Chapter Ten

Death was quickly becoming more common in Charlotte's life. After talking to Nicole about her father's death, Charlotte had isolated herself in her room. She sat on her bed with her knees pulled up to her chest, silent tears coursing down her cheeks. Her father had deserved his prison sentence due to the events at Freddy Fazbear's, but at least a life sentence was better than death. Now she would never get to see him again.

What made things worse was that Nicole couldn't explain how he had died. Just like she couldn't explain who had killed the kids. More questions void of answers.

With a shaky sigh, she laid down on her side and pulled her knees into her chest. "Michael…Danny…Elizabeth…anybody…I wish you were here," she whispered.

Do you want to talk about it? The Puppet whispered in the silence of her mind.

"There's nothing to talk about. My whole family is dead. Even me."

Your family is downstairs. They're here for you, Charlotte, just like I am. Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy, Golden Freddy, and all of the kids. We're all here for you. Even Shaddid, Lizzie, Nikki, and Nicole. They're here for you too.

A soft knock sounded on the door. Charlotte lifted her head from the bed for a moment and then laid back down. "Come in."

Frederick poked his head in and smiled awkwardly. "Hey. Thought you might want some company. Unless…unless you want to be left alone." He started to back out.

"No, it's fine, Frederick. Come on in."

Her brother smiled and joined her on the bed. "Are you okay?...Considering?"

She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks for checking on me."

"Sure."

Go ahead. Tell her, Freddy whispered in Frederick's mind.

"Tell me what?" Charlotte asked.

"Well, I—I wanted to apologize…on behalf of my dad."

A pang shot through Charlotte's heart as she thought about Henry Emily. Seeing the hatred in his eyes when he pulled the trigger…

She closed her eyes against the memory. "What about him?" she asked around the lump in her throat.

"After what you told us…about the night you died." He paused to collect his thoughts before continuing, "I know it wasn't my fault and that even me saying this isn't the same as if it was coming from him, but I wanted to apologize for him. He got fired for a reason, and it's not fair that you had to pay the price for his decisions."

"Thanks, Frederick. That's very thoughtful of you."

He hesitantly reached his arm around her shoulders and then pulled her into a hug. "Both of our fathers had issues, but unlike their friendship that ended, we still have each other. That's the important thing."

Charlotte returned the hug. "You're right. We have each other, and you guys are the only family I need."

Thirteen Years Ago

It was a busy night at Freddy's as usual. Charlotte was learning how to run the Prize Corner under the watchful eye of her father. He would give her help whenever she needed it, but she liked the fact that he trusted her with such an important job.

The Prize Corner was one of her favorite rooms in the restaurant. She loved all of the different toys and snacks that customers could get by trading in their tickets. Plushies, posters, balloons, and action figures of the animatronics lined the wall behind her, while Chica Bars, Pepperoni Soda, Meat Bites, and other snacks lined the bottom of the glass case in front of her.

The weather outside was forecasted to turn stormy. So far it wasn't doing much, but by the end of the night, it was supposed to start raining. Dad always said that rainy days were the good ones. It generally meant an influx of customers who wanted a break from the gloominess outside.

Close to the end of the night, she noticed a slip of paper tucked under the edge of the cash register that she hadn't noticed until now. Curious, she retrieved the paper and opened it. The paper was a typed note which read:

Charlotte:

I didn't have a chance to check the back alley for any new animatronic parts. Go check the back at 9 PM and bring in anything you find, regardless of what it is. I'll check them out later.

-Dad

Charlotte checked her watch. It was 8:57. She could check a few minutes early. After making sure no one was coming, she put her "Will Return Shortly" sign out on the counter, locked the cash drawer, and made her way to the back.

Although Dad usually did this on his own, it wasn't the first time she had checked the back for animatronics. On a few different occasions, she had helped him look, but they hadn't found anything.

She walked towards the exit door, pushed it open, and let it shut behind her. She hadn't meant for it to latch. For several minutes, she pounded on the door, hoping that Michael or Dad or one of the employees would be there to hear her and let her in. However, no matter how hard she pounded on the door, no one came to her aid. No need to panic though. She could always walk around the building and go in the front door. The rain had started, so she would have to make this quick.

The back side of the building was dark, and she had forgotten her flashlight behind the counter. Carefully she peered through the rain, trying to see the ground as best as she could. Her best source of light was the lightning that kept flashing all around her.

While she was searching, she noticed a vehicle pull up. The headlights blinded her for a few minutes until the car pulled up next to her. She squinted against the harsh light and the rain to see a man leaning out of the window.

"Hey, do you need help?"

She leaned forward towards the window, trying to get a better look at the driver. She could tell that it was a man, but the heavy rain and the lack of light made it difficult to see who it was. Finally, a flash of lightning illuminated Henry Emily's face. She backed up towards the door and frantically jiggled the handle behind her back. It wouldn't budge. "No, I'm fine, thanks," she finally answered. "I'm just checking for animatronics…for Dad. But it doesn't look like there are any out here, so I guess I'll be going."

Despite the rain, she heard the car door open, followed by the cock of a pistol hammer. Heart pounding, she turned toward the car to see Henry pointing a pistol at her chest. "Mr. Emily," she said, her voice trembling, "what are you doing?"

"I've got a message for your dad." He waved the gun in her face. "You see, when your dad and I were friends, we had a lot of plans for this place. We were going to make a fortune! With his expertise in business, and my experience in mechanics, we were going to build a company from the ground up and rise an empire that the world had never seen. But then—" He chuckled like a madman. "—then your dad decided to run a dictatorship instead of a partnership. He refused to give me my share of the profits, so I did what I had to: I took what was mine."

Fear and confusion swirled through Charlotte's mind. This was so much to take in, but why was he confessing all of this to her? What did she have to do with any of this?

Henry continued, "He wanted to give me a second chance with Baby, but"—he chuckled again— "we both knew that the facial recognition systems were faulty. Look what happened to Jeremy! But he insisted on including it. Why? Because his perfect little angel had to have everything. So I did what he wanted. I had to. My job was in jeopardy. It was his fault that she died. He killed her, not me!

"And then he fired me when everything played out the way I told him it would. He refused to see the facts, and now I had no way of providing for my family."

Tears poured down her cheeks. She didn't know why exactly he was pointing a gun at her. "Mr. Emily? What does this have to do with me?" she sobbed.

The gun found its target on her chest. "Oh, right. Well, sweetheart, I'm here just taking what's mine. Your father took everything from me, so I'm returning the favor. Make sure he gets the message." He smiled and pulled the trigger.

Inside the restaurant, William sat at his computer and ordered more plates and printed off menus. Once all of his work was finished for the night, he shut the computer down and went to check on Charlotte. She should be about ready to close the Prize Counter down by now. The last customers had just left the building, and what was left of the staff was finishing up cleaning.

He sauntered down the halls from his office to the Prize Counter. The lights were still on in the room, but the counter was deserted. He quickly noticed the sign on the counter as well as the note. He snatched up the note and scanned it. Panicked, he dropped the note and sprinted down the hallway towards the back exit.

The rain was still pouring outside. He pushed the door open and found his little girl lying motionless in the rain. Memories from Elizabeth's death resurfaced, but he pushed them from his mind. He had to focus on the here and now. "Charlotte!" He ran to her and scooped her into his arms. She felt like a rag doll, so still and quiet. He pulled the door back open and ran as quickly as he could to the Prize Counter.

Gingerly, he knelt down next to the Puppet's gift box; Charlotte's limp arm plopped down onto the tile floor. He pushed open the lid of the gift box and pulled out the Puppet. Now the animatronic and his daughter were lying side by side. Ever since Elizabeth and Danny's deaths, he had tried everything in his power to bring both of them back somehow, but up until this point, he had been unsuccessful. He had one more thing to try, and now was as good of a time to try it as any.

He swallowed his tears and inhaled slowly. He sang the song which Charlotte would use three years later to bring Frederick and his friends to life. At the end, he pulled her lifeless body into his arms and sobbed.

When William awoke, darkness had filled the pizzeria. It was late into the night. Charlotte's body wasn't anywhere in the Prize Corner, and the Puppet was gone. Quietly he stood up and searched the silent restaurant. He had to find her and explain to her what he had done. Surely she would understand. He had already lost three of his kids—four if you included the baby, and he did—and his wife. He wasn't going to lose her too.

Eventually he found her wandering in the main show area. "Charlotte?"

The Puppet spun around towards his voice and rushed over to him. She was wildly waving her arms and looking herself over.

"Honey, listen. It was the only thing I could do to save you. I couldn't save your brother and your sister, but I saved you. I—I don't know how long it will last. I'm assuming it's permanent."

The Puppet's head dropped to her chest, and she hugged herself.

"I know you're probably mad at me, and you have every right to be upset. But I promise you that one day you'll understand that I did what is best for you." He cupped her cold, metal cheek in his hand. "If you want me to stay down here with you for the rest of the night, I can."

Slowly, the Puppet raised her head and then nodded. The two of them settled onto the couches in the staff break room and went to sleep.

Charlotte opened her eyes to the staff break room. It was still dark, meaning no one had come in to open yet, but the sun was beginning to come up over the horizon. She glanced down, ecstatic to see her human hands rather than the Puppet's elongated black fingers.

Her dad was still sleeping on the couch next to her. "Dad?" she whispered. "Dad, wake up. I need to tell you something." She reached over and gently rubbed his forearm.

A few minutes later, he woke up and searched his surroundings confusedly. "Why are we in here? We—" He paused and looked up at his daughter for the first time. Her purple employee shirt was plastered to her chest, and a dark stain had spread down around her sides. Everything from the night before came flooding back. "Oh." He reached out and touched her forearm. "I can explain."

"It was Henry. He shot me. But I don't remember much after that." Her voice trailed off.

William joined her on her couch and took both of her hands. The news that now his older daughter had also been killed at the hands of his former business partner and best friend made his blood boil. "I want you to listen very carefully, so you understand. I wasn't sure that it would work, but the fact that you're sitting here next to me proves that my hypothesis was correct.

"I used a song I wrote to tie your soul to The Puppet so that even in death, you can still live. That paired with a program I installed into the Puppet a couple of years ago will help you look like this during the day. I wasn't sure if you would be able to live a somewhat normal life, but right now it looks like you can. At least during the day. At night, the Puppet will take over."

Charlotte thought through everything that had happened since last night. It was a lot to process. Now Michael was the only living Afton child left. "Does Michael know?"

William shook his head. "I didn't want to cause a scene last night, so I didn't tell him. I was fairly certain I could bring you back without any issues—and I was right—so I didn't want to involve the police and the hospital…again. I'll talk to him this afternoon."

It was still so much to take in. Charlotte stared down at her shirt in shock, trying to rationalize everything. Had all of that actually happened? Was she really dead? With her thumb and forefinger, she carefully pulled her shirt away from her body. Dried blood pulled away from her skin. Either way, dead or alive, she needed a shower and a change of clothes before everyone else got here.

In a daze, she went downstairs to change. Michael was eating breakfast in the kitchen.

"What happened to you?" He jumped up from the table and ran over to her. "Where's Dad? We need to call an ambulance! You're bleeding everywhere!" He spun around to grab the rotary telephone on the wall, but she grabbed it out of his hands and hung it back up.

"It's too late for that."

Michael looked her over carefully. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Annoyed, she pulled at her shirt, lips pressed into a firm line. "This happened last night. Henry shot me. I'm dead."

"What do you mean you're dead? That doesn't make any sense!" He followed her down the hallway to her room. She slammed the door in his face. "Would you please talk to me?"

The door opened back up, and she pushed her way past him, carrying a new, clean uniform. "Dad tied my soul to the Puppet. I look like myself during the day, but it takes over at night…apparently. Some kind of program he downloaded. I don't know. That's what he told me. I don't want to talk about it." She shut herself in the bathroom.

Michael watched the closed bathroom door and heard the shower water switch on, his stomach churning and threatening to send up the eggs he had just eaten. William came through the front door and headed to his bedroom. Michael followed him. "Dad," he ventured, "could I talk to you?"

"Is this about Charlotte?" He wouldn't look at Michael.

"Yeah, actually, it is. She's dead? Wouldn't you be able to bring the others back then?"

Afton pulled on a clean change of clothes. "Let's review. Thanks to you, your brother's skull is completely shattered, and Baby literally ate your sister, so no, I don't think there's any hope for bringing them back." He headed towards the door where Michael was standing, blocking the door. "Move out of the way."

"Could we please talk about this?"

Afton glowered at him. "What did Charlotte tell you?" He waited as Michael relayed what Charlotte had said. "That's it," he finally responded. "There's nothing else to say." He spoke around Michael's arm and projected his voice so Charlotte could hear in the kitchen. "Charlotte, honey, if you need to stay home today, that's fine. Take as much time as you need." He looked at Michael's arm. "Move. I expect you to be upstairs in five minutes."

"That's not fair! I deserve a day off too!"

"My decision is final," Afton said coolly. "Move."

"No! Ever since Danny died, you've been treating me like sh—"

"Michael, move!" Afton barked. "Just for that, you'll be working third tonight as well."

Defeated, Michael finally moved away from the door and sulked out the front door and upstairs to the restaurant, slamming the door behind him.

In the restaurant, Michael went around and turned on all the lights. The animatronics stood like silent sentries on the stage, waiting for the crowds of children that would be flooding in within the next few hours. For curiosity's sake, he entered the Prize Corner and opened up the Puppet's gift box. To his surprise, it was empty. I guess she really was telling the truth.

His eyes caught a trail of blood leading through the restaurant that ended at the Prize Corner. He groaned. Better get that cleaned up before someone—namely Afton—saw. At this point, he didn't really care if any guests or employees saw it, but if Afton saw it, he'd be toast.

Begrudgingly he grabbed a mop and mop bucket, filled it with sudsy water, and got to work on the dried blood. After an hour of mopping, Afton finally came upstairs. Instead of thanking him for taking care of the blood, Afton said in passing, "Put a wet floor sign out before someone slips and breaks their neck."

Michael slammed a sign onto the floor and kept mopping. Things were already interesting with Afton now that Danny had died, but now with Charlotte masquerading as the Puppet at night, it was like they had all bought front row tickets to the freak show, and the monstrosities were members of his own family.

An hour later when the doors opened, no one would have ever known the blood stain was even there, but Afton never said another word about it.

All of this extra time back at home gave Elizabeth a lot of time to reminisce about her childhood. Granted, she hadn't had much of one, given the fact that she had died at such a young age, but she was still able to recall what had happened before that. The weeks leading up to her death were especially clear in her memories.

For as long as she could remember, she had wanted an animatronic of her very own, and being her dad's favorite, she knew that she would be able to get one if she only asked. Sure enough, when she asked for one for her sixth birthday, her dad had immediately promised her one and got right to work designing it.

She thought back to times when she sat next to her dad at the dining room table, paper and sketching pencils scattered all around as the two of them decided who this new animatronic would be and what she would look like. Elizabeth kept adding more details and functions as William drew.

The animatronic's name would be Baby, and she would look like a friendly clown, complete with white and red face paint. She would be able to recognize Elizabeth upon seeing her and then produce either ice cream or a balloon, whichever Elizabeth wanted. Her endoskeleton and memory bank would allow her to dance and sing.

Elizabeth had been promised that Baby would be ready on her birthday. But Elizabeth's birthday came and went, and Baby was nowhere to be found. Daddy tried to explain that there was something wrong with her and that she needed to be fixed before Elizabeth could play with her, but Elizabeth was impatient.

For some reason, she could remember exactly what Mom had made for dinner that night. They had macaroni and cheese, fresh vegetables, and leftover birthday cake for dessert. All six of them had sat down at the table and finished eating, but before dessert, Elizabeth had asked if she could get a plushie from the Prize Corner. At first, Daddy said no, but she had known then that all she had to do was batt her eyes at him, and he would let her do anything she asked.

Sure enough it worked, and she took Danny upstairs with her to the Prize Counter. But instead of getting a plushie like she said she was going to do, Elizabeth marched right into the Parts and Service room where Baby stood silently waiting. Danny had been hesitant to enter. Dad had always warned them about coming in here because the room was filled dangerous equipment, but nothing would change Elizabeth's mind.

Looking back on that fateful day, she could remember things from two different perspectives. She could see Baby in her memories, but she could also see herself. It was like her memory and Baby's memory had melded into one over the years. Danny had hung back near the door, afraid to enter, while Elizabeth quickly went over to Baby and switched her on.

Baby's eyes lit up, and she started to sing. Elizabeth danced along with her animatronic and squealed with excitement when Baby greeted her by name. Suddenly, Baby stopped dancing and singing. Her body went stiff and her stomach opened, while an ice cream cone emerged from the opening.

It was at this point that Elizabeth's memories melded completely with Baby's. She remembered pain and screaming, but she also remembered the satisfaction of knowing she was doing what she had been programed to do. Somewhere in the distance, the screaming continued, but the sound was so warbled, she didn't know if the screaming had come from her, from Baby, or from Danny, who fled downstairs, leaving Elizabeth to face her attacker alone.

Baby's memories took over completely. She froze and stared blankly as Danny returned, followed by Dad, Charlotte, and Michael. Mom, Elizabeth found out later, was calling for an ambulance. Dad ran over to Elizabeth and fell on his knees, her mangled body bleeding profusely all over the floor. Everyone else kept their distance.

Upon seeing Dad, Baby booted back up and lunged at him. Michael had seen and warned William just in time for him to duck and roll away as Baby screamed in protest. Michael ran for Baby's power cord and ripped it out of the wall just before Baby took a shot at Charlotte. Baby's eyes darkened as her body powered down and went limp.

Wearily, William had reached up from his spot on the floor, opened up Baby's chest cavity, and ripped out her power module. All of Baby's memories faded to black until a few weeks later when Elizabeth had woken up in the darkened safe room, trapped within Baby's outer shell.

As the memories faded, Elizabeth sighed and twirled one of her long pigtails around her fingers. Thoughtfully, she pulled the pigtail over her shoulder so she could examine it. When she was younger, her hair had been blonde, but now, it had turned redder, like Baby's.

Next to her, Dave was working on a program on an old computer they had found. The generator had been low on fuel, but after a quick fill up, it had roared to life.

She scooted closer to him and looked over his shoulder. "What are you doing?"

Not taking his eyes from the screen, Dave mumbled, "Henry installed this program into you when he built you…Baby, I mean…that was supposed to work as a facial recognition software, but the programming was faulty. That's partially why you and Jeremy were killed. It doesn't just work as facial recognition, though." He pointed at the screen. "With the right tinkering, it's programmed to also mimic voices and physical beings, in order to produce responses." He studied the blueprints in front of him. "The balls and pins surrounding Baby's exterior scan and then recreate any person within its range of sight. I figured it might be helpful when we find the kids. It'll get them to trust us faster if they think you're Charlotte."

"I didn't know you were so handy with computers."

He shrugged. "It's the one useful thing I learned from Henry and your dad."

"So how long will it take to download?"

"Hard to tell. I'm almost finished reprogramming it, and then after that, I just need to hook you up to the computer. From there it shouldn't take too long. I hope. You'll have to switch over to Baby. The computer port is in her chest cavity."

"That's fine. I can switch, no problem. Just tell me when."

When the program was ready to download, Dave hooked up the necessary wires, opened Baby's chest cavity, and connected the wires to the port. "Do you ever regret what happened to your dad?" he asked while he worked.

Baby glanced down at him. "Are you asking me or her?"

He met her gaze. "Sorry. I guess Elizabeth."

She was silent for several minutes. The program started to download. "He deserved what happened," she finally admitted. "I do miss him, but I don't miss what he put me through."

"That's fair," he said with a nod. The computer screen next to him showed a progress bar that slowly filled up. After a couple of hours, the program was finally finished downloading. "How do you feel?" he asked her. "Any different?"

"Not really." She lifted her arms and looked them over. Nothing changed. When she looked at Dave, her vision sharpened, and a computerized female voice in her head spoke. Initiating body scan. "Wait a second. Stand up." Dave complied, and within Baby's mind, Elizabeth could see a scan starting to form. Every detail was accurate from his hair and eye color down to his height and weight. Recording voice prompt. "Say something."

"Like what?"

A file opened within the program, and Baby recorded his voice. "Keep talking until I tell you to stop."

Dave rambled for a few minutes until the recording was complete.

Voice prompt complete. State name of A.I.

She said his full name. "Alright, let's try it out." She stepped forward away from the computer and closed her eyes.

Dave watched her, fingers crossed that this would work. If it didn't, they had wasted a lot of valuable time doing so. Slowly, Baby's form faded in and out of existence, like it had the first time he had brought her back, until he was looking at a clone version of himself. "This is bizarre." He looked "himself" over. "She got all of the details, even down to the imperfections in my skin. I'm impressed."

Baby, as Dave, looked at herself in the reflection of the computer screen. "Not bad." Dave's recorded voice spoke from the clone. "At least now we know it works. And it didn't take long to scan you either. Only a few minutes."

"Yeah. Now let me be me and you be yourself. This is really tripping me out."

Dave's laughter emanated from Baby's memory bank. "Alright, fine. Chill." The clone wavered back and forth until Elizabeth stood in front of him once again. She stretched her neck out slowly and rotated her shoulders. "That'll definitely come in handy later."

"I wish we had Charlotte here now so we could try it out on her. I mean, it's great that we know it works, but the real reason we need it is to get the kids."

She patted his arm. "In time. We're getting close, I can feel it. That thing—that woman who was here before. Somehow she's connected to all of this. I don't know how, but we need to find her." She paused to think. "That morning at the diner…you're sure you didn't hear or see anything other than hearing someone screaming?"

He rubbed his temples with his thumb and forefinger. "I told you I never saw anything. It was just a blur. I didn't hear anything else either."

"She'll come to us. Something in her is drawn to you. I don't know if it's because you grabbed her arm or because of something else, but eventually she'll come back. We just have to be patient." Her lips twisted into a crooked smile. "Daddy is already dead, so you don't have a timeline to abide by anymore. I mean, technically there's my timeline. Believe me, I want to get rid of Baby as soon as possible. But that doesn't change the fact that she's handy when she needs to be.

"If you ever have any more episodes or if you remember anything, tell me right away. I'm not saying you can't handle things on your own, but if we put our heads together, we can figure this out."

In hopes that she wouldn't have any more episodes, Sheila prepared to leave Zardan for Manhattan, New York. Her mother and father still advised against the trip, unsure how stable she would be, especially without being nearby people who would truly be able to understand her and help her.

She understood her parents' concerns. If she was being completely honest with herself, she was a bit worried about it too. But one thing she wasn't going to do was hide behind her fear. She had to be strong. She had faced bigger problems than this before, and she had conquered them. She would get past this too.

Shaddid and Elizabeth didn't know about her plans to visit. It would be a surprise for them, for sure. She looked forward to it. The last thing she packed was her brother's pendant. Fifteen years ago, it had acted as a way to get her and her father from earth to Zardan, and now it would take her back to the rest of her family that she had left behind.

Mother and Father, though concerned, had said their good-byes for now and wished her well on her journey. With a smile, she cupped the pendant in her hands, held it to her chest, and started to sing.

The room around Sheila started to spin, much like her journey into Dave's mind. However, there was no sense of foreboding. Quite the contrary, she was filled with excitement. Slowly, another room started to form, different than the one she had just left. A sense of familiarity filled her spirit.

Eventually the room stopped spinning and settled. She found herself standing in the entry room of Shaddid and Lizzie's home. The smell of chocolate cupcakes wafted in from the kitchen, reminding her of years gone by when she and Lizzie had girls night sleepovers over the years with Nikki.

A young girl, who from the looks of it was a few years older than Nikki, came out into the foyer with a colorful apron tied around her waist. Sheila's sudden appearance surprised the young girl. "Who are you?"

Something about the girl seemed familiar. Sheila studied her carefully. Nothing triggered any memories. "Sorry," she finally said, "I'm—"

"Aunt Sheila!" Nikki came running into the woman's arms. "I've missed you so much!" She turned and called towards the kitchen, "Mom! Aunt Sheila's here!"

Sheila hugged her niece and then turned to the older girl. "I'm Shaddid's sister." Lizzie entered the room next and moved in for a hug. "Lizzie, it's so good to see you!"

Nikki stood back and watched the two women reunite as Amy made her way back into the kitchen. Her mom and aunt smiled at each other before hugging again. It had been several years since Sheila had last visited with Nikki's grandparents. Now they could have some long-awaited time together.

"So who's the girl?" They moved as one into the hallway.

Lizzie smiled. "Nicole told me she sent you a song from a story she's writing?"

"Yeah, she did!" Sheila's eyes lit up with recognition. "So that's Charlotte?"

"Oh…no, well," Lizzie laughed. "There's actually six of them."

Sheila's eyes widened. "Six?"

They had made it into the game room where, as usual, Felix and Frederick were hard at work in friendly competition. The two were oblivious to the fact that they were being watched. Sheila looked back and forth between the two, before her eyes eventually found Charlotte, Goldie, and Billy scattered around the room. She locked eyes with Charlotte for several seconds.

"Lizzie? Nikki? Who is this?" Charlotte broke her gaze with Sheila.

Introductions and explanations made their way around the room. Charlotte introduced Frederick and Felix, who's attentions were still glued to the television screen. She rolled her eyes and laughed. "It's amazing how much of a difference a few decades of technology can make on a couple of teenagers."

After meeting everyone, Sheila again took in the five teens. Charlotte was the one she had connected so strongly with in the pizzeria, and the others? Felix turned his head in her direction, and Sheila caught sight of his misty, discolored right eye. It was then she realized why the girl with the apron—Charlotte had introduced her as Amy—looked so familiar. A ghastly image appeared in her mind: the bodies of five children laid sprawled on the floor, covered in their own blood. Dead.

"Charlotte," Sheila ventured, "um…do—do they—" She didn't want to sound indelicate, so she lowered her voice. "Do they know they're…dead?"

For the first time, Frederick spoke up, keeping his attention mostly fixed on the video game. "Yeah, we know," he said drily.

Charlotte leaned close to Sheila. "I mistakenly kept the truth from them for ten years. They just found out…accidentally…a few weeks ago. I know now I should've told them the truth from the beginning. But at least they know now." She glanced over at Frederick. "Some of them are still a bit sore about it, but I don't blame them." With a jerk of her head towards her oldest brother, she corrected herself. "Him."

Sheila found herself a seat far enough away from the kids where she could still ask Charlotte questions without rubbing the kids the wrong way. "I've seen you before," she began, "only a few times. It's a long story, but I noticed that you looked a little…different."

"With striped sleeves and pants? Long fingers?" Charlotte offered.

Sheila nodded.

"What all did you see?"

"Just the kids. That's all. Other than the pizzeria. It looked so run down and abandoned."

Charlotte paused. "Yeah, that was after my dad—" Tears choked her voice, and she couldn't continue. "Never mind." She cleared her throat. "Anyway, the same thing that happened to the kids happened to me. I'm dead too, but I'm more used to the idea. My father explained everything to me the morning after I was killed. The thing that you saw—with the stripes—is the way that I'm able to remain alive…so to speak."

"So your life is tied to a robot?"

"To put it simply, yes. The kids have their own robots. My dad calls them animatronics. In other words, robotic animals."

Sheila began to process all of the information Charlotte had just given her. Nicole sure had a different idea for this new book than she did for the books she had written before. The books her parents and siblings were originally from, for example. But these kids, they needed saving. Their killer had to be brought to justice. Now that she was here, Sheila wanted to help more than ever, and that was exactly what she was going to do.