A visit to the Afton family is paid in which Matthew meets the man behind the future slaughter.


A little creepy but benign.

Matt could imagine that most people would be ecstatic to be transported in a world where their favorite works of fiction are real, but that wasn't the case for him. Maybe if he had been sent to a comic book world instead, then he would've been excited to meet his favorite heroes, but here? No, this particular place wasn't one filled with wonder and joy. Soon, tragedy would strike Hurricane and he was the only one who could hope to prevent any of it. He hadn't received any form of guidance from some higher being when he came here a day ago. All he had to go off of was the fact that there must've been a reason for his kidnapping, a reason he thought to have figured out. Matthew was an avid fan of Scott Cawthon's horror series, he had been there since its inception all the way back in August 18th, 2014. He grew up watching MatPat's lore videos, he was there for the livestream where Scott updated his website with the cryptic messages that led to dream theory, and he was there for FNaF's eight anniversary. He could confidently say he knew the games inside and out, and their lore better than most other people. And that was the reason he was here. Whatever had brought Matt here expected him to use his knowledge in order to save everyone. And even if that wasn't the case, he couldn't care less. That's what he was going to do.

The first important thing he had to accomplish before that, however, was to establish a timeline so as to be able to prepare and know what to expect and when. To do that, he needed to compile all relevant lore and then attempt to piece it together. So, after the movie had ended, the boy had told Charlie that he was tired and felt like taking a nap. With her being the golden-hearted angel that she was, she had asked him if he was okay and he'd responded with "All of that shopping drained me, y'know? I just need to go to sleep for a little while and then I'll be fine.", not before faking a yawn. Admittedly, he felt pretty bad for lying to her since she was simply concerned for his well-being, but he couldn't allow anyone to know what he'd be up to, lest they think he was insane. That was the reason why he had locked his door when he'd gotten into his room.

Afterwards, he picked up the thickest notebook Henry had bought him, and began writing down all the lore presented in each game starting from the first one. He'd even gone as far as to include Phone Guy's calls during each night, the reason being that they presented crucial information that he couldn't afford to forget. He remembered someone saying that you weren't a true FNaF theorist of you didn't memorize all of Phone Guy's calls, but he wasn't sure who had said it.

Meh, probably someone on Reddit or whatever, he had thought.

It was a good idea to write down all of his knowledge. It had helped refresh his memory and kept him preoccupied for a couple of hours. Doing so allowed his mind to not constantly bring up his family every five minutes, as he had more important food for thought, a fact that had made him feel immediately guilty for thinking. He hadn't even noticed how much time had passed since he had begun writing. He had started at four and it was already seven PM, meaning that he had spent his entire afternoon, or what had remained of it after two movies, noting down lore. He'd gotten a headache because of it but at least he had managed to finish everything up until FNaF 4. The most troublesome part had been writing PG's dialogue, especially for the third game, since there was so much of it. It'd been difficult recalling it at times, but by racking his brain he'd been able to remember it. He even went the extra mile and added a few theories for each game that answered some questions, like the Phantom Animatronics being created by illusion disks, or the Shadow ones being previously killed employees, that last one probably wasn't true since agony was a thing in the lore but he didn't care.

Not that those would be relevant, anyway, since it wasn't even close to 2023 or 1987, but still, it'd been fun. The nostalgia brought him back to a time when the only thing he'd do all day was browse through subreddits, reading theories and discussions. Those were great times…

Matthew shook his head to rid himself of the reminiscing. He closed the notebook and got up from the desk. Now he had to figure out where to put it so it would never be found. He looked around in his room, searching for good hiding places. He dismissed the most obvious ones until his eyes finally landed on the bed. An idea popped in his mind. He went over to the bed and sunk his arms beneath the mattress. He struggled to lift it up, his arms were too tiny and devoid of muscle. He dropped the mattress back down. Letting out a sigh of frustration at his body's lack of strength, he clenched his teeth and tried again. He didn't need to lift the whole thing up, only a part of it so that his hand would be able to fit through the opening and place the notebook on the thin wooden planks. Seeing as how he was going to fail a second time, he placed his upper body between the mattress and the bed, resulting in a very humiliating position that had only his lower body and right arm sticking out. He reached blindly towards the nightstand, searching for the notebook. It took him a few seconds to find it, after which he placed it on one of the planks at the upper right corner of the bed for ease of access. He coughed a little from the dust as he got out.

Now that that was done, it was time to exit his room so Henry and Charlie wouldn't worry too much about him. From the smell he got as he was walking down the stairs, he assumed Henry was making dinner. Lucky timing, it seemed, as Matt was quite hungry and could use the change of scenery from his room that smelled like fried brains.

o0o

It turns out Henry is a pretty talented cook, even if at first glance the man doesn't look it. Dinner had been pleasant, if a bit tense. It was clear that neither Charlie nor Henry was used to having someone else at the table, it was just the two of them most of the time, except for when the Emilys and the Aftons had a get-together. Matt and his family would talk about all sorts of things at dinner, but here he didn't have enough information about either of them to start up a conversation and they seemed to have the same problem. While eating his food in silence, the boy had caught a peek of the calendar that was hung on the wall, right next to the fridge. The date was March, 1981. He couldn't see exactly what day it was but it didn't really matter. Now he knew exactly how much time he had before everything started going downhill, and he had plenty.

With the new piece of info in mind, Matt continued to remain silent, not really minding the peace brough by social anxiety. He was sufficiently familiar with it that it didn't bother him nearly as much as it used to. He was content to finish his meal in silence until Henry broke the ice by telling him that he thought it'd be a good idea to get to make some friends. When the boy asked him what he meant the man responded by saying that it'd be nice if Matthew got to meet the Afton kids and since Charlie was already friends with them, she could introduce Matt to them. The girl quickly agreed with her father, saying that it was a great idea, not before adding that only if it didn't make Matthew uncomfortable.

As Henry awaited Matt's answer, the boy got the feeling that the two of them had talked about this while he was "sleeping". Well, he didn't mind it, and he had to meet the Aftons eventually. Better get acquainted early on so that he can have as much time as possible to build trust with the kids, so that when their deaths would inevitably come, they'd trust him if he told them they were in danger. This was something very important that he had to accomplish in order to have as many chances as possible of saving them. If he could befriend all of the children then it'd be more likely for them to trust him when they would eventually be lured by William to the backroom. But there were a couple of problems with that plan. For one, Matthew wasn't the most social individual and he wasn't confident he could get so many people to trust his word over that of a seemingly friendly, harmless golden rabbit. Furthermore, that idea was simply the beginning of a draft of a plan. The boy needed to really think his plan through if he wanted to reach his goal. He couldn't just get fixated on an idea and expect it to work. He needed to foolproof his plan as much as possible, and for that he needed time, time that he fortunately had plenty of.

I'll have to make multiple plans so that if one fails, I can use another. Say I'm unable to befriend the kids and I'm not invited to their birthday parties, then I could steal the keys to all of the employees' rooms so that William wouldn't have any secluded area to lure them to. But if I'll be staying with Henry, then I won't even need an invitation to show up at a restaurant. And then there's another thing. If I successfully stop the MCI from happening, who's to say that William wouldn't just pick random kids off the streets to kill? I mean, his murder ground was always the pizzerias, but that was only because no one suspected anything, if he's unable to commit his crimes in those then he'd just find some other place and then everything would go to hell. I'd have no way of predicting who his next victim would be and I couldn't keep my eyes on him. I can't watch him 24/7 or be everywhere at once. But if he plans to murder in the restaurants then I can just be there when he's there and keep him from luring kids away. I'll have to ensure he thinks it's safe to kill in the pizzerias while also stopping him from doing so. And then I'd also become a target if I wouldn't already be one. The guy's a smart man, he'd figure it out that I'm unto him and then he might try to kill me first because I suspect him. I guess I could just say that I really like it at Freddy's and that should be a good enough excuse to always be there, but then how I would be able to monitor all the other restaurant? I might have to let someone in on what I'm doing… Ugh, I'm thinking too much again. I'll cross those bridges when I get there. No sense in pilling up ideas so soon. I'll take my time to sort through my thoughts.

Henry noticed the boy was deep in thought and cleared his throat, causing Matt to stutter and accept his proposal. Henry then asked if tomorrow was a good day for the visit and he accepted once again. Charlie rewarded his response with a happy smile, which he had shyly returned. She suddenly seemed very excited at the fact that Matt was going to meet the Aftons. The boy supposed it was a little exciting that he was going to be meeting the famed Afton family, but that also meant he'd have to meet William, something he wasn't fond of, at all. A chill went down his spine at the prospect of being face to face with that man. The fact that he was the only one who knew of the man's true colors made it even worse. Matt being here changed things, and he'd have to watch his own back very carefully if he wanted to save the others. He had to survive first in order for the others to do so too.

Well, I don't think I have anything to worry about tomorrow… Yeah, nothing bad is going to happen. Henry and Charlie will be there too. I'm just going to be introduced to the Aftons and nothing else. Plus, it's going to be a great opportunity to see just what kind of man William Afton pretends to be.

o0o

The car ride to the Afton household took a while, since it was located outside of Hurricane. Henry had to take the highway then exit it and go along a very nonsensical, thankfully paved road. The way the road curved and twisted for seemingly no reason made it seem like it had been designed with no actual thought behind it, almost like it was part of a videogame. One thing Matt had to admit however was just how beautiful the car ride had been. Seeing the sun shining across the clear morning sky while surrounded by nature was an alleviating experience, bringing Matt a sense of tranquility that the boy was very grateful for. It helped prepare him for what was to come.

It was as if the road had been made to specifically lead to the Afton residence, a house that the boy had to recognize as being in a very nice place. It was all alone in a clearing, surrounded only by a couple of trees. Just behind it was a dense forest that overlooked the town of Hurricane in the distance. The house itself was what you'd expect, a quaint, two-story home with blue walls and a red rooftop. It was bigger than Henry's, but that was to be expected since there was a family of five living in it. There was nothing else that made it especially remarkable compared to the other houses Matt had seen throughout the town. No doubt was it so secluded so that William could do whatever he pleased without anyone being the wiser as to what was going on. If he suddenly decided to kill his own kids, they'd have no one to run to for help…

As he got out of the car, Charlie wasted no time in grabbing his hand and taking him to the front door, making Henry call out for them. Her excitement at the thought of Matthew meeting the Afton kids was palpable to both the boy and Henry. While coming here, Charlie had told him all about her two best friends, Elizabeth and Evan Afton, and assured him that they would all get along great. She hadn't talked as much about the oldest sibling, Michael, only telling Matt that the boy could be a bit of a jerk sometimes and to not let it bother him. Well, Matt knew what to expect from Michael, seeing as how that boy had no trouble tormenting his younger brother to the point of accidentally killing him in a so-called "prank" that would've otherwise traumatized Evan for life, had he survived.

Charlie ringed the doorbell, eagerly awaiting a response. A couple of footsteps were heard as whoever was going to answer them approached the door. The footsteps themselves weren't rushed or slow, but rather elegant in a way. It seemed weird, but from the sound of it, it seemed like whoever was coming had an almost calculated way of walking… Matt blinked a couple of times. He was already reading too much into things. He couldn't afford to get stressed and seem more vulnerable than he already was in front of the man known as William Afton. The boy sucked in a breath to steel himself. He needed to make a good first impression, not because he cared about that sort of thing, but because the man that he was about to meet was a master manipulator that played with people like toys and Matt did not want to be part of that game. He wasn't going to allow William Afton to play him like a fiddle just as the man had played everyone else in his life.

When the door opened, Charlie immediately let go of Matthew's hand and jumped at the man before her, wrapping her arms around his neck in a tight hug.

"Uncle Will!" she exclaimed.

"Charlotte, my dear, it's good to see you again." PJ Heywood's voice responded back to her. A thick British accent Matt was very familiar with. William just as eagerly returned the gesture, enveloping his niece in a bear hug. The boy couldn't help but cringe internally at the sight before him. An uncomfortable feeling of abhorrence rose in his chest as he saw Charlie's would-be murderer pretend to actually care about her, and doing so in a very convincing manner. "And who might your friend here be?" he asked, shifting his attention to Matt. Their gazes met and for the first time in his life Matt felt the overwhelming need to run away as fast as he could. It wasn't so much fear as it was the boy's gut feeling, screaming at him to get away as quickly as possible. This was the predator evaluating its prey. William's cold, silver eyes studied Matt, silently judging him. Despite every cell in his body telling him to flee, the boy buried those feelings deep down and held the man's gaze with a neutral expression. He wasn't about to let himself be intimidated by Afton's presence.

Charlie broke the hug and turned to Matt.

"His name's Matthew." she said and William nodded.

"Matthew. It's nice to meet you." He said, offering the boy his hand. "My name is William Afton."

So much was wrong about the being that stood in front of him. Besides the obvious, the first thing of note about the man was his face. A well-practiced mask meant to fool anyone who came into contact with him. The closest thing Matt could compare it to was the customer service face of most managers while talking with clients. A cleverly disguised lie that would fool most common folk. Even with the boy's knowledge about the man, the fact that he originated from the future of 2022, where most people wore masks, also helped him see through William's façade. The man's facial features at first glance seemed normal, but as the boy focused on them, he could see that the proportions were just a tad bit off. The way they stretched emanated an eerie vibe, making William look human and alien all at once, as if some other entity was trying to mimic a human's appearance. Matthew supposed that was an accurate description.

The rest of his physical features weren't nearly as creepy. William was, well, Matt wouldn't call him fat. Maybe a bit chubby. He was certainly tall, matching Henry's height. His hair was combed back from the forehead without a parting. A pompadour hairstyle, if Matt wasn't mistaken. His look matched his depiction in the graphic novels quite well, as if the drawings had been taken out of the pages and given a real form. William wore a button-up white shirt covered by a purple suit vest that copied his pants in color, accompanied by a golden tie.

Matthew took William's hand and gave it as firm of a shake as his tiny hands allowed.

"It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Afton." Afton's lips curved into a satisfied smile that was meant to be inviting but only screamed fake to the boy. Then his expression suddenly turned apologetic.

"I have to congratulate you on how well you're keeping yourself together, young man. I have heard about what happened and I wish to express my deepest condolences for your loss. No child should ever have to suffer through something so terrible, especially at such a young age." after he finished saying that, the man held his sympathetic gaze on the boy, waiting for a response.

Ah, so that's how it is. Mentioning my parents to see how I react. He's wasting no time in learning what makes me tick, I see. He's already deciding what kind of character I have and how to push my buttons. Well, I'm not really sorry to disappoint him, but he's going to have to try harder than that. He's not striking my nerves so easily, the boy thought as he formed a knowing smirk for half a second before replying.

"I'll get over it eventually." William hummed in response. Clearly, that wasn't the answer he had been expecting. He patted Matt on the shoulder and the boy had to resist the urge to swat off his hand. Afton turned his attention to Henry, who was now standing right behind the two children.

"Hey there, Will." he greeted.

"Hello, old friend. Come on in, let's show you the rest of the family." he spoke again to Matt. He still kept his hand on the boy's shoulder as he led them inside and Matt fought the urge to shiver.

Charlie grasped his palm again as they were led into the living room, giving him a soft squeeze of reassurance, which Matthew returned. Although he didn't outright show it, the girl's support meant a whole lot to him.

A woman came out of the kitchen, Mrs. Afton, wearing a lovely blue dress. She was a blonde woman that had shoulder length hair with green eyes. She smiled sweetly as she saw the two kids enter the house accompanied by her husband.

"Laura, meet Matthew." William introduced. The woman radiated warmth as she looked at the boy, a stark contrast to her husband. Matt sensed no real ill will coming from Mrs. Afton and so allowed his expression to relax the smallest bit.

"It's nice to make your acquaintance, Mrs. Afton."

"The pleasure's all mine." she shifted her attention to the small boy that was hiding behind her. "Evan, dear, say hello to our guest." she gently encouraged. The boy poked his head from behind her and gave a sheepish wave. Matthew genuinely smiled at the youngest Afton sibling and waved back. That was enough for Evan to bury his head in his mother's dress and hug her leg, making her lean down a little as she comforted the timid boy.

"He's not usually this shy, please excuse him." Matt just nodded. Honestly, Evan looked to be no older than five. The boy was a very cute small bean, so much so that his baby face made Matt instantly enter protective mode. He had blue eyes and messy brown hair, a strand of which dangled over his forehead. Evan reminded him of his younger cousin, who was also around five. Matt had always wished to have siblings, but unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on who you asked, his parents had been content with a single child. He had no trouble getting along with little kids for some reason and he was one of those people that found their antics heartwarming rather than annoying. As he watched Mrs. Afton raise Evan in her arms, he couldn't stop the feeling of protectiveness from creeping up in the back of his mind. To know that such an innocent looking boy would suffer so cruel of a fate at his brother's hands made Matthew want to bash both William's and Michael's heads in.

Despite Mrs. Afton's comforting words, her youngest son did not change his mood. Well, Matt didn't mind, he of all people knew how awkward it was to meet new ones and try to interact with them but fail miserably. He empathized with Evan, even if the boy didn't know it. The woman set the boy down and Henry went over to talk to him while Charlie spoke to Mrs. Afton. Meanwhile, William began calling for his daughter and eldest son to come downstairs and meet their guest.

"Coming, daddy!" Elizabeth shouted from her room. Michael, however, seemingly had no intention of showing himself.

"Michael, come down this instant and greet your guest!" called the man. After a pause, the sound of an opening door was heard followed by a voice that had as thick of an accent as William's, maybe even more.

"Leave me alone, dad. I don't care." with that the door was slammed closed. William looked like he wanted to say something in reply but changed his mind. He frowned, the shit-eating smile on his face finally disappearing.

"I swear, I have no idea what's gotten into that boy lately. I apologize for his rudeness. Such misbehavior is completely unacceptable. I'll make sure to talk to him about his disrespectful attitude. It's unbecoming of someone his age." Matthew had to suppress a laugh. It was amusing to see William's annoyance with his son. He didn't really understand why the man was saying that to him, though. The boy got the feeling that Afton was purposefully highlighting his eldest son's behavior to observe what kind of reaction he'd get out of Matt. The boy raised his brows in mock surprise while shaking his head, wearing an apathetic expression.

"Well, that's how most teenagers are these days, sir. Full of angst, rebellious and desperate for attention." he dismissed. That sounded weird coming out of his mouth, and a bit hypocritical, especially since he was also a teen, even if nobody knew that.

"Indeed, they are." Afton agreed. Their conversation was cut short, however, by the sound of running footsteps down the stairs. Elizabeth Afton came into view and Matt had to admit that she looked the most accurate to her videogame sprite so far. Blue skirt, pink dress- or whatever it was- green eyes just like her mother's and everything. Her hair sat somewhere between blonde and auburn, leaning more towards the lighter side, just like her sprite counterpart. In appearance, he supposed she resembled her mother to an extent, whereas Evan did not look like any of his parents.

"Hi, my name's Elizabeth, but you can call me Liz." she greeted cheerfully.

"I'm Matthew, nice to meet you." repeating that phrase was getting tiring. He was beginning to notice the mental exhaustion from talking to so many people. He just wasn't a social person and could barely stomach being in an unfamiliar environment, outside of his comfort zone. It drained him. One of the many reasons he had quit soccer.

o0o

William watched their interaction with a close eye. Matt, Charlie and Elizabeth were sitting in front of the TV, playing with some dolls Liz had brought from her room. Well, Matt was more just sitting there, occasionally offering his input while the two girls played together. He was out of his element here. He had long outgrown the need to play with toys. The types of games he played- used to play- were videogames. It had been years since he had touched any of his toys. The most he had gotten to playing with toys was cracking open one of his many boxes of Legos and building something, usually out of boredom. He found himself missing the digital wonders of the 2000's. Even when he was six, whenever he invited a friend to his house, they'd usually play a shooter together, not do roleplays with figurines. It was made worse by the fact that Elizabeth and Charlie were both girls that liked playing girl games. He had no idea how to even begin to approach this situation, the most he could do was crack jokes and make the girls laugh or giggle from time to time, whenever he thought of something funny, an activity that was gradually fading as he grew more bored.

If he missed anything from his time besides his family it was modern technology. There was a big difference between kids that grew up playing outside and kids that stayed cooked up in their rooms on the computer and it was showing. The fact that he was out of his element was very apparent and he hated the fact that he could feel William's eyes staring into his back. The man was very interested in how Matthew was socializing with his daughter, which he was hardly all. A sort of resentment grew in the boy for his young body. Since he looked seven, he was expected to act like a seven-year-old, an impossible feat for him to accomplish. He wasn't good enough of an actor to manage anything like that, he was too old, my god, to get into the mindset of a child. He wondered what William's opinion of him was. He was sure the man was noticing how socially awkward he was acting; the question was how would Afton use that against him.

"Girls, it's been fun, but I'm going to go search for Evan. I think I'll go see what he's up to and start over with him. Our first introduction didn't go too well." Matt said as he got up. Charlie didn't seem surprised by his statement. Liz either didn't care or was too caught up in her game.

"He's probably in his room. You take the first left and go down the hallway. His room's at the end." Elizabeth offered, without looking at him.

"Got you, thanks. Have fun."

"You too, Matt." Charlie called after him.

"I will." If she said anything else after that he wasn't listening as he was already making his way up to Evan's room. Unbeknownst to him, William was wondering why Matt would choose to spend his time with his youngest son since he hadn't been very interested in Matthew when they first saw each other.

And I'll have to become friends with everyone for them to trust me, huh? How the hell am I going to do that with my garbage social skills?

He did as Elizabeth instructed and ended up in a familiar hallway. To the left wall there was a bedside table with a lamp on it and a little further down two windows. There was a painting on the wall between the first window and the table.

He knocked on the white door and waited for a response. A whisper came out, allowing him to enter the room. When he opened the door, he saw Evan sitting on his bed surrounded by a bunch of toys. The young Afton looked up to Matthew and widened his eyes, he hadn't been expecting Matt to show up in his room.

The room itself was identical to FNaF 4's. Blue colored carpet and drawers, a white closet in the middle, another door at the opposite side of the room, a couple of photos hung near said door, a fan, alarm clock and golden lamp on the drawers, half colored squares on the bed cover and the wall pattern that definitely resembled Nightmare Foxy. He recalled seeing a post on Reddit talking about how in Help Wanted the wall texture in crying child's room looked like Nightmare Foxy's face. It seemed like that obscure detail was true here, although he couldn't tell if it was intentional- probably not- or just a big coincidence. In the game it was most likely intentional but here he wasn't so sure. Anything could be possible in this world. Right now, however, he didn't have time to dwell on it.

"Hey, sorry to come here uninvited, but I just had to get away from the girls. Their dolls and everything, they aren't really for me, you know. And I thought it'd be a good idea to come spend some time with you instead. Uh…" he paused, waiting for Evan to make some sort of reaction and trying to find the next thing to say. The boy just kept staring at him as if he'd seen a ghost. "I, uh, I could go if you're not comfortable-"

"No!" the boy raised his voice a bit. "I mean..." he quieted down. "Don't go. You can stay. People don't really want to spend time with me cause I cry all the time." He cast his eyes over his toys.

"That's their loss. It's alright to cry." Evan looked up at him again, confused.

"You don't think it's weird?" his voice was barely audible.

"Nope! There's nothing wrong with crying. Don't let people tell you otherwise. Everyone who says crying is bad is a loser." The smaller boy processed his words for a few seconds. He then closed his mouth and puffed out his cheeks, attempting to keep the tears in. Matthew hesitantly made his way over and Evan scooted to the side, allowing Matt to sit down beside him. He patted the boy's back.

Evan trembled for a while and Matt almost removed his hand, thinking he was making it worse for the boy before he was suddenly enveloped in a hug. The dam broke and Evan proceeded to cry in his chest, hugging him tightly. He had been caught off guard. Matt gently returned the hug, not minding his t-shirt getting wet.

Look at you, already making the kid cry. What's wrong with you?

How touch starved and isolated had Evan been to suddenly start crying from some simple reassurance by a kid he had never met, no less. Did his own family avoid him because he was a sensible kid? He must've been desperate for someone to acknowledge his feelings. FNaF 4 only showed parts of Evan's home life, those in which Michael tormented him while the rest of the neighborhood kids laughed and belittled him, sacring the boy with their ghost stories and whatnot. The community could only guess as to how the Aftons treated him the rest of the time.

"You're the second person to ever say that to me." he could probably guess who the first one was. "Thank you." before Matthew could respond the boy added "And I'm sorry for getting your shirt all wet. I didn't mean to cry… Please don't go…" he looked up at Matt with pleading eyes, begging the older boy not to get mad and leave him alone.

"Jeez, man." he muttered under his breath, making sure he wasn't heard. "I'm not going anywhere. It's healthy to cry, kay? And don't worry about my shirt, I stayed in the rain for God knows how long, a couple of tears don't bother me." The young boy nodded, whipping his eyes. He pulled Evan into another hug. They stayed like that for a while longer. Matt was never the best at comforting others, but Evan didn't seem to care. They separated after Evan had calmed down.

This went from zero to a hundred real quick, he thought.

How could someone ignore their child like that to the point where he'd be sacred to be left alone? Matthew expected that of William, but not Mrs. Afton. From the way she had been comforting Evan he thought that she was less cruel than her husband. The games portrayed William as an abusive, negligent father that deliberately abandoned Evan in a place he despised, among other things, like the spying and hallucination-nightmares, but he didn't expect that of the boy's mother. What he had seen must've only been for show, then, to paint the portrait of a perfect family. What must've actually been happening was Elizabeth being the favored child, leaving Evan and Michael to be both forgotten. Matthew didn't want to believe that Mrs. Afton was all bad, however, since he didn't know anything about her, but his first impression was shaping up to be a bad one. He'd make his mind about her some other time. She didn't seem to be anywhere near as rotten as her husband, but people weren't always what they seemed to be. For all he knew she might've been forced by William to act a certain way. Who was to say that the abuse and manipulation only affected the children and did not spread to the mother as well. She could be just as innocent as everyone else. A fly caught in Afton's web of lies and deceit…

Just as Evan was. Just as Michael, Elizabeth, Charlie and Henry all were…

Poor kid. He didn't ask to be born in a dysfunctional family with a psychopath for a father… None of them did…

"How about you tell me which one of these is your favorite." he gestured to the pile of toys behind them. Among them was a green caterpillar, a robot and a telephone. Those were the only ones Matthew recognized. All of the had with comically large eyes and open mouths, a sign they were made by the same company.

"This one." he pointed at a purple telephone.

"Do you have any Legos?" Evan quickly nodded and the jumped off the bed, reaching beneath it, he pulled out a plastic box full of Legos.

From what I'm seeing it appears that everything that was present in 1981 in my world is also present here. That's good to know. It means that the only important difference between the two universes is that here Freddy's and all affiliated persons are real.

"Awesome! So how about we build that telephone? What do you say?"

"Yes! Let's do it!" the boy cheered; previous sad thoughts forgotten. That was how it was supposed to be. Genuine happiness was plastered on Evan's face. It radiated off of him and changed Matt's mood as well.

How long has it been since anyone has played with him?

Matthew smiled and the two of them got to work.

o0o

It took a while to finish, but the Lego replica ended up looking quite good. It wasn't entirely accurate as Evan didn't have any purple pieces, Matt was certain there weren't any in 1981 so they had to use substitutes, but it still turned out excellent. Evan was delighted to have someone play with him and giddy at the sight of their finished telephone.

Matt's parents were always amazed by his Lego-building skills, even if he wasn't. They would constantly say that he was very talented and creative when constructing stuff from Legos and he never got the impression they were saying it just to make him feel better. Maybe they were saying it because they thought Lego was hard and seeing their son build something out of so many pieces blew them away. Matthew himself wasn't awfully impressed with his Lego skills, mostly because when he looked online at some of the things other people created and the way they used unique pieces in ways he would've never thought of to create incredible builds, he could clearly see the wide gap in skill between himself and other people.

In any case, he and Evan were both good enough to make a duplicate of the purple phone and he'd been glad to keep the younger boy company. Charlie had made it seem from the way she'd talked about Evan that she would also play with him just as much as she did with his sister, but the boy was overjoyed to have Matt play with him as if no one was doing that. Maybe the issue stemmed from the fact that Evan, much like Matthew, was uncomfortable playing with girls and would rather do so with boys. Perhaps Evan felt excluded whenever he participated in his sister's games, so it made sense that he'd seek companionship from someone with similar interests to his own.

Yeah, that's what's going on here. I mean, I honestly can't imagine a girl like Charlie ever pushing Evan away. She probably doesn't know how to tell him that it's fine if he doesn't want to play with them, so they all remain in this uncomfortableness that they won't break out of because they're too scared they'll offend each other.

Evan raised both toys to his eye level and compared them. He gave a satisfied smile and turned to Matt with a proud expression.

"We did it!" he exclaimed.

"Yup, we did a pretty nice job, huh?" Matthew raised his hand and the they high-fived. "Let's go show those girls what we built!"

"Yay!" the small boy cheered. Seeing the expression of happiness on Evan's face warmed Matt's soul.

The two made their way downstairs, interrupting the girls' play date, with Evan proudly showing off their work. Both girls congratulated Evan and the boy's sudden mood shift surprised all present adults, including William, who was quick to raise a brow at his son's cheerful disposition. It made Matthew curious as to what the man's opinion of him was… He'd find out eventually, he reasoned, there was no need to get impatient over something so insignificant at the moment.

While Evan was presenting his Lego telephone to the whole house, with Elizabeth and Charlie listening very carefully to his detailed description, appearing very interested, Matt sent Charlie a wink and a thumbs up, to which she had responded with a grateful, pleased smile. She was beaming at the fact that he had made a friend and he was happy she was there to share this moment with her. The boy smiled too as he watched the innocence with which the kids before him acted. Just the way they should. He'd make sure it would remain this way.

No matter what. They would all survive. Even if he had to give himself up for it.

William wasn't taking away anyone's happiness.


Chapter title from "Five Nights at Freddy's song (FLASHING LIGHTS)" by Sagan Hawkes. Also, if any of you want to check out the FNaF 4 wall texture Reddit post, here it is: r/fivenightsatfreddys/comments/msv05x/im_probably_seeing_sonething_thats_not_there_like/