Setting the Stage.
Chapter 3: Sabotage.

The Pizzeria was in a mess.

And there was no explanation for it.

Joseph Griffin sighed as he leaned back in his chair. He was reading the report Mr Cawthon gave him. He was trying to understand how exactly the Pizzeria could become such a mess over night.

It just didn't make sense. Nobody had broken in last night yet, for some reason, most of the rooms inside the Pizzeria were a mess. The cutlery and the pots and pans in the kitchen were on the floor. The party hats in the main party room had been knocked over, and some of the tables and chairs had been moved from there original places. Even Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy hadn't been spared from this madness. They had been decorated with streamers and had party hats on their heads, Freddy was missing his top hat at the moment and they had to put the spare one on him.

Thankfully these things were minor issues that could be easily taken care of - Thankfully, the building was on the medium size so it didn't take long for the cleaning staff to tidy the place up before they opened. Joseph didn't know what to do if they had more serious damages. Like the windows, tables and chairs being broken or damaged, plates being smashed, the animatronics being covered in paint. It had been going on for a while now, ever since the unfortunate disappearance of the missing children.

Things have been going down hill ever since that day. Whilst they were still able to bring in customers, the numbers just weren't as they used to be - a large chunk of that was coming from families which were there target audience. For some reason there were rumours going round about the safety at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria and that somebody had kidnapped a group of children. Whilst that was true, since the police haven't been able to find said children yet, Mr Griffin was had been forced to do damage control and deny the rumours. He hated lying but there was nothing he could do until the children were found - If they were going to be found.

Joseph felt his heart sank as he considered the possibility of the children not being found. The families of the children would be devastated and heartbroken, and he would have failed as a manager. Safety was a priority at Freddy's and, if they can't provide that, then why should they come back? One group of children have already disappeared on their premises, were more going to follow if they come back to Freddy's?

"I just don't understand." Joseph said. "We searched everywhere for those children. How exactly did they go missing in the first place? The building's not even that big."

"Maybe somebody came in and lured them away, Sir." Scott replied. Joseph made eye contact with the man. The brunette gulped as the shifted uncomfortably. "I... I mean... Its a possibility, Mr Griffin. We would have found them by now if they were still in the building."

"Perhaps..." Joseph replied, but he was uncertain about what he had said.

It just seemed so unlikely, even though it was just a possibility and that nothing had been proven yet. If somebody had come in and taken the children then surely somebody would've seen them - The cameras or the receptionist at the front desk. But nobody had seen leave, and they weren't in the building. The fire exit door hadn't been used either so what exactly happened to them?

And yet, for some reason, the police came back and arrested Adrien. Adrien Walters had been at the Pizzeria that day. He was the one who was suppose to be wearing the Spring Bonnie suit during the birthday party - This one was for one of the missing children. The child in question was Felix Rogers, the youngest of the group. And the Spring Bonnie suit had been seen walking around.

Was Adrien responsible for the children going miss?

He proposed the questioned to Scott, yet the brunette seemed hesitate to answer. It was perfectly understandable, even though there was no one else in the room except for the two of them. Scott didn't want to get in trouble by voicing his concerns. He kept his head down and got on with his work. Though Joseph had a feeling that there was a lot more then just a few simple concerns on the man's mind.

"I... don't think he was responsible for the kidnapping the children, Mr Griffin." Scott eventually said. "But, Spring Bonnie had been seen walking around during the birthday party and he was seen talking to the children. Yet, we still haven't found them."

"The police don't have any other leads either." Joseph added.

Scott nodded. "So, its a possibility. But, Adrien had never expressed any ill intensions to anyone. And he doesn't have any mental health problems, none that we're aware of. So, I'm not sure what to believe in." The brunette swallowed before he carried on talking. "I just... don't know why anyone would want to kidnap children."

"They're easy targets, Scott."

"I know that!" Scott huffed. Joseph raised any eyebrow at him. He was taken back by the unexpected outburst from the man. Scott gulped nervously. "Sorry. Its just... When it comes to children people have ulterior motives, don't they? I'm not suggesting that Adrien might of done something to the kids, or anyone else for that matter, but it is a possibility that we have to consider. Especially since we haven't found them yet."

'Anyone else? Does Scott think someone else kidnapped the children?" Joseph thought.

It was another possibility that they had to consider, even though it didn't line up with the facts. When the police came to arrest Adrien he was shocked by what he had heard. He denied doing anything wrong. He said he didn't remember what he was doing that day, he didn't even remember putting on the Spring Bonnie suit. But he had to be the only one in the suit that day. The only other person who could use the Spring Bonnie suit had phoned in sick. Nobody else knows how to operate it. If they did use it... Well, Joseph didn't want to think about it.

The manager sighed. He didn't want to accuse an innocent man of kidnapping the children but he couldn't argue against the facts either.

The manager eyed the report again, though ever so often he would his eyes would shift over to the list of complaints on his desks. It just seems to be one thing after the other. Complaints, missing children, the damages. It was probably going to get worse before it gets better. The Halloween show was coming up soon but Mr Griffin didn't think they were going to last any longer. Not with the way things currently were.

It was a depressing thought to consider but, if things didn't start picking up again soon, then they might have to close down soon.

Joseph shook his head as he closed his eyes, blinking away the tears that were threatening to come down his face. He just... didn't know what to do anymore.

"Scott."

"Yes?"

"Are we doing the right thing?"

"The right thing..." Scott trailed of.

He eyes the door cautiously, almost like he's afraid of the door opening unexpectedly. If he tells Mr Griffin how he really feels abut Freddy's. then he might be fired on the spot for speaking negatively about the company. Or, somebody could be listening in on their conversation and they might use it against him. Maybe he was overthinking it but Freddy's wasn't known for its generosity.

And its not like he could speak out about the company now, can he? Not if he still wants his job.

Joseph smiles at him. Its warm, encoring and inviting. "Please, Scott. You can speak your mind in here. You won't get in trouble for it."

"Okay." The brunette takes a deep breath to calm himself. He has nothing to worry about, he assured himself. He trusts Mr Griffin. "Well, for one thing, the Pizzeria needs to be improved greatly. We haven't been able to keep up with maintenance for the animatronics, and the Pizzeria needs to be updated. Maybe we need a new look or something."

"Of course." Mr Griffin agreed with him. The Pizzeria was in need of much needed repairs but they didn't have the funds for it. They never did in the first place. "What else?"

"The way we are handling the disappearance of the missing children... Its wrong." Scott admitted. "I understand that we need to consider the companies reputation but what use is the companies reputation if we can't proved what we originally promised? If we can't keep families safe at the Pizzeria then why should they come back? This whole incident is proof of that."

Joseph nodded his head slowly. It was all the things he had considered before but it was nice to know that somebody else had the same thoughts as he did. The first thing he did after hearing about the disappearance of the children was contact the higher ups at Fazbear Entertainment. He didn't know how to handle this situation, and he was hoping for some sort of advice on the matter.

They didn't give him much to work with.

They told he it was important to maintain the companies reputation, and that he couldn't allow this situation to get out of control. He needed to assure people that everything was fine - even though it wasn't. If news got out about the disappearance of the children then there reputation would be ruined. If anybody brought up any rumours about the Pizzeria or the company then he needed to put a stop to that straight away. He needed to deny any wrongdoings.

Joseph didn't like it one bit.

But you don't deny the companies wishes. Not if you still want a job the following day.

Hopefully, Joseph muses, this will all blow over in a few days. If they were going to remain open for the see able future then they needed to start making money again. And hopefully the children will be found before anything bad happens to them.

The next day came all too quickly for Joseph. The manager was in his office again, only this time instead of a list of complaints or a list of recent damages - thankfully, there was none this time - the morning paper was on his desk. Needless to say he wasn't happy with what he had just read.

An anonymous person went to one of the local journalists and told them about the missing children and the arrest of Adrien Walters.

"Look at this!" Joseph said as soon as Scott entered the room. "I don't know how this has happened but there's a news article in here about the missing children."

"Seriously?" Scott questioned.

"See for yourself." The manager replied as he handed him the newspaper.

Scott accepted it without any complains. He read the article.

Five children now reported missing.
Suspect convicted.

Five children are now linked to the incident at Freddy Fazbear Pizzeria, where a man dressed as a cartoon mascot lured them into a back room.

While the suspect has been charged, the bodies themselves were never found.

Freddy Fazbear Pizza has been fighting an uphill batter ever since to convince families to return to the Pizzeria.

"Its a tragedy."

"B-bodies!" Scott exclaimed. "B-but we don't even know if the children are dead or not. For all we know they could still be alive..."

"Scott." Joseph sighed. He wasn't looking at him. He was hunched over his desk, defeated. "Be reasonable. Its been days since they were taken."

"But..." Scott tried to protest but the words wouldn't come out of his mouth. He didn't want to admit it but some part of him knew it was true. "We... We don't even know where the bodies are..."

"No, we don't. But they'll turn up somewhere." Joseph said before he sighed again.

Sombrely, the manager took at seat at his desk. This can't be happening! How is this even possible? Nobody should even know about the children disappearing in the first place - the employees knew about but they have been sworn to secretly, and they don't even know the full story. He trusted his employees, perhaps he trusted them too much, but he didn't think anyone would betray him.

It was always possible. Anyone would do anything for money.

Despite that, it was too early to start with the accusations. He couldn't accuse anyone without any proof - If there was any proof in the first place. He could always talk to the journalist, or maybe Scott could do it. He wouldn't get a name from them but he could ask for a physical description of the culprit. And it might not even been one of his employees. The journalist could have been at the Pizzeria during the day of the kidnapping. They could of over heard what happened and decided to get the story out first before anyone else did.

Well, if that's the case then, he hopes the money was worth it. Profiting of someone kidnapping and murder...

"How could they have known about that?"

"About what, Scott?"

"About us trying to convince the families to come back to Freddy'." Scott replied, forcing the manager to make eye contact with him. "We haven't told them about that. The journalist could of made inquires with the families of the missing children but we're not forcing them to come back. It's there choice whether or not they come back and, personally, I wouldn't blame them if they decided to not come back."

"Its not the entire truth, Scott. I did talk to the families. I did put the offer on the table, but I told them it was completely optional." Joseph told him.

He didn't want to do that in the first place. But, Fazbear Entertainment told him to do it. He was just following orders.

"Okay..." Scott said but, for some reason, he wasn't convinced by what he heard. "But there's something else that's bothering me. Nobody else knows about the arrest."

"...Oh." Was the only thing that came out of the manager's mouth.

He kept assuring himself that the journalist went to the police or even the families for some answers. That there was nothing set in stone yet. Yet, no matter how many times he told himself that it wasn't true. That everything was fine and had nothing to worry about - Not yet, at least - he kept coming to the same conclusion.

Someone did go to the journalist and told them about the missing children and Adrien's arrest.

Joseph couldn't believe it - For a second he almost didn't want to believe it but he couldn't deny it any longer, no matter how many times he told himself that it wasn't true. Who could of done this? Who went out of there way to sabotage his business? Again, he didn't want to accuse his employees of doing something wrong but someone had had broken the company's trust. A part from himself and Scott they were the only ones who knew about the incident.

And it wasn't just a question of 'Who could of done this?' but rather 'Why have they done this?' Money was one thing, they probably thought that they weren't getting payed enough money to work at Freddy's so they probably went to the press and and gave them the full story - that would also make sense since they probably knew about there financial problems as well. But that can't be the only reason, right? Maybe they had a personal vendetta against the company? Or, maybe they were a relative of the missing children and they wanted justice for their family.

"Scott, I need your help with something." Joseph said.

"Of course, sir. What is it?" Scott inquired.

"I need you to keep a close eye on the employees. Though I have no reason to distrust them yet, one of them went to the journalist and told them about what happened." Joseph requested.

Scott frowned. Had he heard that right? "Are you sure, Sir?" He wasn't a fan of spying on his work colleagues and snitching on them. Some of them were his friends. "We don't even know the full story. We should gather the facts before we make any rash decisions."

"I don't like it either, Scott. But, whoever is responsible for this, they broke the companies trust and they need to be dealt with." The manager stated firmly.

But... we don't have any proof... Scott wanted to say but instead he just ended up accepting the request. It was better to just compile instead of fighting against it. What could he have done anyway? Mr Griffin trusted him - which he was grateful for - and he listened to him whenever he needed his advice on something. But he was in no position to challenge the manager's authority. He was just expected to follow orders.

If he was, the first thing he would've done was fixed up this place.

He asked Mr Griffin if he needed anything else from him. Fortunately, the manager didn't need anything else from him so he left the room before Joseph gave him anymore instructions. He sighed before he made his way back to the dining room. He didn't like this one bit. They didn't have all the facts, and they had no proof of their claims. The task Mr Griffin gave him was somewhat impossible. No-one was going to reveal their involvement in the news article, and he didn't believe that any of his colleagues was responsible for it either.

So what were they missing?

The brunette hummed to himself as his eyed the clock in the room. They still had some time before they opened up, and he had a feeling that business was going to be slow today. He was going to follow his boss's instructions to an extant. He would keep an eye on things, but he had a feeling that he wasn't going to get anything concrete. Besides, there was something else he wanted to check out first.

He didn't noticed a certain ghost watching him.