Chapter Twelve
Michael snapped awake; his body covered in sweat. He panted as he sat up and looked at the bedside alarm clock. The numbers read just after two in the morning. Slowly, as the remnants of the dream faded away, the voices started. Quietly at first, they swirled inside his head until they pounded behind his eyes. He needed a drink. Now. He could be gone and get back before Elizabeth noticed he was gone. He grabbed his wallet and made his way down to the front of the motel where he hailed a cab.
At the closest liquor store that was still open, he grabbed a bottle of the strongest alcohol he could find and, ignoring the price, plunked the bottle down on the counter along with his ID. The cashier looked a little young to be working in such a place, especially at such an hour. He hesitantly looked Michael over as he rung up the alcohol. After looking at the drivers' license, he slid it back over to Michael and told him that it was expired.
Michael rolled his eyes and leaned over the counter. The voices were getting louder, and he squeezed his eyes shut. Through clenched teeth, he sighed before answering, "Listen, kid. I know the damn thing is expired. I need the alcohol, and I don't expect you to understand. I'm sure you've got your whole life ahead of you and everything couldn't be better. But if you don't sell me this alcohol and let me pay for it, I'm running out of here with it. So either ignore the expired card and pretend nothing happened, or I'm grabbing it and running, and you'll never see me again. Do we understand each other?"
The kid nodded, eyes wide, and took Michael's extended crumpled money. Outside of the store, Michael leaned back against the wall, opened the bottle, and took a long swig. His hands were shaking so badly that he almost spilled half the bottle on the sidewalk. He steadied his grip and drank again, swallowing so quickly he almost threw up.
After several minutes and half of a bottle later, the voices finally started to quiet down. Clumsily he capped the bottle and flagged down another cab. Back at the hotel, he finished off the bottle in the lobby and fumbled for his key card while walking towards the elevator.
Even in his inebriated state, he realized with a sinking feeling that he had left his key card on the desk in their room. Elizabeth would be furious at his midnight excursions, but at this point he didn't care. At least the voices had shut up.
When the door opened to Elizabeth standing inside the room, she grabbed his arm, dragged him inside, and slammed the door behind him. "Where have you been?" she snapped.
Michael struggled to focus on anything in front of him. His head was swimming. A sharp stinging slap brought him closer to reality.
"Are you drunk?" she asked, thoroughly disgusted. She could smell the alcohol on his breath and on his clothes and immediately knew the answer. She gripped his chin between her fingers and forced him to look at her. "You're pathetic! We have an important job to do. We don't have time for you to get wasted. I know you don't care about anyone but yourself, but I already have to drag five semiconscious kids out of the house by myself. I'm not going to drag your sorry butt along with me."
With a jerk of his chin, he shook free of her grip. "Leave me alone," he said, his words slurring together.
Elizabeth noticed for the first time the lighter color of his eyes. "You'd better get your act together, or so help me—"
Sheila squinted against the harsh hall light while Shaddid, Nikki, Lizzie, and Charlotte stood around her, concern apparent on everyone's faces. Even after almost twenty minutes, Sheila's eyes hadn't completely turned back to their natural color. Her head and eyes were throbbing, and she shook it to clear the cobwebs that had settled in her mind.
"Leave me alone," she slurred. Her voice, Shaddid noticed, was unsettling as well.
"Is she drunk?" Lizzie asked, alarmed. She had noticed the lingering smell of alcohol on Sheila's breath.
Shaddid shook his head. "I don't know."
Charlotte knelt down in front of the bed where Sheila was sitting and looked into her eyes. The woman's pajamas were damp with sweat. "Sheila?" she asked. "Will you look at me?"
Sheila met her gaze, but her eyes were cold. Charlotte recoiled "That's impossible," she whispered. After a second look, Sheila's eyes were back to their normal color. Charlotte wondered if she had been seeing things or not. Because if she saw what she thought she did…
"What happened?" Sheila mumbled. She rubbed her eyes. "Why is everyone staring at me?"
"You had another episode," Shaddid explained. "Do you remember anything?"
"No, but I-" She paused, eyes wide. "Excuse me." She pushed her way through everyone and ran to the bathroom where she expelled all of the alcohol that Michael had consumed. She returned to her spot on the bed. "I've got a headache. Could we turn the light off? It's hurting my eyes and making my headache worse."
Silently, Lizzie rose and swung the bedroom door closed, leaving it open just a crack, and turned on a lamp. She watched as Sheila stopped squinting and relaxed a bit. "How are you feeling, other than a headache?"
"Hungover," Sheila groaned. She rubbed her cheek tenderly and grimaced.
In the light, Nikki could see a red handprint mark on her aunt's face. "Mom, what's on her cheek?"
"It smarts," Sheila sniffed.
"Nikki, go get an ice pack from the freezer and a towel. Quickly." Shaddid gently lifted his sister's chin and turned her head towards the light. She grimaced in response. "Sorry," he said softly. "You don't remember anything? You were talking to someone. Maybe got in a fight? Well, actually…" he hesitated before continuing, "first of all you were screaming some pretty foul language. But then once that was over, you just kind of sat there for a while and didn't say anything until you started arguing with someone."
"I'm sorry, Shaddid," Sheila said with a shrug. "I can't remember anything. The last thing I remember is going to bed, and then Charlotte wouldn't stop staring at me."
Nikki returned with the ice pack and towel. Sheila took them and held them to her cheek. "Charlotte, what were you talking about? What's impossible?"
Charlotte stole a glance at Sheila and then shook her head. "It was nothing. I must have been half asleep and was seeing things."
From the look on her face, Nikki could tell that Charlotte wasn't telling the whole truth. Charlotte wasn't guarding her thoughts, and Nikki could read one thing loud and clear. "Who's Michael?" she asked.
"Nobody," Charlotte quickly lied. Her cheeks grew red.
Nikki probed again and could see a pair of eyes staring back at her. Eyes that looked exactly like Freddy's, but these eyes were real, not plastic. "Whoever he is, he's really important to you."
"Nikki, please," Charlotte groaned. "That's private."
"Nikki, what did you see?" Shaddid asked.
She met her dad's gaze. "Eyes. Just a pair of eyes. They looked like Freddy's. Dark blue."
Shaddid back peddled. "Hold on. Michael? Michael Schmidt?"
"Yes," Charlotte replied slowly. "How do you know his last name?"
"How old is he?"
"Thirty something? We aren't that close. He left a long time ago. I haven't seen him since right after the kids were killed."
Shaddid snatched the landline phone from its cradle and quickly dialed. "Come on, Nicole, pick up," he muttered. His eyes widened after a short time. "Nicole! Yes, I'm sorry, I know it's the middle of the night. I need you to look up something…In your newest book. I don't know how much you have written…Yeah, I just need you to find someone. Michael Schmidt…Yeah, Charlotte's brother? I guess?" He raised his eyebrows in Charlotte's direction for verification. She nodded. "Yeah. I just need to know if he's still in the book…No, Lizzie hasn't drawn anyone else. It might have been She—Did you find him?"
Charlotte's face had paled to match her animatronic counterpart. Her undead heart pounded quickly behind her ribs. She clasped her shaking hands in her lap.
"Okay, well, there's no need to panic. We don't know if—Wait, what?...Who's that?...You couldn't have come up with a more original name?...Right, sorry…So she's gone too?...Okay, thanks. We'll keep you updated…You too. Bye."
Everyone stared expectantly as Shaddid hung up the phone. "What did she say?" Lizzie finally ventured.
Shaddid locked eyes with Charlotte. "I'm almost positive that I met your brother yesterday. He came into the studio to work out. His license expired in 1999, but I thought it was weirder that it looked like he hadn't aged at all since the picture was taken. Which would make sense if he came from the 90's.
"I don't know how he got here, unless it has something to do with Sheila, but with her memory being altered due to the episodes, there's no way of knowing that for sure." He took a breath and paused. "Your sister is missing from the book too."
Charlotte shook her head. "That's impossible. Elizabeth is dead. She died a long time ago when she was six. She's been dead for fifteen years."
"You brought the kids back from the dead, and your father brought you back. Is there a possibility that someone brought Eli—" With a sigh, Shaddid pressed on, "brought your sister back? Sorry, it's just weird with Lizzie and everything…"
"I understand," Charlotte explained. "It's a possibility, but the only two people who know how to do that are my father and I. Michael and our dad hate each other, so I highly doubt Michael has been communicating with him. However, that being said, I can't say with absolute certainty that that's not a possibility."
There was so much information to take in, and Lizzie was still trying to process it all. She couldn't even imagine what Charlotte was going through right now. They still weren't sure what Michael's intentions for being here were, and like Shaddid had said, with Sheila's episodes, his arrival in New York may have been completely accidental. Just for curiosity's sake, she posed a question to Charlotte. "What did your sister look like?"
The young girl looked confused for a moment before responding, "Well, when she was alive, she had blonde hair and green eyes. If she's here, I have no idea what she looks like now."
Nikki could sense her mom pondering a memory. From the scenery, she could tell it was Times Square or close by, still within the city. The kids were with her, and there was…Nikki startled. A man and a woman took shape in Lizzie's memory. "Mom what are you thinking about?"
Lizzie reprimanded, "Don't probe, Nikki. It's not polite. Charlotte," she continued, "is there a possibility that she has red hair now?"
"What are you implying?" Charlotte's voice wavered slightly.
"The kids and I saw a man and a woman last week in the city. I didn't think anything of it. The man was about Shaddid's height, with dark hair, blue eyes, and a partial goatee. He looked like he was around thirty years old. The woman was shorter than him but taller than average with green eyes and red hair that was pulled back into two long ponytails."
Charlotte opened her mouth to reply and then hesitated. She drew a shaky breath and gripped her hands tightly. "Did she look human, and was she wearing a red dress by any chance?"
"Yes, I think so. About the dress. She looked human as far as I could tell."
"Then he brought her back…with Baby."
"The same animatronic that killed her?"
Charlotte nodded. "It would seem so, yes. And if that's the case, things are worse than they would have been if Michael were by himself. We'll be dealing with another animatronic instead of just dealing with a normal human being.
"The problem with that is I don't know how in tune Elizabeth is with Baby. She might be a lot stronger than me and the rest of the kids. She's been trapped the longest, so it would be safe to assume the worst."
"How much stronger are we thinking?" Shaddid folded his arms across his chest.
"Well, for starters," Charlotte began, "if you'll remember your incident with Freddy a while back?" Shaddid nodded. "On a scale of one to ten, Freddy was about a four. Baby is probably a nine or a ten."
"So that means—"
"None of us are safe. And if Michael did bring Elizabeth back on his own—which is looking more likely by the minute—there's no telling how much metaphorical firepower they're bringing. But one thing is for sure: from now on, we have to focus on security now more than ever. Because if they see either of you"—she nodded in turn to both Shaddid and Lizzie— "they won't hesitate to kill you or torture you to get to the kids.
"I don't know why Michael is here. Or Baby for that matter. But no matter what happens, we'll be ready for them."
Only Nikki could hear the last two words that Charlotte kept to herself. I hope.
Much to their surprise, the portal which Elizabeth and Michael had first come through to get to New York remained open, allowing them to take turns traveling back and forth between their newest motel room and the pizzeria in Utah to get supplies. They had hidden the portal entrance with a trash can and some other junk they had found in the alleyway. Luckily for them, no one had taken or moved their stash.
Ever since her comment about having to retrieve the kids by herself, Elizabeth noticed that with each visit Michael brought back more spare animatronic pieces. He began tinkering with them when he wasn't fiddling with the tracker and taser during Elizabeth's supply runs. Eventually the once discarded and unwanted pieces started to take shape.
At last, Michael attached the final pieces and inserted a power module into the chest cavity, careful to make sure his fingers didn't get caught when it snapped shut. He stepped back and admired his work. It wasn't perfect, but it was presentable enough to do what they needed it to do.
"Does he work?" Elizabeth questioned as she circled the animatronic.
"Only one way to find out." Michael flipped the power switch to the ON position and stepped back. Slowly, the animatronic's shiny, metal exterior gleamed as it powered up. Its eyes opened at last and took in the surroundings, pausing to individually scan Michael and Elizabeth.
A mechanical chuckle rippled from the animatronic's voice box. "Well, hello again!"
Michael smiled at his success. "Hey, Freddy. Let's get to work."
Now that Funtime Freddy was ready to go, the only thing left to do was figure out where the kids were. The tracker was still reliable, but they had to factor in the possibility that Charlotte had tampered with the trackers, which would make the located signals unreliable. So far with the episodes that Michael had been experiencing, he hadn't been able to control when they happened or what he was looking at. One thing was for sure though: whoever's eyes he had been seeing through was with Charlotte, so if he found the mystery person, he would find Charlotte and inevitably the kids.
While Elizabeth got some sleep, Michael distanced himself and tried to initiate an episode for the first time. He had a feeling that he'd had an episode the night he bought the alcohol. Despite the intoxication, he hadn't felt like himself. And unfortunately it had all turned out to be a waste of time and money because he just ended up throwing all of the alcohol up anyway.
Whatever this connection was, there had to be a way for it to work both ways. Whoever this person was, they couldn't be the only one in control. Michael sat on the edge of his bed and closed his eyes. He thought about Charlotte and about the kids. Slowly, the sounds in the room—Elizabeth's even breathing and the wall-mounted air unit—faded to silence and were replaced by other noises, these ones unfamiliar.
When he opened his eyes, he was sitting cross-legged on a bed. He tried moving the person's head and found it quite easy to do. He surveyed the room and saw a mirror. He studied himself in the mirror and saw his own eyes looking back at him. The person in whose body he was controlling was a woman who appeared to be around his own age with blonde hair. A pretty decent looking woman if he didn't say so himself.
He turned their body to go outside the room and walked out into a hallway and downstairs. It took him a few minutes to find his way to the front door, but he eventually walked outside and surveyed the neighborhood. Across the street there was a large oak tree with a tire swing hanging from one of the lower branches.
He looked behind him at the house he had just exited. It looked a lot like the rest of the neighboring homes. The driveway was paved with a garage and a decent-sized front yard. The garage door was open, revealing a red minivan.
"Sheila?"
A woman's voice came from behind him. He swung around to see who it was. It looked like the woman they had run into in town. The same woman who came looking for the kids. At least he knew they had the right house. With one final look at the surroundings, he pulled himself back to the hotel room. Elizabeth was sitting up in bed staring intently at him.
"I found the house. We can go tonight."
"Sounds good," she said with a smile. "Get some sleep. You'll want your energy for tonight. You're going to need it."
Lizzie followed Sheila outside. She didn't want to scare her or interrupt something accidentally. Instead she followed silently from a distance. Sheila made her way outside into the yard. Lizzie watched her for a few moments. She almost intervened when Sheila began to walk towards the street but then stopped when Sheila paused at the end of the driveway. The woman looked across the street at the neighbors and then at their own driveway and garage.
"Sheila?" she spoke up softly.
Sheila swayed for a few seconds. Lizzie ran over to steady her. "What happened?" Sheila looked around blankly.
"Were you sleepwalking? You came outside by yourself."
Sheila shook her head. "I'm not sure. I don't remember. The last thing I remember was being upstairs in Nikki's room."
"I think you had another episode. Let's get you back upstairs and get you some water. You look a bit flushed." Once Sheila was back in the room and had laid down, Lizzie checked to make sure the kids were in the den. Thankfully, Sheila's path had evaded the hallway downstairs. It was hard to know what would have happened if she had seen the kids. Later on, she would suggest that Sheila sleep downstairs away from the kids for everyone's safety. Given the circumstances, Lizzie couldn't see Sheila having a problem with it.
For now, she would let her sleep.
That night, Frederick laid in bed and stared up at the ceiling into the dark. Everyone else was already asleep. It wasn't midnight yet, but for some reason he was restless. Lizzie and Shaddid had told them briefly about the added security and safety measures they had enforced. Shaddid had set up some security cameras and door sensors around the house. If anyone tried to break in, it would set off an alarm.
However despite the extra precautions, something about this night seemed off. He couldn't shake the feeling of unease no matter how much he wanted to. With a sigh, he rolled onto his side. Hey, Freddy? If something happens, you guys will be able to protect us, right? And Shaddid, Lizzie, and Nikki?
For a while there wasn't an answer. Finally, Freddy replied, We will do our best. There may be certain circumstances and situations that may prohibit our ability to help you if those situations play out. But rest assured that we will protect you to the best of our ability. Sorry I can't be of more help.
It's okay. Thanks. Good night.
Michael and Elizabeth managed to squeeze into a cab with a deactivated Freddy. From the moment they got in the car, the driver warily kept an eye on them in the rearview mirror. Both Elizabeth and Michael ignored him while Elizabeth studied the tracker in her hands. They both knew that Charlotte would never leave the kids unattended even for a second, so if they found her, the kids would be close by. The tracker led them out of the city into a small Manhattan neighborhood. At long last, they drove past a house, causing the tracker to beep continuously.
"We're here." Michael peered out the cab window at the house. All of the lights were dark. He paid the driver and gave him a generous tip to keep his mouth shut about the giant metal bear in the back seat. Now standing in the road, they found an area of the yard away from streetlights and switched Freddy back on. Michael handed a taser to Elizabeth. "Just in case. Remember, you can't use it on the kids too much, or you'll damage them, and then the process might not work. So don't go crazy. I'll be able to communicate with both of you through the other tracker, and I'll be able to see everything you do. Good luck and be careful."
Baby retrieved Lizzie's voice readout and physical scan from her memory bank and switched personalities. Michael nodded his approval as the new Baby and Funtime Freddy made their way inside the house.
Once she had disabled the alarms, Baby tuned her sensors to find the kids. They led her upstairs, but she left Freddy downstairs to wait for her. The plan was to take out Lizzie and her husband if they got in the way—and Charlotte if it came to it—find the kids, switch the animatronics to manual mode, and then file outside in order to attract the least amount of attention. Freddy would be there to help with crowd control if it came to that.
She started towards the stairs when she heard a female gasp next to her. Baby swung around and stared down her look-alike. She could hear Michael swearing in her ear. Quickly, Baby grabbed Lizzie and dragged her down the hallway, covering Lizzie's mouth and burying her eyes so she couldn't see or scream. Lizzie kicked as hard as she could, but Baby was much stronger than her.
They reached the kitchen where Elizabeth took out the taser, placed the metal end against Lizzie's neck and pulled the trigger. Lizzie's struggling ceased as her body twitched and then finally went limp. Baby shut her up in the pantry, boarded the door with a chair, and headed up the stairs.
So far everything was going as planned, with the exception of the small hang-up with Lizzie. Everyone else seemed to be in bed. Elizabeth closed her eyes and sensed each of the doors upstairs. Alarms blared in her head at one of the doors. Heart pounding, she gripped the door handle and started to turn it.
"Lizzie!" a voice hissed. "What do you think you're doing?"
She spun around to see a man—her "husband", she assumed—coming out of the next bedroom. Alarm was evident on his face.
"I need to talk to Charlotte," she responded without missing a beat.
That's him, Michael's voice buzzed in her ear. The guy from the gym. Get rid of him.
"It's almost midnight," the man pressed. "Whatever you need to talk to her about can wait until tomorrow morning. I don't want you to get hurt." He caressed her arm. "Come to bed."
Elizabeth, get rid of him! We don't have time for this!
He looked over her outfit. "Wait, why did you get dressed again?"
Elizabeth reached for the taser in her pocket but then released it. Instead, she stepped forward and kissed him.
What are you doing? Michael shouted.
"Improvising," she muttered.
Shaddid pulled away immediately. He looked at the woman in front of him and recoiled. He grabbed her throat and lifted her off the floor, pressing her against the wall. He left just enough room for her to breathe and used his powers to hold her in place. "You're not my wife. Where is she? Who are you?" His voice was rising.
Taser him! Now! Michael shouted.
Baby thrashed at the hands around her throat. She tried to switch over to Baby, but she couldn't focus enough to complete the transformation. With flailing arms, she pulled out the taser and finally tasered him. His limp body dropped to the floor, unconscious, dropping her in the process.
What was the point of that? Are you okay?
"Shut up, I'm fine." Lizzie's look-alike stood up, brushed herself off, and pushed Shaddid's limp body fully into his room and shut the door. She moved down the hallway and pushed open the door she had started opening before. The door opened easily. The hinges made no sound, and she stepped silently into the room.
"Lizzie! What are you doing in here?" Charlotte rose from her bed and came to the doorway. "You can't be in here. It's too dangerous."
Elizabeth looked at her older sister. She looked pretty much the same as she remembered. Just older. "I needed to talk to you."
"We can talk tomorrow. Or let's at least take the conversation downstairs where we're away from the kids. We're all about to change in about ten minutes."
"Sure. Let's go." She smiled and let Charlotte pass her on the stairs.
Michael, prepare Funtime Freddy to take care of Charlotte. I don't know what you want to do with her.
"Did you say something?" Charlotte asked. She looked behind her up the stairs.
Elizabeth shook her head. "No." Prepare for attack mode. She's getting suspicious.
In the dining room Charlotte asked, "So what did you want to talk to me about? We have a few minutes."
Elizabeth ushered Charlotte into the kitchen where Funtime Freddy was waiting. Charlotte gasped and whirled around. Elizabeth removed the chair, opened up the pantry door and jerked her head. "Get inside."
Realization crossed Charlotte's face when she saw Lizzie's body. "Elizabeth?" she whispered.
"Guess I don't need this anymore." Baby shut off the skin filter and rotated her neck. Her illuminated green eyes flashed. "Hi, sis."
"Listen, Elizabeth, you don't have to do this. Please. Let's talk about this!"
Baby shook her head. "No, I'm done talking. Get in the pantry."
"I'm not going to give up without a fight."
"He said you'd say that." Elizabeth grabbed the taser and shocked Charlotte. Charlotte screamed and then passed out cold on the floor. Elizabeth dragged Charlotte into the pantry, shut the door, and replaced the chair. Now all they had to do was get the kids. She told Freddy to follow behind and climbed the stairs.
The kids were all still asleep. She removed the tracker from her pocket and made her way around the room, associating the different animatronics with the five kids. Once she had figured each one out, she paused individually at each bed and switched each animatronic to manual mode.
The last kid to change modes was Frederick. Unfortunately, he was still awake. Alarm crossed his face as he rolled off the bed and scrambled to his feet, racing towards the door. Baby wasn't fazed. Frederick skidded to a stop in the doorway to avoid colliding with Funtime Freddy.
"Get ready for a surprise!" Funtime Freddy cackled. He grabbed Frederick's arms and whirled him around to face Baby. She sauntered over to him, bending over to look him in the eye.
Frederick pulled against his metallic counterpart's grip. "Let me go!" he grunted.
"Freddy Fazbear switch to manual mode." Baby's voice dripped with elated triumph.
Freddy, help me! I can't—
Frederick's eyes changed from their normal brown color to dark blue, matching Michael's. Baby grinned. "Phase one complete. Now everything will be as it was supposed to be."
It was after seven o'clock the next morning before Nikki was brave enough to venture outside of her room. She didn't know what had happened the night before, but she remembered hearing a bit of a struggle and mechanical voice screaming about a surprise. It had been silent for the rest of the night.
Carefully she poked her head out into the hallway. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears, making it difficult to hear much else. She opened her parents' bedroom door and saw her dad's body laying just inside the room. "Dad!" She ran over to him and shook him. There were two identical burns on the side of his neck.
Shaddid opened his eyes and groaned while rubbing his neck. "What happened?" He saw Nikki and then pushed himself to his knees as quickly as he could. "Where's your mother?"
"I don't know! The kids aren't in their room, and neither is Charlotte." Her dad started to walk past her, but she stopped him. "Someone came and took the kids last night. At least, I think they did. All five of them followed this girl downstairs, and a giant metal bear followed behind them."
"We'll find them, honey. We have to find your mom." He gingerly made his way downstairs. "Lizzie?" he called, speaking barely above a whisper. They found the alarms disabled next to the front door. There was a pounding sound coming from the kitchen. As quickly as he could, Shaddid ventured into the kitchen and slid the chair away from the door. As soon as he opened the door, Lizzie flung herself into his arms.
He figured that this was his real wife, but after having been tasered the night before, he needed to make sure. "What job did I have when Sheila was here the first time in high school?"
"What are you talking about?" An alarmed expression crossed her face.
"Just answer the question, Lizzie! Please!" He grabbed her arms and shook her once.
"A janitor! At the school."
Shaddid breathed a sigh of relief and pulled his wife into his arms. "I'm so sorry. Someone came in last night and whoever she was, she looked just like you. She sounded like you as well. She tasered me." He turned to Charlotte. "And we're assuming she took the kids. I had to be sure you were the real Lizzie."
Charlotte's face paled. "It was my sister. She locked us in here. We tried to get out, but I was also trying to help Lizzie, and after midnight, we couldn't communicate. We didn't know if she was still in the house either, so we didn't want to attract attention."
"But where would she be taking them?" Nikki asked.
Seconds later, the phone started ringing. Shaddid snatched it off the counter and answered it. It was Nicole.
"Shaddid! You said you wanted me to give you guys any updates if I found anything."
"Yeah, Nicole, did you find something?"
"Yeah, I did. Something huge! Michael. Eliza—Baby" she corrected herself, "and the kids are back in the book. The only person I can't find is Charlotte. Did you guys figure out how to get them back home?
He glanced over at Charlotte. "No, we didn't. There was a bit of an incident last night. Elizabeth broke in and kidnapped the kids. She attacked Charlotte and Lizzie and locked them in the pantry in the kitchen and tasered me. The only two who she didn't find were Sheila and Nikki. Nikki is okay. We haven't seen Sheila yet this morning."
"Hey, what's going on?" Sheila joined them in the kitchen. "Where are the kids?"
Shaddid held up a finger. "So what does this mean, Nicole? Why did she take them back?"
"Well, that's why I wanted to call you. I didn't write this bit, but it was in my notes. I'm used to random stuff showing up now, but that's not the important thing. The important thing is what they're trying to do. Apparently Baby found a note that her father had written to Michael in which Afton explained how Baby could potentially use the kids' souls to turn herself completely human. But in order to do that, the kids have to die." Nicole paused to steady her voice before continuing, "She's going to kill them. For real this time."