GDeNofa – I haven't had that feeling, I've always woken up easily from nightmares
Ponylover12346 – It's OK! I know CPR! And if that doesn't work, I've got a defibrillator.
Red Snowflower – Thank you!
Shire – I suppose but I'm very picky with my storylines sometimes
Wolfy Armstrong – Mwa ha ha!
Vidgealz C Valvatore - *rubs hands together* But guess what? It won't be the last. *grin*
Theeoneandonly – *evil grin*
Guest – I originally was just going to use the one quote but Mandopony writes excellent lyrics
B.A. tha Sackboy – Yay! Pure feedback and it's not just praise! Huzzah! And about Crystal, one her cheeks are permanently red now from your slapping, two I am going to try to make her look a tad more mature because she's twenty-two now and three…I don't have a third point. Enjoy.
Vincent - *stares back just as seriously* Yes.
CurrySmuggler – Jeremy's paralysed, not dead. And don't worry about Mike, he's coming…
A shadow – Jeremy isn't dead. I just don't have a use for him anymore for the rest of the story.
"That's all for today's lecture," Crystal's lecturer announced and everyone began packing up "I am expecting your essays for Monday so don't forget!"
Crystal packed her things away as she prepared to rush home to get ready for work.
"Hey, Crystal!"
Crystal looked up to see her classmate, Tony, jog up to her.
"Tony, hey," she said with a smile and nod.
"You don't look so good," Tony frowned and Crystal shifted, tucking some hair behind her ear "Work too much for you?"
"Oh no, I'm fine," Crystal sighed "I've just been having some rough nights…"
"Aw, shame," Tony frowned "I was hoping to take you out for drinks tonight."
"Oh, I don't drink," Crystal said as she picked her bag up and they walked out of the lecture hall.
"Well you don't need to drink, you can have a non-alcoholic drink."
"I have work and that essay to write."
"Well we can spend the night working on the essay after your work."
Crystal stopped by the entrance of the university and looked up at Tony.
"How many times have you asked me out now?" she asked with an annoyed look.
"Crystal, please, you're a nice girl and I like you," Tony shrugged "I want to hang out."
"Well I'm busy," Crystal sighed and a car horn drew their attention to the road "Oh and look at that, here's my boyfriend."
"Boyfriend?" Tony echoed as Crystal bustled down the stairs towards the dark blue car that was parked on the other side of the street.
He watched as the albino girl bent down to kiss the driver on the cheek and get into the passenger seat. The driver glanced over at him, his eyes looking him up and down before giving him a smirk whilst driving off. Tony watched the car disappear amongst the others, frowning softly.
"I didn't realise you were into older men," he said with a raised eyebrow.
"Who's the scamp with the chicken legs?" Vincent asked as Crystal yawned tiredly, rolling her eyes at his question "You're not thinking of leaving me for a younger man, are you?"
"His name is Tony, he's on my university course," Crystal replied "He's been asking me out for a while, it's annoying."
"Why haven't I heard about this?" Vincent demanded.
"Will you stop acting jealous?" Crystal glanced at him.
"How can I not?" Vincent huffed "I'm going out with the most beautiful waitress in the world and I'm nearly going forty."
"Vincent, it's fine, age doesn't matter," Crystal smiled reassuringly "There may be a bit of a gap but trust me, my parents have a bigger age gap."
"Really?" Vincent frowned and glanced at Crystal "I've seen your father, he isn't that old…"
"No, it's my mother that's older," Crystal giggled "We have a sixteen year gap? They have a seventeen year gap."
Vincent snorted.
"One year," he murmured "Hey, she's the older one? How old is she then?"
"Going to be eighty soon," Crystal grinned at Vincent's incredulous look.
"Wow, they must be a happy couple to stay together," he whistled.
"Indeed…"
Vincent stopped outside her apartment block and stretched his arms.
"Right, go and grab your uniform and we can head over to Freddy Fazbear's!" he smiled.
Crystal grinned and pecked his lips before getting out and running up the stairs to get into the block. He leaned back and smiled softly, glancing down at where she had been sitting a while ago and reached out, plucking a white hair from the seat, another one to add to his collection. He smirked and opened the glove compartment to place the hair in the test tube with the others he'd been collecting during the week. He closed it afterwards and leaned back, sighing softly.
"You are my main attraction, my chain reaction that never gets old…" he hummed to himself.
He let out a soft breath and chuckled. It took about fifteen minutes, as it always did, until Crystal came running down in the latest uniform and he whistled.
"I still think the first uniform you had when you first joined is the best," he said and Crystal smiled, strapping herself in.
"Do you miss sixteen year old me?" she asked with a coy look.
"Kind of, yeah," Vincent smirked as he started the engine and Crystal slapped him on the shoulder.
"Pedo!"
"You know it."
Crystal didn't respond or complain as they went down the streets and Vincent frowned at her distant look.
"Cupcake?"
Crystal looked up as Vincent focused on the road.
"What's up?"
"Oh, um, I'm fine," Crystal murmured softly.
"Crystal, I know when you're lying."
Crystal sighed and leaned back.
"I've just been losing a little sleep is all," she said and Vincent narrowed his eyes.
"Something troubling you?"
"No, not at all, I'm fine."
"You've been having nightmares again."
Crystal shifted as they pulled into a nearby park where Vincent turned the engine off and turned around fully to face her.
"Crystal, you've been taking those sleeping pills, haven't you?" he asked sternly and Crystal looked away "Crystal!"
"I don't need them!" Crystal protested as she looked at him.
"You've been losing sleep with these nightmares, I'm worried that you're not getting enough to concentrate on your studies."
"It was just at the beginning of this week, it's nothing," Crystal insisted.
"You're spacing out, it must have been a vivid nightmare."
"It's nothing!"
Vincent reached out to hold her shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly.
"Crystal, tell me about it."
He could tell it was about him by the way she looked up at him, her mouth opening and closing like a goldfish before she turned away.
"It's nothing…" she murmured.
"Crystal, I…"
Now she was clenching her fists nervously, she was getting uncomfortable. It had something to do with his arrest. Surely not, only he had that burden… Or maybe it was spreading like a curse? Vincent clenched his jaw before pulling away. Time to change the subject.
"I know what it's about," he said and Crystal tensed "Your brother's funeral is next week."
He ignored the look in her eye when she looked back up at him and eagerly took the bait.
"Yes, yes it is!" she exclaimed "I mean, he just went so quickly and suddenly, it's been all so much…"
"Yes, of course it has," Vincent drawled "Well, I lost all my brothers and sisters when they were born."
"Yeah I know."
Vincent turned sharply to Crystal who nodded with a sombre look. He never told anyone about the stillbirths his mother had after she had him. He narrowed his eyes and started the engine.
"Crystal, I'm going to go to your brother's funeral with you."
"Oh, there's no need," Crystal said with a smile.
"And you can introduce me to your family."
"Oh, I don't think you'd…"
"Why not?" Vincent grinned at her "Your family afraid of an accused murderer?"
Crystal shifted uncomfortably and Vincent smirked.
"And you said your parents have a bigger age gap between them than us, so there's no need to be worried about that."
He smiled at her reassuringly.
"Crystal, you need a comfortable shoulder to cry on."
Crystal looked away uneasily and swallowed.
"Well if you insist, I'd better give you a heads up about my older sister."
"Hm?"
"She's a black belt, loves going hunting, is on the paintballing team at her workplace, oh and she works as a dog trainer for the military and police and has a Rottweiler that she's trained to attack anyone who attacks her very well."
"Cupcake, you're just saying that to scare me off."
"Oh, I wish I was."
Vincent laughed and grinned at her as she smiled shyly.
"Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, boys and girls!"
Crystal stared at Tanya who was in the Golden Freddy costume, hopping from one foot to the next and burst out laughing at her mortified face.
"Oh my God, Crystal?!" she screamed and covered her face "Oh this is so embarrassing!"
"Hm, who is this one, cupcake?" Vincent asked and Crystal unbuckled her seatbelt.
"Tanya, Vincent," Crystal said as an introduction as she stepped out.
"Wait a minute, you."
Crystal yelped as Vincent tugged her back in and kissed her on the lips. She blushed as he grinned and bared his teeth.
"See you after your shift," he murmured.
"Mm, how are you doing for work?" Crystal asked with furrowed eyebrows.
"With two accusations for murder and attempted murder hovering over my head?" Vincent sighed "Horrible. Can't even get a meagre job for minimum wage or even below that."
Crystal looked at him sympathetically and he shrugged.
"It'll be fine, I'd apply here but…"
He trailed off as he looked over Crystal's shoulder and smiled.
"You know the policy about relationships in the workplace," he said and kissed her cheek "See you later."
He smiled as Crystal stepped out and drove off. Crystal sighed and smiled at Tanya.
"You look cute, it's fine," she reassured the young teen who was still blushing.
"Waaaa, don't look at me!" she whined and turned around fully.
Crystal laughed.
"Crystal!"
Crystal turned to smile at Scott but it disappeared at his look.
"Can I talk to you in my office?"
Crystal followed him into the small office and jumped as the doors went down when Scott pressed the buttons. He took in a deep breath as he looked down at Crystal.
"Crystal, please tell me that wasn't who I thought it was," he said slowly and Crystal shifted uncomfortably.
"He doesn't work here," she said.
"He's dangerous."
Crystal sighed as she shifted again.
"That's not what the jury thought when he stood trial twice," she said.
"Crystal, we both know he tried to kill you."
"He didn't, you have no proof!" Crystal snapped.
"Because he corrupted it!" Scott snapped back.
"You know what? I don't have to take this," Crystal sighed as she held up a finger "I trust Vincent. We've been going out for nearly six years and he hasn't tried anything."
Scott hesitated with a blank look as he watched Crystal open one of the doors.
"I'm not sixteen anymore," she said "I can take care of myself."
"You're still vulnerable," Scott said.
Crystal glared at him before flouncing off to the dining area to work.
Scott flipped through the cameras with a soft huff as he did the night shift.
"Hey."
Scott lifted his head and frowned when he saw Crystal with two coffee mugs. She smiled softly and placed them on the table in front of him.
"Here, I made coffee."
"What are you doing here?"
"Well, I wanted to apologize for being rude," Crystal grimaced as she sat down on the table and sipped her coffee.
"During my night shift?"
"Well I've survived one night at Freddy's, I can survive another," Crystal smiled "Also, I thought you'd want company."
"Crystal, it's fine," Scott shrugged as he flipped through the cameras again "I mean, it's not like it's my business like you said and uh…um…"
He lashed out, startling Crystal and slammed the door closed. Crystal heard rushed footsteps run towards the door and hit it closed.
"Oh no, this is bad, they're acting a bit early…" Scott breathed as he closed the other door when he heard groans.
"Scott?" Crystal whimpered as the Toreador March began playing.
"Oh no," Scott breathed.
Crystal screamed as her whole vision went gold and a yell rang out before Scott's cry of pain and the sensation of being crushed filled Crystal.
Crystal shot up from her nightmare, panting violently and covered her face.
"Stop it!" she sobbed "I took the damn pills! So why?! Why…?"
Suddenly dread seized her stomach and she looked up slowly, seeing the shadow of a child wavering outside her window and yelped.
"I have a terrible feeling that Scott's in trouble…" she murmured before jumping out of bed and rushing to put clothes on.
It was dark and dangerous outside but Crystal still ran. She tore down the streets in the cold early hours of the Saturday morning. She didn't know why she was running, it was just a nightmare, wasn't it? But why did she feel so uneasy then? It had been six years since something horrible had happened that was related to Freddy Fazbear's. Scott couldn't be in trouble, he'd been working at the restaurant long enough to know how to work with the roaming animatronics. It was such a ridiculous idea! Scott dying at the hands of the animatronics! How preposterous! So why wasn't Crystal laughing?
By the time Crystal reached the restaurant and touched the doors, the clock inside struck six o'clock. The doors unlocked and opened for her and she carefully walked in, a shiver running down her back and it wasn't because of the cold weather.
"Scott?" she called "Scott? A-Are you alright?"
There was a soft jingle of the Toreador March and Crystal saw Freddy walking down from the office and going onstage with Bonnie and Chica. He laughed that sombre laugh and Crystal backed off down the corridor to find the power gone and no-one inside the office. She swallowed uneasily before she stepped in and found Scott's tape recorder. She frowned as she picked it up, rewound it and began listening.
"Hello, hello? Hey! Hey, wow, day four. I knew you could do it. Uh, hey, listen, I may not be around to send you a message tomorrow."
Crystal jumped when she heard loud banging in the background.
"It's-It's been a bad night here for me."
Crystal swallowed as she recognized the banging from her nightmare.
"Um, I-I'm kinda glad that I recorded my messages for you, uh, when I did. Uh, hey, do me a favour. Maybe sometime, uh, you could check inside those suits in the back room?"
The banging was starting to get louder and more frantic.
"I'm gonna to try to hold out until someone checks. Maybe it won't be so bad. Uh, I-I-I-I always wondered what was in all those empty heads back there."
Crystal's stomach churned when she heard the Toreador March playing in the background.
"You know…"
Crystal's eyes widened when she heard a low groan, similar to the groan she had heard from Bonnie at the last location.
"Oh no…"
Crystal dropped the recorder as a scream cut Scott off and the sounds of static were all that was left. She ran down the corridor in a panic, fear gripping her heart.
"It's not true, it's not true, I can't believe it…" she whispered as she opened the backroom door and saw a Freddy suit propped up on the table "No…no, I won't believe it…"
Her heart pulsed as she slowly made her way around the table. She looked at the Freddy costume uncertainly, peering into the head and gasping as she saw the eyes and the jaws.
"SCOTT!"
In the next chapter…
"Crystal, why do you always seem to walk into trouble?"
"Can't you see how important you are to me?!"
"My name is Mike Schmidt."