The pieces of metal cut and scraped into his skin. His body felt heavy and cumbersome as he clunked down the halls. His head throbbed and he wasn't able to see clearly. The animatronics gave him strange looks and kept away from him, as he walked by. His breaths were heavy and labored and his body began to grow cold. It amazed him that he was able to walk. The hallways were dark, but it didn't take him too long to see the office, where Jeremy sat at the desk, occupied with the cameras. He forcefully took a deep breath, "S….a…v…e… t…h…e...m…" he wheezed, watching Jeremy look up. He began to black out every so often, "S…a…v…e… t…h…e…m…" his vision faded, but he blinked to refocus his vision, seeing that Jeremy now wore his Freddy head. He stood in the doorway for a moment. Trying to remember what was happening. His attacker had hit him on the head hard enough to disorient him. "S…a…v…e… t…h…e…m…" he gasped and held out a hand.
Jeremy had gasped in fear and pressed himself to a wall, grabbing his flashlight. He was now within five feet of the older man and was able to barely brush by him before Jeremy swung, "S…a…v…e… m…e…" he uttered before Jeremy hit him on the head with a flashlight with a loud crack. Everything then went black as he crashed to the floor.
Everything after that was choppy. "Mike, what happened?" he barely heard as he curled in on himself in pain. "Save them…" he whimpered an writhed uncomfortably in the suit, unintentionally allowing the crossbeams and wires cut more and more into his body. Everything faded again.
"What have you done to him?!" Jeremy's voice snarled beside him.
"Oh- this? Relax… most of it isn't even his. The boy saw too much." Gerald's voice chuckled, "And I can't have any witnesses."
The voices were muffled after that. His body began to feel constricted and like he was slowly being fed to a blender. The preexisting cuts and scrapes were raw now that the costume was being replaced, but he had lost the energy to call out. To scream, to beg for it to stop. Beg for the pain to end. His body went numb and he faded back out of consciousness once again.
"Dad?" he called weakly. He barely opened his eyes and found that he was sitting in the front seat of the car.
"What, Mike?" his curt response seemed more panicked than anything.
"I love you…" he breathed.
"Y-yeah- I love you too. You're gonna be okay, buddy, I promise."
"…I'm sorry…"
"Sorry? Don't be sorry. I'm sorry I'm such a pussy and didn't come after you. I should've been there for you. I-"
"Shh…" he hushed, "I'm not mad at you…" he whispered.
I was never mad at you…
Mike screamed and jolted, finding himself sitting completely upright in his bed. He sighed shakily and wiped his eyes. He was then greeted with a large, fluffy, black cat with a white star over his eye, "Morning, buddy." He groaned and scratched his ear. "You're hungry- I get it. I get it." He sighed, "Fat little bastard…" He muttered and climbed out of bed and went downstairs to feed Star, however, the food container and bowl was empty. He rolled his eyes, "I gotta get milk and eggs anyway…" he yawned and climbed back upstairs to get dressed. He grabbed a pair of jeans and replaced his pajama pants with them. He then went to his closet and retrieved a clean, light blue polo shirt. Before he pulled it on, he caught a glance in the mirror at the black rows of stitches that decorated his torso. They didn't hurt much. They were more sore than anything. They were lightly bruised along the stitches where the cuts and slashes were. He shook his head and pulled on his shirt. He also had a few cuts and scratches on his head and face as well- but they were small and only one required stitches. He grabbed a white baseball cap and put it on.
After he made it downstairs, he grabbed the car keys and opened the door to leave, surprising Olivia before she was able to knock, "Oh- hey."
"Hi- Mike." She greeted, her expression seemed concerned, "Uh- I visited your dad yesterday… he's not looking so good."
"What do you mean?" Mike stepped outside, being sure that the cat hadn't tried running out.
"I mean he's starting to look pale. He's getting sick and he's too stubborn to get one of the physicians too look at him." She explained.
Mike sighed in frustration, "Shit…" he swore under his breath. "Um… why?"
"He can't afford it. He says that he's using whatever money he has at home for your funeral service." She said.
Mike nodded. "Well- we'll leave that money alone." He said. "I have some of my own money saved up. We'll use that to pay for his check-up. Tell him that it was yours if he asks." He instructed. "I have to run to the store anyway. I'll stop by the bank and get you the money for Dad, okay?"
"Are you sure?" she asked.
"I want him to be taken care of." He said and locked the house behind him, "He can't always be putting everyone before himself. He should consider himself a priority for once."
She smiled, "I couldn't agree with you more." She said, "Just- stop by my house when you're done. Okay?" she started across the street back to her house.
"You got it." Mike confirmed and got in the car. When he got to the grocery store, he grabbed a cart and leaned on it as he walked around the store. His flashback haunted him. He had never been so scared or uncertain in his life since the Bite. It didn't bother him much anymore. He couldn't remember what happened. He walked down the pet aisle and rubbed his eyes. How could Jeremy get sick? He had the best immune system out of everyone he knew.
He bumped his cart against someone else's. "Oh- geez." He backed up, "I'm sorry." He glanced up, "Stella?"
The woman who was with the cart looked at him and gasped, "Mike!" she rushed around the cart and hugged him.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" he yelped.
She flinched, "W-what happened? Are you okay?" she asked.
"Uh- there was an accident. I don't really feel like talking about it." He said and reached up for a bag of cat food, "How have you been?" he asked, looking her in the eye after setting the food down. Something wasn't right, "Are you wearing make-up?" he asked, "You never wore make-up."
She looked down, "Eh- David likes it…"
"But do you like it?" he studied her closely, "Is that a black eye?" he grabbed her shoulders and looked at her closely, "Is he hitting you?"
"M-Mike! It's nothing- honestly!" she stammered.
"That's not nothing, that's-"
"Stella?" another voice called from another aisle. They were shortly approached by another man, easily a couple inches taller than Mike and probably weighed more as well. "Well! Never thought I'd see the half-brained bald kid here alone without his daddy." He taunted, "Where's Jer-bear, huh? Asleep still."
Mike growled, "In jail, thank you very much." He said and pulled Stella behind him, "Right where you'll be after I kick your ass."
David scoffed, "For what?"
"You know damn well why!" he barked.
He smirked, "First off- that's none of your business." David started, "Second- keep your voice down. There are families here with kids." He then gave him a daring look, "But if you insist, I'll take your challenge. We'll meet outside." He started walking down the aisle, bumping Mike and grabbing Stella's arm as he passed by, "Come on." He pulled her along.
As soon as Mike got outside, he punched David in the face as hard as he could. David stumbled and held his cheek, "Pack a pretty good punch, don't you?" he brought himself back up and sent a punch into Mike's ribs, causing the smaller man to curl into that spot in pain.
"Mike- you don't have to do this!" Stella argued.
David turned around and slapped her, "Shut it!"
Mike jumped up, "Get away from her!" he barked and punched him again, this time in the jaw. David stumbled back, then lunged forward and shoved Mike into a wall hitting his head against the wall. He then continued to punch Mike in the stomach.
"David, stop it!" Stella went to grab his fist and hold him back, but she was knocked back onto the ground instead.
David shoved Mike into the wall as he leaned forward, hitting his head again. He brought his knee up into his stomach and then punched him on the side of his head.
Mike fell to his hands and knees and tried to regain his bearings. His ears rang and his vision spun around him, causing him to wobble even though he used all four limbs to keep himself up. He saw flashing lights and a few uniformed men approach the scene. He heard distorted shouting from David and a couple other men. He flinched as someone touched him. He tried focusing his attention on whoever it was.
"Are you okay?" he barely heard. Stella carefully sat him down against the wall and made him look at her, "Mikey? Can you hear me?" her voice was distant.
"I…" he panted, "I think I might throw up…" he groaned, even his voice sounded distant.
"Mike, look at me!" Stella grabbed both sides of his face and made him look at her, "Breathe, okay? Focus on me."
Everything became clear to him eventually. There were police. David was being arrested and they spoke to several other people. Those who saw the fight, he guessed.
"Sir?" a woman cop knelt in front of him, "Can I get your name?" she asked.
"M-ma'am…" he groaned and held his head, "I've got enough l-legal stuff to deal with." He winced at the new headache that had sprouted, "I- I need to go home. Just… keep him away from her." He pointed at Stella. "I need to go home…" he leaned over and retched, emptying last night's supper onto the pavement.
"Sir, did you drive here?" the officer asked and rose an eyebrow.
"I'll drive him home." Stella informed the officer. "He'll be okay." She took his left hand, "Come on, Mike."
He nodded and forced himself up, stumbling a bit and nearly falling to his right. He felt someone grab him and keep him from falling. "I got ya…"
Stella looked up and saw that another man had pulled Mike's arm over his shoulder, "Just get the car open." He had hazel eyes and blonde hair with red streaks.
Stella nodded, "Thank you."
"No problem." He said, "I saw the whole thing. I called the police." He helped Mike sit in the car, "Make sure he gets plenty of rest and drinks enough water, okay?"
"Yeah." Stella nodded, "Thank you. I'm Stella. That's Mike." She introduced her and Mike.
"Paul." He reached across the car and shook her hand, "Have a great day." He said and closed the door to Mike's side of the '02 Chevy Impala.
**This one was a long chapter. Wanted to add a little bit before Mike went to the store, but didn't expect for that to take up so much. But I think it was perfect anyway. If you have read Lost Son, then you recognize the flashback. If not, then read Days of Our Lives and Lost Son because it explains a good portion of this. This is a sequel of the two. Stella's back! Lori probably predicted this in the first story, but she's back. Paul belongs to GrezzWizard, Olivia to WarHusky2000. Leave a review and stay awesome people!**