The birthday party.

Was he….dead?

It would seem like it. After all, he did just get his guts torn out and practically bled to death. So it would make sense that he would no longer be alive.

Than if he wasn't alive, where was he? How was he still thinking? Come to think of it, why did it feel like his eyelids were closed?

He then heard something in the darkness.

"Come on Silly!" Said the voice "Wake up!"

The voice didn't sound like his thoughts, in fact, it sounded a little childish and immature.

He struggled to open his eyes and was blinded by the bright light when he did.

He stood there rubbing his eyes until he saw that he was in the last place he'd expect to be.

He was in Freddy Fazbear's pizzeria.

Only, it was different. The stale smell of mold and mildew was gone, and it actually smelled quite nice. The floor was also much cleaner than the restraint (it actually looked like faint mirror with checkers than the scratched up excuse for a floor at the old restaurant). The walls were painted in fresh new colors that weren't peeling like the original place, Red, green, purple, and yellow balloons at the corners of the restaurant hallways and door entrances. The lights were also different, in the pizzeria, they would occasionally flicker and were kind of dim, yet here; they were bright and going strong.

What is this place? He thought with awe looking around. He knew for a fact it certainly couldn't be Freddy Fazbear's. It was too happy, too cheery.

But as he looked around, he saw that it was had to be. The posters were the same, the floor was the same pattern, he even heard the same screechy (But much better) voices of the animatronics in the background singing about how pizza was healthy for you (Which he knew was a lie stinker than their costumes)

He looked in wonder at this place. He saw a kid look happy as he held a plushie in his hands and ran off with a smile. He saw a group of kids walking to pirate's cove followed by an employee.

It looked….happy here. It wasn't the dump that the pizzeria was before this place, in fact, Vincent felt like he could stay here and actually enjoy himself here.

He looked around down at himself to see that he wasn't covered in blood, in fact, his coat appeared to be about as clean as the guys at the dry cleaners did it. (Somehow, the blood had managed to get off of the coat as well…just like the dry cleaners….were they in this place as well?)

And as different as this pizzeria appeared, there was something familiar besides that it was the restaurant.

He looked around to try and get his bearings where he was until he saw a banner in the middle of the east hall.

The banner read "Happy 8th birthday Riley! 6/10/83" In bright red colors, which almost caused Vincent's eyes to pop out of his face like he had been shoved into a Freddy fazbear mask.

He knew that date. It was the date that he had done the deed where five children in the restaurant had been murdered and later stuffed (By Marionette) into costumes.

He stood in shock at the place as he looked around and remembered. No wonder the restaurant was in such good condition. No wonder everybody here was happy. This was what the restaurant was like before he had killed the five children (Which he now wished were his) In fact it was the exact day, hour, and even minutes when he suppose to lure the children to the back room.

How can this be? He thought looking at it.

There were technically two ways he could have gotten to this place/time: either he was at the point of death where he was thinking about the most regretful part of his life, or he had somehow traveled back in time to stop himself and save the children. But if he traveled back in time, wouldn't his sides be bleeding out? So if it wasn't time travel, what, was this place?

He was lost in his thoughts about what was going on until he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"You're Vincent?"

He jumped to turn to see a lady with blonde hair in a bun, red half-glasses, a clipboard and a rather tired expression look at him.

"W-What?"

"Are you are you not Vincent Richardson?" She asked an annoyed voice.

"Uh-I am." He said

"Well what are you doing here?" She said writing on her clipboard "Your family's waiting for you at table three."

"But I don't have a family."

She then looked at him with a "Are you freaking kidding me?" Expression.

"You don't?" She snapped

"No." He said

"That's strange" She said lifting a sheet of paper off of her clipboard "A bunch of kids at that table started telling me that you were their dad, and they seem to be getting a little wild. One of them even said 'You think your dad's cool? Well my dad beat up a cheating vendor!'."

He normally would have told her that he didn't have a family, but then he realized there was only one group of kids that would dare to call him their dad, mention the vendor incident, and wear it like a new and rather good-looking shirt.

"What table are they at again?" He asked with his heart filled with hope.

"Table three." She said

He started walking down the hall and looked around for the table. He exited the east hall to the main party room, where he saw that there were other children in masks there eating pizza, cake, and having a good time in general.

At the last table he saw a group of kids that were talking to each other at table three. The only difference between them and the animatronics in whatever reality he was in before was that these kids had an odd grey hue and were fitted with the masks of the animatronics their child-like bodies.

He found himself looking at them for quite some time until he felt a tug on his leg.

"Vincent?"

He looked down to see there was a kid there in a white mask with purple looking at him.

"You came!" The white-faced boy said with delight.

"Gah!" He said jumping back out of fear of his former victim "Please Don't hurt me! I swear I've changed and won't kill them okay!"

"Um…" Marionette said looking around "Why would I hurt you?"

He stood petrified for a few moments until he saw Marionette's confused expression.

"What?" He asked

"Why would I hurt you?" He asked

"I thought you were at peace, you know, getting sung to sleep,"

"And I thought you were alive and well," Marionette said "Guess not."

"So why am I here?" He asked

"Because you have a birthday party to go to," He said

"I do?" He said "With whom do I have go to?"

"Why with them," Marionette said pointing the table of children "You are their father right?"

He sighed.

"Not genetically…" He said "But I do see them as my kids."

"Go on," He said "They want to see you,"

For a few moments he looked at the chattering kids, and found it difficult to even take one step towards them.

But he with all of his strenghth, he took one step.

Then another.

And a few steps later, he was in front of the table and looking over them. He found himself looking at the table of the children for far longer than he thought he would.

"He's here!." The child with the Golden Freddy mask said. "He's finally here!"

He didn't really know what to say save for one question.

"What's….going on?" he asked.

"Why it's a birthday party!" he said

"A party?"

"Well, we are in Freddy Fazbear's," Chica said

"For who?" He asked

"It'd be me birthday!" Foxy said raising a plastic hook in the air.

"You don't have to do that accent anymore." Freddy said.

"Nonsense, I love this accent!"

"Speaking of that, If this is a birthday where's the cake?" Toy Chica asked.

"Cake?" He said looking around only to not find a cake "I…I'm sorry guys, I didn't bring any cake….or presents for that matter."

"Sure you did!" Goldie said "It's right behind you!"

And sure enough, there was a tall three-layer birthday cake with candles that said "Happy 8th birthday Riley!" on it.

"What?" He asked in confusion. "But I didn't…even…how…."

"Just serve the cake." Marionette said

He then took up a cakeblade (Look, I don't know what it is, and I'm calling it a cakeblade) and cut the cake into slices. He took a slice of the cake and gave it to everybody, who seemed to be pretty happy when they got it.

"Are you sure this isn't poisoned?" Chica asked when she got hers.

"No." He said "But it always helps to check."

She let out a laugh that made Vincent happy as he saw her eat the cake.

He found an odd delight as he watched them eat the cake, and a few minutes later, the slices of cake that had been on their plates earlier were gone.

"That was wonderful." Freddy said finishing his slice.

"I'll say." Foxy said "I…I can't think of anything to say except thank you."

"For what?"

"You gave me the birthday I never got to have." He said "And trust me, no amount of ripping you apart and watching you bleed would have ever made me as happy as I am now."

"That's nice to know." He said glad.

"Vincent." Goldie as he said "I…wish we could be your children."

"We can, you just have to come with me to-"

He then stopped himself in mid sentence.

Goldie had said the word wish, which was usually a word that meant he wanted something, but he could never get.

"Wait, what do you mean you wish?" He asked.

For a few minutes, they looked at each other with a rather scared expression.

"Vincent…" Goldie said "I know that you want us to be your kids….But"

He had a feeling in his chest when Goldie had said but. And it wasn't a good feeling.

"We can't." He finished

"Why not?" he asked.

"If we could we would," Bonnie said "But we can't because we fulfilled our purpose, which was as long as you lived, we would exist."

He was about to tell goldie that he was joking until he thought about what he said.

If Vincent had died then, that would mean…

It would mean they got to rest in peace.

"Can't you change it?" he asked.

"We….we don't have a choice." He said

"So….this is it for us?" he asked. "I mean, will you ever be back on earth again?"

"As I see it, sadly yes." He said "But if you ever screw up and go on a murder rampage…Yeah I think we'll make a comeback."

He stood stuck in a daze for a few seconds.

The children were leaving.

"But what about me?" he asked "What will happen to me?'

"Yeah, we decided to let you live."

"Live?" he asked

"Of course," Foxy said "You're a good person, and it only seems fair we'd be givin ye a chance since ye gave us a chance when ye could have just ended us when we'd be children."

He was just at a shock at what he had said. And found it a bit hard that this was happening to him.

Because he had spared them when they were weak, they would spare him instead of sending him to hell or something.

He would get a chance to live, while they had to stay up here.

"So…I'll live but you won't?" He said.

All Goldie did was shake his sad yellow head.

"I'm sorry…" He said "But we can't cheat death, all we can do is follow it's rules."

He stood.

"So if this is really goodbye…" he said "Can I have at least one more hug before you go?"

They shrugged and then hugged him.

He treasured every hand and hook, and pinch from Bonnie he felt.

"I'm…I'm gonna miss you guys…and your tasty cooking Chica."

"Ha! Told you he thought I was a good cook!" She said to Bonnie "You owe me five bucks!"

Bonnie sighed and forked over five dollars to the girl, as they then resumed back to hugging him.

"Don't worry Vincent," Chica said "In a totally non-creepy way, when you die, we'll be back. And hopefully, we'll have all eternity to do fun stuff together again."

He found himself treasureing words, and as he continued to hug his children, he had one odd idea enter his mind.

"Can you do one thing for me?" he asked.

"Of course!" they said.

"Could you take off your masks?" He said "I don't exactly remember your faces…and I want to see your faces one more time before we go."

They looked at each other and then smiled.

They took off their masks to reveal that there wasn't an endoskeleton underneath them, just the faces of children. Freddy was a latino with black curly hair, Foxy had freckles and wild red hair, Chica had clear skin and her hair in a ponytail, Bonnie was a boy with deep black hair, Maggie was a young girl with white hair and bright yellow eyes, Marionette was a kid with deep blue eyes and black hair, and Goldie was a blonde with freckles and glasses.

"Wow…" He said "You're all so beautiful…."

"Aw thanks…." Freddy said curling his black curly hair "

"Are you crying?" Chica asked.

"No…" He lied "I think somebody just sliced a sack onions in the room…"

He heard his kids laugh for a little bit, which made him feel better.

"Vincent." He said "You're a good person. And…I'm glad that we got to be your children."

"I'm gonna miss you guys…" He said

Suddenly, their child-like bodies then vanished, leaving only the masks on the floor and five balloons in his hand: Two yellow, one purple, one red, and one brown. The same colored balloons also appeared in his other hand.

He looked at the balloons in both of hands.

He really had two options to do with these balloons. He as he didn't want to admit it, there was only thing left to do.

And with him failing to hold back tears, he let go of the balloons.

"Goodbye kids," He said as he then gazed in awe as he saw the balloons fly above him, then above the ceiling that mysteriously vanished for some reason revealing the open sky.

He watched fly up, up, and away until he had a crane in his neck and couldn't see the balloons anymore.

And for the first time in a long time, he let out tears. Not the tears of mourning and loss, but the tears of joy that they were finally where they belonged, that they were finally at peace.

He sobbed for some time until he stood and wiped his tears to see the exit door for Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria open with a bright white light coming from it.

Well… He thought I guess there's only thing left to do….

He thought of Valarie stood up. Maybe they could have a family once all this sorted out, maybe they could get married and live someplace else.

These and other thoughts grew in his mind as he walked through the door to life.

End of chapter.

I don't know why, but I think I an union truck just dumped all of it's onions into the worlds largest blender. (Probably listening to 'A married life' from up while writing this doesn't help me)

Anyway, I hope to see you for the last chapter, bye!