Chapter 4 - The Daycare (Part Two)
5 days ago...
Jack hadn't come to school again, which wasn't surprising to Sarah, she understood his motives, but it saddened her deeply. She had to do something, all his friends were worried about him, she couldn't simply let her best friend rot inside his home. With that in mind, Sarah went to Jack's house in hopes of convincing him to go out, upon arriving there, Sarah rang the doorbell. "Jack? Are you there?" After a few seconds, the door opened, "Oh, hi Sarah." said Jack, "What's up? I didn't see you at school today, so I came to check on you." He avoided her gaze before speaking again. "Yeah, I'm fine, just didn't feel like going to school today." An uncomfortable silence filled the air for a brief moment, "Anyways, you wanna come in?" Sarah nodded in response.
They both made their way to Jack's bedroom on the second floor of the house, which was a total mess. "Oh please excuse the mess, I didn't know you were coming." Sarah forced a smile, "No problem." They both sat on Jack's bed, "Jack, we need to talk." The girl said in a serious tone, which got Jack's attention, "Uhm? Why?" Sarah gulped, she wasn't fond of speaking about such uncomfortable topics, but it was the only way. "Look... I know it's been hard for you since she passed away... And I understand that you want to be alone, but isolating yourself is only making you worse! Look at you, you barely leave the house, you are a total mess!" Jack frowned deeply, "Did you seriously just come here to say the obvious? I know I'm a mess!" He said in an annoyed tone, Sarah sighed, "Come on Jack, I'm only trying to help you, you need to leave this house..." Jack didn't say a word, an uncomfortable silence filled the room yet again until Sarah realized something. "Hey... Where's your dad?" She asked, the boy lowered his head and pinched the bridge of his nose as a way to deal with the current stressful conversation, "I don't know, he'll probably come back tonight." Sarah was running out of options to convince him to go out until an idea came to her mind. "Hey, have you ever heard about the Mega Pizzaplex?" "That big building with animatronics? Yeah, why?" Sarah leaned closer, "I've been there several times, it's really fun, I thought we could spend a day together there, It would be good for you." Jack was hesitant, "I don't know... It seems to be quite an expensive place and I don't have much money-" "Money will not be a problem! We could go this Saturday, what do you think?" She said, cutting him off. Jack sighed, "Ok... I'll try talking with my dad tonight about this." Sarah smiled, "Alright! I should go home, It's getting late." Sarah walked to the bedroom door, stopping before exiting. "I'll see you Saturday, bye Jack!" "Bye..."
Current time...
"Naughty boy... Naughty boy... It's past your bedtime. You must be punished." The boy stared in shock at the figure behind him, another animatronic similar to Sun, the same animatronic he saw earlier depicted as "Moon", Sun had somehow transformed into that thing. Moon did a creepy dance, jumping from one foot to another while staring deeply at Jack, "Nighty-night~" was the last thing the animatronic said before jumping and disappearing in the air, at that moment, only one thing went through Jack's head: HIDE.
He didn't waste time and quickly ran and hid in one of the playground structures, quickly reaching for his Fazwatch to call Roxy. "Roxy? Are you there?!" The Fazwatch buzzed before Roxy finally responded, "Jack? What happened?" "The lights of the Daycare went out! Sun transformed into a weird Moon thing and is after me!" Jack said, trying his best to not sound desperate, "Holy shi-, that's Moon! Alright listen, kid, you have to turn the lights back on, find the emergency backup generators and turn them on. You can find them in the play structures, I'll get back to you as soon as possible." After that, the call between the two ended, 'Generators... Play structures... got it.' The boy repeated in his mind to absorb the influx of information, he gulped as he stared at the darkness surrounding him, hearing Moon's cackle echoing in the distance, after taking a few deep breaths, he ran from his hiding spot in search of the generators.
Finding the first generator wasn't hard, Jack followed a black wire into a play structure and found it with ease, the same thing with the second generator. But finding the third one wasn't as easy, as soon as Jack found it and turned it on, he accidentally fell from the play structure and his yelp of pain alerted Moon of his location, which resulted in a very intense chase. Luckily for the boy, there was a pile of boxes nearby that he could use as a distraction, and with that, he quickly hid from Moon again. This game of rat and cat continued for what felt like hours, he continued to run away from Moon and push boxes around, struggling to find the last two generators. But eventually, Jack managed to find the fourth generator, he was exhausted, but he couldn't stop, he had to find the last one.
A few minutes ago...
Roxy had just left the daycare in search of the girl, normally this would be an easy task for her since she had special eyes that allowed her to see through walls, but after searching for a long time and getting no results, she started to get nervous. "Sarah? Come on out girl, I'm only trying to help!" She yelled with annoyance filling her voice, 'The kid could be anywhere in the damn building! I'll never find her at this rate.' Roxanne spotted Chica and Monty somewhere on the other side of the Pizzaplex, they shouldn't be a problem for now. Roxy kept searching for the kid, getting more and more frustrated with the fact that she couldn't find her anywhere, until she suddenly received a call from Jack, the animatronic sighed, 'that can't be good', she answered the call, "Roxy? Are you there?!" She tensed up as soon as she heard the boy's voice, he sounded desperate, something was seriously wrong, "Jack? What happened?" "The lights of the Daycare went out! Sun transformed into a weird Moon thing and is after me!" Roxy pinched the bridge of her snout, 'Crap! How did I forget about that creepy weirdo?' "Holy shi-, that's Moon! Alright listen, kid, you have to turn the lights back on, find the emergency backup generators and turn them on. You can find them in the play structures, I'll get back to you as soon as possible." With that said, Roxy ended the call, she left out a loud growl of annoyance, 'How can Moon be corrupted but not Sun?' But she didn't have time to question the situation.
She turned around and ran as fast as her legs would allow her to get back to the daycare, what motivated her to run so fast? Was it a concern for the boy's safety or her intense fear of failure? No, she couldn't allow herself to fail, the sole thought of herself failing at something made her sick, she gave herself a mission to get the boy out of the building and would accomplish it, she was no loser. When she finally arrived at the daycare, she was surprised to see the lights back on, which meant Jack was successful, 'Good job kiddo.' She thought to herself as she made her way inside the Place. "Roxy! I'm here!" A childish voice suddenly called for her, she turned and sighed in relief at the sight of Jack curled up in one of the Daycares corners, likely waiting for her to come back. As she approached the child, she noticed his frightened expression, he must have been through a pretty stressful experience. Roxy helped him stand up, "Jeez, are you okay, kid? You seem a bit shaken up." Jack dusted off his sweater and adjusted his glasses, "I-I'm fine, just a bit exhausted, I have been chased around this place for what felt like ages! Well, at least I managed to turn the lights back on as you said." "Yeah, good job on that." Jack looked around for a moment, "You... Didn't find Sarah did you?" Roxy's expression stiffened, she looked to the side, almost embarrassed, "No... I... I didn't find her." Jack quickly noticed her uncomfortable expression and placed a hand on her forearm, "It's okay, I'm sure we'll find her next time, right?" Her expression softened, she didn't notice any sarcasm or judgment on his voice, it was genuine, a smirk grew on her face. "Yeah... You're right kid, we'll find her."
Their conversation was interrupted by Sun, who slowly approached the duo, even though he had a constant smiling expression, it was clear through his body language that the animatronic was incredibly shocked with what had just happened, "Sun, you're okay?" Asked Jack, "I'm very sorry sunshine... There's something really wrong with Moony, he would never do that! He isn't answering me... It feels so lonely without him..." Suns' voice sounded completely different now, instead of an erratic and enthusiastic tone, it was sad and melancholic. Even though Sun and Moon couldn't be in the same space at the same time, they still could speak to each other internally. "It's alright Sun, there was no way you could know that would happen." The boy said in an attempt to comfort the animatronic, but Sun still seemed nervous, "I'm glad you're fine Jack... But you have to leave, you both have to leave." Roxy's eyes widened a bit, "What?! This is the only safe place I know of in the whole damn building!" "Calm down Roxanne... This is not a safe place for Jack, the lights could go out at any moment and when that happens, I'll lose control of my body..." explained Sun. Roxy let out a snarl of annoyance, "Where are we supposed to go then?" "I'm not sure, but I think you guys should go to Parts and Service, I have heard that the place was designed to keep technicians safe in case something goes wrong during maintenance, it should be a safe place to be until 6 AM."
Roxy placed a hand on her head, considering Sun's idea, "We should get going then, come on, let's go Jack." Jack nodded. Sun led the duo to the Daycare's exit, while on their way there, Sun placed a hand on Jack's shoulder, "I'm sorry that I'm not able to help you anymore, but please be safe Sunshine, you're a very strong kid, I'm sure you'll make through this night, you also have Roxanne on your side, don't forget that." The boy smiled slightly, "Thanks Sun, for everything." As they talked, Roxy noticed a strange piece of paper on the floor that seemed like it had some kind of drawing on it, she picked up the paper and stared at it surprised, a large smile grew on her face. After reaching the Daycare's exit, Roxy and Jack stepped outside while Sun stayed by the wooden doors. "Well, I guess this is it, thanks for the help Sun." Said Roxy, the other animatronic nodded in response. "Good luck for you two, Roxanne... Please take care of him, Goodbye." With that said, Sun closed the door to the daycare. Jack felt bad for Sun, even though they had only spent little time together, he seemed a very friendly and nice guy.
"Hey, kid." Roxy's voice suddenly snapped him out of his thoughts, "Did you draw this?" She asked, pointing to Jack's drawing on her hand. The boy instantly froze up, 'How did she find that?!' "Y-yeah." He hesitantly answered, Roxy chuckled at his shyness, "You've got talent kid, this is awesome, hehe, I guess I am your favorite." She stepped closer and ruffled his hair playfully, Jack only stared at her confused, "... You liked it?" Roxy tilted her head, "Of course! Why wouldn't I?" She stared at the drawing again, "I loved how you drew my hair." She said while running her fingers through her hair. The boy huffed and crossed his arms, "That's just a silly sketch, I can do way better than that! If only I had enough time and the right materials..." He said, clearly annoyed by his work, the animatronic placed a hand on his shoulder "Oh please, don't go so hard on yourself, you did great... By the way, would you mind if I kept the drawing for myself?" The boy's frown slowly turned into a smile, did she really want to keep the drawing? "Yeah, of course!" Roxy opened her stomach hatch, making Jack flinch a little at the sudden action, she carefully placed the drawing inside and closed the hatch. "We should get going, we can't waste time and-" Roxy stopped mid-sentence, she stared at the boy with concerned eyes, he tilted his head in confusion. "Jack, your arm..." The boy looked over at his right arm, his eyes widening in surprise at the sight of his arm covered in blood from a cut on his forearm, 'HOW DID I NOT NOTICE THAT.' He screamed to himself internally, he had likely hurt himself trying to get away from Moon, but the adrenaline of the moment made him not notice the cut. "Oh, I didn't even notice, I probably hurt myself when running away from that creepy Moon guy." "Oh no..." She muttered with genuine concern, kneeling to examine the cut better. "Does it hurt?" "Just a little." He answered, "Alright then, we'll have to stop by a medical aid station to get that arm fixed up, let's go." She stood up and signaled Jack to follow her.
After walking a little, Roxy noticed that the boy was way behind her, "Could you walk a bit faster? We are in a hurry here." "I know, I'm sorry, I'm just a little... exhausted," Jack said from far behind, Roxy looked at the kid, he was panting and seemed really tired. "Oh yeah, you must be hella tired after running so much from Moon." Jack was slowing them down, the slower they went the more likely they were to encounter danger. An idea came to Roxy's mind, she sighed, the animatronic wasn't fond of the idea, but she had no option, they had to make it to the medical aid station as quickly as possible. She approached the boy, Jack didn't even have time to react as she suddenly picked him up in her arms, "Wha- What are you doing?" he asked, "I'm carrying you? You're clearly in no condition to be walking right now." She said while adjusting the boy in her arms, "Comfortable?" Jack nodded in response, making her smile, "Good, but don't get too comfortable, I'm only doing this once!" Jack simply laughed, "Okay, okay." Jack rested his head on her shoulder plate, he decided to take that peaceful moment to finally regain his energies. If what happened back at Daycare was just a taste of the situations he'll have to face through the night, he would be screwed. Was he strong enough to endure it? He didn't like to admit it, but the place was also affecting him mentally, he's been repressing his emotions and fears ever since the night started, for how long could he keep himself together? The fact is, Jack was afraid of what the future reserved for him, he had only one ally and would have to put his trust in her to survive and to find his best friend, who was probably lost somewhere alone in that nightmarish place.
