A/N: Happy Friday guys, and welcome back. This chapter is slightly different from what you've been getting lately: it's meant to set the stage for the start of the real FNaF 1 era and the reappearance of certain someone from tape 2. I wonder who...

I know we've been getting a lot of drama in the fic, but hopefully some parts of this chap and the next one will be little 'breathers'. Don't forget that Sister Location is only one week away! I'll talk about it in more detail after its release.

As always, your honest opinions are highly appreciated. Have a good weekend guys, and happy reading.

Chapter 38: Lost time

A heavy headache awoke me from my uneasy slumber. Through my cloudy eyes, I managed to make out the grey shelves and walls of the backstage room, and as I slowly turned my throbbing head I spotted four familiar silhouettes, along with a fifth one sitting limply on the metal table in front of me: the blood-covered Freddy suit.

Sarah was sitting in the back of the room, holding her lowered head with a red hand. Her dim purple eyes were locked on the small puddles of dark, dried blood under the table, painfully aware of what had happened. Ferny sat by her side, his back straighter against the wall than hers and his eyes locked unto the low ceiling. When he noticed that I was awake he turned them to me for a moment, his expression neutral, before lifting them up once more and sighing deeply.

"Don?" I instinctively turned my head for a brief moment to see Sean a few feet to my left, sitting against the wall in the same tired and defeated pose as everyone else. When he opened his mouth to speak I turned my head around and stood up, before walking slowly to Jack, who sat close by the door with his back turned to us. Right then, I really didn't want to talk to my brother.

It wasn't until now that I noticed the red patches that covered Jack's arms and back. Worried, I knelt behind him and called out his name, but I received no answer. I raised my hand to touch his shoulder, hesitated for just a moment and finally gave him a soft tap. He almost jumped from the scare, quickly turning his head to inspect me with frightened eyes, but he relaxed a bit when he realized it was me.

"Sorry." I whispered. "I didn't want to scare you."

Sniffing, he nodded as turned his head away from me. "I know."

"What happened?" I asked, pointing at his red-tainted arm.

That same distressed expression appeared in his eyes once more. Jack took a deep breath before mumbling in a low, shaky voice "Do y-you remember when y-you told me t-to hide?" I gave him a small nod. "I c-came here… and went under the t-table. Under t-the suit." A chill went through me when I imagined what he went through. He lowered his shoulders and closed his eyes forcefully, but before I could say anything Jack turned his head rapidly to glare at Sarah with burning white eyes. "You k-killed him!" he yelled out with unusual anger, "You g-gave him so much pain!"

"I know." whispered Sarah flatly, not raising her eyes for a moment.

Jack clenched his fists. "You… y-you even enjoyed it! You c-crushed him! I was c-covered in blood under the t-table, but you j-just wanted more b-blood and pain a-and screams and…"

Ferny suddenly lowered his gaze right at Jack. "Of course she did, but she couldn't help it! Can't you see she's sorry?! Do you know how it feels to kill someone?!" A second or two of tense silence followed, then Ferny raised his head, closed his eyes and muttered bitterly "I do know. And it feels pretty bad."

I expected Sean to say something, but he sat still with his arms crossed and his eyes turned toward Sarah and Fer. At the same time Jack slowly turned his head around as his eyes dimmed back to normal.

"Ferny's right." I told him, "I would've done the same thing. And… you would've done the same, if you didn't have a special seal."

The remaining anger in Jack's eyes turned into slight shame. "I'm sorry." he whispered without looking at anyone, "But… there was j-just so much b-blood. I don't l-like blood."

"Nobody does." I replied, "The management will probably hire someone to clean all this up. Maybe even the same three that got rid of our bodies."

Jack shook his head. "I d-don't want them to t-touch me again. But this feels… d-dirty." He remained silent for a while, apparently thinking of something, before looking up at me and stuttering shyly "Is it o-okay if you… c-can you please…"

"Help you get cleaned up?" I asked. Jack lowered his head and nodded timidly. "Sure. Let's go before anyone gets here."

He mouthed a 'Thank you' as we stood up and walked to the door. I threw a quick glance at the dark room with my friends and my brother before leaving with Jack; none of them were looking at us. A grey early morning greeted us through the window next to the front door when we stepped into the dining area, hiding away the sun. After taking a few steps toward the kitchen, I heard a door open behind me. With some reluctance I turned around lazily to see my brother walking up to us, his eyes unreadable.

"Please go to the kitchen Jack." I whispered as he stopped with me.

"But…"

"Just go."

Jack stared at both of us for a second or two, before turning around and walking away into the east hall. Meanwhile, Sean had stopped a few feet in front of me, at the exact maximum distance you can talk to someone without raising your voice.

"You shouldn't walk away from someone if they want to speak to you." he started in a serious tone. "At least give an excuse."

"Believe it or not, I don't like to lie." I answered curtly.

My brother nodded slowly. "That's good."

A short silence followed, then he let out a small sigh as he lowered his blue eyes. "I'm sorry for what I said yesterday Don." he mumbled, "I was mad and it just slipped out of my mouth."

I could've said yes. But the darkness of the room, Jack's absence and the lingering anger inside of me awoke something I never felt for him before.

Resentment.

"It sounded really honest to me." was my dry reply, "Are you sure you're sorry?"

He looked up at me. "Yes. I was mad, I still am, but I'm sorry."

I shook my head. "I really want to believe you, brother. But I can't. Not right now."

Sean raised his shoulders in a helpless gesture. "When will you believe me, then?" he questioned, slightly upset, "I'm just tired of this Don. This is not what Mom and Dad would've wanted."

"But that doesn't matter anymore, right?" I raised my voice. "You said that yourself: nothing matters anymore if we will never see them again. Even I don't matter to you, and I'm your brother."

"I said I'm sorry."

"Then why should you matter to me?" I took a step forwards, trying to hide my shaky voice. A baffled look appeared in Sean's eyes. "Why should you matter to me?"

He looked sideways in apparent sadness for a moment, his head slightly lowered. "I was so damn stupid when I said that this would never change who we are." he mumbled coldly as he stared back at me. "The little brother I love so much would never say something like that."

"Right back at you, Sean."

"You're changing."

"So are you."

A heavy silence filled the room, accentuating the distance between us as we glared at each other dead in the eyes. After a while, Sean shrugged and said indifferently "I know you don't want to be here with me. Just go. No one's forcing you to stay here." He paused for a moment, his eyes taking on a slightly softer glow. "But if you ever want to talk to me again, I'm waiting."

Nodding in acceptance, I turned around and started to walk slowly toward the kitchen. "Goodbye, brother."

I heard a soft mechanic whir as he too turned around and walked in the opposite direction, back to the backstage room. "Goodbye, private."

"Stupid thing."

I cursed the small transistor radio when it refused to turn on once again. Sighing in irriration, I turned the square, grey object on its back and gave a few rough taps to the covered battery slots. The thing immidately buzzed and sputtered out a soft static, and I smiled at the tiny victory. I raised my head to scan the dark dining area quicky, before spotting a golden figure sitting comfortably on the elevated show stage.

"It's working now." Jack immediately raised his head when I called out to him. "Where do you want to go?" That question was more of a formality. After all, he chose the same place night after night. Of course, those were only the nights when they weren't in control.

He silently pointed at the west hall and stared at me, expecting my approval. "You know I don't mind!" was my light-hearted answer, "Anywhere is fine by me." That wasn't completely true. For reasons I can't quite explain, I preferred the west hall as well.

Jack pushed himself off the stage and followed me to the narrow corridor. "We should ask your cousin for some new b-batteries next time." he began causally as he walked up by my side.

"I'll try not to forget." I answered as I tried to tune in the right station with a massive round finger. "Let's hope he can make it." We reached the office and sat next to one of its massive steel doors while I finished tuning in our station. Wheezing, I stretched out my legs and put the radio between us as it played some generic soft pop.

"You should talk to your brother." said Jack suddenly as he casually traced a few circles by his side.

I shrugged. "Later, when the chance pops up."

He raised his eyes to look at me with slight reproach, and replied matter-of-factly "That's what you've been saying f-for the past six years."

"Five." I rebutted rapidly, swallowing down the slight guilt I felt. "Well, five and a half... and a bit more."

With the help of my eight fingers, I counted the years and months to arrive at a more precise answer. If this place opened up in February 1989, and last time I checked it was late September 1994, a total of five years and almost eight months had passed since we woke up in this particular establishment. I wish I could say that interesting, dramatic or great things happened in all that time, but they never did. We had little moments of joy and bigger moments of loss. Every time a night guard died by our hands, another piece of us died with him, and they grew stronger.

Even so, each one of us tried to give all that lost time meaning in one way or another, and thanks to Jeremy's occasional gifts and visits we managed to stay right outside the grip of insanity and ignore the voices in our heads. Even if my cousin would never be the same, he still tried to help as much as he could.

Sarah loved to read art magazines, and could easily stare at a single page of color and beauty for many minutes. The little radio by my side was a prized possession we both shared, but tonight was my turn. Every once in a while I caught her sketching a teenage coquette with curly golden hair and freckled cheeks, but she always threw her drawings away before anyone could really look at them. It was still pretty obvious to me that she was drawing the girl she could've been.

Unsurprisingly, Ferny remained a nerd. He must've kept a few stacks of science magazines, National Geographics and novels hidden somewhere in the aborted Pirate's Cove. His knowledge grew faster than his years, and his ability with mechanics came in handy many times. Ironically, he never fixed up his damaged chest. I envied his Pirate Cove in a way. Since it never opened, he was the only one that truly had a place of his own. Maybe that's the real reason why he never repaired himself.

Sean and I never returned to what we used to be. We didn't hate each other; we simply preferred not to be in each other's company for too long. I wonder what went through his head during those years. Even though he went along well with Ferny, Sarah and sometimes even Jack, he was much more quiet and introverted than before. I tried not to think about how much I missed him.

I wouldn't have made it past the first year without Jack. He knew that Bonnie was very aggressive to me, so he stayed by my side to keep him at bay. However, his company did much more than that: it reminded me that I wasn't alone. Even though I hated the fact that he was trapped with us, I was thankful for having him as a friend. Together, we developed an unexpected taste that helped us kill a few hours on these calm nights: radio shows and dramas.

"Hey, it's starting." Jack's words called me back to the present, and I scooted myself closer to the radio as a familiar jingle rung around us. Violin slides, church bells and wolf howls invoked cliché, Halloween-esque images of gothic castles and misty graveyards. It's funny how we, who were technically dead, enjoyed listening to a talk show about supposedly-real ghost stories.

"Good evening listeners, and welcome to another episode of Real Fear." The host's voice was calm, deep and steady yet lively. He sounded more like a narrator than the interviewer he was. "I'm Richard Gonzales, and tonight we have a very special program for you." Another wolf howl was heard when he paused, followed by pre-recorded evil laughter. I rolled my eyes and chuckled. Most of the time, this show entertained me with its cheesy format and cheesier 'true' stories. In all the time we had listened to it, none of the guests managed to scare me with their tales. Tonight would be different.

"Now, for the past four years we have heard real fear from real people all over Texas. But I promise you that this week's story is different from everything you know."

"He always says that." I scoffed. Jack nodded absent-mindedly with his eyes focused on the radio, as if he was watching TV instead.

"Howard, tonight's guest, is sitting right next to me in the studio. He drove here all the way from Fort Worth just to be with us tonight. Thank you, Howard."

"I-It's nothing." The voice that replied was young, male and nervous. I could almost see the sweaty teenager in front of the microphone.

"Since he's not supposed to say what he's about to tell us all, Howard is not using his real name. That's also why he's not talking through the phone, like most of our guests. That's all right, isn't it Howard?"

"Yes. That's… that's right."

"All good then. Now, you said that you wanted to talk to us about… Freddy Fazbear's Pizza?"

My ears rose up in surprise. Jack's eyes brightened ever so slightly as he leaned closer to the radio.

"That's right Richard." Howard's voice suddenly took a more secure, angry tone. "A while ago, I took a job there as a night guard. I knew about the rumors surrounding that restaurant, but I didn't listen to them. I thought that all those tales about the place being haunted were nonsense." He paused for a moment, before mumbling spitefully "I wish I had listened."

"Does this have anything to do with the disappearances?" The host sounded genuinely intrigued.

"What do you mean?"

"As you may know, twelve night guards have disappeared since that particular place opened up in '89." I tried to swallow down the knot in my throat, unable to believe there had been so many deaths. "I'm guessing that your story has to do with those disappearances."

"I thought they were only two or three, not twelve." admitted Howard uneasily. "But, I don't think they disappeared like the company says. They were murdered, right there."

"By who, Howard?"

The guest took a deep breath. "I know this will sound crazy. Hell, I wouldn't believe it myself if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes." His voice went down to a near whisper. "They're the mascots Richard, the animatronics. They are the ones killing the night guards."

A chill coursed through my body as both men stayed silent for a few seconds. "This is bad." I whispered to Jack, whose eyes darted up slightly towards mine. "If anyone takes that seriously, the company will scrap us."

"You are saying that the animatronics killed twelve people, Howard?" To my slight relief, the host sounded slightly doubtful himself.

"Like I said, I know it's hard to believe." The other man raised his voice. "But those things were moving on their own, Richard! They came to my office, tried to get inside, and when I closed the doors they kept banging at them! After the night ended I simply walked up to the manager and quit. I didn't give a damn that they wouldn't pay me, and I don't give a damn about the confidentiality agreement I'm breaking. Why did those things want to get inside that office so badly, huh? They were after me!"

"Howard, are you sure they were not experiencing a technical issue?" questioned the host calmly.

"Goddammit, were you listening?" hissed the former guard. "Those things are alive, they're possessed!"

"Hmm… interesting." The serene host went back to the same tone and sentences used in all other interviews. "What makes you believe that those mascots are truly possessed?"

"I did some research, and uncovered some nasty things surrounding that company." replied Howard in a more leveled tone, "Five kids were murdered in '86, and the main suspect killed himself." I shook my head, frustrated by the fact that everyone still believed Walther's cover-up.

"That same year, the company closed up their first place. Apparently, people were complaining about a stench coming out of the animatronics. I believe that the bodies of those children were hidden inside of them, and their souls managed to possess the robots. Now, they seek revenge and try to kill anyone that's an employee, just like an employee killed them. They've become vengeful killers who pretend to be normal during the day, only to murder innocent guards at night, and the company's covering everything up. Those children lost themselves to revenge, and now they're bigger monsters than the man who killed them. They've…"

Jack almost jumped up in fright when my fist crushed the radio, sending shards of plastic and loose bolts scattering across the floor.

"Vengeful killers?" I whispered coldly, my eyes focused on the remains of the radio. "Bigger monsters than the one who killed us? You don't know anything." My other hand tightened into a fist as I breathed heavily with anger. "You don't know what we've been through, and now you want to tell everyone about us? Lie about us?!" Slowly, I felt how the wrath that I constantly try to keep down flowed through me. "You couldn't even last more than one night, coward." A familiar heat bloomed in my chest. "I should've killed you when I had the chance. I should've ripped you apart, crush you, make you suffer like those other twelve." A low, soft chuckle escaped from my throat as I grinned in pleasure. "Maybe I should've ripped your tongue out, so you could never lie again as you choked up on your blood. That would be…"

A hand shook my shoulder roughly, pulling me back into reality. I lifted my head to see Jack's worried eyes right in front of mine, before saying in horror "That… would be beautiful. That's what I was going to say." Sighing, I leaned back on the wall as he pulled his golden hand away from my shoulder, and inspected the remains of our precious radio and Jack's worried expression for a few seconds. "It happened again, right?"

He nodded slowly, and said "Don't feel bad about it. It was him, n-not you."

"I really wish I could still believe that buddy." I mumbled as I stared blankly at the wall in front of me. "Every time I get angry enough he comes out. I try to control myself, to stay calm no matter what. I take deep breaths to clear my mind. But sometimes I can't, and before I know it he's taken over me."

"I'm sorry." said Jack, "I wish I could do s-something more.

"You're already doing enough as it is. Thanks for pulling me back, by the way."

Shrugging, Jack turned his head back at me. "Don't worry about it." He then turned his eyes to the shattered plastic and fractured circuitry, round ears slightly droopy. "But, we'll have t-to wait a long time for another one."

I sighed as I stood up, stretching my body to start up my servos. "Sarah's going to kill me."

As we walked back to the Dining Area, the light-hearted mood that Jack managed to give me melted away to reveal an uncomfortable truth. If the story behind Freddy's, or at least part of it, was to spread around as urban legends, then the final closure of the restaurant would arrive much sooner than expected. As optimistic as I tried to be, in that moment I only saw two possible endings: we would either be scrapped by the bankrupt company to become Shadows, or we would stay in these bodies long enough to become monsters. The only question now, was what would happen first.