Searching: 11/13/1987 12:00:00am - 12:59:59am
No files found.
Searching: 11/13/1987 01:00:00am - 01:59:59am
No files found.
Searching: 11/13/1987 02:00:00am - 02:59:59am
No files found.
Searching: 11/13/1987 03:00:00am - 03:59:59am
1 file found.
Activation log: 11/13/1987 03:49:02am
Retrieving data.
11/13/1987 03:49:57am
A white face stared at her as she finished activating, the dark eyes and bright red cheek circles fading into view. Two dark purple streaks ran down its face, in juxtaposition with its wide smile.
The Puppet moved its hand over her face. The camera cut out, but she registered the distinct processing commands.
Animatronic_protocol engaged.
Sensors detect foreign object.
Disengaging animatronic_protocol.
Engaging costume_protocol.
She picked up a cracking, squelching sound on her microphones as her animatronic parts slid back into place. The sensors still detected something internally, and she waited for the human inside to move.
But they never did.
Mike stared at the dark window, where Spring Bonnie stood only a moment before. God, that thing looked creepier up close, even more when it moved. What bothered him most was the eyes: dark, empty sockets with silver discs that he assumed once held the plastic green ones. It reminded him of a skull, the eyeless sockets broken only with ghostly pupils.
Behind him, Vanna still checked the east hall, having heard footsteps. At the end of the hall, she watched the purple Bonnie stop, stare at her for a moment, then start another round of circling the tables and adjusting the party hats. Satisfied for a moment, she turned off the flashlight and turned back to Mike.
"All clear on my end," she said, quietly.
Mike nodded, then clicked on his own flashlight. He aimed it up at the left window, which now showed only dangling stars, a few sketches, and a gray speckled wall. He came up to the window and checked both sides of the hallway as best he could from there.
Nothing came into view.
"Mine too, so far."
Carefully, Mike moved to the left door, flashlight ready, his hand at the switch in case he needed to close it quickly again. He pressed the red button as he aimed his flashlight out into the hall. The door came up to show nothing standing there. He leaned out just beyond the door frame, his flashlight catching Spring Bonnie's retreating back and what remained of its round tail. The old rabbit sputtered a little as it walked, its old joints audibly creaking from the other end of the hall.
As Mike ducked back into the room, something glimmered in the corner of his eye. He quickly checked the hall corner behind him to make sure nothing else lurked, then aimed his flashlight down to where he swore he saw the glimmer.
Something round and with a silver edge caught his attention. It sat on the floor, just under the window, and far enough out of sight that he couldn't quite pick out what it was...but something about it looked familiar. Mike lifted his gaze to quickly glance down the hall. Spring Bonnie had since disappeared into the dining room.
Mike turned to Vanna.
"I think he dropped something," he said, quietly. "Cover me?"
Vanna checked the monitors real quick. She found the bathroom camera first and noticed one of them walking into the boys' restroom, though she couldn't tell which from the shadows. Ignoring it in favor of time, she counted two in the dining room, and two on their respective stages. That made a total of five accounted for. A brief glance of the time showed it at 12:17am, with the power level down to 86%.
"I think you're good," she said.
"All right," Mike replied, lowering his voice to a whisper. "Stay by the door and be ready to hit that button in case something tries to follow."
"Got it," Vanna whispered back.
She positioned herself by the left door, her fingers over the button. Mike listened for other sounds as a final precaution, and upon hearing nothing, decided to chance it.
He slipped out of the office and into the hallway. He stepped carefully, diminishing the sound of his shoes as much as he could. The object glimmered again in the flashlight beam. He crouched down, stretching his fingers to grab it. It felt smooth and cool under his fingertips.
Scritch-scratch.
"Shit," he whispered.
Mike quickly grabbed the object, then made a beeline for the office. He lifted the flashlight up behind him, in time to see Foxy's bright yellow eyes and sharp, white and gold teeth.
"Vanna! The door!"
She didn't answer him. Mike straight-up dove into the office, practically somersaulting into the room. He reached behind him to hit the switch, just as the metal footsteps came closer.
Mike sat where he landed, his flashlight dropped to the floor beside him. The door clicked shut, keeping him safe from the pirate fox. He tightly clutched his prize to his chest, and simply tried to breathe normally again. Only when he caught his breath did he realize that Foxy didn't run this time, merely followed him at a pace better befitting the others.
Three soft, gentle knocks echoed from the other side, startling the night guard.
No need te' run anymore, lad, came his gruff, accented voice. Ol' Foxy knows ye aren't the lubber we be seekin'.
Mike shuddered, just waiting for him to go away.
Someday, lad, Foxy continued, softly, ye've gotta stop runnin'. Ye've gotta stop runnin' and face the truth.
The night guard remained where he was, his hands tightening around the object he claimed.
"What...what truth?" he whispered.
Instead of an answer, he heard the metal footsteps stomp in the hallway. Mike waited for them to fade, then let out a small breath of relief. He looked up, suddenly realizing how quiet the office was aside from the fan and the familiar buzz of the light. Vanna also never answered him...or was even in the room anymore. Light shone from the monitor, revealing the right door in front of him, its metal door closed.
How was it closed?
"Fuck!"
He scrambled to his feet, diving for the door switch to open it again. His palm smacked into the red button and engaged it.
The button made a strange clicking sound, one he never heard before. The door remained shut. Mike tried it again, hitting it rapidly to try to open the door.
Click-click. Click-click. Click-click. Click-click.
But no matter how many times he hit the switch, the door refused to budge.
While Mike investigated the west hall, Vanna kept an eye on the office, listening for him to either come back or signal for her to shut the door. The monitor was still on. Remembering what Mike said about the power, she took a quick step over to it, intending to shut it off and get back into position.
As Vanna's fingers touched the knob, the sound of footsteps caught her attention.
Footsteps too small and light to be an animatronic's.
Without a second thought, she grabbed her flashlight and ran over to the right doorway, leaning out of it to check the hall for the source of the sound.
Nothing.
Briefly, she thought of the shadowy thing that she saw only a moment ago.
Come find me.
The words shot straight into her mind, catching her off guard. Vanna turned her flashlight to the east hall's back corner, seeing only the rules poster and a few silver stars. She glanced behind her, where Mike still hadn't come back. Knowing he was counting on her, she quickly stepped back into the office to get back into position.
A child's crying forced her to stop and turn back around to the east hall, where she noticed the posters changed again.
Black paper with white crayon. Crying faces and scribbled words overlapped each other. Vanna stared at them for a moment, trying to decipher any comprehensible message. She soon realized that words like "trapped" and "help" and "dark" created the tapestry of madness. Very faintly, she smelled vanilla cake and strawberry icing.
Come find me.
Almost on command, Vanna stepped forward. The end of the hall remained clear, with no red or brown or purple or yellow in sight. She shone her flashlight down the hall to counter the emergency light, giving herself a clearer view of the dining room at the other end.
The familiar click of a switch caught her attention. Vanna quickly turned around, in time to see the large metal door come down.
"No!"
She ran over to it, banging her fist on the metal slab before her.
"Open up! Mike!"
No answer.
"Mike, this isn't funny!" Vanna cried, banging on it again. "Open the damn door!"
A soft sound echoed down the hall. A little girl's giggle, a click of shoes, the fading smell of cake. Vanna turned around, to see the hallway around her changed.
The gray speckled walls remained, but the posters now held framed artwork of Fredbear and Spring Bonnie, Fredbear posed with his microphone as if singing, and Spring Bonnie rocking on the guitar. The purple bow around the right ear indicated a time long before Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Children's drawings were scattered over the walls, their subjects more limited.
Vanna turned back to the door, only to see an unbroken wall where it once stood. The window disappeared as well, a poster of the Fredbear and Spring Bonnie animatronics onstage together replacing it. She ran her flashlight over the picture, then reached to touch it.
Smooth glass registered under her fingertips, new and unscratched, unlike the old window. Vanna tried to move the picture. To her surprise, it moved to the side, as if it had always been there.
Only a blank wall showed underneath it. Vanna let go of the picture, Fredbear and Spring Bonnie swaying once, twice, before the picture settled back into place.
...The office wasn't here back then, she realized.
Only a long hallway, and a storage closet on the other side.
She never looked there, did she?
The giggling echoed down the hall again. Vanna turned, barely catching the form that ducked the corner and into the hall.
Parts of a pale blue skirt.
The ends of long black hair.
"...No…"
Vanna froze in place, her flashlight still stuck on the corner where the specter vanished.
She didn't just see...that wasn't…
Movement caught her attention in the corner of her eye. Vanna turned to the right, where the artwork of Fredbear and Spring Bonnie remained. On the wall under them, black crayon scribbles formed an uncanny message:
"ComE FiND mE!"
The giggling echoed down the hall again. The sweet scents hung briefly, like traces of perfume.
And a familiar voice, a shadow from so long ago, spoke immediately after.
"I'm gonna hide!"
It came from the dining room. Vanna forced her legs to move, to start walking down the east hall. She glanced behind her quickly, making sure nothing lurked in that corner. Aside from the pictures, nothing came into view.
"But I wanna hide!" came an identical voice.
"You won tag," said the first. "I get to hide!"
Vanna picked up her pace, just short of a full-on run. The sugary smell grew stronger with each step.
"...Okay," the second voice conceded. "I'll count to twenty."
Both voices cut off as she entered the dining room. Everything looked just as it did when she and Mike first entered: long party tables holding pointed hats in a straight line, silver stars hanging from the ceiling, the prize counter immediately to her left. No more cake assaulted her nose, just the remains of cleaner, vinyl from the chairs, and the lingering undertone of pizza grease that no amount of scrubbing could ever get rid of. She saw only one distinct difference from before: the main stage curtains were open, with only Freddy in his usual spot. She saw neither Bonnie nor Chica weaving between the tables.
Vanna felt her blood pound and quickly ducked behind the glass prize counter. If anything, the space behind it seemed too thin for an animatronic to follow her.
Relatively safe, she peeked up over the counter, running her flashlight over the room to try to locate the giant chicken or the purple rabbit.
Neither one came into view. The flashlight beam found the curtains at Pirate Cove, in time to catch a red tail slipping through the small gap in the front.
Fuck, Vanna thought. That was close.
A voice echoed in her mind.
Come find me.
Vanna gasped and quickly looked around for the source. She heard it, didn't she? It wasn't just her imagination?
"...Vesper?" she whispered.
Silence.
Vanna carefully stood up, running her flashlight over the room again.
She couldn't stay here, she knew. They couldn't walk back here, but they could still reach over the counter and grab her. Mike's bruise was a testament enough to their strength. Ducking under the tables was an option, as was trying the bathrooms.
Not many options for escape routes, but what choice did she have?
Vanna, please! Please find me!
The words caught her off-guard, but Vanna knew she heard them that time.
"...I'm coming," she whispered. "Where are you?"
It's dark. I can't...I-I can't breathe.
Vanna flashed the beam at Pirate Cove to buy herself some assurance, and listened for the other two that were walking around. She turned off the flashlight, then ducked down behind the prize counter again. She peered around it, grateful for the emergency light that shone above and marked the positions of everything in the room. Vanna mentally calculated the distance to the nearest table. With a deep breath, she went for it, quickly crawling across the room and under the white cloth.
Spring Bonnie stared into the mirror, still trying to make sense of the data file she just pulled up. She turned to glance to the Puppet.
You were there, she said.
The Puppet gave a single nod of confirmation.
I was, it said, quietly. I am sorry.
Spring Bonnie reached for the glass, tracing the hollow eyes, the torn smile under her fingers.
This isn't my face, she said, then turned back to the Puppet. ...Why isn't this my face?
The Puppet remained silent. It simply lingered beside Spring Bonnie on its invisible strings. The rabbit's processors whirred and hummed as they continued their various retrievals, attempted data fixes, and searches.
Data retrieved.
11/13/1987 07:11:06amThe strange red oil formed around her.
I was already dead.
11/13/1987 07:14:54am
The bearded man used a cloth to lift her chin up to look under the mask.
Something happened before and between those files, corrupted data that her processors spent all day trying to retrieve.
Searching: 11/13/1987 07:00:00am - 07:59:59am
1 file found.
I don't want to open it.
I don't want to see.
Continuing search.
Searching: 11/13/1987…
Spring Bonnie perked a bit, turning her head. Her old ears twitched to listen. For a moment, she swore she heard metallic banging coming from within the walls, a woman's voice, musical chimes...
But her microphones picked up no sound, nor did they create any new sound files to catalogue and store and compare.
Spring Bonnie turned back to the mirror as she started another search. After 11/13/1987 07:19:47am, she found nothing but sleep mode and standby records, until...
2 files found.
What happened to me?
11/13/1987 11:46:09pm
11/14/1987 12:34:38am
Activating video files.
11/13/1987 11:46:09pm
The sound of new voices temporarily awoke her from sleep mode.
"Is this the one he was talking about?"
"Yep.""What did the boss say to do with it?"
"We're gonna hide it, where no one can find it."
"What about the body?""Already gone."
Spring Bonnie heard them approach, one set of footsteps moving behind her, the other stopping just at her feet. She simply listened, as the costume protocol prevented her from moving.
"Wouldn't it have been easier to just leave it inside?" the one in front asked.
"Hey, I don't ask questions, I just get the job done," the one behind her replied. "'Specially when the pay's this good."
"Still doesn't make any sense."
"Yeah, well, my guess is if this thing's ever found, the company can deny they knew anything about the body inside. Now gimme a hand and help me lift it."
The one behind her gripped her under her arms, while the one in front grabbed her ankles. They picked her up together, her head thrown back a bit to look up at the ceiling tiles and bright lights. She took in the white and gray speckles as the two men carried her out of the room.
"Where are we taking it, anyway?" the first voice asked.
"To the old place. Gonna section off a small room, hide it there."
"You really think that's gonna work?"
"That's just what I was told. Now come on; we don't have all night."
The men walked in silence for several minutes. Nothing came into her camera vision save for the speckled ceiling that matched the walls, the bright lights, an occasional garland of silver stars. Sometimes, a colorful poster or drawing caught Spring Bonnie's view on the speckled walls, never with enough information to determine the subject matter. The men stopped only once in one room, where she saw part of a little merry-go-round in the peripheral view of the camera. They each took a breath, then lifted her up once more.
Back to gazing at the ceiling, until they reached the front door. Then, she saw a strange purple barrier and a blackness beyond the bright ceiling lights. She heard footsteps banging against something flat and metal, before the men angled her up, giving Spring Bonnie her only look at the building in front of her.
White, with blue-green doors nestled in a purple frame. The same colors wrapped around the top of the building in a checkerboard ribbon, and the bright sign above showed the faces of Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica, all of them with bright circles on their cheeks and unfamiliar designs.
Then, they carried her flat again, to see a new ceiling, this one a dull gray with several rivets. They set her down. Their footsteps left. A metal door came down.
Activating night mode.
ERROR: Could not engage night mode.
Activating audio-only.
End video file.
11/14/1987 12:34:38am
Motion detected.
Activating camera.
Auto update date and time: 11/14/1987 12:34:42am
The riveted ceiling appeared again, with a loud metal sliding sound followed by footsteps echoing inside the metal box as the men readied themselves to lift her up again. They walked in silence until they entered the new building.
"Where are we taking it again?"
"Just down the hall there by the bathrooms. We're sealing it in tonight; the plaster will be set by the time they move everything else over."
"Got it."
The audio feed grew quieter and clean, with only the sounds of footsteps in an empty room. Like before, she saw only the ceiling, and like before, they set her down once to rest, then picked her up again.
"Where do you want to drop it?"
"Right there's fine. Alright, one, two...heave!"
The camera blurred and shook as metallic crashes entered the audio feed. Something above her head snapped, the piece skittering on the floor beside her. The feed adjusted itself after a moment, in time to see two tall figures walking away.
Leaving.
The camera view turned to follow them, better capturing the retreating men...an action that should not have been possible when locked in the costume protocol.
A new sound entered her microphones, one weak and unfamiliar.
"...mm...st...ere…"
The men stopped. One of them turned to look at the other.
"Did it...speak?"
"...Probably just the rest of its junk parts settling in," replied the other, giving his partner a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it. With all that blood on it, it probably doesn't work anymore."
The footsteps picked up again, and the men turned out of the room.
And not long after that, the video feed cut off as the battery finally gave out.