Author's Note: Enjoy! Also, be warned, this chapter does include the death of a child.
January 8, 1979
Will gazed out the window, feeling just as gloomy as the weather outside. Dark, grey clouds brought a steady rain throughout the day, chilling the air and marring what should have been a pleasant, if not slightly chilly winter day. He traced the path of several fat raindrops as they slid down the car window.
He and his father sat in complete silence as his father drove. Normally, car rides with his dad were fun, the few times it happened anyway. They would talk and laugh like always, his dad pointing out all the strange shapes in the clouds when they got stuck in traffic. Today was not one of those days. His father seemed incredibly tense, his hands gripping the steering wheel as though it were a life raft. He would only occasionally look at Will through the rearview mirror.
Will did not know what was going on, only that his dad seemed upset, which was becoming increasingly common. Both of his parents were like that lately, and maybe that was why they fought so much. He was old enough to know that things were not right between them, though he never understood the reason why. Mostly he kept to himself when these arguments happened, taking his little sister, Elizabeth with him so that she would not hear too.
She was still too young to fully get it, or at least, she knew even less than he did. Being only six, she hardly noticed what was happening as Will dragged her to the nursery to play. She never liked that. The room used to be only Elizabeth's, but now she had to share it with the new baby. She no longer liked having to play in this room. The baby was too noisy and it did not feel like her room, she would complain. It was better than being out there listening to their parents fighting, Will thought.
The drive continued in agonizing silence. Will did not know what to say, or if he should say anything. Eventually, he started to recognize the neighborhood. They were going to Freddy's Pizza. "Is one of your robots broken?" he asked, knowing that trips to the pizza place often meant his dad was on a repair job.
His father looked up. "No...no, that's not what this trip is for. It's...well, there's some other business I need to take care of."
"Oh…" The silence resumed after that.
They arrived and Will eagerly headed for the door, but his father stopped him. "I need you to wait out here," he said solemnly.
"Why? I wanna watch Freddy and them while you take care of business. It's raining out."
His father got down to a knee to meet him at eye level. His face looked worn and much older than Will remembered. And his eyes seemed red and puffy like he had been crying. "Look, it's just that things might get a bit loud in there. I don't think this is going to be a friendly visit, and I don't want you to see it."
"Is this about Elizabeth and Michael?" he asked. "I heard you and mom talking about them last night. Are they not really my brother and sister?"
He bit his lip, looking up at the sky. His father seemed to have the wind knocked out of him. His voice quivered when he spoke. "I want you to know that I love your brother and sister very much, just as much as you. Things are just...complicated right now. I love your mother too, and I know she loves me. It's just hard right now because of a few things. My boss right now is one of those things. I have to fix it so that I can fix us. That's why I need you to wait out here for now. Understand?"
He nodded, not sure how all of this made sense. He knew that some of mom and dad's fights were about Mr. Miller, though he did not know why.
His father smiled weakly. "Good. Hey, if you want to see Freddy, we'll go down to the workshop after this, okay?"
"Okay…"
His father gave him a pat on the shoulder, standing up. "Good. I'll be out in a minute."
Will waited patiently under the awning of the restaurant, trying to stay dry. He could see the inside of the restaurant from the windows. A birthday party was going on. Kids seemed to be everywhere, running across the dining area heading to all the cool, new video games. A mechanical Freddy bustled between tables, providing cake and singing a birthday song to the tables.
He thought his dad's robots were the coolest. They were like real-life cartoons walking around. And everyone seemed to love them. Will was never entirely sure, but he always thought one day, he would like to make these just like his dad. Of course, his father had told him that, in a way, he had created one. Freddy was meant to look like his favorite teddy bear growing up.
In the corner, he could see his dad. He was very angry-looking, shouting at Mr. Miller, the owner. Will shrank back from the window. He had never seen his father like that. Even when his parents fought, they never got that angry. He wished things could be back to the way they used to be.
Rain seemed to be pouring in buckets now, he thought. He tried turning the windshield-wiper up higher. They only seemed to crawl at a slightly faster pace. Stupid, ugly car, he thought. Buying this bucket of bolts was a horrible mistake. Then again, not like he had a lot of choices. Throwing dough at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza did not make a lot of dough. He chuckled at the thought, knowing that the truth hurt. Still, he really just could not afford anything decent, so he had to settle for this ugly, purple, scrap heap. When the guy had shown him this monstrosity, he was certain that something so outlandish had to have been some pimp's car being sold on the cheap. He had forked over the cash, though, knowing this was the best deal he would get.
He hated going to work in the rain. He hated going to work at all these days. Ever since that "accident" with Evan back over the summer, they had gotten rid of the spring-lock suits for good. Not that he ever liked them to begin with, but now without the suits, they gave up on hiring entertainers altogether. The walking animatronics would take care of the job. As a result, he had been moved to the kitchens, and he hated that even more.
"Serves you right," the voice in his head thought. "Had you not done anything to Evan, you might have gotten to keep that job."
Well, not like he needed the job anyway. Walking around in that clunky suit had never been fun. Still, he missed being part of the show, making kids smile.
He should have been thankful he got to keep any job at Freddy's. At least, that's what Dr. Sanderson would have said. Like slaving away in a hot kitchen making the same five varieties of pizza all day was living the dream. Then again, he did not have too many other skills to get any other jobs. So, he had to be satisfied with grumbling his way to work.
He pulled up to the restaurant, noticing the boy standing at the front, his nose practically pressed up to the glass. He thought it was odd, this kid just standing out there in the rain. More importantly, he noticed how sad this kid looked. He looked as though this was the last place he wanted to be, as if he were in the wrong place. The kid looked like he belonged at a funeral, not a kids' birthday place.
His heart broke a little for the kid. Perhaps it was because he saw a little piece of himself in him. He remembered many a day when he had to just entertain himself, dreading having to come home to his angry father. This kid was him, he realized; lost, alone, forgotten. He looked over in the passenger seat of his car where he had started keeping the stitched rabbit costume. He could fix this.
Will watched the birthday party going on inside, thinking about how one day that could be him. That could be their family again if dad really did mean what he said about fixing everything.
He felt a prickle run down his skin. Maybe it was the chill dampness from the rain, or maybe it was seeing the purple vest reflected in the window. He jumped a little when he saw the man in the yellow rabbit costume standing behind him. It was something about the creepy smile and those dead plastic eyes that made him feel uncomfortable. Will did not think that there were people in animal costumes that worked here, only his dad's robots. But he had to have worked here. No one would wear that costume just to walk around town. Besides, the costume had a Freddy's nametag on it.
"Heya, kid!" the man in the costume said in a goofy voice. "Whatcha doing out here all by your lonesome? Don't you want to be inside where the party is?"
"I'm supposed to wait out here for my dad," he said obediently. "We're going home after he comes out."
"Aw, shucks. You're going to miss out on all the fun. It looks like they're just getting the cake out. You like cake, don't ya?"
"Yeah, but we're not here for the party anyway." He looked down at his shoes.
The bunny man got closer, leaning in. "What's the matter, kiddo? You look sad. At Freddy's we make all frowns turn upside down."
Will looked back at the window, his dad still shouting at Mr. Miller. "It's just cold out here," he lied. "And I'm getting kind of tired waiting in the rain."
He looked back to see that the man was right behind him, staring in that same direction, watching his dad fight through the window. His body seemed tense after that, one of his yellow paws clenching into a fist. But then he looked back at Will, still acting like a cartoon character as if everything was fine.
"Well, you shouldn't be standing out in the rain like this. You'll catch a cold. Hey, I know! How about you come inside with me, and we'll wait for your dad. I'll see about even getting a slice of cake for you."
Will thought about it. He did not want to disobey his father, but he had been standing out there for quite a long time. He knew his father had told him that he did not want to hear the argument, but he was pretty sure the noise from the birthday party would drown it out. It did not seem like the other kids had noticed.
"Okay," he said with much hesitation. "I don't want my dad to be made that I came in."
"You're getting inside where it's safe and dry. He won't mind." He took Will's hand and started to lead him down the back alley instead of through the doors.
The hair on the back of Will's neck immediately started to stand up. This did not feel right at all. He suddenly remembered all those talks in school about strangers. He felt stupid he did not realize it before.
The man led him to a door down the alley and started fumbling with some keys. "This isn't inside Freddy's," Will spoke up. "You said we were going inside where the party was."
"This is the back door," he replied. "This is where we have our backroom. You can stay there. It'll be like having your own private party."
None of this felt right. He started to back away. "No, I want to go back to waiting for my dad."
"Aw, you don't want to talk to me?" the bunny man pleaded. "I'm lots of fun. I make kids happy. That's my job. Besides, you don't really want to go back to that mean, awful father of yours, do you? It's okay to be sad or even mad about him. And you can tell me all about it. I want to help you."
"No!" Will shouted. "I want to go back to my dad!"
Something snapped in the man. Faster than he could move, the rabbit grabbed him by the throat, slamming him against the brick wall of the alley. Will thought he literally saw stars. Something felt wet running down the back of his neck, but he hurt so much to know for sure.
"Dad doesn't love you, Billy!" the rabbit man snarled, the cartoony voice gone. "He never did, and he never will. He'll just treat you like garbage, just like me."
Who was Billy? Never once had anyone used that nickname with Will. It did not matter now. Will was trapped, and he tried to do the only thing he could: scream for help. It was hard with the man's thick gloved hands choking him, and his screams seemed to set the man off more.
"Shut up!" the man yelled, thrusting him into the wall again. "Shut up, Billy! Dad won't love you, so stop acting like you're so damn special."
With each word, the man pulled him back and slammed Will's head again. He could not scream after the second hit, and by the fifth, everything had gone dark.
His head always hurt after these fits of rage. No longer seeing red, he started to settle down. It was not exactly easy to take calming breaths in a hot animal suit. But as he came back into reality, he noticed the crumpled body of the child in his hands, those hands still clenched tightly around his neck as his head lolled over to one side, showing the exposed damage to the back of the boy's head.
He wanted to vomit, knowing better than to do that in the suit. Memories of a lazy day at the creek started to flood back into his mind. It was just an accident, he thought. The kid had freaked out and he panicked. Just an accident… If he hadn't been so loud… It was his fault. He did not deserve his dad's love… Thoughts started blurring the lines of reality for him, and thinking straight became even harder.
Eventually, one thought did finally hit him: what if someone found out? He had to put the body somewhere. He had to hide it until he could figure out what to do. In the dumpster? No, they'd look there first. He could take it with him, just call in sick and hide it far away? That could work, but what about all the blood? He saw some of it was dripping down onto the rabbit paws. That would be hard enough to clean up. He finally decided to hide him behind the dumpster. Not like anyone could tell it was him, even if they did find the body, not like he had left any evidence.
He heaved and shoved the dumpster out, sliding the small body along the wall. "Why'd you have to be such a pain, Billy?" he said. "Life would have been better if you had never been around." He shoved the dumpster back, ignoring the sound of crunching bones.
Author's Notes: Okay, so you are probably realizing just how far off script I'm going with this idea by now. Remember, when I first came across this idea in the Steam forums, only the first two games were in existence. And up until FNAF 4, this idea could have held some weight. By the time I started writing it out, though, Sister Location threw a bunch of wrenches into this idea. No problem, I took it and still ran with it. I get it, Cawthon had his story to tell, and I would tell my version of it. FNAF 6 is when things got far too complicated to handle and I had to pull this one off the market until I could go back to the drawing board. This story is still very far from what the canon story probably is, but it is one that I was finally able to work out. So, there you go, first big reveal. Afton is not the killer and his own son becomes the first victim. "But wait..." I hear you saying. Well, you'll just have to wait for more surprises until next time.
