After I got home, I spent the next eight hours sleeping. When I finally did get up, I couldn't stop thinking about my memory. It was horrible what happened to that little girl. But I couldn't blame Foxy for what he did. Obviously, he had malfunctioned. I was more upset by the fact he's been rotting back in Pirate's Cove for all these years.
However, there was something else about this memory that unnerved me. Something much more sinister yet strangely familiar. I just couldn't pinpoint what it was.
I shook my head and decided it was time to do some more research. I stayed online up till it was time for my shift. But no amount of searching did any good. I couldn't find any new information! At least, nothing pertinent to aid me in my search. I'd hit a dead end with no clue where to go from there. I groaned loudly. "Freddy is gonna kill me..."
I made my way to the pizzeria, nervously wondering what Freddy would do when I showed up without any new information. When I arrived, I made my way around the place, doing my rounds. Once I had the building locked up, I checked my phone and saw it was almost 12. I made my way to my office and reclined in the chair, propping my feet up on the desk.
The bell dinged, signaling my fourth night, and I received yet another call from phone guy.
"Hello, hello? Hey! Hey, wow, day 4. I knew you could do it.
Uh, hey, listen, I may not be around to send you a message tomorrow. *banging sound* It's-It's been a bad night here for me. Um, I-I'm kinda glad that I recorded my messages for you *clears throat* uh, when I did.
Uh, hey, do me a favor. *bang bang* Maybe sometime, uh, you could check inside those suits in the back room? *bang bang* I'm gonna to try to hold out until someone checks. Maybe it won't be so bad. *bang bang* Uh, I-I-I-I always wondered what was in all those empty heads back there. *chime plays*.
You know...*moan* oh, no - *noises followed by an animatronic screech and static*"
I sat up straight in my chair, eyes wide in shock. "Did... Did he just DIE?!" I squeaked out? I shivered in my chair. "That was... Disturbing."
I heard some knocking to my left, causing me to jolt. I whipped around and saw Freddy leaning into the doorway, grinning. "Hey, (y\n)! Er... Are you all right?" he asked worriedly, seeing my paled expression.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine!" I squeaked out, stumbling over my words.
"OK... Well anyway, have you found anything new?" he asked, stepping into the office.
I gulped nervously, my hands shaking some. "W-well n-not exactly. I-I tried looking, I really did!... But I couldn't dig up anything new! I-I've hit a bit of a dead end. T-the last theory was kind of all I had to go on."
He frowned and said, "I see... Well, just keep at it. I'm sure you'll come up with something." He turned and began to walk off.
"Wait... You mean you're not going to kill me?" I asked hesitantly, almost instantly regretting the stupidity of asking such a question.
He glanced back at me, a small smile on his face. "Don't be silly, (y\n). We're not cruel. I don't expect you to be able to figure things out in a matter of a couple of days. I know you're trying. That's the part that matters. Besides, as much as we all like having you here, I'm not sure we'd want to kill you anyway."
I smiled shakily. "Y-you mean that?"
He nodded. "Of course I do. Now, that's not to say we want you to stop looking. But we're not going to hurt you."
I got up and hugged him tightly. "Thank you," I breathed out, relief washing over me.
He chuckled and ruffled my hair playfully. "Hey, waddya say you hang out front with the rest of us tonight? It'll be fun and you won't have to worry about the Marionette attacking you!"
I grinned widely. "That sounds wonderful! I'd love to hang with you guys! Certainly beats being stuck in this crummy office."
We walked down the hallway together, chatting lightly and laughing. When we entered the room, Chica ran over and hugged me tightly, squealing excitedly. "Hi, (y\n)! It's great seeing you again!"
I giggled and hugged her back. "Hi, Chica! It's good to see you too!"
"Ahoy, lass!" Foxy called cheerfully, poking his head out from Pirate's Cove. "What ye be doin out here?"
"Freddy suggested I hang out with you guys!" I said.
Foxy grinned widely and Bonnie walked up saying, "That's great! I love that idea!"
"Me too!" I squealed, glomping him.
We all laughed and spent the next few hours singing, telling stories, and eating lots of pizza. Foxy even performed his show for us! I could tell he deeply missed doing it for the kids.
Around 4 a.m., I stood to go the bathroom. "Hey guys, I'll be right back, OK?"
"OK!" they all said, still laughing.
As I made my way to the bathroom, I began thinking again of phone guy's message. It sent shivers down my spine knowing he was dead. But also,... His voice sounded familiar. Not just from the phone calls, but I could have sworn I'd heard his voice before then even.
My mind jumped to my memory of the bite. As I analyzed everything that happened, I got this strange feeling that both the event and phone guy's messages corresponded somehow. Phone guy couldn't have been there when the bite happened, could he? That would certainly be an odd coincidence. If he was, he'd at least have to be in his early thirties now. Well, before, er... Never mind that. Could he possibly... Have been involved with the other establishments?
My eyes widened at this new theory. What if phone guy was the killer?! I sprinted out of the bathroom and back to the show stage. "Freddy!" I screamed, practically tackling the poor animatronic bear.
"(Y\n), what's wrong? Did something happen?" he asked, both startled and worried at my sudden outburst.
"Freddy, what happened to the last night guard?" I asked frantically.
"Jeremy Fitzgerald? Uh, well... He was stuffed into a suit," he responded hesitantly.
"Was he the guy who left all the messages on the phone?" I blurted out.
His expression turned dark. "No... That was someone else. Why are you asking these questions?"
I ignored him and asked, "Did he get stuffed into a suit too?"
"Well, no. He would have but he managed to get away. Foxy had caught him but the guy had some wire cutters with him and clipped a few wires, disabling Foxy. Nothing too damaging, thankfully, but he made it out alive. (Y\n), w-..." he paused, trying to make sense of things.
"Freddy, how long has this guy been working for the company?" I asked quietly.
"He's kind of been on and off the job," he responded. "It's the strangest thing. He always seems to start working here a few months before things go wrong. Almost like he brings bad luck with him." He forced a short laugh.
"Freddy... What if this guy is the killer?" I whisper.
A few shocked gasps sounded through the room and Freddy's eyes went wide. "It... It would certainly make sense," he mumbled tensely. Some of the others nodded and muttered in agreement.
"I need to find out as much as I can about this guy. The only problem is I don't know his name or what he looks like. Even if he had an existing file somewhere, it would take forever to find it, assuming I could find it at all. Do any of you know who he is?" I asked hopefully.
They all shook their heads sadly. "I'm sorry, (y\n)," Freddy murmured. "In all the times he's worked here, we never learned his name. Heck, we hardly ever saw him. He was always so reserved. And I have to give the guy credit, he was good at keeping us locked out."
"And if the lass be right," Foxy interjected, growling, "hiding from us wasn't the only thing the bilge rat was good at."
"You really think it was him?" Chica squeaked out.
"It certainly makes sense," Bonnie stated dryly. "Why else would he keep coming back like he did?"
"And he was always switching between the night shift and the day shift," Freddy added.
"OK, so we've established that this guy is the killer," I stated. "But just who is he?"
They glanced nervously at each other, not saying anything. Freddy sighed glumly, mumbling, "I wish we knew, (y\n). I really do."
