DISCLAIMER: This chapter will be longer than the others, since I wanted to round out the story evenly.

Chapter 9: Nightmares, Terror, and Cake

Cliff stepped into the bathroom, looking around with the torch he'd borrowed from the security booth. The room was just as dark and dismal as the rest of the pizzeria, but thankfully, there was no sign of any animatronics. "Let's see… if I were a computer part hiding in the bathroom, where would I be?"

Above one of the sinks, he saw a strange banner hanging on the wall. It showed a star, one half red and pointy, the other blue and sticklike, in a white circle against a blue background. "I wonder what sort of banner that is," he muttered. "What does it have to do with creepy animatronics? Is there some kind of conspiracy? Is there a hostile takeover that I don't know about?" He sighed and shook his head. "Man, where's MatPat when you need him?"

Cliff walked through the bathroom and pushed each stall open, tensing in case something leaped out and bit him. In the last stall, he was surprised to see a door where the toilet should've been. "Let's see: creepy door hidden in a bathroom stall. To open or not to open; that is the question." He paused to think then shrugged. "Ah, what the heck."

With that, he pushed open the door… and found himself in a well-lit psychiatrist's office. "What the…?"

As he looked around in confusion, a young girl in a yellow dress climbed off the divan and approached him. "Oh, I'm so glad you're here," she said in a gentle British accent. "You came because Mr. Midnight is missing, didn't you?"

Cliff was still puzzled by the change of scenery, so he didn't recognize her straight away. "Your what now?"

"Mr. Midnight!" the girl repeated. "I cannot find him."

"Well, ain't that just the pits?" Cliff drew up his chest then raised his hand. "I will help you find your Mr. Midnight! There's just one thing that I need to know."

The girl smiled. "Yes?"

"Who is Mr. Midnight?"

"He is my kitty, of course."

"Wait… Mr. Midnight's your kitty…" Cliff shuffled through his memories for a few moments. "Oh, yeah! You must be Fran Bow!"

"Yes, that is me," the girl answered with a curtsey.

"Well, never fear, Fran Bow!" Cliff put on his heroic pose again. "I, Cliff Smedley, will find your kitty or die trying! …Preferably without the dying part."

"Thank you," Fran Bow beamed. "If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me."

"Maybe I'll find the hydrospersion key on the way," Cliff added. "It wouldn't do to go back to Jack, Jenny, and Billy without it."

"Oh, you know Billy?" Fran Bow asked.

"Yep! Why, is he a friend of yours?"

"Yes, we are friends. Good friends, in fact. He usually helps me find Mr. Midnight when we get separated. Is he helping you?"

"Yeah, it's really cool to be working with him," Cliff smiled. "Why do you ask?"

Fran blushed slightly and turned away. "N-No reason. You should keep looking for Mr. Midnight."

"Hmm," Cliff murmured but said nothing more on the matter.

He walked up to some file cabinets and opened a drawer. "There are patient records in here. Now, I normally respect patient confidentiality… buuuut it's a computer program, and it's not like I'm going to tell anyone about these."

With that, he pulled out a file and flicked through it. "'Charles Dalimar'… My gosh, this guy's got schizophrenia, sociopathy, delusions of grandeur… AND he escaped from the window!" He quickly closed the file, stuffed it back in the drawer, and slammed it shut. "Hope I don't run into that guy!"

After a quick circuit of the room, Cliff had no luck finding anything. "Man, how hard can it be to find a talking black cat?"

"Perhaps these can help you," Fran offered, holding out a bottle of red pills. "Whenever I get stuck on a puzzle, they always show me the way."

"Hmm, if these are the pills I think they are, this might not end well," Cliff said. "But on the other hand, I've nowhere else to go, so… Sure, I'll take one."

"If you want to come back, you'll need to find the yellow pills," Fran advised. "They should be on the desk nearby."

So saying, Fran handed him a pill and Cliff immediately gulped it down. "So, what's supposed to h-UURRGH!" Suddenly, his head started spinning, his stomach twisted, and he closed his eyes in pain. Then just as quickly, the feeling passed, though Cliff's head felt sore.

But when he opened his eyes, the whole room had changed. The walls and floor were stained with blood, the door back had been replaced by a gaping hole, and a dead body lay where Fran Bow used to stand. "Good grief…"

Just then, he heard a soft mew and he turned to see a cat as black as the darkest night sitting on the divan, gazing at him with big yellow eyes. "Mr. Midnight!" Cliff cried. "Wow, that was super easy!"

"Is Fran all right?" the cat asked in a surprisingly deep voice for his size. "I'm afraid we've been separated."

"She's fine." Cliff looked at the desk and spotted the bottle of yellow pills. "Maybe you should take one of these. She's right here in this room."

Mr. Midnight shook his head slowly. "I'm afraid I cannot. Fran and I have been separated by a dark ritual. Besides, those pills were not meant for animal consumption. You'll have to find another way to reunite us."

Cliff rubbed his chin. "Well, I've never performed a dark ritual before, but I guess there's a first time for everything!"

"There should be an instruction sheet in the library over there," Mr. Midnight said, pointing to a doorway with his paw. "Try checking that."

"Will do." Cliff smiled and scratched Mr. Midnight's head, making him purr. "Don't worry, kitty. I'll get you back to Fran in no time."

He then entered the library, a room that was just as grim and gory as the doctor's office. There were four levers on the wall, a doorway that was blocked off by police tape, and a row of bookshelves filled with creepy jars and dusty books. In one corner, he saw a giant cup. "Hmm, a bit big to drink out of, not that that would stop me, of course. Now, a crazy curse or some dark magic… That would stop me from drinking out of it."

Cliff walked towards the bookshelves, running his hand along the wall. "Man, this building is losing a lot of blood… If this keeps up, it's gonna need a blood transfusion. Do they know its type? And where are they going to get that much blood?" He then frowned. "You know what, I don't think I want to be around for that."

He then reached the nearest bookshelf and began searching through the different books. "Ah, here we go," he said after a while. "Spells and rituals. Reuniting loved ones… Hmm, looks like there are five different ingredients we need. Better take this with me and show it to Fran."

After pocketing the book, he went back to the office and took a yellow pill. Just like before, he felt a splitting headache that made him blink, and when it cleared, he was back in the normal office where Fran was waiting. "I found a book on what to get!"

"Oh good," Fran beamed. "What do we need?"

Cliff opened the book on the spell. "The ingredients we need are… the blood of a mortal enemy, the hair of a healer, the proof of an imaginary friend, the ashes of someone you've wronged, and the heart of someone you've misunderstood. So any idea on how we can get them?"

"Hmm…" Fran's face became stern. "Well, I can think of several mortal enemies, but one springs to mind: Mabuka. As for the hair of a healer, maybe… Palontras's? I have some stuck on my clothes still!" She brushed several strands of white fur from her dress and handed them to Cliff.

"Sweet!" Cliff smiled, pocketing the fur.

"And if we can just get something from Itward, I'm sure that would suffice for proof," Fran continued. "And I've wronged the twins, Clara and Mia, not that they were very nice people. And they did leave ashes. And I misunderstood Dr. Deern, but… he died. Even if we hadn't, he'd still die if we took his heart anyway." She sighed and gave a shrug. "I don't know where we can get any of these objects, do you?"

"No…" Cliff then smiled and grabbed another red pill. "But I think Mr. Midnight might."

Fran sniffed and wiped her eye. "I really miss him so much."

"It's okay, I know the feeling," Cliff said kindly. "I lost my hamster once. Then I found her under my dresser. She was a little worse for wear, but that's what happens when you don't love your master person." He frowned and bowed his head. "She's in a better place now."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Fran replied, patting his arm.

Cliff smiled wanly. "Well, she likes living in my brother's room better anyway, so I guess it's all for the best. And I've still got Rufus and Pedro."

"Are they your hamsters?"

"Nah, they're my fish. They're more faithful, and they can never leave me." Cliff stood up and took the red pill. "Back into nightmare land I go."

Flinching against the pain again, Cliff found himself back with Mr. Midnight. "Are you perchance seeking my guidance?" the cat asked, looking up from his grooming.

Cliff blinked and shook his head. "Umm, I am, by chance… or, um, perchance. Yeah, what you said."

"With what do you need my help?"

"I just need some creepy items I would probably only be able to acquire from a graveyard," Cliff explained. "So, point me to the nearest graveyard!"

Mr. Midnight nodded. "Well, perhaps you could go into the graveyard out back. You just need to flip the switches in the library to their proper positions."

"Thanks!" Cliff turned to go but then paused at the door. "Wait, this place has a graveyard?"

"Doesn't all horror games?" Mr. Midnight replied, flicking his tail.

"FNAF doesn't."

"The wrong move can send you to an early grave."

Cliff waved his finger with a smile. "Touché."

As he entered the library, there suddenly came a loud crash and the shattering of glass. "What was that?" he gasped, turning to the bookshelves. "Who's there?"

When no answer came, he crept up to the shelves and peeked around. And there on the floor, amid a broken bottle of ketchup beer lay a figure the size of an apple. Its body was made of red wool wrapped around a wire frame, and a stray strand of wool dangled from the top of the shelf.

"Yarny?" Cliff breathed, kneeling down to examine it. "What are you doing here?"

The woolen creature weakly raised an arm and pointed to a ball of wool on a high shelf.

"Oh, I see. Your trail got broken and you need more wool." Cliff reached up, grabbed the wool, and held out one end to Yarny. "Here you go."

Taking hold of the wool, Yarny stood up and spun on the spot, winding the wool around his body. Then he turned and waved at Cliff.

"I'm gonna assume that means thank you, in which case, you're welcome." Cliff carefully picked up Yarny. "Well, I don't know how you got here, but you'd be better off sticking with me. What do you say?"

Yarny nodded once.

"Great!" Cliff placed Yarny into his hood then walked up to the switches.

It took a lot of trial and error, but once all the switches were down, a hatch opened next to the chalice, revealing a ladder that Cliff descended. At the bottom, he found himself in a stone maze. "Alright, Yarny," he said, switching his torch. "Let's find the graveyard at the end of this maze."

Meanwhile, Jenny went into the storage room, using her phone's app to light the room. All she could see was a bookcase, some boxes, and a motionless Golden Freddy animatronic. "I think I can find the hydrospersion key Alphys was looking for in here!"

After finding nothing in the boxes, and making sure that Golden Freddy wasn't waking up anytime soon, she went up to the bookcase. "Hmm, maybe the key is in one of these books. Let me just…"

As she pulled out a book, she heard a faint click and suddenly, the bookcase rotated to reveal a hidden passage. "Well, that's a bit cliché," Jenny muttered then smiled to herself. "Ha, I almost said it was the oldest trick in the book!"

Passing through the secret doorway, she came out into the entrance room of an old abandoned house. "Well, this is definitely a horror game," she decided. "And there doesn't seem to be any way out of this room, though most horror games tend to have secret passages and tunnels. I might find some means of escape."

She walked up to an old grand piano and played a few notes, cringing at the sound they made. "Wow, this is really out of tune. I don't think anyone has played it in years."

A piece of paper on a coffee table caught her eye, and she read through it. "'February 4th: Living here alone may have been the worst and best thing that has ever happened to me. On the one hand, I'm lonely and the only ones I can call my best friends (in the loosest sense of the term) are the dead rats. On the other hand, I am at peace to call upon my muse and paint as I please. But my muse has been silent as of late…' What was their muse, though?"

Just then, she heard tiny footsteps behind her and she spun around. "Hello?" she called. But there was no reply. "That was weird…"

She then saw another table with some paper on it. But as she got closer, she felt the floor creaking beneath her feet. "That doesn't sound good. I'd better watch my- STEEEEEEEEEEppppppp!" Without warning, the floor splintered under her, and she plummeted down into the darkness.

"OOF!" Moments later, Jenny landed with a thud in another room. Her body ached from the landing, but she wasn't too badly injured. "Okay… don't stand on rotting floorboards. Got it."

She then had the feeling that something was watching her. Looking round, she saw that she was surrounded by half a dozen off-white figures. Each of them was no bigger than rats, and wore pointed caps that covered their heads. Jenny gasped in surprise, and the figures scattered, running out of the door.

"Were those… the Nomes?" she realized, getting to her feet. She knew that Jack had called those figures 'little runny dudes' in his playthrough of Little Nightmares, but after reading up some theories online, she had learned their true names and decided to stick with it. "But this doesn't look like their game."

Looking around the room, she spotted an empty easel and a table covered in art assets. The lack of dust on the brushes and paints showed that they had been used recently. She then found another diary page and read it. "'February 7th-' Huh, that's Jack's birthday. 'I felt this odd drive to create something, and a truly dreadful image has come forth from my hands. What is this hideousness? To hold it in my hands made me feel ill, as though the world around me was shaking. I've broken it up and hidden the pieces; never again do I wish to lay my eyes upon it.'"

She looked back at the easel. "Hmm, I guess this must be Layers of Fear then. That was a scary game, even without the Anti moments. Maybe if I find the pieces of that painting, I can get out of this place."

With that in mind, she left the room and found herself in a kitchen. "Brr, it's freezing in here," she murmured, rubbing her arms.

Just then, she heard a faint chirruping noise. "It's coming from here," she said, walking up to a sack in the corner.

Peeking in, she saw a Nome buried upside down in the contents, its sounds getting desperate. She grabbed its legs and pulled, but try as she might, she couldn't pull it free. "This poor thing's frozen in the bag. I can't pull him out until it's melted. But how can I do that?"

She looked around until she saw a cooker on the other side. Running up to it, she turned it on, jumping back from the flames that burst out. "Looks like this oven was made by the same people who made Undyne's. That should warm things up now."

Jenny then ran back to the sack and dug the Nome out. As she lifted it up, the Nome struggled to escape. "It's okay, little guy, I won't hurt you. I'm nice, see?" Gingerly, she held it to her chest and gave it a hug. "There we go…" she hissed, feeling its struggles lessen.

She then put it back on the sack, and the Nome scraped some of the contents aside, revealing a picture underneath. "Oh, that's one of the pieces I need," she smiled, pulling it out. "Thank you."

As she turned to go, the Nome jumped down and scurried after her. "You want to come too?" Jenny asked. "Alright, just stay close to me."

Upon returning to the studio, Jenny placed the painting piece on the easel. Just then, the lights faded slightly, making her jump. "Well… that did something, at least. Now let's see where I'll end up next…"

"Phew, am I glad to be out of there," Cliff sighed, wiping his forehead. The maze had been long and difficult, Cliff having to double back several times. But he had finally reached the end and had just climbed up some vines to escape.

After catching his breath, he looked around and shuddered at the sight of the tombstones standing to attention. "Looks like we found the graveyard, Yarny," he said.

"Hello there!" came a strained voice next to him.

As Yarny dived back into his hood, Cliff turned round and saw a tall skeletal figure approaching him. The skeleton was dressed in a dark suit and a top hat, and he glanced at them with yellow catlike eyes. "Itward, it's you!" Cliff cried. "Fran told me that I needed your help."

"Ah, so you've met Fran," Itward beamed. "I've been trying to help her get back with her cat. But I can't possibly seem to figure out how to do it!" He turned and waved a hand at a silver six-pointed star on the ground. "I know there's a ritual so I put out this hexagram. A pentagram would have been better but… ah well."

"Well, it's your lucky day! Fran gave me some ideas for your ritual. I just…" Cliff glanced back at the graves with a grimace. "…need to dig up some of these graves."

"I see," Itward replied. "Well, I'm sure I left a shovel in the halls somewhere. Would you mind going down there and getting it?"

Cliff looked back at the hole he'd just climbed out and sighed. "Well, I guess there's no reason for me to put this off." As he began to climb down, he remembered something. "Oh yeah, I'll also need the proof of an imaginary friend. Any ideas?"

"I'll think about it," Itward promised. "Just get the extra ingredients and I'll let you know."

Cliff climbed down back into the maze and looked around. "Man, this might take forever."

Just then, Yarny popped out and tapped Cliff's shoulder with his foot. "What is it?"

Yarny strolled up to the vines, took out the end of his wool tail and tied it firmly around a stem. Then he held it up and pointed to the maze.

"Ohh! I get it!" Cliff smiled. "We'll use your yarn to guide our way round. Then when we find the shovel, we can follow it back here. Let's go!"

This time, it didn't take them long to locate the shovel. They found it in a dead end under some weird graffiti. "'The BOSS is nothing'?" he read. "I really don't like what that's implying. Plus it's written in blood. Never a good sign… Let's get out of here, Yarnball."

Thanks to Yarny's trail, Cliff reached the exit in no time and after untying the wool, he climbed back out into the graveyard. "I got the shovel, now let's rob some graves!" He paused. "Man, that sounded way cooler in my head…"

Cliff walked up to one of the tombstones and read the epitaph. "'Clara and Mia'… This must be where the twins are buried. Fun." He quickly dug up the grave, unearthing a small urn pot, and picked it up. "I guess this'll do."

He then walked past the other graves, each one telling a short verse about Jack's death in various horror games, until he saw one that had Dr. Deern's name. "This must be it." It took a lot longer to dig up, but he soon uncovered a coffin which he opened. "Huh, I thought it would be grosser than this, but… it's just a heart." Nonetheless, he still cringed as he pocketed the heart.

At that moment, Itward came running up to him. "I've figured it out! You can make the potion in my hat; it's the perfect proof of me! Here, take my extra one."

Itward pulled out a second hat and handed it to Cliff. "Why do you have two hats if you only have one head?"

"Just in case it blows away," the skeleton replied. "I wouldn't be Itward without my hat!" He then turned to a wall and waved his hand, causing a door to appear. "There! This will lead you back to the library. Now you won't have to trek through that horrendous maze if you want to come back."

"Gee, thanks, Itward," Cliff beamed, putting the hat on. "Be right back!"

Once he was back in the doctor's office, Cliff took another yellow pill, returning to the normal world with Yarny. "I seem to have everything," he said to Fran, "except for the blood of a mortal enemy. Where can I find that?"

"Well, as I said earlier, Mabuka would count as one," Fran replied. "And I believe she is in that room in the library that was blocked off."

"Okay!" Cliff then paused. "Wait, why's she in this reality? Shouldn't she be in the creepy one?"

"If she weren't, then this reality wouldn't serve much purpose to the story," Fran replied.

"Eeeexcellent point! Well spotted!" Cliff then turned to re-enter the library. "Well, off we go, Yarnball!"

Through the now reopened door, Cliff entered a dark room. Quickly, he switched on his torch to see… and instantly regretted it. "Hooooly shrimp!"

He had entered another maze, but instead of walls, the borders were composed of horrific snake creatures with skulls for heads. Cliff picked up a stone and hurled it at the nearest creature. With an angry noise like a hissing cat, the creature lurched forward and grabbed the stone in its teeth, crunching it to dust.

"Ooookay then," Cliff gulped. "Don't touch any of the skeleton snake things. Mabuka must be in here somewhere, but we'd better be careful."

Again, Yarny tied his wool tail to the doorknob, and Cliff set off into the maze, keeping his free hand firmly flat against his side…

Back in the old mansion, Jenny and her Nome friend found themselves in an old dusty storeroom. Some paintings sat on easels, each creepier than the last, and another piano sat next to a grandfather clock. Jenny walked up to a chest and opened it. "This is full of different lengths of hair. I hope it might be horse hair, but since this is Layers of Fear…"

Closing the chest, she walked up to some crates and bent her head over one. "I think I hear… a heartbeat in this one. Creepy."

The Nome walked up to a painting and Jenny examined it. The painting showed an image of Jack dressed like an earl, but his face had an overlay of another face similar to his. It reminded Jenny of one of his thumbnails for the Layers of Fear series.

When she looked back, she gasped. Another painting was sitting a few inches next to the first one. "I'm pretty sure that just moved!"

She and the Nome then walked up to a third painting, which showed Jack as a merman sitting on a beach. "I don't know what game that was done for, but it's nice at least."

The Nome then let out a squeak that made Jenny turn. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw the second painting lying next to her. "That definitely moved!"

She walked up and glanced at the painting. "What is with this thing? Wait a minute… what's this?" Reaching round the back, she pulled out a sheet of music. "Hmm, I guess I can play it on the piano."

She placed the sheet music on the piano then looked down at the keys. "Well, I've never been very good at playing piano, but… here goes…"

Jenny tapped her finger on the keys, playing the notes on the music. Then she heard something thump next to her, and she turned to find the grandfather clock open. As she walked up, another Nome jumped out the clock and ran towards the crates. "Oh hey, there's another painting piece! I guess it's good that I kind of blundered into the solution. I don't think I'd have noticed this hidden in there."

While she picked it up, the first Nome ran up to its friend and chattered calmly to it, pointing to Jenny. "I'm guessing you're telling him that I'm a nice person?" she asked.

In response, the two Nomes looked up at her. "Okay then, let's go."

Returning to the studio, Jenny placed the piece on top of the other piece, and the lights faded further. "I guess I'm on the right track…"

She then stepped out of the room again, this time entering a library. A fire burned fiercely in the hearth, warming the room. While the two Nomes scattered round the room, Jenny picked up another piece of paper. "'July 3rd. I can't stand it! I've checked the libraries in the northeast, southwest, southeast, and northwest, but still no book. If I don't get some answers soon, I fear I'll be worse off than I am now.' Hmm, that sounds like another puzzle…"

She looked round the room, noting the positions of the bookcases. After some thought, she walked up to one and found a hidden button which she pressed. She did the same for the other bookcases, scaring out another Nome in the process, and a secret compartment opened in the last bookcase, revealing the third painting piece. "This puzzle reminds me of… something. Like, I think I've seen it before, just… not in a Jack video. Maybe one of Mark's? Oh well, at least I got the piece."

After the Nomes comforted their friend, Jenny led them out of the library and back into the studio…

Meanwhile, Cliff and Yarny were still traipsing through the scary maze. Yarny's wool helped again through their journey, but Yarny was getting skinnier with each passing second. Even worse, Cliff had had a few close encounters when his hoodie brushed against one of the creatures. Luckily, he'd been quick to duck down, but his fear was starting to overwhelm his senses.

At last, after what felt like hours, Cliff spotted something up ahead. "I think we've found Mabuka!" he cried, running forward. But as he did, Yarny's wool ran out and the poor doll was yanked off his shoulder.

Cliff didn't notice that, though. He was too focused on the huge white head on the wall, weeping blood. "Right, get a little blood and I'm all set." Pulling out an empty vial he'd taken from the library, he held it under the blood tears until it was full.

Suddenly, the whole room lit up, showing the terrifying maze in all its gory glory. "Whoa," Cliff gasped, dazzled by the brightness. "Huh, I guess there was a delay of some sort. Right, time to get out of here, Yarny." He looked at his shoulder, but Yarny wasn't there. "Yarnball?"

He then turned around and saw Yarny lying a few feet away, practically reduced to a wire frame. "Oh no!" he gasped, running up to him. "You're out of wool, and I didn't even know it! I'm so sorry, Yarny." Carefully, he picked him up and held him to his chest. "Well, don't you worry; we're gonna get out of here now."

Grabbing the trail of wool, he took off back into the maze. But as he ran, he accidentally kicked a bone off the ground, sending it flying. He froze as the bone bounced off one fleshy wall and then another. "Uh oh…"

Suddenly, the walls began to shiver and undulate as the creatures reared up in anger. "RUUUUNNN!" Cliff screamed.

Through the maze he fled, gathering up Yarny's trail. Behind him, the creatures twisted and coiled around each other, trying to locate the source of their disturbance. Cliff kept his head low and his arms round his chest, desperately searching for the exit.

As the snake beasts surged towards him, ready to snap his head off, Cliff finally spotted the door leading to the library. With a yell, he dived through it then tugged on Yarny's wool, pulling the door shut just before the snakes could get in behind him.

Cliff tumbled across the floor and slammed into the bookcases, knocking it down and sending books scattering. For a few moments, he lay there, puffing and panting in fear. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh," he repeated in a shaky voice.

Hearing footsteps, he looked up and saw Fran standing over him. "Oh dear," she gasped. "Are you alright? I heard a most awful din and I thought you might be in trouble."

"C-c-could you give me a second?" Cliff stuttered. "My l-life is flashing before m-my eyes… Man, I really needed to get out more."

"Did you get the blood?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I got the blood."

"Oh good," Fran beamed. "Then you must return to Itward so you can get my kitty back!"

Cliff looked down and saw that Yarny had rewound his wool around his body again. Then he jumped to his feet. "Alrighty. When your kitty's in trouble, I am not slow! It's up, up, up, and aw- Wait, I don't fly. Uhh…" He then smiled and stamped his feet. "It's run, run, run, and away I go!"

Fran looked puzzled. "Um…"

"Yeah, that reference was after your time, and quite a bit before mine, come to think of it," Cliff admitted. "Anyway, I'll see you soon, with Mr. Midnight!"

With that, he took one last red pill then ran back into the doctor's office. "Hey, Mr. Midnight, I've got everything all ready!"

With a purr of delight, Mr. Midnight bounded off the divan and trotted up to Cliff. "Lead the way!"

In no time at all, Cliff, Yarny, and Mr. Midnight were back in the graveyard, where Itward was waiting. "We're all ready to go!"

"Then let's do this!" Itward plucked his spare hat off Cliff's head and placed it in the middle of the hexagram.

Cliff placed the heart into the hat then emptied the urn over it. He then poured the blood onto the ashes and sprinkled the fur over the mixture. "I think everything's in order."

"Good," Itward beamed. "Now you just need to say the magic words."

Opening the book to the spell, Cliff cleared his throat then read the spell. "Kohreywah mah-hoe noh kohtohbah!"

Suddenly, the hat's contents burst into flame, sending a pillar of light up into the sky. As Itward began to laugh with joy, Cliff shielded his eyes and Mr. Midnight closed his eyes. Even Yarny covered his face.

As the light finally faded, Cliff looked up and gasped in amazement. He was no longer standing in a graveyard, but in a peaceful garden bathed in sunlight. "We did it! Now we just have to get back to Fran."

Itward picked up Mr. Midnight and handed him to Cliff. "You go on ahead."

With a smile, Cliff entered the library one last time and walked back into the doctor's office. When Fran saw them enter, her eyes lit up. "Mr. Midnight!"

The cat gave a happy mew, bounded out of Cliff's arms, and ran up to Fran, who knelt down and scooped him up. "Oh Mr. Midnight, you're back! Oh, thank you, Cliff! Thank you!"

"It was nothing." Cliff smiled as he watched the happy scene; Fran weeping tears of joy, and Mr. Midnight lapping them off her cheek.

After a moment, he frowned. "I'm happy that I helped you out, but I haven't found what I was looking for."

"I'm so very sorry," Fran sighed, wiping her eyes. "But thank you for helping me reunite with my dear kitty."

Mr. Midnight walked up and rubbed Cliff's legs. "I'll never forget all you've done for us."

"No problemo, my man!" Cliff chuckled. He then looked over at Yarny. "Ready to go, Yarn-a-saurus?"

Before Yarny could reply, Fran looked over at him. "Oh, what a sweet little thing! Do you mind if I have him?"

"Well, I don't see why knot." Laughing at his joke, Cliff handed Yarny over to Fran. "Word of advice though, keep him out of Mr. Midnight's paws."

"Goodbye, Cliff," Fran said with a final curtsey. "And thank you again!"

With a wave goodbye, Cliff left the office and returned to the creepy bathroom of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. "Well, that was a bust," he sighed as he switched on his torch and left the bathroom. "Maybe Jack or Jenny had better luck than me…"

In the creepy mansion, Jenny placed the next piece on the painting, making the room darker still. "Just one more piece to go," she told the Nomes.

When she left the studio this time, she found herself in a bedroom. Like the other rooms, there was an atmosphere of dread. An old gramophone sat on a table in front of the bed. Jenny walked up to the bed and saw a sign hanging on a wall. "'To spell a word correctly is to honor its meaning.' Wow, that takes me back."

On another table, she found a note. "'October 6th. It seems the only solace I can find nowadays is in my music. Painting doesn't do it for me anymore. But music instantly takes me to my place, where all the cares of the world melt away… until I wake up back to reality again.' That's somewhat sad."

The Nomes then ran up to a closet and pointed eagerly. "What's up?" Jenny asked, walking up to them. "Is one of your friends in there?"

Opening the closet, she did indeed find another Nome, but also a record which she took to the gramophone. "I've never played a record before, but I can figure it out."

Placing the record on the turntable, she wound up the lever then carefully placed the needle on it. At once, music began to play and a song was sung backward.

Suddenly, the furniture began to warp and distort like they were made of wax and someone had held a candle to them. Jenny gulped and the four Nomes crowded around her. "That's CREEPY!"

She then saw the last painting piece lying among the congealed remains of the chest. After picking it up, she switched off the gramophone. "Okay, that didn't work. How about I try…" She turned a dial round and then switched it back on.

This time, the words came out clearly, singing a fun little song about interactive stories, and the Nomes began to dance. "That sounds better," Jenny smiled. She looked around as the room returned to its original state. "Well, that's all I need. Let's go, guys."

She led the way out of the room, humming the words. "Tell us an interactive story, a tale of guts and glory. Well, maybe not guts, but no ifs, ands, or buts, just tell us an interactive story… Hmm, catchy tune…"

Once they were back in the studio, Jenny finished the painting, and the room fell completely dark. "Awesome!"

But when Jenny looked at the painting, she felt a shiver run down her spine. The painting was of a staring eyeball with the words "The BOSS Is Nothing" encircling it. "That is… rather unsettling. But what does that mean?"

Suddenly, the whole house shook like it was kicked by a giant. "Something's happening!" Jenny gasped. As the room turned red, Jenny turned to the Nomes. "We need to get out of here!"

Squeaking in terror, the Nomes scurried out through the curtain. Jenny hurried after them and entered a long corridor, running as carefully as she could. "How do I get out of here?"

As she ran, windows shattered, forcing her to cover her face, and books fell out of shelves. Jenny caught a glimpse of a graffiti eyeball. "I've seen that before, in the maze when we escaped from prison. But who's leaving them there, and why?"

A grandfather clock tumbled to the floor ahead of her, and she climbed over it. She then saw the four Nomes in front of a bookshelf, jumping and pointing urgently. Joining them, she spotted a tiny switch in the wall. "Is this how we get out?"

Not waiting for a reply, she flipped the switch and a door appeared. "Everybody out!" she yelled, pushing the Nomes through the door before jumping after them.

She landed with a thud on the floor of the storage room at Freddy's. "Phew, never thought I'd be happy to see this place again," she sighed, getting to her feet.

Looking around, she realized that the Nomes were gone. "Oh, they must have run off somewhere else. I never got a chance to thank them." She sighed again and brushed her clothes down. "Plus, I never found the hydrospersion key. Oh well, I hope Jack or Cliff have more success than me…"

Fifteen minutes earlier…

Entering the kitchen, Jack peered around, lighting the way with his phone. Having played the original FNAF a long time ago, he knew that the kitchen had never been shown, players only knowing if Chica was there by audio alone, so coming in would be his first experience of seeing it fully.

So he was surprised to find that the kitchen looked just the same as in any other fast food restaurant. Piles of hamburger patties were lined up next to the grill, thick but cold. Just seeing them made Jack feel hungry. "Alright, Sam, let's see what this place holds."

At that moment, they heard a clattering sound, like a cupboard door closing. "What was that?" Jack hissed, walking towards a door at the back of the kitchen. He pushed it open and then lowered Sam to the ground. "Okay, buddy, go in and see if anyone's in there."

With a nod, Sam bounded into the room. After a while, he let out a squeak that sounded reassuring. "Okay, I'm coming in," Jack said, stepping through the door. "Whoa…"

The door led into a simple room that was more brightly colored than the kitchen. A table lay in the middle of the room, and Sam was staring at a wardrobe in one corner, guarded by mannequins.

"Hmm, the wind must've blown the wardrobe door shut," Jack decided, looking at it for a moment. "This would be awesome if it were painted bright red. Or green! Not sure where I'd put it, though, but I'd make room for a piece that cool."

He then caught a whiff of something delicious and he turned around to see a slice of cake on a plate lying on the table. "CAKE!" he cried, running over to it. "I knew there'd be cake!"

But just as he reached for the cake, he heard a clunking beneath his feet, and the next thing he knew, he was plummeting into darkness.

Hearing Jack's terrified scream, Sam turned away from the wardrobe and hopped over to the trapdoor through which Jack had fallen. With a squeak of concern, he peered down into the shadows. Then he heard a door creak behind him, and a condescending, yet familiar voice. "This is humiliating. I hope he's not hurt, but he still brought it on himself."

Sam spun around to see someone running out of the room. He only had a fleeting glimpse, but he recognized the stranger almost immediately. But that was impossible, since he had just seen Jack fall. So how had he appeared behind Sam and left the room?

Ooh, the plot thickens, I think...

Things that are different from the game:

I added Yarny to Cliff's section, mainly because of the maze sections. I thought that having something to guide them back out would be useful.

The appearance of the "little runny dudes" was purely for fun. I figured that they would make visits to indie horror games like their own, so they were around to help Jenny.

As for the end of Jack's section, that's a reference to The BOSS Is Nothing, the DLC to this game.