So I couldn't come up with anything back in 2019, so I skipped this prompt the first time around. Now, though, I had something! So uhhhhh have this! The next story is gonna be the last old one, then we'll be in new (and hopefully improved) territory!
All the hustle and bustle around him was dimmed out, unable to overpower the thoughts swirling in his head. Melody had taken her post. He was free to go home. He wasn't going home. Not yet.
"Ross, this is Amy." He just politely waved-his father had told him about her, the woman he'd been seeing recently. Ross just didn't know that they were that close. "And those two are Eric and Layton."
His stomach felt like it was full of lead as he drummed his fingers on the doorknob. His keys somehow felt heavier on his hip, and gained even more weight when he held them in his hand. Muttering a curse under his breath, he fumbled for the correct key. He didn't exactly know why they gave it to him; he was just security. He shouldn't need to get in this room.
Thomas, bless his heart, had told him what corner the suit was shoved into. His friend was too trusting-he believed it when Ross said he 'was just wondering,' and made a half-hearted joke about how he 'wanted to make sure it didn't start moving, too.' Thomas had sort of laughed, said that the endoskeleton was partially dismantled, that it was alright, it couldn't even be propped upright. Just an empty suit.
"And what makes you think you have any right to inject yourself into my sons' lives?!"
I dunno, what makes you think you have any right to inject yourself into my dad's life? is the only answer he could make into a coherent sentence, and he didn't dare say it.
They were supposed to be brothers. Eric didn't want anything to do with him. Layton seemed scared of him. (Layton seemed scared of a lot of things.)
The lump refused to leave his throat as he picked his way past all of the discarded animatronics on the floor. He lifted his flashlight, narrowed his eyes at the suit.
He heard screaming from the main room. Fighting through the crowd was hell, but not nearly as awful as grabbing Eric's shoulder, demanding to know where his brother was, and looking up at the stage before he even finished the question.
He could still make out the stains left by his stepbrother's blood.
The kids swore that Fredbear had malfunctioned, bent over, bit Layton. It had sounded completely insane at the time. Now, though, he believed it.
He dropped to his knees, glaring into the empty eye sockets. Empty like Layton, before his mother had him taken off of life support.
"R-Ross? Hey, uh, w-what happened?"
Ross pushed past Thomas, slammed his name tag on the table in front of the boss, even as his hands shook. "I quit."
The head to the suit was a bit bulky, but not too heavy. Light enough to throw to the ground, taking the slightest bit of comfort in hearing it roll across the floor. He pushed himself to his feet. "Bastards. The lot of you."
I don't envy whoever's working the night shift now.