Chapter 26 – Observe and Analyze

Savion's POV, 15/10/20

Two weeks had passed and I was unsure if everything could go back to normal. Several of the ghosts were sent over to stay in an apartment. Police or doctors visited them daily to check if they were doing well. Some of them already found their families and reunited with them. To my surprise, I would often see them making peace before disappearing.

It hit me that most of the murdered weren't able to move on yet.

I'm not a therapist, but I think that because they felt guilty over the actions they were forced to do, they believed that they didn't deserve to live a happy afterlife. Some of them didn't get visits from their own families which was a large kick in the butt for everyone.

The whole town nearly freaked out about ghosts living in Brooklyn, but there were a lot of things done to maintain the peace.

My debt of paying the damage I made was still on the line. I was a little worried about how the Freddy Fazbear franchise would go on since its original pizzeria was burnt down and its sister location was about to be taken down for good. They still had plans, but the lack of money put them in danger.

However, our label decided to host a benefit concert to raise money for the company and the victims' families. I was relieved by this, but even though we might get enough money, I wasn't sure if everybody would be able to move on from the events that happened a fortnight ago.

This was almost like back in the Philippines when I was caught by the terrorists. Nobody was allowed to smile or to feel as if they were at home. It was Hell. And the aftermath of it wasn't a happy ending for all of us. It took me a while to feel safe and free. I was nearly afraid that it would take more than years for all the ghosts to find peace.

As I thought of that, I walked along the pavement, heading to the police station to meet some of the ghosts again. I managed to buy a new pair of golden aviators, replacing the ones that were accidentally stomped on. I needed them to repair myself for the time being. I spotted Patrick and his ghost sister Cassidy talking to two adults. Just one look and I quickly guessed that they were talking to their PARENTS. Cassidy said something chipper before hugging her parents.

I smiled a little. It kind of remind me of whenever I tried to interact with my parents, ignoring the bad times. I tried to resist the urge to cry.

As I came towards them, Patrick and Cassidy said goodbye to their parents, and turned around. They stopped when they saw me.

"Savion?" said Patrick.

I smiled nervously. To be honest, I was kind of hoping that he still remembered the fights we often got ourselves into. It was something I need to take care of. If our fighting went into our way again, then we wouldn't be able to have a uninterrupted and stress-free life, and Katelyn might go into another breakdown.

"Are you…Savvy?" asked Cassidy, sitting on Patrick's shoulder.

"Savion," I said. "It's just Savion. Though…kind of like the nickname."

"Patrick told me a lot about you! I even saw how cool you were when you fight! And what is that special marking on your face? Is it a birth mark?"

I chuckled as I touched the scar on my face. "Nah. It's just a…scratch years ago.

"For being a klutz," muttered Patrick.

I snorted a little. "So…eh, Patrick? How have you been doing so far with…everything?"

Patrick shrugged. "I…I don't know. I'm still a little bit shaken of what I saw. It was…horrible. This whole thing is worse than trying to look after our band. It's a little harder than I thought. And with that concert coming soon, I don't think it would lift everyone's spirits."

"Patrick," I said in a positive and confident tone. "It doesn't matter if not everyone is happy. Right now, we just have to make sure that they are doing OK. Everyone has their ups and downs, so I hope that they will feel better when things will turn around soon. All of the fighting is already over."

"But…what if something pops up again?"

"Not all of us are strong, but if we try our best, then that's what matters. If we still believe that we can do it for everyone, then that's what matters in the end. No need to stress out that much. We'll get through this. Together."

Patrick stared at me with skepticism. He didn't seem to be happy with what I said, but he looked like he wanted to agree. He hung his head, groaning.

"God!" he said, exasperated. "Dude, you're always so positive and carefree about the bombs they just throw at you. You like…swallow them up and let the smoke disappear."

I smirked. "Yep! A soldier at war never backs down."

Cassidy giggled. "I guess my brother is an old man."

"I am NOT an old man," snarled Patrick, covering his white hair.

"You know that we like to make our own music," I said, taking off my aviators. "And that's one thing that makes me rebellious. I'm surprised that you decided to be rebellious for once days again."

Patrick frowned. "Look. I'm not a coward. I'm just afraid of getting my friends in danger."

I nodded. "I…I see."

"I am capable of fighting. I just…hate of getting on the wrong side of the tracks."

"Well, it isn't always about me. It's about others. I would give up my life to save others immediately."

"Savvy," said Cassidy, tugging onto my shoulder. "I don't think going into war head-start would be a good idea. When I was trapped in Golden Freddy, I tried EVERYTHING to stop my friends from killing night guards. I would even try to block them from moving forwards. But…they wouldn't listen and tear me apart. And then, when we got into an argument after Freddy's burn, I made the mistake of teleporting them to where Thomas was and that was how they killed so many people at the Chicago mall."

"Believe me," said Patrick, cross his arms. "It's more on playing your cards right instead of going into war without coming up with a plan. It's more than just surviving. It's more on if you have everything required just in case you're losing a battle."

I blinked. "So just being patient and not doing anything to stop the whole thing?"

"Look, we can't save everyone. I'm sorry, but…not everything is achievable. If we want a good result, then we have to think straight. Not use fists and kicks first."

I groaned a little, feeling disgusted. I honestly like rushing into things first because there wouldn't be any time left to waste in a situation like this. It was like we were dragging behind while the world went by. However, I remembered how Katelyn and Thomas made a plan first before we went into battle. It worked in the end.

"Fine…fine…" I said. "Like music…we plan first…geez."

Patrick smiled. "Thank you. Nice to know that you're listening to me this time."

I huffed a little, putting back my aviators over my eyes. "OK. I'll try to work on that in the future."

Patrick chuckled a little. For a moment, I saw his smile faded a little. "Eh…Savion. I like to make an apology to you. I haven't been that nice to you lately. I underestimated you. I'm…sorry. And I should be the one giving you a new pair of aviators. Not you."

I stared at Patrick for a while as I let his words sank in my skin. Considering how he didn't like me that much, I thought he would make in a more private way, but it was nice to see him opening it up to me. I smiled gracefully.

"I think I should as well," I said, reaching out my hand. "And it's alright if you broke something of mine. I can just fix it. The only thing I can't replace are my friends."

Patrick nodded, shaking my hand.

Hopefully we can keep things cool from that moment.

Elvis' POV

When all the ghosts finally left the animatronic bodies, I thought that they would be able to move on. However, I was wrong as nobody bothered to disappear and go into the afterlife. At first, I thought that there was still a curse that lingered in them. Maybe it was William's work that stopped them from being free.

I was all wrong on all counts. It was just them.

They couldn't move on.

The people who were most noticeable out of everyone were the missing children.

Counting out Cassidy – who was happy to see her brother Patrick again – and Charlie – who was trying to work things out with her father – the four children were struggling with trying to move on.

After being freed from William's influence, they realized that hurting other people wasn't the solution and their murders were unforgiveable to a lot of people. They couldn't just move on from what they did wrong. They couldn't leave it behind. What they did affected thousands of people in the country and they had to carry the responsibility by themselves.

It didn't get better after they were freed. Some night guards would try to come over to them and berate them for what they did. One ghost actually went up to them and screamed in their faces. The police tried their best to help the children get over their guilt, but they noted that because they died at a very young age, the five weren't sure if they could redeem themselves.

I realized that they didn't seem to understand how law, justice and morality works since nobody was there to teach them the right ways of living a good life. Their lives were cut short, so they weren't able to live normally.

I felt bad for them. Knowing that you got into something you shouldn't be involved in and your life was never the same when you chose to kill innocent lives.

Me, Yellow and Alex decided to meet them one day. They were at a police station where the police had a 'surprise' for them. They didn't say what the surprise would be, but they said that it would be their chance for the children to finally speak up about their problems.

When we entered the room where they were staying for a while, we found them sitting on chairs that were set to form a circle. We saw their transparent bodies floating over the seats, not looking at each other. Three boys and one girl. One boy with red hair was staring at the wall as if thinking of what he should do next. The girl with blonde hair was crying, sobbing in her arms. The other two boys were crossing their arms with gritty looks.

They noticed that we were around when Yellow closed the door behind him.

"Oh…" said the boy with brown hair. "We…we didn't know someone is going to visit us."

"No," said Alex. "We just…came here to talk. No beef towards you."

"Beef?" said the girl with blonde hair. "But can't eat."

"It's just an expression," I said. "Don't worry about that."

As we came close to them and sat down on the three seats, the children sat around on the remaining seat, staring at us. I never been this close to children before. Normally, I would try to avoid being around children who were 10 years younger than me. I don't like mixing around kids who are into kiddy stuff. But with those four, they are…kind of different. Except the fact that they like Freddy's.

"We know that you're names are Gabriel, Jeremy, Susie and Fritz," said Alex. "Who's who?"

"I'm Gabriel," said the boy with brown hair. "I'm the one who possessed Freddy."

"I'm Jeremy," said the boy with black hair and glasses. "I was in Bonnie."

"I'm Susie," said the girl with blonde hair. "I was in Chica."

"I'm Fritz," said the boy with red hair. "I was in Foxy."

"So…" I said. "I know that the next two weeks are weird. After all that murdering-fighting-ritual-something, something…I'm guessing that you are still thinking about it, aren't you?"

I glanced over at Alex, expecting him to shoot me a look of disapproval. However, he didn't look too concerned about my word choices.

"Yeah," said Gabriel. "It just…feels weird after all of this. We are finally free and my head doesn't feel heavy anymore. But…being here…and being told that we did wrong."

Fritz and Susie looked away in shame.

"So from what we were told," said Yellow. "Was it true that someone actually influence you to murder the night guards? To find your killer?"

"It was the only way," said Jeremy, pulling on his fingers. "It told us that…if we kill the people who 'left us out of our lives', then we could be free and find peace. But…look at us now."

"I-It's alright, kids," I said. "People make mistakes sometimes. And mistakes can even go worse that you thought. But it's just a part of being human. It might be hard to forgive yourselves, but I think there might be hope for all of you."

"You think so?" said Susie, nearly choking. "Everyone…is mad at us. Just like how they are mad with Mr. William. We ruined a lot of lives and we still don't know how many night guards we hurt in the past."

Yellow looked down. "Do you…truly believe that nobody can help you?"

The four were silent for a while.

"Well…isn't that fair?" said Fritz.

"Then why are you still here?" said Yellow. "Why weren't you guys dragged down to Hell like how William nearly got himself into? Dragged away by hot chains? You didn't went through that."

I started to get what he said. And thinking about it, William wasn't sent to Hell. It hit me that there was some humanity still inside him. Something that showed that he wasn't a complete monster. And looking at the children, they didn't go down to Hell. They were still here. And the only way for them to move on was to find peace for themselves. Even though they did a lot of wrong things, they were still here.

"Then…why us?" said Gabriel, his eyes glowing in somewhat hope.

"You might have ruined a lot of people," said Yellow. "But if you're still here, then that means you do regret your actions. Only one would succumb to a fate worse than death if they don't have any remorse over their actions."

"Are you saying that…?"

"I think we have found the goodness in you. The things that make you human."

Gabriel floated upwards, confused. His mouth kept opening and closing, unable to say something. It was he was struggling to agree with the positive or the negative; he was trying to balance himself in the middle. Jeremy stared at us with a dumbfounded look, adjusting his glasses. Fritz and Susie looked at each other, gasping in realization.

"I don't get it," said Jeremy.

"You all used to hate adults, right?" I said, standing up. "Then…did you hate Henry when he appeared to you?"

When none of them spoke up, Gabriel took over.

"Well…" he started. "Most of the time when we were in the animatronics, we hate stereotypical adults. But…we barely remembered Mr. Schmidt. However…I remember…he was nice to us. Every time we visited his restaurant, he always put on a smile. Whenever a child got hurt, he would immediately tend their injuries. He stopped his workers from fighting each other. And once, I saw him…crying over a newspaper that had an incident called the 'Bite of '83'. He kept calling…'William', but he got no call at all."

Susie cleared her throat. "I think that…we see Mr. Schmidt more differently to other adults. When Gabriel told us about what he saw, we started to think if there was to him. We were planning to ask him, but…we weren't able to."

Alex gasped a little. "He was trying to call William, but look at where that go…"

"To us," said Susie. "He was like a father. A protector. God. He is…good in nature. So when we saw him, we…didn't know what we should do. We know that he is an adult, but…seeing that he is dead…and remembering what he was going through…we remembered how much we used to love him."

I sucked in my breath, trying not to cry.

"You failed to see how good some people are," said Alex. "But sometimes, the bad can cover the whole world. When we found Elizabeth in Circus Baby, we thought she and the other animatronics were going to kill us. However…it was part of their programming and not under their control. When we removed them, we saw how good they are like now."

"You might believe that you're monsters," I said. "But an unchangeable monster can only be one if they lost their sweet nature. You're no longer monsters anymore. Some God…knows that. That's why you got a second chance. The only reason why you are not using it is…can you believe that you have one if you know what you did was wrong?"

The type of tense silence I hate filled the room. The kids looked at each other, considering our words. I wasn't sure if it was enough to help them. I patted on Alex's shoulder who was nearly biting his nails, but I didn't know if it was enough to calm his nerves. Yellow was looking down, taking off his hat off for the moment.

All of a sudden, the ghosts rushed up to the three of us. I thought that they would just pass through us, but I could FEEL their arms wrapping around us. Soon enough, I found myself in the largest group hug in the world. They were already crying, sniffing silently. I sighed and wrapped my arms around one of them, letting their anxieties wash away for the moment.

When they released, I heard the door opening. A police cop went in.

"Excuse me," he said. "But we have more visitors we invited in."

"Who are they?" asked Gabriel.

The cop smiled. "This is the surprise you will now see."

As he said that, four couples entered the room. Yellow tapped my on the shoulder, telling me that me and Alex should back away already. As we moved to the corner to make space, I noticed how the four couples shared some similarities with the four children. One couple had the same brown hair, another were wearing mostly purple, the woman in the third had blonde hair and the fourth were redheads.

And then, the children began muttering out these words:

"Mum? Dad?"

I covered my mouth slightly. The cop made his way to us. Us three boys stared at him, wanting an answer.

"Took a while to find them," he said. "In the end, we found them and now they here."

If there were any restraints holding this room down, then they were gone. The ghost children immediately broke loose and flew towards their respective parents. The parents themselves were also beginning to cry, some of them trying to maintain a sympathetic and serious look. As they embraced, I noticed that Susie's parents spun her around as they cheered in joy and relief.

It made me remember how long those children were away from their family. They probably nearly forgotten about them during their time as the animatronics. All the hatred and anger inside of them blinded them to see how their parents would look or sound like. The parents nearly looked different, but the children seemed to recognized them straight away.

"Do you think that this will help them?" said Yellow. "Do you think that they will be able find peace?"

"They will!" I said. "It's obvious. All things must end in a good way."

"I know, but is it enough?"

"Not really," said Alex. "It's not on if it's enough. It's only if they believe in redemption."

Thomas' POV

Knowing that Freddy Fazbear was going through a lot of suffering and nearly responsible for the deaths that occurred, the Schmidts had a lot of trouble.

Charlie – after going through so much trauma and formerly filled with murderous thoughts – softened down, clinging onto her father every time they had to go out for questioning. She was worried about how everyone would think of her because technically, she was the one who started her desire to kill the night guards. I thought she might go back to her old ways as the Puppet, but seeing her…like this reminded me of the girl she used to be.

It made me feel sorry for her. When she was alive, I didn't see her properly. Because I found myself looking back in the past, I remembered how she was like and how nice she was to me regardless. Seeing her becoming a scared little girl totally shook me. Already facing the harsh consequences of reality. I was glad none of our childhood bullies came over to see her, but she lost her confidence.

Henry couldn't move on as well, still upset and feared the tragedy that happened to the Fazbear Freddy franchise. I could see that he also felt responsible for the deaths that occurred like he didn't do anything to stop them. He rarely talked to the police, sometimes telling them to talk to William or the past workers of Freddy's instead.

And being the only sole survivor, Mark was afraid that he would be on his own when his sister and father found peace. Aside from his mother, he was the survivor of the family. I could see a slight hint of worry every time he arrived back where he and his dead family were staying for the past two weeks. When I stared to see some ghosts disappearing, it hit me that when his father and sister moved on, Mark might be all alone.

I was a little worried about them, so that was how I found myself going to the Schmidts' room at the apartment the authorities gave them to stay for the time being. And to my surprise, Leon joined along with me.

"So you've been in touch with Mark for a while now?" I said to him as we walked up the stairs.

"Yeah," said Leon. "Got to say, it felt more important than anything else in life."

"What makes you say that?"

Leon shrugged. "I don't know. It's just that I normally don't care about anything I don't find entertaining. This…is just more than a game."

I sighed a little. "I heard a lot about you, man…weird that everything felt like it's back to normal. But still…"

"We'll find a way. I know so."

We finally arrived at the room the Schmidts were staying at currently. Suddenly, Leon placed a hand over my chest.

"What is it?" I said.

Leon placed a finger on his mouth, pointing at the door.

There were people chattering inside.

"…I love you too, brother," said Charlie. "I hadn't thought about seeing how happy you were before when I was alive."

"I know…" said Mark. "I just wish that things can go back to normal…"

"It's OK, Mark," said Henry. "You're here now. And that's what matters. Of course, I wish 'here' wouldn't be not all of us in the same condition, but…what can you do?"

Mark snickered a little. "Imagine if I was a ghost like you two."

"But isn't Mum alive? Is she still around?"

"Yeah...she's still around. But when I moved out, I got nearly more money than how much Dad gets…yet I kept losing it and end up in the sewers."

There was a chuckle shared between the three.

"Seriously," said Mark. "Dad, Charlie. I missed you guys. I missed hanging out like we used to. Last time feel like a long time ago."

"Most of the good times were at Freddy's," said Charlie. "You know, despite the animatronics being creepy, they are actually cool and friendly to us."

"I wonder how it nearly went the opposite way though," said Henry. "If…I just took safety precautions and managed to find William instead of giving him some space, then it wouldn't end so badly."

"About Freddy's," said Charlie. "Do the company have any other plans? What they might do? For you?"

"I don't know. I think that…they were going to try making a video game to fit this era, but there might be changes because of what happened. They said that it was interesting with the mysteries and deaths."

"…is it so?" said Charlie, confused.

"Freddy's would become popular because of this," said Mark. "The more people love to read the incidents and connect with them, the more popular the franchise would become."

I looked at Leon. He shrugged and I did as well. We decided to come in since those three seemed to have a friendly conversation with each other. Opening the door, I saw them resting on the couch while Mark was switching through several movies and shows on the TV.

"Oh," said Henry, bowing down. "Hi there, Thomas. Leon."

"Nice to see you again, Mr. Schmidt," I said politely.

"Leon," said Mark. "Good to see you again, man."

Leon smirked lazily. "Eh. There's nothing much to do in this boring town."

I looked over to see Charlie. I thought that she would be angry to see me again, but…she slowly floated behind Henry. She looked afraid, her brown eyes glowing slightly. Seeing her like this didn't remind me of her as the Puppet. It reminded me of a scared little girl…

…like me back when I saw her being taken away.

Thinking back to that very event that changed everything, I felt guilty again for not doing anything to save her. We got here in the end, but seeing her was a reminder for me of what she became already.

"I…I realized I didn't get to say this properly," I said, bowing my head somberly. "But…I'm sorry."

"You don't need to say it," said Mark. "You haven't done anything wrong today."

"No…I don't mean for only one specific thing. I mean…for everything that happened. If I just…raise my voice and save Charlie, then we wouldn't be in this mess. With…a lot of people dead."

Henry gave me a look. He looked a little disappointed that I was scolding myself for something I learnt and moved on from. Charlie slowly floated on top of him and finally spoke.

"Wait," she said. "I…I accept your apology."

This caught me by surprise. "What?"

"I…may not forgive you for leaving me outside," she said, fiddling with her thumbs. "But I now understand why you didn't helped. I'm just…grateful that you weren't angry at me when you saw what I did."

"Well…it just reminded me of the bad things I done in the past."

Mark sighed. "Look. I'm a little bit mad at you, but you didn't back down when you found Elizabeth trapped in Circus Baby's World. You even tried to stop William. You changed."

"Exactly," said Henry, floating towards me. "No matter what happens, it is only us who control what happens now. The past might have an impact, but it is up to us to decide how it would turn out in the end. And you did the right choice of helping all of us. You are not a bad person anymore, Thomas. Nobody is. Don't forget that."

I nodded. This felt like a father actually telling his son a lesson in life. My grandmother didn't have the health or confidence to teach my anything, so it was…kind of weird for a person older than me to remember something important.

"Yes, sir," I said.

Charlie frowned. "Why…why are you being nice to me now?"

"Because I wasn't nice to you back," I said. "I still owe you for giving me a cupcake back then."

She looked down at the ground, guilt darkening her face. "But…I don't think you should. After everything I've done so far. I hurt you. I hurt so many people. And this act of 'repaying them' wasn't right. I…just…I just don't understand why people like to call me a freak. A skank. Back in those days, I just…wish that school isn't horrible."

I sighed. "I think I can understand."

"But did you ever think of hurting them?"

I shook my head. "I don't think I did. I have thoughts that if I have power, I would. But because I was afraid, I decided to try to avoid bullies all the time."

"I guess that's the difference me and you. You try to hide while I try to seek for goodness."

"Yeah…but ever since I moved to a new school…" I let myself smile. "I felt like I got another chance. I used it and made friends. That's how me and my friends created the new line up of Techcore. When you were in the Puppet, I feared that you became a monster because I chose to lose you. And I thought you were letting out that anger you had been bottling up for years."

"So…was trying to hurt people worth it?"

I shook my head. "No. In the end, it's not worth it. But trying to inflict pain on others come with a price. You nearly lost your humanity; your kindness and your joy. You just want not to suffer, be afraid, powerless or be alone anymore. But don't you see the truth? Don't you see that your father and brother need you?"

Charlie sighed. "I didn't know at first. They didn't find me, so…I thought they didn't."

"William must have kept your body for f***ing good," snarled Leon under his breath. "Too good."

"Please mind your language," said Mark.

"You still remembered them when you saw your father," I continued. "You're just a girl with a really special gift. You may think that you don't deserve a chance, but I do."

Charlie was silent for a while as she stared at me. She slowly turned to her father and then back at me. She slowly landed on the floor and wrapped her arms around me. Since she still kept her appearance as a 10-years-old, she was only hugging my legs. I thought that she was going to cry, but she didn't. It was brief, but I saw her smiling.

I smiled, patting her on the head. Tears welled up in my eyes.

Henry smiled as well. "Thank you for helping us. You helped save us all."

"We didn't do much," huffed Leon. "Just a couple of teens who got caught in the madness."

"But you joined in for a good reason. You decided to."

Leon thought about it for a while. He shrugged before smiling, sitting down on a nearby chair.

"I'll think about it," he said. "Anyway, what's now…for Freddy and his friends?"

"I'm not sure," said Henry. "The company is close to shutting down, but they still want to keep it alive. I had a talk with them and they said that they planned a few things. Judging by horrified they were when they saw me and Charlie, I doubt they are willing to make any more animatronics or remnant."

I sighed. "Good graphics."

"Do you think a new restaurant would open?" asked Charlie.

"No," said Henry. "No restaurant. No robots. None of that."

Mark pouted a little. "I guess that I'm jobless…again. Either I stay that way or go back to Mum's."

"You can still work with the Freddy Fazbear company," said Leon. "Try to find a few new things that can interest you. You're the last night guard to survive the night shift. Sure someone would need a person like you to plan out the safety guidelines or whatever things that are not safe."

Mark blinked, gazing at him in silence. Then, a smile formed on his face.

"And yet I thought being the night guard wasn't that much of a well-paid job," he said. "I guess they can use me; a guy with a lot of crazy experience."

I chuckled a little. "Yeah. Killer survival instincts, dude. I'm thinking of going through another night."

"I don't think that's a good idea," said Charlie. "We nearly killed you couple of times!"

"I feel brave enough to go through one again. And I think maybe I should go through a few scares to help me get through them."

"Uh…not sure if we are able to do them again. We did those when we went psycho!"

"Speaking of psycho…" said Henry. "I…I think it should be time."

"Time for?" said Leon.

"Time to see my old friend."

With that, he flew away and disappeared before his body crashed into the wall.

Charlie gasped, realizing what he meant. She looked at all of us, thinking of what she should do. She sighed and flew upwards.

"Hold on, Dad," she said, flying off to the direction Henry went.

"Wait," I said. "I don't think they should-"

"Don't worry about them," said Mark, blocking me. "Leave it to my father. He just wants to speak to William Afton now."

Finn's POV

I was glad that there were a couple of ghosts who were already moving on.

I feared that they might be still here for centuries. They might be stuck here forever as invisible immortals and their loved ones might passed away. It would become an alien concept for them to live forever and the fact that more people would never come back to them could hit them hard.

However, they all had the chance to go to the afterlife. It is a cheesy thing, but they had to accept peacefully of the things going on already and feel as if they could put the past behind. Some of them went over to see their families and friends, and bid a tearful farewell. Others talked to strangers or the police, and they slowly disappeared after a long conversation. There were a few people who actually lied down on the grass or beds, and slept, letting their spirits fly away into the sky.

It was a confusion yet interesting sight for everyone to see. In a town with different religions and traditions, nobody was used to see ghosts moving on from the past and literally moving on to the next life.

However, the Aftons were a different story. They didn't move on yet.

Michael was still guilt-ridden by the Bite of '83; the day that started the cycle of disappearances and deaths. Every time someone tried to reassure him that everything will be OK, he kept asking questions and he would often get into panic attacks. Even though he wouldn't suffer a heart attack, he was still struggling.

Nate was still uncomfortable around other people despite knowing that Michael had changed. He was still reluctant to talk to any of us. The only person he talked to were Cassidy - who made regular visits to where he and his two siblings were staying at – and Michael – who kept clinging to him like a teddy bear.

Elizabeth was worried about her two brothers and her father. Even though she did nothing wrong, she didn't want to leave without her family. She wanted her brothers to find peace and harmony, so she stayed behind. However, she was having a good chat with some people and the consciousness of the Funtime animatronics were somehow merged with her, so we could hear them when they wanted to talk with us.

Speaking of their father, William…wasn't the same as before.

William could have been charged and sent to jail, but because he was a ghost, the only thing the police could do was to confiscate everything he owned so that nobody would use them for evil intentions. They even framed him as a murderer in public. As a result, William became an outcast. But he didn't seem bother about it because he locked himself in a room, away from other people. Even when one of us tried to talk to him, he refused to come out.

Nevertheless, I decided to check out how the Aftons were doing. Sara joined along with me, feeling the need to talk to Michael. Squidgy even came along, being the first to discover about William's obsession with…satanic rituals.

We arrived at the floor they were currently staying at. The door to their room was actually left opened, so we easily went through the gap. In front of us, Michael, Elizabeth and Nate were standing outside a locked bedroom.

"Dad," said Elizabeth. "Please let us in. We just want to talk."

No word from William himself. Either he was sleeping or sulking to himself.

"Please, Daddy. Can you please hear me? Why won't you let me inside?"

She was met with silence again.

"Are you going to open the door or are you going to let me go through it?"

Michael shook his head. "Let's not. He's still not taking this well."

"Hello there," I said, tilting my head in the first time in ages.

"Is everything going OK in here?" asked Sara.

"Eh…" Michael's face turned red, looking at Nate and Elizabeth to see if they were going to say something. When neither of the two understood, he took over. "It's fine. It's fine. Nothing that much."

Sara hummed a little. "Michael. Is it OK if we can talk for a while please?"

The eldest Afton nodded. "Why sure…"

Me and Sara took Michael to another bedroom so that we could talk in private. Squidgy decided to stay behind to interact with Nate and Elizabeth. Immediately, when my head went through the door frame, I could hear Squidgy telling them something in a cheerful tone before they asked curiously.

"Are you doing alright so far?" asked Sara.

Michael sighed. "I…I don't know. It feels strange of how everything changed for me. My brother doesn't fear me anymore, my father's temper has mellowed down a little and the missing children are out of their animatronic suits. Even though I can sense Nate's ease whenever he is near me, I…don't know if he still hates me."

Sara shook her head. "Michael. Listen. You know that-"

"It's no excuse for me to kill my brother. I don't have any excuse for starting my father's desire for blood and screams. And that cruelness I had before was made by myself alone. And I didn't grew out of my teens year when it all began."

"I don't think Nate wants you to suffer. Not now."

"But people can change. Charlie and the children changed from innocent and sweet humans to cold and irate monsters. Like I said, it's…strange that this seems real now. Everybody has managed to resolve their problems."

I frowned, tilting my head. "Not everybody."

"But we saved the world!" pointed out Sara. "We saved everyone. We did it."

"Do you think so?" said Michael. "Do you think that we finished what my father started? Remember their motto? 'These characters hold a special place in the hearts of children'. How do we know that there aren't any more murderous robots around the world?"

Hearing this just made my blood boil. How he put sound like what we did was all for nothing.

"Shut up," I snarled.

Michael whipped his head at me. "What did you say?"

"I said 'shut up'," I said, pointing a finger at his chest. "We are not in danger anymore, so stop whining about it. It might have been 2 weeks since things settled down, but the nightmare is already over. We have no evidence if there might be another attack. We're not living in a world where there are any animatronics trying to kill us."

"But what if there is still something out there?" he whispered.

"Then there is us. We know what happened and we already experienced it once. If it happens again, then we know what to do next time."

Michael stared at me for a while. "So it's only you guys who know what happened."

I nodded. "Just us…for now."

Knocking came from behind us. We turned around to see Nate and Elizabeth, watching us with curious eyes.

"Brother?" said Elizabeth. "Are you alright."

Michael sighed, tears forming in his eyes. "Somewhat. I'm just…I don't know how to say it. I just…didn't know that you two would still care for me."

The two Afton children ran towards Michael and immediately pulled him into a loving hug.

"It's alright, Michael," said Elizabeth. "We are here for you. After everything we did, it's the least we can do."

"Everything is all in the past now," said Nate. "No one can hurt us now. All we have to do is look out for each other. Right?"

Michael thought for a while. I looked at me and Sara. I nodded, letting him know that it is OK to finally be with his siblings again. He smiled and returned the hug to his siblings, letting his tears rolled down his face.

Squidgy entered the room, leaning against the wall. "Do you think that there might be a bright path for them to walk through?"

"I think so," said Sara, smiling. "There is one for them after all."

"But…there is one more person who haven't accepted it. We still have William here. He didn't go to the darkest pit of hell, but he's holding up on redemption…I guess."

FWOOSH!

There was wind blowing, even though the windows were closed. I got used to hearing it for the past weeks, so I recognized it as a ghost flying into our room. When we looked to see who entered, it was actually Henry Schmidt. Charlie followed behind him, albeit slowly.

"Dad," she said. "Do you think it's a good idea to see him? We don't if he's stable or not."

"It will be fine, Charlie," reassured Henry with a stoic look. "He's not gonna do anything to me. I know he won't this time. If he runs away, that is his problem."

AN: This is a hard chapter and it's mainly because of the interactions between the two bands and the canon characters of Five Nights at Freddy's. I tried to flesh them out in every scene, reveal the children's personalities and thoughts. It wasn't easy I have to say due to deciding which character talk with who.

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Until next time, keep on rocking!