SATURDAY, JULY 1, 2017, 8:37 AM

"You have no new messages."


As the car pulled into the parking lot of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza World, a stone of anxiety fell in Josh's stomach. For the past twenty-four hours, he'd felt nothing but anger and betrayal for being forced to get a job against his will. After all, he had so many more important things to do...like sleeping and talking to his friends on social media. It wasn't like he even needed the money right now, anyway, since his parents still paid for everything for him. But now, as he sat in the passenger seat looking up at the building looming over him, covered with tinted glass windows, it finally occurred to him how much of a big step this was out of his comfort zone. It seemed like such a simple concept: you go to work, do whatever you're told for eight hours or so, and then come home, getting paid every week. But still, he found himself thinking back to a story one of his friends back home once told him about working in a video store with long hours and little breaks. He hoped this wasn't going to be a similar experience. That would take his parents' cruelty to a brand new level.

"Ready?" Richard asked, noticing his son's silent stare.

"I guess."

"Relax. Just be polite, upfront, and honest, but not about your interests! They don't need to know about your hobbies of staying in your room playing on your phone all day."

"Sure. Whatever."

He got out, slamming the door a little harder than he meant to. Hee looked back at his father one last time, who gave him a small nod of assurance before driving away.

Josh approached the main entrance and gazed up at the building's massive exterior. Even up close, the windows were tinted so much that they were black and reflective of nearly everything in their range. The neon sign, though not as bright in the sun, was on. The face of a bear stared back down at him, its purple eyes bright and almost reminiscent. With a final breath of motivation, he entered.

Upon crossing the threshold, he was immediately struck by two complete changes in the atmosphere. One was that the intense summer heat was replaced by a burst of refreshingly cool air, one that he found to be most pleasant. The other was the tolerable sound of traffic replaced by the nearly deafening sound of music and screaming children from ahead. He looked around. He was standing in what looked like a lobby, with seats lining the walls, though nobody sat in them. There were a few plants in the corners of the room, each standing about four feet tall. Placed near the couches were a few small wooden tables.

There was a desk with a young man around his age sitting, obviously in charge of reservations and whatnot. Josh approached him and he looked up from his work.

"Can I help you?" he asked in a bored voice, which gave Josh no reassurance about his own future job.

"My name's Josh Phillips. I'm here for an interview."

The man stared at him blankly for a few moments before checking his computer. Not wanting to stare back, Josh moved his gaze around the room a little more. There was a TV on the wall above them, showing that stupid cartoon show that Olivia always loved watching. Slightly beneath that was a large picture showing the opening day of the restaurant, with a man and a woman waving to the camera as they cut the ribbon in front of the restaurant. Staring at it, he wondered what they were like. Would they be super friendly to the point of being annoying or authoritarians who were too concerned with their management to care about employees? He didn't really want either.

The young man's voice brought him back to reality.

"I'm sorry?"

"Ms. Swift is expecting you. Go right in."

"Ok. Thanks."

The young man grunted as he passed by.

Past the front desk was a hallway that went left and right, presumably to offices for the higher-ups. As he approached one of the offices, it occurred to him that the young man at the desk never specified where he was to go to wait for his new boss. He saw a pair of offices, both of which were empty. The one door was locked, though the window in the door showed that it was relatively cluttered with papers and boxes. The other door was open and showed a much neater office. The walls were pale white and the blinds were drawn but open, just wide enough to let thin streams of light in. On the desk, there was a computer, a small container for pens and pencils, and a small framed picture showing three people in what appeared to be lab coats with a label that was too small to read. In the middle was a tall, dark-haired man with a large grin plastered on his face. On the left was a woman, slightly shorter, with brown, flowing hair. She was also smiling, though her eyes had a strict look to them. On the right was another man. This man was a bit on the chubby side and his hair was combed perfectly to one side. His smile was the widest of them all like he had a genuine joy for being there.

Josh was about to set foot in the room when a loud roar from behind made him jump. It was the sound of cheering children, followed by music. Curious, he walked back to the front entrance and pushed open the thick set of double doors that led to the main room.

The change of environment was astounding. His eardrums were pounding from the sound of children screaming, laughing, and playing. There were bright lights flashing around that he found almost nauseating. On one side of the room was a small side room filled with arcade games. On the other was a small cafe area where children were seated at tables, laughing and scarfing down pizza with their parents. In the center of the room was a large, round stage hosting a quintet of singing animatronic characters, each standing about five feet tall. One was a pink rabbit with violet eyes playing stand-up bass. Another stood next to it, a white chicken with an acoustic guitar and yellow eyes. Next to it, an orange, green-eyed fox playing the accordion. Next to it was a green wolf with brown eyes playing a small, kiddie-sized drum set. The four of them were stationed on a lower platform of the stage, revolving in a circle around the center so that each one was constantly performing to a new section of kids. In the center on a slightly elevated podium was a silver bear with bright, blue eyes, singing a song about sharing and fun into a microphone and waving at its audience. Some of the kids waved back, eager to show the mindless robots their returned love and gratitude, but most of the children were too involved with what they were doing to care.

As the bear's podium, rotating in the opposite direction of the lower platform, spun to face the direction of the entrance, its eyes momentarily locked with Josh's. For a split second, the world seemed to grind to a halt, and all noise echoed away. The blue eyes poured into the brown, and a silent communication seemed to take place, one filled with a sense of unfamiliarity. In what he was certain was his imagination, he could've sworn he heard a voice come from nowhere:

You think you've got everything figured out, but you haven't the faintest idea.

A few hard taps on his shoulder pulled him from his trance and he turned around to find himself face-to-face with a tall woman staring back at him. Her face was protruding and her nose long. She had shoulder-length, brown-colored hair, giving her a more youthful look in contrast to the few noticeable wrinkles on her face, giving him the sense that she was significantly older than she wanted to appear. Most concerningly, she had menacing eyes that looked like they could find a needle in a haystack in the dead of night. As he shrank slightly in her glare, he recognized her as the woman from the framed picture he saw...minus the smile and older age.

"Can I help you?" she asked him solemnly, eying him up and down.

"H-hi," said Josh. "Um…"

"Do you have a reservation?"

"No, ma'am," he said. "My name's Josh Phillips. I'm here for-"

"Oh, right. The new recruit!" she said in a much brighter tone. "My apologies. With the major holiday coming up in only three days, things have been rather hectic around here. But that's precisely why we need all the help we can get!" She extended a hand and he shook it. "My name is Rebecca Swift, and I'm one of the owners and managers of this establishment. If you could follow me to my office, we'll get this train rolling!"

Josh nodded and followed her through the doors back out into the hallway. They followed the same path that he had just gone down minutes before. He saw the man at the front desk with his feet up and playing on his phone. That looks kind of unprofessional, he thought. Wait...is that what I look like?

She led him back into the office he had just peeked into earlier. She walked around behind the desk and sat down. She gestured to the chair across the desk and pulled something out of a folder. As he sat down, he recognized the paper as his application.

"So," she said, placing her folded hands on her desk and looking at him in a very professional manner. "From what I understand, this is your first job, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am," said Josh. "I haven't really-"

"It's not important," said Rebecca, smiling at him. "Honestly, I could care less about your work history or lack thereof. As long as you're willing to work hard and do what you're told." She leaned forward in her chair, her smile never leaving her face but her eyes returning to their original searching state. "You can do that, can't you?"

"Yes, ma'am," said Josh again.

"Good," she replied, "because we need people who know how to do what they're told." She gave a heavy sigh, similar to what his mother does whenever she lectures him. "I don't know whether or not you're aware of this, but Freddy Fazbear's Inc. has had a bit of a...shall we say, checkered past. And I'm not talking about simple things like the animatronics breaking down or the kitchen running low and supplies, although that happens quite a bit, too. We're talking about disappearances. Are you familiar with any of that?"

"No, ma'am," said Josh, though memories were beginning to stir of his mother's recent change of attitude.

"Well, supposedly there were some incidents in the previous restaurants involving children going missing."

"Missing?"

"That's right."

"Were they ever found?" Josh asked, his uneasy feeling starting to deepen.

"I don't know," said Rebecca, "but it has irreversibly stained this company's reputation. We haven't been the same ever since."

"Has anything happened yet?"

"Here? Absolutely not!" Rebecca replied proudly. "We take the physical wellness of our customers and children very seriously. We want to show everyone that the past is the past, and we're willing to learn from our mistakes and look to the future. In fact, that's our personal slogan: 'Forget the past and move on to a brighter future.' Do you believe that?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. And because of this, we also take the complete cooperation and obedience of our staff very seriously."

Josh gulped. He felt sweat begin to drip down his forehead. Rebecca noticed this and gave a satisfied smile.

"Not to worry, Josh. I don't mean to scare you. I just want to impress upon you the importance of doing as you're told. Overall, I think you'll like working here. We offer competitive pay, flexible scheduling, though not as much during busy times, and free meals."

"Free meals?"

"Absolutely. Unlike many other establishments, we offer all employees a half-hour break for every four-hour shift and a full hour-long lunch break for every eight-hour shift, where they are free to help themselves to any of the food available in our extra stock. Does that sound good?"

"Yeah, it does," said Josh, breaking into a smile of his own.

"I thought so," said Rebecca with a wink. "I know how to lure hungry boys like you in. Well, let me show you around a little bit."

She stood up and led him back into the main room.

"Well, I know you've already been in here, but allow me to show you a few things." She gestured him over to the nearby machine he hadn't noticed before. It was a monitor attached to some kind of black bulb hanging above them at the entrance. The bulb seemed to be humming slightly with vibration. "This is one of our latest technological advancements just delivered and activated last week. It's to help ensure that no one with, shall we say, rebellious tendencies can cause havoc."

"How does it work?" asked Josh, examining the mysterious buzzing bulb above them.

"It acts like a metal detector, only it's more powerful. It accounts for normal things like cell phones and keys, but..."

"...but if someone walks in with a knife or gun, it the whole place locks down?" said Josh.

"Oh heavens, no!" said Rebecca instantly. "I don't know if you've been to any active shooter training, but the last thing you want to do in that situation is locking everyone in the room with the killer. No...to tell you the truth," she said in a lower voice as she leaned closer, "it's actually for the animatronics more than anything. On less busy days, we sometimes let them roam the restaurant and say hello to kids, but we're very protective of them. Let's just say we take the integrity of our creations more seriously than you can imagine. If anything wanders outside..." She paused, taking a deep breath. "...it could be disastrous for reasons too complicated to talk about now. That's why we have the security system, to stop that from happening."

"Isn't all that a bit much?" said Josh, unsure about whether to be amazed or nervous.

"Not with our track record, it's not," said Rebecca. "Unfortunately, the police were a little skeptical about it, so we had to install a notification system that triggers an alarm down at the station. On top of that, they insisted that they be given control of the reset system to be able to lift the lockdown from the outside as well." She sighed. "So long story short, we're just going to hope that such a headache never happens, right?" She smiled.

He smiled back and nodded. "Right." It made sense to him.

"Good. Now come along."

She took him to the cafe area. "This is probably where you'll be spending most of your time," she explained, "aside from the occasional duties in the back."

"Goody," said Josh as she led him to the back area.

"This is the kitchen. As an employee, you are allowed in here, though it's recommended that you stay out of our chefs' way as much as possible."

Josh nodded and was led over to another nearby door along the back wall.

"Now, pay close attention. You are not allowed back in here. This is where the magic happens, so to speak, the place where our animatronics are built, tested, and fixed."

"You build them here?" asked Josh.

"Yes, and given some of the mishaps the franchise has had in the past, it's very important that no one goes back here except those who are authorized. We don't want to risk any accidents. This entire area is off-limits, understand?"

Josh nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

Rebecca smiled. "Good. Now come along."

After briefly showing him the arcade room, she led him to another side room that looked like an indoor playground. There were climbing structures, slides, and even some mechanical rides like the ones seen at shopping malls, only slightly bigger and more fluid, from the looks of it.

"The playroom," said Rebecca, already moving on. Josh jogged to catch up, noting how they were moving notably faster than before as if she had something else she wanted to get to.

As they walked, Josh turned and noticed a man standing over in the cafe who wasn't there before. He was uniformed and watching the chaos from afar. He was rather skinny and tall with brown hair and even a few noticeable bags under his eyes like he hadn't been sleeping well. Speaking of the eyes, they appeared to be zoned out and uninterested, watching lazily as the repetitive scene of children running played out before him. Maybe it was just the distance between them, but Josh couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by the man's presence.

"That's Chris Everett," said Rebecca, catching Josh's gaze. "He's our daytime guard, keeping out intruders and helping to enforce our rules. He's a very capable man, I admit, but…" She leaned in close and lowered her voice to almost a whisper. "He's a very strange one. His background check was fine, but there's something about him that rubs me the wrong way. He actually applied to be our night guard, but my partner and I both felt uncomfortable with the thought of him having free roam while we're not here. He's very quiet and doesn't talk much, and we always catch him lurking around during his breaks like he's looking for something. On top of all that, he took all of last week off for no reason and came back just today with a mysterious bump on his head that he probably hopes we didn't notice. Frankly, I don't trust him, and if I were you, I'd be wary of him."

Chris looked up at the two of them, noticing that he was being watched. He put on what appeared to be a fake smile and nodded at Rebecca, who returned the gesture identically.

"Well, come along, Josh," she said. "I want to go over a few more things with you."

As Josh began following her back into the hallway, he glanced back at Chris, who was now watching him intently. He shuddered slightly and turned away.

Rebecca led him into a small room off of the front hallway. Inside were lockers, tables, a coffee machine, microwave, refrigerator, TV, and even a soda machine.

"The break room," said Rebecca. "As I said before, you can feel free to help yourself to whatever you want in the fridge during breaks. You can take any locker you want. You'll get your uniforms on Monday."

"Excuse me, Rebecca?" came a voice from behind them. A young woman stood there, dressed in a plain white button-down shirt and black pants, obviously the uniform. "Um, the nacho machine is acting weird again. The button seems to be fine now, but it's still leaking in the back. I don't know what to do about it."

"No worries, Susan. We'll get it straightened out. By the way, this is Josh Phillips, our new recruit. He doesn't have any job experience, so I think I'll be sticking him with you for these next couple weeks."

Susan turned to Josh and gave him a welcoming smile. "Oh, that's nice. How are you with cleaning up ketchup stains and vomit?"

Josh's own smile faltered slightly. "Are you serious?"

"You'll find out," she said with a wink.

"Easy, Susan. Let's not frighten him before he even starts," said Rebecca, chuckling. Susan scoffed and turned and walked away.

After showing him a few more areas that held little interest for his short attention span, she finally led him back to the front lobby and desk.

"I trust you met Gary," she said, nodding to the man behind the desk, whose overall existence was unchanged.

"So, Josh. What do you think? You'll like working here?"

Before he could respond, the front door opened and a man walked in wearing a black suit and sunglasses. His hair was black (though it too looked colored) and his face was round and clean-shaven. Like Rebecca, his nose was long and protruding and there were a few wrinkles here and there on his face to betray his older age.

What are they, siblings...or something? Josh thought, but then he realized something. This is one of the other men from that photo, the man standing in the middle, although here he was standing in the flesh, much older than in the photo, his appearance complemented by a detectable smell of bleach, as though he had just been thoroughly washing something.

"Morning, 'Becca," he announced in a cheery voice.

"Morning, Derek," she said. "How did it go?"

"Great! It's a shame they don't do online orders, but it'll definitely be here by Monday."

"That's good," she said. He turned to Josh and she cleared her throat. "This is Josh Phillips, our new recruit starting on Monday."

"Oh, well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Josh!" said Derek, removing his sunglasses and extending a hand. "Good timing, too! I'm Derek Brody, Rebecca's partner in owning and running this fine establishment. We've got a lot of work to do to get ready for Tuesday. I'm sure Rebecca told you, but since this is our first Fourth of July celebration, we've got to be ready for a double workload. Tell me...are you any good with installation?"

"Uh…" Josh said, his mind grinding to a halt. He thought back to one of his computer classes last year when he had to watch his teacher fix the computer he was using for an assignment by swapping something out for a replacement. Nothing the teacher had said about the parts made any sense to him at all.

"I'll take that as a no," said Derek, chuckling. "Not to worry. It's rather simple. We're getting some new safety straps delivered on Monday, which were not as easy to find as you would think. Trust me. We're putting them on some of our rides out there. They're supposed to be more resilient, better at keeping kids from falling off and hurting themselves. They come with instructions and are pretty easy to put on. Think you'll be able to handle that?"

"Yeah," said Josh.

"Good to hear," said Derek as he turned back to Rebecca. "Any incidents to report?"

"No," she said. "We had a minor issue with the nacho cheese machine clogging again, but not as bad as last week. I had Terry get on it."

"And how about our little adventurer?" asked Derek. "Has he finally come back from his week off?"

"Yes," said Rebecca. "I've already warned our new recruit here to be careful around him."

"Good," said Derek. "Nice enough guy, don't get me wrong, but there are too many things about him that don't seem right."

"So, why did you hire him, then?" Josh blurted out without thinking.

Derek and Rebecca exchanged concerned glances, obviously not sure how to put it, when Derek spoke.

"Because there's nothing that says we can't. He may be a suspicious character, but he has no convictions or anything else that makes him any less qualified for the job. Legally, we can't not hire someone just based on those suspicions or else they might sue us and create more trouble for our franchise, which is the last thing we want given its track record."

"But do you believe he's actually dangerous?" Josh asked as he thought back to his mother's worries. He still wasn't completely invested in the entire thing, but his curiosity was starting to grow.

"Honestly, we don't know," said Rebecca. "In fact, since you seem to be so interested in him, you think you could maybe keep an eye on him during your shifts? Not spy on him, perse, but just let us know if you see anything?"

Josh was at a loss for words. He hadn't even begun his job yet and he was already being recruited to keep watch over someone suspicious. It was certainly an interesting job interview, to say the least. He nodded.

"Very good," said Rebecca. "Yes, I think you'll do nicely here, Josh. We'll take good care of you." She gave him a smile.

He smiled back, though he felt slightly unnerved by the strong look in her eyes as she did so. She was nice, and he certainly liked that, but it always made him feel a bit uneasy whenever someone other than his girlfriend back home expressed that much affection for him. His mother always did that and it was embarrassing.

"Well, we'd better get back to work," said Derek. "We've got a two o'clock party reserved and it's a big birthday party, so we'll need to get things set up."

"Oh, yes. Duty calls," Rebecca agreed. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Josh. I look forward to working with you. See you on Monday."

"Yeah. See you."

She gave him one last wave as she and Derek walked back into the main entertainment room, engaged in deep conversation about something.

After about fifteen minutes of waiting, his father came and picked him up and they began the drive home.

"So, how did it go?" he asked.

Josh shrugged. "Fine. Got the job."

"Good!" said Richard. "I'm glad. I know this is a big step for you, son, and you may not realize it yet, but this will be good for you in the long run."

Josh rolled his eyes at the life-lesson speech. Yeah, yeah, yeah...he thought. The more he pondered life working at the place, the more he began to ease into the adjustment. The screaming kids were definitely a big disadvantage, but the pay really did seem decent and the promises of good food during lunch was a plus, not to mention there was something interesting about that one girl, Susan. The way she smiled at him, assured him that she would help him get through his first week. While he had no intention of going any further than a friendship with her given his floundering long-distance relationship, the thought of working with someone as kind as she was comforting.

They arrived home to find Emma's rental car gone. He remembered that his mother had mentioned wanting to meet with someone, a potential client who happened to live nearby. Josh went straight into his bedroom, anxious to pull out his beloved phone and begin several hours of checking social media and conversing with his friends. However, something was different this time. Rather than wanting nothing more than losing himself in technology and escaping reality, something about the restaurant stuck with him. That man...Chris. Josh could still clearly see his face, nearly every detail. There was something about that face, to say the least, that he couldn't quite put his finger on. At first, he seemed like nothing more than a miserable worker who was just wanting to get from day-to-day and pay the bills. Once Rebecca and Derek brought up their suspicions, Josh couldn't help but see something new in his memory of that face. There was a distinct look in those eyes, a look that betrayed a sense of secretive knowledge like he knew something sinister that others didn't. It was honestly kind of creepy, and Josh involuntarily shuddered at the thought. But perhaps it was just his pre-first-day nerves getting the better of him.

Evening came quicker than anyone expected and Josh trudged downstairs for dinner. The smell of grilled chicken with baked potatoes and butter was enticing. The others had already begun eating.

"How was it, Josh?" his mother asked him as he sat down.

"It was okay, I guess."

"How's the restaurant?"

"Fine. It looks like a pizzeria, with pizza, kids running around screaming like maniacs, and a bunch of singing robot animals."

Emma watched her son carefully as he spoke, listening with great attention to every word he spoke. She was about to ask another question when Olivia interrupted.

"Ooh! Can we go? I wanna see!"

"Calm down, 'Liv," said Richard. "Maybe sometime next week."

"Cameron's going!" she retorted. "There's a big party on the Fourth of July! Cameron told me about it. He's going! Can we go, too? Please?"

Richard and Emma looked at each other. Emma was still clearly concerned; the look on her face was undeniable. Kendall glanced curiously between his parents. He'd been meaning to ask them about it as well, mainly out of interest, but Olivia had beaten him to the punch.

"We'll see," said Richard, not taking his eyes off of his wife. "Mommy and I will talk about it later."

She continued to give her husband a nervous look but nodded. They certainly would discuss it later.

As dinner ended, Kendall and Olivia both went off to their bedrooms and Richard went to make a phone call with one of his business partners. Josh found himself having to help his mother with the dishes as part of his agreement to help out around the house more.

"Josh," she finally said after a few minutes, breaking the silence that had fallen between them until that point. "Be honest with me. When you were at the restaurant, did everything seem, you know...safe?"

Josh hesitated, pondering how he could say something believable and reassuring. "Yeah. I mean, some of the animatronics looked a little rusty, but…"

"What about the people?"

"Lots of 'em, loud, chatty…"

"No, I mean…" She sighed and set the plate down that she'd been washing. She turned and looked at her eldest son dead in the eyes, making him grow uncomfortable. It reminded him of the first look he'd been given from Rebecca.

"Was there anyone there who seemed kind of, I don't know, suspicious?"

Chris's face popped back into Josh's mind, and after his hours of social media had begun settling his nerves. Still, there was no way it could be true. It had to be a coincidence. Besides, they weren't the only ones who'd be working there. There were other employees, too. If Chris did happen to be some kind of creep, surely the rest of them could put a stop to it, right?

"Not really," he said.

She watched him for a few moments and then sighed once more, turning back to the dishes. "Okay. I'm sorry about being like this, but I never liked that place or any places like it. It just seems like a good place for something bad to happen."

Josh stopped drying the plate he'd been working on and thought back to their first day at the new house. He suddenly remembered his mother talking "quietly" with their father about children who were killed. But Rebecca had only said that they were missing, or so he thought. Everything in the interview had happened so fast he couldn't remember every little detail.

His mother thanked him for helping with the dishes and he walked up to his room. However, this time, his phone remained buried in his pocket. He sat down on his bed and thought about what life would be like working at this restaurant. He found it genuinely unnerving that this place had a history of child kidnappings and murders. Perhaps that was the key to his mother's concerns.

But that can't happen. This is a new place with greater technology, right? There's no way any of that can happen again, can it?

He thought back to Chris once more, that unsettling look in his eyes that gave away the impression that something weird might be going on.

It's gotta just be my imagination. I mean, he's a guard. That job sucks. He was probably tired or something. Maybe that bump on his head was from getting out of his car. I'm just getting paranoid.

As the sun finally set and his parents began another argument below, he got ready for bed, placed his headphones on his head, and drifted off to sleep.


A/N: I know it's been a bit of a wait, and unfortunately, I can't really promise that it'll get better, but I'll certainly try to keep from any super long absences. I hope you're enjoying it so far, especially since introductions are out of the way and things can really start now.