~O~

Part Ten

One Year Later

Dean sat in his bedroom, headphones over his ears as he worked on his homework.

The puppet had found a home on his desk, overlooking the entire room. Dean only looked up briefly at it every so often.

The puppet hadn't spoken to him since he had left the mall. Dean understood, really. Maybe the spirit within it had finally found freedom after the death of the Purple Man.

Things hadn't been easy since they returned.

Dean remembered how his mother had been. She was angry with him beyond all measure, but that didn't compare to the questioning they'd received by police, investigators and practically the entire town.

The FBI had been involved. Dean remembered how that had been. Hours upon hours of questioning, before finally, it had ended once they found Vincent's body inside the mall. As well as Mike's.

Still in the same place the animatronics had left it. The assumption had been that Vincent had killed Andy, Amy and Mark. Given the circumstances, Dean knew it was best to simply let them believe that.

Mike had been given a proper memorial service in his honor. Dean had explained that it was Mike who had saved them. And Mike who had been scrutinized by authorities for every disappearance.

Dean's mother had been furious by his going to the Fazbear Galleria, but she had simply been happy to see him return.

It was Emily who struggled the most after the incident. She rarely left her house and spent most of her days painting pictures of what she had seen. Dean remembered how her parents had to walk at her side for graduation.

But with his mother beside him, they decided to visit the mall so that way Emily could lay flowers down for Mark, Amy and Andy. It had been hard for her to leave and visit the place again, but she wanted to do it.

Dean remembered how the demolition of the mall had been stalled due to the murders that had taken place. And most crews didn't want to get involved with it. So it had been difficult to be rid of the cursed building for an entire year.

It was important to never forget what had happened.

Emily knelt down in the grass, staring down at the photos of her friends she had brought with her. Dean sat down beside her and his mother simply studied the mall in silence for the longest time.

"Is he here?" Emily asked, after a moment of silence.

Dean looked around, noticing nothing off about the surrounding area. It took only a few moments before he spotted Mark's bloodied spirit standing on the other side of the glass doors.

His mother smiled. "He's here." she said.

Emily rubbed her eyes with one hand.

Mark's spirit vanished from the window and reappeared beside them. He stared sadly down at Emily before looking up at Dean.

I'm sorry...

Dean looked down at Emily. "He says he's sorry."

Emily shook her head, almost at tears.

Dean put his arm around her shoulders to comfort her. His mother sighed sympathetically. She noticed the Golden Freddy standing nearby and chuckled. Dean looked up too and spotted the shade. He smiled a little when he noticed Amy's spirit appear. She had the back of her head missing, presumably from a bite.

"Hey, guys..." he said.

Golden Freddy took Amy's hand in his great paw.

A collection of whispers filled Dean's head. None that he could understand entirely, but possibly because Andy and Amy were both talking together.

Andy's voice was distorted and far more mechanical, like radio feedback. It echoed richly in Dean's head.

The occasional twitch of Golden Freddy's head.

Andy.

Still trying to scare in death.

Dean couldn't help his laugh. It wasn't very appropriate, sure; but Andy actually didn't seem as sad as Mark was. Strangely enough, neither did Amy. Those two were still together in the afterlife in some form.

A soft giggle and they disappeared.

Dean's mother exhaled. "The anger that resided within this mall has lifted. But there are souls here who will always stay."

Emily didn't understand what that meant, but she said nothing.

Dean stood up and looked around, noticing several more collections of flowers people had placed near the mall. They had surrounded nearly the entire area surrounding the building.

So many people.

So many lives destroyed.

His mother helped Emily to stand and walk her to the car. Dean followed.

But just before they were about to leave, Dean noticed a flier sitting between the windshield wipers.

He picked it up and studied it.

Slowly, his eyes widened and his hand began shaking.

His mother and Emily caught the look.

"What?" Emily asked. "What's wrong?"

Dean showed them the flier and their eyes widened at the advertizement.

FAZBEAR'S FRIGHT: THE HORROR ATTRACTION.

OPENING SOON!

Local Galleria is getting ready to scare your socks off with a new attraction based on the mysteries of the murders that took place in Freddy Fazbear's Pizza!

Featuring actual relics from the old pizzeria, this new attraction is guaranteed to bring back your childhood in the worst possible way!

Emily shook her head with anguish.

"Oh God..."

The three looked over their shoulders to the mall.

Freddy's jingle could faintly be heard inside.

A soft, childlike laugh.

END