Dean huffed as he once again pushed his back against the wall of the security office. Sam had taken too much joy in telling Bobby in extreme detail just how scared Dean was. Bobby, in typical fashion, had just called Dean an idjit under his breath and told the boys this was no different than anything else they had faced before.
And so Dean, in an effort to prove himself, had told Sam that not only was he not afraid of the puppets, but would most definitely be walking around the spooky dark corridors in an attempt to find some sort of clue as to why the puppets were killing security guards. The Phone Guy had made it seem like they only stuffed the security guards into suits because they assumed they were metal exoskeletons, but that didn't really make any sense. First of all, they weren't trying to stuff customers into suits during the day. And if it was just a programming bug, well, that programming should be able to be reset, right? And that didn't take into account the Bite of '87. Sam did a little research the day before and discovered that the security guard at the time had worked the night shift before getting "promoted" to the day shift. No more than two hours into his first shift and- bam!- no more frontal lobe. It almost seemed like the puppets had some sort of vendetta against the night guard, but then again, if that was the case, it definitely meant something supernatural was going on. Robots don't have vendettas. Angry spirits do.
"You doing okay, Dean?" Sam asked as he set down his coffee on the table.
Dean let out a breath, trying to seem annoyed. "Fine," he replied. "Let's do this."
As if on cue, the phone rang and the voice message started. "Uh, hello? Hello? Uh, well, if you're hearing this and you made it to day two, congrats! I won't talk quite as long this time since Freddy and his friends tend to become more active as the week progresses. Uh, it might be a good idea to peek at those cameras while I talk just to make sure everyone's in their proper place. You know-"
Sam set his coffee down so quickly a little bit sloshed over the edge as he pulled up the monitors. Dean didn't even look. Instead, he immediately pulled out the bag of salt and quickly laid a line of rock salt in front of the entrance to each door as the Phone Guy's voice droned on.
"Interestingly enough, Freddy himself doesn't come off stage very often. I heard he becomes a lot more active in the dark though, so I guess that's one more reason not to run out of power. I also want to emphasize the importance of using you door lights. There are blind spots in your camera view and those blind spots happen to be right outside your doors. So if you can't find something, or someone, on your cameras, be sure to check the door lights. Uh, you might only have a few second to react. Uh, not that you would be in any danger, of course. I'm not implying that. Also, check on the curtain in Pirate Cove from time to time. The character in there, Foxy, seems to be unique in that he becomes more active if the cameras remain off for long periods of time. I guess he doesn't like being watched. I don't know. Anyway, I'm sure you have everything under control. Uh, talk to you soon."
The message faded to static before cutting out.
"Foxy?" Dean asked before shaking his head. "So he's holed up in Pirate's Cove, huh?"
"Yeah," Sam replied. He pulled up the live feed of Pirate's Cove. The curtain was pulled open a little bit, but it didn't look like anyone was there.
Dean sighed and peeked out into the dark hallway. "It looks like Bonnie's in the West Hall already," Sam said. Dean quickly pulled his head back inside. "Chica's moved already too. She's in the Dining Room."
"Where is she now?" Dean asked.
"Uh-" Sam hesitated, clicking through the live feeds. "I'm not sure."
"What do you mean you're not sure?" Dean hissed.
"Check the lights!" Sam almost yelled.
Dean flicked on the right switch, peering into the East Hall. There was nothing. He went over to the other hallway and flicked the light switch. Bonnie was standing right in front of him. Eyes half-shut with that same snaggle-toothed grin.
Dean remained totally silent as he moved his hand to the wall beside him and hit the switch, letting the door slide shut as it sealed them off from the West Hall.
"It's only 1 AM," Sam said. Dean detected an edge to his voice.
"Oh, so now you're scared?" Dean asked.
"A bit," Sam replied, adjusting himself in his chair. "I still don't see Foxy peeking out of Pirate's Cove yet. But Chica's moved. She's in the Dining Room."
"What about the bear?" Dean asked. "Freddy move yet?"
Sam pulled up the live feed for the show stage. Freddy was most definitely facing another direction.
"Okay, go back to the Pirate's Cove," Dean instructed. No movement there. "Okay, go back to the dining-" Chica was gone. Sam quickly opened and closed different windows, but he didn't notice Chica on any of them. Dean got up quickly and checked the lights in the East Hall, but the hallway was empty.
"Our battery is draining, Dean," Sam hissed. "Check the door."
Dean huffed and opened up the door. Bonnie was still there. He shut the door again immediately, but not before noticing a fair bit of discharge around the eyes. The disgust from the smell he had suddenly noticed was almost enough to take away the fear entirely.
"Chica's in the bathroom," Sam replied.
"They let them go in the bathroom?" Dean asked. "Seriously, why couldn't they just program them not to go into certain places. Like the bathroom? Or here for that matter?"
"I don't know how they're programmed," Sam replied as he shut the monitor. "Dean, it's 3 AM and we only have 27% power left. Check the door again."
Dean opened the door but didn't see anything. He flicked on the light switch, but the hall was empty. He took three steps to cross the narrow room and flipped on the other switch. Empty.
"Okay, hallways empty," Dean reported. "I'm going to go check things out."
"Don't-" Sam said quickly. Dean stopped and looked at him. "I mean, if I need someone to shut the door quickly-"
"All right, fine." Dean tried to seem annoyed but secretly? He had been hoping that Sam was just as scared as he was. And that seemed to be the case. "Check the monitors."
Foxy still had not peeped up from behind the curtain in Pirate's Cove. Bonnie had slunk back to the supply closet just off the West Hall. Chica had slipped into the East Hall. Freddy hadn't moved from when they checked on him last.
"You hear something?" Dean asked, flipping the light switch for the West Hall. Bonnie was standing in the doorway again. This time her eyes were wide open, her mouth gaping wide. Dean punched the button to close the door with a closed fist. His hand ached but he barely noticed as he rushed to the other side of the room. There was nothing in the East Hall.
"Check out the monitors, I need to know where that bitch is at," Dean snarled to cover his fear.
"I can't, Dean," Sam said quickly. "The power is draining too quickly. We have less than 20 percent power and it's only 4 AM."
"Christ," Dean muttered under his breath. "So what are we supposed to do? Just sit here and wait it out?"
"What choice do we have?" Sam asked anxiously. Dean pressed his back into the wall, picking up the sawed off he had placed against the wall. The door to the West Hall still shut, he pointed the gun straight at the doorway to the East Hall. If Big Bird even tried to step inside, he was prepared to blow her feathers off.
Suddenly there was a knock on the left door. Dean's heart leapt into his throat as Sam left his position by the monitors to stand against the wall too, fishing a 9 mm out of the back of his pants. "The power just dropped two percent," Sam noticed.
"What?" Dean asked. "Are you trying to tell me that knock just zapped two percent of our power?"
"Oh, I don't know, Dean," Sam said. The power was below ten percent now and it was just barely 5 AM. They weren't going to make it. "Angry spirits zapping all the electricity for power? I've never heard of that before, have you?"
"Shut up, Sam," Dean hissed as they watched the power drop. Three percent. Two percent. One. Percent. Zero. Dean's breath hitched as the door suddenly slid open. It was dead silent. It was dark on either side of them. He could hear Sam breathing quietly beside him, in through his nose and out through his mouth, trying to stay calm.
Suddenly a light shone in the hallway and Dean realized that he was staring at two large lit-up eyes and a wide toothy grin. Freddy. Music started playing from the hallway, a childish music-box like theme. Dean fired his sawed off, felt the recoil in his hands, but it appeared to have no effect. In the dim light, Dean could see Sam's arm outstretched, slightly bent at the elbow, as he fired shot after shot. Freddy's face did not move, the music did not stop.
"Dean?" Sam asked nervously, but Dean didn't know what to say. Suddenly the music stopped. Freddy's face disappeared. Was that it? Was that the end? Maybe it was 6 AM already and Freddy had gone back to the show stage? Maybe the salt worked at keeping him out of the room?
Suddenly something leapt out in the darkness and he could hear Sam cry out as he fell to the side. "Sam-" Dean cried, when suddenly he felt something wrap around his legs and pull his legs out from under him with incredible force. His head snapped back, the back of his head striking the radiator that protruded from the wall behind him. His vision flashed white in front of him, and then all went black.
"Dean? Dean?" Far off in the distance, he could hear Sam's voice calling out to him. He couldn't feel his body, and yet he willed himself to move closer to the voice.
Suddenly he opened his eyes and sat up. He was back in the motel, lying in his bed. Was it all just a dream then? A sudden shooting pain shot up the back of his skull and Dean grimaced. Nope, not a dream then. "What happened, Sammy?" Dean asked cautiously.
Sam blinked, then his eyes drifted to the corner of the room. Dean slowly turned his head, trying to ignore the ache in his head as he glanced in the corner of the room. Castiel stood there, his face even.
"Are you all right?" he asked at length.
"Yeah I-" Dean winced again as the pain split through his skull. It felt like he had just been smacked in the head with an iron.
Suddenly he could feel two fingers on his forehead. "Cas-" He reached up to pull Cas' hand away but didn't as a soothing sense of relief washed over him. He closed, taking it in, and when he looked away again he realized that his hand was over Cas'. Castiel looked down at him, his blue eyes sparkling, a small smile playing on his lips.
"Feel better?"
Sam moved away from them, as if to give them space, which made Dean suddenly hyper aware that Cas was not only touching him, he was touching Cas, but that Cas was standing way too close.
"Yeah, thanks Cas," Dean said as he let his hand drop. Cas seemed to take the hint, which was rare for him, as he took a step back away from Dean's bedside.
"So." Sam let out a breath. "Looks like salt doesn't repel them. Not your typical vengeful spirit then."
"Not necessarily," Dean answered. "Remember? When the door shut it went all the way to the floor. It might have broken the salt line. I'm not sure."
"Great," Sam huffed. "I'm going to do more research. See if maybe I can find someone who knows their programming code, find some way to shut them down so we can actually poke around the place."
"I'll hit up the library," Dean said. "Look through old archives. Kids went missing, but if any of them died on the premises, it could be our ticket for vengeful spirit."
He threw his legs off the bed and was about to stand up when a voice spoke up from behind them. "What about me? Is there anything I can do?"
"You already saved us once, Cas," Sam said. "And we couldn't be more grateful for that, but-"
"Actually," Dean spoke up. "Actually, Cas, I think there is something you can do."