Chapter Three

When most people met the Afton Family, they first looked at William Afton, and then they looked at his two remaining children. Sometimes there was obvious pity in their expressions, especially if they knew the story behind the disappearance of Anna Afton and the eventual leaving of Maria. Their gazes would drift to Michael, only seven years old.

Michael was a pretty child, the same as Anna had been. His hair was a light golden brown color, and his eyes were a very light shade of almost lilac, mixed in with the flecks of green that Anna's eyes had been, and their mother's eyes were.

Vincent Afton, however, was often overlooked in favor of his younger sibling. Vincent's face was narrower, more like his fathers. It was not an unattractive face by any means, but it was not beautiful like Michael's face. His features had begun to change drastically as his teenage years began to drift by him. At sixteen, Vincent's temper had also begun to change. He'd always had something of a wicked sense of humor, delighting in the things that most people ran away from – but that too had begun to mellow with age – and perhaps because of Michael and William both.

Vincent knew his family was broken. It wasn't hard to figure out when he put the pieces together. Both Michael and his father took medication to control what was wrong inside their heads, but sometimes the medicine didn't work and they would do things that normally people didn't do. Normally people didn't talk to people who weren't there, or scream about monsters that no one else could see. For a while, it drove Vincent insane. Then he met Scott.

Scott was Vincent's only friend, much in the same way that Henry was his father's only friend. They had met outside of school on one of the rare days that Scott had actually showed up. Scott was sick. Vincent didn't know exactly what was wrong with him, beyond it having something to do with his lungs. It made Vincent said because Scott actually had a very nice voice, and listening to him talk actually calmed Vincent down quite a lot when he was upset.

Even Michael liked Scott, and Michael didn't like anyone… well, he was scared of most everyone.

The two teenage boys, both the same age, were sitting side by side in one of the racing arcade games. Vincent crowed loudly when he won, but winced when he saw the game over screen and the request for more tokens. "Guess that's over with." He slouched in the seat for a moment.

Scott shrugged his shoulders before hauling himself out of the game seat to a little girl take over. Vincent followed suit and trailed after Scott as they left the arcade hall. "So, what's new?" Scott asked over his shoulder. "Any plans that I should know about?"

"Plans?" Vincent frowned at him.

"You always have things going on inside your head. It's almost summer so I was sure you'd have something planned for it."

"Oh," Vincent laughed awkwardly, "Nothing fun. I'm actually going to ask Uncle Henry if I can work here for the summer."

"What for?" Scott asked, "isn't your dad like… rich?"

"My dad does have a lot of money," Vincent admitted sheepishly, "But I don't want to ask him for money all the time. It'd be nice to earn my own, you know? Plus, it's not like I have any plans for the summer. I like being busy. You know how I am."

"Yeah, you hate it when the world goes quiet for too long." Scott acknowledged. "The voices in your head get a little loud."

"Don't even." Vincent warned. "That's our secret."

And it was their secret. Vincent had never told anyone, not even his own father, that sometimes there were extra voices inside his head. It was never a problem, he knew they were just signs that his brain didn't work the way everyone else's brains worked. He didn't see things like Michael did, thank god for that, but his brain was broke like every other member of his family's was.

"Sorry," Scott said sheepishly. "Anyway, let's go find your uncle and see if he has a job for you." Scott took hold of Vincent's hand and dragged him towards the employees only hallway.

"Uh, I think he'll be with everyone else." Vincent said, a slight smile tugging on his lips.

"I wanna explore." Scott said over his shoulder. "You're just an excuse."

"I feel so used." Vincent said dramatically.

Scott laughed, but the laughter caught in his throat as he came to a sudden stop. "The fuck…"

Vincent followed Scott's line of sight, and paled. There was a gold version of Bonnie standing at the end of the hallway, staring at them. Vincent tightened his hold on Scott and pulled. "I don't think we're supposed to be here." He whispered.

"Why is that Bonnie gold?" Scott demanded.

"Scott, please." Vincent pleaded. "We really shouldn't be here."

The gold Bonnie took a step towards them, raising a hand, waving it cheerfully.

"Uh…" Scott finally started backing away. "I know your dad makes these things… but can he make them a little less… creepy next time?"

"I'll suggest it to him." Vincent hissed. "Come on." Finally dragging Scott back into the main area, Vincent couldn't shake the icy feeling in the pit of his stomach. They wandered through the diner for a while, checking out some of the larger side rooms where private events could be held, until Vincent nearly ran into Henry.

"What are you two doing lurking around back here?" Henry demanded, a slight smile on his otherwise comfortable looking face.

Vincent thought Henry had the sort of face that fit a person who ran a place for kids to come and play. He seemed trusting and kind, unlike William whose sharper features made him look harsh and unforgiving, not to mention the uncomfortable way he often watched people – as if he were judging them and found them lacking.

"Exploring," Vincent confessed, "Also waiting for a chance to talk to you."

"What did you need to talk to me about?" Henry asked, relaxing a bit.

"I was wondering if I could work here during the summer." Vincent explained. "I want to earn some extra money."

"Tired of asking your dad for money?" Henry chuckled, "I don't blame you. I will need help during the summer, but only if your dad okays it. He's a bit weird sometimes, so you need to check with him on it first before I say okay."

"How about me?" Scott asked, "Can I work here, too?"

"You two really are two peas in a pod." Henry laughed, "William and I were the same way. Scott, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"Uncle Henry, and the same rules apply. If your parents okay you working here, then I see nothing wrong with it. But you need to check with them first before I say yes or no." Henry instructed.

"Deal." Scott said, his voice bright and bubbly. "My parents don't really care what I do, but they'll be happy if I'm out doing something that earns money. They spend a lot on my medical bills as it is."

"Are you sick?"

"Not really." Scott said dismissively, "anyway, it was nice to meet you!"

"It was nice meeting you, too, Scott. I hope we get to meet again when things are a little less crazy." Henry's smile was warm as he left the boys standing in the empty show room.

Vincent relaxed for a moment until his eyes drifted towards the corner of the room, where the gold Bonnie was standing. It didn't move when he looked at it, just continued to stand there when it's head tilted very slightly to the side, one ear cocked forward.

The second thing about the rabbit that caught Vincent's attention was the bright red splotches of blood that marred its golden fur, and what looked like tiny handprints.

"Whoever designed that thing… might want to rethink the blood." Vincent whispered.

Scott followed his line of sight and sucked in a sharp breath. "was it bloody when we saw it in the hallway?" he asked.

"I think so."

"Maybe… maybe there was an accident?"

"I think we… I think we should go back to the party, don't you?" Vincent forced a smile onto his lips. He didn't want to tell Scott that he saw the gold Bonnie move, taking a slight step towards them. There was something in the rabbit's hand – something that looked like a cake knife.

Only the knife was still dripping dark blood onto the floor around it. Vincent had also noticed something on the floor beside the rabbit. He couldn't make out what it was because it was in lying in the rabbit's shadow, but he could see something brightly colored, like the table clothes used in the party room – the words celebrate flashed in Vincent's eye.

"We shouldn't be here."

One of the voices whispered to him.

"Bad things… very bad things are happening…"

"Come on," Vincent swallowed as he took Scott by the hand and pulled him from the room, leaving the mysterious bloody rabbit in there. Part of him wanted to go get Henry – the other part of him was conscious of the fact that he hadn't seen his dad in a while.

It was stupid… his dad didn't turn into a mechanical rabbit. The fact that it was the fact that it was one of the animatronics that was worrying him, not the fact that he thought his father was a murderer. Vincent loved his father as much as he was able – William wasn't exactly a loving man, and once Vincent's mother had left, his father's attentions had gone to Michael, who needed more care than Vincent did – but Vincent didn't think his father was a murderer… did he?

Maybe some part of him did… the part of him that knew there were pieces inside his father that were broken. Jagged pieces that were only too easy to get cut by. As they walked, Vincent looked over his shoulder – the damn rabbit was leaning out the doorway. When it saw Vincent look back, it waved again.

Vincent grimaced before turning to face forward again.

They re-entered the party room, and the first thing Vincent noticed was Michael crying his eyes out. Henry was kneeling beside him, awkwardly patting the small boy on the back. "It's okay, Mike." He was saying.

"What happened?" Vincent let go of Scott and ran to his brother, kneeling down to take him from Henry.

"Fredbear gave him a little scare." Henry explained. "I tried to find your dad but he's nowhere to be seen." He sounded annoyed.

"I'm right here." William shot Henry a look before he knelt beside Vincent and lifted Michael's face, "What are you crying about?" he demanded.

"The… it was scary!" Michael sobbed.

Vincent tightened his hold on Michael, reading the annoyance in his father's body language. "It's fine, dad." He said softly. "Scott and I will take him outside. I think something is wrong with Fredbear though." He pointed to the animatronic in question, which seemed to be slumped over.

"I'll check it." William said, standing up again. "Henry, I think you should have Bonnie distract the kids for a bit." He said as he passed his partner. "I'll check Fredbear's programing and then bring him back out."

"Sounds like a plan." Henry said, obviously relieved that he didn't have to deal with the broken animatronic.

Vincent watched his father turn the robot back on, and lead it away from the main room. He watched for a long moment, trying to shake the feeling that something awful had just happened, but it refused to leave.

"Why don't we go to the prize corner, no one is over there now." Scott suggested.

Vincent awkwardly carried Michael over to the other room, and plopped him down at one of the long tables that kids could use to draw pictures. "Do you wanna draw?" he asked.

"No." Michael shook his head. "The thing is in here."

"What scary thing?" Vincent asked.

"That." Michael pointed.

Vincent turned and helped, seeing that the puppet was halfway out of the box. He'd seen it give prizes to kids, but he'd never seen it try to climb out of the box. Not only that, but it was making the most god awful noise he'd ever heard – it sounded like a crying child.

William felt numb as he finished wiping the blood off his hands. Fredbear looked almost innocent now. The mechanical eyes watched William as he cleaned up, almost as if judging him. He turned to face the robot and sighed, loudly.

"You wouldn't understand," He told it. "How could you? You're just electrical wiring and a fancy computer that makes you think you're real." He reached up and touched the bear's muzzle, smiling faintly. "I know it probably doesn't make a lot of sense, but there's a nice bit of irony here, Fredbear. See, Charlie never liked you. Bonnie is Charlie's favorite, but you were the one who decided to break… and thank you for that. I was just going to leave her in the backroom, but then you broke and everything worked so perfectly." He tapped the muzzle again and began to strip his shirt off, noticing that there were tiny cuts decorating his arms from having worked with the sharp inner parts of the animatronic." He winced slightly before tugging on one of the staff t-shirts, in their awful purple color.

"Did you cut yourself?" Henry asked from the doorway.

"Yes." William glanced over, holding up the arm that had been sliced the deepest, causing him to bleed all over his shirt. "I think that's why you let me do it, right?" he laughed. "Just so Sarah didn't yell at you for having to wear these awful shirts."

"The shirts are charming." Henry argued as he retrieved the first aid kit off the wall. "You're just…" he turned when Sarah came into the room.

"Um, William, I'm sorry but there's been… well, there was an accident."

"An accident?" William turned to face her, "What sort?"

"Vincent's hurt."

William glanced at Henry before grabbing a handful of napkins to stop the bleeding on his arm. He followed Sarah from the back repair room, towards the prize corner.

"I don't know what happened," Sarah was saying, looking worried. "The Puppet… it has never done anything like this before." She glanced back over her shoulder at William.

William frowned, "Did it malfunction?" he asked.

"Will… that's what's so odd about it. It was like it meant to do it."

As if his day couldn't get any worse. Vincent sat on one of the coloring benches in the Prize Corner, wincing as Scott struggled to keep the ugly purple t-shirt pressed against his back, which was on fire now with the worst pain Vincent could ever remember having felt before in his life. "I didn't even see it move." He told Scott.

"I didn't either." Scott agreed. "One second it was just staring at you from the toybox and the next… it was just on top of you." He glanced nervously at the brightly colored toybox that the puppet had come out of. Sarah, when she heard Scott yelling for help, had quickly flipped a small switch on the back of the puppet, and it had gone limp. Two other employees had dragged the puppet back over to the box and dumped it inside. "I never realized how big it was." He added.

Vincent couldn't have agreed more with Scott on that. The puppet dwarfed the two teenage boys, and was likely a head taller than Vincent's father, who was by no means short. The Puppet had always seemed so… nice. It was a bit creepy, sure, but it never did anything but hand out toys to kids. Vincent had never imagined it… attacking him.

"Vincent?" His father had come into the room, wearing one of the employee shirts. He was holding a stack of bloody napkins to his arm. For a long moment, he seemed to freeze up in the doorway, and then he snapped back to himself and moved forward to inspect his eldest. "What on earth happened?"

"We were just sitting here," Scott explained. "The Puppet sort of crawled out of its box, and the next thing any of us knew it was on top of Vincent, sort of clawing at his back."

"What the hell…" Henry stared at the toybox for a long moment. "How did you stop it?"

"Sarah did something to its back." Vincent hissed, flinching when his father carefully pulled the shirt back to inspect the wounds there. "I think she turned it off."

Henry winced. "She must've broken the power core." He said quietly. "The Puppet is so large that it needs two power cores to function. If you remove one, it is unable to move on its own. It's still… functional, but only on a mental level." He stepped over to check on Vincent. "Stitches?" he asked.

"No." William shook his head. "Just bandages, none of these are very deep. Thankfully we didn't make his nails that sharp."

Henry looked as if he were going to argue, but the argument died in his throat when Sarah came into the room, looking worried. "Have you seen Charlie?" she asked.

"No." Henry frowned. "I'm sure she's around."

"With the animatronics acting up, I'd like to know where my daughter is, Henry." Sarah folded her arms against her chest, shooting her husband a furious look.

Henry sighed before he shot William an amused look. "Duty calls. I need to go find my little monster."

"Good luck," William smiled. "I'm sure she's around here somewhere."