Chapter Three
Ten Years Later
After sweeping up what had to be the last bit of dirt on the floor, Charlotte emptied the dustpan into the waste basket and finished tidying up the rest of the restaurant. No, it didn't really matter, considering the fact that she and the kids were the only ones here, but as humble as their home was, Charlotte still liked to keep it presentable. A solar-powered flashlight helped illuminate the immediate workspace, but the shadows around her were like long-lost friends. Once her dad had been arrested, it wasn't too long afterwards that the power company shut off the power to the building. She and the kids had grown accustomed to spending weeks in the dark. Any electricity they had in the pizzeria and the house came from a small solar-powered generator.
Right now, she could hear the gentle hum of the generator coming from the arcade. Within days of the restaurant officially being closed down, Charlotte had emptied the machines of the spare change and play tokens and used them repeatedly. After all, no one had any use for them now. With all the kids had been through, it was good for them to have a little fun once in a while. And every once in a while, Charlotte would allow the kids to just have a day where they could play to their hearts' content. It never really completely filled the need for companionship and community, but it at least helped with the boredom. At the end of the day, all they had and all they really needed was each other.
Michael had yet to stay true to his promise and visit. Not once had he stopped by to check up on her. The phones hadn't worked in years, so he couldn't call, but a simple house call wouldn't be such a bad idea. Well, actually, maybe it would be best if he didn't come by. There would be too much to explain, too many questions to answer.
Charlotte paused to listen and heard two of the boys shouting in friendly competition. Most likely Felix and Frederick. The two were inseparable and both very competitive. Billy was probably off somewhere by himself listening to some music on her dad's old record player, and the girls? There was no telling, but they didn't get into too much trouble on their own. With the kids preoccupied, Charlotte decided to lay down for a nap. She usually didn't get tired in the middle of the day, but for some reason today she felt exhausted. After making sure the kids would be okay for a while, she went to the staff breakroom and laid down. Within minutes she had fallen asleep.
Nikki had waited for almost a month to see the finished drawings, and now she was finally getting a chance to see the long-awaited results. Her mom had told her that the drawings had been laid out on the table, all lined up in a row so they wouldn't have to be moved to be seen. As always, Nikki was to use extreme caution when looking at them and was not to touch them.
Mom's gift of not only artistry but also being able to bring her drawings to life had always fascinated Nikki. Sure, being able to read people's minds was cool, but being able to draw anything you wanted and then make it a reality was a really cool talent! Nikki at one time had been jealous of Mom's gifts, but Mom had explained that each Zardanian's gifts made each person unique and that every gift was special, no matter what.
But mom never abused her abilities. A couple months ago, Nikki had overheard her parents talking, and her mom had suggested that she could draw up some money to help with their finances. Dad had refused, saying that was cheating the system and that they would earn the money they made like every other hard-working citizen in the country. Mom hadn't been too thrilled at Dad's refusal, but she eventually let it go and let him put even more effort into his struggling business. Now hopefully with these new drawings, they could maybe bring in some much-needed extra money.
Nikki eagerly strolled over to the worktable, expecting to find the drawings where Mom said she had put them. Above the workstation, Mom had accidentally left her fan on. The oscillating fan swung back and forth across the desk's surface, but there were no drawings to be found. As she reached up and turned the switch on the fan to off, she scanned the room to see if Mom had maybe put the drawings somewhere else. Some papers lay scattered on the floor; one near the bottom laying face-up showed a drawn foot covered in a gold-colored flat shoe next to the foot of a crutch.
Carefully, like she had practiced several times before, Nikki scooped the drawings into a pile and lifted the pile with the tips of her fingers. When she had raised the stack to the level of the desktop, she tapped the edges of the pages against the desk to straighten the stack and then looked at the drawing on the bottom. To her surprise, the page was blank. She flipped it over to check the other side, only to see blank paper again. A nervous lump rose into her throat and her heart pounded. Both sides of each page gave her the same literal blank look. Not even the golden shoe could be found.
A wild whooshing sound wound itself throughout the house for a few minutes before finally settling down. The blank pages dropped from Nikki's trembling fingers as she realized what had happened. "What have I done?" she whispered.
In the basement, Shaddid was going through some things they could put together for a yard sale. Lizzie had been saying for a while that they needed to downsize, and getting rid of some stuff, either by selling or donating it, was one step closer to that goal. Also, it freed up some room for a small studio in the basement if it came to selling the space they had purchased in town.
He paused when a strong windy sound came from upstairs. Nikki could have just left a window or a door open and the wind was coming from outside, but something about the way it sounded was familiar in a different way. "Nikki?" he called up the stairs. There wasn't a response. He went back to his work until he heard an extra set of footsteps coming from upstairs. Then another. "Nikki, what's going on up there?" Over the next few minutes he heard people talking upstairs until an unfamiliar angry voice above him sent him running up the stairs two at a time. "Nikki!"
No matter how much she wanted them to move, Nikki's feet stayed planted to the floor. She forced herself to slow her breathing and focus on listening. Someone was walking around the kitchen, and she thought she heard the squeaky sound of the shower pipes in the bathroom. On tiptoe, she crept to the door of the studio, hoping that the wood floor wouldn't creak beneath her weight. She paused at the door and pressed her ear to the panels, listening.
"I'm getting a snack from the kitchen. We've been down here for ages." The voice belonged to a young adult male and sounded muffled. Footsteps sounded in the hall and passed through the living room right by the art studio. From the kitchen, Nikki could hear the guy talking to what sounded like a girl, but with the door shut it was hard to tell. She pushed the door open quietly and tiptoed towards the stairs where she could at least lock her bedroom door and wait until Dad got upstairs.
As she got closer to the hallway bathroom, she heard the water shut off and the shower curtain slide along the curtain rod. She was almost past the door when whoever was inside—another guy—yelled "Frederick!" She froze, not knowing what to do, when the door burst open and a guy in a towel ran down the hallway yelling, "Frederick, if you stole my clothes again, I swear I'm gonna kill you!"
Nikki waited a few minutes before continuing down the hallway. The first guy was saying something like "nice towel" to whoever had just run out of the bathroom. Nikki poked her head into the bathroom and saw that her Barbie towel—which she had been wanting to get rid of for ages—was missing from the hook on the wall.
"You think this is funny?" Towel Guy was fuming. Nikki had almost made it to the stairs, but she was still within view of the kitchen if someone came out in the next few minutes.
"I mean, it kind of is." The first guy was snickering. "You probably just overlooked the clothes. They're in the bathroom. I swear I didn't touch them."
"Well, they're not in there now."
"They can't just grow legs and disappear. Maybe you're the one who's blind in one eye and not Felix. I'll help you find them. Come on."
Instead of turning to go into the hallway, the duo turned towards the living room. Nikki thought for sure she'd be seen when she heard a loud thud in the entryway of the kitchen. Towel guy had slipped on the water he had tracked all over the house in his hurry to find his clothes.
"You're gonna pay for this," Towel Guy snarled.
"Why? I haven't done anything." First Guy laughed as he helped Towel Guy to his feet.
"Wait a second. The bathroom is right here…or it's supposed to be."
Nikki stepped on the first step, forgetting to watch out for where the wood creaks, and as one, the guys swung around towards the sound.
"Hey! What're you doing here? How'd you get in here?" The voice belonged to First Guy.
Both of the boys stared at her.
"What's all the yelling about?" A third guy joined them from the kitchen. This one had medium auburn hair and one clouded eye.
"There's a chick in here. A literal honest-to-goodness live human being other than us in this house."
Towel Guy looked upstairs past Nikki. "Charlotte needs to know she's here. I'm gonna go get her."
Nikki stood rooted to the stairs, afraid to move.
The basement door flew open, and Shaddid rushed into the room and assessed the situation: three men—one of them, oddly enough, was in a towel—and his little girl. He quickly stepped between the guys and Nikki and held up his arms. "No one is going anywhere. Tell me who you are and what you're doing in my house before I call the police."
"Woah, man! You've got this all wrong. You're in our house. Mind telling us how you got in here?"
"Buddy just take it easy. Do you know where you are?"
First Guy looked offended at the absurdity of the question. "Of course I know where I am!"
"Good. That means you know you're in Manhattan, New York."
At the same time, First Guy said, "We're in Hurricane, Utah."
Nikki butted in, "Dad, I'm sorry! I was being really careful. The drawings were on the floor. I swear I picked them up like you told me to!"
Shaddid swung around to Nikki. "These are the characters your mom drew?"
Nikki nodded her head and when she did, Shaddid's expression changed from one of caution to one of understanding and compassion. He turned his attention to the threesome before continuing, "Listen, I know you're confused and not a whole lot makes sense right now, but I promise you we will figure this out. Everything will be alright."
First Guy started. "What did you say?"
"We'll figure this out and get you guys back home. I promise everything will be alright."
"We are home. Ten minutes ago, Felix and I were playing Fruity Maze in the arcade," Frederick insisted. His voice trembled a little as he spoke.
Slowly, Shaddid took a few steps towards First Guy. "And now you're in New York. It will take a while to explain, but I can explain it all to you once you all are in here. How many of you are there?"
Nikki jumped when the guest bedroom door upstairs banged open. A young woman in her early twenties stepped out onto the landing. "Frederick? Felix? Goldie? Where are you guys?"
"Charlotte! For once I'm glad to see you." First Guy looked only slightly relieved.
"Frederick, what's going on?" She took in the scene below her. "Where are the girls?"
First Guy—Frederick—jerked his head towards the kitchen. "Amy's in the kitchen cooking something, but I don't know where Goldie is."
"Sir," Charlotte began slowly, "I am terribly sorry that we have trespassed on your property if we have. I don't know what's happened."
"It's okay. My name is Shaddid, and this is my daughter Nikki. I'll explain once we gather everyone up. How many more of you are there?"
Charlotte looked past the group in front of her towards the kitchen. "Just two more girls, Amy and Goldie." She then turned her attention to Towel Guy. "Billy, what are you doing in a towel? Where's your clothes?"
Billy scowled and adjusted his grip on the towel around his waist. "I jumped in the shower right before you went to go lay down for your nap. But I was still in the shower when we got here…somehow. My clothes disappeared. I don't know where they are."
Amy came out of the kitchen holding a whisk covered in chocolate cake batter. "The cupcakes are almost do—What did I miss?" She looked back and forth between Nikki and Shaddid.
"Amy, where's Goldie?" Charlotte's voice stayed calm, but Nikki detected a hint of stress.
For the first time, Nikki surveyed the group in front of her as Charlotte and Amy discussed Goldie's location. Each character had a different color scheme, which Nikki found interesting. All except Towel Guy who was the only one without any clothes on. Having different clothing styles was one thing—which all of them had—but having completely unique color combinations, especially with such distinct colors, was neat. She wondered if the colors meant anything to the kids' personalities. That would be something she would have to remember to ask Aunt Nicole about later.
Also, with Towel Guy—Billy—being the only person in the room without a shirt on, Nikki noticed a small circular scar on the left side of his chest. It wasn't very big, but it was still noticeable. Absentmindedly, Nicole wondered where the scar could have come from.
When Nikki tuned back into the conversation, Amy was coming back from the living room with a girl dressed in golden-yellow clothes walking on crutches. Her gold flats were immediately recognizable as the shoes in the turned up drawing that Nikki had partially seen before accidentally starting this whole thing. Slowly, the two girls made their way to the circle.
"It might make sense for everyone to sit down and get comfortable. This might take a while. But before we get started, I'm going to get you," he motioned to Billy, "some clothes." He went upstairs to his and Lizzie's bedroom and soon came back with a clean change of clothes. "The jeans might be a bit big on you, but the shirt should fit. Go ahead and get changed. We'll wait for you to get back before we get started." Shaddid sat cross-legged on the floor and invited the others to join suit. A few minutes later, Towel Guy joined the group dressed in a navy-blue t-shirt and jeans.
To anyone who was unfamiliar with Lizzie's—and now Nikki's—gifts, explaining it sounded ludicrous, but he had to try. Shaddid didn't want Charlotte to think that he was holding her captive against her will. If these characters were in any way dangerous, then they absolutely could not stay here, but they could not go back to Utah in this world expecting their home and life as they knew it in their world to exist. Shaddid knew from experience that such hopes and thoughts were foolhardy.
"Your home and livelihoods as you know them do not exist within the same reality as the one you're in right now," he began. Charlotte's face bore the same blank look, so he tried a different explanation. "You are in an alternate universe, or an alternate reality—however you want to word it—right now. There is a real Hurricane, Utah, but if you were to go there in this reality, you wouldn't find what you're looking for…does that make sense?"
"Yeah, about as much sense as saying Felix has 20/20 vision," Frederick cut in, but Charlotte shushed him.
Shaddid continued, "There was a special way to bring you guys here. We know really well how to make that happen, but the tricky part is putting you guys back where you came from. It has been done before, so it's possible, but it'll take us a while to figure out what your 'frequency' is to get you guys home." A sudden idea came to him, and his eyes lit up. "Nicole will know what to do. I'll call her. I will call my wife as well. She'll need to know we'll be having some guests for dinner." He rose from his spot on the floor and left the room.
The others stayed seated on the floor in silence. Frederick was the first to respond. "So, we're stuck in this alternate reality, and there's nothing we can do about it?"
"I'm sure we'll get everything sorted out soon. Just hang tight." Charlotte tried sending him a reassuring smile, but she nervously picked at the hem of her dress.
Frederick stood up and started pacing first one way and then the other. Charlotte looked up at him. "Frederick, maybe some grounding would help? I know this is a bit stressful for you."
"Charlotte, just shut up. You're not helping," Frederick snapped.
"Sure. Sorry," she said quietly as she looked back down at her lap.
No one else had much to say, and a heavy silence filled the room, broken only by the sounds of Frederick's pacing. Nikki leaned towards the kitchen to see if she could overhear her dad's phone conversation with Aunt Nicole.
As the phone rang, Shaddid looked out towards the living room. Frederick was pacing the floor, but other than that, the kids seemed to be taking the news rather well. As best as they could understand it anyway.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Nicole. It's Shaddid. We had a bit of an accident. Nikki inherited Lizzie's powers after all, which is…good, I guess, but they're a bit different."
On the other end of the line, Nicole chuckled. "Did she draw a dog or something? I know she's been wanting one for a while."
"I wish it were a dog, honestly. It would definitely be less complicated."
Silence stretched across the line for several seconds. "Who did she bring out?"
"Well, that's the thing. All six of them are in the living room right now, and we need to fig—"
"All six, meaning Charlotte and all of the kids?"
"Yes." Shaddid drew the word out.
"Listen very carefully, Shaddid," Nicole said quickly. "Keep your eye on all of them, and don't let any of them out of your sight. I'll be there in ten minutes."
The line clicked. "Wait, what? Nicole? What do you mean, keep an eye on all of them? Are they dangerous? Nicole!" He stared at the disconnected call and started to punch in Lizzie's number when the garage door opened.
When Lizzie got inside, Shaddid filled her in on the afternoon's festivities. "So, she did inherit my powers after all?" Lizzie smiled but then hurried on, "Of course, that throws a wrench in the plans, but we've faced worse. We'll get through this. Together." She put her purse and keys down on the kitchen counter and then ventured into the living room. Frederick had finally settled down and was sitting on the floor with his siblings, his head resting on his raised knees.
"This is so bizarre," Lizzie murmured. "I'm so used to this happening when I bring things to life that seeing someone else do it is tripping me out." She had hardly gotten through introductions when Nicole pulled into the driveway and rushed into the house without knocking.
"Shaddid? Lizzie? Where's Charlotte?" she asked. She caught sight of Charlotte as she entered the living room. Charlotte stood to meet her.
"Yes?"
"Listen, I know you don't know me, and I know you're really confused right now, but I have to talk to you…in private. As soon as possible…preferably now."
Charlotte didn't move right away. "Why should I trust you?"
Nicole answered without missing a beat. "Because I know why you're really worried about everyone being here, and I know more about all of you than you think that I do." Charlotte still wasn't convinced. "I know what happens at midnight." That final comment was all Charlotte needed to hear. She hurried towards Nicole and directed her out of the living room. "Thank you. Lizzie, we're going to borrow the art studio, if that's okay. It'll be the easiest to explain that way," she called over her shoulder.
Twenty minutes passed as Nicole and Charlotte discussed the midnight hour. Everyone else in the vicinity stared blankly at the closed art studio doors until they finally opened again. The kids rose to meet Charlotte, but she motioned for them to stay seated. "Lizzie, Shaddid? Would you meet us in here please?"
Lizzie gave her daughter's hand a reassuring squeeze before joining Shaddid at the studio. "What's going on, Nicole?"
Nicole and Charlotte looked at each other briefly before Nicole finally spoke. "Lizzie, there's something about the kids that I didn't tell you, and I feel awful for not telling you about it in the first place. I knew what I was potentially getting you guys into, but I was desperate for an artist. I knew that you're the best out there, so I put your lives on the line, and for that I apologize."
Lizzie opened up her mouth to protest, but Nicole raised a hand. "Wait, just let me finish. When I first gave you this assignment, I told you that these kids were desperate for revenge. What I didn't tell you was that all of the kids are dead."
Both Shaddid's and Lizzie's eyes widened in surprise. "Then how are there five living teens sitting in the living room with our daughter?" Lizzie asked.
"The same way Charlotte is standing here in front of you right now. She's not entirely alive either." Nicole looked over at Charlotte. "Maybe it would be easiest for you to tell them."
Charlotte bit her lips nervously and took a deep breath. "When I was killed thirteen years ago, my father attached what was left of my soul to an animatronic that we called The Puppet. We have four other animatronics and two spring-lock suits, one of which I used: Freddy, Foxy, Chica, and Bonnie, and the spring-lock suit, Golden Freddy. I attached the individual souls of the kids to each of the animatronics and the Golden Freddy suit."
Shaddid pressed for more information. "So what's the catch? Why did Nicole tell me I needed to keep an eye on them and not let them out of my sight? What's the deal with midnight, and why did you react the way you did when Nicole mentioned it?"
Nicole hesitated before continuing, "It's why I regret not telling you about this in the first place. Charlotte and the kids aren't humans one hundred percent of the time. At midnight, they switch to their animatronic counterparts. There's a program that Charlotte and her father installed into the animatronics that allows them to pass as humans during the day. That's why they look the way they do. But therein lies the catch. The kids are fine around adults during the day, but the animatronics don't trust them. Nikki would be fine, but that could potentially put you two in danger between midnight and six A.M. the next morning."
"So you knowingly put my wife—your best friend—and I in danger just so you could try to release another best-seller?"
"It wasn't like that!" Nicole protested. "Lizzie hasn't had an episode in years. I didn't think Nikki of all people would be an issue. Believe me, I'm not blaming this on her. I just wish we had known about this sooner."
"Don't we all," Shaddid grumbled. He looked at his watch. "It's just after 4:30, so we have about seven and a half hours to figure this out before it's game over?"
Nicole spoke solemnly. "Yes."
"Then let's get going. Because if something happens to my family, there will be more than five people in this house looking for revenge."
Lizzie patted her husband's arm lovingly. "We'll figure this out. What do the kids think about what happened?"
"They don't remember anything. I replaced their memories because they were having nightmares about what happened. What they think happened is that there was an active shooter who came into the restaurant and killed their parents. I found them and hid them in a safe place, eventually taking them in and raising them on my own." She avoided eye contact as though ashamed of her actions. "But it is crucial that they don't find out the truth. Just to stay on the safe side, please don't say anything to them, and don't treat them any differently. As far as they know, they're just the same as you and me. With as fragile of a state that they're in right now, if they found out, it could push them over the edge, and I don't know how they would be able to handle it, or if they even could."