listening to the really important parts, such as, "Freddy doesn't come off the stage very often," and the mention of the blind spots of your cameras being right outside your door. Well no shit. I figured that out the hard way. Then foxy was mentioned,
"Check on the curtain in pirate cove from time to time. The character there seems to be unique in that be becomes more active if the cameras remain off for a long period of time."
Wait. So if I DON'T look at the cameras often, that gets foxy to come after me? That seemed strange. You'd think it was the other way around. The call ended and I was alone with my thoughts once again.
I tried to think of the positive in all of this. At least I get paid!

Ah, who am I kidding? What positive? This was the most shitty situation, even if I was getting money for it. I was getting paid rather lousy too.
I looked down to the monitor, scrolling through, only to nearly jump out of my skin when I say that Chica and Bonnie were already gone.
"Please survive this ..." I whisper pleadingly to myself, looking for the missing two in haste.

/Authors note: I just want to say that I chose Mr. Smith as the mans name randomly. I have nothing against that as a last name. I know many have that as a surname, and I mean no offense.