"Charlie!" They all shouted, running after her. They followed the fast moving footsteps. Running after whoever had her. Jason, was falling behind, but it didn't matter. John was running the fastest, he was the most determined to catch this guy. Marla was breathing heavily, obviously getting worn out from all the running. Jessica's heels were slowing her. Lamar and Carlton were right behind John.
They began to notice they were being lead to the entrance of the mall, ahead, the large glass doors let the bright sunlight shine into the dark building. The man they had been chasing, they saw his silhouette against the bright white. He was a tall figure, and they could see that he was carrying Charlie.
"STOP!" John shouted angrily. The man ran out the front doors and into the parking lot. They were just about there. They ran through the doors, their feet loudly hitting the pavement of the parking lot, the light temporarily blinded them. A few seconds had past and they heard the man's footsteps running, while they were covering their eyes. John's eyes adjusted, so he immediately looked up and saw an older banged up grey car. Right in front of him, the driver side door slammed shut.
"STOP!" He shouted running towards it. The car started and the others ran up, following behind John. The car practically zoomed out of the parking lot, swiveling recklessly.
"DAMMIT!" John screamed while he stomped angrily. They all were panting and bending over, trying catch their breath. John growled. "God fucking Dammit!" his hands were on the side of his head, curling into his hair. "I wasn't fast enough. I should've tried harder! I should've done SOMETHING!" He pulling his hair painfully and his face was turning red from yelling.
"John calm down," Jessica said trying to settle him. "There was nothing more we could've done."
"There must've been something!" He yelled turning to her. She didn't respond. The others were finally catching their breath, when Jason ran up to the two.
"Who was that?! Was that the security guard?! Why did he take Charlie?!" He spurted out, his voice cracking multiple times. He was terrified and wheezing painfully. It was obvious that his body wasn't able to handle all of that fast long distance running like the others could. Jessica and John both looked at him.
"The security guard," Jessica said realizing the possibility. She looked up at John. "That could've been the security guard."
"Regardless," Lamar said butting in. They turned to him. "We need to call the cops, we did just witness a kidnapping."
"Yeah," Carlton butted in too. "My dad's the police chief remember? We need to tell him."
"But what are we going to say," Jessica added worried. "We didn't even see the guy."
"No, but we saw the car," John added almost looking excited. "Did anyone catch the number?"
"I did," Marla said quietly. They turned to her, she seemed nervous, almost shy like. She had been noticeably quiet this whole time. "And I saw the back of the man too." The others eyes' widen, they turned to each other, then back at Marla.
"Then we need to get to the station, now." Carlton stated.
Dave closed the door behind him and locked it. He reached into his right pants pocket and pulled out his keys. He walked down the carpeted hallway, up the stairs and out the front door of the almost uninhabited apartment complex. The owners were a married couple in their late 60's. They were about to go out of business, when Dave decided to rent a room. They were located in a bad spot, off the road. But Dave thought it was perfect. They even had a beautiful fountain. Dave had promised to do work and help fix any mechanical issue as well as reconstruct things, as long as he got to stay. They agreed and Dave has now been working there for years, getting payed little to nothing, but it didn't matter to him. The deal came with free plumbing and electric so it wasn't that much of a bother.
Dave walked down the concrete steps outside the building, to his car parked out front. Out here in the desert like areas, it got rather cold when the sun went down. He could see his own breath, he really wanted to get into his car and warm up. And he did, the engine took a few minutes to warm up, but soon enough the heat was flowing in. He put the car in drive and drove down the road. He was heading to Charlie's hotel.
He was going to pick up her things, so she had something different to wear, so she could brush her teeth, comb her hair, so she could have her own shampoo and conditioner. He smiled, thinking about her. How pretty she would look while combing her hair in front of the mirror. But then he thought about himself watching her. Looking up to see himself in the mirror. It immediately killed his mood, his smile dropped.
He, was not pretty. He thought about his own looks. His oily unkept hair, the bags under his eyes, his poorly shaven face, his yellow teeth, his saggy skin. He was definitely not pretty. Not like her... Not like them. He thought about Henry and Caroline.
Henry's young handsome features, his dark brown hair, his adorably awkward voice, his lack of proper social skills, the fact he was always off in his imagination. Then there was Caroline. She was gorgeous, practically a goddess. Her long light brown hair, her beautiful emerald green eyes, her million dollar smile, her kind and sweet domineer, she was like some fantasy princess, she was perfect in every way. And she, strangely, understood Henry, and they were adorable together. He thought about when they held hands, when they laughed, when talked to each other, when they kissed each other. They were perfect. They were such a beautiful couple.
Dave was smiling widely again, remembering them. Remembering all the time they spent together. He also remembered being on stage at the diner with them. Caroline had the voice of an angel, she would sing. While him and Henry, used the suits. Henry was Fredbear, while Dave was Spring Bonnie. Dave would play the guitar. While Henry sung along, doing his Fredbear voice. Both of them were dancing to the tune. And Dave was falling in love with both of their voices. It felt so magical.
When he was up there with them, he felt involved. He felt like they were a team. He loved them. And he thought they loved him too.
He shook his head. No, he didn't want to think of that. He realized that he was pulling into the parking lot of the hotel. He looked into the hotel room window. It was dark and none of their cars were there except Charlie's. He drove in and parked. He reached into his car compartment and put on his black leather gloves. He got out and reached into his left pants pocket. He pulled out a lock pick and bobby pin. He went up to the door, looking around to make sure no one was watching. Before kneeling down and fiddling with the lock on the door. He heard the click and he opened it slowly. He listen for breathing. He heard none and turned on the light. He had been correct, the room was empty. He let out a sigh of relief.
He immediately saw Charlie's suitcase at the end of her bed. He grabbed it and set it on the bed. He unzipped the suitcase and looked at its contents. Two pairs of clothes, underwear, a bra, socks. There were things missing. He realized they were probably in the bathroom. He went over to the bathroom and turned on the light. He was right. There was deodorant there, combs, and probably shampoo in the shower.
He remembered that Charlie shared this room with Jessica, so he had to be careful of what he grabbed. He smelled both things of deodorant and recognized one to be Charlie's that he had smelled earlier. He looked at the hair on the combs, he recognized Charlie's lighter brown from Jessica's darker, he grabbed it. He pulled back the shower curtain. He saw two pairs of shampoo and conditioner, like the deodorant, he was able to tell which ones by the smell. He grabbed them. His arms were full. But he grabbed a single dry hotel towel for her just in case. He turned off the bathroom light and went back into the bed room. He put everything in Charlie's suitcase, zipping it up and grabbing the handle, wheeling it out of the room. He turned off the light and shut the door, checking to see if anyone was looking. He wheeled the suitcase out to the car and put it in the back. He got into the driver's seat, and once again had to warm up the car. He sat there, watching his own breath puff out in front of him.
He decided to think about Charlie again. He noticed how bored she often looked, how tired she looked. Though, when she was with her friends, she was bound to crack a smile every now and then. He remembered when she finally smiled, back in Freddy's. He immediately loved it. He remembered the same smile on the little girl she once was. A little toddler, who was mostly silent. Checking and looking at every nook and cranny there was to that diner. He often found himself watching her, he always found joy whenever she picked something up and brought to him. He always would smile and thank her, before placing it on the table next to him. He also remembered her twin brother Sammy. They looked almost identical. Except they wore differentiating clothes, and Charlie's bright blonde hair was put up into a little pigtail.
Christ, how could he forget Sammy. Sammy's screams and flailing little body was still burnt to the back of his mind. Upon realizing what he had done, he was horrified. After all, he was the first one he ever... It would be best not to think about that right now. In a way, Dave was kind of glad he chose Sammy that day. Otherwise, he wouldn't be with Charlie right now. He wouldn't get to experience someone who was so much like them again. Who knows how Sammy would've turned out if things had gone differently. He simply couldn't imagine Sammy as an adult. Would he be like Charlie? His gut feeling was telling him no. Sammy's underdeveloped personality, his high pitched voice, his soft looks. It was all such a far away memory of what he was like. But all of that would've changed. Just like it did with Charlie, but there are still moments where he can see her younger self in what she is now.
Dave was already driving at this point, down the dark road in the cold midnight. Only his headlights could guide his way. He scratched his stubble, blinking his tired eyes. His eyes, were yearning for sleep, yearning to be back at the apartment to rest. But, he tried his hardest to stay awake and focus on the road.
When he thought about it, he still couldn't believe just how much time had past since then, how much has changed. Things wouldn't have been so different, so broken, and so painful if they had just given him what he wanted. He had felt betrayed by them. By the two people he loved. After all, Henry said that he made the Spring Bonnie suit, especially for him. He put his time, work, and effort into that creation. How could he do that, then push him away. He remembered how much he loved the suit the first time seeing it. And how Henry helped him put it on the first couple of times, when…
"You got it William?" Henry asked. Looking at him shift in the suit. "Yeah Henry, don't worry. We've done this quite a few times now," he responded looking at Henry through the animatronic head. "You can never be too sure," Henry said. "You know that these things can malfunction easily." "Don't worry I got it," he replied almost annoyed. Then, there was loud snap. There was split second of silence between the men. Before, there was more snapping sounds. The animatronic was moving back into place. He felt wires and beams begin to pierce him. He started screaming in pain and fell back. "WILLIAM!" Henry shouted. He jumped down reaching out to help, but immediately drew his hands back, not wanting to injure himself. William felt everything collapsing in, crushing him. He was spazzing out on the ground. He tried to shout for Henry but couldn't. All he could do is gurgle on his own blood as the parts pierced his torso. He suddenly felt metal beams shoot through his head. His eyes were on Henry's terrified face, in his last living moments. Then, William saw nothing but darkness. He called out for anyone, but there was no reply. He suddenly saw a flash. In front of him were two things written out. RESET or MOVE ON He stared at them both. Reset or Move on? What did this mean? Everything felt dreamlike, but at the same time, even more real than reality itself. Was he... dead? No! He felt his stomach drop, realizing just what was happening. His calm and confused manner turned into one that was of fear and denial. But the options in front of him only shinned brighter. Moving on, it most likely meant that he was going to be judged by God. It means he'll never have a second chance, he'll never live a full life. It meant accepting death. But he immediately realized. Reset, was his second chance. His second chance to do things over again, make things right, fix things. To be with them again. He reached and touched reset. A bright light bore from it and he tightly shut his eyes, trying to avoid being blinded. Then the light beyond his eyelids was gone. He opened them, and he was back at the diner again. Sitting at one of the tables. He looked around frantically, checking to see if it was actually the diner. Nothing was different. He then patted his stomach up to his face, feeling himself. He really was alive. He laughed happily, feeling so relieved that he was, before he looked up at the clock on the wall, it was 9:00 in the morning. It was just a few hours before he tried on the suit. He still had time. He needed to do something. He needed to try and fix it. He might not get a second chance if he doesn't. He got up and went all the way to the Parts and Services room, he turned on the light, and looked around before he saw it. The Spring Bonnie suit, leaned up against the wall. He reached into the cardboard box next to it and pulled out a crank. Just like Henry showed him, he cranked the animatronic, compressing it into suit mode. He examined the suit with his flashlight, looking into all of it's openings, before finally looking into the neck. One of the springlocks inside of it was shaking, like it was going to snap shut in any second. How could fix this? He thought about it for a second, before noticing that the spring locks were all bolted into the suit with screws. He knew immediately what to do. He reached over, digging around in the box, before taking out a small wrench. William carefully reached into the suit, he couldn't touch any of the other springlocks, otherwise the suit might collapse. He managed to screw the loose springlock in tighter. To his relief, it stopped shaking. He sighed and smiled, at least that was out of the way. He cranked Spring Bonnie back to animatronic mode. He tossed both tools back into the box, and walked back into the dining area to wait. Later, Henry brought him backstage to put on the suit once more, William was sure that there would be no malfunctions this time. But there was. He heard a noise, different than last time. But he knew it still wasn't good. He expected the endoskeleton to crush him once more. He froze up and waited. He felt wires and beams painfully cut him all over his body. However, it stopped there, nothing else came. The animatronic didn't decompress. Henry quickly got him out of the suit and asked if he was alright. William blinked before responding with a dazed "yes". Henry called 911 and got an ambulance there quickly. William was rushed to the hospital. He was covered in deep cuts, but he would survive. And he did. The cuts all became scars. White symmetrical scars. In the hospital room, Henry was non-stop apologizing to William, despite how many times he told Henry that it was alright. From that day forward, William became rather curious about the animatronics, almost borderline obsessed. What did he do wrong? What still caused the suit to malfunction? He wanted to know. So, whenever Henry wasn't looking or around, he studied the animatronics, to learn how they worked. He was quite fascinated by their complexity, it made him realize just how much of a genius Henry really was. He also learned how to take them apart and put them back together. And eventually, he found a way to keep the Spring Bonnie costume from malfunctioning like that ever again.
He then remembered Charlie, the anger and boldness in her eyes, when she reached into the suit and set off the springlocks. He never would've expected it. It had been so long. He had practically forgotten the pain from the first time around. But soon, he realized it was just like he recalled. All the same things happened. This time around he was seeing Charlie back away from him, with a terrified look, just like Henry. Except he soon felt hands grab him and drag him away from the gang. The animatronics took him away, he really was going to be one of them now. But before they could grab his soul and trap him there with them. He narrowly managed to escape from the spirits of the children.
Once again, he found that he was in limbo between life and death. He was quite surprised to see that he still had the choice to go back. His mind immediately went to Charlie. She wasn't just going to have a simple happy ending like that, doing what she just did. He wasn't going to let her. The rest of the gang didn't matter to him anymore. They could run, leave Hurricane and never come back for all he cared. This was about her now. He chose reset once again. Things were going to be different this time.