Thursday, November 11, 1993
The purple and white building ominously loomed as the old blue '83 Suzuki FX pulled into the parking lot. Mike sat in the car for a moment, watching the sign. Freddy's face flickered off and on. Some parts of the sign stayed lit longer than others.
Like the eyes.
Mike shuddered as Moira's call from earlier still hung on his mind. She wouldn't want him here. And she didn't know just how real her fears of losing him could become once the animatronics tired of him. That he, too, would disappear, and never come back. He gripped the steering wheel tightly, still remembering that day. Like before, Mike brushed off the strange sense of déjà vu.
That this happened before.
He slid out of the driver's seat and slammed the door behind him. It didn't matter now. Nothing mattered except getting inside. His legs drug the rest of his body with him. Mike bit back a shudder as he walked. A sense of need overcame him, drawing him in as though he were meant to be here. He directed his focus to finding the front door key. He shot a quick glance to his watch as he sorted them out.
11:45pm.
Good, he had just enough time to go in, peek behind the wall, and see what they wanted. Maybe then, he would get his answers and finally be able to leave this place behind.
His fingers barely clasped the right key as he unlocked the door. For a moment, the brightness of the past filled the room, with several children running around and laughing. Mike's eyes went to one of the birthday tables at the edge of the stage. Briefly, he saw two figures sitting there, a young child with tears rolling down his face, and a taller boy trying to comfort him.
The darker, emptier room returned as he pulled the door open. Mike didn't even register the little jingle overhead. Images of the past mingled with the present as his eyes went to the stage. Flashes of gold covered all three of them, gone the instant it came.
"Kid?"
Mike winced when he recognized the voice and blinked away his thoughts. He took a step back when he noticed the janitor, and immediately felt foolish afterwards.
The older man looked Mike over. He took in his combed hair and shaven face, the neat appearance doing little to hide the haunted weariness sticking out from his ashen skin. Most of all, he took in the night guard's overall demeanor and cold determination.
"You came back," the janitor said, gently.
"...I had to," Mike replied.
The janitor nodded, recalling their conversation that morning.
"Had an incident today," he said, getting right into it. "The wall by the bathrooms collapsed. Thought you should know."
Mike's head snapped to look down the bathroom hall. The sight of the damage drained any remaining color in his face. He saw the dark void, the edge of a game cabinet and nothing else. Grabbing his flashlight, Mike ran down the hall, his mind thinking only of nightmares and music boxes.
"I can save you some time, kid," the janitor called behind him. "It's not there anymore."
The flashlight clicked on before the old man finished his first sentence. The light spilled into the farthest corner as the old man said his final word. Mike froze when entered the hidden room. Part of the tile floor looked cleaner than the rest, with several footprints disturbing the dust.
And the outline of where something used to sit.
A set of footsteps approached behind him, the distinct clacking of shoes on tile.
"Like I told you," the janitor said. "It's not there."
Mike winced again as he turned around, the bright beam landing right in the janitor's face. The older man quickly held an arm over his eyes to protect them.
"Geez, kid, you tryin' to blind me?"
"Sorry," Mike whispered, clicking off the flashlight. "...Where is it?"
The janitor rubbed his eyes, blinked a few times, then gestured for him to follow.
"Over here," he said. "Had it moved s'you could get a better look at it."
Mike nodded and put the flashlight away. He followed the janitor to the backstage area. As they passed by the stage, he froze upon realization of exactly what the janitor told just him.
That he could get a better look.
"How did you-?"
"You said you were lookin' for something," the janitor replied with a shrug. "Noticed where you were lookin' when you said it."
Mike stared at him.
"...So you broke the wall?"
"Yep," the janitor said honestly. "Made it look like an accident. Worked a little too well, but we don't have time for storytellin'."
At the mention of time, Mike glanced at his watch.
11:48pm.
The janitor entered the back room and flicked on the light. Mike followed. He knew from the size and shape of the outline what to expect: another animatronic. His dream came to mind, of the weird yellow Bonnie. All of it felt impossible, unreal, but it made sense. The outline, his dream, both the game cabinets and the animatronic…
His hands ached at the memory of trying to rip them away.
Mike carefully stepped into the room. He intentionally looked at the heads on the back shelf to avoid looking at the animatronic for a moment, to mentally prepare himself for what he was about to see. Despite it, when he finally dared to look down at the table, the sight still took him by surprise.
There, spread out on the workbench, was the Bonnie from his dream, the golden color barely visible under the remnants of dirt and must. Tarnished silver disks rested on the bottom of each eye socket, making the thing stare ahead. The right ear was snapped off at the bisect, the left intact, but fraying. The missing piece rested beside it, just as dusty as anything else.
Mike glanced over the animatronic's body, at each tear in the suit, each frayed wire, each exposed bit of endoskeleton. His stomach lurched at the smell the thing carried, similar to the one he caught on Bonnie and Freddy, but less potent. The exposed metal feet looked strange compared to the endoskeleton's. It now sat in the corner, out of sight of the camera.
He continued his examination, but froze when he got to the thing's hands. They, more than anything, struck a nerve with him.
The lights above flickered, and for a second, the animatronic looked brand new, its silver disc eyes now plastic and green, its golden color bright, the old costume whole and complete once more.
Mike barely stifled a scream as he grabbed his right arm. Pain shot through it, just as intense and fresh as when it first happened.
Friday, July 22, 1983
Gold. All around, he saw gold. Golden balloons, golden streamers, golden birthday party hats, golden animatronics. Gold, gold, gold, broken up only with occasional purple highlights. Up on the stage, Freddy and Bonnie had been replaced with different animatronics, and ones that looked...
strange compared to the usual ones. Both wore purple bow ties to match the theme and Freddy now sported a purple top hat. Even Chica's normally bright yellow had been toned down to better match her bandmates. Her cupcake, Dulcie, got a purple makeover for the event.
Mike sat at the party table, already bored. He mentally compared the place now to when he first came here a decade ago. Freddy Fazbear's was celebrating its tenth year in business this month, and for it, out came the gold. He decided he hated the theme.
Still, most of the place remained more or less unchanged. It still had several of the games he remembered from childhood, the food was still decent, and while the shows changed a bit, they still tried to appeal to both their target audience and the adults and teenagers who had to sit with them.
It made babysitting a little easier.
Mike sipped at his fourth cup of soda, then looked at the small child beside him. Jamie Green was turning six today, though for a birthday child, he looked anything but happy or excited. He sat awkwardly beside Mike, and tried to keep the tears from rolling down his face. Around them, the rest of the birthday party - only a few of Jamie's friends, Mike noted - were either playing the games or watching the show.
His main job was to keep an eye on Brian, and to make sure Jamie had a good time. Mrs. Green had a sudden family emergency, and pulled him in as a last-minute option.
"Brian can be cruel sometimes," she told him. "Please make sure he's okay. I'll be there as soon as I can."
He promised her. And things
had been going well up until the show started. Mike learned very quickly how much Jamie hated the animatronics. He hated even more that Brian already got to his younger brother. So far, moving to another table, distracting Jamie with pizza, and keeping their backs to the stage all helped. That Mike had to play bodyguard at all made him loathe Brian.
Greatly.
"Do you want to go play one of the games?" Mike asked in an attempt to coax his young charge out of his seat.
Jamie shook his head.
"I h-hate it here," he whispered. "They're scary."
Mike frowned. Ten years ago, at about Jamie's age, he walked into Freddy Fazbear's for the first time, and still remembered the sense of magic and wonder upon entering those doors and seeing the animatronics come to life. A lot of the charm had worn off with age, but he firmly believed no child should be unhappy here. And he hated seeing Jamie cry.
"The animatronics?" Mike asked.
Jamie nodded.
Mike understood. He turned to the smaller boy.
"Want to know a secret?" he asked, putting his soda cup down.
Jamie kicked his feet, bit his lip.
"What?" he asked.
Mike paused a moment, then looked to the left and right to make sure no one would overhear. He then turned back to Jamie and lowered his voice, making it clear this was for him, and him alone.
"...I used to be scared of them too."
That got the little boy to perk up. He reached up a hand to wipe his dark eyes as he glanced up at Mike.
"R-really?"
Mike nodded with a smile.
"Yeah," he said, gently. "Mostly Foxy."
He couldn't even look at the fox the first few times he came here, and remembered his mother used to take him to play the games whenever Foxy came out to tell a story."But don't tell anyone, okay?"
Jamie curiously looked him over as he tried to decide if he believed him or not.
"Okay..." he said, "but you're not scared of anything!"
Mike chuckled. In the short time he'd been here, he really grew a soft spot for this kid.
"That's because I grew up," he said. "It's okay to be scared when you're small. They're a lot bigger when you're small. But when you grow up, they don't seem so big anymore. Then they're not as scary."
That seemed to ease Jamie, but the child still showed several signs of nervousness.
"I don't like their teeth.""That's why I didn't like Foxy," Mike admitted. At least Jamie was being receptive to him. "But here's another secret: they're all just toys. Really big toys.""Toys?" Jamie asked.
Mike gave him a small smile.
"Yeah. They're just bigger, is all."
That seemed to calm Jamie down a little.
"I still don't like them."
Mike pondered a moment.
"Do you have any toy cars?" he asked. "Airplanes? Something with a remote control?"
Jamie thought it over, then perked, his smile suddenly big.
"Oh, my robot!" he exclaimed. "It's purple, and rolls around and you can make the arms move!"
Mike nodded.
"Do you know what's under the purple case?"
"Um...wires?"
"And metal pieces, right?" Mike asked.
"I think so…"
Mike nodded again, then gestured behind him to the stage, though he didn't force Jamie to look over. The animatronics wound down to finish the last verse of their song.
"It's the same thing here," he said. "They're just metal and wires and funny costumes. And there's probably someone in the back room with a remote control making them sing and dance."
He glanced down to the little boy.
"Does that help?"
Jamie pondered it for a moment, but nodded.
"A little."
Mike smiled. He hardly expected Jamie to immediately overcome his fear, but he considered it a victory that the little boy already seemed less nervous, if still wary.
"I stopped being afraid of them once I knew how they worked," Mike continued, "and if I can stop being afraid, one day, you won't be afraid either."
He reached down and gently mussed up Jamie's soft brown hair. Jamie squirmed away from him.
"Anyway," Mike said, moving off the subject for his charge's comfort, "you sure you don't want to go play some games?"
Jamie pondered it for a moment.
"...Will you play with me?"
"Of course. We're here to have fun, right?"
Mike stood and retrieved the plastic token cup. He offered his hand to Jamie, and once the little boy slipped out of his seat, he led him over to the games by the stage. Jamie tugged his hand.
"Not those," he said. "I don't like over there."
Mike stopped and looked down at him, then back at the row of games. A memory niggled him for a second.
"...Huh," he said. "I didn't either. Guess some things never change."
Mike led Jamie to the other side of the room, into the alcove by the bathrooms. He let Jamie get settled at a simple one, where the player moved Chica back and forth to catch the right ingredients to make a cupcake. Mike let Jamie get engrossed in the game, then immediately played lookout. The fact that he hadn't seen Brian in several minutes made him suspicious.
That asshole was probably going to try something, like he always did.
Every now and then, Mike glanced at the game, encouraged Jamie's progress, and helped him if he needed it. But his priority remained on locating Brian, and keeping him from pestering his little brother. Mike's vigilance paid off. He spotted Brian in the back of the room with three of his friends.
Great. The jerk and his band of cronies were up to something, when they were supposed to be keeping the rest of the birthday party under control. At the very least, the kids were all in places where they could safely be seen. Still, Mike stayed near Jamie.
For a while, things worked out well. Mike kept Jamie with him. He found himself legitimately surprised to see Brian and his friends actually taking care of the guests and making sure each younger child was safe and having fun. Good; at least he wasn't the only one babysitting.
After a time, Brian and his friends got the other kids gathered by the stage to watch the special show meant specifically for the birthday party. Mike sensed danger, and got in front of Jamie, who now lead Bonnie through a maze to collect carrots. Hopefully, Brian could let the kid still play in peace.
"It's time for the show, Jamie," Brian said, his voice dripping with mock sweetness.
"He's playing," Mike said. "Leave him alone."
"Aww, but everything's nice and shiny just for him."
Mike heard the plastic joystick and click of the buttons suddenly stop.
"Keep playing, Jamie," he said. He crossed his arms in front of him as he stared Brian down. "It's your birthday, and you don't have to watch the show if you don't want to."
"Sure he does," Brian insisted. "He is the birthday boy."
"Fuck off," Mike said.
"Don't use that lan-guage," Brian said, in a sing-song voice. "There's lit-tle kids here."
"Like you give a shit."
"You're right," Brian said, stepping forward, "I don't."
Mike kept Jamie behind him. He felt the little boy cling tightly to his shirt, the game now forgotten. That little gesture of fear made his hatred for Brian flare.
"Can't you leave him alone for one goddamn day?" Mike asked hotly. "He's actually having fun, and I won't let you and your fucking friends ruin it."
"Hey, if I gotta babysit, I want to have fun too."
"Go watch the other kids," Mike snarled. "I've got Jamie."
Brian pushed him. Mike quickly planted his feet to make sure he didn't accidentally knock back into Jamie.
"B-Brian, stop it!" Jamie protested.
"He's my brother," Brian sneered, ignoring Jamie. "You don't get to tell me what to do."
Mike pushed him back, mostly to get the other teen away from him.
"I'll tell your mom."
"I'll tell too!" Jamie exclaimed.
"No you won't," Brian said.
Jamie shrunk back a little.
"Y-yes I will," he whispered, then slipped back behind Mike.
Mike narrowed his eyes. He hated Brian more with each passing second. Thoughts of taking this outside and pounding him into the ground entered his mind - actually not a bad idea. Only the thought of Jamie being right there kept him back. But there had to be a way...
He smirked when he saw a waitress nearby.
Bingo.
"Hey, miss!" he shouted, trying to get her attention.
Brian turned, confused, but as Mike hoped, the other teen didn't notice her in time to stop him from doing what he wanted.
"This kid's bothering Jamie and making him cry!"
The waitress immediately came over to investigate. Good, Mike thought. Now he had a witness, and suddenly, Brian realized it too. There was no way his parents would buy anything he said if Mike, Jamie, and a neutral adult all said the same thing.
"He's my brother!" Brian protested.
The waitress frowned.
"Young man," she said, "if you can't behave, you will have to leave."
"Yeah, Brian," Mike said, smugly. "Wouldn't want to make the birthday boy leave early because his big brother's a jerk."
Jamie peeked out from behind Mike again, and looked up at the waitress, whose demeanor brightened upon seeing him.
"Oh, it's your birthday today?" she asked. "Happy birthday!"
"Th-thank you," Jamie said.
"How old are you?"
"Six."
"Are you having fun?"
"He's trying to," Mike said, glaring at Brian.
The waitress sensed the tension as she turned to Brian. She kept up her smile, but it held the undertone of wavering thin ice as she spoke again.
"Let's make today a happy day, okay?"
Brian started to protest, but he knew Mike had him where he wanted him. He backed down, knowing there was no way he could protest without looking like an ass.
"...Yes, ma'am," he muttered.
"Good," the waitress said cheerfully. She then turned to Mike and Jamie. "Let me know if there are any more problems."
"Oh, we will," Mike promised.
He shot Brian a victorious smirk, then turned to Jamie. Behind him, he heard the Bonnie game make the "game over" noise as the time limit to get the purple rabbit out of the maze ran out.
"Why don't we go try that Foxy game over there?" he asked, using Jamie's game over as an excuse to get away from Brian.
He made sure Jamie stayed in front of him, and away from his older brother.
"O-okay," Jamie said nervously.
But he looked more than relieved to get away from Brian. Mike happily retrieved the tickets Jamie earned from the Bonnie game, then walked out of the little alcove and over to a game cabinet near the front entrance. He stood beside it to play lookout while Jamie directed a digital Foxy around a sandy beach to dig for treasure. Brian flipped Mike off the second the waitress turned her back. Mike just gave him a sly grin and watched him storm over to watch the show with the other kids.
Good. He could watch Jamie in peace and make sure he actually enjoyed his time here. Mike felt really good about coming in today. Maybe if he could ensure Jamie had a good time, he could help him not be so afraid of the animatronics. Of course, that also meant finding a way to expose Brian's cruel pranks.
They moved back to the alcove to try another game after a time, this one with Freddy, and to push the arcade buttons to match moving notes on the screen. It took a bit more practice than some of the others, but Jamie seemed to really enjoy it.
Mike glanced over at the stage show from time to time, mostly to help keep an eye on the other kids if Brian and his friends got too overwhelmed with them. There were only about four or five young guests, though, and Brian and his posse could definitely handle it. Mike just had to keep Jamie occupied throughout the show, then there would be cake and presents, and they could all go home happy. Mike smiled at the thought. He would make sure today was a good one.
The Fazbear band started another song as Jamie began another round of note-matching. Mike watched the new golden animatronics. He tried to pick out what bothered him about them besides the golden theme and different designs. Aside from the main colors, he noticed Bonnie's eyes went from red to green, that Freddy's were now brown. The shape and color of their muzzles were also different, with Bonnie's being one continuous color with the rest of his face. On top of it, the two of them seemed bigger than usual, particularly in comparison to Chica.
All of the animatronics' heads moved over the crowd, both for routine and to ensure the kids felt special when one of them looked their way. Mike kept watching them, entranced. Bonnie's head turned in his direction. Maybe the robot simply stalled, but it felt like the thing picked him out and honed in on him. Mike glanced to Jamie to make sure he was still focused on the game, then back to the stage.
Bonnie no longer stared at him, just strummed his guitar in time to the song. His upper body moved to the beat with his fellow band members. That's when Mike narrowed down what bothered him about the new animatronic: Bonnie's fingers moved with more dexterity over his guitar than he remembered.
Five fingers, to be exact, compared to Chica's four. Freddy had them too. He tried to pinpoint exactly why this bothered him, but a celebratory sound from the game cabinet interrupted his thoughts as he turned in time to see a victory screen flash in front of him.
"Look, Mike!" Jamie said, excitedly. He pointed to the digital Freddy doing a little dance. "I did it! I won!"
"Great job, Jamie!" Mike said, looking properly impressed. He glanced at Jamie's score. "Hey, you almost made it to the daily board. Want to try again and see if you can get your initials up?"
"Yeah!"
Jamie excitedly grabbed the token cup to pull out another shiny gold coin for the machine.
"You've got this," Mike said, watching the game start up again.
He smiled as he watched Jamie eagerly play; the little boy completely focused on matching each note correctly. But it wasn't long before he suddenly felt a painful urge in his jeans.
Goddamnit. That soda went right through him. Mike tried not to think about it, but his mind went to the four cups he drank before he and Jamie started this game binge, which only made the urge worse. He took a quick glance around the room, mostly to make sure Brian and his friends were occupied, and relaxed when he saw the waitress nearby, serving a table not far from the Freddy game.
"I'm going to run to the bathroom," Mike told Jamie. He trusted that with Brian and Co. occupied and the waitress doing her rounds, he could run off for two minutes. "I'll be right back, okay?"
Jamie didn't look up from his game.
"Okay, Mike," he said as he pushed a button to make Freddy hit another note.
Mike patted his head, then headed for the bathrooms after double-checking to make sure Brian hadn't noticed that Jamie was alone. Just get in and out.
The sound of Freddy announcing a final song faintly echoed in the bathrooms as Mike quickly took an unoccupied urinal. Great. Good thing Jamie was distracted with the games; the damn things were probably going to come offstage and walk with the birthday party as soon as it finished. But he still had time; he would be done and cleaned up before the song ended, and then he could make sure he was beside Jamie when it was time for cake and presents.
After that, they could go home.
He tried to hurry. Luckily, by the time Mike finished and got to the sink to wash up, the song still had one more verse to go through. Mike turned off the tap and more clearly heard the animatronic band sing the last few words. He didn't bother with the dryer, just wiped his hands on his jeans as he walked back out.
"You heard the little man," Mike heard a familiar voice say as he entered the main dining area. "He wants to get closer!"
Shit.
"Hey guys," Brian said cheerfully. "I think the little man said he wants to give Freddy a big kiss!"
He and his friends held a struggling Jamie up on their shoulders. Mike ran towards the stage as the group lifted Jamie up near the animatronic's moving mouth. The terrified child begged and cried for his tormentors to put him down. That alone gave Mike a boost of speed.
"Don't you fuckers dare!"
But they already had him up in the air. Jamie's tear-streaked face got dangerously close to the golden Freddy's gigantic mouth. It looked like the child's whole head might fit!
Thinking quickly, Mike leaped up on the stage. Just as Brian and his crew hoisted Jamie up into the animatronic's mouth, Mike moved in front of Freddy. He jumped up just in time to push Jamie's head out as the moving jaws closed in.
The gears halted, and a strange grinding sound entered Mike's ears. Faucet water dripped down his hands and upper arms. The droplets leaked into Freddy's mouth. The metal jaws jammed and dug into his flesh. Mike shoved a sneaker into Freddy's side and tried to yank himself back. The spot just before his right elbow jammed right where the jaws connected with the head. His right wrist became just as stuck on the other side.
With his right arm wedged in place, Mike pulled the left one away. The plastic teeth caught the skin at his wrist just as the metal springs shut tightly with a distinct snap.
He didn't register the pain at first, only the shock of what was happening, the feeling of the world slowly coming to a halt. That Jamie was safe, and he'd made sure of it.
A second later, every nerve that still remained intact screamed out at once.
Mike hardly heard the screaming children over his own shrieks of pain. He didn't see Brian's or his friends' faces turn white, or that Jamie, mercifully, hadn't quite noticed yet due to his own confusion and fear from narrowly avoiding danger.
Panic crept over Mike as he tried to pull both of his arms free. His right arm refused to budge, but with a painful twist and tearing some of skin, he freed his left arm. Mike again tried to leverage himself against Freddy. He used his now-free hand to try to push up against Freddy's snout in an attempt to release the jaws. Something must have broken Freddy; his jaws no longer moved to sing, even though the animatronic's arms and torso still moved to the beat.
Red streams leaked over his golden fur. Mike helplessly let his right arm go limp. The residual robotic movements forced him up onto his toes to better match the animatronic's height. He gripped Freddy's nose to better anchor himself as the blood rolled down his arm. It hurt less than trying to pull his arm free.
The waitress burst from the kitchen, and from one of the adjoining rooms, a man in a purple uniform ran up to the stage. He got behind the golden Freddy, and thinking quickly, hit a switch at the bear's neck, hidden just under his costume.
The animatronic stopped moving. On either side, Bonnie and Chica cheerfully finished the song. The guard then quickly went to both of them and hit the switches to shut them off to prevent them from moving and adding to the chaos.
He came back around to check on Mike. Below the stage, the waitress and other staff gathered kids. Many screamed and cried, hysterical that "Freddy bit him!" In the corner of his eye, Mike saw Brian trying to comfort Jamie.
So the jerk had something resembling a heart after all. Who knew?
"What happened, kid?"
Mike immediately looked up at the security guard. The man's blank face held eyes that tried to show concern, an awkward line of a mouth that mimicked an appropriate reaction. Mike tried to speak, but instead, choked sobs clogged his throat.
"J-Jamie," he managed. "Had to h-help."
And it was a good thing he did, he realized. This damn thing broke his arm; what would have happened had he not pushed Jamie's head out in time...?
As the thought sunk in, something snapped. The sobs of pain mingled with sobs of relief. Mike moved his good hand up to his mouth. The chaos around him, the animatronics, even the man in the purple uniform no longer registered anymore.
"...He's safe. Oh god, he's safe. I-I kept him...He'll be-be okay. He'll be okay…"
Mike kept on with the mantra. It kept some of the pain back and allowed him to somewhat function as the staff got the birthday party gathered. Someone at the front desk called for an ambulance. Brian gave one of the waitresses a number to call his parents.
The security guard carefully took Mike's hand from Freddy's nose. He held the cup of his purple sleeve in his palm to help staunch the bleeding, then shifted his body to let Mike utilize him as a brace instead of Freddy. Two staff members came over. One of them held a first aid kit, the other a long rod. Working together, they used the metal rod to pry the jaws open. As gently as they could, they lifted Mike's arm from Freddy's mouth. They held gauze to the wounds as they worked. Mike whimpered in pain. He buried his face in the guard's shirt to avoid looking at the damage.
He felt the man tighten his grip around him to keep him stabilized and in place. Mike winced and cried out a bit as the other staff members worked his right wrist and elbow away from Freddy's teeth.
"It's okay, son," the guard said, quietly. "Try to hold still. Sarah has some medical training. She's going to get it under control while we wait for the ambulance."
Mike just nodded. He bit his lip and tried not to whimper as Sarah instructed the other staff member. She kept his arm as straight as she could while the staff member carefully pressed gauze around the wounds. Once they had him stabilized, she had the guard help him lie down on the stage, then sent the other staff member to grab some rulers from the prize counter.
Sarah spoke with Mike, mostly to keep him focused. His name, his address, his blood type if he knew it. Mike barely paid enough attention to answer her questions, his focus now solely on the golden Freddy.
Blood poured from the animatronic's mouth. It stained the golden fur and dripped onto the stage. Freddy's lifeless brown eyes stared ahead. One golden hand reached out to the crowd as if begging for help. Mike saw something shine in the corner of his eye. Probably just the golden fur catching the light, but for a moment...
He cried out, temporarily pulled from his thoughts as Sarah pushed the rulers against his broken wrist. She carefully layered gauze and bandages until she created a stiff splint.
"It's okay," she said quietly. "I know, I know it hurts. Just try to hold still."
She moved to his elbow and splinted that as well. A large cloth covered his body. Mike glanced down to see one a waitress adjust a tablecloth around him to keep him from going into shock. Sarah's other assistant wrapped his left wrist while she used gauze and cheap prize rulers to keep his right arm straight.
Mike settled back again. He tried to ignore the pain as Sarah worked on his right arm. His eyes kept staring at the blood congealing against the soft yellow fabric, at the white teeth now stained with red, the soulless eyes staring out into nothing. Mike didn't register when the medics came and took over his care, the waitresses calming down the children and calling their parents, or Brian holding Jamie tightly.
The entire room became a blur as Mike was lifted into a stretcher and wheeled out.
Gold.
Golden balloons, golden streamers, and golden animatronics, all melding together in a strange, disoriented mess.
All he saw anymore was gold.
"...Kid?"
The voice sounded distant, so far away that he barely registered it.
"Kid!"
Mike winced upon registering the nickname and blinked a few times. The janitor stood in front of him, hands on his shoulders to gently shake him and bring him back to reality. Mike let go of his arm, feeling as limp as a rag doll. Before him, the yellow Bonnie looked old again, the light and shadows giving its face a skull-like appearance, its filthy body resembling a corpse. Mike shook his head, then looked up at the janitor. Judging by the older man's expression, he looked like he'd seen a ghost.
"Kid, you okay? You screamed, and then you just...blanked out for a bit there."
Mike blinked again, then looked back to the old animatronic. He pulled away from the janitor's grasp and approached it.
"...I know this suit," he whispered, his eyes focused on the thing's hands. At the five fingers that bothered him since he first noticed them years ago. "Th-the hands, I...I remember the hands."
Why did this one have five fingers?
"It has to be the same one," Mike said quietly. "It was...it was there. That day."
"Don't know what you're talkin' about kid," the janitor said, gently. "Mind fillin' me in?"
Mike went quiet again. His arm ached as his eyes went to the thing's feet, the slots for toes, the hollow ankles. Was the robot missing part of its endoskeleton?
"This one didn't bite me," he said, ignoring the janitor's question. "Freddy did. It was just...there."
He ran his hand over his arm again to try to rid it of a sudden chill.
"But why would they…" Mike whispered, "...why this one?"
He examined the thing's face, its empty sockets that no longer retained green plastic eyes. Only the silver discs where the eyes should be.
"...What are they trying to show me?"
"What d'you mean by 'they', kid?" the janitor asked. "The critters?"
Something clicked. Mike jolted, then immediately checked his watch.
11:54pm.
"...You need to leave," he said quietly.
The janitor crossed his arms.
"Not until you tell me what this is all about."
"It's almost midnight," Mike said, keeping his voice urgent. "You need to leave. Now!"
"Kid-"
Mike ignored him and pushed the other man toward the door.
"Please!" Mike begged. "In the morning! I promise!"
The janitor stopped resisting and began to walk on his own.
"Okay, kid. Okay. I'm going."
He turned to look at the night guard. The old man's eyes were softer now, but held an emotion that Mike couldn't quite place.
"Whatever you do tonight, kid, be careful," the janitor warned him. "Like the rest of this place, that suit has history."
Mike followed him to the front door. He glanced to the stages, the prize counter as he passed them, then nodded to the janitor. He wished he had time to inquire further, but maybe he'd find out tonight anyway. Both Freddy and the Puppet wanted him alive, and Mike trusted he had at least one more night.
"That goes without saying," he replied.
The janitor returned the nod, then opened the door. Only the door jingle made any sound. Mike already turned before the door shut and headed for the stage. Carefully, he looked up at the large bear, knowing in only a few minutes, it would come to life with the others.
"I don't understand yet," he said quietly, "but I'm trying."
Freddy just continued to stare ahead, his usual soft, lazy expression unchanging. Mike then turned to head to his office, picking up his pace to save time and get to the prize counter. The blue-green box sat quietly, wrapped in its purple ribbon. He carefully stepped toward it, setting his hand over the top.
"...Help me," he whispered.
Because if he could put his trust in any one of them, it was the only one that hadn't tried to attack him yet.
The one that got him this far.
Mike glanced behind him. He swore he heard something, but the dining room remained unchanged. The silver stars glimmered in their last moments before the power diverted to a generator, the dining room tables stood ready and waiting for the children tomorrow, and the onstage animatronics still waited with the same poses and expressions.
Until Freddy's head turned slightly toward him.
Mike quickly booked it down the hall.