Short Author's Note: I'm tired of studying, so here is your chapter. Yay!
Now, as always, Scott Cawthon rightfully owns FNAF and all its characters. Also, all credit for this excellent splash art belongs to xNIROx.
Chapter 3
~Pain~
With everyone except for the night guard and their fifth member of the kitchen, the rest of the gang were doing their things as time slowly went by. Chica had already started with making a fresh batch of pizza by flattening out the dough. The yellow chicken hum to herself a cheery tune as she rolled the dough out across the floury counter before squeezing it back together to restart the process.
Freddy quietly stood by and watched the animatronic prepare the pizza dough without saying much. Bonnie, on the other hand, was occupying himself with playing the guitar he had brought along, so he didn't die of boredom. As for Foxy, he was the only one sitting on top the counter next to the kitchen doorway while listening carefully to any outside sounds.
Everything seemed peaceful for the four members until Foxy heard a distant, scratchy sound coming from the office. The red fox perked up one of his ears, which caused him to glance over to the doorway. The pirate listened to the noise more closely, and he felt his eyes harden when he realized it was the sound of their fifth member crying from the office.
Freddy had peered over to the fox when he noticed the pirate's change in posture. It had taken him and the two remaining members a few more seconds to also hear the static crying coming from outside the room. Foxy had already hopped off the counter when the others listened to the sound, but then he halted his advance towards the double doors when he heard the voice of Freddy speak up from behind.
"Not yet Foxy. Not yet."
"What do ya mean not yet? She's crying out there," Foxy said bitterly. "Ya'll can hear her, can't ya?"
Chica nodded her head. "Well yeah we can hear her, but that doesn't instantly mean we should go check on her."
"What are ye talking 'bout lass? Me first mate is crying out there because of that bloody night guard," the pirate spat out.
"Now hold on there Foxy," Bonnie said quickly as he placed his guitar aside before walking over to the fox. "Before we start jumping straight to conclusions and make matters worse, let's take a second to think. Do we know why she's crying?"
At first Foxy was reluctant to reply back, but, after getting an intimidating glare from Freddy, he then grumbled out lowly, "No…"
"Do we honestly expect her not to cry, considering the circumstances between her and-uh…um… whatever his name is."
"Mike," Chica stated to the rabbit.
"Ah, that's right Mike. Anyways, do you really expect her not to cry?"
Again, Foxy gave out another grumbled, "No."
"Then what are you in a big hurry for," Bonnie asked as he rested a hand onto the fox's right shoulder.
Foxy gave the purple animatronic a stupefied look before saying, "Ye know exactly why I'm jumpy, Bonnie. I don't want that damn guard hurting that poor lass again!"
"Lower your voice Foxy," Freddy suddenly said sternly as he then began approaching the pirate. "You don't have to worry about Mr. Schmidt, Foxy. I promise you that if he does, in fact, hurt her again; I'll make sure to deal with him." The bear's tone was deep and menacing towards the fox, which had gotten the message across for the animatronic pirate.
Foxy, however, couldn't help but appear disheartened by the bear's words. Freddy instantly took notice of his discomfort and was quick to react by giving the fox an assuring pat on the back. "Your heart is in the right place Foxy. I understand that you're looking out for her; we feel the same way as you and want to help Maggie any way we can. However, we can't solve all her problems, not anymore at least. She knows we can't always help her, so that is why she is trying to fix them right now on her own. As we said earlier, it'll be best to leave the two alone unless the situation calls for it otherwise."
Foxy couldn't help but sigh as he said slowly, "I know… I know… It's just I want to help her. I've tried my best to be there for her, but it's not as easy as it once was. The lass has changed because of what happened to her, and I fear we won't ever get to see her cheery self again."
"Cheer up there Foxy," Chica suddenly said in a cheerful tone. "I trust that Maggie knows what she's doing, and honestly I can understand why she wants us out of this. We did… kinda… try and stuff Mike without her knowing about it, at least till the last second."
Foxy didn't bother replying back to the chicken when he heard something else coming from the office. The fox heard… singing. After he and the rest of the animatronics took notice of the singing, they all then heard the sound of the vixen's crying die down as well, which caused Chica to smile.
"See? What did I tell ya? We shouldn't rush off to conclusions just yet."
That was when Bonnie gave a quick cough before saying, "Correction. I was the one who said that, not you."
Chica responded to the rabbit by rolling her eyes before returning her attention towards the flattened dough. "Whatever. You know what I mean."
…
There was a long moment of silence between Mike and the vixen once he had finished singing. The two were still locked in a hug, but neither of them tried prying themselves out of it. For Mike, he wasn't entirely sure if he should wait till the animatronic made any attempts to pull away; it felt odd for him to hug a machine, especially one that was displaying human-like feelings. As for the vixen, she had no intentions of letting go anytime soon.
Eventually, Mike decided it was time to break away from the hug after a good five minutes of awkward silence. The vixen felt the man's hand pull away from her embrace, and she couldn't help herself from looking sad when she pulled her body as well. However, she did her best to hide away her disappointment by giving the guard a thankful smile.
The man straightened his back, which resulted in a couple of his nerves aching in pain from the odd posture he managed through the hug, before turning his attention back towards the white animatronic fox. Mike instantly took notice of her smile, and he decided it was best if he returned one. Once again though, it felt odd for him to do since he was giving it to a supposed insentient animatronic. However, considering what he witnessed both tonight and yesterday, they were more sentient than he ever thought they would be.
"So… Hi, I guess." Mike's delivery was awkward to say for the least since he had no idea how he was supposed to talk with this animatronic.
The vixen, on the other hand, didn't pay any mind to it as she gave the guard a nod of acknowledgment.
It took a second for Mike to remember the animatronic's interesting situation with its voice sounding broken. He was curious if his suspicions were correct, so he asked in a polite tone, "Are you able to speak?"
The animatronic stared at the guard for a moment before coming up with a non-verbal reply. She lifted up her good paw, which seemed to be the only one that isn't misaligned like her other limbs, before giving it a shaky wave.
Yes, and no.
The guard seemed confused by the answer. "What do you mean?"
The vixen bit back her lip when she tried coming up with an answer. When she was unable to find a better alternative, the animatronic reluctantly opened her mouth wide enough for Mike to see the whole insides of it. Using her one good hand, the mangled vixen then pointed towards the very back of her throat, where a small metal box sat.
"I-T-h-U-R-T-s-T-O-t-a-L-k," the animatronic then said in a very loud, scratchy voice. As she was speaking, a couple sparks flew out from the small voice box. The animatronic's voice, though very faint, had a distinct feminine sound to it behind the static crackling.
Mike noticed the sparks flying out and started getting an idea of her situation. "Does it hurt to talk because of your voice box?"
The vixen closed her mouth before giving a small smile accompanied with a nod.
"Is it broken?"
Once again, she gave a nod.
After seeing her answer, Mike's curiosity got the best of him, so he asked his next question with a hint of concern. "Does it hurt when you cry, by chance?"
The animatronic's expression saddened when she bobbed her head towards the man.
Yes.
The guard's face softened a bit when he saw the animatronic's response, and deep down he felt pity for the vixen. Then, he suddenly remembered he never told the animatronic his name. "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you my name. It's Michael Schmidt. However, it's easier for people to remember my name as Mike."
There was a brief twinkle in the animatronic's golden eyes when he said his name, but he didn't think much on it as he asked the vixen a question that would be easier for her to respond to. "Do you have a name?"
The vixen nodded her head again. After her response, the guard had to think for a moment on how he could get the animatronic to interpret her name without her speaking. The animatronic could sense what Mike was thinking about, so she gently tapped his knee to get his attention. The man was quick to react by looking back at her, and then he saw her pointing her good paw up towards the desk.
The guard stood up once he saw where she was pointing at, and he glanced around the metal table to see what he could use. He caught sight of a pen and a stack of yellow sticky notes, and suddenly an idea popped into his head. Taking both objects in his hands, Mike sat back down facing the vixen.
"I got a pen and some paper here," Mike stated to the animatronic, "I'm not sure if you know how to write your name or not since your body is… um… mangled."
The vixen's ears fell backwards as she frowned a little at the guard's words. However, she motioned for the guard to give her the pen with her good paw. Mike didn't question the animatronic and handed over the pen into her grasp before placing the paper down in front of her.
"I'll hold the paper down for you, if you want me too."
The vixen's frown grew into a gentle smile as she nodded her head, which he took as a yes. Mike held the stack of sticky paper firmly as the animatronic messily wrote out big, individual letters on each slab. Whenever she finished a letter, Mike would peel of the slab in order for the fox to continue on with the rest of its name.
At first the animatronic wrote out a capital 'A,' but then she paused for a moment. Mike couldn't tell what she was thinking about, but he didn't want to make her feel rushed, so he simply waited patiently. Finally, she seemed to have made up her mind, and next wrote the letter 'M' capitalized. After a minute of struggling, the animatronic finished writing the last letter of her name. She then placed the pen down on the ground to signal to the man that she was done.
Once he saw her lower the pen, Mike went ahead organized the letters together in the order she first wrote them in. When he was done with it, the guard stared down at the name in confusion as it read out, "AMggie".
He felt a gentle tap on his knee again, so he looked over towards the fox to see her hand pull the "M" sticky out in front of the "A". The name is spelled out was Maggie. Though he didn't understand why she had capitalized the "A", Mike simply shrugged it off.
"Maggie. Your name is Maggie," Mike asked as he turned towards her.
The vixen gave the man a beaming smile before nodding her head again, which caused the man to smile back.
"Well then, it's a pleasure to meet you, Maggie. You know, I never did thank you for saving me last night. I honestly thought I was going to die yesterday, but my guess is you had saved me from the others." Mike had paused for a moment when he remembered his first reactions to her. "I'm-I'm sorry for reacting the way I did earlier, particularly last night. I-I never intended to be impolite or anything; I was just scared."
Maggie's smile disappeared, but she didn't frown. Instead, she kept a straight face as she nodded her head in understanding. Though the vixen had a neutral expression, Mike noticed her eyes saddened a tad bit.
Suddenly, Mike's eyes widened out in shock as he said out loud, "Oh shit! I completely forgot about the others!"
The guard quickly looked around the dark room in hopes of finding the fallen tablet, but he was stopped when he felt Maggie's paw rest itself on top of his hand. Mike looked up to see her shaking her head at him, as if she was silently telling him something.
The man studied her expression and head motion as he tried putting her unspoken words together. "They… They aren't coming," Mike asked in uncertainty, which made Maggie bob her head up and down.
Yes.
Mike was about to ask her why, but then he remembered her situation. The guard tried to think for a couple seconds on an appropriate question to ask her. "Did you do something, like what you did last night, that made them go away?"
She nodded her head.
"Are they going to stay away from me for good?"
That was when Maggie paused her nod before changing it to a shake.
No.
The man felt his heart skip a beat. "What do you mean," Mike blurted out in a worried tone as he batted his eyes towards both doors in fear of spotting one of them.
Maggie stared at the man with a confused look since she was unsure how to answer the question. When Mike looked back towards her, he saw her expression and realized what he had asked.
"Sorry-Sorry. I accidentally forgot you can't speak." Mike eyed both of the doors again as he tried reformatting the question at the back of his mind. "Will they come for me right now?"
The white fox paused for a drawn out moment before shakily waving her paw side to side.
"Maybe?"
Maggie shook her head, which Mike assumed the word he used wasn't exactly the one she was thinking of.
He thought in silence before saying, "Possibly?"
The vixen shook her head again.
"Um… Depends?"
Maggie bobbed her head.
Yes.
Mike felt increasingly nervous, but he kept his composure by inhaling a deep breath. "Ok… They'll come depending on the situation. Correct?"
She confirmed his statement by nodding.
"Alright then… I guess that's fine," Mike said with a sigh. "I'm going to be honest with you, Maggie. I'm so confused and frightened about everything right now. I-I-I-," Mike's words started to stutter out when he felt tears beginning to form underneath his eyes, "-I don't know why they tried to murder me. I-I mean it's bad enough that they were, but I still don't understand why. Hell, after what happened last night, I would have quit this stupid job on the spot if I didn't need the money."
The animatronic fox next to him stared at the teary man with a saddened expression, but Mike paid no attention to her as he pulled out his necklace. The guard delicately held the small carving in his hands before saying, "This job took away the only woman I've ever loved. She was the most beautiful, considerate, and kind person I've ever met… She was always there for me when I was down, and at times I was also there for her… But not all the time."
Mike's voice paused for half a second when painful memories came flowing back to him. The guard briefly glanced over at the disheartened animatronic, and as he stared into her golden eyes, he felt a sense of shame flow through him. The teary man was ashamed about his feelings, so he diverted his head away from the vixen as he tried his best to hold back the tears while continuing on.
"At first, I did my best to be there for her. I would offer my shoulder over whenever she needed to cry into it. If she ever needed a place to stay or someone to talk to, I would leave whatever I was doing to be there for her. Her foster family were abusive towards her, so she did this very often. I-I willing did everything I could at the time to help her out, b-but it started growing repetitive and depressing for me to do. For years I tried helping her, but nothing I did ever seemed to fix her problems with her family. She would always come to me whenever her family abused her, and I… I… grew tired of hearing it."
As Mike was saying all this, he was wondering deep down as to why he was telling this animatronic all of this. Maybe it was because, after just experiencing a life threatening situation, he wanted to get some things off his chest. Or perhaps it was because he was working in the very same job that was the last thing his girlfriend did before disappearing and he couldn't handle the job's stress anymore.
Or maybe… Just maybe… She was silently watching over him like a guardian angel, and he needed to confess to her in hopes of making through his miserable life.
"I-I-I turned my back from her nearly five years ago on Christmas Eve. I did the most selfish thing any person could do; I abandoned her. I left her to deal with her problems so that I could spare myself from listening to her."
Mike felt his hand clutching against his necklace harder than before as he futilely fought back tears of grief and regret. "Her name was Abigail... Abigail Fitzgerald… And it is a name I will never forget. She disappeared that same night… Working in this exact job… And I have not heard a word since from her."
That was when the guard opened his eyes once more before facing back at the vixen. Maggie's face was one of dismay as she stared right at him with her golden eyes, which were on the verge of tears themselves.
"The cops never found where she went; she had disappeared off the face of the earth in the course of one night. They had presumed she was kidnapped, and for a while, I also believed in that too. However, after what I've just experienced, I know better than to believe in that nonsense now. She was never kidnapped; she was killed here…"
Mike stared absently into the vixen's eyes before he stated in a low voice, "I was the reason she died. Abigail probably, willingly, died at the hands of these animatronics… All because I co-could-couldn't fucking be there for her!" Mike's tears began to stream down from his eyes as he lost himself to his emotions.
"Ma-May-Maybe if I had been there for h-her, she wo-would still be here for me to tell h-her how sorry I am! Ho-How sorry I was to leave her! Oh god, I-I'm so sorry Abigail! I… I… I never intended to leave you! I-I-I-I," the man's voice cracked down into a sob as he couldn't finish his sentence. The grown man was on the floor weeping like a child.
While Mike was crying, he failed to notice that Maggie was struggling with containing her own emotions from him. Her eyes were filled to the brim with oily tears, but she hadn't yet released them. However, her tears were not the only thing she was trying to hold back.
She was unable to contain her pent up, raw emotions that she's hidden deep inside for years. Feelings of sadness, anger, grief, and regret were all raging through her body like a crazed animal, and it wasn't going to take long before she succumbed to her emotions like the man. Maggie fought back both her tears and feelings as long as she could, but then she couldn't take it any longer.
The vixen gave out a loud, ear shattering shriek that echoed throughout the restaurant.
…
Chica gazed proudly over the uncooked pizza with a delighted smile. It took her a couple of minutes of careful preparation and delicate handling, but she had finally finished in preparing the near perfect pizza dish. The cheese and tomato sauce were equally spread out, the dough was flat and perfectly round, and there were no signs of air bubbles in the dough. The yellow chicken was humming happily along with a tune that was stuck in her head as she then delicately lifted up the uncooked pizza. Carrying the metal plate with both her hands, the chicken slowly brought the dish over to the heated oven, which was ready to cook. However, right when Chica had placed her hands on the oven's door, she suddenly heard the frightening screech echo out from the office room.
Chica nor the gang had any time to react as they all jumped up in surprise. Chica's pizza dish flew out from her hands, but she didn't even bat an eye when she saw Foxy immediately bolt out of the room. Freddy, Bonnie, and herself quickly followed behind the sprinting fox as the four of them made their way to the office. They could hear the sound of banging metal.
…
Mike's tearful sobbing came to an abrupt end when he jumped in horrifying shock by the vixen's sudden shriek. The man's ears rang out as it could hear nothing but the sound of Maggie's voice box screech out a mixture of weeping, static, and electric shocks. The voice was ear-shattering to listen to, but the guard lost interest in the sound when he watched the vixen rear its body backward in a great torment of metal and wires. It seemed like Maggie had lost all sense of sanity as she then thrust her hanging limbs into the nearby window.
*Bang*
The animatronic's body struck hard against the seemingly unbreakable glass. The strike sent a painful shockwave through her whole body, which caused Maggie to cry out even louder before pulling her body back to repeat the process.
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
Each strike against the glass created a small fracture within Maggie's endoskeleton. Though her limbs and middle frame still seemed intact by the blows, it was her second, exposed head that was taking most of the damage. The metal head was beaten again and again against the hard surface. A small indention continued to form across its forehead as it was knocked senselessly against the window. Maggie's voice shrieked out in pain as she felt continually bashed the poor head against the window.
*Bang* *Bang*
*Crack*
In a flash of a second, Maggie's body went from being weighted down to sudden lightness. The vixen halted her teary cries long enough to witness the sight of metal falling from her body. Maggie watched in dismay as the link between her body and the second head broke apart, causing gravity to grab hold of the endoskeletal head. Mike too watched in silence as the exposed head broke off from her main body.
The second head crashed down into the tiled floor, and in that same instance a flurry of metal, bolts, and wires exploded out from the broken head. The indention that formed from Maggie's enraged bashing had collapsed in on itself, allowing the artificial insides of the head to burst out across the room. Mike had no idea how to react to what he just saw, and he wasn't given any time to respond when a certain pirate burst into the room.
Right as Foxy entered into the room, he saw the guard sitting down next to Maggie, whose cheeks were stained in teary black oil. When the red fox saw the broken head against the floor, he roared out in rage before flashing his hook towards the guard. "What did ye do," Foxy shouted out in anger as he swung his hook into the guard's collar. Thankfully, the sharp edge only caught on to the fabric and didn't come in contact with any skin, but Mike was scared beyond belief as he was effortlessly lifted up into the air by the pirate. "What did ye do to her! What have ye done!" Foxy voice was filled with frustration as he gave the guard a deathly stare.
"I-I-I didn't do anything, I swear!" Mike cried out in desperation and fear as he tried wiggling himself out of the animatronic's grasp, but the pirate had pointed the hook in such a way that he couldn't pry his shirt free.
"Liar! I've had it with ye boy! I'm going to rip yer innards out like a damn fish!"
Foxy then tore right through Mike's collar, allowing the man to fall to the ground. Mike landed on the tiles with one painful thud, but he paid no attention when he saw the fox tower over him with a raised hook. Mike's eyes were sticking out from their sockets as he saw the fox thrash his hook down towards him. Mike's life came flashing inside his mind as the hook came flying towards his face.
"F-O-X-Y!"
Both Foxy and Mike froze up when they heard a loud, but clear feminine voice scream out next to them. Mike continued to stare at his would-be killer, whereas Foxy slowly glanced over at the vixen. The red pirate saw Maggie's tear-filled eyes, and he lowered his hook upon seeing them.
"P-l-e-a-s-e F-o-x-y, d-o-n-'t h-u-r-t h-i-m!" Though the back of Maggie's voice was crackling, her voice was still clear and firm. However, her voice rapidly returned to stuttering as her static made it increasingly harder to understand. "M-I-i-I-k-E-e-D-D-D-i-d-n-O-t-H-I-I-I-n-g-W-R-o-n-G! P-L-E-e-e-a-s-e! D-o-n-'T-H-u-R-T-h-i-i-i-i-m!" Then, the vixen's voice quickly became nothing more than unintelligible gurgling and static, but that didn't stop the animatronic from crying even more.
Foxy stared at the suffering animatronic, and slowly he relaxed his body before moving away from the fallen guard. At that point, the remaining animatronics ran into the room and immediately saw the mess. There was a broken head and its parts all lying across the floor, the night guard was lying against the floor with Foxy standing over him, and Maggie was crying in static.
When Freddy noticed this, he raised his eyelids completely before making his way towards the guard in the same anger Foxy felt. Mike saw the bear moving towards him, and he couldn't help but ball up in an act of desperation. Much to the guard's relief, the pirate stuck his hand in front of the Freddy to prevent the bear from moving any further.
"Stop," the fox said simply. Freddy glanced over at Foxy, and he saw the animatronic fox look back at him with a look that told him enough.
The pirate nodded his head towards the fallen guard, who was still balled up in a fetal position, and the bear responded with a nod. Both animatronics then looked over to their crying member. Bonnie and Chica were doing their best to comfort the sobbing vixen, but she paid no attention to their attempts as she was in excruciating pain because of the strain she had put on her broken voice box.
"We're here hun. We're here for ya. Please, look at me. Look at me," Chica whispered as soothingly as possible.
Bonnie was busy petting the vixen's head while saying in a hushed voice, "Yeah, we are here... Shhhh…. Shhhh…. Just look at us..."
Both Freddy and Foxy gave their fifth member a saddened look before noticing Mike uncurl his body from its posture. Like a hesitant animal, the guard peeked his out from his hands to see if the danger had subsided, and he sighed relief when he saw they weren't interested in killing him. However, his comfort flew away in an instant once he saw Foxy and Freddy giving him deathly glare.
Freddy then said in a menacing tone, "Get out."
Hesitantly, Mike peered over to Maggie, who was still crying in agony. "I-Is she alright," the man said in a fearful yet still concerned voice.
Bonnie and Chica both glanced over at the guard while giving him the same glare as the other two were.
"He said get out," Foxy spat out vilely.
The guard didn't want to test their patience any further, so he instantly uncurled himself before clumsily running out of the office. Mike kept his ears listening as he ran, just so that he could hear one of them chasing. Thankfully though, he seemed to be the only one running. Once he entered the main dining room, Mike slowed his running to an eventual stop as he glanced back towards the sound of a weeping animatronic echo from the security office. Listening to the animatronic's crying made the man sigh sadly before turning his head back forward. Right as he did though, he gave out a terrified shout when he saw Freddy standing right in front of him.
"W-Wh-What? H-How did y-you… How-?"
The man's words were cut off when he felt the bear grab hold of him before rearing its head closer to him.
"If you still value your life-," the bear emphasized the last word heavily, "-you are going to tell me exactly what happened. Do you understand?"
Mike bobbed his head up and down furiously while squealing, "Yes! Yes! I swear I didn't hurt her!"
"Then what happened," the bear growled.
Mike wasted no time in telling Freddy what happened. Freddy kept his eyes trained on the guard's facial expressions and body movement; if the guard were lying to him, the bear would know by his body expressions. Mike told brown animatronic everything: his first reactions with Maggie, the song he sang to her, their brief conversation, and finally, he got to her outburst. The bear did not say a single word through the whole thing. Eventually, Mike finished telling the bear what had happened, and at that point, Maggie's sobs had died down into silence. When the guard had gotten through it all, Freddy was pleased to see the man told the truth.
"Good. You aren't lying. Now, go home."
Mike was just about to interject when he suddenly heard his shift's alarms go off, which caused the man to look away briefly. Mike was surprised as to how quickly time flew by, and when he looked back towards Freddy, he found the bear was gone. Feeling a bit creeped out, the guard wasted no time in making his way out of the establishment and into his car. He didn't even bother locking the front door; he just wanted to leave as soon as possible.
After a long night like that, he just wanted to collapse into bed and fall asleep. At least then he can hide himself from the stressfulness of the night.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. As always please leave a review if you wish (I love to read them, and they honestly help me) and I'll see you next time.