Nathaniel blinked a couple of times. He was standing on an empty street outside the diner. The moon shone like an eye in the dark sky. But hadn't it just been the afternoon? And hadn't that guy just... Shaking his head, he tried to clear it. How had he gotten here and more importantly, what the heck had just happened to him?
A man in an official-looking uniform jogged past Nathaniel and around the corner of the building. A policeman. Nathaniel knew that the cops wouldn't be happy to see the young teen out past curfew, but he desperately wanted to know what in the world had just happened to him. "Hey! Sir!" he called, taking off after the policeman.
When Nathaniel rounded the corner of the building, he found the policeman taking notes along with two other grim-faced officers. The men were standing next to a roped off area. The place looked like a murder scene. His murder scene.
This can't be happening. This can't be happening, Nathaniel tried to tell himself. But he knew that the truth was in front of him. One of the policemen turned to look at the empty diner. Nathaniel was in his direct line of sight, but the man looked right past him. "This is really happening," the young teen told himself out loud. The policeman didn't acknowledge that he had spoken.
Feeling sick, Nathaniel knew he couldn't stay at the scene of his own murder for one more second. He turned around and fled into the diner. The solid wall did nothing to bar the ghost from going through it.
It was a lot quieter inside. Up on the stage, the Fredbear robot and his rabbit companion waited motionlessly for the day to start. Nathaniel looked down. In a corner sat a Fredbear plush toy, left behind by some child. Nathaniel went to pick it up. His hands passed right through it.
Something else caught Nathaniel's eye. The bird, which had flown so franticly around the diner the day before, lay next to the toy bear. From a crash or exhaustion or maybe some other reason, it, too, was no longer a part of this world.
Nathaniel felt sorry for the little creature. Now that he was less panicked, the harsh reality was really starting to set in. Was death really such a big part of life?
Softly, a weak purple light began to glow around Nathaniel's hands. The motionless bird took up a glow of its own, as did the Fredbear plush. As quickly as it had come, the light faded. Amazed, Nathaniel watched the toy raise its head and somewhat awkwardly move its arms. It stood up and began to hop around, fluttering its stuffed arms wildly. Did I make that happen, Nathaniel wondered in awe.
He felt even worse for the bird now. Trapped in its new body, it could do nothing but hop around, grounded. He tried to pick it up again, thinking he might be able to calm it, but his hand passed through it once again. I didn't mean to make it suffer. It was probably happier in whatever place I called it back from, Nathaniel thought sadly.
The purple glow returned. This time, the bear gave a shudder and went limp. He looked down at his transparent hands. What the heck is happening to me?