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[1] Fight Club - Lights
Chapter 30 – A Gateway to Answers
Cassandra's POV, Outside the Pizza Plex
It nearly felt as if we were arriving at a crime scene at night time as we arrived at the apartment Oswald wanted to investigate. Or more like a planned attack with all the guns, the spotlights and the criminal tape they had surrounding the entire area. They even taped off the area where door '93' would be at. I was grateful that there were a few neighbors who chose to sleep a bit far away from there or who knows what might happen to them.
Climbing out from the cars, it looked like we weren't the only ones to arrive. At least two other groups of people were waiting for us. There were a couple of people armed with guns and some protective equipment. It didn't look like the traditional armor police would wear, but better than nothing. Some of them were already guarding Door 93 on the balcony.
I wondered if this was a good idea. One thing that came to mind was if we were even going to the right place. It could be a trap, but it might also try to fool us. Going this hard on breaking into a room might be too much, but as it was spelled out, we didn't know how powerful the rabbit lady was. I was still worried that this would end up for nothing since this could be the second time many people could die.
Me, Oswald and Cade were greeted by a group of inspectors who looked like they were weaning something the police would wear. Especially when heading into dangerous areas. Each of them had a black helmet, a bulletproof vest and a utility belt that contained a gun and a taser stick. Some of them were wielding guns.
"OK," he said. "Last-minute reminder. You'll be searching through Room 93. If you do find anyone held hostage inside, take them outside immediately. That's the important thing. However, keep looking through as well to find answers about the rabbit lady. Anything can look suspicious. Be careful as well since you are provided with these weapons. They may not be enough, so use them wisely."
He turned to me and Cade, pointing at one of the helmets. "You see those round circles up there?"
I squinted my eyes. It was nearly dark, but thankfully the light provided allowed me to see the shine of a circular lens in the middle of the helmets.
"We will be keeping a watch through these cameras as they search through the room. Cassandra, you'll be staying here with the others to keep an eye on each of these volunteers. Just for safekeeping in case we need to compare what everyone can see. Cade, you'll be joining me in keeping an eye on the door."
"Wait," said Cade. "I thought that we would be a part of exploring that room."
"Our expertise is kind of needed to lead the investigation. Besides, we would have to keep on track that nobody will be locked up in that room. The door has to stay open. For Cassandra, given what happened before, I can't let you explore."
I nodded, gripping the ends of my jacket. My injured leg flared up in warmth, but I wasn't sure if it came from my head or from physical bodily systems. Just that reminder got me worried on if the rabbit lady would create another explosion that could consume the entire apartment.
Just imagine the whole building on fire with almost everyone in it with the smell of…
I shuddered, trying to push that bad memory away. Closing my eyes, I tried to keep it in a small box and hide it somewhere else before trying to take the situation seriously instead of relying on bad memories.
"And what would happen if things might…go wrong?" asked Cade worriedly.
"I have two ideas," said Oswald. "Either we get the inspectors out of the room if the danger is too much or we send in reinforcements to win the ambush." He turned to the group of inspectors. "You also make the decision, but don't be too cocky."
They all nodded or muttered a 'yes, sir'. They nearly appeared a bit nervous, but they were confident in exploring and exposing anything incriminating of the rabbit lady.
With that settled, Cade and Oswald led the inspectors to the level where Door 93 would be at. I remained on the surface with a few others who already set up a table with monitors, baskets of equipment and some water bottles. Getting into place there, my eyes were focused on the monitors, presenting live footage of each of the inspector's built-in cameras.
I wished that they go for having a more colorful filter instead of black and white. OK, it didn't look black and white. More like black and green. But they needed that night vision filter to find anything in the dark. I wondered which camera belonged to who since they couldn't keep still. The camera quality often becomes too blurry if they move their heads around too much.
Looking back at the balcony, I tried to match. One had his camera constantly shaking as if there was a drill nearby. Must explain the inspector in particular who kept bouncing his head around as if listening to music.
Wait a minute. It sounded like he was listening to music. I leaned my ear closer to the certain monitor, hearing what must be hip-hop music. How did he manage to sneak in earphones for this?
Upon arriving at Door 93, the guards on watch let them and the group of inspectors entered the room. With a taser each, Cade and Oswald guarded the opened door. For safekeeping, Oswald pulled out a brick and placed it right in front of the door, hopefully so that it wouldn't swing shut.
Through the cameras, all I could see was a somewhat relatively normal apartment room. One that you would expect. It kind of looked quite homely and custom-made due to what was provided in there. Sure, you got the same boring couches, seats, tables and vases, but the surprising thing was that the whole room looked like it was decorated for Christmas.
Nearly every wall was decorated with LED lights. One could have turned them on, but nobody dared to flick any lights since it could do something. A couple of cupcake plushies scattered around the room as if a slumber party just happened. If that wasn't enough, I could see the shine of glitter paint splattered on the floor. I think I saw a couple of plastic mannequins wearing wigs.
"Geez," commented one of the inspectors, his voice through the speakers from the monitors. "Of course, the psycho likes this kind of thing."
"This is giving me a bit of feminine vibes," said another inspector, innocently picking up one of the plushies. "Does that mean we really have a supervillain in real life?"
"Looks like so," commented Cade's voice through the radio. "You know, maybe we might have a superhero adventure here?"
Oswald sounded confused. "Wait, what?"
"You know how superheroes work. There will be supervillains who put on all of these crazy motifs and costumes. Then, we, as the superheroes, step in to save the day."
From up on the balcony, Cade punched his fist in the air and made a superhero pose as if getting ready to fly. Oswald could only stare at him blankly.
"But we don't have superpowers and we don't know how to do black magic!" he said simply.
"That's true, but a lot of superheroes don't need powers to make themselves a name. Just a snappy outfit and boom! They'll be remembered!"
Oswald was oddly silent for a while. "I don't know about you, but I don't want to have this like something from the comic books."
"But wouldn't it be cool?" asked Cade with a childlike grin. "I mean, what if you found something that could give you powers?"
"What? No way. That might be too dangerous."
"C'mon, you don't want it? I can have it?"
"But that might not be good for you," pointed out Oswald.
"Good for me?" teased Cade. "Or is it better for you?"
"Pfft, no," snorted Oswald, looking jealous. "Not good for any of us. You don't even know how to use superpowers properly. In real life."
"Yes, I do! As far as I know, it requires bravery, self-confidence, a clear mind and being able to fight back in case of becoming corrupted."
"I think you would definitely become corrupted. It's human sense."
"Not with that attitude, it is! Who is more likely to be corrupted? Your mum living in your attic?"
"Definitely." Oswald then realized what he said. "Wait…"
"Are you saying that you don't want to have superpowers to take down a supervillain?" questioned Cade.
"Is that relevant now?" Oswald tried to make himself look serious, but then, pride cracked his face a little. "…OK, yes. It would be cool to have superpowers."
Cade smirked. "Told you!"
I rolled my eyes, looking back at the monitors. As much as I wish that it was true, not everyone could be a real superhero or a supervillain. That was a bunch of malarkey. It might not be possible as well since we were surrounded by too many laws. I mean, how can even a group of people with mysterious powers be able to hide them from society when you have eyes all over you?
To me, it was as if trying to be a secret model, but the cameras were the obstacles. I think being some kind of model would be better than being a superhero. That way, I could dress however I want to look instead of trying to hide things away. If only if the entire sorority could learn to do the same, especially Augustina...
"Erm, guys?" asked one of the inspectors through the comms. "I think you all need to look at this."
Cade and Oswald checked their tablets, and they nearly choked at the same time. I checked on the monitors and the sight nearly made me want to puke. You think that seeing a person being burned alive was the worst thing that could happen to them?
Well, prepare to be wrong.
Right in the kitchen was a hanging body tied to the ceiling lamp shade. The entire body had its limbs stretched out as if they were a puppet. While their clothes and the rest of their body appeared to be mostly intact, it was the face that surprised me. It nearly looked like the jaw exploded and it was crudely stitched back together. All that was left of the face was a tight jaw with the former holes stitched together to make an ugly mouth, most of the hair glued to the top and the eyeballs replaced with buttons.
What made the body look worse was that the skin was charred or stitched in some places. On the monitor, the skin was fully white which could mean that it had gone really pale at this point. It even turned out that I might not need night vision to see since there were a lot of doodles over the body and the clothes. I couldn't identify the color, but it was clear that the killer did it in a childish manner.
Noticeably, the words 'WE DON'T HAVE THAT MUCH TIME' were scribbled all over. A few splatters of paint as well as if the killer was attacking the body. To twist the knife further, there was even a mustache and glasses drawing over the face as a joke.
"Um…don't tell me that was the hostage who tried calling us?" said Cade nervously.
I clenched my teeth, pressing a button on my own radio device to communicate with them. "It…might be so. I remember those words as the same one we saw on the camera footage earlier."
"Freaking snowball in hell…" said Oswald, sounding genuinely afraid. "We must have been too late."
On the monitors, I noticed that one of the inspectors poked his gun at the body. Something seemed to drip through the stitched gaps. Another grabbed the body's wrist as if trying to feel a pulse from them.
"Ugh," said a burly inspector. "They didn't even sew the body right."
A female inspector elbowed him. "Is that your concern? It doesn't feel like this person has any flesh in here! It feels like the body is a…bean bag."
"Well, the skin looks human-like, so that must have been a dead person," said another, sniffing.
One inspector moved underneath the body, looking upwards. Something dripped onto his camera. "What is that purple stuff dripping from their mouth and nose? That…can't be blood, is it?"
One of the inspectors noticed something. His camera showed the full picture of the entire kitchen. Shelves, microwaves and the fridge were tipped over as if a hurricane just occurred. There were burnt marks all over alongside splatters of glitter paint. Even a huge chunk of the kitchen bench was missing as if it was blown off.
Strangely, there was a large circle painted on the floor below the body. It was as if there was a ritual that happened.
Oswald turned around in a circle, unsure of what to do about the dead body. "We'll come back for that. But be careful. And don't step near that circle for too long!"
The inspectors continued to look around the apartment room. I found myself slowly becoming on edge. This wasn't just sitting back there and watching a horror show. It was in real life, so that broken body could come from anyone who fell into the rabbit lady's hands! And I'm not gonna go into detail on bringing the corpse outside since it wouldn't look too good underneath the light.
Just imagine the rotting skin with the white ball fillings inside and the purple slop coming out from the eyeballs and mouth…how much could this serial killer do to her victims?!
"Whoa!" exclaimed one of the inspectors. "She must have got a lot of computer devices stored right here. Is she secretly some kind of gamer?"
On one of the monitors, one inspector's camera was facing what appeared to be a computer table. There were three screens with the middle being the largest of them all as if it was a modern computer screen. The entire desk was messy with half-eaten food, dirty cups and stains painted it. I hoped that the stain was just from the melting popsicle nearby.
The screens were worse since the middle and the right computers had cracks on them. The smaller right screen was completely cracked with shades of another color radiating from the fracture. The left small computer appeared to be mostly intact, but it looked old, rusted and not working properly. However, some of the keyboard buttons appeared to be glowing faintly.
"Man…" the inspector muttered. "It's all purple around here…I think somebody was killed here."
"How can you tell?" asked Oswald.
"There are red stains smeared across the desk. I can't really tell what the substance is, but…I don't think I want to go into that yet. Strangely, all the colors are mostly purple."
"Can you find the CPU of these screens?"
The inspector took a look around the desk table. To my surprise, there were none and almost all the computers had their machinery broken. Broken wires were exposed when you look at the back and there were a couple of words scrawled all over it.
"No central units so far," said the inspector. "There doesn't appear to be any plugs to these computers. Nor any chargers. Or hard drives for that matter. But the back of the large computer has words drawn on them."
"What…do they say?" I asked nervously.
"It says here 'I need Afton'? And another says 'I hate Afton'..."
Afton…why does that name sound familiar to me?
"Wait," said Oswald. "Isn't that the last name of one of the co-founders of Fazbear Entertainment before he went missing?"
"R-Right," said the inspector, puzzled. "This is a very confusing situation!"
"Hey guys," said another inspector with a low, deep voice. "I found some sort of secret room."
He opened a door that led to a small office room. At least the size of an office room. The rabbit lady must have turned it into her own personal place for free time. Bookshelves stacked with books meant for kids covered nearly all the walls. From comic books to fairy tales to even graphic novels meant for kids.
The deep-voiced inspector chuckled a little, seemingly liking the place. He looked up to find a couple of stickers on the ceiling. They must be glow-in-the-dark stickers due to how bright they were at the moment. It nearly made me forget that we were dealing with a dangerous serial killer.
"This kind of reminds me of home," he said casually.
"Found anything weird in there?" asked Cade.
The inspector took a few minutes to observe all the bookshelves. None of them looked like they might have special information or hiding something. It was rather bizarre to see the rabbit lady having a secret room filled with children's story time books.
He picked a random book from the shelf. It was a classic picture book of 'Alice in Wonderland'. Flipping through it, it was just nothing but the pages of the known story. Though, the drawings must be well-done due to how they seemed to illustrate the story well. And far from looking like they ripped it from the Disney movie art style.
There was nothing much on it, but one thing that didn't encourage the inspector to just skip through all the pages were the little doodles drawn all over. It nearly looked like the rabbit lady used crayons for these books. Some doodles appeared to be slightly harmless as they more resembled drawings from a child.
But on some pages, the doodles were more…violent. On the very page of when Alice went down the rabbit hole, there were drawings of what appeared to be bunny heads. The same look as the one she wore.
Seeing them in the rabbit hole felt like she was inviting the reader to follow her through there…
Another page had Alice crying in the woods. Strangely, she was surrounded by drawings of broken hearts. There was even something written on the top of her exhausted body.
"Is reality a place like my wonderland?" read the inspector. "OK, I'm wondering what this is all about."
"Please move on now," said Oswald, sounding annoyed. "We don't have time to-"
"Hold on. I think I'm getting to where things might be interesting."
True to his word, he flipped to the last word to find a surprising image. It would have been the page where Alice's sister woke her to tell her that she was safe. However, the crayon drawings probably ruined how it was supposed to be. In fact, it looked like what must be the rabbit lady's happy ending.
In the place of Alice getting up was the rabbit lady who drew herself to be on one knee and looking at her other in wonder. The sister was drawn over by what looked like a male rabbit. One that was wearing a bowtie and a vest. Wait, was that Bonnie or someone else? To top it all off, there were several hearts drawn around the picture, including one big heart surrounding the couple.
The inspector silently closed the book, finding a large emblem written at the back of the book.
V + W
"Something…doesn't look right with this," said the inspector.
"It's probably some book the rabbit lady read in her free time," scoffed Oswald. "Doesn't look too important."
"But the way she just drew over those pictures appears to be…sad." The inspector lowered the book, sounding surprisingly empathetic. "This lady…must have something to do with this that lead her to go on a rampage."
That got me thinking as well. What did all of this mean? I would have called the rabbit lady nuts since drawing in her book wouldn't give off any significant importance. Unless we were addressing her being stuck in her childhood phase or being delusional. However, because of how gentle and violent her doodles were on each page I managed to see, it looked like she was injecting herself into the story. As if trying to change it into how she would want it to be.
And that last page was her waking up to find what might be her love interest. Though, I couldn't tell if she was in love with the Bonnie character or something else because his name would have been another that started with 'W'. I had no idea who that could be, but chances of finding out might be dim considering how she chose to rip people apart.
I decided to come up with my own interpretation for this one since it looked like an occasional girl thing in high school.
"Looks like some woman is crazy for a man's love and tries to be bloodthirsty so that he could be heads over heels," I said, shrugging.
"What?!" said Cade in disbelief. "That's a stupid motive for going on a killing spree!"
"I suppose that romance might play into this. I mean, why did Bonnie and Clyde become successful criminals after becoming a couple?"
Cade tried to answer back, but all that came out was a dry croak. "...touché."
"Look, let's just drop this," said Oswald. "I don't really care now what is her motive. We can sort that out later. For now, all we need to find is what else she is hiding. I doubt that these are the books the hostage wants us to burn."
"Are you sure about it?" said the inspector. "It kind of feels like they are…enchanting."
"Really? Don't get too invested."
"No, seriously. I can feel-"
Oswald groaned, shaking his head. "Look, it wouldn't even matter once we looked through the room. It would still be under our watch and we can come back to it."
Cade sighed. "So much for trying to be a good leader. Why don't we just give him a chance to talk?"
"Hold on a minute," I said, leaning closer to the monitor. "I can see something around the corner…"
Right there hiding in the gap between the bookshelf was what must be an arcade game cabinet. I couldn't really see the colors, but I could see how it was styled.
It wasn't that much, but the sides of the cabinet had pictures of a princess carrying a lantern. She was wearing a fairly stereotypical princess dress except that her skirt reached up to her knees and she had shoulder-length hair in a rebellious fashion. The front of the arcade cabinet read…
"Princess Quest?" said the inspector, scratching the top of his helmet. "How could I not see that in the first place?"
"Must be due to looking more at the books around," I said.
"It must have blended in with the black shelves well. It's…even on."
On the screen was the title of the game, blinking innocently. It seemed that somebody already placed a coin right into it as it was waiting for someone to play the game.
The inspector snorted and slapped his hand onto one of the buttons.
The screen suddenly changed to reveal a haunting message.
'Are you sure you want to play? There are likely symptoms of feeling your worst feelings, being more aware of the truth, having no way to change your fate and likely more depression. Only play this game if you desperately want to look back at your memories.'
"...w-what kind of game provides this message?" sputtered the inspector, his low voice cracking.
"OK, that one definitely has something," said Oswald. "Cade, does this kind of warning shows up?"
Cade shook his head. "Not from arcade games I get to play before. Usually, there are just warnings of flashing lights and likely chances of seizures. Not this wacky warning. It is as if somebody edited the code."
"Hmm, well…I suppose that can count as evidence."
With his permission granted, the inspector pressed the 'start' button on the arcade cabinet.
Out of nowhere, the door that led to the inside of the room started to shift.
"What the-?" said Oswald.
It was nearly too late to understand what was going on. The metal brick was eventually scrapped across the floor due to the door's sudden strength. It was about to slam the door shut until Oswald placed his arm in the way, thinking that he could push it back.
CRACK!
That proved to be a nearly fatal idea as his arm ended up being caught. It was the only thing now to keep the door open, but it could have chopped his arm out! Expectedly, Oswald let out a loud scream, planting his foot on the wall in desperation to pull his arm out free.
Cade clenched his teeth, wincing. Despite his anonymity towards Oswald, he cringed at the sight of his arm trapped by a nearly-shut door.
"What happened?!" cried one of the inspectors.
"Who closed the door?!" snarled a second inspector.
"I swear! I didn't see anyone who did it!" said a third inspector.
"Can somebody please free me from this?!" hissed Oswald.
Cade looked around, trying to find some kind of weapon to break down the door.
"Wait a second!" cried Oswald suddenly. "Nobody do anything!" He looked at both sides as if he was paranoid. "I feel…as if…this is all part of a plan."
"What?" I said.
"She's here!" said one of the inspectors, nearly about to panic. "We gotta get out of here!"
"Hold on a minute," said Oswald. "When someone pressed the arcane cabinet, that activated the door to close. And that arcade game had a warning of confronting something. The books you found depicted drawings of the rabbit lady, am I right?"
The deep-voiced inspector wasn't sure how to answer this. I could hear him nearly hyperventilating at the thought of accidentally trapping his companions inside this room.
"Well…" he said. "They seem to resemble her thoughts or…something that happened in the past."
I was starting to catch on to what they were saying. "So whenever somebody played that game, it is like she forced the door to lock as if not wanting anyone else to see it?"
Oswald nodded grimly. "I can see that now. I…I shouldn't move since this is the only thing to make sure that the rest aren't locked in."
"Is your arm gonna be fine?" asked Cade, scratching the back of his head. "I can just bring out an axe."
"We don't know if this door is breakable. Just…wait for a while or pull as hard as you can. But make sure that the door doesn't close."
Cade nodded. "I can live with that." A smirk crossed over his face. "At least you didn't get your willie stuck in the door."
Oswald grimaced. "Shut up."
"What should I do now?" asked the deep-voiced inspector.
"I want you to play through that arcade game to see if there is anything. The rest of you grab all the books and look through them to see if she has any hidden meanings in them. Keep searching around in the other rooms as well."
The inspectors got to work and through the monitors, I could see all of them entering the small office room to grab a book. Those who were just idly walking around continued exploring the rooms they didn't look into yet. The deep-voiced inspector just stood there in his spot, dumbfounded by the thought of needing to play an arcade game to get answers.
He let out a big sigh. "Well, if that will help unlock the door when I finish playing, sure then."
I made sure to not keep my eyes off the screen as he pressed 'start'.
Elena's POV, Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizza Plex
I ended up asking if I could have some 'me time' since I felt like taking a walk around. I wanted to be active since I like to move around a lot. It would also give me some time to reflect on what happened so far. Augustina went off to find Melody, so the rest of the animatronics could look after Gregory.
Walking through the Pizza Plex alone was starting to feel more like a museum. When there were other people, it would feel like a mall since you would expect a lot of people chattering, spilling drinks and buying stuff. But I never paused to see how peaceful the place was during the night hours.
It was nearly quiet aside from the muffled lonely radio music coming from the intercom speakers. The lack of people allowed me to observe the place better. Sure, I already walked through here at least two times and got a taste of what it was like, but since nobody was around to annoy me, the walkthrough became like an observation for better detail.
Even when walking through the common hallways that had the same looks, this place wasn't really boring in the slightest. Not one room had less paint coated to spark the life of a party. The use of colorful, vibrant paint, the vanity decorations of the Fazbear characters on the walls and the aesthetic of the 1980s make this feel like you're walking into the right place to let yourself enjoy the ride.
Before, I would have been suspicious since this would be the franchise trying to gloss over its reputation. However, there wasn't much for me to back that up and it would be much kinder to imagine that this place was owned by the Glamrock Animatronics. Like this was their hive. Their home where they run the show. Granted that it had its own quirks and mysteries, especially since it was also the shield for the ghosts, they did try to make sure that it was safe or groovy as possible.
I wondered if I understood now how Gregory felt about the place. It wasn't too soft, but it wasn't too much of a bad influence. At least the type that didn't really show any shady incidents. And talking with the animatronics gave me some insight about them; they could be easily manipulated through programming, but they acted like they were their own person.
So what made them was their personalities. And this was further defined by the place they worked in. And if they were right about wanting to keep kids safe, protect Gregory here or being earnest in their provided messages, that would be reflected in the new pizzeria like it was unlike the other pizzeria.
Thinking about it, it reminded me of Luis' own awareness of the franchise. Right from his speech on the first opening day. He looked rather annoyed with needing to add in a few more lines to make the franchise appear innocent. I wondered if he was doing an honest attempt to redeem the company without avoiding any mistakes that needed to be fixed.
With these facts giving me a new interpretation, I found myself not too tense about being in the Pizza Plex for the night. It felt different compared to the old one my father used to work in before. Maybe he would have liked to work here more since it was spacious and the animatronics could have been his teammates. Or under his control, depending on how powerful those security watches were.
Feeling a little bored, I took out some earphones to fill in the silence for my ears. I didn't really care which song my phone would play. Hitting the 'play' button, my ears were greeted with the familiar oriental riff from the song 'Kung Fu Fighting'. But it was a sample before it went into a gentle tropical electropop song. Listening to it made my body feel a bit enlightened. [1]
It had been a while ever since I really let myself follow the rhythm of a song without feeling that someone was watching me.
I noticed that I was walking nearby the Glamrock Animatronics' green rooms. As per usual, they were empty. Seeing them gave me a bit of an idea. I didn't know why, but I felt like I wanted to try to understand their personalities for many reasons.
I quickly stepped right in front of Chica's green room before the first verse could go in. I took a look through her room once again to remind myself of its depiction of her. From the dirty pizza boxes around, the balloons touching the ceiling and the birthday-party-like scene itself, it gave me an idea of how I should interpret my dance style in.
I decided to take this nice and easy, but with a good amount of energy. I found myself feeling a bit carefree, swinging my arms and hips around as if doing a freestyle dance. It made me feel like a little girl again, having fun at a party and not caring about a thing. Though, as I tried relating this to the dance, it felt dissonant. The contrast of the lyrics discussing the struggles with maintaining personal demons with the cuteness of the dance.
It was as if I was just dancing away to forget about the hard times. Wanting to just forget and find something to satisfy me.
Before the second half of the verse came in, I spun around to the next room. Roxy's room. I found myself smiling to see the room again due to having a punk aesthetic with the racing decorations. As if there was a real race about to begin. Thinking back on Roxy and her attitude, it made me feel a bit wild.
As the second half of the first verse hit, I started to dance in a more extreme choreography. Would be said to be more fitted for a rock song due to the many punches, kicks and drops that I did. It was as if I wanted to spend up all my energy to spare the anger. Wanting to show everyone what I stand for.
This one nearly fitted the lyrics since I felt as if wanting to reinforce them. Letting myself hide my thoughts and using my own actions to set the stage for the rest. It was a way of becoming caged, but not letting it restrain me completely due to it being my own.
As the pre-chorus came in for a slow start, I slid over to Monty's green room. Seeing all the leaves, the firefly decorations and the green palette, it felt like being in a jungle. Getting back in the wild to be tough-skinned. And it was a habitat where Monty would let his own animalistic instincts take over. To let out the real beast.
As the chorus came in, I performed an energetic, bouncy tribal-esque dance. Acting like I was one with the wild. I used different hand movements as if doing a mystical dance while mixing them with a few fighting-like poses. This was probably what Monty was like. Having a more serious and careful demeanor when out hunting but taking comfort in the outside when you can. Spinning around, I could nearly say that the wind brushing against me somewhat got me feeling connected. It was a little strange to explain, but it was as if I found a place that suit me.
However, it felt strange since I still have some doubts about the place. It made me think if I really should be here. If I deserve to be with the others when I wasn't better than the others before.
Moving on, I came across Freddy's room. This time, I didn't need to stop to look through it. I already remembered it for its resemblance to a movie backstage room with the touch of a Hollywood red carpet due to its use of red and blue. And looking through here, it made me feel a bit more royal.
As the ab-libbing came in, I danced in a more calmful and graceful way. Nearly like a ballerina, but with a touch of being a gentleman. Such as spinning around and holding your hand up as if about to hold onto another. It made me feel like I was a true performer on stage, surrounded by those who would follow my lead. One that could show that they were loyal to others in a polite manner, no matter what.
I would have stopped to wonder how I was able to think up all these feelings going through my head. I knew that it was from what I saw from the animatronics and their green rooms, but I kept dancing around as it dropped into the second verse and chorus. With the knowledge of not gonna be hurt by anyone, I was carefree. Blissfully skipping through the hallways as I let go of all my grudges about this place.
Looking around, I nearly imagined fresh paint appearing on the walls. In my mind, nearly the same colors I used for the first time when in Soria's special warehouse to paint. It was as if they stuck by me, guiding me through the night. It would mean that I never left these emotions behind. The dullness of silver, the red of anger and the dark colors of mess. They were following me, moving in the style of clay motion.
It reminded me back of how miserable I was before when my father disappeared. These colors stuck out from the rest of the place. However, they still suited me. I felt it. And I felt like it would be what I am and the colors I was wearing at the moment. I was in such a good mood that I didn't see them as spoiling the tone.
By the bridge, I found myself right at the West Arcade. And I was surprised that there was a large clearing. Must be children to run through since there would be long lines waiting to have their turn on the arcade games around. With the space required, I loosened up for the final chorus.
As it came in, I found myself creating a whole new choreography. Remembering a few steps from the politeness of Freddy, the cheerfulness of Chica, the spunk of Roxy and the rough-and-tumble of Monty. A mixture of all four styles blended into one to fuel having new confidence for this place. And the space around me was a safe place where I could express myself. A way to free me from whatever weight I chose to carry.
The song was starting to match more as well. I had enough of thinking that something bad would happen. It was happening for too long and it blinded me into not trusting those who could mitigate the potential problems of the Pizza Plex. And as I stepped into helping the team to a degree with the ghosts as one of our new objectives of discovering, I was more than happy to join in to show what I could do to solve the drama. A chance to put everything behind to make a new glory.
The song finished and so did I as I slowly lifted my arms up as if I was a bird. Ready to flap its wings for its reawakening. [1s]
"Hello there!" said a voice out of nowhere. "Take a map!"
I spun around, nearly kicking the person in the face. However, it turned out to be a Map Bot. Lifting up a map innocently, hoping that I could take it. How come it was…still active?
I realized that I was so into my dance that I didn't notice anybody coming to me. Or actually hearing anyone speaking the whole time. Or even me talking with my own mouth. I was silent for a while since I had some time off to think. At the moment, I must have entered back into talking with others. Well, sort of.
I stared at the map in the Map Bot's hands for a while before taking it.
"Well…thank you," I said. "You're so generous. Maybe…I might need to use it properly to fight alongside my new friends."
It didn't respond back as it walked away. I might have gotten too many maps now, but I might use this one to know the place better. For this time.
Just before I thought of walking back, I spotted Monty and Chica walking through the hallways in deep conversation. The way they had their heads low was off-putting. They appeared to be worried. It seemed that they came all this way to have a little chat time themselves. I nearly thought of leaving them be when Chica noticed me.
"Oh!" she said, waving her hand. "Yahoo! How you're doing?!"
"No!" hissed Monty, panicking. "Don't include her into this!"
I slowly turned to them, grinning nervously. "Oh, um…hey there! I was just about to go. What are you two doing?"
Chica lifted a finger, but Monty placed a hand over her beak.
"...we're sneaking out to have our date?" lied Monty, grinning.
"What?" said Chica.
OK, something was up with them. "Clearly, you two aren't a couple."
"Oh c'mon!" said Monty with a goofy grin. "Who says that we aren't lying? We can love all we want, right? Chica?"
Chica only remained quiet, glancing at me and back at Monty.
"Right?!" growled Monty, not losing his grin.
"Um…yes!" chuckled Chica, pumping her fist. "That's what…we're going to do. Just…don't watch us or take any pictures of us doing something…" She paused when she noticed the unimpressed stare of her fellow bandmate. "...cause…we robots don't lie! Just like robots telling kids what they shouldn't see. Like…I never tell kids that I have been eating pizzas from the rubbish bins and stuff…"
All eyes turned to Chica at that reveal. I crossed my arms, tapping my foot impatiently. They were definitely hiding something. A bad one due to how worried they were. And I might need to know.
Monty growled, hanging his head. "OK! OK! Fine! You got us! We are going to Bonnie Bowl for some investigation on the Glamrock Bonnie statue 'cause it didn't look right! Are you satisfied?"
My first thought was to call him out for overexaggerating like a little kid caught dipping their hand in the cookie jar. However, him announcing that he and Chica were gonna investigate the Bonnie statue at the Bonnie Bowl got my attention.
"You mean the one at that bowling room?" I said.
"...yeah?" said Monty. "You already know?"
"Of course, I do. I explored every room on the Pizza Plex's opening day. It's just some kind of plastic statue."
"Wait," said Chica, her eyes widened. "Made from plastic? But…I thought that his shell would be placed on display-"
Monty raised a finger to shut everyone up. "Look, I'll just show you two and let you see it for yourselves."
This was new. They seemed to know something was wrong in the Pizza Plex. And probably the first who found out, so I could respect that.
I should have just left them alone since it was probably their business or Monty was worrying too much. However, the idea that there was another problem got me alerted. Maybe it should be addressed. Them noticing it before me and any other human did mean that they were as perceptive as I was. Besides, I felt that I should be on the same page with the animatronics since I owed them after my skepticism.
Arriving at Bonnie Bowl, half of the lights were dimmed to a minimum, probably so that the Pizza Plex wouldn't waste electricity too much. It wasn't too dark as I could see. However, the dim lighting felt a bit creepy since I was walking right into a room with a frozen statue. It was still a statue, but judging by Monty's worry, that statue could…be alive.
There it was standing on its own stage. The Bonnie statue with hints of its previous counterparts over the years. Should have been buff like the other male animatronics, but I guessed that they wanted to give the character personalities through looks. I couldn't tell if he was made from plastic or wood, but his eyes definitely looked like they were made from wood.
The frozen grin on his face should tell me what he was supposed to be like if he came to life. He appeared laid-back and stylish, but polite. Honestly, he looked as if he drunk too much from the ice cream parlor. The shadow covering part of his face made me wonder if it would mean something sinister. He looked like he was just relaxing; waiting until the right time to strike.
Looking behind, Monty was taking baby steps toward the statue. He looked scared. Well, he wasn't the baby type, but I could see that he was hesitant in approaching the Bonnie statue. Guess both of us had a common thing. Meanwhile, Chica came to my side with a confused look.
"Oh," she said. "I see what you mean now, Monty. I thought it would be his shell on display by some kind of mannequin."
"Now that's the thing," explained Monty, lifting up his sunglasses. "Bonnie was supposed to be part of the line-up. However, he was decommissioned after forming the endoskeletons, scrapping his head which was the first thing they made. They want new characters to share the spotlight, thus me and Roxanne entered."
I tried knocking on the statue. My instinct kicked in and I braved myself for a reaction. However, the statue was perfectly still.
"Wait," I said. "Y-You're sure that this is not good? What else tipped you off about this?"
Monty sighed. "I tried scanning it. Strangely, I cannot detect it. A normal statue would be something I could be able to detect. Especially if it is hollow inside or not."
"You can identify any objects?"
"Hold on, let me try." Chica scanned the Bonnie statue with her own eyes. After having two laps of looking from head to toe, she shrugged. "I cannot either. Even with X-ray on. It's like…it's a completely foreign object. Elena, what material do you think this is made of?"
This was strange. If what they said was true, they could have been able to identify any object. Including dust bunnies! I would blame how lacking their technology was, but there might be a possibility that the statue was anything but.
Making sure to be gentle, I brushed my hand against Bonnie's purple metal. To my surprise, I could feel a bit of fur. He had fur on him. I tried pressing my hand harder to feel the material beneath, but all I get was a cold feeling of metal. When I touched his muzzle, it felt pretty smooth. It didn't exactly feel like a table made from smooth wood or plastic. It didn't smell like metal as well.
"I cannot identify so far," I said, knocking the statue on the stomach. There was more of a 'thunk' sound rather than a 'thump'. "And it is definitely not hollow."
"If it isn't," said Monty. "Why can't I see that the eyes of the statue aren't separated from the non-hollow body?"
"The eyes can move?" asked Chica.
"Yeah, watch."
He came closer and placed two fingers on the eyeballs. I thought he was gonna struggle to move them, but it turned out to be easy. Funnily, he had the pupils far away from each other, cross-eyed. I snickered a little, noting how goofy the statue looked. It would be a bit scary if it wasn't so silly.
To my surprise, the eyeballs shifted around. It was as if they were trying to put themselves back into the right place. We watched as the pupils shifted around. Eventually, they ended up back together. Sort of. Too close. But they changed their positions to look right at the ceiling.
"I guess that our sensors couldn't identify its eyeballs," muttered Chica. "Well, we wouldn't want to know where it connects!"
"It wouldn't be that bad," I pointed out. "You're robots, so you've probably seen each other endoskeletons."
"Well, we can even look through a human's skeleton! Even on X-ray mode. For example, right now, I can see YOU. Pretty freaky seeing how the eyeballs connect to your skull."
I was surprised to hear this. "Wait, so you can see skeletons?"
"Yes?"
"Can you see ghosts?" I asked curiously.
Monty rolled his eyes. "No, that's Roxy's thing with looking through walls. The point is, me and the others weren't informed about the statue being here. We weren't even told if there was gonna be an additional memorial for Bonnie! Not even in our files."
Chica gasped. "Wait, so…there are no records of building a Bonnie statue here?"
I slowly nodded. "That sounds completely sketchy. Do the others know about it?"
"We haven't told Gregory or the other security guards about the Bonnie statue. Roxanne, we might need to tell her later, but Freddy, I don't think he'll take it well."
"Why's that? You know that you could even tell Vanessa, Augustina and Melody. They would want to do something to help."
Monty narrowed his red eyes with distrust. "Should I? How am I supposed to know that they don't know as well or hiding something from all of us? And would you expect Vanessa to even tell us after she seemingly convinced the manager to let you and Gregory stay here for the next few nights? It doesn't even sound right."
"But she sounded honest," pointed out Chica. "She even cared for Gregory. Who is saying that she would make risks to keep them here safely that could place her into trouble?"
"Exactly my point! Are you seeing this?!" When he realized that he was yelling, Monty sighed, his shoulder drooping. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. "...I'm sorry. The manager wouldn't have let you and Gregory stay here, Elena. And I am aware of how much our company got into messes before. It's like the workers here are keeping too many dirty secrets. I just don't want to drag people into something that could end in disaster. Freddy might be devastated since he was looking forward to performing with Bonnie before he found out that he was never finished. We already got enough things to worry about."
I would have been frightened by his outburst. When he yelled, he looked like he could get himself right into berserk mode. However, he was just…frustrated and angry at how much people seemed to be lying to him and his friends. He knew that the Bonnie statue might be devious, but he didn't want to ask directly the people who made it. They might not give him the answer.
As for Vanessa, I trusted her. However, I didn't get to know her better and she was like a mystery. Even with the way she came up with the idea of covering for me and Gregory was reckless, but we were somehow able to stay without being found and arrested. Something didn't seem right with her as well. However, she helped us stay away from the Toy Animatronics as long as possible, so I couldn't ignore that.
I found myself feeling that Monty was wearing my shoes.
"We have to tell them," said Chica finally, placing a hand on Monty's shoulder. "If Gregory or anyone else finds out, they might be in bigger danger than being told about it in the first place. If this is something concerning, then we have to let the others know."
Monty snorted. "Would they even believe me? Would the security guards try to cover that up?"
I shook my head. "They aren't the type of people to lie. If anything, they would be trying to prove themselves. And look, even if Freddy might not want to confront it, he would have to anyway to protect everyone."
He rolled his eyes, looking a bit jealous. However, his plastic eyes appeared to become clearer than before. Giving a look I never saw before. He eventually came down to a decision before nodding his head.
"Alright then," he said. "We'll let them know."
A smile formed over my face. It wasn't what I expect to happen. However, I was actually grateful that he and Chica were quick in noting any problem in the Pizza Plex instead of just being on the sidelines. That would show that all of us might have a chance to work together.
"Stay the course…"
Huh? Who was that?
"Stay…the…course…"
Popping out from the ceiling, Neptune flew towards me and back into my body. He popped his head from behind me.
"Hello!" he said cheerily. "Sorry for taking a while. What has been going on here?"
Chica blinked, surprised. "Well, just now, we were-"
"Wait," I said, holding a hand up. "Hold on."
I didn't know why, but the second Neptune splashed right into me, I could hear whispering. The silence would have been more fitting. The whispering didn't come from any of us. In fact, it was right behind me. Telling me things I didn't know or couldn't understand. However, I could sense something try to pull me from my back as if beckoning me to know the truth.
Monty's eyes widened, lifting a finger up. "Um…you two?"
I turned around, wondering what was different. First came the glow of reddish pink. Then, the image of Bonnie's eyes staring at me.
I gasped, nearly taking a step back. These eyes were pointed at me, wanting my attention. Monty was right. The statue was alive somehow.
Strangely, I could hear the statue whispering something to me. It felt quite comforting and reassuring to me. There was an unknown story it wanted to tell and without thinking, a desire to hear entered my head. I found myself wanting to understand what it was trying to say. At the same time, my head was beginning to spin. All my surroundings were beginning to blur except for the Bonnie statue. That was my focus.
"Um…Elena?" said Neptune, holding onto his head. "I'm…feeling dizzy here."
I gulped, groaning. "Me too. Do you feel the same?"
"But…what does this thing has to do?"
That was when my shaky hand reached out to touch the statue.
My head felt like it exploded as I fell backward and everything went dark. The last thing I remembered was the pair of reddish pink eyes staring right at me. But not the cutesy, cartoonish eyes from Glamrock Bonnie.
It was the large, stained plastic eyes of the original Bonnie.
AN: It feels a bit too soon to start diving into more intense horror, but I'll see how this one goes. It looks like we might learn something about our rabbit villain.
I'll admit that I might have added a bit of too many ideas for the apartment. I knew that the hostages wouldn't be spared any mercy (whether Vanny feels like it). Though, I don't really want to rely on gore, so how about body horror? The computer desk is actually inspired by the last state of the Security Breach TV on the Scottgames website. While it may have not a lasting impact, it would be there to show that everything Vanny had was gone due to an unknown outrage. And that outrage? It could be anyone's guess until we look into the Princess Quest game...
The scene of having Elena dancing alone has been something I want to have for a long time. The problem comes in with trying to fit it right in the story well. The song she listened to 'Fight Club' is applied to how she is feeling. I used description to explain her dance; as she goes along, she is starting to learn how to understand the animatronics better. After the fear of history repeating again, Elena is letting herself go. She is readying herself to fight for her new companions. She is getting herself more familiar with the others. This ties in with her following Monty and Chica.
Though, what happened to Elena? Let's just say she'll see some...things.
Thanks for reading this chapter! If you enjoy this story, be sure to follow or favorite this story, so you can get updates about this story. Make sure to review this chapter on what you think about this chapter. Constructive criticism is good as well since I would need to know what improvements I should make.
Until next time, keep on rocking!