Author's note:
From now on, abbreviated names will be hyphened. This also been made in chapter 10.5
Chapter 13
Dreams And Mythical Creatures
Meanwhile...
Two girls are sitting in a room, one is reading a magazine, one is listening to music.
The room, which looked like a bedroom, is decorated with posters of a music band. Besides it is a desk, placed a handy florescent light table. On top of the desk are small shelves, holding books, mostly comics, other are textbooks. In front of the desk, lies the bed, in which one of the girls are laying on, reading a magazine. And forward the bed is a window, cutely placed a flower plot and curtains nearby.
The girl who's listening to music kept shaking her head, seemed that the girl is enjoying the song. "Seriously Lily, you should totally listen to this song. I guarantee that you'll like it.", the girl said.
"Yeah, if only I could.", the girl replied, it was Lily who's reading a magazine.
The girl heard her friend's response, but displeased the fact that Lily doesn't keen on her favourite music band. She removed one of the earbuds, and turned at Lily. "What do you mean? Like, you always drawn into mysteries and stuff."
"And you literally recommended me the web page about mysteries like... yesterday." Lily said, skeptically.
The girl stopped a bit, before saying. "Well, I didn't think you would actually search for that."
"I would take a friend's advice and try it though. If you were me, would you?" Lily asked.
"Eh...No.", the girl said, confidently.
"W-what?Why?"
"Because I'm Charlie, not Lily. Duh.". Charlie said, while doing the quote on quote sigh, eyes rolled.
"Heh. Nice try.". Lily responded.
After that, Charlie put the earbud back into her ear, and continues listening to the music. "Anyways, how's your... investigation?".
Lily stopped reading for a bit. Should she tell Charlie? It's her best friend, why not? "Well, I met a man, he's the day guard at the Pizzeria. He offered to help me on the investigation."
Charlie quickly turned at her friend, eyes wide opened. "Really? Did you accept?"
"Kinda..."
"Wow that's something I didn't think of. Good for you I guess.". Charlie chuckled, somewhat amazed. She wouldn't think Lily managed to get an assistant as an adult, especially a day guard at that Pizzeria!
"It's weird, but if there's a chance, I'll take it. No questioning." Lily straightforwardly confirmed.
"But does it weird that that man wanted to help you investigating? I mean, not everyone believed that the animatronic bit that boy's head. Right?" Charlie reasoned.
This caught Lily's attention. Thinking about it, she finds it weird too. Something's suspicious about this Mike guy that Lily should be worried about. But Lily passed the assumption, and kept on reading the magazine.
"Nah, I don't think he's bad. He looked... cute?" Lily mistakenly and somehow intentionally used the wrong word.
"Cute?", Charly remarked, unforeseeably.
"Uh... Nevermind that, my bad." Lily didn't even sure what happened back there. Felt like her body just acted by itself. Her friend seemed skeptical and questionable of what Lily herself has just said. That definitely not what she was going to say, felt like something tried to control her voice.
Interesting.
From Charlie's perspective, she rarely see Lily shows affection to boys, but never a grown up man! It is very unlikeable for Lily to say something like that. A conservative-minded person like her friend wouldn't just fell in love with another boy, would it? Nonetheless, listening to music is still a priority, since it is her favourite band music after all.
"Are you going to come back to that Pizzeria again?". Charlie asked
"I think so." Lily replied, unsure of her decision. "Maybe in the afternoon?"
"Whenever you want, not my choice." Charlie said.
"Right...".
The girls went on doing their work.
There are laughing sounds.
There are children.
The children were laughing. They were having a party, a birthday party. The place, it was decorated with ribbons of sort. Around was the tables, which all were fully covered with garish tablecloths. Everything was colorful, everything was joyful, everything went on peacefully. This place looked like a restaurant, and somehow, it also looked like a pizzeria.
The children, they were having a birthday party, but there's no birthday cake, only pizzas. And the mood, it wasn't something happy, it was sorrows and desperation.
A kid is being bullied.
A scenario so familiar, that it caught G-Freddy's attention.
"W-What...? Not again.".G-Freddy looked down to his hands, they are painted in dark brownish yellow, and one of the hands is holding a microphone.
"Not this...". G-Freddy's voice echoed inside his mind, his hand started shaking, uncontrollably, while the kid is still crying in the back.
"Hey guys, I think the little one said he wants to give Fredbear a big kiss!". It's that sentence again. Everything was so familiar, from the surroundings, to the crying child. It was very familiar, because it has already happened before.
G-Freddy looked up, for a brief moment, the kid somehow already inside his mouth, his jaws, his deadly bite. Memories started flooding back, but like a flood, memories that he tried to forget are now flooded back all at once, hit him like a giant boulder, crushes him, teared him into pieces.
"What are you doing Fred!?".
That voice, it was his friend. He turned left to look at, his friend's expression, it was confusion, now worried.
"I...I...I can't get him out...!".
("Spring Bonnie?").
G-Freddy spoke by himself, he can't control his animatronic body. Every action, every movement, every speech, is being control by something else.
"Just put the kid down!". From worry to anxiety.
"I...I can't."
("Wait no...").
G-Freddy looked down to his mouth, trying to pull the kid out. He tries, and tries. He grabs the legs tightly, but it didn't work, and a bad idea also. He then forced his mouth to open wide. G-Freddy can feel it, the jaws are closing in, he can almost heard a crack from the boy. But he couldn't change what happened, could he?
"PUT THE KID DOWN, FREDBEAR!". From anxiety to anger.
"I CA-".
("NO WAI-!").
You can't change what you've done.
*CRUNCH*
Right after the bite, G-Freddy collapsed onto the wooden stage. Hands on the floor, mouth gapsing for air, heavily breath. The bite, it felt so real, the sound is as real as it is. Blooding dripping in from his mouth, down to the planks. From the blood puddle, revealed the face whose eyes from greenish yellow to dark and white. The horror can be seen, it was fear, deep inside those eyes. And even deeper, there are the guilt and penance.
It's your fault, isn't it?
G-Freddy tried to cry, but even reality wouldn't even let him. A fate of living as an animatronic already a heavy boulder on his back.
It's your fault. Why did you hide it?
Sorrowful the heart of a robot bear, that scenario have made him became a monster, now hiding and changed its identity. Sounds of wailing echoed around the building, but the environment, it suddenly changed into an abandoned pizzeria. Old paint stains embellished the walls, ribbons torn apart, table and chairs broken, thrown everywhere. But the blood puddle, it's still there, reddish and fresh.
It's your fault. Why didn't you tell it?
As G-Freddy slowly stands up, he looked around the building, it was just like when he last seen this place, before being taken to repair. He remembered his friend untill this day, it was his fault that he got deactivated, dismantled. But as soon as G-Freddy turned to the right, he saw something.
"It's your fault. It's your fault that I was gone."
"Gah!". G-Freddy jumped and fell to the back. His ears were both down, his pupils shrank, his breath became uncontrollable, his hands held the shaking body from lying down. In front of him is Spring Bonnie, but different.
There were holds, full of circuitries and wire, missing half of the right ear. The paint felt like decaying skin, disintegrating parts of the body made the animatronic looked like as if it has been years. Body is torn and tattered, with gaping holes exposing wires and caging throughout. Legs are entirely stripped from the mid-shin down, fully exposing the endoskeleton wiring and metal. Is this what Spring Bonnie has became? Because of him?
"You... did this to me.". It spoke, voice distorted, deep and heavy tone.
"I...I'm so sorry Spring Bonnie." G-Freddy couldn't hold it in anymore, he wanted to burst out the tears, but he can't.
"Sorry is not enough. That could not be forgiven."
Silent for a while, G-Freddy thinks for a moment, calmed down, stabilizing his breath. "I may not be forgiven, but I will redeem myself for my action.". He said, as trying to convince Spring Bonnie that he will try to make up for what he have done.
"No, you will and never will be able to redeem your guilt. It will and will ever be your fault. You, will and will never be able to run away from your penance."
"Please, just give me a chance...". G-Freddy said desperately. "Please, give me some time and I'll tell the truth to my friends."
"Your friends...". The animatronic looked away for a brief moment, before saying again. "If you really cared about your friends, don't make the same mistake again. And tell them, tell them that you're the one, the one that have bitten that boy. If you're my friend, confess."
Hope flooded back, the golden bear relieved, he then slowly stands up, facing his torn and tattered friend. "I will, thank you.". He smiled.
Reality, a year after being "Golden Freddy"...
G-Freddy startled, he opened his eyes immediately and woke up, gasping for air. W-What just happened...? He mumbled, the experience was very real, so real that he almost tried to cry in that dream. G-Freddy looks around, he felt asleep on the table again. That was... just a dream? But...
"Quite a dream, wasn't it?". A voice spoke.
G-Freddy jumped a bit, he looked up to see who it was, it was Freddy.
"Now that you're up, wanna play chess?". Freddy asked.
"If you're my friend, confess." G-Freddy thinks about what his friend has said. It was a dream, surely that's not Spring Bonnie, right? But considering what that animatronic has told him, G-Freddy knows that it was really his friend, despite the fact the it was just a dream. He thinks, time seemingly stopped at this moment. Should he tell Freddy, the one he most trusted and a good friend, the truth? What if they didn't accept his past and hated him forever? What if they scared of him and never befriending him forever? Questions that needed to be answered spinning around G-Freddy's head.
Make a choice.
It's now or never.
Confess.
"Hey... Freddy". G-Freddy said, worriedly.
"Yeah?". Freddy said as he sat down the chair next to G-Freddy.
"I have something to tell you about."
Present Day...
G-Freddy finds himself standing in the middle of an somewhat abandoned restaurant, everything looked so familiar, so familiar that he felt like he has been here before, somewhere in the past. It's that place again, the broken tables, the thrown away chairs, the torn ribbons.
"Wait... I remember this place." G-Freddy mumbled quietly, while focusing down to the planks, the wooden stage. There's the red puddle, there's G-Freddy's reflection, there's the dripping blood from his mouth. G-Freddy notices the dripping sound, he can feel the wet from his below jaw, wet and sickening smell of the fresh and reddish fluid. This has happened before, G-Freddy can feel it. Then, he turned to the right, the adrenaline reached its max, he jumped.
"S... Spring Bonnie?". G-Freddy shakily asked, terrifically.
That appearance, still torn and tattered. The broken animatronic looked at G-Freddy, stared deep into his soul, his heart. But those decaying eyes seems disappointed, the look of despair.
"Did you do it?". The animatronic asked.
Remember what the question is about, G-Freddy answers back without hesitation. "Y-Yes...".
"What did it cost?". It asked again.
"Freddy...He...He forgave me. I told him the trut-". G-Freddy tried to finish the sentence, only to be interrupted by the animatronic.
"No, not Freddy alone, but all of your friends.". It remarked.
"I...I..." G-Freddy stunned by what his "friend" said. "But I told Fred-".
"Confess to them. Tell them, your friends, the truth."
"But I'm not ready...". G-Freddy said, eyes stared into nothing, hopelessly.
"If you're my friend, confess.".
That sentence, the sentence that always gives G-Freddy nightmares, the curse beside carrying guilts and penances. That sentence literally an imprint inside his head, never fades, never disappears. That sentence has been giving him what called as "headache" for years. The two animatronics stared at each other, one seeing another's soul, one thinking about its actions. At the end, the world turned white, everything collapsed into thin air. From the last moment of the dream, the animatronic speaks its final offer.
"Confess. You don't have many days. They'll eventually come to you."
"They?"
Just before G-Freddy can process, the world faded away, the dream was cut off. Reality overcomes
G-Freddy wakes up in the main room, startlingly. As usual, he started gapsing for air again, but not to hard this time. He looked at the clock, 3:25 AM, and saw other animatronics nearby, chit chatting to each other.
Ugh damnit, felt asleep again. G-Freddy mumbled, while didn't noticed Freddy is sitting in front of his place.
"Quite a dream, wasn't it?". Freddy asked.
"W-What... You didn't here just a second ago! How?". G-Freddy jumped a little bit.
"Experiences". Freddy said. "Back then from my pizzeria. I was called as 'Robot Ninja' by the night guards because how stealth I am when moving at night."
"Oh.". G-Freddy didn't seem to pay attention to what Freddy has just said, but kept thinking about what his "friend" has said back in the dream. And Freddy notices that.
"What are you thinking about? Did you have a dream". He asked.
"No...". G-Freddy replied, but soon changed his mind. "Bad dreams, you know."
"Huh. Well that sucks. I rarely dream, since I always spent time talking with my friends in the night and on stage in the day. Got used to it, but sometimes I couldn't help but asked the kids to let us take a break. I literally sleep while standing." Freddy shared his experience.
"Hah.". G-Freddy chuckled. "You really cared about you friends, huh? While I'm here just hiding in the Parts and Services room all day."
"Of course!". Freddy didn't hesitate to answer. "They are like a family to me, can't even live without them. So are you, you're part of our family members, and family members should help and support each other. Even Mike, even Jeremy. Everyone in this Pizzeria is a part of a big family."
The more G-Freddy listens to Freddy's emotional speech, the more guilty and sinful he becomes. He thinks about what his "friend" has said in the dream. He did told Freddy the truth, but not the others. Freddy when knew about it, he didn't say anything, didn't do anything, but sympathised. Freddy accepted him, accepted his dark past. He didn't know why Freddy acted like that, everyone should've disgusted by his actions. But no, Freddy isn't what he has thought of. To G-Freddy, Freddy is an example of exemplary. He can learn so much about him. How ashamed, an elderly asking a youngling for advice, G-Freddy can't take that amount of embarrassment.
As for Freddy, G-Freddy is a fine gentleman, but was just too depressed back then. Now, he is happy again. Seeing G-Freddy enjoy staying in this Pizzeria with his family members delighted him a lot. Freddy did care about his older friend, because that's what called respect. Freddy did help his older friend getting along with other animatronics, because that's what family members do. Freddy did listen to his older friend's confession, and accepted it, because it is worth forgiving for what G-Freddy has done.
Plus, having G-Freddy look almost the same as Freddy himself made him felt like having a big twin brother. Because wouldn't it be fun, to have a big brother?
"You look worried, thinking about something?". Freddy asked.
"I...uh.". G-Freddy stumbled, and changed the subject. "Can we play chess?".
"If you say so.". Freddy didn't seem to notice his friend's expression, and flattered after that. He then gets up and look for the chessboard, leaving G-Freddy alone with his dark thoughts.
8:15 AM
"Wow, I don't even know if this book even a bible or not. Everything is too well-written to not to believe.". Jeremy complimented.
"Yeah.". Jack replied, although he already knew what the book wrote about was real and true. "Especially about Ghosts and Spirits. Say, do you believe in ghosts?"
"Nah.". Jeremy replied, but somewhat changed his mind, sarcastically. "Actually, after reading this, I started to believe in supernatural. Heh."
Jack chuckled. "Well, you said it was too well-written to not to believe."
"Yup. I'm a person that's really easy to trust people.". Jeremy remarked. "Got something else to read about?"
"Hm, let me see.". Jack said as he started looking for a category to read about, while searching, he got interrupted by Jeremy.
"Oh hey look! How about this one?". Jeremy pointed at a category, a category that is kinda sensitive to Jack, who didn't notice this until now.
"Nightmares and their bad dreams... What a weird title.". Jeremy commented.
Jack looked at the page's number and find that chapter. First thing they see, is a drawing of a dark shadow with two sketchy ref eyes, as well as a unnerving smile. Under the drawing, labelled "The beast of endless nightmares, where no shape nor object can define it.". This actually gave both boys a goosebumps as a headstart to the chapter. Such a chapter about creatures of the bad dreams can make readers feel haunting.
"Woah, that description though.". Jeremy said, he didn't seem to care about the drawings much, but Jack did.
Just by looking at the drawing, Jack already feel those pain inside his chest again, it is hurtful to look and the drawing. The illustrator who drew this somehow got Jack able to flashback all the torture and pain that those monster did to him. The black part reminded him of the void, where the bottomless will soon reach his body. The red part reminded him of those bloody and nightmarish eyes of them.
"Creature of indefinable shape
Beast of neverending nightmares
Monster of fear and horror.
These were the words that most fit describing those things, fit, but not absolute."
An opening for a thing such dreadful and worth subjective.
"These things, we not sure if they're even considered as Ghost or not. Just like others, they're as haunting as they could get. Relationships are rare, and love being the impossible. Nothing can understand them. Nothing can endure them. Nothing can be its friend. Such mysterious and mystical creatures, of which we could not study about."
"Wow, they're really deadly. Like everything mentioned in this book is deadly, but I think this is the worst so far.". Jeremy said, but Jack didn't seem to attend much.
"Since there were only a few case about these things around the history, but one thing for sure, that these things, they originated from a living thing, a lingering of a fear-lust creature. They, possibly, have been Humans before. For some reason, their strange motives have pushed them to the Path of Void, where they stuck forever, only to be consumed by the Void, and become a Nightmare - A beast that feels nothing, but fear."
Jack's hypothesis was right, the Nightmares, they have been humans in past life, that's why they could communicate with him and Quinn. But what's with him doing to make them targeting him to torture? Maybe Jack will never know.
"Most notable was the infamous case of "The Pacifist Messenger of the Void". The case, which originated from the land where Angles and Demons interact with each other, the land so harmony once called as The Scratch Between to Worlds, now haunted by a creature called Nightmare. This is the story about The Faithful Girl and The Friendly Beast of Neverending Nightmares. So famous and well-known for its impossibility.
Once and happy family
Came a faithful day
Where the grass decay
We feel its presence."
Jack actually suprised when he sees the word "friendly" from the title of the infamous case. Of course to him, it is impossible for a Nightmare to become friendly, since its SOUL has been altered by the Void, it might never be able to feel anything again. But the book has proven him wrong, not everything is impossible, unless it's possibly percentage is zero.
Jack holds the current paper and looks at the chapter's length, it took him a few tries of random paper skipping just only to find the end of the story. Discouraged, the two boys looked at each other with displeasing eyes.
"Uh. I don't think we have enough time to read all of it.". Jeremy said.
Jack nodded.
Meanwhile...
Houser is having hard time thinking for a term to research about. He tried science, didn't help. He tried psychology, didn't understand. He tried everything he knew, didn't work. Houser bended down onto the table, sitting like this might not be healthy, but at least it can be made up by jogging everyday with Jeremy. There must be something he has missed here, something he's not really experts about.
I've used all my experience, from mathematics to psychological. Houser confidently assumed. What am I missing here?
Sometimes, not all things can be explained scientifically. Things that were left unexplainable, things that were left mysteriously, things that were left unsolved. An act or event that can't be explained scientifically, it is called magic. Houser started to notice the flaw, the events he has experienced, they're not normal, but rather paranormal. Science might not be able to explain them, but there's something can. Housers gets up, and search the term.
"Mythology."
"Mythology is the creation of the collective imagination of the entire people, reflecting the generalization of reality in the form of anthropomorphized deities or soulful beings, which, though special, are extraordinary to the point, primitive minds think and believe is completely real."
Interesting.
Although Joe and Mary were religious, especially Mary, his conservative mind wouldn't let him escape from the logic of science and physic. Houser didn't want to believe, but he did wanted to know. Despite listening and reading the folktales, ancient myths and urban legends, he still acted like he has just listened to an ordinary bed time story. They're just interesting to know about, but logic and reality kept him from believing it. Now it might be a good time to started believing.
A line of recommendations appeared on top of the search term's definition. All of them are all about mythical and mystical creatures and Greek mythology. Some are with eye-catching images, some are with noticeable names. He started clicking on some of them.
"Cyclopes: the one-eyed giants. They were famous for making Zeus his thunderbolts and Poseidon his trident. Odysseus also came into contact with a Cyclops while on his adventures in the Odyssey."
"Hydra: a fearsome monster. It was a giant snake with nine heads. The problem was that if you cut one head off, more heads would quickly grow back. Hercules slew the hydra as one of his Twelve Labors."
"Medusa: a monster called a Gorgon. She had a woman's face, but had snakes for hair. Anyone who looked into Medusa's eyes would be turned to stone. She was once a beautiful woman, but was turned into a Gorgon as punishment by the goddess Athena."
"Pegasus: a beautiful white horse that could fly. Pegasus was the horse of Zeus and the offspring of the ugly monster Medusa. Pegasus helped the hero Bellerophon to kill the chimera."
But there's one creatures whose title us attractive out of them all. This almost confused Houser, as the name gave him the feels of displeasure and awkwardness.
"Furries: humans with anthropomorphic characteristics. These humans tend to copy the action or is interested in furry animals. By worshipping them, the Furries wore a costume, or an outfit that represents a furry animal. Somehow, it ended up being a religion, rather than a mythic creatures."
What, am I reading...? The more Houser reads the paragraph, the more confused he gets. What kind of a person would "worship" animals which are... furry? Actually, do these people even exist nowadays? Not now, not this time, maybe later, two decades later.
As Houser scrolls for more, he finally found it. The category, it might be sensitive to him, but he finally found it. Upon the first glance, what Houser sees is an old painting, a sketch of a dark shadow, with red eyes and a nightmarish smile. Upon the next procession, Houser feels what known as realisation, realising that this is what he came for. Upon the final observation, Houser noticed that the picture looked what he has seen at that day, so familiar.
It just looked the exact same.
I should stop looking at it. Houser mumbled, as he clicked the title.
"Creature of indefinable shape
Beast of neverending nightmares
Monster of fear and horror.
An ancient, mythology creature from the creation of Void - where the Emptiness lies. What's interesting about these creatures, it is was said to be originated very long time ago, from the start of civilization, in the middle of the time, and still exist among us untill this day."
Despite not knowing anything about his "nightmares bud", but just by reading the paragraph, Houser can already the two's similarity.
"Creature of indefinable shape" - he hasn't abled to see its appearance.
"Beast of neverending nightmares" - he has always experiencing nightmares whenever he sleeps.
"Monster of fear and horror" - he has always felt fear by its horror.
"Children of the Void
Goddess of dismay
Where the grass decay
We feel its presence.
The Nightmares are fear-lust creature, which fed up by their host's fear and negative feelings. Since they don't have any definable shape, the Nightmares will take the appearance of their host's worst fear, as an advantage in scarring them. As greedy as they're, the Nightmares will and always will suck all their host's fear, even if they're in bad condition. As a result, their host die, mostly from suicidal and tiredness, when they couldn't take it anymore."
So many information! Just what I needed. Houser thought, satisfactorily. He grabs the pen and his notebook, and begins copying down important details. With the information he has got, Houser can assumed that the thing that has always been haunting for six years, could be a Nightmare of some kind.
But wait, aren't these...myths? Just because science couldn't explain it, that didn't mean it wasn't real. Sometimes you have to believe in what people believe, Gods, supernatural, paranormal, etcetera. This is reality, and there's something wrong with it, and it is badly affecting his life, drastically. Houser has to do something, he must do something, in order to stop this madness, once and for all.
Maybe it's time to combine, Science and Magic.
"I am neither scientific nor magic, but rather something else that can't be explained."
Born from Void:
(translated and simplified)
Creature of indefinable shape
Beast of neverending nightmares
Monster of fear and horror;
Children of the Void
Goddess of dismay
Where the grass decay
We feel its presence;
Strengthen by the fear
Bow them as the King
Weaken from unflinching
King shall be demised.