Hey there. I just wanted to quickly let those of you that are reading so far know that I've changed some dates slightly. In the original summary, it said that four years had passed after the events of The Fourth Closet, but after thinking over the dates and when exactly each book takes place, it would probably be more accurate to say that only three yearshave passed. The Silver Eyes takes place in 1995, The Twisted Ones says that it takes place around a year later, and The Fourth Closet takes place six months after The Twisted Ones. To put it simply, here's my interpretation of when each book takes place for the context of the story:

The Silver Eyes- August, 1995

The Twisted Ones - October, 1996

The Fourth Closet - April, 1997

The Red Hand - June, 2000

The previous chapters (and the summary) will be edited slightly to be in line with this interpretation. Other than that, everything else is staying the same. Just thought I should let you all know to avoid any confusion. - Onyx Owl

The Red Hand

Double Or Nothing

11:03 PM

Isaac never imagined that a place he'd never been to could trigger bad memories, but now here he was.

The entire building emitted a sort of anomalous aura, like its mere existence went against the rules of nature itself. The mall felt like nothing more than an outer shell. A barrier not only to deter those on the outside, but to encase that which remained on the inside. It was as if the memories of the place, of everything that people desperately tried to forget, had infected the ruins of the building. They lingered in the air like an awful humidity, so thick that it could suffocate Isaac. They soaked into the walls and the ground, creeping through every inch like a fungus, acting like a network of energy and thought. It made the wide empty halls feel as claustrophobic as a box.

Isaac saw it not as a warning, but as reassurance. It amplified the hope that he had, the hope that he might find what he came here for.

Revenge.

The memories played again and again like a recording, reminding him of everything he'd felt back then. The fear, the confusion, and then that spark of luck that allowed him freedom.

You'd better be here.

He quickened his pace, confident now that he'd proven himself by successfully destroying one of those animatronics, especially since he had no idea of that thing's existence. It'd appeared nothing like the other animatronics that he'd read about or seen.

He continued down the hall. Eventually his rushing thoughts circled back to Anthony, and his pace slowed again.

He hadn't intended to put Anthony in harm's way. That animatronic appearing out of nowhere was not something Isaac had anticipated, neither was the realization of more construction underneath the mall. Anthony had fallen into a place that Isaac knew nothing about, and he only hoped that Anthony could make it out safely.

But he couldn't do anything about it now. So he instead set his sights back on the brick wall he'd finally reached. He didn't bother fiddling with the locked door this time. He took his golf club and brought it down on the doorknob multiple times. After a few minutes, the lock finally broke completely, and the door creaked open.

It was absolutely pitch black beyond the door. No natural light could seep its way into the pizzeria. Isaac ignored this and stepped inside.

If the mall felt like memories were whispering all around Isaac, they were practically screaming at him inside Freddy's, grasping at him like the feeling of a thousand needles. He kept walking, his footsteps echoing through the silent dining area. He turned on his flashlight and pointed it all around the room. It appeared as if the rumors were true. Someone had been fixing this place up.

The room, while clearly worn down by age, was neatly organized. Whatever drawings and decorations that weren't beyond recognition had all been stuck back on the walls and ceiling. The tables were all lined up correctly, with the cloths and even the party hats preserved.

Whatever damage had been done, nearly all of it had been repaired.

Isaac stepped towards the empty stage, then glanced back at the dark room. Seeing a glimpse of what this place used to be made him feel almost envious in a way. Envious of the children who would've come here all the time, partying, eating pizza, running around with all of their friends, riding the carousel, and watching the animatronics perform onstage. Despite the tragedies, Isaac knew that for every child who went missing, there were about five more that were making some of the best memories of their childhood.

Isaac wished he could've made memories like that.

His train of thought was interrupted by the stage lights suddenly turning on, startling him. He spun his head back around in an instant, but aside from the lights, nothing had changed. The stage was still empty.

As Isaac looked all around for something or someone that might've turned on the lights, he heard a voice coming from a speaker somewhere.

"You should not be here." The voice belonged to a young woman with a light English accent.

Isaac felt a spark of recognition at the sound of her voice. Something about it seemed vaguely familiar, or...did it?

"No one should." Isaac responded, assuming the woman could hear him. "That's why I'm here."

There was silence for a few moments, before-

"How did you make it past the Siren?"

The Siren? Is that what that animatronic is called?

"It didn't take kindly to having light shined in its eyes."

Isaac heard the woman sighing."Once again, I'm left to handle the actual important work."

He heard a click from the speaker, and the woman didn't say anything else.

Silence again. Isaac turned to look back at the door. It was still wide open, the mall's hallway illuminated by the moonlight stretching beyond it. He had every opportunity to just walk out, find some random spot in the mall and wait there for Anthony, safely. But...

He stood there and waited, and he quickly heard the sound of someone moving around underneath the stage. He walked to the right of it, keeping his eyes on the hatch on the side. Seconds passed. Then the handle turned, and the hatch swung open.

The young woman stepped out. She was taller than Isaac by about the length of a finger, she had long, reddish-blonde hair, and skin that looked practically untouched by the sun. She wore a buttoned up, dark red and light gray denim jacket, with gloves and pants that shared the same gray color, and leather shoes that shared the same red.

Isaac's sense of recognition came back even stronger when he looked at the girl's eyes. They were bright, emerald green, almost glowing. He was certain he'd seen those eyes before, but then he noticed a speck of blue creeping across the girl's left eye, and was uncertain again. Surely he would've remembered seeing something like that.

Only one way to find out. "What's your name?"

The woman scoffed at him. "Give me a reason why I should tell you."

Isaac knew what this was all leading up towards, and he used that to his advantage. "You're gonna try and kill me aren't you? 'Cause if so, what's the harm in telling me your name?"

The woman looked a little surprised at his response, before she quickly turned stern again.

"Very well." She said. "My name is Elizabeth."

Isaac's certainty came back tenfold. Despite looking completely different, now that he knew her name, every little detail about her appearance added up. This was absolutely her. His excitement pulled his face into a wide grin.

Elizabeth saw this, but didn't question it and kept talking. "Now, I'll ask a bit more directly this time. Why did you come here? Was it out of curiosity, or are you just stupid?"

Isaac controlled his smile just enough to speak. "Actually, I came here looking for someone."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "And did you find who you were looking for?"

Isaac looked directly in her eyes. "I think I just did." He raised his arms, showing off his burn scars to her. One last test.

Elizabeth squinted at the scars for a moment, before her eyes widened as the memories flooded back into her mind as well. "You..."

It would seem that she'd passed with flying colors.

She pondered for a moment before asking-

"What was your name again?"

Isaac felt a pang of anger upon hearing that. "Isaac. My name is Isaac."

She nodded to herself. "Right, now I remember."

"You look very different." Isaac pointed out.

"Long story." Was all she said. She turned back to him, arms crossed, her face stern again. "So, you've come back here to die?"

"I don't plan on dying." Isaac brandished his golf club.

"Nobody plans on dying, dummy." Elizabeth responded. "Especially not me."

"Well then, I guess there's about to be a big change of plans, isn't there?" Isaac said through gritted teeth.

"There sure is." Elizabeth agreed.

Isaac had waited long enough. He cried out and charged full speed at Elizabeth, preparing to swing his golf club.

Elizabeth was a bit caught off guard by Isaac's sudden ferocity, but easily stepped to the side as he brought down his club. Isaac snapped his head to the side to look at Elizabeth, who stared back at him blankly. He straightened himself and swung sideways at her again, but she simply stepped back and avoided it. Frustrated, he lunged forward and swung again, but she caught the club as it came down and yanked him to the side.

Isaac stumbled back into a dining table, falling and knocking over a few chairs. He grabbed the table and pulled himself back up. Elizabeth was watching him by the stage.

"Are you done?" She asked. "Or do you wish to keep embarrassing yourself?"

Isaac felt his blood boiling. "I beat that animatronic to death. I can beat you to death."

Elizabeth just laughed at him.

He sprinted towards her again. She avoided two more of his swings before he surprised her with a punch with his left. His fist connected with the side of her head, staggering her for only a fraction of a second, but it was long enough for Isaac to swing his club with just his right hand, striking her knee.

Elizabeth clenched her teeth and dropped to her other knee, shoving Isaac back. He regained his balance as Elizabeth stood back up.

"Congratulations." She said. "You finally hit me."

Isaac didn't have time for her taunts. He readied his club and rushed her once again, but he didn't swing immediately. Instead, he simply ran toward her and waited for her to make a move, and just as he was expecting, she instinctively dodged to the left.

It was then that Isaac finally swung, and Elizabeth, unable to react in time, was struck hard on the side of the head. She cried out and stumbled back into the stage. She put her hand up to her temple as she steadied her breathing, then slowly moved it back down and stared at her blood soaked glove, and she just...kept staring. She didn't move, nor did she say anything.

Isaac didn't understand why the blood held Elizabeth's attention for so long, but wasn't about to let the opportunity to go to waste. He raised the club above his head and swung downwards as hard as he could.

In an instant, Elizabeth sprang back into motion, stopping Isaac by grabbing his wrist. Her grip was much stronger than it was before, cutting off all of the circulation in Isaac's hand. Isaac tried to pull his hand back, but she was much stronger than him. She grabbed his arm with both hands, and twisted it in one quick motion.

Multiple sounds rang out in a single second. First was the violent snap, followed by the loud clang of the club that'd been dropped, and then Isaac's loud cry of pain.

S-she broke my arm!

Isaac desperately kicked Elizabeth to get her to loosen her grip, but to no avail. It was like kicking a statue.

Elizabeth pulled Isaac by his snapped arm and spun around, swinging Isaac's whole body over her shoulder. He was thrown into the air, and into the stage lights before falling back onto the stage floor.

Everything was a blur. Isaac was barely conscious, sprawled out on the stage. He couldn't properly feel his broken arm, and he could just barely push himself up with his other one. He quickly realized that he couldn't properly move his legs either. Was his back broken? He wasn't able to tell.

He could make out Elizabeth in his unfocused line of sight picking his golf club up off the floor, and he could see the red streak of blood that ran down the left side of her face.

"I'll just be taking these." He heard her say.

These?

He tried to focus his vision on her. He could clearly make out the shape of the golf club, but he couldn't tell if she was holding something else. It just looked like her hand.

But he looked a little closer, and he noticed that her hand was bent awkwardly, and her wrist seemed longer than it should be. His vision started to clear, and his heart started to pound faster in his chest when he realized that it wasn't her wrist. It was another forearm, bearing burn scars from top to bottom, and it was being held by Elizabeth's actual hand.

It hadn't been her arm he was seeing, it was his.

It was then that Isaac finally heard the sounds of faint dripping coming from right next to him. His heart pounded even faster as he slowly looked down at his right arm.

But of course, he no longer had his right arm. Just a stump that was gushing blood.

Isaac screamed.

And screamed again, and then kept screaming. His adrenaline was starting to wear off, and the pain was unbearable. Elizabeth didn't move for a few moments, instead simply watching Isaac as he writhed around in a puddle of his own blood. Eventually, Elizabeth stepped onto the stage. Isaac tried to crawl away, but he was way too slow, especially with just one arm. He rolled onto his back, and saw Elizabeth standing over him, his own golf club in her hand, raised above her head.

"W-wait..." Isaac sputtered, right before Elizabeth brought the club down on his head.

The body collapsed onto the bloody stage, making a faint splashing sound. It twitched once, or maybe twice, before it went completely still. Elizabeth stared down at it, almost pitying it. She held the club and the arm in her left hand, and reached down with her right to pick up the body, before hesitating. She was going to carry the body over her shoulder, but she eyed all the blood, running down his face and soaking into his shirt.

I don't want blood all over my clothes.

So instead, she grabbed the arm that was still attached and dragged him behind her. She walked backstage, and Isaac's dead body disappeared behind the curtain.