Hello reader! I've forgotten how exciting it is to actually receive and read a review, it's a feeling I hope I don't soon forget again.

I thank you kindly for your time, dear unnamed Guest. I'm really happy that I managed to convey humor (somehow) and the characters' personalities across to you. Did the 'night bird' nickname come too strong? I actually tried not to overdo it, which is why the term only came up about a third of the way in. Reading back, I realize it did become persistent toward the end. In any case, you'll be hearing the term much more often from now on, so I apologize in advance if it becomes tiring. The nickname itself was an attempt at literary swag points, which would be evident in the much later chapters if you would be so kind as to follow the story until then.

Strange I got nothing for the second chapter though (not even new follows or alerts). Or perhaps it's not so strange at all. I probably scared/disgusted a few people away with that, so now I'm torn on whether fleshing it out as I did was actually a good idea as I thought it would be. Maybe if I put in a wicked line for Foxy, something like, 'I came here to entertain kids and bite intruders. And you just killed all the kids!'

But then it'd totally ruin the fear atmosphere, so I dunno. I was half expecting at least someone would ask why the animatronics let the murders actually happen and not attempt to stop it (it's because of the instructions David gave them toward the end of When We Celebrated, as enforced by Freddy).

C'est la vie.

Last chapter we got to find out what happened while David was gone. This chapter, if curiosity requires that you know (though it's not necessary), occurs exactly a week after that: the night of July 3, 1987. Here we get to visit the night guard again, and see how he's doing.

Author recommendation: This chapter is a little heavy. Read slowly and do not skim.

Disclaimer: I again retain no ownership over FNAF or any of the characters from the game. Picture is by the lovely Orlando Fox; great artist but she was kinda burned out by people claiming her work. Go ahead and google her art. Tell her how awesome you think she is on her Tumblr.

PART I

Do You Remember

Chapter III

When You Left

David's attention darted from monitor to monitor, taking in the silent grey images and scrutinizing grainy details his eyes could barely make out. Was that spray-painted 'murderers!' graffiti defacing the outside walls there the night before? Was that shadow a member of the angry mob who followed him, or a raccoon searching the dumpsters?

The small transistor radio on the desk emitted a soft static along with the late night talk. All stations were onto the same heated topic at this hour, but turning it off caused an uncomfortable silence. And, for reasons he can't quite explain, he wanted to listen to those hateful voices.

"Where was he when all of this happened?"

"There's absolutely no excuse for what he did!"

"All I know is that my little girl would still be alive right now if only…"

What was it that kept his mind together, that let him detach himself from the horror of what happened, that let him fool himself of his involvement? How did he smile and nod when coworkers tried to comfort him saying it was not his fault? How could he not give himself to the grieving parents? It terrified him that a person was capable of that. That he himself was capable of that.

Coward.

Someone greeted him out of the darkness. It was his voice, his own voice that confronted him.

Never amount to anything.

David turned off the radio, there was no use for it now. Once it began, he would be haunted for the rest of the night. He closed his eyes; they ached and stung. How long had he been watching the feeds? What time was it? Where was daybreak?

Pathetic. Useless.

He was reminded of how fragile it all was. How harsh the world really was beyond the walls. He faintly remembered his life before working here at Freddy's. He let go of many things: hate, sorrow, regret. In his years working here at Freddy's, David had gone complacent. He had become greedy and selfish, and he paid the price for it. No, they paid the price for it.

Unforgivable.

"Chica. Freddy. Bonnie… Foxy." They loved him, trusted him. And yet they found themselves abandoned when they needed him most. Through tears and coughs, he said their names. "Basil… Chris…"

"Night Bird." David heard a voice from behind him, causing him to jump in his seat. He swiveled around to find Bonnie standing behind him. What was he doing here? Were the doors left open?

"You-" David quickly pulled the sleeves of his uniform across his eyes to wipe away the tears to no avail. "You're not supposed to be here."

"I'm sorry." Bonnie's ears were drooped, and his eyes were angled in concern.

"Are ye alright, lad?" David saw the other animatronics just outside the open door behind Bonnie. Foxy hesitated but eventually came into the office himself, followed closely by Chica. Freddy also looked into the office, but stayed outside.

"I'll be fine." No. They shouldn't be here. Not right now. He didn't want them to see him like this. David opened his mouth to tell them to leave but could not find the strength in himself to drive them out. He turned back around to face the monitors. He didn't know what to do in this situation. He wasn't prepared to face them. For a while there were only the sounds of static from the screens and the occasional click and whirr of movement from the animatronics behind him. But there were no thumps, no padded footsteps against the floor. They stayed.

"N- Night Bird." Bonnie called out to him again, this time more insistent.

"What do you want?!" He answered, immediately realizing he had used a strong voice by mistake. David noticed he was breathing heavily but as he tried to control it, his heart began to race in his chest. He could hear the loud thumping of his own heartbeat against his eardrums, and nothing else.

The animatronics were quiet for a time, no doubt scared when he raised his voice at them. He had never done that to them before, he always strived to be gentle for them. He felt a deep regret. They didn't know any better, they didn't know anything. They were never at fault. David took the time to compose himself, to at least even out his breathing, before he turned back around to face them.

"I'm sorry. I can't come and be with you guys right now; I have to do something important." He said, making sure there was no distress in his voice when he spoke. They should at least know not to expect from him from now on. The next part was difficult. "I… might have to stop playing games with all of you for a while."

Immediately he heard the mechanical sounds of movement from the animatronics. Bonnie and Foxy opened their mouths, as if to object, but said nothing. As if choreographed, they all looked out the doorway. David followed their gaze to see Freddy still outside the office. He was about to say something and had quieted the others down.

"Night Bird won five times. He gets to say what we do." Freddy said firmly. Yes, that sounded right. Whoever won would normally get to decide what to do for the remainder of the night. The past week David did play his part in the game but, upon winning by time-out, locked himself in the security office. Freddy continued. "What do you want, Night Bird?"

David never actually thought of what he would ask from them when he played the week, he was distracted by much more pressing matters. He only needed them out of the way and, until now, they hadn't bothered him.

"Come here, Freddy." He motioned for Freddy to come forward into the room. The bear blinked and shook his head. He refused to break the rule about not coming into the guard office.

"It's okay." He reassured him. After a moment's hesitation, Freddy stepped gingerly into the room while the others watched.

"Freddy, I want you to keep playing your games. But this time, without me." David stood up and addressed the bear. He saw Freddy's eyebrows meet but before the animatronic could respond, he continued. "You're going to have to make a new game, make up new rules for just the four of you."

He waited a second, just until he saw Freddy give a small nod. He then turned to Bonnie. "I want you to take care of everyone for me. Make sure to keep them out of trouble and to stay together, okay?"

"Okay." Bonnie responded readily.

"Chica. I won't be around as often, but I want you to be happy even without me." David turned to look at her. Her hands were fidgeting with the bib on her chest. Bonnie reached out and touched her arm, helpfully calming her down. They held hands for a while and eventually Chica nodded in acknowledgment.

"What about me, lad?" Foxy came forward, placing a hand on his chest as he presented himself. "What d'ye want me to do?"

"You'll… hear things, Foxy. Terrible things about what you did." David took a moment; this one was going to be difficult. He could barely look Foxy in the eye. "I want you to ignore them."

"A- Aye."

"You did nothing wrong." He said, taking a brief pause. "Promise me you'll remember that."

"But lad, I-"

"Promise me!" David involuntarily raised his voice again when he cut off Foxy. He continued with a pleading tone. "Please."

"I… promise." Foxy softly broke the silence that followed. He raised his hooked hand and traced a small cross in the middle of his chest. "Pirate's honor."

"Thank you Foxy." David said. He briefly felt a comforting sense of relief.

"Four." Freddy said, counting. "You can tell us to do one more thing."

There was nothing else David would want from them, for them, than to be happy without him being with them as often as before. He had to stay in the office and focus on his duties from now on. For him to play around like he did before would be to insult those who suffered, those who continue to suffer.

"Night Bird." Foxy broke through his thoughts when he called to him. The captain would always refer to David as 'lad' or 'matey'. It was extremely uncommon for Foxy to call him Night Bird, and would almost only do so in the very few moments that the others were not present. It was, between the two of them, a mark of intimacy, companionship, and trust. David looked up to see the captain had removed his tricorn hat and placed it upon his chest. He spoke, not as captain to a subordinate as his usual demeanor, but as a close friend. "Are ye tired? Would ye like to rest?"

David stared. There was something in those bright amber eyes that struck a chord deep within him. Within it he saw compassion, kindness, and love. Could they truly still love him? Despite what he did, what he failed to do?

Aren't you tired of running?

He came back to set things straight, or so he planned. In truth, he had no idea what to do. What should he tell them? How should he act? Would he lie to them, that everything will be alright? No, they deserved better than that. They deserved better from him. Deserved better than him.

Aren't you tired of hiding?

A plague of hatred followed him. People who wanted to see him suffer, and who would see his loved ones suffer in his stead. He must leave. But… how could he? This was his home. They were his family. The thought of not being with them grew a heavy stone in his heart. It was impossible, unthinkable. His mind clamored for answers. He couldn't run. He couldn't hide. The walls closed in on him now, there were no options left for him but to continue being poison to others. To them.

Aren't you tired of ruining lives?

Yes, he was tired of it all. So many things went badly wherever he was. There was a void within him, an overwhelming sense of desolation. And from the screaming turmoil of his mind came a thought, a ripple of an idea that grew and silenced everything else. It promised him solitude. He looked at Foxy, at those warm yellow eyes. His voice cracked as he spoke what would be his fifth and last instruction. "Kill me."

There was a nervous laughter from the others, but David stood in unmoving silence. He wasn't joking.

"I won, didn't I?!" He said, as the tears began to well in the corner of his eyes. "That- That means-"

"That means we have to do what you say." Freddy finished his sentence for him. David watched as the bear came forward and placed a hand on Foxy's shoulder. The captain's face turned furious and tried to shrug off Freddy. The bear insisted, gripping more tightly. Foxy turned to face the others, as if looking for reassurance. Bonnie nodded weakly, and Chica looked away. His face a picture of defeat, Foxy turned back to look at Freddy who then pulled him away from David with minimal effort.

Freddy opened his arms as he walked toward David. The night guard felt a firm embrace, and a soft pat on his back. His tears now came out and trickled onto Freddy's fur as he closed his eyes and pressed his face against the animatronic's chest. He coughed from the dust that came off and reached as far as he could to hug Freddy back.

As David cried, he felt Freddy's hands move upwards to the back of his head. He felt Freddy press his head further into his chest.

It felt so welcoming, so… gentle.

Breathing, like much of everything else, had begun to be difficult. David's body shook and wanted to break free, and he fought to keep himself still. Despite the involuntary struggle, Freddy held on and refused to let go. Steady hands pressed David's head tighter.

Everything began to fall apart as David felt himself drifting away. In his mind's eye he saw a brilliant jewel and within it memories of a life, his own life. It spun around and he saw everything at once: all the games they've played, all the songs he'd mangled singing with Bonnie, all the stories he'd read and told them, and the moonless nights they spent watching the stars. Also within the sphere of memories he saw the disappointment of his parents, the faces of those he'd left behind, his sister ever steadfast and strong, and the two boys who called him their 'brother'. In that moment he experienced every emotion he had ever felt.

He felt sadness. Joy. Regret. Comfort.

And then finally, as the light died and the darkness consumed him, he felt peace.

#

Because even the kind and strong can fall into despair.

With the death of the person they loved hanging above their heads, how will they move on? Could they move on? How would it change them? How would it have changed you? Next chapter is due next weekend, again barring unforeseen events.

I realize there are readers that dislike characters getting killed. I apologize, but if it's any consolation I do not take the trials taken by these characters lightly. David's death will be anything but trivial.

The challenge for this chapter was to depict depression without mentioning the actual word. I encountered great difficulty in putting myself into the character's mindset to be able to pull this off, mainly because I don't think I've actually experienced depression myself (or maybe I have, but I didn't recognize it?). You ever get that feeling that you're just so full of crap? No? Well great, I sincerely hope things stay that way for you. I just hope I'm not offending people with actual depression issues.

We'll be seeing more of David in the later chapters, don't worry. We'll see what he was, and what he will become.

I promise this will have a happy ending. I hope you all stick around for it.

If you liked this chapter or the story so far, please do leave a review. If not, but you care enough to point out where I can improve, leave a review as well.

A few more things:

Yes David died by suffocation on Freddy's chest. And yes he had an angry mob harassing him the whole week, following him home even; public opinion is harshly negative of him leaving his post.

I'm still looking for a FNAF forum with a creative section, if you guys know one please link me to it.

PS. I actually tried to make a mix for this, to listen to while reading. Might be distracting though, but I'll try to link to it from my profile.

PPS. I'll say this now, because I might not be able to expound on it later on. Basil and Chris (near the beginning of the chapter) are references to Noli Me Tangere's Basilio and Crispin respectively. They're kids David knew personally (two boys who called him 'brother') and, as with the reference material, the latter died (during the night of the missing children).