Mable: This is a continuation of the ARI Nightmares series and takes place after Skin Deep and Running on Empty. It is not necessary to read either, but you may want to if you want to follow the series. Enjoy!
ARI Nightmares #3:
Lonely At The Bottom
Alec just needed to get away from her for a few minutes, that was all. He hadn't snuck into the private area of the pizzeria for anything else. He had planned on holing himself up in the men's restroom for a while, but he had half a mind to believe that his sister would just let herself in anyway. She never was the type to follow the rules, she was the type to make her own rules, which her parents were fine with.
That's why he had a set curfew, a list of routine chores, and a grade point average he had to stay above, and she didn't. That was why Alec had to spend his day off taking her to this shoddy little pizzeria. Their parents had been too busy to do it or wanted to pawn off babysitting duties on him again. He was shocked that they didn't just let her come alone considering how much freedom and money they gave her.
It wasn't like he wanted to be here either, watching her get everything handed to her and smiling at him in a way that looking like she was mocking him. There was nothing wrong in getting away for a few seconds.
Not that sitting in the back room of a pizzeria was much of an escape. There wasn't much in here except extra chairs and tables, some props, and what looked like a spare bear suit in the back. Nothing fit to make a good distraction and it was only a matter of time before someone figured out he was back here and threw him out. Then he would be stuck sitting on the curb outside until his sister got bored playing.
He started to move further back into the room and looked around when he noticed something in the back corner that moderately caught his attention. It looked like a small Freddy statue standing on a pedestal. Considering that it was hidden in here instead of out on the main floor he assumed it was broken, shrugged it off, and turned away to continue poking around the room.
Or he would've if not for a voice speaking up from behind him.
"Hi! I'm Freddy. Will you be my friend?"
Alec looked back to see that the Freddy statue had somehow turned itself on and its eyes were now glowing a sharp blue. It was staring at him. Its eyes moved to focus on him even while his head stayed still. It was slightly creepy, like those talking baby dolls his sister had in her room. Unwholesome in a way.
"What…?" Alec asked hesitantly.
"That's great! What's your name?"
It was at this point that Alec realized it must've been some sort of attraction made to interact with children. He was too old to engage with one of these, but he didn't have much else to do. Maybe he could even get it to say something less child-friendly, he thought in amusement. "I'm Alec," he introduced.
"Hello, Alec. It is nice to meet you!" Freddy awkwardly said. "Let's get to know each other. What's your favorite color?"
"I guess red or orange," Alec answered with a shrug.
"What's your favorite game?"
"I don't know. I like video games…"
"Do you have a family?"
"Yeah, a mom and a dad… And a sister. I'm here babysitting." Alec caught himself before he could vent to the bear statue anymore. He would hate for one of the employees to catch him doing something as stupid as that. At least if someone walked in now, he could pretend the statue was talking to itself. It nearly was with its stock questions.
Except that it then asked a more specific question.
"Do you like your sister?"
But the way it was worded, he assumed it was a generated question, so he wasn't too concerned. This did tempt him into speaking a little more.
"No… I mean I don't dislike her, but she's… She just gets on my nerves, you know? Mom and Dad think she's so great. They're always harder on me than her, and she's totally spoiled. It's just not fair…" Alec trailed off with a sigh. He felt stupid, but it also felt good getting some of that out, even if it was to a doll. "I guess I'd like her more if she wasn't such a brat all the time."
"Do you like Mom and Dad?"
"Yeah, course I do. They just don't even act like I'm their kid anymore. They act like… Forget it." He cut off quickly and turned his head away, embarrassed that he had said all that to a toy. "I'm talking to a kiddie toy like it's actually talking back. That's so stupid."
"I don't think it's stupid, Alec. I understand."
That wasn't right. Alec realized immediately that Freddy shouldn't have answered that clearly. Almost like the doll really was listening, and he slowly looked back at the statue. Its eyes seemed to be glowing brighter but now its head had also shifted so it was now staring up at him.
"I think you're lonely, but you don't have to be anymore. You sound cool and fun. We can be friends! Closer than any other you've ever had. Closer than your sister and Mom and Dad."
A strange buzzing noise rang in Alec's ear. He barely noticed it, like a gnat flying a little too close to the back of his head. Though he couldn't focus on it much when he was stuck staring at the bear statue. Slowly he stepped closer to it, like he was coaxed by some unknown force. Suddenly Freddy was much too interesting, and Alec crouched in front of him.
"Really? You… Understand what I'm saying?" Alec asked cautiously. His eyes widened and his pupils followed suit. He could feel tingles in his skin as he stared into the bear's eyes, along with that buzzing still there in the back of his head. It almost felt warm and welcoming. "You can hear me?"
"I understand everything… I just have one last question."
"Yeah?" Alec asked.
"Will you take me home with you?"
The problem with studying robotics at a college was the lack of hands on experience and supplies. Sure, Charlie's school provided most means to get by, but she simply didn't have the resources to stretch her wings and see what she could build. She had gone to college to follow in her father's footsteps, as he built animatronics that created joy for many, but lectures didn't reward the same as putting something together.
But thankfully, Charlie had an outlet. She could work on projects in her dorm as much as she wanted because Afton Robotics was overflowing with supplies. While notorious- by those they helped- for dismantling dangerous animatronics, the factory was also used for scraping metal and producing parts. Pizzerias and arcades would turn in their leftovers to be melted down for a pretty penny. Then they would be back purchasing parts made from that scrap only a few months later. It was like the circle of life.
Though the ones that were haunted were not recycled. Even if the heat cleansed what was inside, they did not reuse the metal for reselling. Better safe than sorry.
The heavy door to the scrap sorting room opened with a clunk. Charlie didn't need to ask why they used such a bulky door for the room considering their line of work. Instead, she followed Michael in as he led her to the 'sorting table'. Which was more so just a plain table that they dumped boxes of scrap onto when they got it.
A huge factory with so few workers meant that this line of work took longer, but it was a necessary evil considering what they had seen in the past. They would get in excess of scrap that would have to be sorted by hand. Worthless metal would then be tossed on the conveyor in preparation for melting down.
Michael lifted a large, heavy box and set it on the table before cutting off the tape with his pocketknife.
"We just got this load in from a pizzeria up in Cedar City. I think they're still using the Freddy license so you might find something Fazbear Entertainment made. Or you'll find a box of knockoffs. In which case, just throw them on the belt," Michael instructed. As though they didn't do this every couple of weeks. "I'm going to be taking stock. Will you be alright on your own?"
"I think I can handle it," Charlie agreed with a smile. He returned it, small but warm, and headed out through another door. Now it was just her and the box, and she opened it to see what was inside.
It was crammed full of bits and pieces that she knew right away she would be able to use. An old endoskeleton arm, a Foxy head- Gabe would be interested in that, what looked like part of a Toy Chica styled pelvis…
And in the middle of the box, slowly uncovered by her removing parts, she found something she didn't expect. It looked like a small but fully intact Freddy Fazbear animatronic. Maybe not as elaborate as the ones up on stage, but an impressive replica and she started to lift it out of the box. It had a good amount of weight to it, so she knew there was some sort of mechanism inside.
This was the find she was looking for. For years Charlie had hoped to eventually get ahold of a complete animatronic to study, preferably a small one, but had been out of luck. The closest thing being a broken Toy Bon-Bon hand puppet that had most of its interior missing, which hadn't helped her in the slightest. Chances were Michael would be wary of her taking one that was intact, but she was sure he wouldn't stop her.
Charlie set the Freddy on the far edge of the table so that she would have plenty of room to sort through the contents of the rest of the box. Then she started to continue her work, pulling out the Foxy head to study it a little closer and finding a single eye and a portion of an endoskeleton skull still lingering inside.
A loud thump caught her attention and she looked over to see Freddy missing. She furrowed her brow at how it fell off when she hadn't set it so close to the edge. With its shape it would've been unlikely it rolled off.
At that moment Charlie put her guard up and took a step back from the table to look underneath. Boxes had been stacked underneath the table, emptied of their contents and then left to sit there. She reached ahead cautiously and dragged one of the stacks of boxes towards her. There was no weight to it so obviously nothing hid inside. She moved another and pushed it aside, then dragging forward another one.
It was then that she finally spotted Freddy laying on its side like it had simply fallen off the table naturally. Seeing it lying there with its back to her made her second guess her suspicion. Maybe she really had just set it too close to the edge. She started to reach towards the small Freddy that still had its back to her. Her fingers were very close to touching its arm.
When suddenly its head snapped around and its glowing blue eyes latched onto hers.
Out of reflex, Charlie recoiled her hand back. In that instant, Freddy rolled over fully, pushed itself off the ground, and ran across the floor in a strange, wobbly gait. Charlie jumped up and watched as it ran back towards the furnace and squeezed between it and the wall. In an instant Freddy had disappeared, save the blue glow of its eyes reflecting on the wall. The woman stood there for a long moment and stared in shock.
Eventually she started to slowly walk towards the door, keeping her eyes on that same crack and making sure the bear didn't sneak back out. She stopped in the doorway, still watching the furnace, and tried to quietly call into the room. She could hear Michael moving things nearby. "Michael, you need to come over here…"
The man hummed questioningly and looked back towards her. He noticed how she was still staring out and caught on quickly. He leaned over in his crouch like he was trying to see out the door. This unsurprisingly didn't work, so he set aside the toolbox he had been getting out from the lower shelf and walked back to the door. Now he looked out too but could see nothing. "What is it?"
"…It's a live one," Charlie answered cryptically. From the way his head snapped to her he caught her meaning right away. "See that blue light? It's right there behind the furnace."
A quick look confirmed this, and he gave another hum as he looked over the crack for a long moment, slowly letting his eyes roll over the furnace, and then finally starting over towards it.
"Give me a second. Keep an eye on it," Michael simply said. Then he headed over to the control panel for the furnace and began to press a few buttons and turn a dial. He was over there for half a minute while Charlie continued to watch for the Freddy. She had an idea of what he was going to do but only got her confirmation when he beckoned her over.
"When I give you this signal," he said and gave a hand wave. "Press this button." He then pointed to the button in question before quietly creeping back across the floor towards the furnace. He stayed close enough to it that the bear in the crack wouldn't be able to see his approach and once alongside the crack he crouched down beside it. Then he made the wave and Charlie pressed the button.
All at once the furnace burst to life. The metal began to heat quickly and so did the crevice that the animatronic had wedged itself into. Within only a few seconds there was a scuffling before the bear ran out.
Only to immediately be snatched up by Michael. Unlike when Charlie picked it up earlier, it began to flail. This was not typical of the small ones, even when they had been discovered as being alive.
"Charlie, would you get the box back out?" Michael asked tiredly. He seemed almost entirely unphased by the struggling bear in his grasp as he carried it to the table like he would a toddler. It was only when Charlie grabbed the box and opened it on the table that Freddy reacted in a different way. A way that immediately caught their attention.
"No, wait!" it cried out. "It's not what you think! I'm not Freddy!"
Both were taken off-guard. Not by the talking, animatronics did tend to speak, but by the fact that 'Freddy's' voice sounded nothing like it was supposed to. It didn't sound deep and warm, or even higher pitched for his smaller size. Instead, it sounded remarkably like a human's, just a little more synthesized through its small speaker.
Michael recovered quicker and nodded at the table. "Keep the box open."
"Don't! No! Don't put me back in the box!"
"Michael…" Charlie said hesitantly. He was a little more apathetic to the cries. She knew he probably dealt with animatronics before that pleaded for their lives and then proceeded to attack when they had an opening, but something felt different in this case. She sent him a firmer look and he gave another weary exhale.
"Very well, we'll play along," he muttered as he continued carrying the bear over. "But it stays in the box while we do. That way it'll be easier to catch when it inevitably makes a break for it again." He set the bear down into the cardboard and it adjusted its legs to sit. As he started to fold over one of the flaps it raised its hand to stop him.
"Hey, wait! You said you'd listen!" Freddy cried.
"We are. This is just extra protection," Michael said as he held down the flap with his hand. He wasn't even using a quarter of his strength and yet Freddy had no chance of pushing the lid open. "Go ahead, Freddy."
"I'm not Freddy!" the Freddy yelled in frustration. Michael gave him an unconvinced look. Seeing that he was getting nowhere with him, the Freddy now looked to Charlie instead, seeing her as the more rational of the two. "My name's Alec and Freddy stole my body!" Charlie looked confused while Michael still unphased, but 'Alec' continued. "I found this Freddy at a pizzeria and I started talking to it and it was acting like it was alive… And I took it home. He asked me to."
His parents were always so caught up in their own world that they never noticed him sneak out of the house and bike alone to the pizzeria. He found Freddy right where he left him, hidden behind the dumpster beside of the back door. It was still as he wrapped it in a jacket and held it on its lap while carefully biking home. He slipped it in through the window and sat it down on his bed. Only then did it begin to speak again.
"And I thought it was okay at first. Freddy listened and liked to talk and ask questions, and he was really talking back to me! He wasn't just a toy, he understood and spoke back."
"Wow, that was a high score!" It really wasn't. Alec had played this game dozens of times and usually got higher, though he wasn't usually distracted by an audience. Freddy was standing on the floor beside him, watching the TV screen with eyes that flickered between blue, red, and green, reflecting whatever was prominent on the screen. "You're really good at this game!"
"I play it a lot, so I've got a lot of practice," Alec said, almost bragging. He frowned at his small collection. "I don't usually get new games unless it's my birthday or Christmas. Which kind of sucks, because I don't even get an allowance. I only get the new games after everyone else's already beat them."
"Is this your favorite game?" Freddy asked. "You're so good at it, it must be."
"Actually, this is my favorite game-."
"I didn't have a lot of friends. I couldn't! I was babysitting all the time. I couldn't do anything I wanted to… And I thought Freddy cared. He was always listening, so I just… I thought he was my friend."
"This is stupid! They're always talking about how 'mature Hazel is for her age', going on about how smart she is. Why do I have to stay home?! I'm not even watching her; she's just playing in her room!"
Freddy silently listened to Alec's venting without a word of judgement. Then, when given the opening, he chimed in with, "Maybe they want you here in case she stays needs something. Like someone to make her a sandwich. They're making you her butler."
"I'd think I was only born to be her butler if I wasn't born first. Unless they just had me first to get me broke in for her," he muttered as he sat down on his bed. "What am I supposed to do now? I was going to go over to Robbie's tonight. I can't even hang out with my friends!"
"You can hang out with me," Freddy offered. "We're friends, right? That's what I'm here for, you. To make you happy even when your mom and dad and sister can't." While Alec didn't feel much better about his situation, he couldn't help but appreciate that someone valued his time. Freddy cared about him even when the rest of his family didn't. He was a good friend.
"But… Something… Something weird started happening? When I was sleeping. I started having weird dreams."
Alec opened his eyes and knew something was wrong right away. He looked around his bedroom, illuminated by the morning light, and tried to figure out what it was. It wasn't until he tried to move his arm that he realized he was paralyzed. He could move his eyes, but his body was seemingly stuck to the bed. He tried to flail his arms and move, kick his legs, turn his head, anything, but he was stuck under the blankets.
Somewhere in the room he could hear movement. He wondered if it was Freddy and tried to call for him, or anybody, but his mouth wouldn't move.
Then, suddenly, feeling returned to his body. He sat upwards in bed with a start as he began to pant like he had run a marathon. He looked around the room before leaning over the side of the bed. There he could see Freddy laying on the floor, right where he had heard the moving coming from. He almost called for the bear but caught himself at the last second.
For some reason he didn't feel comfortable talking to Freddy right now. He didn't even feel comfortable being in the same room with him.
"…I shouldn't have taken him home with me. I thought he was my friend, but he… He was lying. He didn't want friends…"
He could barely move when he awoke. The first sign that something was wrong was where he was, laying on the side of his bed too close to the edge. He tried to move his body, but it was heavy and awkward. His clumsy arm would barely lift. Fearing that he was paralyzed again, he started to rock himself before he suddenly rolled off the edge and fell to the floor.
The world was much bigger than it was supposed to be. Alec realized this as he fell and landed heavily on his back, as the fall felt so much further than it was supposed to be. He barely felt himself crashing into the floor and found himself staring blankly upwards as his heavy body fought any attempt to move.
Then, much to his horror, someone began to slowly lean over the edge of the bed and stare down at him. He realized quickly that he was staring at his own face smiling down at him and expected to wake up.
But he didn't.
"I tried to scream for my parents, but they couldn't hear me… He put me in a box and took me back to the pizzeria. I thought if I told the people working there that they would help me, but they- they looked at me like they didn't believe me. Or like they couldn't hear me. They just put me back in the box and then… I guess I came here," Alec said sadly, finishing up his story. His voice sounded panicked and desperate in comparison to the stoic expression on his Freddy face. "I don't know why they didn't hear me!"
"They did hear you. I'm assuming they're former Freddy workers, which means that they are contractually obligated to ignore cries for help," Michael said with that same apathy. Alec turned to him in surprise. "My apologies, Freddy, but I'm having a little trouble believing this story you've cooked up. I must say, it is impressive compared to some of the others."
"Michael, I don't think this is a trick," Charlie defended. He glanced up with her, still seemingly unconvinced, but her face was firm. She really did believe him and from his look he didn't, raising his brow skeptically. "I'm not going to act like we haven't seen animatronics pretend to be more human than they are, but this feels different. For one, that's not one of the Freddy voices, and the details are very clear."
"He could have been rehearsing. He's had plenty of time in this box," Michael simply said. "Could be mimicking a voice he heard in a pizzeria."
"And has a name and knows specific details about this person he got his voice from? Not to mention that he's not acting like a typical… He's not acting typical. All he's done is hide from us."
"I wasn't hiding, I just didn't want to go back in the box…" Alec squeaked with some embarrassment. They both looked to him and, seeing that this wasn't helping his case, he clammed up quickly.
"So, we just take his word for it? Go ahead with the predictable, him telling us to find his home," Michael pointed out. Seeing her hesitate, his features softened up a bit. "I know you care, Charlie, but I don't want to see you getting taken advantage of. We see plenty of animatronics that lure in their victims with a false story, acting as friendly as can be, only for the shoe to drop." He noticed Alec shiver in the box at this.
"Maybe… Which is why we need to find out for sure," she offered. Now Charlie leaned over the box for a closer look. The Freddy leaned back away from her in response, looking up at her in confusion as she studied him. "I don't even know what kind of Freddy he is. Have you ever seen one this small that's still built like a normal animatronic?"
"No…" Michael huffed in defeat and pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly. "…But chances are those silent employees know more than they let on." He exhaled again and dropped his hand, looking Charlie directly in the eyes. "Fine. We will hold off on dealing with Freddy and go ask around at the pizzeria to see what they say. If they say that Freddy was discarded because he's been telling these tall tales to strangers then we will know he's lying, right?" She nodded in agreement. "I am only doing this because you're concerned. I've had animatronics lie about being human before."
"But you've also had animatronics that have been human before," she reminded him.
"We have, and they're the most inhuman and ruthless of them all," he cryptically retorted. "And it's not like we know what we're dealing with. I've never seen a Freddy like this. As far as I know, he could be a literal ticking time bomb stalling for time."
It was that comment that gave Charlie an idea. She snapped her fingers and asked, "What about your brother? He's got a collection of plush animatronics; he might've seen a Freddy like this before." Michael seemed doubtful. "It's worth asking him. Or at least having him look at him."
"I suppose so. In for a penny, in for a pound with this one," Michael reluctantly agreed. As much work as this was all going to be and as doubtful as he was in Alec's legitimacy, he wasn't willing to be the bad guy in this situation. Though knew that Charlie would be rational enough to accept evidence, so he was willing to get it. "What and where is this pizzeria you were talking about?" he asked the bear.
"It's called Funtime Funzone and it's in Cedar City. That's where my home is too," Alec explained.
"Then that's where we will be going," Mike agreed.
"Really? You're going to take me back?" The relief in Alec's voice was obvious. If he could've smiled truthfully then he would've. "You're going to let me out of the box too?"
"No." Michael smoothly closed-up the flaps and that was the end of that.
After a few calls to find out where his brother was, Michael and Charlie found themselves parked in the hospital parking lot beside his brother's car. He would recognize it anywhere; it was the one his father left behind after he had passed away. It was a gaudy purple color that had only become more faded and repulsive with time. Nobody had wanted the car, but Marion was the one who had needed one.
They got lucky in only having to wait about ten minutes before catching sight of a young man wheeling a stand across the parking lot. Hanging from the cross hooked on the stand was a black and white puppet animatronic. If it wasn't for that dead giveaway, Charlie wouldn't have been able to recognize him from this far away.
"Mari's coming," she alerted. Michael, who was almost half asleep in the driver's seat, scooted back upwards and peered over the steering wheel to see. Then began to roll down the driver's side window.
As stated previously, Marion was the youngest of the Afton siblings. His dark brown hair matched Michael's perfectly except grown out longer, showing more natural curls that curtained his forehead. He was slender, taller than Lizzie but shorter than Michael, and usually kept a warm smile. Currently he was wearing a thick coat of face paint and his 'puppeteering uniform', a striped suit that looked too warm in this climate.
He noticed the Afton Robotics van even before Michael rolled down the window and leaned his head out. "Taking your doll out for a walk again?" he asked. Marion got a cheery smile at seeing him.
"Michael! I didn't expect to see you here! Just a quick field trip to the children's ward," Marion answered as he came up to the window. He noticed Charlie in the passenger's seat and sent her a smile. "Hey Charlie."
Michael got straight to the point. "Unfortunately, this isn't a social call. I need you to look at an animatronic and see if you can make any sense of it." He then shut off the van, which he had been leaving on to use the air conditioning and gestured towards the back before climbing in between the seats. Marion and Charlie both met him around back as he opened one of the doors and stepped down.
True to his word, he had kept Alec in the carboard box. He lifted off the heavy toolbox that he used to keep the flaps closed and then moved the box to the doors so Marion could look inside. He crouched down and opened it up for him, revealing the small Freddy inside who had now gone still again. It was unclear whether it was from fear or out of reflex.
"Have you seen an animatronic like this before?" Charlie asked as she watched Marion start to lift the Freddy in his hands and look over it. "It came from a place called Funtime Funzone in Cedar City. I haven't looked inside of it, but it feels like it has a full endoskeleton. Just like a typical Freddy but much smaller."
"I think… This is a Lonely Freddy," Marion said. He expected the somewhat confused look from Charlie and turned to show her the bear in his arms. "Or that's what they used to call them. They weren't in use long and there couldn't have made too many of them. They were prone to get stolen. They would have a little stage for children could come up and talk with them, and they would ask questions and be programmed to remember responses so that they could come up with their own answers."
"So, technically, they would be able to remember a large amount of details and recite them?" Michael offered. Even when he didn't show it on his face, him glancing at Charlie afterwards almost seemed smug.
"Maybe? I wouldn't say they would remember much for long. Usually machines like this don't store that much memory," Marion answered. He looked to the bear again before frowning. "Kids were scared of these."
"They were? Because they asked questions?" Charlie asked.
"There was a particularly disturbing rumor that used to follow these Lonely Freddys. Someone once said that a small Freddy just like this talked to a child so long that he stole their voice. I doubt that's what actually happened, but it is interesting to note that a silly little rumor like that gained traction… Especially since we all know that the rumors at Freddy's tend to have some root in reality," Marion said in a lower tone. He then noticed Michael's questioning look and added, "Gabe told me. He used to tell me all the horror stories of Freddy's before we knew they were true."
"Of course," Michael said without surprise. "But you've never seen one of these working in person?"
"Oh no, mine's broken," Marion said as he returned Freddy to the box. "Here you go, little guy."
"…You're joking. You don't have one of these," Michael said with an unreadable tone. The younger man nodded in assurance. "Dear God."
"Well, that at least gives us something to go on before we get to the pizzeria… There's another thing too, but this is a little more theoretical. Have you ever heard of animatronics possessing humans?" Charlie asked cautiously. She noticed Alec's eyes flick over to her in the box, but Marion was facing her and didn't notice. "Specifically, while they're asleep?"
A very disturbed look passed Marion's face but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared. "I don't think so… Why?"
"It's not important," Michael dismissed. He closed the bear's box and moved it to the side before setting the toolbox back on top of it. "We're going up to Cedar City. The cell service is spotty on the highway, so if Lizzie calls tell her where we are and that we will be back." Marion agreed with a nod and Michael shut the back doors.
Charlie turned back towards him and said, "Thanks for the help. We really appreciate it, and it was good to see you."
"No problem! You should come by and see the show sometime," Marion offered with his warm smile returning.
"I think I might take you up on that. I'm getting some time off soon and I don't want to spend it all stuck in my dorm." Charlie looked to the hanging puppet and jokingly added, "It was good to see you too, Netty."
Marion got a beaming smile and reached behind the puppet to tug on some of the strings hanging down behind it, causing the puppet to raise its right arm in a wave. "You too, Lottie! Come visit sometime!" 'he' said, Marion voicing him while barely moving his lips. Charlie returned to the van while he wheeled his puppet back to his car.
"And Marion," Michael called out the window. His younger brother looked back at him. "Get rid of that thing in your house… And don't give me that look. I'm serious."
"Yes, big brother," Marion said patronizingly. He then started to move his puppet into the backseat while the van drove off behind him. After a moment he looked back with a worried frown, but now he couldn't go anything.
He hoped they knew what they were doing.
Cedar City was an uncomfortable forty-minute drive away. The land between Hurricane and there was rather dull, so Michael and Charlie remained mostly silent and listened to the radio. Eventually they made it into the city and pulled into the parking lot of the Funtme Funzone. It was obviously a pizzeria from the sign outside, but even from there they could see cracks in the façade; few cars in the parking lot, smudged front windows, what looked like an empty dining room inside. It, like most former Freddy's, was on its last legs.
Before getting the box, Michael couldn't remember ever hearing about this place, but he knew from the look alone that it wasn't new. He didn't know what he would be expected to face on the inside and because of that he decided the best course was to scout on his own.
"Wait here with the bear, Charlie. I'll be right back," he said as he unbuckled his seatbelt. "And please, for both of our sakes, don't let it out of the box." Once he received a nod of agreement he headed inside.
Charlie sunk into the seat and prepared herself for a weight. Though soon after Michael's departure she heard shuffling in the closed-up cardboard box. After a few seconds of trying to escape and failing, Alec called out from the box. "Hey, Charlie? Will you let me out now? I'll get back in when he gets back, I promise! I won't tell him if you won't."
"Sorry, but Michael does have a point. It's better to be safe than sorry," she explained. He wasn't happy with this answer and went silent in what she could assume was pouting. "…But between you and me, I do believe you." Alec gave a humming sigh through his tiny speaker. Charlie turned to face his box. "You didn't tell us how you found a Lonely Freddy. Was it just out on the showroom floor?"
"No, I was hiding from my sister and I found it in the back of this room full of stuff they weren't using," Alec grumbled. "And it turned on by itself and started talking to me, and then I took it home, and that's it."
"Why were you hiding from your sister?" Charlie asked. Almost like she was cross-examining him, because Michael's doubts had managed to make her a little paranoid as well. The bear made another mock huff.
"We got in a fight. Hazel's just… She's a spoiled brat. There, I said it. Everyone thinks she's perfect and treats her like she's a princess, and they treat me like I'm just some kid they don't know living in the house… If anyone should've turned into a bear, it should've been her. Maybe then she wouldn't be Ms. Perfect," Alec vented. A soured comment and it sounded like he meant it, but she didn't hold it against him. If anything, it did make him sound a little more convincing. "I just want to go home… I didn't even want to go to that stupid pizzeria."
"I understand how you feel, but don't worry. We're going to figure this out and get you home, I promise," Charlie assured him.
Alec was still distressed in the tightness of the box, but he became meeker as he shirked further into himself, or his current body. He wasn't sure if he believed she could keep that promise.
Silence fell over the van until Michael returned. He climbed back into the driver's seat with a frown set on his face and a look of annoyance in his gaze.
"Any luck?" Charlie asked. Though she guessed not from that look, and he shook his head.
"Not only did they claim that they never had a small Freddy animatronic in their restaurant, but they denied sending it to me, denied they were affiliated with Freddy's, and proceeded to rush off to do something and then never returned. Typical Fazbear Entertainment behavior," Michael said with a scoff. He pushed the key in and turned on the van. "But it does lend some credibility to Alec's story."
"It does?!" Alec called out from the box.
"How?" Charlie asked. She was surprised by the sudden change of heart. "Just before you went in you were telling me not to let him out of the box. What changed?"
"Their dodginess was a dead giveaway of their guilt. They obviously had that Freddy in there and suddenly got rid of it for some unknown reason. There wouldn't be any reason to lie about it unless something already happened that they wanted to hide," Michael pointed out. Then he got a much more stern and wary look. "…And if that is true, then that means there is an animatronic that can possess humans and steal their bodies. I don't think I need to tell you how horrifying that is for us."
"I can't even imagine it," Charlie admitted. "It's one thing for a spirit to possess a lifeless machine, but to somehow switch consciousness with a human- how would that even work?" She tried to think through it, but it seemed so muddled and fuzzy in her mind. It was one thing when they talked of remnant- their colorful word for souls- but it was another thing trying to think of it in a tangible way.
"That means you're going to help me, right? You're going to take me home?" Alec asked desperately. Then he got a more annoyed tone, "Can you at least take me out of the box?!" Michael gave a defeated sigh and started to lean into the backseat to do so.
Soon, Alec was sitting between the van seats as they continued driving along. He couldn't see well from how short he was but used what vision he did have and memory to lead them back to his house. They soon arrived at the street and parked a little way down the street from it.
"Is this the place?" Charlie asked. She offered her hands to Alec and he stepped up on them, then she lifted him to see out the windshield. His eyes glowed an eager yellow as he saw his home after days away.
"That's it! That's my house...!" The glow slowly faded from his eyes in disappointment. "…But what are we going to do? I can't just walk in there like this! My parents will never believe me. Not when Freddy's in there in my body… There's got to be a way to get my body back!"
"Easier said than done," Michael muttered under his breath. He noticed that there was a car in the driveway so someone was home and that meant they couldn't very well go poking around without getting caught. "It's not like we can kidnap your body and force you back inside."
"Maybe we could…" Charlie said thoughtfully. Michael's head snapped to her. "Not the kidnapping, obviously. I meant maybe we could force him back into his body. Alec, you said that it happened while you were sleeping? You had full control before you went to bed and then woke up in this Freddy body?" she asked, and the bear nodded. "Then maybe if you slept by your body the reversal could happen."
"How do you suppose that?" the technician asked doubtfully.
"Whatever Freddy used to get into his body is now in the body he's possessing. Technically, Freddy handed Alec everything he was working with, so he should be able to use it to fix himself."
"Yes, but only if there is a mechanism that causes the body swap and not just a haunting."
"It's all we have to go on right now. We don't really have many other options," Charlie pointed out. She then turned her attention to Alec as he lowered him down. He stared wantingly at his home until it was out of sight, then turned around to face her. "What do you think, Alec? Would you be willing to try it?"
"It's worth a try! I'll do anything to get back into my own body," Alec agreed eagerly. His energy almost sounded forced though and it was clear that his feelings leaned more towards Michael's than Charlie's. "My parents go to bed at ten-thirty every night. After that I could sneak in the doggie door and get to my bedroom. Then I just… I don't know. I sleep on the edge of the bed or something."
"Hmm… You'd do well to be careful with that," Michael murmured as he started the van and began to drive.
Alec started to panic and climbed up on the door to watch the house pass by. "Hey, where are we going?!" he exclaimed.
"If we sit here for hours then we'll get noticed and have the cops knocking on our windows. We have hours to kill until we need to get back," Michael explained. Alec knew he was right but couldn't help but feel disappointed as he climbed back down and dropped onto Charlie's lap. He then sulked back to the console between the seats and sat there silently. It was all a matter of waiting.
As Michael said, they returned to the house hours later. In that time they had driven back to Afton Robotics, where Alec had been passed around by the others like the marvel that he was. Alec didn't know whether to be uncomfortable with being a spectacle or glad to be getting attention for once; sadly, it felt like the latter. But here they were back outside of his house.
Once they parked, Michael snatched Alec up and laid him face down in his lap. The Freddy tried to fight it as the technician grabbed a screwdriver out of said console and pressed it under a panel in his back.
"H-Hey! What are you doing?!" Alec cried as he thrashed on his lap. He could feel the screwdriver press in further and begin to pry off the panel. "Stop it! Get off me!"
Michael fought the urge to roll his eyes at the childish tantrum. "Try to stay calm. All I'm doing is putting a small transceiver underneath your suit. It will allow Charlie and I to hear what's going on from out here. That way if anything happens to you we will be able to… Well, we can't very well come in and get you, but we will do something."
"Gee, that sounds great," Alec sarcastically grumbled. The panel snapped up and he shivered. "Watch him, Charlie. Make sure he doesn't do anything else while he's in there. I can feel this body, you know!"
"I'm watching. Don't worry, he's actually pretty good at this," Charlie said, sending the technician a slight, playful smile. He almost returned it but instead focused on getting it in place before closing his back again.
"There you are. Now then, can you make it to the house on your own? It'll be less obvious that way." The Freddy considered it hesitantly before nodding. "Very good. Here." Michael opened the driver's side door and let him climb down to the street. "Be careful. If what you say is true, then I doubt Freddy will be so willing to relinquish his control on your body."
Alec nodded and then turned determinedly towards his house. After a moment to brace himself he began to jog down the street as the van door closed behind him.
"That's two birds with one stone," Michael muttered.
Charlie looked to him questioningly. "What do you mean?"
"I'll be honest, Charlie. I'm still not entirely convinced about Alec's story. As far as we know, he could be a manipulative Freddy whose tracked down someone he wants to replace and is using us to get to him. Just in case, we'll be listening in the entire time, and if he slips up, we will know about it," he said.
She looked a little less than enthused. "So, either way Alec is being used as a guinea pig."
"Exactly," Mike said as he pulled a small radio out of the console and handed it over to her. "Here."
She took the radio and looked over it in her hands. Between it and the transceiver, they both looked small enough to be used in toys. That made her uneasy, as she knew plenty of dolls that had speakers in them. "Did your father used to make these?" she asked cautiously.
"No…" Michael cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Yours did."
"…Right." Charlie was just as awkward. "He used to build me toys with recordings built in. I shouldn't be surprised they worked the other way too…" They fell into an uneasy silence as they listened in.
Alec made it to the dog door and climbed inside awkwardly. Thankfully, they hadn't had a dog in years, and probably wouldn't get another one until his sister begged for one. In this case it helped him, and he scuttled across the dining room and kitchen, out to the hallway, and crept past his parents' room. Their door was shut and all he could hear from inside was the dull hum of a fan. For a moment he almost considered running in and telling them the truth, but he knew they wouldn't believe him. They barely believed him when he was a human.
It didn't take him long to make it to his bedroom and to creep through the cracked door. The room was dark and only illuminated by his glowing blue eyes. Over on the bed he could see part of a lump that looked like a body and he began to quietly patter over. He climbed up the side of the bed and looked across it to see his own body lying there with its back facing him. As though it wasn't an imposter using his body. He wished he could glare, but instead all that came from his intense gaze was his eyes turning pink.
He shielded them with his arm, not willing to wake the body, and climbed up beside the pillow. He laid down on the other side of it, checking to make sure the human wasn't stirring, and tried to relax. Maybe if he just tried to sleep he would wake up in his own body. He closed his eyes and thought of all the revenge he would enact on Freddy when this was all over. Maybe he would toss him down a manhole, or better still tape him in a cardboard box and see how he liked it, before donating him back to Michael to go in the furnace.
Alec started to relax more as his eyes dimmed and closed. His stiff unfamiliar body relaxed as he started to drift off.
Only to wake up to a pillowcase suddenly being thrust over him.
Alec cried out and tried to fight, but human hands tossed and shoved him off the bed and headfirst into the pillowcase. It was twisted past his feet as Freddy slung him up and carried him out of the room.
"I gave you a chance. I let you go…" Alec felt a chill from how cold his own voice sounded. It sounded unlike him; he had never sounded so empty and devoid of inflection. "You should've stayed gone."
"Freddy, wait!" Alec cried from the pillowcase. The human held him closer to muffle his voice against his chest. "I-I thought we were friends! I brought you home with me like you asked!"
"I know," Freddy said as he carried the bear back into the kitchen. "That's why I let you go… But I can't let you go if you're going to keep trying to come back."
The human tied off the pillowcase and tossed it onto the dining room table before going over and looking through the drawers. Alec could hear him opening and searching through them one by one. He was beginning to panic as he thought about all the knives and tools in those drawers.
"You didn't even like your life. All you did was complain about how unfair your family was. About how you hated your sister and how your family doesn't love you… Just so you know, they never even noticed the change. You were easily replaceable," Freddy said flatly. He then spotted something and soon lifted a heavy meat tenderizer out of the drawer. "Can I ask you a question?" He asked quietly as he came back to the table and stood over the lump of a pillowcase. "What is your biggest regret… Alec?"
"Wait, Freddy, don't hurt me!" Alec blurted out. "I-I'll leave, okay? I'll go away and I won't come back! I promise, just let me go!"
"Was it coming back? Or isolating yourself from your family? Pushing your sister away? Talking to strangers?" Freddy began to ask as he stared down from above. "Tell me, Alec."
Seeing that he wasn't getting out of this, Alec built up the nerve to answer. "Br-Bringing you home."
"Thank you for being honest. I'll remember your response."
The human then swung the meat tenderizer down onto the bear.
Alec screamed through his speaker as his body was struck. Even though thick, he could feel each blow, and he could feel cracking from somewhere inside. Freddy was merciless, feeling for his head and holding him still so he could continue to batter him with hit after hit. The metal cracking against his exterior with every blow. Nobody else in the house could hear a thing.
But Charlie and Michael could hear it very clearly.
"We have to-!" Whatever Michael was going to say was cut off as Charlie threw open the passenger side door and leapt out before running down the street towards the house. "Charlie!" he called after her. Seeing that she wasn't stopping, he climbed out of the driver's side and hurried after her. Thinking as she ran, Charlie came up with an idea on the fly and ran up to the front door. She knocked rapidly on the front door.
Freddy stopped his battering and looked towards the kitchen door in paranoia. Suddenly his desire to silence Alec once and for all was won out by his need to pretend to be normal. He snatched up the pillowcase and threw it into the cabinet under the sink, which didn't shut all the way from his rushed motions, and then hurried out of the kitchen to answer the door before 'his' parents woke up.
Charlie nervously stood at the front door and directed Michael to sneak around to the back. She then snapped back into position as the door opened and Alec's body answered.
"Hey… I, uh. I was just walking by and I heard something weird. Is everything okay? It sounded like maybe someone hurt themselves?" Charlie asked, trying to sound composed even with how nervous she was.
Freddy stared blankly for a moment before processing enough to get a smile. "Sorry, I just had the TV turned up. Nothing going on here!"
"Oh… I couldn't tell. Sorry for knocking this late," Charlie apologized. The human started to close the door. "Hey, wait!" she blurted out to stop him. "Are you… Alec?" The human stared at her blankly. "Alec, Hazel's brother? My brother goes to school with your sister we met at the uh…" She snapped her fingers. "The uh, that Christmas party- Christmas pageant! Sammy, my brother, played the penguin?"
She was lying through her teeth, but there was no way for Freddy to know that. He had to play along to not break his cover. "Right! Wow, you look… Different than I remember. I didn't recognize you… Uh?"
"Jenny," she continued to lie with a fake smile. She tried to make her unease look like nervousness, and she tried to make her tone sound believably so. "How've you and your sister been? I've been out of town. I only just got back a few days ago."
"We've been good," Freddy excused. There was a long pause where she tried to coax him to continued. "…Hazel's been doing really good in school. I think she's going to get on honor roll, but you know how these things can go to her head." They continued to make small talk.
Meanwhile, Michael had made it to the door and had tried it and the windows into the kitchen to no avail. Eventually he was stuck wedging himself halfway into the dog door and trying to reach up for the doorknob. This was easier said than done; Michael wasn't exactly small, and the door was clearly made to fit only dogs. He was about to give up when he heard a thump from a nearby cabinet.
"Alec?" he whispered. To which the cabinet door slowly opened, and a lump of a pillowcase rolled out. He could tell it was the small bear. "Alec, it's me. Can you get over here?"
What answered him was a crackle of static, which wasn't a good sign after the battering he received. Michael tried to turn himself to better face the pillowcase.
"Charlie's distracting Freddy, but it isn't going to last long. I need you to come here. Just follow my voice," he coaxed.
Alec was confused and having trouble moving. His body felt wrong in so many ways and yet he started to shift his limbs and crawl across the floor towards the voice. One of his arms wouldn't work, something hung from his chest, and the glow from his eyes made a static pattern on the inside of the pillowcase. He continued trying to force himself along.
Once he got into Michael's reach, he was grabbed and drug out through the dog door. He continued making static noises of pain since he couldn't speak as he was lifted into the man's arms. Michael decided not to worry about opening the bag and instead crept around the outside of the house. Once at the corner, where he couldn't pass without being seen, he reached into his pocket for his keys and pressed the horn button.
The beeping from the van caught Charlie and the possessed body off-guard. She caught the signal go and looked back causally.
"Oh geez… That's my dad. He must've come looking for me. He's always so overprotective… I'm sorry, I have to go, but maybe I'll see you around sometimes?" Charlie offered. She then started to walk towards the sidewalk with a wave. "And tell your mom that if she ever needs a babysitter, I get the weekends off."
"Sure thing! Glad to see you, Jen!" Freddy replied with a false smile and shut the door. He seemed entirely oblivious to the distraction. She hoped that he would continue believing it even when he found Alec missing. Charlie jogged back to the van and moments later Michael sprinted to the driver's side, tossed the pillowcase across into her hands, and jumped in the seat.
"Let's get the hell out of here," Michael muttered as he fumbled to get the key in the ignition. He was driving off within seconds while Charlie worked to get the pillowcase open. "How is he holding up?"
It didn't take her too long to undo the clumsy knot and pull the pillowcase down, but once she did, she saw Freddy's handiwork on his old body and barely withheld a gasp. It was merciless. Alec's right eye had been cracked and was dim while the left flickered, the ear on his right side was broken off, part of his chest was crushed in and his speaker was dangling out of its socket, and his leg was partially crushed.
"It's not good," Charlie admitted. She could barely believe he was still twitching in his state. "We have to get him fixed before he loses his hold on the body. I have the tools in my dorm, just head straight there," she insisted. Michael nodded in understanding while Alec tried to try and turn over. "Don't move, Alec. We're going to get you fixed up. Just stay still."
He went still and rested. The long drive droned on, taking him further and further away from home.
End of Part 1