Thanks for reading the last chapter but you should note that these chapters will come out inconsistently because my free time is inconsistent. I am just an amateur writer who is more talented in math and science so let me know what I can do better. If you didn't already know from the description this is a AU from the original "Fourth closet".
Once again I am saying that I do not own any FNAF ideas, Scott Cowthon owns all of those.
"Speach"
Thoughts
'Psychic speech'
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Chapter 1: secrets
Charlie drifted in and out of consciousness, still greatly injured. She was aware that she had been moved several times by now, and she felt she was laying down on a soft seat.
The memories came flooding back to Charlie, of how a man coming to the aid of what he thought was a young woman, backed away in fear. Then the shock of what looked to be a metallic endoskeleton under her skin that was torn away. It was a scene straight out of a horror movie.
It must have been some terrible nightmare, It's not possible for a human to have a metal body. She thought, but wasn't sure what was real anymore.
The sound of someone opening a door focused her attention. She quickly noticed that she could not move except for her eyelids. When the brunette opened her eyes she surveyed that she was in the backseat of a car. Charlie recognised the car.
It's aunt jen's car Charlie deducted.
Aunt Jen was sitting in the driver's seat of the car fumbling to find the car keys. The woman had short gray hair, glasses, and a dark colored shirt. After Charlie's father died, aunt jen had stepped in as Charlie's guardian. She taught Charlie to be ready for the harshness of the world, to be independent.
When Jennifer found the right keys, turned on the car, then revved the engine. She put the car in drive and they were off. Still unsure of what was happening Charlie looked out the window, and saw that they were leaving a junkyard.
Thinking that Charlie wasn't able to hear her, Jen said to herself "Why did you have to go looking for trouble Charlie, I thought you would have learned after Freddy Fazbear's."
They drove into the night, passing small buildings. It was another few hours before they came up on the sign that said "Welcome to silver reef". Aunt Jen had moved there for reasons still unclear to charlie. Eventually they came up on a gate with a gold star on it, signaling the home of aunt Jen. Her home was rather small and rustic, but still homely enough to live.
The car stopped, and the gray haired woman got out and to the back door, opening it. Limited to only observing, Charlie watched as Jen hoisted her over her own shoulders. The middle aged woman kicked the car door closed and moved to the house door.
The house had seen better days, but living in a ghost town reflected poorly on the remaining decaying building. Jen set Charlie down briefly to unlock and open the door, and slowly put Charlie back onto her shoulders. The brunette watched her aunt maneuver through the house to a back room where the older Emily set down her occupant carefully on a workbench, and went over to rummage through some boxes. Aunt Jen had started pulling out tools and supplies for reasons unknown to charlie.
The back room was filled with mechanical parts that Charlie recognized with alertness.
Why does Aunt Jen have a bunch of animatronics parts? She always said to stay away from fazbears. Charlie thought confused, once more trying to move unsuccessfully. And why can't I move?
Talking to herself, Jen said "27 punctures, heavy structural damage, and not an inch of synthetic skin ripped. You have really outdone yourself this time Charlie, I might likely have to go out and buy a few gallons of fake blood from the costume store just to replace the blood lost." The middle aged woman sighed to herself "Maybe someday you will be ready to learn the truth, I won't always be there to fix you every time you get a cut. Until then I just have to keep powering you down to do my repairs."
You could see the pain of hiding secrets plain as day on her face.
What truth are you talking about Aunt Jen? And what did you mean by keeping me powered down? Charlotte pondered, but in the back of her mind she began to piece the puzzle together. Why she had a perfect memory of her childhood, why she hadn't aged in 2 years, why she never got sick and healed so quickly.
While the girl in a green jacket pondered this, Jen had gotten a scalpel out and walked over to where charlie was, once more having a one way conversation "First let's work on the areas with the least damage"
The middle aged woman picked up Charlie's left arm, which was slightly torn from being crushed between the Nightmare Freddy chest plates. Jen brought the scalpel up to the damaged skin, Charlie mentally winced, preparing for the imminent pain, but there was none. She looked back at her arm, and noted that her aunt had cut off all torn skin, but she felt no pain.
Then she saw it, underneath her skin was a robotic arm. It looked more advanced than any animatronic endoskeleton Charlie had seen.
It wasn't a dream, I do have a metallic body. The younger Emily thought, What am I?
After the gray haired woman discarded the shredded skin, she took out a roller with what looked like skin on it. She cut off an amount and measured it to Charlie's arm. Once the skin was placed Jen bandaged it on, then repeated the process with other torn areas.
Jen looked over the punctures, concluding "Lucky enough for me none of the main hardware was damaged. Most importantly the Ella doll still seems to be intact. After I get done with bending some of these plates back into place I'll call it a night."
The older Emily worked long into the night, repairing Charlie's broken "body".
Does this mean that I'm not real, I am some kind of machine built by my supposed aunt Jen to have someone to care for? Was any of my family real? The brunette wondered, If I am just a machine, what is my purpose?
"Aunt" Jen finished her work on charlie, she had managed to replace all hardware and internal systems. A good five or six months of work and Charlie would be ready to resume the normalcy in her life. At least that is what the mysterious aunt intended.
When Jen turned in, she left the broken body on the workbench to ponder the revelations it had overheard. Charlie decided that when this was all over she would have a long "talk" with Jen, if that was her real name.
OOO
The gray haired woman had worked tirelessly bending back the twisted inner structure to its former shape then bandaged on the fake skin to mesh back together. It had taken six months and had been laborious due to the complexities of the machine that even Jen didn't understand. But by some miracle she managed to do all the necessary repairs.
To Jen it was worth it, because to her Charlie had always been her niece, the one who she had raised.
All the while Charlie watched, she recognized the craftsmanship of her father. But she did not understand some of the components. Once she saw a blueprint of herself, and was confused why she had a doll acting as her main processor.
Over those months, Jen had talked to herself about how she missed her brother and his family. She mentioned Charlotte and Sammy a handful of times, but the way she worded how she talked about how Charlie was a wonderful child only added to the uncertainty.
If I'm not the real charlie then who is, and what happened to her. Charlie wondered, Afton said that he did not take Sammy, he took me. Does that mean that Charlie is still alive? Mom left when I was young, she could have taken Sammy with her.
Currently Jen was finishing up, by removing the bandages. Under the bandages pulled off was smooth unscared skin. Charlie once again looked like a real person.
"Now that the repairs are complete it is time to reboot your system. You should wake up in a couple hours, see you then" Jenny said, connecting a cable from a computer to Charlie's USB port on her neck. You could only reach the port if you knew where it was and how to access it, normally it was hidden well by skin.
Jen put in a command on her computer and unbeknownst to her, the mechanical brunette drifted off to sleep.
"Hopefully, we can get rid of that fake charlie that has been masquerading around. I can't believe that she has fooled so many people already." Jen sighed "If there is a reason for her sudden appearance, it most likely is for malicious intent."
OOO
When Charlie opened her eyes she was in her old home again, in her fathers workshop. Everything was back to the way she remembered, the scattered parts and tools, prototype animatronics, and no holes in the walls. The door to the room opened and her father stepped in.
This must be a dream. Charlie thought, still unable to speak. But why am I here?
Her emotions turned from confusion to shock when a smaller charlie walked in. She had to be around 6 years old at the time. The girl wore little overalls, and had cute pigtails going out from her head., and carried a lolly pop that was a bit too big for her, not that she cared.
She was once again confused, but horrified when she could also see through the eyes of the young girl, and saw herself.
She remembered when she was a youth the strange animatronic doll sitting on her fathers work bench that looked like her. Unlike the other machines in the room, the doll's gaze always felt warm and friendly, almost alive.
"Charlie, what do you have there?" the girl's father asked happily.
"A lolly pop!" The six year old exclaimed, to then take another lick from her treat. "John's mommy said that if we didn't get into trouble while we played she would get us some candy."
"Well that was very nice of her, did you tell her thank you?" the brown haired man questioned.
"Uh huh. Hey daddy, why do you always have to be working on your machines?" The small Charlie said.
"Well Charlie, I have to make a living somehow, think of all the other joy I can give to other children with my work. You will understand when you grow up." Henry said with a smile on his face, but the angsty teen could see the sadness he hid behind it.
"When will I grow up daddy?" asked the small child.
"Soon Charlie, soon enough. Why don't you go outside and play, I will join you shortly." The brown haired man said.
He went back to working on his machines as the young Charlie went out the same door she came in, giggling to herself
Henry looked back at the teenage Charlie, currently in the doll.
"Yes Charlie, you will be a grown up soon enough." He said. His eyes were filled with sadness, and tiredness. But for a brief moment, Charlie could almost see a spark of hope in his eyes.
OOO
Aunt Jen went about her house doing her normal business, waiting for her niece to "wake up". When she was just about done she heard a knock at the door. She opened the door just a crack for safety and saw her niece's friends.
What do I tell them? Jennifer thought, I should try to play it cool, they don't know that the Charlie out there isn't their charlie.
"Aunt Jen?" John asked meekly, stepping back instinctively before he could stop himself. He recognized her, but standing face-to-face, he felt almost as though they had come to this house at random. Jen tilted her head, her dark eyes fixing on him.
"I'm someone's aunt Jen, yes," she said drily. "But I don't believe I'm yours." She stayed where she was, one hand on the door frame and the other on the knob; she was blocking the entry as if she thought they might try to force their way in.
"I'm a friend of Charlie's," John said, and a ghost of an expression flickered on her face.
"And?" she said.
"I'm John. This is Jessica," he added, realizing she had not yet spoken. Jessica would usually have jumped in as the social director, but she was leaving this to him, looking back nervously as though she suspected someone was creeping through the dark. John glanced back at her, and she gave him a little, encouraging nod to go on. "I'm here because I got a message," he said. She waited patiently, and John took off his backpack and took Theodore out; Jessica reached forward to take the empty bag, and he held the rabbit's head up. Jen showed no surprise, only curling her lip slightly.
"Hello, Theodore," she said calmly. "You've seen better days, haven't you?" John smiled reflexively, then hardened his features. "Shining Star, Silver Reef," John said, but Jen didn't react. "I have to say, this is a strange place to call home," he said, though what he wanted to say was, You owe us an explanation. "A message." She looked at Theodore's head, then looked accusingly over her shoulder, though all that was visible behind her was a dark hallway.
"Did you want us to come here? I don't understand," John pressed. "Why don't you come inside," Jen said, stepping back, then closing the door with haste as soon as they were inside. The house was spare: the furniture was dark and plain, and there was little of it. The walls were thick with layered wallpapers, rich with vintage designs from decades past, but there was nothing hanging on them, though John saw nail holes and marks where decorations had once been. Jen ushered them through a living room with only two chairs and an end table, into a small room almost entirely filled by a square, black-stained dinner table. There were four matching chairs, and Jen pulled out the one closest to the door, then sat down.
"Please," she said, gesturing to the other chairs. John and Jessica made their way around the table to face her, as she stared into the middle distance.
"So, is this where Charlie grew up?" Jessica asked awkwardly as she sat down.
"No."
"So, then you moved here recently?" John asked suspiciously, refusing to believe someone would select this house by choice.
"How is Charlie?" Jen said slowly, having been forewarned about the doppleganger. "Did she know about the message as well?" Jen made a discreet glance at the window behind them, then focused back on John.
"No," John said plainly. Jen nodded; she was still staring into space, and he had a sudden but profound impression that there was something in the room that only she could see.
"We want to help Charlie. Is there anything going on that we need to know about?" Jessica asked, and Jen snapped to attention.
"Charlie is my concern. She's my responsibility." Jen spoke with an air of pure self-assurance, and something in it must have struck Jessica: she straightened, lifting her chin to match Jen's posture.
"Charlie's our friend, she's our concern, too," Jessica said.
There was silence, and John flicked his eyes back and forth between the two women, waiting. A long moment passed, the two of them staring at each other, immobile, and John realized he was holding his breath.
"Jen," he said, plunging in. "A friend gave us pictures someone had been taking of Charlie, and of us." He unzipped his backpack, and that noise snapped Jessica and Jen out of their staring contest. He pulled the pictures Clay had given them out of their envelope, leaving the film, and placed them in front of Jen on the table. "If you want to take responsibility for Charlie, look at these and tell me if they mean anything to you."
She began going through the stack, peering intently at each photo, then putting each aside, making a second, neat pile of discards. "Why don't you ask your detective friend what they mean?" she asked.
"Because last night our detective friend was nearly murdered," John said. Jen didn't respond, and continued her methodical progress through the pictures. When she had gone through all the pictures, she looked up at John. Her expression had softened slightly; the hostility had given way to something else, a discomfort, and fear.
"Is this all?" she asked. "Is there anything else?" She cleared her throat. "He said something before he lost consciousness."
"And what was that?"
John looked at Jessica briefly, then back to Jen. "'It has to have a range. It has to have a maximum range.'" He looked at her expectantly, but she showed no sign of recognition.
"I don't know what that means," she said. She put her chin in her hand, staring down again at the first picture in the stack, then she shook her head. "I know you mean well." She leaned back in the wooden chair, looking from John to Jessica and back again. "I should tell you to go away, to forget her. All these years …" She trailed off, then gave each of them a piercing look. "Secrets petrify you. You harden yourself against the world to keep them safe, and the longer you keep them, the harder you become. Then one day you look in the mirror, and you realize you've turned to stone." She smiled sadly. "I'm sorry."
"You're not going to tell us anything? We're here to help. We're Charlie's friends!" Jessica insisted.
"If I didn't plan on telling you anything I wouldn't have anything to be sorry about," Jen said, her mouth almost forming a smile. John collected the photos to put back in his bag.
"If you have something to tell us—do it now, or we're leaving. I may not know much, but I know that girl isn't Charlie, or she is under some kind of influence." He waited for a response, but none came. "She isn't herself," he added, sounding more desperate than before. Jen looked up at them: her rigid face had broken, tears were in her eyes.
A knock came from the front door, and even Jen startled. She looked to the door, then back to John and Jessica. Her face was grave. "That way," she said in a voice barely above a whisper, pointing down a narrow hallway. "Close the door behind you." The knock came again; John touched Jessica's arm and nodded, and they got up from the table, careful not to let the chairs make noise as they dragged across the floor.
The hallway was dark, the only light coming from the room they had just left, and John kept a hand on the wall for balance. After a second his eyes adjusted, and he could see an open door at the end of the hall.
"John, come on," Jessica whispered, grabbing his arm briefly as she brushed past him and hurried into the room.
The knock came again, much louder, and they both jumped. This time they could hear Jen's footsteps walking toward the sound. Jessica bent and pressed her ear to the keyhole. "Do you see anything?" John whispered. The front door creaked as it opened.
"Charlie," John could hear Jen say. "What a nice surprise." Jessica twisted around in her crouched posture.
"Charlie's here?" she said, scarcely whispering, and John shrugged.
"Aunt Jen, it's so wonderful to see you again," Charlie's voice came through faintly, but clear. Jessica stayed where she was, listening for more, but John was restless, and he looked around the room.
They were in a bedroom—at least, there was a bed—but it was mostly filled with cardboard boxes and old-fashioned wooden trunks. John stumbled around them for a moment, then froze, looking as though something had just occurred to him. He knelt quietly and opened one of the chests, moving slowly to make no sound.
"John, what are you doing?" Jessica whispered angrily.
"Something isn't right here," John breathed, glancing at the door. "Come on, this might be our only chance to find out what she's up to." John shuffled through some of the papers in the first chest, then closed the lid and flipped up the top of a nearby cardboard box: It was filled with computer parts and mechanisms he didn't recognize. A second and third held massive tangles of electric cable. "This looks like stuff I'd expect to find in Charlie's room," he murmured to himself.
"Shhh!" Jessica hissed, pressing her ear back against the door to the hall.
"What's going on out there?" John said under his breath. "I can barely hear anything." Jessica shook her head.
"Let me know if you hear someone coming." John looked around the room again and noticed a silhouette of someone, or something that was sitting up on a workbench. As his eyes adjusted, he recognized the figure. He shuddered, as he fell back, and pushed himself away.
"Jessica," he gasped, moving back to the chest and leaning over it.
"Shhhh!" Jessica hissed from the door, listening intently.
"Jessica."
"What, John? I'm trying to listen."
"It's … it's Charlie," he said hoarsely.
Jessica looked back, and gasped as she saw just who was there.
She looked at just how they remembered her, same purple shirt, jeans, and green jacket. She had a look of happiness upon seeing them, then sadness. Charlie herself had been awake for a few minutes now and didn't have anything to say as the words had escaped her.
"...John, …Jessica are you really here?" She finally asked, in a raspy voice that had not been used in months.
"Charlie, Is that you?" Jessica asked, more confused than ever.
"Yes, why?" The brunette questioned.
John and Jessica looked at each other.
"If you're the real Charlie, then where have you been, and who is that talking to your aunt Jen out there?" John spoke, and Charlie gave him a strange look.
Just then they heard a blood curdling scream, and Charlie recognized its source.
"Aunt jen" Charlie said in fear.
With minimal awareness of what was going on she looked around for any sort of weapon, before narrowing on a small taser left on a desk. Jen kept it there for self defense. Whether it was because she was the only occupant in town, or to keep herself safe from Henry's property was unclear.
Charlie got up, quickly grabbed the taser and said "I don't know what is going on but I have to protect my aunt, follow me."
"Wait Charlie, we need to get out of here as fast as possible, whatever that thing is that is hurting your aunt is too dangerous." John started frantically, but Charlie didn't listen as she unlocked the door and stepped out, her friends reluctantly followed. John didn't want to see Charlie get hurt again but she was currently the one with the taser.
When Charlie rounded a corner she saw her aunt pinned up against the wall by the neck. The thing responsable had its back turned, and appeared to be a slightly taller brunette in a red dress.
She heard her aunt wheeze, before just barely audibly saying "I've always …loved you …Charlie."
"NO!" Charlie said, filled with rage. The red dressed woman pulled away, and raised her arm so she could deliver her final blow to Jens stomach. At that same moment Charlie rushed at her, taser in hand. Charlie plunged the taser into the mysterious woman's arm, which had a resounding ZAP! noise.
"AAAAAAH!" screamed the woman in pain, as she fell back. As the red dressed woman fell to the ground she seemed to blur, then change into what looked like a red haired clown with pigtails. Charlie looked at it for a few seconds before it transformed back to how it looked before, only she saw its face, it was her face.
Charlie had no time to think, she looked back at Jen who wasn't moving. She rushed over to check for a pulse, there was one but it was weak. The young Emily put jens arm around her neck but found that her aunt was too much for her to carry.
"John, help me pick her up." Charlie asked. John sucked up his panic at seeing the doppleganger, and put Jens arm around his neck as well. With the help of Jessica to open the door to the house they ran down the hill towards Jessica's car. They quickly laid the gray haired woman across the back seat. Sound the time that she started to regain consciousness.
Up the hill, the red dressed woman had fully recovered and was running at inhuman speeds towards the car just at the base of the hill. Jessica rapidly tried to start the car, when it came alive she quickly put it in drive and sped off just as the Charlotte impostor was within a few meters from impact. They all sighed in relief.
Jen sat up, "why am I still alive" she contemplated aloud. She flinched upon seeing Charlie right next to her but assessed it was not the same charlie that was squeezing the life out of her moments ago.
"What happened?" Jennifer asked anyone.
"Charlie saw you being choked by that …other charlie, and tasered her before she could hurt you anymore." John said, from the passenger seat, with an unreadable expression.
The older Emily looked back to her Charlie, "You should have left me, you all should have ran. Now that monster knows that you can't be fooled by her illusions anymore. She will try to kill anyone who stands in her way." she stated grimly.
"But I could not leave you to die, you are the only family I have left. I can't lose you too, you raised me," Charlie started with mixed emotions, before whispering into her aunt's ear. "And right now you are the only one who really knows what is going on, I want answers, please."
"Alright, when we are safe, I will want to know what you know. Then I will tell you everything" The aged woman said softly, her heart melting under the clear distress her niece was trying to hide.
Jen coughed before continuing "I don't think I can carry on this conversation much longer, I am feeling pretty drained. You should know Charlie that no matter what happens, no matter what people may say about me or you, I love you, and nothing will change that." She said with tears forming in her eyes, Jen hugged her niece, and Charlie hugged her back. The gray haired woman then fell asleep from exhaustion.
"I love you too, Aunt Jen." Charlie said with tears forming in her eyes. The car drove into the night away from the danger, as the niece and aunt embraced each other.
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Thank you so much for reading, and sorry again for my writing inconsistency. I hope at least someone is enjoying this as much as I am writing it. Please leave a message on how to write better, because once again I am just an amateur writer.
