Fredrick's epilogue

From the article 20 years on, published in 2013.


Freddy's rises again. I almost let it crumble because of my son's death, which is why I sold the business to another man.

I still remember all his details of when he was first born; he was seven pounds, and five ounces when he was first born. A baby crying for his mother everyday.

I always knew Freddy was smart, he could take charge and provide a solution that everyone was happy with. I trait I had that was very valuable in working a business.

Freddy was built before Freddy was born. It wasn't called Freddy Fazbear's pizza for a while, it wasn't until we got the main attraction; the animations.

I made a deal with a company and I got to know four people very personally; Antonius Ischyrí Michanikós, a 56-year-old gentleman who was born and raised in a small village in Greece. He came to America with his two daughters and wife. Antonius was the oldest person there, and the most enlightened. I thought it might be because he grew up during the second world war, but I wasn't sure about it. Henry Knight was an experienced man in the areas of advanced machinery, for his young age of 26, he was very smart and had a strong point of view. Frank Jones had built animatronics before and was excited to work with me. Then there was William. William Afton. He was mentally disturbed yet he wanted to work with me, I was sure he had suffered a horrible lose but I didn't question it.

I should have. Oh god I should have asked. I could have helped him. That could have saved my son. That could have saved everyone.

On my son's tenth birthday. I wanted to show the world how much I loved him. I was proud to call him my son. I should have paid attention.

I was in the kitchen making sure his birthday cake was perfect. Then something happened. Some how poison got into someone's food and it killed Antonius. One of the men who worked with me. He died of a stroke. I was so rattled that someone had died here, that I failed to notice my wife was frantically turning the place upside down looking for our son.

"We should call the police now." I told her once she screamed to me that Freddy was nowhere in sight.

I did my own investigating and went into the back office and rolled back the security tapes. I found Freddy was last seen at 1:33 on the dining room camera. But then nothing.

The news reported five other kids vanished too. Bobby Bernie. Charlotte Thomason. Lilly Robbins. Finn and Felix Sullivan. All in Freddy's.

I closed the pizzeria while the police searched every detail. My older brother Nicholas showed up and he was angry. Angry I lost his daughter.

"It's your fault!" He screamed at me, throwing stones at me, I panicked and skidded to hide behind a car. "Lilly's gone because of you!"

He never forgave me.

A week later, a survivor came. Felix Sullivan. Antonius's grandson. He was the youngest out of all of them. Five years old. He came back with a broken arm and a bad snatch down his chest that looked like a bear. The police tried to get him to remember what happened that day. But he forgot everything. All he remembered was entering Freddy's that day. After that it was all black. He couldn't remember the party itself or what happened to himself or where his brother was or how he came to end up on the doorstep of his home.

One year later, there was no kids. Police found Bobby's shoe, a stain of hair that was confirmed to belong to Charlotte, and a ripped piece from Finn's shirt.

However there was justice. The person was caught. It was William. He was mentally disturbed according to what his lawyers said; he lost his daughter in 1983 in a freak accident involving a robot that crushed his child, his wife divorced him, he lost a kid he loved called Chris and he blamed Antonius for the accident. It was called the bite of 87.

That didn't fix what he had done. He confessed he killed them.

"Where are the kids now?" The judge inquired. Me and my wife were on the edge of our seats waiting for the answer that could bring our son home. Bobby's parents, Jason and Lillian were holding hands in faith they would get back their only child. Charlotte's parents Lucy and Carlos looked like they were ready to leap from the seats to strangle him, I would have too if I had the chance. Finn's mother Rosalyn was there alone, her husband had to care for Felix and he was wheelchair bound. Nicholas and his wife Olivia didn't even do anything. They sat in silences.

William looked up at the judge like he asked a stupid question, "What Kids?"

"Our Kids you horrible man!" Lucy yelled standing up from her seat. Carlos then grabbed her forearms tightly and forced her to sit back down. I could tell her anger was boiling deep inside her and now it was slowly starting to flow out for the world to see. I thought she would leap out from the seats to hurt him.

William was quiet for a moment, we couldn't bare it. It was too much silences. We had waited too long for an answer and now that we were so close, he was denying us everything we needed to sleep peacefully at night. I was kept up last night by this joke.

"Your kids are not here."

"The court doesn't understand Mr Afton. Please elaborate on your answer?"

"They're sleeping with the fishes."

My wife covered her mouth in shock, she hoped it was joke. Lillian's eyes went wide and she clutched her husband's hand tighter. Carlos and Lucy looked at each other in pure shock, they didn't want it to be true. Rosalyn was shivering at this point. Nicholas and Olivia were listening more closely now.

"Your kids are dead. I killed them. It was fun. Like a game."

We all broke down. Stella was sobbing now and she threw herself into my arms. I began to sob too because it stabbed me in my heart that I would never see Freddy alive again. Lillian stuffed her face into Jason's jacket as she wailed into the heavens and he was getting teary also, unable to hold down his emotions. Lucy was screaming to the roofs, she was angry, Carlos held her head in his arms and looked around for an answer as to why he lost his daughter. Rosalyn placed her head in her hands and cried, her lone tears were painful to watch, I'd imagine she had to tell her husband and Felix what happened, it would be even more painful. Nicholas and Olivia both held their heads down and said nothing, their eyes were wide and ghostly.

"Don't cry. I did you all a favour. You were horrible parents anyway.

"That's enough Mr Afton!" The judge yelled at him.

"P-please tell me it's not true Fredrick." Stella begged me. Her red and teary eyes broke my heart. She was devastated. Freddy was treasured by us. We loved him. We did everthing correctly like parents should. We tucked him in at night, we kissed him goodnight, we treated his scrapes and we gave him all the love he required and so much more. We didn't deserve it.

"I-I s-still love you." I cooed to her softly and rubbed her hair. We needed the love of each other to survive everyday now.

We left the court room and we were greeted by the flashes of the media. My wife and I were openly crying on live TV but I didn't care. Nothing mattered at that point. I was never seeing my son alive ever again. Lillian hid herself behind Jason while he shoved away the cameras telling them to "Fuck off" receptively. Carlos held Lucy firmly while she cried "It's not fair! It's not fair!". Rosalyn was scrambling to get away as fast as possible and raced away in her car. Nicholas gave me a dead eye then walked away casually with Olivia.

Did us a favour. I hate that line. He robbed us! Robbed us of people we loved!

The days blurred into enough other and I was barely in the mood to go back to Freddy's. I just wanted to stay in bed all day.

Nothing was worth getting up for.

I still tried to make my wife happy. But she was never smiling like she use to. Especially on that day she told me.

"I'm pregnant." She told me. We were both sitting at the park on a bench. I followed here because she often came here to stare at the happy mommies with their children. She use to be one of those happy mommies who push her son on the swing while he yelled "Higher Mommy! Higher!".

"A-are you sure?" I asked unsure of it.

"I took a pregnancy test. Went to the doctor. I'm 10 weeks along. I'm booking an abortion."

"What?" I asked, I was still unsure of what was going on. I took in the fact she was pregnant, but nothing else.

"I don't want it. It's too soon. It'll always be too soon. I don't want a baby."

"Stella it's been four years."

"It doesn't feel like it." She began to cry, I knew it would always be too soon but my Father always told me "fresh starts are the best to help with grief" he first told me after my mother passed away when I was a child.

"Maybe we keep it?" I casually asked.

"I don't want to."

"Stella you've had nothing to go. Neither have I for a while. Maybe a baby will give us something."

"I don't want it." She kept crying. I accepted that.

Until she showed up for the appointment a few weeks later and they scared us both.

"We can't do an abortion."

"Why not?"

"You're 25 weeks. You didn't say that."

"I'm only 14." Stella defended herself.

"This scan says otherwise. Your baby looks like it anywhere between 22 to 26 weeks. We don't do abortions after 24 weeks."

I was unsure. But that felt like fate. Needless to say no one would give her an abortion and I told her firmly;

"Stella I want this baby and I don't give a single fuck if you do."

I wanted a child because the house always felt lonely and quiet, me and Stella barely did anything during the day and I wanted a second chance to be a better dad who watched over his child.

"I'm fatter than I thought." She told me one time.

After a few months. She woke up with pain, we were both unsure of what to do. She went about her day and I did also. Then I got a phone call from Lucy Thomason at the Bakery that Stella had been in labour all this time and she was almost ready to deliver our child.

I can't quiet remember what happened after that, but I remember when Megan was born. She was the perfect weight, she had ten fingers and ten toes, and she had a shade of blonde hair that was close to her mother's colour. Her eyes strikingly reminded me of Freddy.

I took Megan into my arms and I swore I'd never let anything horrible happen to her. I kissed her forehead and she smiled and giggled at me.

Raising a kid did make us have a happier mood. We both worked as a team to raise Megan in safety and security. We never wanted her snatched.

She never heard about Freddy until she did a family tree project in middle school and she found pictures of him in an unlabelled box.

"Whose this?" She asked me, I gasped sighly seeing the photo of Freddy as a baby in a blue onesie. Maybe she thought it was a relative. But I still wanted to tell her truth. So I sat her in my lap and opened up a photo book.

"Megan. This is your older Brother Freddy. He was born before you were." I introduced her and began to talk about the photos. I felt like weight was being lifted off my shoulders. I scattered photos and told my favourite stories about him. Then I told her what happened; how he vanished and never came back.

My daughter was in shock I remember what she asked me next; "Dad can people really disappear that easily?"

My answer was gloomy. I put everything away worried I made her depressed. When she graduated. She booked an extra seat at the diner we went to and she said the spot was for Freddy. Me and Stella were in tears. We felt a little happier. I may not be able to have Freddy's body or release his ashes somewhere he loves, But I have Memories. And no one not William, the media or the people who judge can take them away from me.