DISCLAIMER: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.

AN EYE FOR AN EYE
Chapter 16: Return to the Scene of the Crime

Mike sat in his car in the parking lot, hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. His chest hurt from his heart beating so wildly against his rib cage. When Jeremy and he came up with a plan to help remedy the actions of Mike's father, he hadn't realized how difficult it would have been just to be on company property. Mike hadn't realized that the PTSD from his traumatic experiences at Freddy's would be this bad. Unfortunately, he knew he needed to get inside. Mike would hate to get fired before his first shift even began.

Taking a couple of deep breaths, Mike forced himself to unbuckle his seat belt and exit his car. It took a bit of convincing to finally make his feet move to propel himself forward to the entrance of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. A shaky hand on the door handle, Mike pushed open the menacing glass door and headed inside.

As if the place had been frozen in time, Freddy Fazbear's was very similar to the way Mike remembered it from all those years ago. The only major difference was that the bright colors and cheerful sounds were replaced with grey and dingy surroundings and silence. Mike shivered as he walked through the entryway. This place could be used as a horror attraction.

Reaching the security office, Mike rapped his knuckles against the metal door frame to get the attention of the guard currently on duty. A young blonde girl, probably no more than a few years older than himself, was seemingly more interested in using the security monitor as a mirror to apply her make up.

"You the new guy?" she questioned, her eyes still glued to the monitor as she slid a tube of cotton candy pink lipstick across her lips.

"Uh, yeah, that's me," Mike confirmed, his voice wavering somewhat.

Pleased with her appearance, the woman straightened her posture and gave Mike a smile.

"Sorry to dash and run, kid, but I have a date to get to and I'm already late," she explained earnestly. "Training tapes are in the first drawer. They'll tell you all you need to know about this place, not that there's really much to do here, since this place is pretty much a ghost town."

Grabbing a scrap piece of paper off of the cluttered desk, the woman, Valerie, scribbled something down and then handed it to Mike.

"If you have any questions, I'll be up for a while still, so give me a call if you need anything," she said as she headed toward the office door. "Good luck!"

Valerie dashed out of the office before Mike even had a chance to respond. With a shrug, he stuffed her number in his pocket and then sat down in the chair situated near the security monitors. Taking a brief moment to flip through the different camera feeds, Mike's breath hitched in his throat when he saw Freddy, Bonnie and Chica staring back at him from their spots on the stage.

"H-hey, guys," he said with a nervous laugh. "L-long time, no see..."

Pushing the monitor aside, Mike shifted his attention to the desk across from him. Valerie had said there were training tapes and, though Mike figured that this job didn't require too much thought or intelligence, he decided to pass some time by listening to whatever wisdom said tapes had to impart on him. Sifting through the miscellaneous items, Mike found the box of training tapes, as well as something kind of unexpected. With a frown, he held a newspaper clipping from back in the glory days of Freddy Fazbear's. There was a photo along with the article, which showed his father, William Afton, and his business partner, Henry, standing outside of the newly opened pizza place, wearing bright smiles after doing a ribbon cutting ceremony.

"Why, Dad?" Mike questioned quietly. "Why did you do it?"

Although William had tried to explain his reason for his actions in the letter he sent to Mike on his birthday, it was still something that Mike had difficulty in comprehending. Taking one last look at the photo before setting it aside, Mike noted how much he resembled a younger version of his father. It was almost frightening how similar the two looked. Before receiving the letter, that would have been a good thing, but now, knowing what he did about his father's actions, that wasn't anything to be proud of. Mike then popped in the first training tape, labeled "Night 1."

"Hello, hello? Uh, I wanted to record a message for you to help you get settled in on your first night. Um, I actually worked in that office before you. I'm finishing up my last week now, as a matter of fact..." the speaker on the tape began.

Having returned to the camera control panel to flip through the camera feeds, Mike's head snapped up at the sound of the voice emanating from the speakers on the desk. It was extremely familiar. Whose voice was that?

"...So, I know it can be a bit overwhelming, but I'm here to tell you there's nothing to worry about. Uh, you'll do fine. So, let's just focus on getting you through your first week. Okay? Uh, let's see, first there's an introductory greeting from the company that I'm supposed to read. Uh, it's kind of a legal thing, you know..."

Wait...Mr. Cawthon! Scott Cawthon, the security guy who'd been with the company for years! Mike remembered him. He was a great guy and a good employee. Mike recalled (with some guilt) how Scott had selflessly did everything he could to save his little brother, Lukas, when the...incident...occurred, receiving several broken and bruised fingers for his heroic efforts. Hearing Scott's voice certainly made Mike feel more at ease. At least, that's how he felt until the next part of the recording.

"So, just be aware, the characters do tend to wander a bit. Uh, they're left in some kind of free roaming mode at night. Uh...Something about their servos locking up if they get turned off for too long. Uh, they used to be allowed to walk around during the day too. But then there was The Bite of '87. Yeah. I-It's amazing that the human body can live without the frontal lobe, you know?"

There were so many conflicting emotions that struck Mike all at once like a roundhouse kick to the head. First he experienced fear at the thought of the animatronics freely roaming the facilities. Was it because they had a free roaming mode or was his father right and the souls of the dead children were trapped inside and looking for a way out? Then there was anger. The victim of the Bite of '87 was his good friend, Jeremy. Though the incident was immediately swept under the rug, it enraged Mike to hear people talk so candidly about the traumatic incident. He saw how it affected Jeremy in his everyday life, with his speech and memory problems being the least of his worries, though the man did his best not to let it show. But, then again, Scott hadn't been at that location that day, as he was overseeing the implementation of a security system at one of the newer locations, so he probably didn't know the whole story. It wasn't something that the company really wanted the world to know, even having Jeremy agree to a nondisclosure agreement with a hefty cash settlement that he liked to call "hush money" to keep quiet about the incident.

Thinking of Jeremy, Mike began to wonder if this whole plan was even a good idea. He seriously considered, for a brief moment, just pushing the camera control panel out of his way and walking out of Freddy Fazbear's. That was the best thing to do at that moment, to just get up and leave. However, Mike knew that he couldn't. What if the animatronics were, in fact, haunted by the ghosts of the dead children? That meant that his little sister, Elyse, was probably one of them too. If there was any hope of freeing the dead children from their animatronic prisons, it was him. He failed his brother all those years ago. He wasn't going to fail his sister this time, no matter what the cost. He owed it to both Lukas and Elyse to do his damnedest and try.

Happy Easter to all who are celebrating today!

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