After a dreamless sleep, Mike sat up and stretched, looking about his room. He looked down at his feet and found Star curled up between his ankles. He smiled and reached forward to pet him. "Good boy…" he cooed.
He heard whirring and clicking beside him, indicating Mangle was starting back up after powering down during Mike's nap. Mangle looked up at him with her glowing yellow eye, "Good morning, Mike." She greeted him, her neck craning around the rest of her misshapen body to look at him.
Mike checked the clock, then chuckled, "Evening to you, Mangle…" he pat her head. It was about six in the afternoon.
Star chirped and looked up at the scrapped animatronic and stood up, stretching. After he stood there for a moment, he sniffed her arm and brushed up against it.
"Good to see you two getting along." Mike swung his legs over the edge of the bed.
"Well enough." Mangle scratched the cat under his chin, receiving an extremely satisfied look from him.
Mike smiled and stood up, throwing on a pair of pajama pants and heading out of the room. Star trotted close behind him and Mangle climbed and crawled along. As Mike descended down the stairs, he heard the aftermath of a woman's crying downstairs. "Stella?" he called out with concern, making it the rest of the way down the stairs and seeing Stella sitting with Olivia, trying to console her. "Olivia…" he said, "Wh-What's wrong?" he asked. Then he froze, remembering Oliva had plans that day to see Jeremy. "Is… is Dad okay?" he asked. Mangle clung to the ceiling and flipped her head right-side up to see the scene.
Olivia shook, "I-I don't know… he'd… Th-they said that he hadn't been eating…" she sniffled, "H-He's in trouble, Mikey…" she looked up at him fearfully with reddened blue eyes.
Mike quickly made his way in front of her, dropping to her knees and grabbing her shoulders, "What happened?" he asked. Mangle tipped her head with concern.
"Th-they put him in solitary confinement…" she took a deep breath, "They didn't let me see him." She wiped her eyes and sniffled, "Mike, we have to find him a lawyer… soon." She said, "His trial is this Tuesday."
Mike's stomach dropped as his heart leapt into his throat. "T-Tuesday?" he asked, "B-But I haven't even gotten my first check from work yet!" he cried.
"We have to do something." Olivia said, "Mike- Jeremy looked terrible the last time I saw him. Like he wasn't taking care of himself… He's gotten worse!"
"I can help contribute for a lawyer." Stella suggested.
Mike shook his head, remembering Paul from the night before. "Hang on…" he ran upstairs and grabbed his cell phone. He dialed Paul and sat on his bed, nervously and impatiently bouncing his leg.
"Hello?"
"Paul! Paul, it's Mike! The guy from-"
"Oh- yeah, Mike!" Paul greeted, "Yeah, man, I wouldn't forget about you. What's up?"
"Did you talk to that lawyer? The one you said could help us?" he asked.
"Oh… shit- yeah, man… he's leaving Arizona right now, he'll be crossing the California-Arizona border like- late tonight." Paul explained, "Yeah, dude, he's totally willing to help. He seemed realexcited about this." He said, "I'll send him your way as soon as he gets here. Guess he's driving, so he'll be a few hours."
"What time are we looking at?"
Paul scoffed, "Tch, I dunno, man. Like- two? Three tomorrow morning? He's coming in from Flagstaff."
Mike looked up at the clock. Six forty-five. "Think I can call him?" he asked.
"No, he's got this thing about driving and talking on the phone." Paul said, "But I'll let you know when he's back in town, 'kay?"
Mike took a deep breath, "Okay." He said, "Thanks, Paul." He said.
"Yeah, no problem. Talk to you later."
"Later." Mike sighed before hanging up. He stood up and trotted downstairs, seeing Olivia hugging Mangle as Star brushed up against her legs. "Good news, I think I found us someone." He said.
"Oh, thank god…" Olivia exhaled in relief. "Who is he?" she asked.
"I don't know, I never caught the name…" Mike shook his head, "But I know he's on his way back here from Flagstaff. He'll be here tomorrow morning. We're going to talk to him then."
..xxXxx..
Mike clocked in and dropped his bag onto the floor, plopping himself down in his chair. He took a deep breath, taking his hat off to run his hand over his scalp. He closed his eyes and began to steel himself for the next night, exhaling slowly.
Nightre had walked in, silently and nervously. She looked up and saw Mike, "Evening…" she greeted.
Mike's attention snapped up, "Nightre!" he threw his cap back on, "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Oh- uh…" she hummed, "Th-they wanted me to take the night shift from now on… figured you could use the back-up…" she said, "They found the suit…" she said.
Mike rose an eyebrow, "Where was he?"
Nightre shrugged, "I don't know…" she said "He just…" she reached over and opened the monitor, selecting camera seven and showing Springtrap glaring up at the camera. "Showed back up." She sat down next to Mike. "They decided to tie him down in case he tries to leave again."
Mike studied the camera for a moment, seeing that Springtrap was, indeed, bound to his spot against the wall beside the arcade machines. "Are those… are those extension cables?" he asked.
Nightre shrugged, "I-I guess so…" she said, "Either way, as long as he's restrained… right?" she asked.
Mike took a deep breath, "For some reason that's not reassuring at all…" he confessed. "We'll keep an eye on him." He said, "Just… watch the systems." He instructed.
Nightre nodded and checked the systems monitor, restarting the ventilation system. "I… also have to wrap up the paperwork…" she added.
"Paperwork?" Mike asked. "What paperwork?" he asked.
"This…" Nightre picked up a stack of paperwork that Mike had failed to notice earlier. "Warnings from the fire marshal." She said.
Mike furrowed his eyebrows, "Yeah- I get this place is… decrepit… but…" he shrugged, "What- is this place a fire hazard?" he asked.
Nightre nodded, "The loose wires, the dust…" she started, "Him." She motioned to Springtrap, who stayed still in the camera. "Not to mention- all of the stuff that could be tripped over." She said.
Mike nodded, "Yeah…"
"And no fire extinguishers to speak of… Kevin wants me to shred this stuff…" she tipped the trash can toward her, "Oh- they must've taken the trash out… darn it…" she sighed.
"Kevin wants you to shred the warnings from the fire marshal?" Mike asked, "Isn't that irresponsible as a business owner?"
Nightre nodded, "Y-Yeah… b-but I can't argue with him… I really need this job… so… do as the boss says and keep him happy, right?" she laughed nervously, "I don't want to get fired…"
"Don't let him walk all over you." Mike said, watching Springtrap on the camera.
She hummed nervously, "H-Hey… do you have scissors?" she asked. "There were some in this trash can… but they took out the trash for once, so they're not here anymore."
Mike glanced over, then sighed, "No, I don't…"
"Oh…" she looked down, then set the paperwork on the desk. She glanced over and saw static on the monitor and gasped, jumping back to reset the camera systems. This made Mike jump.
Mike refreshed the camera, making the static go away. He yelped, "I thought you said he was restrained!"
"He is! Er-" Nightre froze, seeing that Springtrap no longer stood next to the arcade machines. "W-Was…" she withdrew.
Mike began shuffling through the cameras, "Where is he, where is he, where is he?" his eyes darted across the screen before moving on. More often than not, the cameras would go to static, prompting Nightre to restart the cameras again.
Then they heard it.
"It's been so long… since the last I've seen my son, lost to this monster… to the man behind the slaughter…"
Mike and Nightre paled, their blood running cold, "That's not okay…" Mike shuddered, "Where is he!?" he kept flipping through the cameras, finding nothing. The song droned, slowly and in a deep, ominous, foreboding tone.
"Since you've been gone… I've been singing this stupid song, so I could ponder… the sanity of your father…"
Mike's heart leapt into his throat, "Where are you!?" he roared, making Nightre flinch.
Silence.
Mike kept flipping through the cameras, waiting to see Springtrap, checking the vents, listening to see where he can pinpoint where he was while he sang. Out of nervousness, Mike had begun humming to himself, catching himself singing as well, "Welcome home, girls and boys… time to play with brand new toys… Nightmares lurk inside your mind… now to place is safe to hide…" he hummed.
Nightre shuddered, "M-Mike?"
"Hmm?" Mike asked.
"D-Did you find him?" she asked.
Mike shook his head, "No, I'm not seeing him anywhere…"
"I don't know what I was thinking… leaving my child behind… now I suffer the curse and now I am blind…"
"Fuck it." Mike grabbed the baton from his bag and started for the door.
"Mike! Where are you going?" Nightre shrieked.
Mike screeched to a stop, nearly running into the hard plastic carcass of the 'Toy Freddy' from the old location. He turned and looked at Nightre, "I'm gonna look for him." He said.
"No! What if he hurts you!?" she stood up.
"I'll be fine." Mike insisted, "Just watch the cameras. If you see him, play Balloon Boy's audio in that room so I know."
She stared nervously at the floor, "M-Mike?" she looked back up at him, "Wh-Why was he singing that?" she asked.
Mike took a deep breath, "I'll explain later. I promise…" he turned and ran off.
"You have nowhere to run, so why not join the fun? At night we come to life… come closer, we don't bite…"
Mike's shoes squealed as he stopped in the hallway. He looked around in a panic, listening carefully. 'We don't bite' seemed to make Mike want to laugh in the irony of the statement. If they didn't bite, he wouldn't be here in the first place. The Bite started everything.
"Can't help but feel like you belong here…"
Mike turned in the direction the voice came from, the line seemed to be waiting for a response. "I don't belong here…" Mike muttered under his breath, shuddering at the memory of being trapped in the Golden Freddy suit.
"You know that something's going on here."
Mike began running again, swinging the baton, preparing to hit Springtrap with it when he saw him. Something wasn't right. Why did Kevin want Nightre to shred the fire marshal's warnings? He stopped at the next room, the room with the arcade machines and noticed a pile of trash next to the vent. He paused, knowing that pile of trash wasn't there when he last was the room in the camera. He furrowed his eyebrows.
"Come follow what's been going on here."
"What is going on here?" Mike growled under his breath and began trotting to the next room. Springtrap was close. Really close. Mike picked up speed, rounded a corner, and just as he heard Balloon Boy's laugh echo through the halls, coming from the room directly in front of him, he ran full force into Springtrap.
**Okay- so I have the next chapter written already, I just need to polish it. We're almost at the end, folks. We're really close. Please read, review, and let me know what you think about this chapter. I used some music references in this, by the way! I used It's Been So Long by the Living Tombstone, and then We Don't Bite and You Belong Here by JT Music. If you haven't heard those songs, do check them out. JT Music is a personal favorite of mine. Stay awesome folks!**