PART 3: A MEMORY
I sat hunched forward with my elbows on my knees, trying to figure out what Old Freddy meant by saying 'that's my Bonnie'. Old Bonnie watched me from the other side of the room, not moving an inch. We haven't uttered a single word to each other. Everyone else was in different rooms—Freddy and Old Freddy in the room next to ours, Chica and Old Chica in the room across from us, and Foxy and Mangle in the last remaining room. I glanced behind me to find the office's left vent open.
The lights in the room flickered. I rose to my feet. Freddy had insisted that we spend a bit of time alone with our own counterparts, to just know each other. His prejudice toward Old Freddy had disappeared once he received an explanation of what happened.
But in this room, this meeting was pointless! Neither of us spoke up, even though Old Bonnie is completely capable of speaking now. We solved nothing, learned nothing. The only thing we did was waste a good two hours of our time.
Leaving the room, I heard voices coming from all three party rooms. Even the Mangle, who was struggling to speak, seemed to be able to converse with Foxy. He/she didn't even sound upset about being the only animatronic whose endoskeleton was still visible. It was probably just something with Old Bonnie.
When I reached the dining area, I checked the clock in the room. It was nearly midnight, and none of us were expecting Devlin to return after what happened last night.
Of course, none of us expected Devlin to return. He fled in the middle of the night last night! He could only possibly return if he had forgotten what happened last night, and judging from how scarring the event was, it was something that he wouldn't forget no matter how hard he tried.
As far as Gold's location went, it was pointless to talk about. He could appear anywhere whenever he pleases, but patient he was if he's waited this long to take action.
Outside, the streets seemed restful, nothing moving an inch. The building remained empty without a night guard. Freddy entered the dining area holding a flashlight. "I'm sure hoping there's no guard tonight. Even though old me taught me everything and that they were retrofitted with that 'new tech', I still don't trust this place with Gold still roaming around," he says.
Old Freddy was the next to reach the dining area. He held the Fazbear head in his hands, which he set down on a table. Glancing at the clock in the room—it was almost midnight—he spoke up. "Bonnie is worse than he's ever been. He doesn't want to speak to anyone."
I just shrugged. "Have you tried everything? I couldn't get him to talk either."
Old Freddy nodded. "Everything I could think of."
"Huh. But hey, it's almost midnight, so if you all want to go somewhere before the lights go out, then now would be the time." I climbed onto the stage and waited for midnight to strike. Chica soon emerged from the main hallway, and she and Freddy both joined me, standing to my left.
Old Freddy waved and headed back down the main hallway toward the other old animatronics. He left the main hallway door open—no matter there, as there was no night guard. No reason to stay active.
We all allowed the night to pass. Impatiently waiting out the six hours of seeing and hearing nothing, I continued to think about what Old Freddy had said. It was impossible to come to a conclusion—those three words could literally mean anything.
Once the clock hit six, we waited a few more minutes before moving. Surprisingly, Mike Schmidt did not check in this morning. Rather, one of the other day guards was the first to enter the building. I quickly checked on the old animatronics—none of them had moved yet.
Throughout the day, my concern for the old animatronics roaming around the building diminished. We still kept the main hallway door locked just in case something happened to go wrong with them.
As I continued to roam around the east side of the building, I kept my eyes out for Mike. Still, he has not entered the building yet—he probably took the day off for whatever reason. Family matters or something in that category.
That left us with the other day guards. As usual, they kept themselves secluded in their own little offices. They expressed no uneasiness concerning the old animatronics, knowing that the door was locked.
We never headed down that hallway to talk to them, but the temptation continued rising as the day went on. I resisted, of course, trying to clear it from my head by allowing a crowd of kids in the game area to sidetrack me. That, or I just paid another visit to Mangle.
Soon, though, the doors locked up for the night, leaving the building empty without a day guard. The lack of any Mike Schmidt throughout the day was unsettling, especially since it was a Monday night. The night of the week in which we are introduced to a new night guard. There would be no recorded message for him or her this time.
Once everyone was out of the building, including the clean-up crew, I immediately left the stage and headed down toward Parts & Service. Meeting Old Freddy along the way, he signaled for us to go back to the dining area before turning back to grab the others.
I turned around. The lights in the hallway flickered for a moment as we tried to navigate back toward the dining area. All of us pulled up our own seats in the dining area and waited as the old animatronics entered came in and also took their own seats.
"Anyone know of the new night guard for tonight?" I ask everyone.
Silence throughout the building. It became apparent to everyone that no one knew who the new night guard would be.
"Does it matter?" asks Old Chica. "I mean, no one's going to go after him, right? There's really nothing to worry about."
"There's Gold," mentions Freddy.
"Touché," I reply. "If there's Gold still running around, or floating around, whatever it is, then that means there's still a problem with this place."
A loud cracking noise came from the west side of the building, from one of the party rooms. It sounded like glass breaking. It was very faint, but it was there. Everyone heard it—their eyes shot toward the main hallway at the same time.
I stood up and decided to go first. Peering around the corner into the main hallway, I found nothing. The door to Parts & Service was closed. Several noises continued to emanate from the party rooms. Everyone followed me closely as we checked every corner, every room in the west part of the building.
Soon, I reached the left vent party room. The noises grew louder as I entered, and it no longer sounded like breaking glass. Of course, the first thing I noticed when I looked at the floor was broken glass and a toppled chair.
I heard some banging coming from the left vent. Naturally, I went on to check what was inside the vent. I barely spotted something sneak around the corner toward the office.
I shot a glance at Old Freddy before deciding to crawl into the vent. It was a struggle taking the one I wasn't used to taking, but once I reached the turn, I simply reached my hand around it without looking.
My hand latched onto something. "There's something in here!" I call out to everyone. I tried to navigate back out of the vent, though I did require someone to help pull me out.
What I had just pulled out went completely limp. Its face was down to the ground, though we didn't have to see it to know what it was. Still, I flipped it over to find the face of the shiny black endoskeleton, its eyes a void of obscurity.
I checked behind me, toward the hallway for a moment. Did someone just sneak into this place and activate this thing? I didn't remember it ever being in Parts & Service, unless they placed it there right when they fixed me up.
"What moron would have the nerves to one, repair all four of you guys, and two, activate this thing and let it roam around at all times?" I say out loud.
Everyone either shrugged or scratched their head. They were all stuck thinking things over. "Should we get it inside a suit?" asks Chica. "Got to say faithful to the real rules, right?"
Old Freddy stepped forward. "Nah. Leave it alone for now. Doesn't look like too much trouble, but if it is called for, then there's always that empty one in the back room."
We all continued staring at the naked endoskeleton, deactivated and sprawled out across the floor. It was in such a position that it would be nearly impossible for one to enter this room without tripping over it.
We continued to wait the rest of the gap in between sundown and lights out. After what seemed to be forever, the front door finally opened. The new night guard had just entered the building.
"Did you hear that?" says Freddy, rising to his feet in the party room. "New night guard's here. Let's go check on him." He left the room, and soon all of us followed him out of the room. Most of us narrowly avoided tripping over the naked endoskeleton in the room.
But when I reached the main hallway, I was met with an all-too-familiar face. Clearly and instantly identified, as it was someone who had been assimilated into the company and has long become part of the face of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza.
Mike Schmidt pulled back the second he saw all eight of us in the main hallway. He quickly threw on the head for the old ones, though he knew that he could already trust us. He fell to his rear as he backed off, gripping a flashlight in each hand.
Old Bonnie went ahead and approached him first. The introverted character reached out toward Mike's face, and his hand met the Fazbear head. Mike had backed into a wall and was reaching his hand out, trying to find the doorway to the dining area.
Unhurriedly, Old Bonnie lifted the Fazbear head from Mike Schmidt's head, revealing the face of the terrified guard. What is he even doing here at this time?
He turned his back and left Mike in the corner. Taking the Fazbear head with him, Old Bonnie proceeded back down the office hallway toward the room with the naked endoskeleton. The other old animatronics followed after him, leaving the four of us to face Mike.
Freddy offered a hand and pulled Mike back up to his feet. "Weird that I've never seen you like this," he mentions.
Mike brushed his uniform with his hands. "Well, I've done this once like three days ago or something like that." He raised his voice to nearly a shout. "Who on earth would have the nerve to repair all four of them?"
I immediately hushed him. "Not so loud! Look, just forget about the old ones. Retrofitted, yes. Nothing to worry too much about. I think a better question would be: why are you even here right now?"
He shook his head and started down the hallway toward the office. "I agreed to reprise my role in this restaurant as the night guard. I called Devlin a while back, and thank God he was fine. I decided then to take the night shift myself rather than watching countless people get scarred for life, or worse, get themselves killed."
The lights in the hallway flickered again. It's almost midnight. Mike turned on one of the flashlights, though it was unnecessary, and observed his surroundings before slipping into the office. Like always, he positioned himself behind the desk, gently setting each flashlight down. The camera tablet already rested on the wooden surface.
As we passed by the party room that held the endoskeleton, I found Old Bonnie fitting the Fazbear head on the deactivated naked endoskeleton. The head hung loosely—it didn't fit correctly.
They activated the endoskeleton. Its eyes blinked for a second before becoming solid white dots in the eyeholes of the Fazbear head. I shook my head. "The head is empty. No wires or crossbars. It won't work," I tell them.
Old Freddy just shook his head, and all of them acted as if they hadn't heard me, though it was apparent that they did. Old Chica pulled the head off and Old Freddy deactivated the endoskeleton, leaving it to lie on the checkered floor. They set it down in a corner next to the vent.
Foxy took the Fazbear head and left the room with it. He simply tossed it into the office before reentering.
The lights flickered a bit more. I watched Old Freddy to see what he wanted to do. He just remained frozen in place along with the other old animatronics.
Finally, they went out. A small beam of light lined itself across the hallway as Mike used the flashlight. The camera in the room beeped, and a small light flickered before its head dipped down again.
When I left the room, I looked both ways down the hallway before slipping into the office, placing myself next to Mike. He had the tablet down, holding a flashlight in one hand. It nearly slipped out onto the floor, but Mike caught it at the last second.
He pointed it down the hallway and turned it on, revealing a floating golden head with empty eye sockets.
It's now an official rule. I must end every Chapter in Part 3 with a cliffhanger.
Still a spot left open for suggestions, guys!
Also, I'm beginning to get a bit more picky with my descriptions, which is why I'm taking a bit longer to upload chapters. That and school has been busting me lately.
But don't worry. Christmas and another 2 free weeks is coming up! More chapters! Hopefully, I'll be able to finish this by 12/31.
9 more to go!