Prologue

Birthday parties. Usually the mention of such a thing brings fun-filled memories to mind. This birthday party was no different, or so it seemed. It started out normal. Guests arrived, gifts were presented and opened, the traditional birthday song was sung, and, most importantly, the children were having fun.

Growing up as the daughter of a pizzeria owner, I have seen people of all ages come and go through our doors. Children especially love the arcade-style games, along with the performances that go on throughout the day. It puts a smile on my face knowing that I can work at an establishment where the focus is ensuring that the guests enjoy their visit.

My main responsibility is working in the prize corner. Dad doesn't like me to leave my post during my shift, so I have to be content to stay where I am and enjoy the company of people who come to trade in their tickets for prizes, despite how boring it can get sometimes. But that one birthday party is one I will remember for years. There were five children at this memorable party, with the birthday boy being one of them. Three boys and two girls. I envisioned the party from my perch at the prize counter. The children would be playing with some plushies they had received as part of the party package. As it was getting late, the party would be coming to an end shortly, and everyone would go their separate ways.

In about thirty minutes we would be closing. I could tell from the looks of things that the staff were cleaning up the party favors, streamers, and trash that had been left behind. My shift had an hour and a half left before it was over. Today had been a long day, and I was looking forward to a good night's sleep.

Momentarily I shifted my attention to a customer at my counter. After inquiring about the parties, he assured me that everyone seemed to be having a good time. There were a couple of other parties, but the remainder of the guests were merely there for a day of fun. However, amid his assurance that everything was in order, something seemed…off. I couldn't put my finger on it, but the atmosphere felt…different…somehow. Everything seemed to be in order, but I couldn't shake the feeling of dread that had settled like a rock in my stomach. That's when I saw him, standing about ten feet away with his back to me. A man who towered menacingly over the children.

My heart quickened. I had hoped to never have to see this man in person again. Had never expected to, but here he was. I cowered behind the prize counter, hoping that the man wouldn't visit my station. How could I not have noticed him when he came in? Was he even allowed to be here? Where was Dad? He would know what to do.

"How's it going, Charlotte?" He paused when he saw my face. "What's wrong?"

"Dad, he's here." My voice nearly faltered, and I had to physically focus on regulating my breathing, so I wouldn't faint. Silence met my desperate plea as he straightened a stack of papers. "Dad…?"

"I heard you the first time." He inhaled sharply; his lips pressed into a firm line. "I'm keeping an eye on him. You knew he would be here; I don't know why you're acting so surprised."

"Why is he even here? I thought Frederick's mom was bringing him," I whispered, trying to catch a glance of him over Dad's shoulder.

"Don't worry; I'm taking care of it."

His words were hardly reassuring. "But why did they even let him in? He's not allowed to be here anyway, is he?"

"Charlotte, I said I'm taking care of it. Trust me." My gaze darted between Dad's tedious notetaking and the birthday boy's father who hadn't moved from his initial space, aside from shifting his weight from one foot to the other as he leaned against the wall. For a moment, my attention was drawn to the counter in front of me when Dad spoke again, "Go ahead and close up. I don't think you'll be getting any more customers tonight. Those last groups are about finished I think." When I didn't respond right away, he added, "Did you hear me?"

"Yeah…yeah," I answered absentmindedly before noticing an employee walking around in one of the spring-lock animatronic suits. Why would someone be in costume so close to closing time? The employees usually put away the suits around 7:00, so why was someone dressed up nearly an hour later than normal? I voiced my opinions on the matter, but Dad dismissed it without a second thought.

"One of the kids must have wanted to see one of the animatronics one last time before leaving. Don't worry about it." He gathered his things and turned off the lights, leaving the desk light on to light my way to the party rooms. "I'm going to go speak to the parents and follow up with how the evening went for them. I just want to make sure they were happy with it. Returning customers and word-of-mouth promotions are good for business." He smiled reassuringly. "Don't wait up. I'll only be a few minutes. Make sure you turn off the lamp when you leave."

As I counted the cash drawer and recorded the money we had made, I thought back on the events of the evening. That man—the one Dad had fired over three years ago—certainly had thick skin to be able to show back up here so confidently, especially since his and Dad's professional relationship had all but ended that day. Dad hadn't spoken to him or seen him in those three years, but it wouldn't have been right to refuse service to someone just because there had been some disagreements in the past, would it, even if those disagreements included money stolen from the company?

But that wasn't the only reason…I shook the thoughts from my head. Those memories were too painful to bring up.

In the dining room, Dad was still talking to the parents of the children, and most of the other guests had packed up and left. I scanned the room for the employee in the animatronic suit, but I didn't see him anywhere. He—or she—must have put the costume away and left along with… That's odd…The children from the last party were missing, but they couldn't have left because their parents were still here. Where could they have gone? There weren't many places they could hide with half of the building locked up due to closing time. A few employees were still here, finishing up the last of the cleaning. Maybe they had seen where the children went?

To this day, I still don't know how Dad was able to capture those parents' attention for so long, but he did. The conversation had changed directions from how the parties had gone to new renovations we would hopefully be completing soon. I noticed that one of the women was now looking around the room in increasing alarm, finally realizing that her child was nowhere to be seen.

"Frederick!" Her voice rang out and broke the silence. My heart lurched up into my throat. "Where could he have gone? We need to leave soon." The woman continued to call out for her son. A noise that I instantly recognized rang in my ears. No one else seemed to notice. I crept towards the sound, which had come from the back of the restaurant. Dad must have seen me, because he quickly directed his attention to me and sharply reprimanded me.

"Charlotte! I told you not to wait up. I'm almost finished here. Go on home."

"Could I—Could I check the back room?"

"What for?" The look he gave me spoke for itself without him even having to verbalize the question. Now everyone was looking in my direction. I stayed close to the shadows.

"I—I think I left my purse back there…" I struggled to find a reasonable excuse.

"There's no need for that. Do as I say. Go on home. I'll grab it when I leave."

The noisy cooling system kicked on, making it nearly impossible to hear anything, and almost as difficult to think straight. A child's scream was heard, but it was quickly disregarded as parts of the machinery shutting down. I strained my ears for any other sounds coming from the back room. Three more shots followed in quick succession. There was silence for a few moments, until I heard two more shots. And then silence once again. Bile forced itself into my mouth, burning my throat, but I forced it back down. Something was wrong, but Dad didn't seem alarmed. A few minutes passed before one final shot rang out.

"Amy?" Another woman had taken notice of her missing child as well. "Have you seen my daughter? Blonde hair, about this tall?" The other parents shook their heads while Dad continued talking.

I was slowly becoming more and more concerned. The fact that at least two children had turned up missing in the short span of an hour, while the staff had been cleaning, was enough to raise a red flag. It didn't make matters any better when one man started looking for his son, Billy, while another looked for his son Felix. That was four children so far.

"Goldie!" One last concerned father called out for his daughter. That made five missing kids in total. I began to panic. How in the world had five children managed to just vanish all within an hour of each other? I thought back to the employee in the suit. I hadn't seen any of the employees leave, but I hadn't seen anyone coming out in the suit again either.

"Where did that girl go?" Felix's dad brought the long, boring conversation to a halt.

"Oh, that was just one of my employees. I told her to go ahead and go home. It was"—he checked his watch— "is getting late. I am so sorry. I didn't realize how late it was getting…" His apology stretched on and on, but I didn't stay to hear the rest of it.

Quietly, I crept along the side of the wall towards the storage room where we kept the two mascot costumes. To not attract attention, I felt along the side of the closet until I felt one of the costumes. The spot next to it was empty, meaning the suit hadn't been returned yet.

From my spot near the back of the restaurant, I could still see the customers, who by now were anxious to find their children and leave. I couldn't blame them; it was nearing nine o'clock. I had almost made it to the door of the back room when Amy's mom said she'd had enough of fun and games for one day and demanded that the rest of the lights be turned back on, so she could find her daughter. I quickly ducked into the spare parts room and closed the door just before light flooded the empty restaurant. The parents searched every inch of the restaurant, top to bottom, but didn't find anything. Some of the moms were getting frantic.

Before the evening was over with, the police had been called and a thorough investigation had been performed throughout the entire restaurant. Nothing turned up. All five couples left confused and concerned, while most of the moms were in tears, clutching their child's belongings he or she had left behind. According to company policy, a missing person's report wouldn't be released until ninety days after the disappearances, so there was nothing to do but wait for the kids to show up again. As I suspected, no one had seen anything unusual. Dad answered the police's questions, but he seemed calmer about the situation than I did. Eventually all the guests filed out, with the police following close behind, leaving Dad and I alone in the restaurant.

I stayed late to close that night after everyone had gone home, but before I locked everything up, I made my way through the restaurant back to the safe room. Silence was deafening. The door was locked, but thankfully Dad had given me my own copy of the storage room key when I started working on a more regular basis. My heart threatened to beat out of my chest; I reassured myself that I was just checking to make sure no one was in here and to, hopefully, retrieve the missing employee suit. With a click, the door swung open. I groped in the darkness, looking for the light switch, finally finding it on the left wall. Light immediately flooded the room, but the sight that met my eyes was one I had been hoping I wouldn't find. I vomited up my dinner. All five of the kids were accounted for, but their bodies were strewn about the room, covered in their own blood. I dry-heaved and doubled over as I sank to my knees, but my empty stomach had nothing else to rid itself of.

Trying to think past my clouded mind, I rushed to each one and checked for breathing and a pulse. Nothing. I glanced down at my wristwatch and read the hands—11:20. I didn't have enough time to alert the police. Performing CPR wouldn't do any good, not when they had gone missing over two hours ago. In the corner of my eye, I spied a plushy lying next to Amy. There were four mascots, an employee suit, and five kids. This plan wasn't without its drawbacks. If this didn't work, it would all be for nothing. But a monster had stolen the lives of these precious children, and he wouldn't be the victor in this situation. I had to try.

A sickening thought rose to the forefront of my mind: was this what Dad had meant when he said he was taking care of things? But how could it have been? He had been out talking to the guests all evening.

The gravity of the situation pulled me back to reality. I would have to do this myself, and I didn't have much time. Forty minutes at most, but that was being generous. If I couldn't do this now, it would be too late by tomorrow. I couldn't bring them back entirely, but I could do for them what Dad had done for me a few years ago. I could give them new life.

Ignoring the stench and blood, I slipped my hands under Frederick's arms and dragged him to the stage, trying to hurry but be as gentle as possible. The closest animatronic to me was Freddy, and being the oldest, it only made sense for Frederick to be the leader of the group. After taking a moment to catch my breath, I continued my venture and stopped at Freddy Fazbear's feet.

Gently, I laid Frederick on the stage close by and scrambled up to Freddy's head and looked inside. The animatronics themselves weren't made to be worn, but with the thin framework, there was just enough room for the bodies of the kids to fit inside. Having helped Dad with minor repairs a few times in the past, I knew how to open up each of the animatronics. I stood in front of Freddy and first removed his head before pulling on his bowtie and opening up the chest cavity, leaving just enough room to slip Frederick's body inside.

For the first time, I stopped to think about what I was doing. It hadn't crossed my mind that I would have to lift or drag the body the six feet from the floor to the shoulders before I could put the bodies in the suits. Quickly I ran to the maintenance closet and grabbed a ladder.

Frederick was heavy enough pulling him across the stage, but now I would have to hoist his dead-weight body up the ladder without dropping him or falling off the ladder myself and then successfully put him inside without damaging the body further. It took several tries, but I finally managed to get Frederick's body inside the animatronic before replacing Freddy's head and closing up his chest cavity.

I wiped my hands on my blood-stained pants and swiped my sweaty hair out of my eyes, smearing blood across my forehead. One down, four to go. I would have to hurry though. Frederick had taken up over a quarter of the time I had.

Adrenaline pumping, I somehow managed to get the four remaining kids into the other animatronics: Amy into Chica, Billy into Bonnie, Felix into Foxy, and Goldie into Golden Freddy, our second spring lock suit. Even though it took me longer to drag Felix into Pirate's Cove, overall he was the quickest because Foxy's stage wasn't as high as the main stage, and Foxy isn't as tall as the rest of the gang.

I stood in front of the main stage which held the main three animatronics, Freddy, Chica, and Bonnie, and the Golden Freddy suit and glanced at my watch. I had less than ten minutes. The words were familiar to me in a way they should never have been, but I sung them all the same:

Your bodies laid in foul grave,

There left to rot and die.

Taken from your family's fold

No mortal would deny.

As more time passed, I could feel myself getting drowsier by the minute. Just a little bit longer…

So hereby rise again anew

To your immortal life.

Awake from death's foul grip at last,

Your souls to rest from strife.

I quickly ran into Pirate's Cove and repeated the song, trying my hardest to stay awake. My heart pounded inside my chest, ironically alive inside my resurrected body. The song ended mere seconds before midnight, and then everything faded to black.

I woke up in the prize corner gift box, where I had spent every night for the last three years. It was well after midnight, but before six AM. Quickly, I glided across the floor to where I had left the kids. Freddy, Chica, and Bonnie were lined up with the employee suit at the end. The eyes of the animatronics and Springlock suit were closed. They were all standing upright but limp with their heads on their chests. I watched in hopeful anticipation for a twitch, an eye movement. Anything.

Five minutes passed. Then ten. Fifteen. Finally, Freddy's eyes snapped open, and he slowly raised his head. I rushed quickly to his side. I wasn't sure if he would be able to understand me or not. Frederick? He looked me in the eye.

Where am I? He blinked twice. Wait, you're the Puppet. From the Prize Corner.

It's me, Frederick. It's Charlotte. Frederick…I paused. Something terrible has happened.

The man…Where is he? He whirled around, only to find Chica on his left and Bonnie on his left, with Golden Bonnie next to him. I want my mom!

The man is gone. He can't hurt you anymore.

He—he shot my f—friends…I don't understand…Where's my mom?

I didn't want to hurt him further, but he needed to know the truth. Your mom isn't coming back. She's gone. There was a gasping sound that came from the suit, then a long wail that turned into a mechanical screech. I felt tears of my own on my cheeks following well-known tracks that my own monster had brought forth three years ago. I held out my arms, and he fit into them as best as he could. I'm so sorry.

Are—are you going to help us, Charlotte? He whimpered.

Yes. I'll make this right. I promise. Everything is going to be alright.