Five Nights at Freddy's: Rebooted Retribution

Chapter 9

An Unforgettable Night

*Knock, knock, knock* Farrah glanced up at the door, but before she could open it, Faith stepped in. She seemed to have a grimacing look on her face, but she tried to remain as approachable and friendly as possible.

"Oh, it's you…" Farrah said returning to her laptop monitor. She was still downloading voice prompts and songs into Foxy's programming.

"Hey, I just wanted to make sure you made it home last night." She began. "I knew you'd be here. You didn't answer your phone." There was a long pause before Faith spoke again. "Um, why aren't you joining the party with the others?"

"My boss said I had to work overtime today." Farrah answered shortly.

"So, this is what you've been working on?" Faith asked as she walked over to Foxy.

"Don't get too close to him!" Farrah warned.

"Why?" She questioned.

"Just don't! Still got a lot of bugs to work out." Farrah confirmed. Secretly she knew the real reason she didn't want anyone crowding Foxy. She still remembered the first time when they met, how he lunged at her. She wasn't going to let anyone invade his space. The last thing she needed was to be accused of jerry-rigging a robot and going to prison in the event he attacked. Plus, she wanted to ensure her cousins' safety.

"…Sure is a scary looking thing, isn't it?" She stated as she stepped back. Trying to respect Farrah's wishes.

"He's not scary! And he's not a 'thing' or an 'it.' I think he's kind of… cute. Once I get the new costume he'll be in great shape." Farrah replied defensively. "This is going to be my best work yet. Much better than working on fax and vending machines." There was a long pause after Farrah scolded her. It was clear that Farrah was proud of her work, but Faith couldn't help but think she was treating her project more like a patient. She decided to change the direction of the conversation.

"The band mates and I are thinking about doing some community service work with the children's hospital up North. I figured it would not only help with morale but also help the band be more widely recognized." Faith said, deciding to ease into the conversation slowly. She wanted to see if that would get a reaction out of Farrah, but it didn't. Farrah must have been reclusive for so long that she must've developed a tough shell and a great poker face. Faith went on. "…What do you think about us traveling around the towns and doing music festivals?" She prodded.

"If it will keep you from bothering me, yeah do whatever." She replied monotonously not looking back up at her cousin. Faith decided to let Farrah be rude to her while she continued to pry a little more.

"I was thinking… we need a fourth member featured in one of our songs. I was wondering if you had any talents you'd like to contribute...? You ARE one of the closest people to the band after all." Faith suggested, figuring the offer would soften the blow. Certainly, she could arrange for Farrah to be a featured singer eventually, once a new song was written. It wasn't completely a lie.

"Nope, no talents here... Not anymore." Farrah stopped and thought for a moment, she knew where Faith was getting at. "You know, I'm not stupid, so don't play me for a sap. It's obvious why you're mentioning all this to me... You talked to Frank, didn't you?" She said calling her out.

"Yeah you told me to." Faith reminded quickly in her own defense.

"Regardless, it's time to address the elephant in the room… What did you come here for anyway? The party's down the hall." Farrah insisted and as if to remember the position Faith had put her in last night, Farrah decided it was a good time to confront her cousin.

"Well first off, I wanted to apologize for us not staying together as a group. We felt guilty leaving you there alone." She paused for moment and noticed Farrah was wearing an eyepatch but knew it wasn't for the Halloween festivities. "Did you get beat up again?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I did. After you guys deserted me, I ran into Dani. What's it to you? But don't worry, I hitched a ride with the officer who handcuffed me." Farrah retorted.

"Oh Farrah, I'm so sorry..." Faith began but Farrah turned in her chair to cut her off.

"Don't be! I told you it was a bad idea. I tried to get out of going with you but you peer-pressured me against my will. You disrespected my wishes and like the fool I was, I decided to give you the benefit of the doubt because I felt guilty. I don't need your apologies and I don't need anyone's pity." Farrah scorned and turned away from her.

"What's with you? I know you never used to be like this." Faith began, mirroring the same defensiveness as Farrah.

"How do YOU know what I used to be like? You weren't even around for most of it!" Farrah whipped around and eyed her cousin accusingly.

"Well I'd like to be now, but you're always pushing others away. Farrah that's not healthy!"

"Who are you to tell me how to live my life? You have no idea what I've been through. So, don't try and tell me and pretend like you care! But y-you're just like that stuck-up friend you call Brittany, you're just like everyone else in this town! You only wanna hang out all of sudden because I know about your sister!" Farrah accused. She sighed before continuing. "Do me a favor alright? Don't ask me to go on anymore of your social outings." Farrah demanded as she stood up and started stuffing her nylon tool bag with various tools.

"For the record, yeah it seemed that was the only reason I wanted to hang out. It was bad timing on my part, but I really do want to get to know you better too. We have to start somewhere right? But fine, I'll respect your solitude. If we hang out, I'll make sure not to bog you down with more people than you can handle. We can have one-on-one time instead. If you're okay with that...?" Faith suggested as a compromise.

"Next time just ask how I feel about it first. That's all I ever wanted in the first place." She said sitting back down in her seat. Faith leaned against the door and thought for a moment.

"So… do you know anything about the child who drowned in Frank's pond?" Faith asked changing the subject once more. "He didn't say."

"That cabin was his family's get-away during the summer. His son was the one who drowned in that pond. Frank stays there, full time now. Probably believes that he can be closer to him that way." Farrah answered with a defeated sigh and began working again. She was fiddling with some kind of motherboard or chip and some wires at her desk.

"So… Christine played the piano?" Faith asked slowly.

"Technically it was the keytar but yes she played that too before upgrading." Farrah said almost mumbling the answer, but Faith understood.

"Can you...?" She started to ask about what happened to Christine, but she cut her off again. It was like Farrah read her mind.

"Not right now. It's still not a good time. Sorry." Farrah interrupted.

"Okay… hey is it just me or did that thing move since I've been standing here?" Faith asked pointing towards Foxy.

"Maybe I have a remote controlling to him to freak you out for the occasion?" Farrah joked but Faith was right, he did seem to be standing in a different position than before Faith walked in. He stood in a way that appeared he was being threatened and was about to lunge.

"So, these things are used for children's birthday parties?" Faith asked and then quickly corrected herself. "I mean robot animals."

"Pretty much."

"Our town couldn't afford a Chuck-E-Cheese like everyone else?" Faith suggested jokingly.

"I think these robots are cooler anyway." Farrah asserted. "Restaurants in the field have to have competition somehow."

"That reminds me… When is your birthday anyway?" Faith remembered.

"I don't celebrate my birthday and if I told you, I don't need you throwing me any surprise parties. That's not what I'm about."

"I won't. Come on, you can tell me." Faith insisted.

"I'm gonna hold you to your word. You know how I am… It's November 27th." Farrah seen Faith get silent and swallow hard. It was then that she knew Faith had already seen the tombstones. Farrah didn't know why, but she could feel angry and her face growing hot like she was about to start tearing up.

"Well, I better let you get back to your work. Sorry to bother you." Faith said but didn't wait for Farrah to respond before leaving out the door. Farrah stood up after her and instead slammed the door of her work station. Tears began pouring down her face until she was compelled to put her hook through a mirror that had been situated behind the door on the wall. It shattered into several tiny pieces on the floor. The cardboard stuck to her hook and she slammed it down on the gray carpet. She collapsed in her chair once more and started to sob silently to herself at her desk. She could feel Foxy's cold metal hand on her shoulder almost as if to console her and realized he could understand emotion. Maybe haunted robots weren't as far-fetched in their capabilities as she thought. Farrah glanced up at the fox, who nuzzled her cheek with his muzzle. She patted the side of his snout with her left hand.

"You're sweet." She sniffled.

Back at the party, Faith reunited with the rest of her friends who were standing by a long table that had been used for snacks and punch bowls.

"Well, how did that go?" Brittany asked.

"We… worked out our differences." She replied.

"Why DID they choose to have the Halloween party here anyway?" Chris asked the two girls. Brittany gave a sigh of annoyance before responding.

"It's because this year they couldn't do it at Freddy's. Their boss and the boss for this place worked out an agreement to have it here. See? The owner or manager or whatever of Freddy's is standing over there. They're the ones hosting this." She said pointing out Mr. Larney from across the room, who had appeared to be talking with, what Brittany only assumed to be the manager of 'Lil Brothers with Tools. They both had serene looks on their faces and Brittany couldn't read lip service very well from where she was standing. Then the two men disappeared into a dark corridor. That was odd.

"Oh, look Faith, it seems your friend came out of hiding after all." Brittany exclaimed. They could see Farrah slip in from another corridor staying close to the wall and making her way to a table of sandwiches and chips. "You sure you don't wanna say 'hi' again?" She jeered at her friend.

"Shut up." Faith retorted.

"Hey, they made their basement into a haunted house theme." Chris said as he took a swig of punch and grabbed a handful of chips. "Wanna go down there and check it out?"

"Nah, I'm not into cheesy fun houses." Brittany declined. "Total child's play. But maybe Faith here would like to get scared of macaroni skeletons?" She scorned.

"Maybe later." Faith agreed. She watched Farrah get a plate and pass by several people before stopping in front of a large rotating chalkboard on wheels. A tall dark-haired guy with glasses dressed as Dracula seemed to greet her as she stood to eat.

"Farrah!" Lance exclaimed. "I didn't think we'd see you tonight."

"Oh, uh I just came down for uh…" Farrah said showing him her plate.

"I see, well, normally we wouldn't ask you to stay over, especially during something like this." He said. "You DO know why we wanted you to, right?"

"Kinda." She said.

"Well, new unforeseen developments actually came up. Mr. Larney was wanting that animatronic returned early."

"Returned early? When?" She about inhaled her drink.

"No later than Friday. He wants us to start getting it ready to ship back tomorrow." Lance answered.

"Did he say why?" This was utter bullshit, she thought. Maybe Freddy's didn't trust one of their machines to be outside the restaurant. Greg's demeanor had been acting slightly off here recently and maybe Bill picked up on this.

"No, but you can finish your work onsite." He reassured.

"Lance, I haven't even gotten the shipment for the new costume yet—" She protested.

"Don't worry about that. When it arrives, we will drop it off to you there. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to address the audience." Lance said as he cleared his throat. "Excuse me? Can I have everyone's attention please?!" The crowd ignored him and continued their mingling. Lance grabbed a glass and tapped a fork against it. Again, nothing. Frustrated, he grabbed Farrah's hook hand and ran it across the chalkboard behind them. It made an ear-piercing, screeching noise that silenced the room instantly. Everyone turned to look at them and all Farrah could do was stand there with her mouth agape. She dropped her plate on the floor in stoned silence and pointed to Lance before slowly making her exit.

"There. Now that I have everyone's attention. I would like to address the audience for a minute." He began. "First off, I would like to thank everyone for coming out. We understand that this event was supposed to take place Freddy's, but our friends here needed time to renovate to make your experience there an even more exciting one. We look forward to the Halloween party next year to be even better yet when it's held at the new and improved Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. This could not be possible without our host Mr. Bill Larney. I would like to thank him and our staff for bringing a little bit of Freddy's here to Lil Brothers with Tools Corporation. I would also to like to announce that we will be partnering with Fazbear Entertainment for the many years to come. Thank you and have a great-" Lance's speech was just about finished when a group of party-goers came up from the basement shrieking in terror.

"Oh my God it's real!"

"There's real dead bodies down there!"

"Somebody, help!"

"Call the cops!"

"They're really dead!"

Seconds later, the Janitor and the security guard came up out of the basement and pulled Lance aside to talk to him before Mr. Larney and Greg appeared to see what all the commotion was about. Four of the men hurried down into the basement to confirm what everyone was panicking about, while Lance tried to keep the crowd calm.

"Looks like their little haunted house wasn't so lame after all." Brittany said turning to Chris and Faith who stood in utter silence and shock at what was going on. The police, a coroner and two ambulances arrived several minutes later. The officers began escorting the party-goers out of the building and ushered them to stand back on the side of the street. They witnessed the EMS roll two stretchers, cloaked in white sheets with bodies on them. They rolled them into their ambulances with the coroner leading them out.

"Guys? …Do any of you see Farrah anywhere?" Faith remembered she hadn't seen her since she slipped out of the room earlier.

"No." Chris replied.

"I don't." Brittany said glancing and scanning the frightened group. They could hear officers telling the crowd that they were forbidden to leave until they got statements from everyone. "Maybe Farrah killed them? That's why she disappeared conveniently." She joked.

"Brittany, seriously? This is not the time! You can't make accusations like that!" Faith scolded.

"Hey guys? We better slip out of here. Sixth Sense News just arrived." Chris intervened nervously as he ducked behind a small group of people and backed away slowly. Police stated putting up their yellow crime-scene tape and barriers.

"Shit!" Brittany said. "We're well known, we can't have publicity for something like this!" She exclaimed. Faith had no choice but to agree. It could hurt their image around town. She hoped Farrah was alright and they casually and carefully slipped out, using the chaos as an advantage.

"Now I know how Farrah feels." Brittany said as they found a hedge to jump through into a neighboring side yard, ducking from lights and hiding in the shadows.

"Shut up!" Faith said again. Hopefully their costumes from the night before was enough to disguise them as they disappeared into the chilly night.

"Let me just go out and see what's going on." Farrah pleaded as she tried grabbing the door handle to her workstation, but Foxy stopped her and locked it from the inside.

"It be Captain's orders that ye wait!" The stubborn robot fox demanded. He blocked the door, preventing her escape. He grabbed her close and placed his cold metal left-hand around her mouth. She decided it was in her best interest not to struggle. After all, he WAS bigger and stronger than she was and didn't know what the metal fox was capable of. They could hear voices outside the hallway shortly after. They both stood there in the room listening by the door. Farrah could hear the muffled voices of Lance, Greg and… Mr. Larney? talking to the police just out in the hallway. Their voices were still clear enough to understand.

"Yes, everyone's been evacuated!" Greg was saying.

"Were you able to identify those bodies found in the basement?" The officer prodded.

"That was Leslie and Jeremy." Lance chimed in. "Oh God, I think I wanna puke!"

"How long did you notice they didn't show up for work?" The policeman asked.

"Oh, I don't know, a few days." Greg replied. "They didn't even call in. They just stopped showing up one day."

"We thought they quit without notice." Lance added. "We never heard anything."

"So, nobody bothered going into the basement? You didn't notice a smell?" The officer asked.

"Our ventilation is top notch." Greg insisted. "I personally, didn't notice a smell. I have an upstairs office but I'm not in there full time. I go out to check on my employees when they're on sites occasionally or go to meetings with our consumers. I keep a company cell phone with me at all times in case there's any issues here."

"What about you?" The officer said pointing to Lance.

"I noticed a strange smell, officer. I just figured it was a dead animal of some kind. I didn't feel the need to inform Greg about it. We don't currently have a maintenance person on staff right now." Lance answered.

"So, nobody to check the systems down there?" The officer added.

"Correct. We're currently looking for someone to fill the position. Our janitor knows some maintenance skills, but he doesn't go down there. His closet is at the end of the hall. There's no need for him to go in the basement." Lance said.

"Greg, did you or Lance notice anything odd about the two victims?"

"Like what exactly?" Greg asked.

"You men clearly saw that they were hanging by nooses. Did they display any signs of being suicidal prior to this? Any change in behavior?" The officer reiterated, but both Greg and Lance shook their heads no. The officer then turned his attention onto Mr. Larney.

"We'll need to discuss this with you at the station, since your establishment is already involved in an ongoing criminal investigation." He said.

"This is absurd!" Mr. Larney exclaimed. Farrah could tell by the tone in his voice that the once jovial man she met before, seemed very distraught and defensive. He definitely didn't seem like the same joking, carefree person he represented during their introduction. Foxy and Farrah could hear footsteps running down the hall seconds later, which had stopped right outside the door. They could hear the security guard say that he just reviewed the tapes, but there was nothing recorded.

"They're all a blank. The cameras didn't catch anything." He was saying. The officer finished taking statements before coercing Mr. Larney to go to the station with him. Farrah tried to pull away from Foxy, but he just stopped her and pulled her closer. Greg and Lance were still outside her door. The police must have left because they could hear the two men talking.

"I told you partnering with them was a bad investment. Once again, people are winding up dead because of that godforsaken restaurant!" They could hear Lance scold Greg quietly.

"Sshh! Don't you think I'm aware of the situation?" Greg said. "Fazbear Entertainment just came into a lot of money. From where, I don't know, and I don't care, but don't ruin this for me and OUR company! They're our biggest consumer right now. If WE play along, WE could all reap the financial benefits."

"But people died Greg! How are you going to explain that to the families? Don't you care? We just lost three employees in a month!"

"So, some lives were lost. People die every day Lance. Death is a statistic. They'll get over it and it'll be yesterday's news." Greg replied unsympathetically.

"Getting involved with a franchise with a dark history like that could be damaging to us and everyone who participated. What if you or the company is roped into something illegal and then we all wind up in jail? We lose our jobs and our credibility." Lance insisted.

"We won't. Let Fazbear's take the fall. They're the face in all this. They're the ones who are automatically going to be blamed, not us. We'll come out looking like the good guys when we get our big payout and compensate the families for their losses. Then every business in this town will turn to us. It's free advertisement! Don't you see the opportunities? Think of the headlines." He persuaded. "AND… there's a big payout for you if you keep your mouth shut about all this. Don't forget, I can always blackmail you and you know very well what I'm talking about… So, do we have an agreement?"

"But what about our employees who are working on their robots? Are you wanting to cancel their assignments? They could be in danger." Lance insisted again.

"Of course not, you dunce! The more casualties, the better AND the more money. And right now, my money is on that fish-hooked, wash up getting killed next by that equally freaky fox. I heard she was a loose end years ago. Want to wager?" Greg chuckled. "…Keep them working as planned on those machines, they're about to make me rich and they're not even mine! Now, I have a security guard to discuss future employment with this company…" They could hear Greg and Lance shuffle down the hallway until they couldn't be heard anymore. Foxy released Farrah from her grip as she gasped air in utter shock. All Farrah could think about was the many racing questions swirling around her mind: Lance is being blackmailed? Me? A loose end, how? What do I do? Do I call the cops? Should I quit? Maybe they'll catch on that I knew something if I quit or report it to the authorities. Is my life in danger? Maybe not so much from Foxy, but someone else…