"C'mon, pick up..."

It seemed that Charlie had recently fallen back into hardly being at home, instead choosing to chase something she wasn't even completely sure was really there anymore.

At the current moment, she was at some in the middle of town where she had just so happened to run into Chief Burke.

He was just about to get into his car when he spotted her.

After the initial surprise of running into her, he shared something interesting with her.

Well, perhaps interesting wasn't the right word. Unpleasant would be more appropriate.

So now Charlie was stood near a payphone, listening to it ring.

She drummed her fingers on the hood of the payphone impatiently as she did so. The ringing didn't seem like it was ever going to end.

But eventually, somebody picked up.

Or at least, she was pretty sure somebody did.

Before she could say anything there was a garbled static noise from the other end and then the called ended.

Charlie stared down at the phone in her hand for a moment.

"Alright then."

She was tempted to try and call once more but found that she had no more quarters.

But that was bad. She needed to tell them.

So she then decided the next best logical course of action was to visit in person.

Yeah, that sounded like a solid idea.

She crossed the parking lot to reach her old, beat up car before setting off; trying hard not the dwell on what she had heard just yet.

The drive was probably about thirty minutes. But it didn't feel that way. It felt way longer. It felt like every car that drove in front of her was going way under the speed limit. Every red light she stopped at felt like it was never going to turn green again.

When she finally reached the parking lot she found that it was empty.

For a moment, Charlie thought the building may have been closed. The sun was getting low in the sky. It wouldn't have been a surprise if they were.

But she needed to speak to them now so she got out of her car anyway.

It had been weeks since she had set foot on the property. It felt the same way it had before. Grim but comforting.

But the closer to the front she got the more unopened the place looked.

The interior visible behind the windows was shrouded in darkness.

However, there was some light.

Something dim resting near the cash register. It appeared to be a cheap, battery-powered lantern or something of the like.

The door was locked.

So Charlie hesitantly knocked, despite nobody being in sight.

But somebody was there.

Foxy popped up from behind the counter, setting a box on top of it. He locked eyes with her and she awkwardly waved.

He clumsily jumped over the counter; pulling his keys from his pocket as he walked over.

He fumbled with his keys for a moment before managing to unlock the doors.

"Charlie! What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you guys," Charlie explained. "Why are you sitting in the dark?"

"Oh, we're having some sort of issue with our power. We haven't figured out why quite yet, but Freddy and Bon-Bon are investigating it."

Foxy started leading her towards the employees only area.

"Anyway, what did you need to talk about? Is it super important?"

"Sort of, yeah. It's about -..." She stopped dead in her tracks, trailing off.

The door in front of them swung open and a tall woman walked out, also pausing as she locked eyes with Charlie.

Foxy looked between the two, who both remained still and silent.

He then realized that when Ballora told him to call Charlie and tell her Elizabeth wasn't dead he hadn't actually done it.

He was about too, but then Bon-Bon came flying into the room and hit him the head.

Foxy got into an argument with the blue bunny and his owner because of it. He was so annoyed and distracted afterward that he completely forgot to actually make the call.

"Oh fuck, I supposed to tell you she isn't dead. I'm so sorry, I completely forgot."

Charlie glanced towards Foxy for about half a second, not saying anything before looking back towards the redhead.

She almost seemed to be scanning her face, critically searching for something.

"You're not dead." She stated. It was supposed to be a question but it didn't come out that way.

"I'm not," Elizabeth replied.

"How?"

"Ran from the monster and clawed my way out of what was left of the building."

"How long did that take?"

"Couldn't tell you exactly. Definitely days, though."

"Did you get badly injured?"

"Not really, all things considered."

"Riley -,"

"Elizabeth now."

There was a pause in the exchange.

Foxy looked between the two, unsure if he should say something.

He felt like he was standing in the middle of some rehearsed interrogation session or something.

There was practically no gap between question and answer. As soon as one finished saying something the other started again.

"...When did you start having issues with your power?"

"Around thirty minutes ago, I think."

"Did anyone else around you lose power?"

"Don't know."

"Have any other issues around here lately?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Well, I think you guys should really start keeping an eye out again."

"And why would that be?"

"I think you should all hear it at once."

There was another pause, though this one wasn't quite as long as the first.

"Then we better go get everyone."

We?

Foxy felt his wrist being grabbed and he was suddenly dragged into the back rooms.

Elizabeth kept holding onto wrist as they continued walking.

"What was that all about?" Foxy blurted out after a moment.

"What was what all about?"

"That conversation. It was weird."

Elizabeth shrugged, finally releasing his wrist. "No idea."

Before Foxy could say anything she spoke again.

"You go get Lor and I'll get Fred and Bon."

She then disappeared down one of the hallways.

"...Okay."