Author's Notes: Ch. 2 coming up a lot quicker than I planned. for anyone that plans on continuing reading this, here's a forewarning that this will usually predate most chapters, whether I need to explain anything or answer any questions. For now, I'll explain a few things following up from the first chapter.

Ch. 2 marks a change in POV from what I originally wanted to do; I wanted to have the therapist recount what happened as he saw it, but I have a different idea set up for him later. Instead we're looking at this from an omnipresent view where we see and know most every character's thoughts and feelings. I'm also trying to iron out a few wrinkles that might appear in the storyline, so if something doesn't sound right, don't worry, I'll fix it later. This will be hard given the topics that I'm working with (ayyyy fuck off Scot Cawthon for your difficult storyline), but I will attempt to make coherent storyline from everything.

This chapter will also get some of the characters out of the way, hence why it's longer than the first one. But hopefully I can get into more comfortable writing process with this story, and get chapters out regularly as my schedule will allow. (God I wish I had a normal job. Games like this should remind you that night-shift jobs are shit and shouldn't exist.) But that's all for now, so please, enjoy the story!

"And now for tonight's top story. The disappearance of a young boy has thrown the town of (N/A) in panic, with many fearful parents calling for action from the local police force. This marks the second incident this year, with the disappearance of two siblings having already thrown the town into fear for their own kids' safety. Authorities are looking for any information on the whereabouts of-" *click*

Three kids were missing. Parents were distraught with worry. The town was filled with an unmistakeable tension. It was only February of 1987 at this point, and Jackson Statham could tell it was like a ice-cold wet blanket had been tossed onto the whole town. Well, it was the best way he could describe it. He was only 10 years old now, but his parents believed he was far more mature than most kids his age.

It would've been true if he weren't constantly laughing at gross jokes his friend David would make. They'd been friends since early preschool, and were inseparable ever since. But nonetheless, his mom and dad treated David and Jackson's other friends as if they were their own. Tonight they sat in the cozy basement of Jackson's house watching TV. Or they were watching it, until his mom came in and turned the TV off.

"Boys, it's time for bed. You've both got a very important day tomorrow!" Mrs. Statham stood beside the stairs to the main floor, wearing her light blue bathrobe and slippers. The boys groaned audibly, with Jackson turning on the couch to stand on his knees in the cushion.

"But Mom, you said we could stay up and watch TV 'til 11 tonight if we did our homework!" Jackson looked a great deal like his mother, with dark blonde hair that curled out every which-way and brown eyes that his dad likened to milk chocolate. However, unlike his mom's tanned appearance, he was just as white as his dad, and just as prone to sunburn in the summertime.

The sound of footsteps down the stairs came to a halt as a redhead peeked out from behind the mom's robe. "If you get to stay up, I should too!" It was Robin, Jackson's little sister. Somehow she inherited their dad's straight red hair and their mom's tan skin, leading to many kids wondering if they're even related, but they shared the same dark eyes. "Right, Mom? Please, please, please, please!"

Mrs. Statham only laughed as she bent down and ran a hand through Robin's hair. "Now I thought I told you that you needed to be in bed, little missy! You've got school in the morning, and I can't have you falling asleep in class again." She playfully pinched Robin's cheek and turned to the boys, who now looked at her expectantly. "And I do believe that you two have a field trip tomorrow, right?"

"Well yeah," David said, shrugging, "but it's only to the space museum. We can sleep on the way there if we're tired!

"Besides," Jackson added, "everyone knows that's not the best part of the trip. At lunch we get to go to Freddy's and play! We'll get to play the arcade games, and eat pizza, and see Freddy and the gang and-"

"Aww, I wanna go!" Robin pouted and turned back to her mom. "Mom can I go with them? I wanna go see Freddy and the others! Please please!"

"Robin, you have a birthday to go to in five days," their mom said cooly. "I'm sure they're going to Freddy's for the party!"

"But I wanna go with Jackson tomorrow!"

"You can't, squirt! The field trip's only for fourth graders, not second graders." Jackson sat on top of the couch's backrest. "But if you want, I can try and win a doll from one of the claw games for you?"

"Would you?" Robin ran over to her brother on the couch and hopped to climb on top of the back rest. "Would you really?"

"Ehhhh, I might," Jackson sighed, looking away "... if you give me back my signed baseball you took the other night!" One glance towards a teary-eyed Robin made Jackson quickly change him mind. "Nah, I'll get you one, I promise! I'll get you the best Freddy doll I can find!"

"Yay! Thanks, Jackson, you're the best!" Robin hugged her brother so quickly that the movement of the two sent them falling back down onto the seats of the couch. She planted a candy-sticky kiss on Jackson's cheek as she hopped off the couch and ran around back towards and up the stairs.

"Ewww," Jackson groaned, trying to wipe the sticky mess off his face.

"Bed, boys!" The sound of his mom still by the doorway signaled to the boys that their night was over. They groaned in response and both got up from the couch, sullking towards the door in mock defeat. Mrs. Statham ruffled her son's hair as he passed up the stairs and turned the lights off before following behind them.

"You really think you can get Robin a Freddy doll? Those claw machines are hard to work, even for the high school kids!" David Tate Lewis sat beside Jackson as the bus carrying the fourth graders headed towards the downtown area. Dark-skinned and lanky, he was one of the taller few of the class, already making a name for him in sports. Born to American parents then living in Egypt, he moved shortly before starting preschool, and soon became friends with Jackson. Much like Jackson's mom, David's mom was equally welcoming of her son's friends, and enjoyed telling them stories of their work back in Egypt.

"I ain't too worried about it," Jackson replied, doodling on a piece of paper despite the bumps the bus would drive over. "All I gotta do is win enough tickets on the games to buy one at the prize stand."

"And if you don't?"

"Uhh..." Jackson's pencil stopped moving. Surely it wouldn't be that hard to win a stupid doll, right? Just win a few games, get a lot of tickets, then just exchange them for a doll. It's not that hard.

"Awww, Jack's gonna get a present for his lil' sister!" The voice behind them piped up loudly, causing both the boys' heads to turn. A girl's head popped up behind the seat, her wild brown hair falling around her head in long curls; beside her, another boy appeared, his short black hair jutting out in odd spikes. "I bet she'd follow you around for ages if she lost that doll!"

"Hi, Rebecca," David muttered. Rebecca Mountford was a girly-girl in appearance, but oh boy did she have a rough streak. She often got in trouble for trying to rough-house with one of the boys, but she didn't care. Rebecca was tough as nails, and she knew it! Despite that, she had a knack for being nosy, and her nosy-ness wound up bringing her into Jackson's group of friends in the second grade when she tried to prod him about where his mom was getting the really good treats for Halloween. ("They're just from the grocery store!" Jackson had cried out, scaring the bejeezus out of Rebecca when most of the time her targets would just ignore her.) It also wound up sparking a massive crush on Jackson that Rebecca had been hiding somewhat well for her age. "I could've sworn you were sitting closer towards the back of the bus earlier..."

"It gets too cold back there, and my jacket's not doing too great with keeping me warm," Rebecca retorted. Of course, she wouldn't tell you that it was really just to sit closer to Jackson, but that's far beside the point. "But I bet you'll be able to get a doll for her in no time flat! If not, I bet Tatum can help out!"

The boy beside her raised his head up suddenly and looked at her with a lifted eyebrow. "Excuse me? Who said I was helping with anything?" Tatum Rains was the youngest of the group, only half a year younger than Rebecca, but led the fourth graders in class ranking based on their grades, which led to being bullied by some of the meaner kids. Having only joined their school over a year ago, Tatum took to the group through helping David on a science test he was worried he'd fail epically. The day afterwards, David and Rebecca managed to find Tatum while he was hiding from one of the bullies, and calmed him down long enough to find out about his trouble. From then on, he'd been part of the gang, and went from terribly shy to showing a oddly snarky side in later times.

"Oh come on, Tatum, you'd love to make some kind little girl happy, right?" Rebecca poked him in the shoulder. "You should help out. We all should!"

Jackson shook his head. "There's no need for that. I can get the doll on my own! But thanks for offering to help."

"But we'd be able to get enough tickets in no time," Rebecca whined.

Tatum laughed. "I'm sure Jack can get enough tickets himself to get a really good one. Which one do you have your eye on?"

Jackson scratched his head. "I don't know... Do they still have those big ones that can take up a whole chair?"

"Ohhh no, you're not fitting that big of a doll into our seat," David protested. "It's not gonna fit and I'm not giving up my seat for it!"

"Good point," Jackson laughed, finding the idea of a doll like that sitting in either of their seats pretty funny. "I guess I'd have to see what kinds they have." The bus pulled into the parking lot of the establishment known as Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Jackson had long been familiar with the pizzeria for years, practically having every birthday party there as long as he could remember up until just last year when he was sick with the flu the day of his party. He'd grown to love every aspect of it, but most of all he loved the animatronics. His favorite was Freddy, the lead singer of the band that played every hour. A big brown bear with blue eyes and a black top hat, lots of kids loved Freddy as their favorite. Even Robin did, as when the animatronic would roam the floor, she'd often latch onto his legs chanting his name. Heck, even Jackson did that when he was younger, and when they had his birthday party, he loved for Freddy to be the one to sing "Happy Birthday" to him.

He missed those days. But unfortunately, with the turn of his 11th birthday this year, he'd fallen past the age where they would usually have birthday parties for kids, and he wouldn't admit it, but at some point, having Happy Birthday sung to you by a robot in a bear suit just didn't seem cool anymore. Jackson hated to admit it, but the love he had for Freddy and the animatronics -for the whole place even- had started to seem like something he should be hiding now. Even his grandparents had admitted that since he's growing up now, he should be acting like it instead of wanting to eat at such a childish place every year.

"Jackson!" The sound of David calling his name knocked Jackson out of his thoughts. "You gonna get up from your seat any day now, or are you just gonna sit like a log and do nothing?"