A/N: Hi all! I'm a little late; yes I know. Unfortunately, I'm sick lol, so I couldn't really focus on anything for the past week. I sure hope that you'll like this chapter anyhow! :) It's slightly shorter than the others, but I think it was perfect for what I wanted to display here.
Prepare for some angst! (we love that over here).
I'll see you in the next chapter! Reviews, follows and likes are super appreciated by the way, thank you guys so much for supporting me! :)
FNaF: Dearest Friend
Chapter IV: Are We Still Your Friends?
A reality outside of reality. Father would have called it that, would he not? Mother would have simply said it was a bad dream, and that he needed to go back to sleep, but Evan knew he was in too deep this time around.
For some reason, he could not remember what brought him back to his room. The last thing he recalled was… his brother, lifting him up to the stage. Did something happen after that? Did Father catch Michael in the act and stop him before something terrible would unveil? Evan blinked his eyes and stared at the flashlight in his right hand, tears flowing down his cheeks. He knew what this meant… His little monsters, the ones haunting his dreams, were back to claim whatever was left of him.
Could he push them back with that headache?
Evan looked up when he heard the left door creak. He caught sight of a glowing red eye in the slit of the door, and stepped back toward the bed. He did not feel like running… But did he have a choice? He had tried yelling, crying, hiding in the past— the monsters would always catch him. As if they knew that he was all alone.
A blue hand, coated in torn fur, grasped the door and pushed it open, inch by inch, under Evan's horrified gaze. He brought his flashlight closer to his chest, shut his eyes hoping the monster Bonnie would leave if he did not look at him, and gritted his teeth. He sobbed under his breath, listening for the heavy footsteps of the animatronic to his left, which he knew was approaching like a predator lurking around his prey.
"You're not real…" Evan muttered, and he opened tear-filled eyes on the animatronic rabbit standing in front of him, his claws inches away from the little boy's face. "Father said… You're not real… You're just a monster…"
Nightmare Bonnie tilted his head to the side, and violently bit his head off.
.oO0Oo.
William passed a hand over his face, stared at the pile of paperwork sitting in the office, and groaned under his breath without a word for Henry on the phone. It was pretty late at night already, and he had signed up for the night shift— just for good measure, to ensure that none of the animatronics or arcades were stolen while the restaurant closed its doors. Although Henry had suggested taking the shift this time, considering the circumstances and the mess that had become William's living nightmare, he had declined that offer— "I assure you Henry, I'm doing fine," he had said.
He had always been a terrible liar.
In reality, the night shift represented… an escape. When he was working from twelve to six, he did not have to worry about going home and greeting his oldest son, which was good, since he could not handle the mere sight of him after the incident. He could tell that Michael was trying to make it up to him; he was taking care of Elizabeth, handling the chores, bringing home good grades that he had never bothered to reach before.
However…
William sighed, sinking into the office chair. He listened to Henry ranting about their next projects— the ones William wanted nothing to do with for the time being— and rolled his eyes when he asked him if he was listening. "Unfortunately, I still haven't figured out how to mute this phone."
"Ah, well, I'm glad?" Henry replied with an uncomfortable laugh. He cleared his throat when he was met with nothing but silence, and continued ranting for a little longer while William checked the security cameras.
"HI!"
William jumped and turned to the right doorway, glaring at the beaming rabbit standing there, with her arm lifted in a wave. He slumped his shoulders, allowed his heart to calm down, and went back to checking the cameras. "Spring Bonnie, what a treat."
"You look lonely in here," Spring Bonnie noted, making her way inside without waiting for him to invite her.
She made her way to the back of the room, rummaged through a couple of the boxes that had been shipped the previous day, and pulled out a strange-looking Fredbear mask. It had a slimmer outline, and a dull brown color with bright blue eyes. She tilted her head to the side; when she thought about it, it looked a lot like it belonged to that Freddy character in that other location. What was it, Freddy Fazbear?
William spun around and folded his arms. "Curiosity kills the cat."
"Good thing I'm a rabbit— Is this for Freddy?"
William nodded.
With a little pout, Spring Bonnie tilted her head, and her right ear twitched. "So, nothing for us? Henry focuses a lot more on Freddy's nowadays… Do you think he's going to discard us?"
William raised an eyebrow, wondering what she was on about, and Henry cleared his throat. As soon as she heard his voice on the phone, Spring Bonnie's ears dropped. She wore guilt on her mask just as well as any human being would: her eyes widened, her mouth gaped and she seemed as though she wanted to disappear into the tiled floor below her.
Henry paused, and William took advantage of his momentary silence to cut the call. He turned his back to Spring Bonnie once again, checking on Fredbear's position— unsurprisingly, the bear was glaring at him from the corridor leading down to the office. William shrugged; he was not going to come closer, there was nothing to worry about.
Spring Bonnie cleared her voice box and chuckled nervously. "Y-You could've told me that he was listening… That was embarrassing…"
"It was really embarrassing."
"Hey!" Spring Bonnie pouted, though she pushed herself to her mechanical feet. She made her way to William's chair, stood behind him with her eyes focused on the still image of Fredbear. "Oh, is he going to come say hi?"
"To me? No."
"I can tell him to come over—"
"Don't," William sighed through the nose, shaking his head. He clicked on another camera, one filming the surroundings of the restaurant, just to make sure that nobody was hanging around the location.
Spring Bonnie followed his gaze, as though coordinated with his movements, and placed her hand on top of his when he was about to click on CAM 03. William clicked his tongue but did not comment on it, only leaning back in his chair and letting her do his job for him.
The animatronic turned off the screen, much to William's surprise. "Now… Can I ask you why you're still here?"
"I'm working, as I'm sure you should be able to tell."
"William, your family is waiting for you at home. Why don't you hire someone to do it?"
That question irritated him. She watched his relaxed expression distort into mild anger, and raised her eyelids. She expected him to yell at her, to tell her to leave the office and stay on the stage until the next morning; instead, William sighed and turned his face away from her, while he tapped his foot on the ground.
"This is a distraction."
Spring Bonnie's ears jerked up.
"I don't want to go home. Don't you see? I spend my days working here for a reason… I can't handle seeing Michael."
The animatronic rabbit frowned, but allowed him to continue without interruption.
Fredbear crept up to the window.
On the other hand, William dipped his head and teared up, his hands shaken by a light tremble. Part of him wanted to express the feelings he was keeping locked within, but… he remembered the conversation he had with Henry; how he claimed he could not relate to him, and thus was not going to try to. Would Spring Bonnie say the same? After all, she was one of his creations… A robot could not understand deeper feelings such as loss, grief and rage, could it?
Spring Bonnie sat in front of him, messing with the pile of paper to her left. "I saw Mike yesterday, he was looking for you."
"I know."
"He feels really bad," Spring Bonnie sighed, looking up at William when the man stood up from his chair. "He wants to make things right."
William snorted. "Does he? He's the one who hurt his brother, and now he wants to make up?"
"I don't think he realized—"
"BULLSHIT!"
Spring Bonnie's ears twitched at William's tone, though she did not appear scared of him. She sat in front of him, folding her arms against her chest, with a look that he recognized to be determination. She wanted to get her point across, but he would not let her. He would not let her justify Michael's actions, because then… what would his anger and feeling of injustice latch onto?
William clenched his fist, shutting his eyes. He needed a culprit. His emotions had taken the best of him… and he needed someone other than himself to blame for it. Michael was supposed to watch over his siblings while William was working; that was the reality that they had to deal with ever since… Claire had left the house. The fact that Michael had taken advantage of William's trust to torment his little brother, to the point he ended up in such a freak incident was unforgivable.
And William would make sure his son remembered that.
Spring Bonnie shifted and walked toward the corridor. "You've lost one son… Don't lose the other, I know you'd hate yourself for it."
"All of this is Michael's fault."
"Is it?"
Spring Bonnie glanced at William and smiled. He recognized that gleam… And he hated her for it. How could she even think about blaming him? William was a father; he had bills to pay, he needed to work in order to sustain his family. Of course he never really found the time to watch after his children— why would that be his fault?
Without another word to feed the argument, Spring Bonnie bounced her way out of the hallway and met up with Fredbear. The animatronic was sitting on the edge of the stage, staring into space while he threw his microphone in the air. He caught it when Spring Bonnie stepped up to him, and glanced up with his bright golden eyes.
Spring Bonnie bent down to his level.
My friend, she thought as she attempted to smile at the bear ahead of her, resting a hand on his cheek. It's worse than we thought.
.oO0Oo.
Michael sat next to his brother's bed, ignoring Father's glare. He sighed and dipped his head, holding his brother's hand in his own as he looked at the machinery connected to his arms. All night, he had relived the scene, and wished that he could have snapped out of it before tragedy struck…
However, while he could not help what he had done in the past, Michael had chosen to make things right. To atone for his mistake, no matter what it cost him… And for that, the first person that he needed to please was Father. After all, he had trusted him with the care of his younger siblings… And Michael had, once again, broken his trust and used it against him, and against Evan.
Evan's hand tensed up, and Michael looked up at once, hoping to see his brother's eyes shoot open— even if that meant he was in pain, he would take it. Father also stood up, approaching the bed from the other side, though Evan did not seem to come back to his senses. Michael trembled, avoiding Father's glance at any cost, even if he had to stare at his feet to do so. He could not cope with Father's hatred… not in this setting.
Michael teared up when Evan's hand relaxed again. "I'm sorry…" he whispered, sobbing under his breath. If Father heard him, he would tell him to leave the room, and he refused to abandon his little brother another time.
Father glared at him. "Michael."
"I'm sorry, Evan… I'm so sorry…"
Father took a step forward. "Michael, let go of your brother's hand!"
Michael was about to snap at his father, but realized that he was crushing Evan's hand in his tightening grip. He quickly pulled back and stood up from his chair, frightened of his own reaction. He looked at his hands, cursed under his breath and ran into the corridor to calm down, while Father watched over Evan.
He had almost broken it… His grief burned through him like an endless flame, devouring his every thought, tearing him apart from within until nothing remained of him but the sour pain of watching his brother die away. They knew Evan would not wake up, although Father claimed that it was still a possibility— perhaps it was his way of coping with the incident. Michael, on the other hand, did not know how to cope with it; he felt a constant weight on his shoulders, crushing him with guilt whenever he spoke up.
That feeling was only made worse whenever he would meet Father's figure.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry, Evan!" Michael cried out in the corridor, pacing.
He barely recognized the nurse pulling him by the shoulders, lost in a sea of suffering and internal torment. He could not live with himself… not after what he had done.
Michael's eyes shot up when he heard a loud beeping noise coming from the bedroom behind him. It lasted long… way too long, and worry overpowered the teenager who stormed into the room without a care for the nurse talking to him. He watched, helpless, as the device connected to his brother's arm displayed a flat line spread across the screen. That beeping sound became louder, overwhelmed him and he fell to his knees, his head between his shaky hands.
Father leaned forward, pulled Evan in a tight embrace before he began shaking him. Although everything was a blur, Michael could tell that his father held his brother by the shoulders and pulled him up, then pinned him to the bed repeatedly. Michael's eyes went back to the flat, red line displayed on that screen, his heart pounding in his chest.
A handful of nurses and doctors rushed past Michael, one of them pulling Father away from Evan while the others talked between themselves. He could not make out what they were saying, though he recognized Father's voice when he spoke up.
"I will put you back together… I promise you."
Michael slumped his shoulders, defeated by the weight of his own actions, and the drastic consequences they had brewed. Although he wanted to curl up on the ground and cry until he had no tears left in his body, the teenager gasped and froze upon seeing Father's figure looming over him.
"You better pick yourself up before I do it for you."
To be continued...
