"You think you're clever, hmm? I knew you'd run the other way. Make no mistake, I am a very patient man. I will get my hands on you, and when I do you'll be begging for mercy with every dying breath."
"Stay focused." Michael whispered, turning back to the computer screen. Charlie resumed her flashlight duties with a shaking hand. Clunk clunk clunk!
"It's cute that you two found each other." William continued with a chuckle, "You're very much alike. Stubborn, determined… haunted. Haunted by the past. It's quite sad, really- you're digging up ancient history, and for what? Closure?"
Bonnie arrived and the two threw on their costume heads in the nick of time.
"Closure… there's no closure to be gained. You're still a murderer, Michael. You make me look like a saint!"
Michael let out a shuddering breath as he removed the Freddy head.
"Stay focused." Charlie reached for his hand but he pulled away, staring straight ahead into the dark corridor. "Michael!"
"And you, Charlotte. I'm willing to own up to my mistakes- you were one of my first. I'm not sure what stopped me from slitting that pretty little throat all those years ago, but it won't stop me again. This time, I'm choosing you."
Charlie gasped.
"Charlotte." Michael, having regained his composure, put a hand on her knee. She whipped her head around, causing pain. "Charlotte, he's winning right now. We can't let him." She nodded dismissively.
"I'm sincerely hoping that our friends don't do you in before I can get to you. I want nothing more than to see your blood on my hands." William continued, "Charlie, my dear, the last time is going to look like a mercy killing compared to what I have planned now. As for you, Michael… well, I haven't decided on your demise. Not yet. I can assure you, however, that the pain you'll feel will be beyond comprehension."
This time, Michael didn't pull away when Charlie reached for his hand.
"Have a good night- it's one of your last." Click. The office fell silent except for the low hum of the computer and the whir of the desk fan. The onslaught of animatronics had temporarily ceased- it was as though they, too, were comprehending William's words.
"...Check the vents." Michael said finally, clicking through the cameras again. Charlie had to shake her head slightly in order to get her mind moving again. This time I'm choosing you. Last time is going to look a mercy killing. Those were the words that stuck with her, hanging over her head like a giant weight held up by a single string. "Charlotte, the vents." Michael said urgently.
"There's n-nothing." She stammered. It felt like all the oxygen was draining from the room.
"Charlotte, he's gotten into your head. You have to fight it."
"I know. I know." She gasped. Toy Freddy was now lingering in the doorway, staring the duo down with wide blue eyes. 2:10 am. Charlie choked down more coffee and stared right back.
"Don't make eye contact!" Michael hissed. She was going to cry. She was so sweaty, so nauseous, so uncomfortable. But getting up and leaving was out of the question. Besides, he needed her. They needed each other. Pushing William's phone call to the back of her mind, she focused on watching the vents and the hallway.
3 am. She felt dizzy and had to remove her sweatshirt. Mangle was watching them from the office doorway, her eyes glowing white. Foxy looked ready to charge, his hook in the air. Clunk clunk clunk!
"Hello?" Clunk clunk clunk! Charlie looked into the left vent to see Balloon Boy's round face leering at them.
"What does he do anyway? He's too small to attack us."
"Don't know, don't want to find out." Michael's voice was modulated underneath the Freddy head.
4 am. The coffee was gone. Michael stood up briefly to stretch and she followed suit. He left the Freddy head on as a precaution and she kept her light on Foxy in the hallway. He hadn't moved since 3 am. Mangle made her way into the vents and emitted her horrific static while old Freddy made his first appearance in the hallway. Charlie felt a little sad looking at the old robots- she had mostly happy memories of them and had even hugged them a time or two. She wondered if they would somehow recognize her, but she didn't want to test anything.
5:55 am. She glanced at Michael. He looked exactly like she did- tearful, sweaty, and red in the face. Things had drastically slowed down and she let out a shuddering breath.
"No. Don't let your guard down. Last time I did that, I got bitten." He panted. 5:57 am. Clunk clunk clunk! He warily clicked onto the right vent camera. Toy Bonnie. It was somewhat fitting- he was their first animatronic of the night, and he was most likely their last. They threw on their masks and he skated by. Twang! Charlie gasped and yanked the mask off her head just before the springlocks within it snapped into place. She held it in front of her face as a last resort and Toy Bonnie paused directly in front of her.
What happened next seemed to happen in slow motion- the rabbit lunged forward, causing her to fall off her chair. She looked up to see him towering over her. Gotcha! His cartoonish green eyes seemed to say. He snatched her wrist and dragged her across the tile floor in a manner similar to how she'd dragged Theodore behind her as a child. She screamed, although the sound was weak. Michael had stood up behind the desk but he was frozen in place.
Okay, okay, it's almost 6 am. He'll reset.
Charlie attempted to grab a table leg in the dining room as Toy Bonnie dragged her through it but only succeeded in bringing the flimsy table down. Toy Chica and Toy Freddy watched from the show stage as she was dragged towards her demise, their smiles seemingly wider than usual. She hadn't reset Spring Bonnie's springlocks- the horrible realization struck her as Toy Bonnie opened the door to the closet by the stage.
She had the peace of mind to remain still as she was shoved into the waiting suit- the absolute worst thing she could do was squirm. The animatronic rabbit paused once she was situated- he was looking for the suit's head. Charlie had to hold back a laugh of relief. After a few minutes of fruitless searching, her captor turned to look at her with what seemed to be a warning glare. You got lucky this time. He stalked off and she slowed her breathing, taking care not to breathe on the springlocks around her neck.
Michael rushed in a minute later, visibly relieved to see her.
"Thank God the head was in the office." Charlie choked.
"Shh.. let me get you out of this." Michael's voice was shaking as he examined the suit.
She racked her brain trying to remember how her father and his employees had managed it. She saw only one solution, and it was pretty dangerous. But she was desperate.
"Okay, we're going to tip the suit forward and then you can pull me out." She said calmly, although her heart was pounding.
"Are you sure?"
"No. But I don't see any other way to do it."
Michael's forehead wrinkled in worry.
"It'll be okay. You have to trust me." Charlie started to wiggle her arms out of the suit and the springlocks creaked warningly. They both gritted their teeth.
"Okay…" Michael hesitantly took a hold of the suit and tilted it forward. It took some careful maneuvering on Charlie's part, but soon she was laying on her belly.
Creak!
"We have to be quick." She said, choking back tears. Getting any on the springlocks meant instant death.
"On three?"
"Yeah."
"One...two...THREE!" Michael yanked her forward. There was a loud crash and then a scream. Charlie's left leg had gotten caught and was trapped in the iron vice of the springlocks.
"THE CROWBAR!" She wailed. Michael scrambled to his feet and retrieved the metal object. "PUT… PUT IT IN THE HOLE BY THE-" Creeeaaaaakkkk! The pressure on her leg was relieved seconds later and she threw herself forward, sobbing. Michael dropped the tool with a clatter and ran out of the room, returning with a first aid kit a minute later. She wailed and kicked her bloodied leg when he attempted to touch it, her fingernails digging at the tile floor.
"Well, you can move it. That's good."
"Don't touch it." She whimpered.
"I have to, love." Michael said calmly, handing her a piece of gauze. "Bite this if you have to." Charlie did as she was told, sobbing and seething as he cleaned the massive wound and wrapped a bandage around it. The initial shock had worn off and the pain surged, but she forced herself to sit up.
"How… how bad is it?"
"...Pretty bad. I can't imagine what those springlocks would've done to your whole body." Michael swallowed hard.
"Oh my Godddd, I can't go home like this." She buried her face in her hands. "I can't lie about this, dad will see right through it!"
"We'll think of something. For now, we have to get out of here before Greg comes." Michael helped her up and she leaned into him, too tired to care about the stench coming off both of them.
"What about the table?" She commented as they walked back through the dining room.
"The robots knock stuff over all the time. One time I came out here in the morning and all those fake presents over there were scattered." Michael said nonchalantly.
They walked back to the office and he handed her her sweatshirt. "I'm going to put this back. You sit for a minute." He picked up the Spring Bonnie head.
Her head shook no on its own. Sitting back down in that hellhole was the very last thing she wanted to do, even without the animatronics coming for her. Michael sighed and tucked the head under his arm, allowing her to lean against his other side. It took them ages to get back to the closet, but when they did she was able to reset Spring Bonnie despite her handicap.
It was snowing outside and she was grateful for the feeling of the cool flakes on her skin.
"I hate to say it, but you should probably get your leg looked at. That suit is pretty old and rusty." Michael commented. Charlie opened her mouth to protest, but she knew he was right. She couldn't remember her last tetanus shot.
"Okay, but how the hell do I explain what happened?"
"Just say that you cut yourself on a piece of rusty metal. Simple enough."
"But-"
A police car pulled up next to the duo, and Charlie's breath caught in her throat.
"Charlie?" Chief Clay leaned out of the driver's side window.
"H-Hey, Chief Clay."
"What are you doing out here at this hour?"
"I was just… umm… you see, I work at Stevie's now and I just got off. This… this is my friend Fritz. He.. he wanted to meet up with me."
Chief Clay frowned, his gaze fixated on Michael.
"But, um.. when I was working at Stevie's I cut my leg on a piece of metal while taking out the trash." Charlie interjected. "We were just heading to the bus stop to go to the emergency room."
"Is that why you're limping? I pulled over to make sure you were okay."
"Yeah. I'm… I'm fine. Mich- Fritz was saying I should get it looked at because it was rusty metal."
"Sounds pretty serious. Let me give you a ride."
"O-okay. Come on, Fritz."
"Oh, um… actually, I have to get home. My.. my dog needs to go out." Michael said quickly, "Call me later and let me know you're okay."
The last thing Charlie wanted to do was leave him, but she was too tired to protest.
"Okay. I'll talk to you later."
She sat down in the passenger's seat of the squad car and waved to Michael. He gave her a half-hearted smile before walking towards the bus stop.
"Fritz, huh? He go to school with you?" Chief Clay said casually.
"Umm… yeah. He was in our class." She laughed lightly, but she could see that he wasn't convinced.
"I didn't remember him, either. But he came into Stevie's one night and we got to talking."
"How long have you been working at Stevie's?"
"Only about a week. I work from 10 at night to 6 am, when it's pretty dead."
"I usually stop by once or twice a week at night and I haven't seen you yet. Were you in the back doing dishes or something?" God dammit.
"Yeah. I mean, I'm a waitress primarily but when it's slow I'm doing other things. Kind of like Junior's."
A silence settled over the two of them and Charlie stared out the window, trying to distract herself. The pain in her leg had increased tenfold and she wondered if she'd fractured a small bone. By the time they pulled up to the emergency room entrance, she was in tears again. Chief Clay opened the squad car door for her and she stood up only to stumble immediately.
"Whoa!" He caught her. A passing nurse stopped immediately.
"Does she need a wheelchair?"
"Yes, I think so." Chief Clay held a sobbing Charlie firmly against his side until the nurse came back.
"I...I just want to sleep." She sobbed.
"We'll take care of you, sweetie. Let's get you checked in, okay?" The nurse said in a cooing voice.
"What's going on this morning?" The tired receptionist asked.
"I...I… I cut my leg on r-r-rusty metal."
"It's pretty bad. She can't walk." Chief Clay said. He bent down and squeezed her shoulders. "I'm going to call your dad, okay? Hang tight." He was gone before she could protest.
"Okay, I just need to see your ID and then we'll take you over to the waiting room." The receptionist nodded and fished her ID out of her wallet. Her hands were shaking violently and she felt like she was going to have a heart attack. Once she was situated in the waiting room, it only took 15 minutes for her father to show up. Overwhelmed by pain and fear, she threw her arms around him, soaking his shirt with tears.
"Shh… it's okay, sweetheart. I'm here."
"I didn't think it was that bad at first, but then she fell getting out of my car." Chief Clay said, adjusting his hat.
"Thank you for getting her here. I really appreciate it." Henry stood up and smiled at the officer.
"Oh, no problem." He bent down to Charlie's level. "You're going to be okay. Hang in there."
She nodded although she was very much unconvinced. Once Chief Clay left, her father sat down in a nearby chair and pressed his hands together.
"How did this happen again?"
"I was taking out the trash and I slipped on some ice. There was this rusty piece of metal on the ground and I cut myself." Charlie rehearsed. Henry nodded slowly.
"Must be a pretty deep cut if it's hurting you this much."
"Charlotte Emily?" A nurse stepped out of the back.
"Here." Henry stood up and pushed Charlie through the swinging doors. Her eyes were growing heavier and heavier, but she didn't dare close them. She was certain that she'd see something horrible. At least the pain, horrific as it was, kept her awake.
"Okay, honey, we're going to have to take this bandage off so we can take a look at the wound." The nurse said once she was situated on the sterile white hospital bed. She reached for her father's hand, already a whimpering mess. He squeezed hers tightly, muttering words of comfort that she couldn't comprehend.
"Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!"
The bandage came off and the nurse exhaled sharply. Charlie couldn't bring herself to look down, but she knew that what the nurse saw was far worse than a cut. Her father dropped her hand and let out a shuddering breath.
"Get the doctor in here." The nurse said to her coworker, who dashed out of the room.
"Dad… I- it's not-"
"What's going on?" The doctor rushed into the room.
"I-I've never seen a wound like this before." The nurse stammered.
"I have." Henry's voice was low and steady. Charlie looked up and caught his furious gaze. There was no hiding anything anymore.