The impact of hitting the floor gave Carlton a powerful jolt to his entire body. He was thankful that it hadn't hurt him, but it wasn't any less jarring. Especially with his bag throwing him a little off balance and almost knocking him over during the landing.
After standing up straight he took a moment to take in his surroundings while recovering from the fall. The wind still continued to blow in a raging torrent outside, and without any ways of which to keep out the elements, it passed through the shell of the mall which turned it into an almost mournful howl.
To Carlton, it was almost as though the mall could sense his intent and was protesting his intrusion. Attempting to use the howling wind as a warning cry for him to turn around and leave before he could meet some ghastly fate. But Carlton wasn't going to back down, not now
He reached into his bag and scrambled around for the flashlight. Once he retrieved it he snapped it on and shone the bean around the empty mall space. Abounded before it's time like a stillborn child. His mind flipped back to the year prior and he tried to recall the exact memories of where the entrance of the old Freddy's had been. The concussion combined with everything else had pushed it from his mind and he didn't have time to just wander around for hours till he found it. For a moment he got caught up within his own memories of not only the year prior but all his time spent at Freddy's.
But after a minute or two of silently reminiscing, he refocused himself and began to walk through the deserted shell. The echoing of his footsteps was drowned out by the wind, which did little to relieve his stress.. While it would mean that anyone guarding the mall wouldn't hear him that also meant he wouldn't hear them if he was spotted.
In an extra effort to stay stealthy, he kept his flashlight pointed towards the ground. So the wandering beam wouldn't catch the attention of anyone else. It was because of this maneuver however that he caught onto the fact that there was a lot of rubble and dust lying around.
It wasn't the kind of dust one might have expected it, the kind that that would have accrued from the years of abandonment. No what Carlton found instead was an expanse of concrete dust and sprinkled amongst it were large chunks of broken concrete. It was like pieces of dead skin coming off a giant corpse. Carlton picked up one of them and turned it over in his hands before setting it back down.
'Looks like someone's been doing work here...great.'
He continued on, stepping over some of the larger chunks until he stepped into a larger area that had piles of broken concrete chunks scattered about. Some were neater while others looked more haphazardly constructed.
He did a quick scan of his flashlight and felt his stomach lurch as though he was on a roller coaster when he saw not modern concrete, but a wall composed of old bricks. He stepped away and quickly moved his flashlight beam along with the brick covered wall.
For the first time in years, Freddy Fazbear's stood exposed to the outer world. The storefront that he and his friends had entered was completely gutted and the alleyway leading to the back doors was also torn open. The walls around it pulled down to make it wider as well. It was like an operation that the doctors abandoned midway through, leaving behind gaping raw wounds.
With trembling steps, Carlton walked towards the now widened entrance to Freddy's and saw that there were several flat carts near the brick wall. They were stacked with the old folding chairs, tables, and even a few of the tablecloths which sat neatly folded in a box.
"They're… clearing it out." He whispered and turned his slow steps into a frenzied jog over to the doors. Throwing any and all caution into the roaring wind outside, Carlton stepped race down the hall and through the now propped open doors before freezing mid-step.
Freddy Fazbear's was ruined.
The halls once lined with thousands of children's drawings were now stripped completely bare. The lights and decorations that had illuminated been placed alongside the drawings had also been pulled down. All that remained were a few frayed, decaying wires and small remnants of torn paper.
While weaving his beam around, Carlton spotted a large work light standing to his left, the cord extending off into the darkness like a giant snake. Silently crossing the hallway, he fumbled his hands around the back of the light before finding the switch. With an echoing 'snap' the light turned on and shone a powerful beam that pierced the almost consuming darkness.
No longer needing the flashlight, Carlton turned it off before slipped it back into his bag and pressed forward through the now barren halls. But it wasn't long before he came into what had been the main dining room. Now devoid of all the tables and chairs, it was just a large expanse of checkered tiles stretching away into the black infinitude. With the work light's beam unable to fully stretch out and pierce it
Using the little light they had left from it, Carlton anxiously scrambled around the room and tried to stay quiet as more memories came back. Both negative and positive colliding as he stopped himself from reaching back for the flashlight.
'They might be gone too, but stay quiet just in case.'
He moved back and pressing up against the wall then he began to slowly creep along with it. Even while looking for the next light, he always kept a wary eye in the direction of the stage. On edge and waiting to see the lights of glowing eyes that were accompanied by the stomping of cloth-covered metallic feet.
But it never came, even as he found the next light and turned it on with another loud 'snap'. Nothing came lurching out from the darkness to attack him and the only sound was the now distant echo of the roaring wind. It was only as he adjusted the work light and turned it towards the stage did he discover why nothing had come for him.
"They're gone," Carlton whispered with eyes glued on the empty stage.
Where there once stood three animal mascots, now held nothing more than dust. The trapdoor beneath the stage was flung open and a quick glance told Carlton it was as bare as the stage above it. As his blood turned into ice, Carlton slowly approached the stage while quickly whipping his head at the other hallways.
The last thing he needed was for Bonnie or Freddy to come jumping out from some side room. It seemed to take forever to cross the room, but when he reached the stage his suspicions were confirmed. The nuts and bolts scattered about next to several large toolboxes told him everything. But that provided him little comfort as he looked down at his feet.
"Alright Michael, what now?" He whispered into the darkness, heart heavy with the worry he'd come too late. But it took only a moment for him to get a reply as the faint and familiar voice of his friend called out to him. He looked up and around the room once again until he locked eyes with those of the yellow bear. While it had previously looked lifeless, it now stood tall in one of the adjacent hallways.
In the time it took Carlton blink, the bear had yet again vanished from his direct line of sight. But the voice within his head still called and pushed him onward. He readjusted his bag and pulled out the flashlight before breaking into a run down the hallway as a sense of urgency and excitement beginning to well up from within him.
The voice of Michael continued to push him onward as though he was running alongside him again while hyping up something cool he'd discovered. He encouraged Carlton to keep going and Carlton pressed on further down the hallway, without the signs it was almost impossible to tell which hallway went where. But he knew this hallway well due to all the times that he'd hidden beneath every time he'd had to leave Freddy's as a child.
"Pirate Cove fifty paces ahead." He whispered while remembering a little phrase some of the employees would say when they lead parties back to the cove.
He burst into the cove and found that it was as barren as the main dining room. Everything from the tables to the spinning pizza decorations on the wall had been removed. But the only thing Carlton worried about was the stage. He turned his flashlight towards it and was not even surprised when he saw that Foxy's purple curtains were missing along with Foxy himself. Not that there was much for him to stand on. The stage floor had been completely torn open, revealing something else occupying the departed pirate's space.
A worn, yellow rabbit with stains along the eyes, mouth, and neckline with its arms held out in the air and attached to a couple of shop cranes. The rabbits lower body still concealed beneath the floor which made almost looked like some sort of zombie emerging from a crypt. Casting its half-open eyes down upon Carlton that were dead and yet still contained a malicious sense of life behind them
Carlton froze up as the flashlight fell from his fingers and clattering to the ground. It flickered for only a moment before the steady beam returned. He quickly bent to snatch it up and focused the beam back onto the rabbit. Not wishing for it to leave his sight lest it also come to life and take the opportunity to attack him. Carlton's confusion quickly gave way to a realization as his mind yet again replayed the last time he'd seen the suit. When Charlie had triggered those mechanisms he couldn't quite recall the name of and killed "Dave" in his own suit. After he'd perished, the animatronics had dragged him away… down the very hallway, he'd just come.
'It's him… there must have been a trapdoor underneath the cove that they dropped him into!' Michel's voice suddenly returned to him, the whispers now becoming frantically urgent.
What he was planning to do need to be done now or never and he kept his eyes locked firmly on the suit, Carlton while striding over to the stage. The rabbit that had kidnapped him, or rather the man inside the suit had bled into each other in his memory. There wasn't one without the other anymore. But he knew only one way to describe it, a monster.
There was only the rabbit and the evil that lurked beneath its fake fur that prevented his friend from moving on. Ascending the little staircase up to the cove's stage, he set his bag down at the edge of the hole before stared hard at the suit.
While taking it he saw the yellow bear out of the corner of his eye. The bear remained still, but the voice of his friend was clear. Without any hesitation, Carlton knelt down and unzipped the bag. He used his flashlight to look in and had just seized onto the fire starting kit when a voice called from the hallway.
"Carlton!"
The kit dropped back into the bag, which Carlton then shoved into the hole from which the suit was emerging. It vanished into the darkness and hit the floor beneath the stage with a sharp 'thud'.He turned his beam back towards the hallway as Clay rushed into Pirate Cove. His own flashlight meeting Carlton's as he sighed in relief. Carlton meanwhile tensed up as his Dad's beam flickered across him and to the suit.
Whatever Clay wanted to say dried up in his mouth, eyes transfixed upon the suit while Carlton stepped off the stage.
"Hey Dad," Carlton greeted in a mockingly jovial tone. Overcoming his shock, Clay turned back towards his son with a serious expression.
"You're not supposed to be out here Carlton, this is trespassing." Carlton narrowed his eyes at the harsh but evasive tone in Clay's voice. He decided then to skip any formalities or beating around the bush.
"Did you know anything about this?" There was fumbling for words as Clay struggled to answer Carlton, struck by the sudden bluntness.
"Carlton, we'll talk about this when we're back home." He reached for his son's arm but Carlton jerked away from him.
"No, I want to hear it now." He gestured to the room. "This doesn't look like the favor you said you'd call in unless that also involved them getting to take whatever they wanted."
"I wasn't able to call in that favor, whatever happens to Freddy's isn't up to me or anyone except the owners."
"You're telling me that Charlie's aunt ordered all of this?"Carlton shouted, turning the flashlight beam back towards the suit. Clay glanced up towards it and then back to Carlton.
"Jen isn't the one calling the shots here but that's none of your business. We can talk about this later right now I'm taking you home.." Clay again reached for his arm. He was quicker this time and grabbed hold of it. Carlton responded by shining his flashlight into his dad's eyes, forcing him to remove his arm from Carlton's and cover his eyes.
Clay rubbed at them while Carlton took a few steps back and let out a laugh.
"You know, if you weren't grounded before you are now," Clay said while rubbed at his eyes with a scowl
"I'm an adult and I don't live with you anymore." Carlton crossed his arms and firmly planted his feet. Clay stared at his son before letting out one more sigh and reaching onto his belt.
"You are an adult and that means you're trespassing." He pulled out a set of handcuffs, causing Carlton's eyes to widen. "I'm going to give you one last chance son; otherwise I'll drag you out like I do the other criminals." A shocked silence was all that greeted Clay in response to his threat. Carlton stared at his dad with his mouth agape, struggling to find his words.
"So that's it then? You'd rather arrest me than actually give me some kind of answer? Not even a damn excuse?"
But by the time he'd found what to say, Clay had taken the opportunity and grabbed Carlton to pull him back through the hallway. The sudden touch snapped Carlton back to the situation as he shoved Clay away from him.
Clay stumbled back only a couple feet before he lunged at Carlton. The younger Burke threw a sudden punch, not meant to hit his father but intent meant little in the heat of the moment as Clay dodged before then grabbing onto Carlton's shoulder.
Once he had a firm grip, Clay twisted Carlton around and pinned his arm against his back. Carlton thrashed about before raising his foot and shooting it back towards his dad's knee. Clay yelled in pain as pain shot through his knee, causing him to start falling forward.
Whatever victory Carlton may have enjoyed was short-lived as he realized he'd be pinned by his father falling atop him. Thinking quickly, Clay shoved Carlton forward though it provided no comfort for Carlton as he spun around and slammed his back and shoulder into the floor.
He felt the air rush from his lungs and he started gasping for air while trying to move back towards the stage before Clay was able to recover from his own fall. But Clay was faster than him and before Carlton could move any further, Clay had gotten back up on was on him. His knee was pressed into the crook of Carlton's back, pinning him to the ground while Clay seized his arms to began handcuffing him.
"We'll discuss this with your mom later and maybe she can convince me not to take you to jail for assaulting an officer."
Carlton was unable to say or even do anything besides look away and wheeze as his father hauled him back to his feet. With a harsh shove, Clay made him begin a walk back through the Pizzeria.
All that Carlton could manage to do was hang his head low in disgrace as he was marched out. He looked back to the cove and caught a glimpse of Michael's suit again. It's eyes blank and hollow as though it was just as disappointed in him as Clay was
'I'm so sorry, Michael.' Carlton thought as he allowed himself to be led away under the gaze of his father and that of the yellow rabbit. The suit had watched the entire altercation with its expression unchanged as if the events taking place before him were but a trifle.
But as he took another glance behind him, Carlton could swear he saw the rabbit's smile grow just a little wider like it was reveling in his misery and failure to destroy it. A mocking final gesture as the cove became empty and silence once more descended upon the halls of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria.
"So yeah, I wasn't sure if I had enough to call the Police or not so I figured this was my best option," Charlie said while once more spinning the phone cord around her fingers in another loop. She'd been on the phone for twenty minutes now explaining the night's events to Jeremy and Rebecca. What initial reluctance she'd had in calling them had burned away the more she thought about what Arty had done.
Although it hadn't been asked by John or Jessica, she knew they were all thinking the same question in their heads. About how far Arty might go after tonight, now that he assumed Charlie was 'trapped.' After waiting for both of her friends to fall asleep, she'd made the call; trying to stay as quiet as possible with Jessica seemingly asleep on the couch nearby.
"Well, there's not a whole lot we can do ourselves, Charlie," Jeremy said after a long pause. "Truth is because it happened off our property I cannot punish him in any legal way unless he does something on the clock and on-premises." Charlie felt her heart sink a little before he spoke again.
"However the safety of my employees and customers is my top priority, if he's going to be a risk like this then I will do my absolute best to keep you both separated." Charlie smiled and squeezed the phone just a bit harder, quietly sighing in relief.
"Now this won't cover much if he does something off the clock or off the property like tonight, but I'll make an official record so you'll have it if the police do have to get involved."
"Thank you," Charlie whispered in reply while she listened to Jeremy write something down.
"Take care of yourself and try to enjoy the rest of your weekend Charlie, I'll handle it from here and see you on Tuesday alright?"
"Yeah, thank you again."
"It's not a problem, good night." Charlie waited for the phone to click before hanging up and rising from her seat in the kitchen to start back towards the bedroom. Desperate for a decent rest after the roller coaster of a night she'd had.
While covering her mouth to stifle a yawn, Jessica sat up from the couch, flashing a reassuring grin.
"So I take it the talk with your boss went well?" Charlie jumped and whipped around with a half crossed expression.
"It's rude to eavesdrop you know." She said through another yawn while Jessica pulled her knees closer to her chest.
"Don't you know that it's just as rude to keep someone from their beauty sleep?"
"Touché, though you could probably beat all of us in a beauty contest without even trying. But yeah it did he's going to try and keep Arty away from me...thanks again for dealing with him."
"Eh no problem, he thinks he's all high and mighty now but it'll come crashing down on him soon enough. It's best to just let it slide for now and try to enjoy the rest of the weekend."." She turned back to lay down and
began to stifle a yawn of her own.
"After all, tomorrow is another day." With that, Jessica rolled back over to try and sleep while Charlie continued her walk back to her room.
"Yeah, hopefully, it'll be better." She whispered as she entered and repeated it under her breath. Hoping that Jessica was right and that with her call to Jeremy things in her life would finally calm back down.