"Hmm…" The scratching of the pencil on a note paper had continued for several hours after closing. Ariana had set up a folding table right outside the office, stretching the corded phone out of the room with her and placing mountains of paperwork everywhere. She was under a strict deadline to clean everything up as quickly as possible, she usually had ninety days to deal with clean up, but with the closing coming up in less than a month, there was no time to lose. Ariana had hoped he wouldn't have been another one-off employee, like many others the old manager had to put up with before he retired, it was inconvenient, but much more sad, especially for a little kid like him.
She sighed, she had loved the place like family, but it was dangerous nonetheless, it would be a bittersweet goodbye. The animatronics were getting packed away, and she was responsible for finding them a good home. She was still keeping a "Help Wanted" sign in the window, but it was doubtful anyone would show up, as it was plastered right next to the "Closing Soon" poster.
She checked her watch and noticed it was almost midnight, David would be coming in soon. She debated leaving right then or stalling just a little longer to catch him before work and wish him a nice night. The second hand jerked around the face of the watch as she slowly began to gather up her things. She had relocated a few things from the desk to outside after she heard about the pill bottles. There was a stack of old newspapers that she had found and yet to read, but it was gone. Ariana wasn't the most organized manager, but it was still odd, she couldn't find them anywhere in the mountain of paperwork, and it was getting late. She folded up the table and leaned it against the wall, gathering a bundle of papers and exiting down the hallway.
David stumbled down the hallway, getting kind of nervous for his second night. He told himself this would make Ariana's job easier, she was stressed enough already, and he was being a good friend. He couldn't get cold feet now, anyway, he was already there. He spotted Ariana leaving her little makeshift office and felt a twinge of sympathy, hanging around until just about midnight working. "Oh, you're still here." David greeted her. "You'd better go, it's almost time."
"I know, I was just packing up." Ariana smiled "I wanted to wish you good luck. Please call for help this time, for my sake."
"Yeah, I will." David assured her. "Um…About what I said yesterday, I'm sorry. You were so right, it's harder than it looks, I don't see how you put up with it for so long."
"Oh, of course I was." Ariana jutted out her chin. "When am I not? But if you ever need any help, you've got two great former night guards. I'll help you with anything you want, don't hesitate." Ariana bit her lip.
"Relax, I've got it all under control, really." David reassured her, hoping she would stop worrying. She could be a complete neurotic sometimes, though, she often called David overly mellow in response.
"I'm serious, if you get hurt…I'll…I'll be very displeased, so displeased I'll roundhouse kick something, probably Freddy." Ariana push her short, wavy hair back, fidgeting. "The point is, please stay safe, at least for a couple more weeks."
"Ariana." David started. "I'll be fine, after this place closes, we can get better jobs, maybe we can work at the same 's—I don't know. We can even take the day guard with us, so don't worry."
Ariana nodded, perking up a bit. "Livin' the dream, right?"
"Yeah, now you're talking." David gave a weak thumbs up "I'll see you tomorrow, get some sleep, alright?"
They both passed each other after waving good bye.
David eased into his seat and pulled up the camera to check on all three animatronics, they were all staring straight at him. This was going to be a great night, he could tell. He dialed up Jeremy on the landline Ariana had left for him, just to be safe. The phone rung several time before Jeremy picked up.
"H-Hello?" Jeremy sat straight up in his bed and grabbed the phone off his bedside table. Phone calls were a nice break from staring up at the ceiling every night for several hours.
"Hey, it's David, the night guard, Ariana gave me your number." David explained, setting the tablet down. "Did I wake you up?"
"No—I mean, yes, but, I don't mind." Jeremy gave a false yawn for effect, thinking it would seem weird if he was up at midnight. "You need advice, right?"
"Well, sort of, I just kind of called to make Ariana feel better, but if I run into something, I'll ask, you don't mind staying with me for a little bit, right?" David was already tapping the tablet from room to room, waiting for one of them to leave.
"O-Of course not." Jeremy laughed nervously. "W-Whatever makes you feel safe."
"Thanks, man." David put the tablet down for a second to open one of his snacks.
"You're welcome…man." Awkward silence. Jeremy tried to think of something to say. "Soooo…"
"What?" David asked.
"Uh, how was yesterday for you?" Good, small talk, start with that.
"Eh, it was kind of hectic at the end, I don't remember much, too many energy drinks." David explicated "How was your first night?"
"Oh, it was great, I mean, even though there were animals trying to kill me, I had a lot of fun." Jeremy laughed a genuine laugh. "Back then I was really confused about what I was going to do for a living, I didn't seem good at anything, but night guarding, it was like finding a soulmate, I knew that night that this was what I was meant to do." He paused. "I know it sounds really stupid, but some people know they're right for teaching or cooking or drawing from the moment they pick up a pencil or a bag of flour, but I'm right for night guarding."
"Wow, that's really cool." David smiled, he never really believed in that divine reasoning stuff anyway, but he was happy for Jeremy anyway.
"S-Sorry…" Jeremy apologized.
"For what?" David wondered, swiveling over to tap the light switches.
"I didn't mean to bore you with that stuff anyway…I mean, sometimes I talk too much about myself and then not at all and I never talk about anything interesting anyway and—"
"It's fine, I don't mind." David assured. "You're interesting, I swear, I'd like to hear about things that happened to you on the job, makes the six hours more bearable."
"You're sure?" Jeremy asked, trying to think of a good story, not wanting to disappoint David.
"Yeah, man, go ahead." David confirmed.
Street water splashed the car window as Ariana skidded around the corner. It was pouring rain and she hadn't brought more than a coat. She draped it over the paperwork to keep them dry. The roads were empty except for the occasional speeding van or reflective tape-covered jogger. Home was fairly far away, in a bit nicer part of town. Though she was getting there in record time, before she realized she was stomping the gas pedal into the ground. She took a quick breath and relaxed her grip on the wheel, slouching back into the cushiony leather of the car seat. She twisted the dial on the radio and put on some music for the rest of her drive. She switched to some oldies music, as far back as the thirties, her favorite, the older, the better. There wasn't very much of a drive left anyway.
"When I met my sweet Lorraine, Lorraine, Lorraine." She wondered if David had called yet. Turn.
"She's got a pair of eyes, brighter than the summer skies..." He had better have called Jeremy, the animatronics were definitely active by now. Turn.
"When you see them, you realize…" What if Jeremy was sleeping? He could be sleeping. Stop sign.
"Why I love my sweet Lorraine." What if Freddy was active, it was the end of the week, he probably was, and he's the hardest to avoid. Maybe Jeremy didn't know how to control Freddy, he never worked at the exact location, that would be a disaster.
Ariana slammed the break at a crosswalk. Someone who made the decision to go jogging at midnight in the rain continued on his quest for fitness, huzzah.
Luckily, she was a block away from her house, and managed to keep her attention on the road for the five minutes required to drive at a safe speed toward her destination. She unloaded her paperwork, wrapped in a burlap coat, and unlocked the door.
"Hey, Ari!" Ariana jumped at the sudden sound. The kitchen lights were on, and someone was at the counter, reading a book. Taking a closer look, it was her older brother, Jasper.
"Wh—" Ariana started.
"'Why am I here?' It's the holiday season, remember? Happy Thanksgiving." He explained, he usually lived and went to school on the East Coast, Yale Law. "Other than that, I got up to read."
"Read? You came downstairs and sat next to a fridge filled with Thanksgiving dinner stuff to read?" Ariana set her pile of folders on the counter next to him. "Nerd."
"I see you haven't changed, and you're home earlier than usual." Jasper gestured to the stack of paperwork she had set down. "I didn't know being a security guard involved so much paperwork, did one of the animals kill someone?"
"Um, no, of course not, and I'm not a guard anymore, I was promoted." She clarified.
"Wow, that's much better than 'security guard'. Ari, you make me feel so inadequate." Jasper joked. "So what's the paperwork for?"
"Well, the restaurant's closing soon, that, and another guard disappeared." Ariana spoke in a casual tone, as if she were talking about anything other than a coworker disappearing.
"Yeah, sure." He laughed. "'Disappeared'? What a joke. You know more than anyone there's something fishy going on over there. Frankly, I'm surprised you're allowed to talk to me about it, 'would have thought they'd have you sign some sort of secrecy contract."
"It's a children's restaurant, not the secret service, Jasper." She sneered.
"Mmhmm, so you're a manager now? You've put yourself in danger enough to gain the privilege of doing it to someone else?" Jasper daintily turned to the next page of his paperback.
Ariana blinked as the words ran through her brain. She was completely caught off guard by his blunt statement, her face turned bright red "W-What do you know about my job, anyway?! I'm not the villain here!"
"Of course not, you'd never make a good villain, your lack of control over your emotions makes you weak." Jasper remarked, keeping his eyes on the book. "You wouldn't make a good lawyer, either, but those two are almost the same thing, anyway."
"That's kind of rude." Ariana scolded him. "I know you can't help being such a blunt, unfeeling robot, but that was uncalled for."
"Sorry." He shrugged."I guess I could take a lesson from you in weaving beautiful lies."
Ariana stayed silent. Jasper was mostly right and she hated it. She did have a hand in getting the man David respected most killed, putting David in danger, and hiring a teenager for goodness sake. She liked to think of it as her bosses, the nameless, faceless CEOs, presumably smoking cigarettes rolled with money while everyone below them risked their lives to keep their pockets lined, were the ones who caused it all. Or the animatronics, Freddy especially, who stumbled about like little children throwing tantrums, unaware of the destruction they wrought. In the end, she did play a part, and if David failed, that would be three people.
"Hey, are you still mad? I'm sorry." Jasper noticed her staring down at the granite counter with her head in her hands.
"It's nothing, I'm just…thinking about how right you are." She sniffed. "Like always."
"Listen, you're not a villain, you're just a foolishly emotional person who is easily manipulated." Jasper winced, realizing he was being too curt again. "I mean, you're…nice…you're a good person, and that's more than I can say for myself."
"What's the point? You always say in a courtroom it doesn't matter how 'good' you are." Ariana crossed her arms, pouting.
"Are you trying to get me to give you a pep talk? Because 'good' is the biggest compliment you're getting out of me." Jasper looked up from his book only to roll his eyes. "However, I can't resist alerting you of your logical fallacy. The difference is that you're not in a courtroom yet, you can't be guilty of something you haven't done yet, so don't."
"Yeah, okay, I'll go un-hire a dead person now, have a nice night." Ariana began to gather her papers.
"Get some sleep, you get sassy when you're tired." Jasper returned to his book.
"He's gone." David held the phone close to his ear with his shoulder, using his hands to utilize the tablet. "What do I do?"
"Who's gone?" Jeremy asked from the other side of the phone, his hands were slick enough to make the phone feel like wet soap.
"You know, the bear, Freddy." David stammered. "Oh…he's in the Dining Area! I didn't even know he could go there!"
"Uh-um w-wind the music box?" Jeremy faltered, trying to remember how he dealt with Freddy "F-Flash the flashlights?"
"Stop joking!" David checked Pirate's Cove again, and stared at the blackened eyes of the bear animatronic with disbelief.
"I wasn't even joking!" Jeremy bit his lip. "I really have no idea what to do! Call that manager lady, she knows better than me!"
David paused. "I can't, I told her I would be fine."
"You won't be. If I know anything about those animatronics it's that you can't afford to give them any advantage, so call her right now." Jeremy asserted "I-I mean, if you're okay with it."
"Okay…I guess so." David grumbled. "Hey, why do you do that?"
"Do what?" Jeremy asked.
"Nevermind." David watched Freddy move a room closer. "Bye." He pressed the dial tone and began to dial up Ariana.
The kitchen landline rang in the silent house not long after Ariana retired upstairs. Jasper looked at the phone and picked it up.
"Hello? Who is calling at this hour?" Jasper inquired, putting a bookmark in to save his place.
"Uh, this is David? Who are you?" David requested.
"You know Ariana, she works with you." Jasper stated in a monotonous voice.
"Woah, how did you know that? Do you have ESP?" David jokingly guessed.
Jasper laughed "No, you sound like someone Ariana would know and Ariana only associates with people from her workplace. I simply stated my hunch like it was a fact, magic doesn't exist. I am Ariana's brother, Jasper, pleasure to meet you. She's in her room, please hold." Jasper made his way up the stairs to her room, and knocked on the door.
"What is it, I'm trying to do paperwo—." Ariana opened the door and saw Jasper holding the phone. She snatched it and shut the door before he could scarcely open his mouth.
"Good night, I guess." Jasper sighed. He rubbed his temples, beginning to feel sleepy, he lingered behind her door for a moment.
"Watch him, like Foxy." Ariana skipped over hellos and immediately sputtered into the phone.
"What?" David was about to go into his apologies for bothering her, but he had been cut off.
"Freddy, he's like Foxy, he needs to be watched, he likes it when the camera lights up." Ariana explained, sure that Freddy was the reason he had called.
"Um…okay." He switched to the camera where Freddy lurked, hiding in the bathroom. "I'm watching him…" David obeyed. "Hey, how did you know I was calling about Freddy? Are you a psychic, like your brother?"
"Jasper's not psychic, he's just an ass." Ariana corrected him. "I knew because I was thinking about it, on the ride home, and here. I'm really sorry I didn't tell you. I'm sorry for a lot of things…"
"Oh." David reddened, disappointed in himself that he had tried not to worry her and failed. "I'm fine, you know, I can make it through the night, I just need a little advice."
"No, David, I want to take you off the job." Ariana decided. "I don't know what I'd do if you got hurt. Let me do it, no one else deserves to be in that position more than me."
"Absolutely not!" David objected. "You need to focus on your work, pack everything up, in a few weeks, we'll be fine, I promise."
"But—" Ariana began.
"I need to go, I'm trying to focus on the animatronics." David interrupted. "Thanks for helping me, I think I have all the knowledge I need." David hung up before Ariana could say another word.
Ariana sighed and left the phone on her desk. No matter what, the guard position had to be filled, and Ariana made the choice. Maybe she wasn't cut out to be a manager, no matter what choice she made, someone was going to be put in danger, but still, someone had be put in the position to make those choices. The entire restaurant was a big game of London Bridge, someone always had to get trapped under the bridge, there was always a short stick to be had. She surveyed over her paperwork and smiled, at least it would be over soon.
On the other side of the door, Jasper finally began to lurch towards the guest bedroom, thinking about what he'd heard, he hadn't meant to eavesdrop, only taking a minute because he was getting drowsy. It was odd what he'd heard, a robot that 'likes' camera lights, probably just awkward wording on Ariana's part, but that and how upset she got about the presumed guard staying on the job. Something was definitely fishy, but he was too tired to think about that now.