Begin Prompt in 3, 2, 1…
"Who am I to judge?"
Prompt: How could anyone forget about Ennard?
I really should've been expecting something to go wrong. I haven't worked the night shift since the accident and I would've never agreed if I didn't think it was all under control- and, you know, if I didn't need the money. But how was I supposed to know it wasn't?
Chance gave me a list. Nobody's ever given me a list of animatronics before. It was detailed too, saying where they would be and how to stop them from getting in the office. It all seemed so professional.
Not to mention that I know you've been working the weekends down there, willingly, so I guess I just thought it was going to be a little easier... It was triple what I make for an hour on the computer. I can't really turn down that money if I want to get my nest egg back. You never know when you might have an unexpected surgery and be off your feet! Or, uh, foot.
So, I went in at about eleven forty-five, got settled in the office, went over the list, and everything seemed like it was going good. I know you probably know this, but early in the week only half of the animatronics get restless. The others are there, but they don't really do anything. I remember I checked Pirate's Cove two or three times and Foxy didn't move an inch.
All seems good. I'm watching the vents, I'm watching the ducts, I'm watching the halls, and I... I really overestimated my abilities to do this. Maybe back before the accident I could've handled it, but it was getting on three or four in the morning and I was just drained. They were starting to get closer too.
The turning point was when Chica- that broken down Chica- started to wedge itself through the upper vent in front of the desk. She got about halfway through and got stuck, but she wasn't really stuck. She could wiggle a little and I knew that eventually she was going to get herself out and... You get it.
It didn't help that I had Orville and Mr. Hippo tag teaming the ducts. I couldn't get the heater to turn on and they were just right there, right about to drop in, and then- I didn't know what I was doing. I really shouldn't have been down there, Mike. I'm not like I used to be. I just couldn't do it. So, I realized I needed to leave the office.
The plan was pretty basic but in hindsight pretty impractical. I was going to run down the left hall- because none of the animatronics that were usually prowling there were active- hide in the closet and try to hold out until six. Then the elevator would be working again, and the animatronics would all go docile. Again, in hindsight probably wasn't a good idea, but I was desperate.
The second Chica starts getting herself loose, I jump up from my chair, sprint down the hall, get into the back, and dive into the closet. The one with the door. Now before I continue, I want to bring up this list again. This list told me exactly which animatronics would be moving around, so I checked to make sure each one was accounted for and out of the left hall before I ran down there.
...Except for one problem. Chance forgot to mention one of the animatronics, and I just somehow never saw it once on the cameras. So, I ran into what I thought was an empty closet, and ran right into this- this endo-... It was a clown. The long and short of it was it was a bunch of wires wearing a clown mask.
Honestly, I think he must've been as surprised to see me as I was to see him, because we just stared at each other for a few seconds. Then there was this loud bang down the hall-... You know, thinking about it now, it was probably Chica falling into the office. Heh, that's actually kind of funny.
But I wasn't laughing then, because suddenly the clown jumped at me. Or really, he was jumping to shut the door, but then he got me against the door with his wiry hand over my mouth, cause I would've been screaming. Then we were just standing there. He has me pinned, I'm just about to faint, and he's looking around frantically.
Then he must've heard something that I didn't. I was distracted with, you know, the wires in my mouth and the six-seven foot clown standing over me. But he must've heard something, because suddenly he grabs me, yanks me in really close, and drags into the back of the closet. He's holding me against him with my mouth covered again, staring at the door.
It was the strangest thing I've ever felt. I don't know how to describe it. All the wires were shifting and rolling, and they were smooth and warm- like when computer cords get warm. He had this shape on his chest that looked like a bow, which I noticed because I was shoved into it.
And right when I start trying to push away and am about to fight, I hear something out in the hall. It was this dragging noise going down the hall, then a laugh, and then I hear this... Shrill, high-pitched, psychotic sounding voice. It said- excuse my impression here- but it said:
"Where'd you go, Buddy? Come out, come out wherever you are!"
So, at first, I assumed it was calling for me. I knew it was that Molten Freddy that usually stays in the vents and I remember seeing it earlier, before Chica lodged herself in the vent exit. It could've followed me down the hall... But then I noticed how the clown was acting.
It's hard to say what an animatronic looks like it's feeling, because they don't really show emotions, but it looked nervous. Its eyes were moving all around, it was shaking, it was holding me tight. Not like I was its prisoner, but like I was a stuffed animal it was holding onto. Almost like he was using me as a shield. He was scared of Molten Freddy, and Molten Freddy was looking for him, not me.
...I guess I never really considered that they might hunt each other. Especially when this clown- I know you've seen this clown. This clown dwarfed Molten Freddy. This clown could eat Molten Freddy in, like, five or six bites, but he was terrified.
Thankfully, Molten Freddy didn't hear us... Or maybe he just couldn't reach the doorknob. Either way, he kept on leaving, and as soon as it gets quiet the clown starts to let me go. I tried to go for the door, but he, I don't know, slid in front of me and blocked it. Not really aggressively. Not with how it was staring at me. It just didn't want me to leave. I don't know if he was protecting me or himself.
I was stuck in that closet for about two hours. It wasn't until after about a half an hour of just sitting there that I tried talking to him. I had to take my mind off how uncomfortable I was, so I just started to talk about things. You know: "I'm not the usual night guard", "Funny story, but I used to work at Freddy's", and I mentioned the leg, because of course I did.
And he was just silently listening. I know he was really listening too, because I actually got a shudder out of him telling him about how they had to pretty much scoop me out of that old suit. It was kind of weird, but it was... Nice, maybe? People don't usually listen to me.
It was only about four-thirty when our luck went sour. Something found the closet and started trying to get in. The clown was holding it closed, but the knob would've come off. Funny enough, it was only right then that I realized that I had the keys to lock the door... Don't give me that look, you weren't there. Anyway, crisis averted.
Whatever it was kept banging on the door after that. I don't think it was Molten Freddy, because the clown didn't act as afraid of whatever it was. I mean, it had me back in the corner, shielding me with its body, still shaking as we stood there. I think that's when I realized that he wasn't going to let them get me. He wasn't just protecting himself anymore, he was protecting me too.
Almost like he heard all that stuff I said, processed it all, and somehow got attached with me because of it. I don't know. Maybe I'm reading too much into it. Who gets attached that fast, am I right?
I can't remember much of what happened between then and six. We sat down and I think I might've fallen asleep for a while. Woke up tangled in his bow wires with my watch alarm ringing. Turns out I survived the night! Even if I pretty much spent the whole thing locked in the closet.
The clown sort of calmed down too. He wasn't twitching as much as earlier. So, I tell him, "It's six o'clock. The others calmed down, the elevator's working, I've got to go home." He's just watching me, so I get up, get my keys out, and right as I'm about to unlock the door, he speaks.
Now, it was the first time he had said anything all night. I didn't even know he could speak, so I was so startled that I dropped the keys. His voice wasn't like the others either. It was... Broken sounding. Raspy, kind of pitiful. That was kind of everything about him, really, and he just looks up to me as says:
"Ta-a-ake meee with yo-ou."
...Mike, I'm... I think you already know this, but I'm not a normal, rational person anymore. Not if I was willing to go do that nightshift at all. My life is mostly me making calls and typing on the computer. Other than you and maybe Fritz, Jeremy, I don't have friends or family. I'm alone.
And I'm just as broken as that busted clown hiding in the closet. The only difference is that he was hiding from the others and I... Well, I was hiding from them too, but I think I hide from everything now. I'm scared to live and I never feel safe. And still, somehow, I felt safe enough to fall asleep in there, sitting with that broken clown.
So, uh, yeah. Head's up: he's not in the vents anymore. Or the closet, so, uh, you don't need to keep an eye out for him. If Chance asks- I doubt he'll remember- just say you don't know where he is. Hopefully for the both of us, he doesn't remember him.
Not sure how someone could forget a towering clown made of wires, but who am I to judge? I mean, I'm the one keeping him in my guest room. I don't really have any place to talk.