Setting the stage.
Chapter 2: Alex.
Interestingly enough, the missing children weren't the first lost souls that Marcus had encountered. There was another before them, and he was probably the greatest mystery Marcus had ever known. Mostly because he didn't know that much about him. He just appeared one day and he started to talk to one of the animatronics who was out of commission.
It looked like some sort of bear, a bit like the Freddy animatronic he had seen preforming on stage when nobody was looking. Only it was gold instead of brown, and it was in terrible condition. It looked more like an actual costume than an animatronic. It reminded him of that golden rabbit he had seen walking around.
He couldn't help but watch the child as he was talking to the bear. He seemed to be rather... frustrated by the lack of response the bear gave him, upset even. But that didn't make sense. Animatronics don't talk, except for the pre-recorded voice lines they say during performances, so he doesn't know why the child was expecting some sort of response from the bear.
"Please, Fredbear. Talk to me."
Fredbear, huh. Strange. He had never heard of that name before. He didn't even know if the bear had a name before. He just presumed it was another costume.
…Unless, given the bear's current condition, it was originally an animatronic. Maybe this one preformed along side the other animatronics. Or, maybe it was before the animatronics were even made. Is that why the bear was left in the room? Because it couldn't preform anymore? Or, maybe the animatronic had been abandoned like everything else in this god forsaken place.
"I just... really miss you, Fredbear. I feel so... lost and alone. You've always given me guidance whenever I needed it. So why won't you give it to me now?"
'Poor kid.' Marcus mused. 'He must have been really lonely.'
"Is... Is this my Brother's doing? Is that why your not talking to me, Fredbear? Eric! Eric, stop this now! Why do you keep doing this to me? Why won't you leave me alone?"
Marcus decided to intervene before it got any worse.
"Child, are you alright?" He asked him.
The child froze in place, almost like he had been caught doing something he shouldn't have been. There were tears coming out of his eyes, though Marcus couldn't tell if they were from the lack of response from the bear or because he had gotten caught. Maybe it was both, but Marcus was more drawn to the bear. For some reason the child believed that the bear was his friend.
"W-who are you?" The child whimpered, breaking Marcus out of his thoughts. "A-Are you a f-friend of my B-Brother?"
"No, child. I'm not. I don't even know who your Brother is." Marcus replied truthfully.
Because, really now, what else is there? He didn't know the child's Brother so he was speaking the truth on that part.
"Good. F-for a while there I thought... you were going to hurt me." The child whispered.
Hurt? Okay now this was getting interesting.
"I take it you and your Brother are not on friendly terms?" Marcus guessed.
The child shook his head. "Its worse than that. He hates me, and I don't know why. He keeps scaring me. He has this fox mask and, whenever we are alone, he jumps out from behind the tv and frightens me. Sometimes he hides somewhere in the house and he gets me that way. He breaks my toys, and he says horrible things to me. Mommy and Daddy don't do anything about it. Eric just tells them he's having fun but I don't like it."
"Your Brother sounds really mean, doesn't he?" Marcus commented. "What about your parents?"
"Well... I don't really see Daddy very much. Sometimes he comes back late and there's this horrible smell coming from him." The child's nose wrinkled. His eyebrows were pulled down, his upper lip was pulled up and his lips were loose. But he relaxed again when he was thinking about his Mother. "And Mommy..."
He trailed off, unsure of what to say next. Marcus waited patiently for him to continue.
"Yes? What about your Mother?" Marcus coaxed.
"Mummy was... really tired, like almost everyday." The child replied. "I don't know if she was tired of looking after me and my Brother all day or if she was tired of taking care of everything without any help from Daddy. They were arguing almost every day. I... don't think they are happy with each other anymore."
'So, his Brother is a nasty piece of work and his home is disruptive.. He probably preferred being here rather than being at home' Marcus thought. 'But that doesn't really explain why he is here now, or why he thinks the bear is his friend.'
"But, its okay though. I have Fredbear with me so I'm not alone anymore." The child said. "He's my best friend."
Again, with that bear. It just seems so weird. Why does he think the bear talks to him, let lone be his friend? He had seen some of the animatronics interacting with the child. Maybe that's why he thought the bear was his friend? But, what exactly was Fredbear? An animatronic or a costume? …Actually, now that he thought about it, if 'Fredbear' was some sort of costume then that would considered as creepy because it would be the person who wore the costume talking to the child and the not the actual bear itself.
"Who's Fredbear?" Marcus asked.
The boy's eyes lit up. "Oh. Fredbear's my friend."
"Yes, but what exactly is 'Fredbear'" Marcus clarified. "Is he a bear? A costume? An imaginary friend? Some sort of ghost? An animatronic..."
"An... an i ma tronic." The boy whimpered. "No. NO! He's not one of those monsters. He's a bear, a teddy bear with a top hat and a bowtie. He's not... He's not..."
"He's not what?" Marcus pressed.
"He's not a monster! He's not a nightmare! He is my friend!" The boy cried.
The boy buried his face in his hands. Marcus could only watch on as the child was breaking down before him. Occasionally, he could hear little sniffles or hiccups. Marcus lowered his head, staring at nothing but the shoes on his feet. He felt... helpless. He couldn't do anything for the kid, but knew he must have been through something. Something terrible, at least. He talked about monsters and nightmares. He must have been plagued by them. Perhaps he relied on Fredbear a lot. For protection, for guidance, maybe to keep the monsters away. Maybe nobody helped him. Or, maybe they didn't believe him whenever he talked about his nightmares.
It made sense though. The boy was constantly scared by his Brother, and his parents didn't even do anything to stop him. Were they going to believe him if he told them about the nightmares? They probably wouldn't even do anything to help him.
He must have been neglected then.
Marcus walked up to him and knelt down in front of him.
"Hey." He said. The child met his gaze. "If you ever need someone to talk to, or you could use a friend, I'm here for you if you ever need it."
"Okay." The child sniffled. Marcus smiled at him and brushed his hair gently. "My name's Alex."
"Marcus."
It took a few days for Alex to come to Marcus. Mostly, he would be the one to seek the brunette out, not that he minded much since Alex had a tendency to get lost. Sometimes he would find him in the back room talking to Fredbear - when he did that Marcus left him alone. He didn't want to intruded on a private conversation. Or, he would be exploring the building. Sometimes, when nobody was looking, they would be watching the animatronics preforming on stage. Alex seemed to perk up a little whenever they were watching the show.
Honestly, Marcus didn't see what all the fuse was about. But, if it made Alex happy then who was he to judge?
Marcus couldn't help but smile as he saw Alex playing with the plushies. The brunette told him that he used to have similar ones in his home and that he missed them terribly - so much so that he might of... stolen a few of them for Alex to play with (But, was it really stealing if they were still in the Pizzeria?) There was just something about that kid that brought a smile to his face. Whether it was the child's playfulness, the silliness or the curiosity, Marcus always ended up smiling. Sometimes he would start laughing - which was rare these days because he was surrounded by some much dreariness.
Because of this, because he didn't want Alex to loose his childhood innocence, he decided that he must do everything in his power to protect the child. Though nothing could hurt him physically, there were moments were Alex would remember certain things that caused him a great deal of pain. He would comfort the child whenever he needed it, or be his shoulder to cry on whenever he was talking about the painful memories.
At the moment it was the only thing he could do for him. He would need to know more about Alex before he could do anything for him.
This gave Marcus new ideas. Kids like Alex need to be protected and, whilst places like Freddy Fazbear's could be fun, the kids couldn't be left on there own without supervision. Alex had told him that he and his Brother were often left alone at the Pizzeria, with a family friend supposedly watching them. Because of that it allowed his Brother to become more ruthless, going as far as locking him in a storage room filled with mechanical parts.
That's probably another reason as to why he was having nightmares in the first place.
Seeing as he had nothing else to do for the rest of night, Marcus decided to leave the room and make his way over the kitchen where he started to move equipment around. Alex decided to follow him. He was watching on in awe as Marcus started to levitate the cutlery out of the draws.
"How did you do that?" He asked gleefully.
"Magic." Marcus replied, not breaking his concentration once.
Alex seemed to perk up even more when he said that. He was jumping up and down and clapping his hands. "Oh! You believe to?"
"Yes, little one. I do." Marcus admitted. "I believe there's magic in everyone, whether they believe it or not. Magic doesn't have to be flashy tricks or mystifying illusions but simple acts of kindness that could make someone day even better."
He turned to face Alex. "And I hope to bring such kindness and happiness to you, little one."
"Huh?" The gleefulness on Alex's face disappeared instantly, and it was replaced by confusion as he took in Marcus's words. He didn't really understand what his friend was saying. What exactly had he done to deserve such Kindness. "What do you mean?"
"Judging by what you have told me, I'm guessing your time with your family was rough and unpleasant. I'm also guessing that you have spent so many years on your own. I want to change that for you." Marcus explained. "I want to make thing better for you, Alex."
There was a moment of complete silence, and Marcus couldn't help but wonder if he was intruding on something he shouldn't have. Truth be told, it wasn't too hard guessing Alex's current predicament - of course there were still a few things that needed to be figured out but there was plenty of time to take care of that. The boy had been plagued by nightmares, terrorised by his Brother and possibly neglected by his parents. He wanted to make things better for him. He wanted to help him forget the past so that he wouldn't remember the pain, only the happy memories if there were any to begin with.
But, there was more to this mystery than meets the eye. There was something Alex was not telling him and it was to do with his sudden arrival at the Pizzeria. Alex was spirit like himself, yet he still had to discover just how he ended up like this and why he was at Freddy's in the first place.
Did... did he die here too?
"Marcus..." Alex said, breaking him out of his thoughts. "Could I... Could I talk to about my nightmares?"
Marcus nodded. He gestured to the kitchen counter and told him to take a seat. That was another thing he wanted to know about. Alex had vaguely mentioned the nightmares before but he never went into too much details about them. Maybe they were too realistic for him? He did like the little show the animatronics put on but sometimes he called them monsters, especially when they were walking around and interacting with children. Marcus couldn't help but wonder if there was some sort of connection between the two of them.
"I've had them for as long as I remember, but they got worse during the week leading up to my birthday. I remember..." Alex closed his eyes. "I remember sitting in my bedroom in the dark, and there were noises all around me throughout the night. Footsteps. Laughter. Breathing. Screeching. It was all around me, and they were trying to get inside my room. Closer and closer, and there was nowhere to run. They are afraid of light but that didn't stop them from coming to my room. Sometimes, when I'm not looking, they managed to get inside my room."
"What do the monsters look like?" Marcus inquired.
"There's a bear, a rabbit, a fox and a chicken." Alex recalled. "They looked like animals but... I could see metal on some parts of their bodies. And there were these razor sharp teeth and claws and the fox had a long tongue. The rabbit and the chicken would stalk the hallways, and the fox tried to get inside my closet. And the bear..."
Alex frowned as he opened his eyes. " I didn't really see the bear but I saw these little cubs sitting on my bed. There were three of them in total and they just kept on screeching. It was so horrible."
"It must have been horrible, little one." Marcus comforted him. "But the light should protect you from the monsters."
"It does, but not forever. They... they always come back." The brunette said.
'By the looks of things, the nightmares are similar to the animatronics.' Marcus thought.
"There's... something else. I remember... There was a gold bear." Alex recalled. "It... It looked like Fredbear. But it had rows of giant teeth, his belly was open, and it was missing parts of its fur and I could see metal instead of fur. And it had those sharp claws."
"Just like the others." Marcus noted.
Alex nodded. "Yes. I only saw the gold bear once, but I managed to run away before it could eat me."
"Eat you?"
"That's what they do. They eat people." The brunette said. "I... I saw it happen once. Me and Fredbear were at the diner one day, and one of the monsters came up to me. I tried to get away but... but... I'm a coward!"
"Alex..."
"I'm a coward! A stupid little boy who couldn't stop crying, who's afraid of monsters and the dark and his Brother." Alex sobbed. "They're coming for me. They're going to eat me. They're... They're..."
"Alex! ALEX!"
Marcus wrapped his arms around the boy and brought him in for a hug. Alex buried his face into Marcus's clothes as the spirit started to comfort him. He didn't realise things were so intense for him. He was talking about them like he had seen them up close and personal. Maybe this was a bad idea after all.
"Hey. Its going to be okay, Alex. No ones going to hurt you." Marcus said soothingly
"Promise?"
"I promise."
Alex's sobs started to die down as Marcus started to hum. It was one of the songs he had heard whilst they were watching the animatronics preform on stage. It just seemed to be the most reasonable thing he could do. It was something he had heard before, whenever he was upset, but he couldn't remember who exactly was the one comforting him. He looked down as he started to brush Alex's hair...
Only... he was taken a back by something.
There was something on Alex's neck.
It looked like... bite marks.
Marcus was alone in the dining room. Alex was 'sleeping' in the hidden room which gave him time to think. He hadn't asked Alex about the nightmares since they last talked about it. Somehow he managed to make a connection between Alex's nightmares and the Pizzeria.
The creatures from the nightmares were obviously the animatronics he had seen on stage. But that didn't really explain why he was seeing the animatronics in his nightmares. The only possible conclusion Marcus had was that he had seen them before Maybe he came to the Pizzeria when he was alive and he ended up coming back here because he was killed here.
But... There was just one problem with that. How did he come to know Fredbear? He didn't see him walking around the Pizzeria during the day, like that gold rabbit, and he was pretty certain that the animatronic was in no condition to walk around in the first place. And, whist security wasn't the best thing at Freddy's, there was no way Alex would be able to sneak inside the room where Fredbear was. Surely, someone would've seen him at some point.
Besides, by the looks of things, it seemed like Alex had a long term friendship with the bear.
Unless... he was lying to him.
"You know there used to be a cartoon on about these four."
Startled, Marcus turned around. Alex was sitting on one of the tables, his legs were dangling of the edge of the table and he was kicking his legs back and forth. Strange, he hadn't heard him coming into the room. Was he that caught up with his thoughts that he hadn't noticed in the first place?
"Alex, you startled me" Marcus stated. "I thought you were sleeping."
"I was, than I woke up." The brunette replied. "And you weren't there so I went looking for you. I thought you left me like everybody else."
"My apologises, Alex." Marcus apologised "I'll be sure to leave you a note in the future. I promise you, I'm not going anywhere."
'Left me like everyone else? Just what is he talking about? And what this about a cartoon about Freddy's? I don't remember a cartoon about Freddy's.'
"You mentioned something about a cartoon." He recalled.
"Well, you were muttering about the animals. That's why you didn't notice me when I came into the room. And then I remembered the cartoon." Alex said. "It was really good. It was about Fredbear and his friends going on all sorts of adventures."
"What was it called?" Marcus inquired.
"Fredbear and friends, I think. Its... been a while though. I'm not sure if its still on." Alex replied. "They made toys and plushies for it. Eric didn't like it. He said its for babies like me. Well, he's the one wearing the head of my Foxy toy and he's older than me."
"Well then. I think that solves the mystery of your nightmares."
"Huh?"
"You were having nightmares because your Brother kept scaring you. He took something you liked and he destroyed it for you. The creatures in your nightmares are based on the animals you see in the cartoon." Marcus explained. "They're not real, Alex. They won't hurt you, or eat you..."
"... You... you don't really understand, do you?"
Huh. He met Alex's gaze. The brunette was staring back at him confusingly, almost like had was unsure of what he had just heard. Whilst it was understandable since he didn't think Alex would have understood him in the first place, he was confused by what Alex had said. Understand what? Did he think he wasn't taking what he had said seriously? He was just trying to find a more logical explanation, he wasn't trying to offend the poor boy. But dreams and nightmares are not real. So he doesn't really understand why Alex was confused by what he had said.
Somehow sensing Marcus's thoughts, Alex interrupted him. "I... I know what I saw. Spring Bonnie and Fredbear have eaten people before. The... The nightmares they... they felt real to me."
Marcus bit his lip. Alex kept insisting that the animatronics had eaten people. It just... didn't make sense. Maybe if he had some sort of proof he would be inclined to believe him but..."
Wait.
There was one thing he could do.
He walked over to Alex. He placed his hand on Alex's forehead.
"Marcus? What... What are you doing?" Alex questioned.
"I'm trying to understand." Marcus replied before he started glowing. "And your going to help me."
Before Alex could even protest, the world faded into black...
Marcus found himself in some sort of room. It looked like the Pizzeria, only it was more smaller. The walls were grey, the carpet was purple with colourful spots stitched into it, and there were posters on the wall - the posters had a rabbit and a bear on them. There were a few tables and chairs, colourful balloons, and a stage with animatronics on it? There was a bear and rabbit preforming on it - the same ones that were on the posters. In fact the bear on stage looked like the same bear he had seen Alex talking to. That must be Fredbear then, Marcus thought.
They were children all around the Pizzeria, but there was one in particular who had caught his eye. There was a little boy hiding under a table. He had brown hair and black eyes. He was wearing a black shirt, blue shorts and shoes. There was a small teddy bear by his side. The bear had yellow fur, a purple top hat and bow tie and two black buttons. The child was crying but he was talking to the bear.
'This feels somewhat familiar.' Marcus mused.
"Alex!"
Marcus blinked as he watch and older boy - not too much older than the kid, mid teens probably - run up to the kid and knelt down in from of him. He had brown hair but his was much more darker than the kids. He was wearing a purple shirt, black trousers and shoes.
"H-hello, Vinny." Alex greeted.
"Hey there, kiddo." Vinny replied. "I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner. Dad almost didn't let me and Fran go. I... sort of lied to him and told him that Scott was going to be here as well."
"But, Vinny, lying is wrong." Alex told him.
"I know, but what else could I do? My parents trust Scott since he's older than me and... they don't really trust me since they believe that I will ruin the families' reputation." Vinny made some sort of gagging sound causing Alex to laugh at him. "You know sometimes I don't know why I bother. I know they prefer my Brother over me. He would never do anything embarrassing."
"But they do care about you. They just have a... different way of showing it." The boy replied.
"I guess." Vinny shrugged. "Anyway, why are you down here all by yourself? And your crying again. Is your Brother still being mean to you?"
Alex nodded. "Y-yeah. He just... left me on my own again."
"Jerk." Vinny muttered. "Do you want me to walk you home?"
"Please." Alex said.
Marcus watched as the older boy helped Alex come out from under the table and stood up with him. Alex took the older boy's hand and together they left the building. Odd. Alex never mentioned him before. He didn't tell him that he didn't have any friends - except for Fredbear but did that really count? He got the impression that he was lonely child who often talked to his toys for some sort of comfort. However, by the looks of things, he did have one friend. So why didn't he tell him that?
Maybe he had forgotten most of his memories and he could only remember certain bits.
The scene changed before him. He could see Alex on the floor crying. There were four boys around him. They had masks on their faces and they were laughing and jeering at the boy in front of them. Marcus recognised the masks. They were the same ones as the animatronics he had seen at the Pizzeria and, since Alex had mentioned a foxy toy, the boy wearing the foxy mask must be his Brother.
"Wow. Your Brother is kind of a baby, isn't he?"
"Its hilarious." Eric chuckled. "Why don't we help him get closer look? He'll love it."
"No! Please!" Alex begged.
But his Brother didn't listen to him. "Come on guys. Lets give this man a lift. He wants to get up close and personal."
Despite the protesting, the four boys picked Alex up and took him over to the stage. Marcus didn't know why but there was a feeling of dread building up in his stomach. He had a terrible feeling that something bad was about to happen.
… What hurt the most was the fact that he was powerless to do anything.
"No! I don't want to go!" Alex yelled.
"You heard the little man! He wants to get closer! Ha. Ha. Ha."
"Hey! What do you think your doing?" Vinny demanded.
"What does it look like? Alex said he wanted to get closer so that's what we are doing." Eric replied.
"What the hell is wrong with you? He says he doesn't like them. He has nightmares about them." Vinny responded. "Put him down now!"
"And if we don't?" The boy wearing the Freddy mask remarked.
"Yeah. What are you doing to do about it?" The boy wear the Chica mask sneered.
"Are you going to tell Mummy and Daddy? The boy wearing the the Bonnie mask taunted. "How pathetic."
"Vinny help me!" Alex yelled.
But, before the brunette could eve do something, Eric pulled all the attention back on him. "Hey guys. I think the little man said he wants to give Fredbear a big kiss."
"On three!"
"One..."
"Two..."
"Three!" The boys cheered as they shoved Alex inside of Fredbear's mouth.
Alex struggled to get out. He didn't want to be inside of Fredbear. He wanted out! He could hear his Brother and his friends laughing. He could hear Vinny protesting.
He could hear -
CRUNCH!
What have you done!"
The four boys stopped laughing. They stared at the scene in front of them. Alex had stopped moving and Fredbear's mouth was closed. There was blood dripping down Alex's neck. Eric approached his Brother. He tried shaking him.
"Hey. Hey, Alex? Alex, can you hear me?"
The diner was in chaos. Everybody was screaming. Parents were trying to shield there children from the horror that was on stage. People were trying to leave the diner. Members of staff had moved towards the scene. Some moved the four bullies away from the scene, another was on his phone whilst someone was trying to move Alex's body.
But Vinny refused to move.
He just couldn't stop staring at the scene before him.
Neither could Marcus.
He felt sick. He had no idea this happened to Alex, but it did explain why he had bite marks on his neck. And it also explain how Alex died, as unfortunate as it was. The worse part about it was he couldn't do anything to stop it. It's not like he could've done anything in the first place but...
He should have done something!
Before the memory ended, Vinny turned around, and he got a good look at the boy in front of him.
His eyes widen.
That... That face!
It couldn't be...
As soon as he was back in the Pizzeria, Marcus lowered his hand. His mouth was open slightly as he stared at Alex, who took one glance at him before lowering his head, yet no words were coming out of his mouth. He didn't know what to say. There were too many thoughts rushing through his head at once.
"Now you know..." Alex whispered.
"Alex... I'm so, so sorry," Marcus apologised.
"It was my birthday that day. But no one would listen to me..." Alex recalled. He looked up. He was crying again. "Why does nobody listen to me?"
"Because they don't believe you." Marcus replied. And neither had he. "They don't see things the way you do..."
"Oh."
Alex turned around and walked away. Marcus tried calling his name a few times but the brunette refused to listen to him. He sighed as he walked over to the stage and sat down on it. He felt guilty. He shouldn't have looked into Alex's memories. He should have left things the way that they should have been. But he didn't. He looked into those memories and brought back nothing but pain.
But... that face. Even though the boy was young, there was no denying who exactly it was.
Alex had been friends with a murderer.