Chapter 15

Lefty bolted down the street as quickly as he possibly could, Alec was cradled in his arms, Lefty turned out of the street, Alec reasoned that may be the last time he sees his house in weeks which was slightly disappointing. It wasn't for nothing, Alec reminisced some nicer memories, even if they were only a few seconds long and far in between, he discussed more about his parents, but he saw how angry it made Lefty, he wanted to stop talking about it but Lefty shook his head and said "No, I want to know what they're like, I'm practically your guardian right now, I'd like to know how they raised you, I'd honestly think they believe in "Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child", which that isn't how you raise a child. There's a huge difference between being the parent and being the provider."

Lefty had agreed and told Alec they would go through the Scrap Yard as it would cut 30 minutes out of their travel time, just as long as they kept quiet and moved quickly.

Lefty slipped in a hole through a chain-link fence, Alec was still in his arms, Lefty found it was easier to carry him, as Alec could not keep up with Lefty's running speed. Lefty walked against the dirt, he did look where he walked at times knowing there was broken glass littered everywhere, Alec started to feel a sense of dread as he made the mistake of looking around.

He could tell around him and Lefty were mountains of broken car parts, pipes, black trash bags that let out foul rotting odours, there was a TV, with its screen shattered, revealing the inner parts, Alec could briefly see himself and Lefty reflected in a broken off dusty car door window, his eyes were glowing like light bulbs which slightly irritated him but it was allowing him to see. He did see animatronic parts, heads without eyes, broken torso pieces in a pile like they exploded into a big mess, twisted hands reaching from the piles of metal like zombies rising from their graves in movies.

"Lefty..."

"Keep quiet, I have no way to know if Funtime Freddy is around, and if he sees us, he will attack."

Alec silently nodded, then shivered briefly. Despite the time of year, Alec was cold, and he couldn't explain why, it was like the cold was in his bones—exoskeleton? Whatever it was.

Lefty did talk briefly about Funtime Freddy, who appeared to be his opposite, even in appearance, Lefty said he was white and pink like Helpy but he was the same size as Lefty, and Funtime Freddy was a cold bloodied animatronic killing machine.

Lefty suddenly froze, Alec was about to ask what was wrong when he heard something ahead of them, crashing metal, like something fell from a pile then crashed on the ground. Lefty listened for anything more to figure out if it was just a falling item or something more... then he heard something walking along the dirt also.

Lefty narrowed his eyes, seeing ahead was a figure that had a strange walk, like it was almost dragging its feet along, not like a wounded animal, but like it was sluggish to walk, it looked like a person who struggled to walk in their own body.

Alec looked up at Lefty, "Lefty is that...?"

"I think so, I won't start a fight but I'll finish it," He said.

Alec couldn't believe that was the StitchWraith, about fifteen meters in front of them, it dug through some metal, rattling things, banging them about, obviously looking for something.

Lefty protectively held onto Alec, waiting until it was gone, he had looked to his sides to make sure nothing would jump at him. Alec watched the StitchWraith, it looked like it was searching for something in particular, Alec wondered if this thing had a programmed purpose or was just sentient like Lefty and the other robots, what would its purpose be in the Scrap Yard. It had the appearance according to the legend, an exoskeleton body, wearing a cloak to cover most of its form, Alec couldn't see the face but he had heard it was like a mask, with blood around its teeth.

The StitchWraith looked around the pile it was investigating then it pulled out what looked like a black garbage bag and dragged it away out of view behind itself, it appeared satisfied by what it found.

Lefty waited a few minutes then slowly walked forward, trying to stay quiet for his sake and Alec's safety, he walked far enough that he briefly looked around a trash pile and saw the StitchWraith with the trash bag, dragging it away, obviously claiming it for its own. Lefty and Alec didn't have the slightest idea why it was taking trash, Lefty understood animatronic parts but it just took a random black trash bag and seemed happy with that.

He didn't dwell in his thoughts for long, he could see a window of opportunity, Lefty walked forward, and slipped between a narrow passage between two trash mountains, then he made it to the other side of the fence, he marched to where the wire fence was held by the metal pole, Lefty pushed it outwards, showing Alec that it came apart, and he stepped free.

"I broke that hole into the fence about three months ago and they still haven't fixed it."

Alec didn't know who "they" were.

Lefty looked behind himself, to make sure the StitchWraith wasn't following them.

"How many times have you gone through there?" Alec asked, more curious as to how many times Lefty was out and about without getting caught once.

"Too many, usually I get jumped by Funtime Freddy... but I haven't seen him since January this year... and no one has disappeared for over eight months..." Lefty looked up at the sky, "It might rain again... the sky doesn't look good, I need to get us both to the pizzeria as soon as possible..."

Lefty ran across a road and into an open field, Alec knew it was an area where the sporty kids from his high school would hang out, he had never seen it at night, it was poorly lit and most likely not a good area to hang out at night, but he doubted that anyone would approach them, Lefty did tower over most people.

Lefty stopped at the next road, he backed away as he saw a car approaching, he waited for the front lights to disappear, once he heard the car speeding away out of view, Lefty looked for any other cars then crossed the road.

Alec looked around, the world just felt different at night, it was like another world, one he tried to stay from, but one that Lefty knew too well.

Lefty stopped at one point, he looked around, seeing no one but he kept looking around.

"What is it?" Alec asked.

"I feel like I'm being watched..." Lefty then stepped forward, "I don't like being exposed."

Lefty continued walking, he then reached a familiar location, the preschool that was a ten-minute walk from the Pizzeria, Lefty crossed the road, going in front of the preschool, Alec looked at the high fence, obviously to stop kids from getting out while the teachers weren't looking and he remembered his days in preschool, years before, especially the memory of first being called bad by the teacher.

I'm not bad anymore, Lefty hasn't once called me bad... unless...?

"Hey Lefty, do you think I'm a bad kid?"

"No, what prompted that question?" Lefty immediately questioned him.

"Just thinking..." Alec answered.

Lefty rounded the corner, "Alright, we have to get across the road and... Oh... no.."

"What?"

"Do you see that car in the parking lot?" Lefty pointed to the only car in the parking lot of the pizzeria, which was a silver car with noticeable dirt coating it, Alec nodded, then Lefty continued, "That's Michael's car, which means he's here, we can't go in the front door, I didn't tell him about you."

"He doesn't leave until six right?" Alec recalled that detail in a conversation they had.

"Yes... we can sneak in."

"Where?" Alec asked, not remember any way to sneak in or out.

"Kitchen, there is a door at the back, it requires a keycard and passcode, which lucky for you, I have both... we'll go in, sneak through the arcade and get into my room, then I'll see if we've got leftovers in the fridge, I'm seriously not interested in cooking tonight."

Lefty dashed across the road and curved left to the side then the back of the building, which had two green dumpsters, seeing them made Alec slightly anxious, he remembered the nightmares about being trapped, calling for help, with no one answering.

He then saw the door that led inside, which was closed.

He also saw something near the door.

"Lefty, there's something there!" Alec half-whispered and half-shouted.

It turned its head, Alec saw a pair of glowing yellow eyes looking at them.

"It's okay, that's Fetch Alec," Lefty walked closer and Alec saw the form of a dog, which was also a robot, as the glowing yellow eyes weren't normal, the dog had its mouth slightly hanging open like it was smiling, it's tail was wagging behind it excitedly, the dog went to Lefty as used one hand to remove his hat then pulled out a black card.

"Oh Fetch, don't jump, I'm holding a child, gimme a minute, I'll let you in also..." Lefty turned his attention to the door, Alec noticed it lacked a handle but had a keypad, he watched Lefty pressed the card against the keypad, Alec heard a faint buzz sound, he then typed in the numbers 0-8-1-8 in the keypad, the door slightly opened and Lefty shoved it open.

"Finally home..." He muttered, Fetch didn't wait for an invite and walked in, in the light of the kitchen, Alec saw his dark fur, his canine teeth and his blue-collar. He belonged to somebody, but Alec was certain Lefty would have mentioned he had a mechanical mutt.

Lefty closed the door, he looked down at Fetch, who then sat obediently in front of him and looked up at him.

"What this is a dog...?" Alec asked, he then felt stupid saying that because his mind immediately answered it's a robot.

"Alec... this is Fetch, he came to the pizzeria a few months ago and I let him in, I fed him and let him sleep, he comes by every once in a while, sometimes I see him five days in a row, sometimes I don't see him for three weeks... he's friendly..." Lefty put Alec down, despite Alec thinking that wasn't a great idea.

Fetch immediately wandered to Alec, Alec stood still, this dog was bigger than him, he didn't like that.

Fetch put his snout to Alec's face and began sniffing him, Alec slightly flinched at the cold nose in his face, he had a dog when he was younger named Buddy that passed away a few years ago. He remembered all the times Buddy would whine at the back door to be let in, even the time he brought in mud, which made his mother furious, especially when he went around the house, tracking mud everywhere. At the time it made Alec laugh but now he realised his mother was probably angry because she would have to clean it up. Buddy seemed to like Alec more, as he would, if given the chance, go to Alec's bedroom, just to see him.

Fetch pressed his nose against Alec's, he then opened his mouth and Alec saw his tongue.

He gave him a big lick on his face.

"EW THAT'S GROSS STOP IT!" Alec yelled, Fetch had taken to licking him multiple times on his face, Alec put up his hands to stop him but Fetch also licked his hands, he knew the dog was friendly but he was unprepared to be licked soaking wet.

"Heal Fetch," Fetch had backed off on Lefty's command, "I see he likes you."

"Why?"

"The last time I let Fetch near a random Lonely Freddy," Lefty kneeled and gave him a handkerchief, Alec grabbed it and wiped his face with it "He made it a chew toy, maybe he can tell you're a person."

"It's a robot," He saw Fetch gave him a puzzled look.

"I'm a robot too."

"It's a dog," Alec reasoned.

"Dogs have a good sense of smell, Fetch's sense of smell is one of the best I've seen... he's waiting for me to throw him a pizza slice like I usually do..." Lefty reached out his hand and started to pet Fetch on his head, Fetch immediately closed his eyes as if he was enjoying it.

Like he was a real dog.

"Why don't you ever let him stay?"

"I think Fetch has an owner but I'm not sure, he likes to go on his own accord..." Lefty got to his feet and stood up, "Come on Fetch, I'll sneak you into my room."

Fetch didn't move.

"You want something to eat first?"

Fetch nodded, understanding Lefty.

"Let me check if we have anything left..." Lefty walked over to the fridge on the other side of where they were, Alec and Fetch followed him.

Lefty opened the fridge and peered in, "We got some pizza... cupcakes..."

Fetch looked at Alec again, Alec immediately said, "Don't lick me again please."

"Well, I can put a pizza in the oven..." Lefty walked to one of the ovens, turning the dial to turn it on.

"Funny story, a Lonely Freddy once crawled into one of the ovens and fell asleep in there... they turned it on to heat up the next day, the bastard got burnt alive..." Lefty explained, "The poor girl who put the oven on, she was so worried she'd be fired... I helped her to clean it up and I vouched that she didn't know the thing had gotten in there, it was 100% an accident."

"I hope it wasn't a..."

"Wasn't a what Alec?" Lefty asked.

Alec knew there was no way he could finish the sentence without really breaking him completely, he was hoping that particular one wasn't a body swapped child, but seemed unlikely, a child wouldn't go into an oven even if it was turned off.

"What's going on with you?" Lefty kept questioning, "Something else is bothering you, tell me the truth this time, I won't get angry."

Tell me the truth, I won't get angry, he used to hearing that particular phrase from his parents, they seem to get angry regardless, the truth didn't seem to be valid without good reasoning, even so.

But Lefty was different if anything there were moments where Alec thought he acted like a parent.

He would have to tell him eventually.

"Lefty, I'm not the only one."

"What does that mean?"

"They were more, you never found them... I don't know what happened to them."

"More..."

"Kids who were body swapped, I should have told you right away-"

"I see..." Lefty nodded, he didn't sound angry or sad, in fact, his voice sounded devoid of emotion.

Alec looked at him, "Are you mad?"

"No... I... I don't know what to do... I mean I can't find them... You were found by accident..." Lefty answered, "Hopefully you won't be like this forever, I do want to try a theory... If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to use a spell, a spell that is designed to seek and fix Soul Remnant."

"Soul Remnant..?" Alec asked.

"All humans have a soul, specifically, when you pull it from a body and convert to a form of energy, it becomes a Soul Remnant, it is powerful but dangerous, I won't explain everything as it will probably overwhelm you... Souls and Aura are closely connected... I sense your Soul right now, your emotions, the most prominent ones? Your agony, your sadness, your fear, your regret. You want to take back what you did, but you fear you can't, you fear that Hazel would never forgive you, you fear she is happier now without you."

"What if she is?" Alec asked, unsure if he wanted to know the answer.

"I've told you... You can fix this... You can fix your relationships, all of them. If you should ever need my help even when you are human again, you are welcomed to come to see me, I would give you any advice you need."

"What would the spell do?"

"It could be a gateway for me to swap you and Lonely Freddy, I imagine, I can put you back in your body, and force Lonely Freddy out of your mind instantly, however, I don't know that. The spell can be used restore and fix Soul Remnant, thus you would temporarily have your human form, very temporarily, and I can use that to find clues as to how your soul has essentially become shackled to a body that isn't even remotely yours, do you understand Alec?"

Alec nodded, although he didn't understand. He just didn't want to appear like a stupid kid who didn't know anything.

"This is important, I need to figure out exactly how this happened, and why did Lonely Freddy prey on you specifically? I'm trying to figure out if..." Lefty muttered something after that looking angry.

"What?" Alec had not heard what Lefty said at the end.

"I'm trying to figure out if you were a random pick or if Lonely Freddy chose you for a reason."

Alec's eyes widen, he didn't consider that he was targeted, but... it sort of makes sense, his mind said.

"He could have done the same that Lucky did with Helpy. Lucky targeted Helpy, most likely because he knew he would have likely gotten away with it, had I not woken up, I... I had nightmares about it, about what could have happened if I didn't wake up... I could have lost my best friend forever, not realising until it was too late to rescue him. This particular Lonely Freddy could have gone after you as an open opportunity or... It decided to chase... You need to tell me now, did you have any, I mean any, contact with a Lonely Freddy before you were body swapped? I don't care how small it might seem to you, but did one look at you? Could you have possibly been heard or seen by one?" Lefty asked.

Alec frowned, then he recalled something

What're you looking at? Creeper.

"Me and Hazel... Mom was planning the party... I saw a Lonely Freddy on its stage, I think it was looking at me, maybe watching me, is it possible?"

Lefty nodded, "It most likely was watching you. Lonely Freddy was programmed to listen to conversations, purely so they learn things to talk about. A Lonely Freddy came to me once and asked if I knew what "Transformers" were, I had no clue what it was talking about and I could care less. Kids interests all vary, some like playing with toys, some like playing outside, some like reading scary books about haunted toys chasing the protagonist through their house in the dark. My question is, if you were targeted, why? What drew Lonely Freddy to you? It had to be more than just being a lonely kid otherwise that thing could have gone after anyone else, someone younger even because they would be too easy to lure."

"I don't know the answer..."

"The only one who could answer that... Most likely wouldn't talk to me..."

"Lonely Freddy,"

Fetch growled at the name, he might recognise it, Alec reasoned.

"Lefty?" They heard a voice call out, Alec saw Lefty's eye widen, he looked around.

"Oh no, that's Michael... I'm not sure if it's safe for you to be seen by him..." Lefty realised he only had a short time frame to hide Alec, he then turned to Fetch, "Fetch, task."

Fetch's eyes turned green.

"Take Alec to my room, do not get caught, do not interact with Michael, just take him."

Fetch's eyes turned back to the normal colour, he turned his head to Alec, pushed his snout against Alec's chest and lifted him up.

"Hey!"

"Keep quiet," Lefty said, Fetch tilted his head up and Alec slid down his back, Alec instinctively grabbed onto Fetch's collar, Fetch then stood up straight.

"Now go," Lefty nodded, Alec had seated himself on Fetch's back, hanging onto his collar with both of his hands, Fetch turned away, circled the food prep bench and began to walk towards the door, pausing when the door opened.

"Lefty? Where have you been?" Alec assumed this was Michael, he had short reddish-brown hair, with blue eyes, he could see he was wearing a grey button-up shirt and long black pants.

"Oh, I've been around..." Lefty replied, Michael moved away from the door not seeing Alec or Fetch, so Fetch walked ahead, turned and pushed the door open to leave the area.

Fetch followed a path through the dark arcade, Alec clutched onto Fetch's collar, anxious he'd fall off, he knew the fall wouldn't hurt but he had a brief flashback of when he was pulled off the fridge.

Fetch walked into the dining area, pushing open the backstage door, then the door that led into the hallway, he walked straight to the door on the left that was Lefty and Helpy's bedroom, he cautiously lifted up his paw and shoved it against the door, it opened, so he walked in.

Alec was now back in a familiar warm place.

"Alec!" Helpy was there, he was on Lefty's bed, he jumped down onto the ground, so Alec moved, putting one foot on the ground then his other, Helpy unexpectedly gave him a big hug, fully embracing him.

"I'm glad you're back!"

No where have you been, no you made me worried.

It felt nice.

This felt nice.

Last chapter for 2020, you get Fetch.