The Afton house stood tall and menacing in front of Brendon and Suzy. In the dark, it almost looked like the head of a monster poking out of the dirt. Shuddering, they walked up the creaky wooden steps to the porch that sung their eerie song of age. Suzy was just about to press the button on the doorbell when Brendon cut her off.
"Don't do that..!" he whispered, his voice tense. "Michael could hear us! I don't wanna go through that again... I really don't." His tone had faded to a very faint murmur.
Suzy pulled her finger away from the bell. Silently, she sat down on the side of the porch, staring at something high up in the sky. Brendon joined her cautiously, letting his legs dangle off the deck. As he looked up, he saw what Suzy was gazing so intently at.
A galaxy's worth of stars illuminated the sky. Perfect purples and blues painted the darkness alongside stars that dotted the world like the freckles on Brendon and Suzy's young faces. They could almost see the stars dancing on their paths in the sky. The soft chirp of crickets rung around them like an orchestra's song. Somehow, the world felt like a better place with the world's painting in the heavens above them.
Brendon wasn't keeping track of time. The sky above him and his sister was too beautiful to ignore. His eyelids slowly became heavier as the night went on, and soon he finally curled up on the wooden deck and closed his eyes.
The sun had finally peeked beyond the horizon and leaked through his eyelids. Rubbing his eyes, Brendon slowly picked his sore back up off the hard wooden deck and saw Suzy awake as well. She was just about to open the front door to the house, seemingly anxious to get in.
Brendon stood, back still sore, and drowsily slouched over to the door. Without a word, he rang the doorbell, sending a chime running through the house.
One minute passed while Brendon awaited an answer.
Two minutes.
Just after three long minutes passed, the door moved open just a bit with the quiet creak of rusty hinges.
"Yes..?" The person behind the door mumbled in a groggy teenage voice, sounding exhausted. The door opened further, revealing the familiar but sleepy face of Michael. His eyes widened in shock.
"Brendon? Suzy?! What are you two doing out there?" Michael questioned, hopping back from the door. "You were gone for so long, too.. What happened?"
Suzy hastily replied, her face pale as visions of the night before flashed through her head. "Ummm.. can we discuss that later?" She shuddered again, the image of Chica's disgusting, horrifying face burned in the back of her mind. "Not a pleasant story."
The kids stepped inside the house wearily. It was a total relief to live inside the comfort of home again. Michael cooked breakfast for the kiddos, placing bread into the family's broken toaster as he cracked open eggs. After an awkwardly long time, he pulled out two plates of burnt 'food' and handed the hot dishes to Brendon and Suzy before making his own.
As they sat around the table and ate, Suzy noticed how odd Michael seemed as of late. Everything about him was more foxlike than before. His posture was straighter, his eyes more bright and alert than they were before, even when he was tired. Even the way he moved was more energetic and light than it was just a few days prior. It didn't seem right somehow, even though he was still, well, Mike.
Her thought was cut short by the knock-knock at the door. Before anyone had gone to answer, William Afton appeared in the doorframe, shoving endless wooden boxes and crates inside the living room. He carried labeled canisters and other certainly questionable things into the house's cellar.
Despite the children knowing his suspicious presence, William didn't say a word.
Author's Note: Apologies for the delays on chapters lately. Summer's been busier than I thought. :(
However, I'm going to try my best and keep up here, so stay tuned!