Mable: Sorry this chapter took so long, but something came up about a week ago that massively slowed me down. I'll just say that I got in over my head and leave it at that. Enjoy!
The Buried Voice
Chapter 11: Aftershock
Marla and Jessica pulled up to Charlie's house a little after nine o'clock and found John sitting on the front steps. Jessica thought this was a little strange- not that he was there, since they were all supposed to meet at the house- but that he was sitting outside instead of in on the couch. Raising a brow, she let herself out of the passenger's side.
"Hey," she greeted him. He gave a wave and a half smile, looking like he hadn't gotten a wink of sleep. She felt the same way; she had barely been able to close her eyes without feeling like she was being watched. She walked up to the front steps and stood beside him. "What's up? What are you doing out here?"
"Charlie's not up yet. I knocked, but she didn't answer," John explained. Jessica's face fell sympathetically.
"She probably had a rough night. Did you try calling her?" she asked, already getting out her cellphone to do so.
He shook his head. "Not yet. No use waking her up if everyone's not here yet. She could use the extra sleep." He didn't stop Jessica from dialing the phone number.
Charlie was roused out of a dead sleep by the sound of her cellphone ringing. Still barely awake, she reached for it on the nightstand and answered quickly. "Hello?" she asked groggily.
"It's us. I'm down here with John and Marla, but no rush. It sounds like you'll need a minute to wake up,"Jessica said with a little amusement. Charlie roused the rest of the way and sat up in bed.
She didn't remember exactly when she fell asleep. Her position was a tribute to that, as she was laying on top of the blankets and the lamp was still on. The events of the night before came back to her instantly, but she didn't have any time to question them before she spotted the figure laying at the foot of the bed.
There was Sammy, still here and still a puppet, with his arms wrapped around himself and her jacket draped over his torso and head. One leg was bent, with his knee tucked under the pulled-up blanket, while the other dangled off the end and nearly brushed the carpet. It was a quick reminder that everything that happened last night had been real.
"He's really here… After all this time, I actually found him," she thought. Before she could consider the rest of the night before, her thoughts were interrupted by a voice.
"Everything okay up there? Still waking up?" Jessica asked, concerned when she didn't get a response.
Charlie's budding smile started to fade instantly as she realized something else. "He's here and everyone's right outside waiting to get in." Sammy had been calm and humanlike with her, but she didn't know how he would react to a room of strangers. Vice-versa, after what happened at Afton Robotics, she couldn't imagine how everyone would react to seeing another moving animatronic. She couldn't take the risk. "I've got to get down there and do damage control."
Fueled by panic, Charlie leapt off the bed and fumbled a normal-sounding response. "Yeah, sorry. Just a little spaced out. Whose all here?" she asked as she went to get her clothes together. Suddenly the Puppet shot upright on the bed, wide awake, the jacket falling down onto his legs. He twisted his neck to look at Charlie, an uncomfortable half smile on his face underneath wide, startled eyes.
She could question the mask's shifting later. Instead she pointed to the cellphone in explanation and hoped he would understand. Apparently he did as his upright posture eased just the slightest bit. He was listening.
"Just me, Marla, and John. Lamar should be here soon. Marla's already called Carlton and he said just to meet him at his house. Though if you need a little longer, we can head over without you."
"No, that's okay. I'm coming," Charlie insisted. "I'm going to get dressed and I'll be right down. Sorry to leave you hanging."
"Don't worry about it! If it wasn't you, it would be Lamar anyway. See you in a bit," Jessica chirped before ending the call. It was clear that she was trying to keep a bright face and Charlie did appreciate it. Though it didn't fix her immediate problem. She ended the call and set the cellphone aside.
"Sammy?" The Puppet perked and rose from the bed. The fear had vacated his eyes, but he was still looking at her questioningly, having overheard the conversation. "That was my friend Jessica. She and some of my other friends are waiting downstairs for me. Don't worry, I'm not going to let them in… But we had plans to go talk to the detective investigating the fire at Freddy's. Are you going to be alright here if I go?"
The Puppet's smile seemed to somehow grow more strained without visibly moving, so she might've imagined it. Either way she jumped in to add, "I'm not going to tell him anything about you. Especially not since it was his basement that you broke out of, which I'm sure might come up in the conversation… Will you be okay here?" His original, default smile returned and he gave a short nod. "And you're not going to leave while I'm gone, right?" He shook his head.
She still didn't feel entirely safe leaving him here alone, but she didn't have much choice. As daunting as the talk with Clay suddenly was, it would be necessary, especially since she wasn't ready to outright blurt out Sammy's existence to the others. That would require a little more finesse and a lot of timing. But she could handle it, she was sure, and she was at least half-confident that her friends would understand.
"Alright then. I'm going to get ready to go," Charlie said. She headed into the bathroom to get dressed and splash some water on her face. Only once she was alone did those other thoughts start to creep on her, the ones about her father, his fake suicide, and his real suicide. She forcibly pushed it back down. "I'm not getting myself worked up right now. Not before I have to go face everyone. They'll know something's up."
Charlie was able to pull herself back together and keep focus on the task at hand, rehearsing what she was going to say in her head. She stepped out of the bathroom and almost walked straight into Sammy.
"Uh, hey. I didn't think you were standing out here. Everything okay?" she asked. The Puppet held up her jacket to her. "Oh, my jacket! Thanks, it totally slipped my mind." She almost felt naked without it and reached for it, only for him to lower it again. He raised a hand and made a twirling motion with his finger. Hesitant but compliant, Charlie turned around and the Puppet eagerly slipped it onto her.
It was going to be weird getting used to this. Still, Charlie gave an honest smile. "Thanks, I'll be back as soon as I can," she said. She wasn't sure what she was going to do once she got back, but that sounded like a good plan. Sammy chimed contently and she headed for the stairs. As she started down the steps she noticed that he was following, but by time she made it to the bottom it was clear he was going no further.
She looked back at him one last time and he waved at her with his long, pliable fingers. She waved back with a small smile. Definitely strange, definitely not something she would've expected a week ago, but maybe she could handle this. She just had to be careful how she went about this from now on. She just couldn't think too far ahead yet.
Charlie stepped out of the house with a quick, "Hey," of greeting. Lamar had arrived and was standing there with the others. Normally she might've offered for them to come inside, went over one last plan of action, but today she shut the door and locked it before anyone could even suggest it- or notice the damage done to it. "Let's get going."
"Okay! I already talked with Carlton and Clay's home right now, so we're good to go," Marla said. She managed to keep an upbeat tone even when adding, "Let's just cross our fingers and hope for a miracle."
"Clay's not that stubborn, is he?" Lamar asked. "I mean, I know he's that whole no-nonsense cop type, but he wouldn't actually think we would all lie about this, would he?"
"I don't know. Carlton makes it sound like he would, but there's got to be a point where he realizes something is up. He's got to look down there if he thinks it's connected to the fire," Marla asked. There was a quiet pause of doubt. "…Well, if he doesn't, Betty will. I know her job's got something to do with that." Everyone was skeptical but nobody voiced it further.
They drove to Carlton's without much incident and it wasn't until they were walking up to the front door that the night before suddenly reared its head once again.
"Look at that!" Marla said in shock. She was leading the way and the first to see the state the front door was left. Unlike Charlie's, this one's damage was much more visible. It was cracked open about an inch, the doorframe scarred, and the doorknob looked loose like it was wrenched free. The others tried to get a closer look, except Charlie who stayed rooted in place. Almost afraid that they would notice her lack of shock.
"It looks like someone broke in- Wait… Wait, this looks like what we saw over at Afton's… Marla, how long ago did you talk with Carlton?" John asked, snapping his head to her.
"It was like twenty minutes ago, but he didn't… You don't think Baby broke in, do you?!" Marla asked in disbelief. "In broad daylight, like right now?!"
"I don't think that's the case," Charlie assured her. John didn't comment but was looking at the door warily and suspiciously. He grabbed Jessica's arm to stop her from getting closer, but she still leaned in to study the door closer.
"This does look like what we saw at Afton's, but it wasn't Baby. We saw how Baby got through doors- she practically busted through them, but see, there's no damage on the outside of the door," Jessica pointed out with a freshly painted nail. She gestured over the doorframe and to the knob. "It was pried open just like the other door, which means it must've been open from in- Oh, hello, Mr. Burke! I didn't even see you there."
Jessica stepped aside with an awkward smile as Clay opened the door. He looked much more stone-faced than before, a feat that would've seemed impossible. He still greeted them cordially.
"Morning, kids. You're right on time," Clay said before opening the door and letting them inside. His lack of questioning and tone seemed to suggest that he already knew what was coming.
"Did Carlton already tell him? I guess that was the only way to keep him in the house…" Charlie thought as she came inside. She sent an uneasy look at the door before heading into the den. Carlton was already waiting for them inside and he looked just as rough now as when they were escaping the factory the day before. "…Or they were awake when Lefty broke out. That would explain that look."
"Carlton has already brought me up to speed on your adventure into that old animatronic rental warehouse… And what you found down there," Clay revealed. His tone was vague enough that they couldn't tell whether he believed them or not. Regardless of Lefty, Charlie replied as though he hadn't.
"I know it sounds unbelievable, but whatever Carlton told you is true. What we went through down there really happened, regardless of how hard it is to swallow," she said reasonably.
"Oh, he believes you alright," Carlton chimed in, halting her in the middle of her explanation. "He knows allll about robots getting up and walking around at night… Especially now that one got up last night and broke down the front door!"
"What?" John exclaimed. The others shared his look of surprise, save Lamar who looked a little skeptical and Charlie who was becoming increasingly nervous. "That's what broke the door, that bear you had?"
"Yes! I saw it myself- I heard everything going down and I came out of my bedroom to look, and Freddy was standing right there ripping the door open!" Carlton said, standing and pointing towards the door. "A-And then it looks back at me like this-." He paused to mimic the expression, a dazed look with one eye closed and the other lazily half shut. "-Like it's saying, 'Yeah, what are you gonna do about it?' Then it just sauntered out!"
"Carlton, I swear if this is a joke-!" Marla began with her hands on her hips. She cut off as she noticed Clay's continued stoic look and remembered the state of the door. "This… Isn't a joke. This really happened."
"It really happened. Here. Last night," Carlton confirmed. He spread his arms and then dropped back onto to the couch. "And we had a front row seat for it."
"You saw it too?" Charlie asked Clay. He gave a grim nod. "And Betty?"
"She was calling for backup. We assumed it was a home invasion until I came out and caught sight of it." Clay sighed exhaustedly and pinched the bridge of his nose. After a moment he drew his hand back and scanned the young adults standing in his living room. "I'm going to need you all to tell me exactly what happened down there and everything you've seen, including every bot that's moved on its own."
Charlie had known this was coming. She looked over and managed to meet John's eyes, to which he gave a nod of encouragement, so she took the lead. "First of all, these animatronics aren't running off of programming. They're completely sentient and capable of talking and thinking on their own. I don't need to tell you that that should be impossible. As far as we saw, there was the broken Circus Baby, this body made out of Baby's little helper bots and other spare pieces, and of course, Lefty."
"That body she's talking about wasn't one robot, it was the two, little doll ones. When they were separated from it, the whole thing just shut down," Marla chimed in. "The dolls kept talking though."
"And I was ambushed by some other dolls in a supply room. Except they looked like ballerinas. I think they must've gone with the Ballora animatronic that used to be down there," Jessica added.
"Those were the only animatronics that you saw?" Clay asked. There were a few nods. "Carlton said that they attacked you. I need as many details on the encounters as possible. What if any weapons they used, how they attacked, and whether there is any way to incapacitate them."
"We found a taser down there and it seemed like shocking them was the only way to stop them. If only for a little while. They didn't really have weapons, they just fought with whatever they had on them," Charlie said. Though then wondered why he needed them to go this far into detail "Why, are you planning on going down there?"
"We're getting a warrant together now and I'll be going in with a group of officers. We're going to be searching for the animatronics in question, including Freddy, and see if we can deactivate them. The sooner we can get them under control, the less likely chance we have of someone else getting hurt," he said. Charlie mentally flashed on Clay appearing at her door to look for Lefty.
"I don't know if you should go down there…" Carlton said. His tone was jarringly serious compared to his display only a few minutes earlier. "They weren't like Freddy. They didn't just walk off, they hunted us down, separated us, and tried to kill us. And I don't think bullets are going to stop them."
"I know. That's why we're going," Clay clarified solemnly. He was fully aware of what he was getting himself into. Then he turned towards Charlie, the last person who wanted to be presented in the spotlight. "But speaking of the bear, Charlie, I know you spent some time with it yesterday looking at it. I need to know if you saw anything strange when you were with it… And if it spoke to you too."
She took a deep breath; she wasn't going to lie. "No." But she couldn't leave it at that. "…But Baby said she was in the fire. That someone tried to burn her."
"I heard it too, and she had the melted metal to prove it," John said. He stepped forward to stand beside Charlie, as though to provide her with backup. "The bear could've headed that way too. They could all be heading to that factory… Or back to that factory if that's where they were built in the first place." He exchanged a look with her, both remembering those observation rooms all too well.
"If we could be so lucky," Clay muttered. He looked over the group and asked, "Anything else?" He only gave them about five second and when nobody else chimed in, his sighed deeply. "Thank you for coming to me. This will help us when we're down there. If you'll excuse me, I have some work to do downstairs while I wait for the warrant to come through." He started to head out of the living room when Jessica stopped him.
"Wait. There's… There's something else you should probably know about…" She looked to Charlie and made a 'go ahead' hand gesture. She wanted Charlie to talk about her discovery the day before.
Frankly, Charlie had planned on saying absolutely nothing about Sammy if she could've gotten away with it, but now she was backed into a corner. She had to say something; Clay needed to know the extent of William's depravity so that he would look closer at Afton Robotics and not just shrug it off for a robot hunt. She decided to choose her words carefully.
"Between what we saw down in Afton Robotics and notes I found in my father's office, I'm positive Sammy and the other children were kidnapped by William Afton. I don't know if Carlton told you about the rooms we found in the basement that looked like they belonged in a pizzeria or a house, but I…" Charlie raised her gaze to meet Clay's. "I found evidence that he kept Sammy down there for years."
"Your brother?" Clay asked.
"He was even passing him off as his own son," Jessica blurted out. Clay seemed slightly startled by this. "And then he kept him down there in a hospital bed. You'll see it when you get down there. It was on one of the observation rooms."
"Right, it's down there," Charlie said quieter. "I couldn't tell you why."
"Because he is a sick man, that's why," John added.
"Well, yeah. That's a given, but still," Charlie finished.
Clay studied their faces for a long moment to see if there was any doubt and saw nothing but certainty. He finally broke the silence with a blunt, "God almighty." He then clarified with, "I can't say I'm surprised. We all knew he was involved with the disappearances, but never had enough to charge him. We let that man walk free for years."
"I bet he's the one who started the fire," Carlton muttered under his breath. Marla patted his shoulder almost sympathetically.
Charlie knew she had an opening to tell the truth about everything and reveal what her father had done. She could crack Clay's case open in one fell swoop, give him details he wouldn't know elsewise, and hopefully end the mystery behind the missing children once and for all. She knew that it was the right thing to do, so why did it feel so difficult to do so? It couldn't just be because of Sammy, she could still hide him.
Maybe it was some deep desire to protect her father, even if he had lied to her. She could already imagine how the story would get twisted and turn him into the villain. They would think he was the one behind everything and few would learn the full truth. She wasn't sure that she agreed with his extreme methods, but hated the idea of him taking the blame while William skirted by as an afterthought when he was the one behind everything.
"We wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for what he did. The animatronics wouldn't be possessed, the children would've never been taken, and Sammy wouldn't be… Sammy would've lived. Everyone would've lived. Why not let him take the blame? Finally, after all these years, let him be the one who they whisper about." Making up her mind, Charlie raised her head and said, "I think Carlton's right. I think William started the fire."
It wasn't like she would be getting in the way of their search for him. Going on that voice screaming on the recording and the rabbit appearing in her lucid nightmares, William had been in that fire. She wouldn't have put it past him to slide on that suit and sneak into the restaurant one last time, only to get caught in a giant mousetrap. Surprisingly, Charlie didn't feel vindicated by the discovery.
"You said you found a body. Or I heard you say you found a body. Is it possible that it could've been William?" she suggested. "That he came back into town when he heard Freddy's was reopening and tried to burn it down, but something went wrong and he couldn't get out in time. Maybe the animatronics stopped him. Maybe they even followed him inside, explaining why Baby was in there in the first place. That's exactly what I think happened."
Clay and the others seemed to be considering this. Not even the detective investigating the case disagreed with this assumption, perhaps because of the lack of evidence. Though there was one who spoke up.
"I don't," John said. Charlie looked to him in surprise and saw his grim face. "I think he was going to pull the same thing that he did at the other restaurants when someone found out, trapped him in there, and set the fire with him still inside." He slowly met her gaze. "…We know a few people who would've wanted that."
Charlie was almost surprised in how close John had gotten to the truth. He always was rather perceptive so she should've expected it. She agreed with a nod. "That too. That's possible."
"I'll be upfront with you two, that might be exactly what happened, but unless we find more concrete evidence there won't be enough to prove it. We may be looking at another unsolved case. The only fortunate thing being that no kids were caught up in it this time, but until we get these wandering animatronics squared away lives are still on the line." Clay turned to head to his office only to be stopped yet again.
"Clay, about Sammy… Can we keep that between us? I don't think Jen could handle it. She's still not over what happened to my dad and I don't want her to have to relive it all again," Charlie asked.
"Jenny's always been a tough woman, Charlie. I don't want to give her that news, but if we're reopening your brother's case then she will find out about it. She is still next of kin, just like you are."
"I don't want to reopen Sammy's case." Out of everything she had said, this was what got the flabbergasted looks from her friends. Even the emotional roller coaster Carlton was on grinded to a halt as he looked up at her. Jessica whispered a 'what' and Charlie backed herself up. "It's like you said, there wasn't enough evidence to solve it then and there won't be enough to solve it now. I already know what happened, I don't want Sammy to… Be another topic for the media circus. You understand."
Of course Clay understood, he was the one who warned her about it. He still seemed torn about her decision. "If we find William and bring him in for prosecution, or reopen the Freddy case in full, then we may have no choice. It would be out of my hands," he forewarned her.
"If that happens then it happens, but right now I just want to focus on the present. We can come with you to Afton's if you need us to show you where we went." Charlie noticed Jessica's tight look in particular and quickly corrected. "Or I could come with you. I still remember everything, I could lead you right to the rooms."
"While I appreciate the offer, I wouldn't put you kids anywhere near that building. You just keep close to home and keep an ear out if you hear anything suspicious, and don't go out after dark alone unless it's absolutely necessary. Carlton, once I leave I'll need you by the phone to take any calls," Clay said. Carlton got an unenthused look but agreed without argument. "We'll handle this. Mark my words, I'm not letting anything slip through the cracks this time."
That made Charlie feel slightly unnerved as she watched Clay finally head for his office. She knew he would be looking for Lefty and while it would be unlikely that he would stumble upon her doorstep randomly, she knew having that bear in the workshop was a liability. Getting rid of it wasn't going to be ease either unless she could fully take it apart and remove it piece by piece. She started to drift into thoughts of how she would go about this- could Sammy help?- when Marla spoke up.
"Charlie, I know you're afraid to rock the boat with your aunt, but you shouldn't have to cover up what happened to Sammy. What William did was horrible and people should know," she offered gently. "…I know if someone did something like that to Jason, I would want to get some sort of justice."
"I know and I do, but I just can't risk it," Charlie shot down quickly. "I already found out what happened to Sammy. That's enough for me."
"But we don't even know everything. Maybe Sammy is still alive out there," Marla protested. John signaled her with a slow shake of his head and her face fell further. "…Unless you… You found something else? Like in that closed room, I thought you said it was just a box."
"It was just a box, but… It's not hard to figure out what happened after that," Charlie answered cryptically. She started thinking up an excuse to get out of the conversation and hopefully back home. Talking about Sammy only made her more aware of how risky it was leaving him alone. "I'm more worried about Baby and Lefty running around. Speaking of which, I probably should get home. I think I forgot to lock the door."
"Should we have told him about Michael?" Lamar offered up, speaking mostly to Carlton. "We all sort of forgot that he was the one suggesting something happened to Freddy's. He could've gotten stuck in the fire after he set it and William's still out on the run."
"I mean, yeah, maybe, but I'm going with John's idea that he off'd his dad and split himself. Everything about him "disappearing" before the fire screams that he was trying to make himself as little of a suspect as possible. He's probably half-way across the country by now and his name's only been dropped by us," Carlton answered. He ran his fingers through his tangled hair. "Dad's going to get killed down there. Bullets aren't going to stop those things, they're just going to ricochet off of them."
"I'm going to go now," Charlie said awkwardly. She started to back out of the room, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. "We'll meet up somewhere later. Like the diner, we could have a late lunch there."
"Wait, you're going back home?" Jessica asked in surprise. "We could have lunch now. None of us are doing anything, except maybe Carlton."
"Thanks for reminding me," Carlton muttered.
"After yesterday and today, maybe we should just try to take it easy and stick together today. I know it's going to be… Weird after all of this, but we only have a few days left together. We've got to make as much of it as we can," the blond insisted. It almost felt like pleading, showing how much she didn't want to leave on the current terms. To have the last thing she did with her friends to be uncovering a shady murder case. Charlie not only sympathized with her, she agreed with her.
"You're right. Sure, we'll meet at the diner. I just have to head home for a second and then I'll head over," Charlie said. Jessica seemed to perk back up at her willingness and Charlie took this moment to turn to head to the door. She stopped halfway through the motion when her eyes met John's own. He almost looked disappointed. "I won't be gone long."
"I can come with you," he offered.
"No, that's fine."
"Why not?" He was starting to take notice that something was off. Just looking at Charlie he could tell that she was nervous, almost just as much as she had been when they all met up the first time. Something was wrong and he was becoming concerned. "Charlie, you know you can tell us anything," he encouraged. She looked torn and he lowered his voice. "You can tell me anything."
"I know," Charlie said quietly. She averted her gaze and then gave a final, "I'll tell you at the diner." Then headed for the door and let herself out, hoping she would pull it together enough at the diner that he wouldn't end up pressing for that answer. She started towards her car. Only to stop midway and just stand there outside the front door.
"…I'm doing it again. I'm pushing them away," she realized. "Even after everything we've gone through these last few days, I'm still running away from them. They've listened to me, they've trusted me, I've trusted them and they've been there for me this whole time…" She took a deep breath as she decided to not make the same mistake again.
Back inside the house, John watched Charlie leave with a bothered frown. He had half a mind to follow her out the door but resisted. Jessica noticed his concern.
"She'll be alright. You heard her, she'll tell us when we get to the diner. She probably doesn't want to risk Clay overhearing us," she reassured him. It didn't ease his mind any.
"Something else is wrong, I can tell. It can't just be what she found out about her brother, because she wasn't acting like this yesterday when she told us. She was shaken, but she wasn't… Nervous."
"Or maybe she's just had time to think about it. You've got to admit, John, this is so much for one person to take in. I'm shocked she's taking it as well as she is. Just like Marla said, if any of us had siblings who that happened to, we would be a total mess. Or I would," Jessica said. He was starting to get a little more won over, though couldn't shake the feeling that there was something amiss.
And just like that, the front door opened up again and in walked Charlie. Neither expected her back so quickly and before they could ask she beat them to it.
"Sammy came home last night."
It took a second for the words to make sense. Jessica blinked in confusion before asking, "I'm sorry, what?"
"Sammy came home," Charlie repeated. Her face still marred with that nervousness but her voice showing no sign of uncertainty. "That's why I need to go check on the house. That's why I don't want Clay to get involved with looking for him. Sammy's at the house right now."
"Oh my gosh…" Marla blurted out from behind them, making them aware that the other three were listening in. "Oh my gosh! Charlie, that's wonderful!" She rushed up to her friend with a beaming smile and took her hand. "Why didn't you say anything sooner?"
"Wait, this doesn't make any sense," Carlton spoke up. "Your brother? I thought you said you thought he was dead. He just showed up at the… House?" An uneasy look of realization slowly crossed his face. Nobody seemed to notice this look and were too busy noticing the oddity of the situation, save Marla who still was choosing to remain optimistic.
"See, the thing is that he… Clay can't find out about this. In fact, nobody can find out about this," Charlie admitted vaguely. Fishing for assurances that they would keep this secret. "But I trust you all to not tell."
"Of course we won't. As long as you're not in danger, you can trust us with that," John reaffirmed, laying a gentle hand on her back. He was starting to get his own suspicions and her hesitance gave him a moment to voice them. "…Is Michael Sammy? Is that how you found out about him being kept by William?"
"That's actually a really good guess, but he's not. He's not… human anymore," Charlie finally got out. Her heart was pounding like she was running a marathon as she awaited the reaction.
The first one came directly from Carlton, who apparently caught on before everyone else, and gave a blunt, "Please tell me Sammy isn't the bear."
"He isn't the bear… But he did come out of it."
Marla's eyes popped open. "Charlie!?"
"He was trapped inside of it. It's a long story. Please, you have to keep your voice down," Charlie nearly pleaded. Marla complied but still looked just as startled. "I know what you're thinking, but he's not like Baby."
"Charlie, you're saying he's-?!" Jessica began before cutting off. She almost seemed at a loss for words and it took her a few seconds to find them, unsettled as they still were. "Are… Are you sure about that?"
"I'm positive. He was with me all night last night and no once did he try to attack me or leave the house. He remembers me, but only about as well as I remember him," Charlie trailed off momentarily. She knew how she came off and she could see the looks on their faces, but she still trusted them. She knew she could convince them. "I know it's asking a lot, but if you come by the house I can show you the bear and explain what happened-."
"Nope," Carlton cut in. He raised his hands in defense. "No way am I going anywhere near that bear. Sorry, but I'm not doing that, brother or not." Charlie sent him an unenthused look. "Hey, I've already been traumatized by that bear once today. I've seen that thing rip open a door. There's no way I'm going anywhere near that thing."
"No problem. You're supposed to be manning the phone anyways," John dismissed. He seemed unamused, a feeling Carlton felt was mutual after the brush off, and turned his focus back on Charlie. Seeing her desperate look seemed to only bend his arm until he went against his better judgement. "…Alright, I'll come with you. If you say he's safe then I believe you. Besides… I want to see him for myself."
She gave him a half smile. "Brace yourself, he's some sort of mime."
"He just became a lot more terrifying," John said semi-seriously. Despite his reservations, he did manage a smile back.
"What about you guys?" Charlie asked, looking back to the others. They, especially Jessica, seemed a little more skeptical. "It'll be safe, I promise. You might not even see Sammy, he might not be ready for that."
"Well… Sure, okay," Jessica said uneasily. She forced a too-wide smile. "We'll meet Sammy. Your brother!... But you do still have the taser? Just in case he really isn't ready?"
"It's in the car. We don't need it though, because if there's any sign of him getting worked up we'll just back out. He's not like Baby, he's not going to follow us."
"Then I guess I'm in too," Lamar agreed. "We're already in this deep, and what else have I got going for me today?"
"Count me in too," Marla also agreed. Surprisingly, she seemed to be a little more curious than the others, and looked to be the only one who was fully confident in Charlie's assurances. Or at least, she put on a front that covered any visible doubt, which was impressive considering her shock earlier. She reached out and ruffled Carlton's hair, "You just wait here. I'll call you when we're fixing to leave." Then pulled him in to give him a quick peck on the cheek.
Carlton almost stuck by his word until Marla started following the others to the door. That's when he quickly caved. "Wait up, I'm coming," he said defeatedly. He then strode further into his house before calling to his father, "I'm stepping out for a sec, Dad! I'll be back before you leave!" He hurried back to the door, closing it behind them, before adding with a point, "But I'm staying outside this time."
"No, you won't. I'm living proof that you'll always find a way to convince yourself to go against your better judgement and go inside," Lamar said. He got out his keys and twirled them in his hand as he led towards his car, which was blocking the driveway. "You know he's still going to ask when you get back."
"I'll just tell him I had to move some furniture or something," he shrugged off nonchalantly.
Charlie considered it before offering, "Actually… If you want something to move then I might have something, but you're not going to like it."
Carlton wasn't sure if he liked where this was going. He decided to sink into the background just in case. Something that most of the others shared by time they arrived at Charlie's front door. They all stayed close but only John was willing to stand alongside Charlie, perhaps as something of a bodyguard. She noticed it as she unlocked the door.
"I'm going to go in first, alone, and tell Sammy what's going on. Don't come in until I tell you to, okay?" she said while looking directly at John. She had a suspicion that he would try to follow her in if given the chance. He agreed and she stepped inside, shutting the door to a crack behind her.
"Sammy? I'm back!" Charlie called. She was met with silence. Considering that he had been staying upstairs, she wasn't too surprised by it, and headed towards the stairs. As she got closer she started to hear a strange noise that sounded almost like a computer dialing up. "Sammy?" she called again before she stumbled on the rug that was still wrinkled from last night.
She stopped long enough to fix it with her boot, and while her head was down the dialing grew closer. In only a moment it was standing above her, and she looked back up to see Sammy on the steps.
Except something was different now. His body was rigid and upright, with his arms tight at his side, and standing perfectly still. His mask was stuck on that neutral smile, which now seemed so unnatural when compared to his expressive features just that morning. He had been so gentle and welcoming earlier; it was like night and day.
Charlie knew exactly what was wrong: Sammy knew the others were outside.
"Hey. Sorry it took me so long to get back. Clay's a little on edge, but I'm sure you know why," she greeted with a gentle smile. His gaze lowered before suddenly darting in the direction of the front door. "…And I'm pretty sure that you know my friends are outside too. They're going to come in for a few minutes." The dialing noise, which was clearly coming from his chest, grew louder. He was definitely not ready to meet them.
"They're just going to come in and look at Lefty. Clay's worked up about finding it and I think it's probably for the best if we get it out of the house… I think we'd both sleep easier without it sitting in here," Charlie explained. The dialing grew softer almost instantly, still present but losing its harsh edge. The smile started to falter and the eyes almost looked tired, still staring towards the door. "But I'm going to need help doing that, so is it okay if I let them in? I won't bring them upstairs."
The Puppet seemed to consider this for a long moment. It was apparent that he was not comfortable with the situation, she even noticed his fingers beginning to curl as though in discomfort. Without warning, he gave a curt nod, turned, and darted up the stairs. She didn't know if she was more surprised by his speed or his willingness to agree to this, but was relieved either way. The noise disappeared with him.
Charlie returned to the front door and opened it for the others. "Slight change of plans. We're going to just head straight into the garage and figure out what to do with Lefty. Sammy's going to keep to himself."
"Sounds alright with me," John said. He stepped in and looked around at the dark house, which was illuminated a few moments later when Charlie reached over and flicked on the light switch. "What was that noise?"
"That's Sammy. He's been trying to get online, but it's just not working out. It would probably help if we still had a phone line," Charlie lightly joked. She opened the door wider to usher the others in.
Jessica and Lamar came in semi-cautiously. Marla stood in the doorway trying to beckon Carlton to follow, to which he gave a nonchalant wave, a silent refusal to move from his spot leaning on the car. She gave up and headed inside without him, shrugging at Charlie before following her to the garage. The door was left open halfway in case he changed his mind.
Lefty was right where it had been left and had remained undisturbed overnight. The light fell directly on the empty husk, its belly still open and revealing the storage tank inside. Seeing it again and remembering the effort to get it open sent a chill down Charlie spine. It looked so much more unnatural in the daytime.
"That really is Lefty. You said you found Sammy inside of it?" Marla asked and Charlie nodded. "That's crazy. How'd you even get it open?"
"We had to pry it open enough for me to unscrew the latches inside. You believe how many layers of security were trying to keep this bear closed. It had automatic locks, a built-in taser… Sammy would've never gotten out on his own," Charlie said. By the end, her downcast eyes spoke more than her words could. All while the empty bear just sat there ominously.
"Whoever put him in there obviously didn't want him to come out," John said, purposefully pointing out the obvious to lead into his next question. "Do you know who did it?"
"Yeah," she said. She took a deep breath. "It was my dad."
"He's been in there all this time?" Jessica asked. Even if she didn't feel safe with the situation, one look at the tight space inside the bear's chest made her sympathetic. "That must've been horrible."
"Yeah, it was…" Charlie agreed. She felt a clenching in her chest as she stared at that bear and thought about her father, and the recording from the night before. "There were a lot of things I found out about my dad last night. Sammy played me a recording and the things in it were just… Too much. I'm not ready to talk about it. I will eventually, I promise, but right now… Now's not a good time. There's too much going on."
Any worry was alleviated when Jessica took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "That's okay. Whenever you're ready, we'll be right here," she said. Then she looked towards Lefty and with a pensive look and a hand on her hip. "But Mr. Bear here's going to have to go. The sooner the better. So… Any ideas?" There was a moment of consideration.
"I've got one that sounds bad, but might actually work," Lamar volunteered. The others looked to him. "Let's just take the bear and dump it beside the highway."
After a moment of pause, John shrugged and gave a non-serious, "Sure. Can't see that going wrong."
"I'm serious, just think about it for a second. If we dump it someplace in plain sight then the cops will find it and deal with it without tracing it back to us. Like this, we close up the chest-." Lamar picked up the cover and tried to fit it back on the bear's belly. He was cautious for a moment until he was sure it wasn't going to move. "-and when Clay or whoever finds it, they just think it walked itself out there and shut down. They already know it can walk on its own."
"…That's a good point," Charlie said. Chances were that wherever the bear went it would eventually be found by the police, and the further it was from the house when that happened then the better. They wouldn't be able to figure out what the bear was used for or why it suddenly wasn't moving anymore. "You're right. We have to get rid of it in a way where it can still be found, so Clay doesn't think there's a animatronic on the loose. We can wait until it gets late and take it out where it'll be found."
"I guess that might work… We'd have to stage it, make fake footprints, but it could work," Jessica agreed. For a moment it seemed like a good plan. "…If we can move it." Until reality reared its ugly head.
This was going to be another long day, they could all already tell.
After about thirty minutes of standing outside, Carlton's resolve was starting to waver. It wasn't like he felt anymore comfortable going in and seeing the bear, but he was having a tough time standing outside when he didn't know what was going on. As far as he knew, there could've already been an attack. Though more likely the others were just standing inside doing whatever while he was stuck out here twiddling his thumbs.
"That's it, I'm going in," he finally decided. Before he could second guess it, he strode up to the front door and headed into the house. He headed towards the workshop where he could hear the others' voices.
Only to stop in his tracks when he spotted what was standing outside the door. Its long, thin, inhuman body could've been mistaken for some sort of abstract coatrack if not illuminated by the light from the next room. It didn't take him long to realize that this had to be the 'mime' that Charlie had mentioned that was silently watching the others from the hallway.
Then it began to slowly turn its head in his direction. Carlton was rooted to the spot as its empty eyes fell onto him. Its wide grin seemed menacing, especially when its pupils began to glow, aimed directly on him.
They stared at each other for a long moment in complete silence.
Until it turned away from him and made its way down towards the stairs. It didn't even look like its legs were moving and once it had turned off onto the stairs he began hearing that same dialing that the others heard earlier. It hadn't even looked concerned with him. It just turned away from him and left, exactly like Lefty had done.
Carlton went right back outside and had no temptation to return.
Mable: I want to apologize if this chapter is a little messy editing-wise. After all this time I just had to get it done, so I didn't do as thorough of a job as I would like. I will be looking through after posting and do more corrections when I find them. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!