AN: Felt like it had been a while and I think that the updating process for my current stories is going to be slow, including this one. But don't worry! We have two nights now and the next one is gonna leave a couple in body casts (oh dear).
Recommended Background Songs
[1] Tell Me Something I Don't Know – Selena Gomez
[2] Been So Long – The Living Tombstone
Chapter 38 - Open the Doors Nearby
Vanessa's POV, Elena's House
It couldn't really be possible that I woke up in an elevator connected to this unknown facility under the Pizza Plex, right? I didn't remember finding anything during my search through the underground tunnels. As much as I wished to say, I couldn't remember if I found something unusual or something that I could report to Oswald about.
As I walked along the pavement, I thought back to what I was told. I was grateful that the others got the message about this underground facility. It was a mystery indeed that there was Toy Animatronics there, guarding the place. I just wished that I was awake to see what was really down there.
I closed my eyes, trying to remember.
From what DJ Music Man told me, there was gonna be another person who would come over to monitor this level. So far, I haven't run into them yet. And he said that he once saw a Toy Freddy with blood splattered all over…
And then, it clicked in my head.
I pulled out my watch and replayed the footage DJ Music Man sent me. The hallway didn't look like the larger and more complex utility tunnels. It was dark to see, though it had gray brick walls and several wooden crates near the walls. And when he turned around the corner, that was when he saw Toy Freddy before it disappeared.
So apparently, me and Ultra connected the dots, and the two of us went to that hallway. It would be where we could investigate where Toy Freddy could have gone to. But as I searched for the memory of being right there at the exact spot, that was when something didn't feel right.
I insisted on looking through every narrow hallway we could find that was identical to the one from DJ's footage. Every time we came across one, I first swept my flashlight around to check if there was anybody else there. Then, Ultra got to work to find if there were any sources of blood. But despite trying to use his powers, there were no faint blood splatters around.
I was beginning to wonder if DJ Music Man was actually dreaming, even if he thought of that himself. Or perhaps the blood was thoroughly clean that it wasn't there anymore. I was nearly thinking of giving up when we looked through the seventh hallway. This one was close to being identical due to having more wooden crates and stage light equipment than the previous hallways.
After sweeping my flashlight around, I let Ultra inspect the hall. I was nearly thinking of calling it a day when that was just a squeak of a mouse. I shook my head, deciding to move away. Ultra seemed to follow along, sharing the same dissatisfaction.
All I remembered was that we didn't find anything significant there.
Though, was that static in my memory again?
I blinked.
I blinked a couple of times.
This had been happening a few times.
I couldn't seem to remember what happened to my brother, but when I tried remembering back here, there was only static for a brief moment before things went back to normal. I tried thinking of the last time I was in an elevator, but the only thing I could recall was nothing about it. I thought back to before I was knocked out, but there was a lack of memory of what caused this blackout.
"Vanessa?" called Ultra's voice. "You're alright?"
"W-What?" I said. "I'm fine. Why are you asking?"
"Because my head didn't feel good…well, for a moment."
"...you think something in around?"
"No, it's not like that," said Ultra. His voice was laced with worry, but he was also strangely calm. "For a moment, I feel…strange. It feels like SHE is around, but she's not. You know what I'm saying?"
I didn't know what to say since this was a feeling I didn't really share with the ghosts. Or at least I couldn't now. Maybe it happened to the others, even Elena due to her being close to the Bonnie statue, but me and Ultra didn't have a problem or feel the rabbit lady around ever since we linked. It seemed to happen today when we were said to be in that underground facility.
What did I forget if I was really there?
I tried thinking again to when I came through the seventh hallway, only for the memory to glitch in my vision.
"I feel it again," said Ultra.
Then, it came to me. "You don't…remember as well? You have trouble as well?"
Ultra hummed, trying to remember. However, he groaned. A familiar ticklish sensation ran through my body. My mind was suddenly filled with whispers. I looked around, wondering if there was anyone nearby. But then, the whispers were cut short when Ultra gasped. Was that how he felt whenever a bad presence was around?
"I…only remember that we had a good look through those hallways," said Ultra slowly. "We were supposed to find something, right? And then…we woke up back on the surface."
I sighed. "For some reason, I feel somewhat fine that I didn't remember. I-I know that it's gonna be a problem, especially since what Oswald found out at that apartment told him a lot about…"
I trailed off, unable to finish it. Remembering back to how Oswald was acting when I told him about my night shift, he was starting to grow more impatient. I think he sounded annoyed that I stated that the animatronics weren't involved in what all of us found. I was afraid that he might be right that Fazbear Entertainment was still to blame, but it didn't feel like his words meant anything by now.
If only I did manage to get solid information I found, then would this change his mind? Would this even reassure everyone that me and Ultra were safe before we were found? Something must have happened, but it didn't feel like so. The frustration of not remembering at all left me feeling somber about how things turned out. The feeling of being…just calm was there, but it was continuously swayed.
And why didn't I feel like I was gonna explode when I should feel that way?
"Vanessa?" called Ultra's voice. "You're still there?"
I shook my head, snapping back to reality. What caught me was that Ultra sounded lost as well. He did ask, but there was a new feeling of being unsure. I wondered if it came from me or him resting in my body. But the two of us got our memories seemingly changed.
"No," I said. "This doesn't feel right. If whatever caused our memories to be foggy…"
"...then it has to reveal something we weren't allowed to see," finished Ultra. "We'll have to figure things out."
"Do you think trying to go back underground will trigger these memories?"
"They have to be the only way. We might have gotten close to them. But we might need others to come along with us just in case."
That could be a good idea, but I wasn't sure if that might lead the others into getting their minds messed up again. Especially Elena and Neptune. Speaking of the devil, I was approaching close to Elena told me where she was currently living at; the Cooper household. She did give me the address of the place when she sent a message to pick her and Gregory up last night.
I remembered that she told me that their folks were out of town on a job hunt. We still got like three days left until they return. How would they react when they hear the two sneaking out to the Pizza Plex due to rogue Toy Animatronics wanting their souls?
Hopefully, we get things down by the fifth night. Cause usually, the nightmare would be over by the fifth night at Freddy's.
But then again, it might not be like what happened in the previous location.
Elena just needed me to look after Gregory for a while. She said that she was going to go out to try to start applying for classes, though the university she picked worked differently than doing things online. She claimed that it would also help her understand better the environment and get her mind off 'all the sh*t that happened previously'.
Guess that was one way of dealing with going into a likely haunted kids' entertainment center.
Overloading your brain with work.
But it seemed that Elena already got herself busy with work when Gregory opened the door for me.
"Oh, hi, Vanessa!" he said cheerfully.
I should have noted that something seemed to be a bit off due to the loud pop rock music playing. [1]
"Hey there, little man," I said, ruffling his hair. Almost immediately, my day brightened up. I quite enjoyed seeing him. "Got some good rest?"
Gregory shrugged with a lop-sided smile. "Eh. Couldn't really sleep. I blame the blackout Melody caused."
"And the experiences of trying to sneak out of the Pizza Plex while trying not to fall unconscious in a sleeping bag?"
"I don't remember the sleeping bag part."
"At least we got you and Elena out of there in time," I said. "Is Elena alright?"
"Well, she couldn't get some sleep as well because of…"
He trailed off, taking a step back. Stepping in, I realized how many notes basically SLAUGHTERED the entire floor. Most of them were actually drawings with little detail. It seemed to be on the scene including a princess in gold colors doing a lot of things. The papers formed a path to the kitchen as if they just built a new walkway in the park.
Right at the end of the drawing path was a school whiteboard, covered in multiple diagrams, drawings and notes. Too many pictures of the golden princess and her crown were everywhere, nearly taking up half of the board. The writing was too small for me to even read, but the words that were big enough to read mentioned what this character might relate to.
And there was Elena, her head slumped against the whiteboard leg as she tried to not pass out. There was even a sticky note glued to her forehead, saying 'GOLDEN PRINCESS = ROXANNE WOLF'. If that weren't enough, black bags were faintly appearing underneath her eyes, clearly not taking the time to rest properly.
What appeared to be trying to keep her awake was a radio nearby, playing loud music.
Hearing my footsteps, she yawned and looked up. "...I am no closer to figuring this out than when we started."
"You were saying about filling in for class applications?" I asked.
"That I'm still doing. And nearly about to go soon." She jumped back on her feet. "Oooh…but first! I think I should have explained to you about what I had been up to."
"You mean what we have been up to?" asked Gregory. "I was the one who give the idea that the princess might resemble the rabbit lady!"
That was Ultra's cue to come out. The green ghost stared at the whiteboard for a long while, looking intrigued. The way he seemed to be nearly bouncing around make him more like he was nerding out with the vision than freaking over it.
"I'm not sure about that," said Ultra. "It couldn't be possible that the rabbit lady would want to show a story about heartbreak and betrayal. What psychopath wants to tell that story?"
"The ones who don't feel anything at all with trying to touch fire to feel something," deadpanned Elena. "Anyway, this has been in my head for a long while. We don't know who the golden princess might be."
I thought of mentioning what Oswald told me about the golden princess. I could ask him, but…maybe it might not be a good idea since Elena and Gregory would then hear that there was an opposing party trying to shut down the Pizza Plex and they would want to stay away from the frustrated Oswald.
"I swear that it has to be the rabbit lady," said Gregory.
"Why her?" I asked. "Anyone can be a psychopath with this kind of story."
"Well, every villain of the story always projects their hatred and pain onto people to let it be known. And from what Elena said, she did become corrupted and killed her uncle and auntie!"
"Doesn't explain how she got corrupted," said Elena. "It could be the hearts or her love's influence or something else."
I thought about it. "Nah, that would be ridiculous. Surely, the rabbit lady wouldn't have this huge plan of hers. If she was trying to win someone over, then she wouldn't have planned all of those weapons of hers and she would lose easily due to lack of keen intellect."
Neptune just arrived, floating down the staircase. For an invincible ghost like him, he struggled with carrying a huge pile of notes in his hands. The pile of sheets looked like it could tip over like dominos.
"I've finished writing out the entire story!" he said proudly. "This is pretty horrible. I had two interpretations from what I could recall from the dream, but worth it!"
"Oh dear," said Ultra. "Do you need help, buddy?"
"Nah, I should be good!" said the blue ghost with a smirk. "Let your old man carry these for all of you-whoooooaaaa!"
He was starting to tip over due to the weight of the story pages he was carrying. Growling, Ultra flew over to try to help. The two ghosts were already in an awkward position as they tried to not let the whole pile crumble. Unfortunately, this proved to be futile when they tried doing it by hand, letting thousands of story pages scatter across the floor.
"My story!" cried Neptune dramatically.
"Anyway," said Elena, turning to me. "If this proves to be just a random story, then we wasted all of our time and effort and sleep into making this. I just know that something connects to the rabbit lady if that statue gave me and Neptune that vision. But by who and what's really the purpose?"
I sighed. "Elena. This is getting a bit too much now. We don't need to dig into this. This might not have anything to do with today-"
Elena sighed. "Look, sorry for being a bit obsessed with this lately. This must mean something! It always does!"
"I'm not saying that you're right, but worrying about it and overworking like…this?" I looked back at the whiteboard. Too many ideas about the connection between the golden princess and the rabbit lady. Too many wide choices and guesses. It was like she and Gregory looked too hard in this. "Did you even take a break at all?"
Elena bit her lip, suppressing a yawn. Ultra and Neptune flew back to us with the latter grinning sheepishly. I turned to Gregory, trying to find if there were black bags under his eyes.
"Don't look at me," said Gregory. "She insisted that I should sleep in bed and I came in to help her for the past hour."
"He got to rest!" said Elena. "I mean, we're older, so we should be able to withstand not that much sleep?"
I hummed. "I have to admit, it's usually only in the afternoon when I take my rest for the past few days. But Elena, you spent way too much energy on this."
"That's what I tried telling her," said Neptune. "Sorry, Vanessa. We kind of got so interested in the dream we had that we…have to write it out."
Elena hung her head, slinking to a nearby chair. The way she sat right there was in the manner of a doll clumsily being placed. It was like her body was just forcing itself to move, deprived of any fierce liveliness she had previously. [1s]
"Sorry, Vanessa," she said. "It's just that ever since I started coming to the Pizza Plex…a lot changed. From what I thought. And I never thought that the animatronics would be on our side. But if this is nothing all of us have never seen before from the occasional myths of Fazbear Entertainment, then that could mean the rabbit lady wanted us for a reason. And it's not what we may not think it is." Her eyes slowly turned to the whiteboard, an intense glare burning in her silver eyes. "And I'm not gonna let it get away."
"Can't we worry about it later tonight?" I suggested. "We…we had a long night and now would be the best time to rest before getting back into the madness."
Elena shrugged. "I don't know. There can be a lot that could happen during the daytime."
"Yeah," agreed Neptune. "Any other parties included could be doing something bad. Like if they have plans to really destroy us all once they get me, Ultra and the other ghosts."
I was about to talk back, but I found myself unable to provide an answer. Despite my better judgment that we shouldn't feel too down, there was still Oswald's group out there, waiting for the time to strike. Not to mention the effects Oswald and some of his fellow teammates were under from their previous investigation.
I realized that I was just gaping in silence when Gregory tapped me on the hand.
"Is there anything wrong?" he asked.
I gulped. I exchanged a pleading look to Ultra to cover for me, but the green ghost shrugged, having nothing else to say.
"Anything to say?" questioned Elena.
At first, I wasn't able to come up with a comeback. But seeing the black bags underneath her eyes made me feel tired. Tired of all the drama, the stress and the fear. I found myself feeling tired of knowing that mine and Ultra's memories might be tainted.
I wasn't feeling good as well, but diving right in without a clear and awake mind wasn't gonna help me find the answers needed.
"No," I said. "Not really. You have a point, Elena. But I don't think it's wise to think a lot about it. Not gonna lie, I'm stressed over that I seem to be missing half of my memory. But it's not going to help if I waste all my energy during the day when I need to take the rest."
"Do you think the rabbit lady is…busy during the daytime?" asked Elena.
"She has a lot of this magic that she could do anything," backed up Neptune.
"Well, she seems to lay really low during the daytime," pointed out Ultra, placing a hand over Neptune's shoulder. "So it's only night time when we have to get to real work. If she tries appearing when the sun is out, then you and me would have been caught easily."
"And she chose not to when we found our partners," remarked Neptune.
"That's true, but without the people we found, we wouldn't be able to have a chance to fight back." Ultra turned to Elena. "You have a point that a plan is needed, but it shouldn't be too detailed. Even if that dream means anything, that rabbit lady…probably wants us to feel confused. So, all me and Vanessa are asking you is to not overwhelm yourself. Trust me on this one."
These words didn't seem to have a significant effect, but they were enough to convince her. She sighed, allowing weariness to come over. But a smile of relief grew across her face as she leaned back on her chair.
"I…I see then," she mumbled. "You're sure about this because…the Glamrocks knew something is wrong as well. Monty saw that. And they might not have time to think until night hits. I just…really want to know who's responsible in case someone…"
"We'll find a way," I said. "I promise. For now, take care of yourself until you feel ready to plan. Until you are ready to plan on what we know."
"Don't need to exhaust yourself," said Ultra. "And that includes you, Neptune, Gregory."
Gregory nodded. "No need to tell me twice. To be honest…" He prodded the notes underneath his feet. "This is getting really messy!"
"Yeah," said Neptune. "I can't believe I chose to write a full story about the dream we had."
"And yet, you don't really need sleep?"
"Well, I can still feel tired!"
Elena smiled sardonically. "OK. OK then. I'll…I'll take a rest then." Her eyes lit up when her phone buzzed in her pocket. "Right after I meet up with those guys at my new uni ground."
I chuckled, shaking my head. "You really need to take a better look at your schedule."
"Don't need to tell me that and yet I had a lot of free time to be able to come to the Pizza Plex," said Elena, standing up. "Gregory, behave well. Neptune, you also help Vanessa and Ultra in taking care of the house."
"Wait," I said. "But without your ghost, will you be alright?"
"I'll be fine," reassured Elena. "The place I'm going is out of range of where the rabbit lady was reported to be seen. I feel like it's important for Neptune and Ultra to catch up on anything first."
"Got it," said Neptune, saluting.
"...wait, don't you need an adult to supervise you?" asked Ultra.
Elena responded with a playful eye roll. She looked like she might need someone to supervise her. She grabbed a pre-packed bag, though her movements were quite sloppy. Like a ragdoll. She waddled across the hallways, sometimes nearly falling over as if she was drunk. I had to hold back a chuckle as she tried to insert the key in the knob, missing a few times.
Once done, she turned back to us. "I trust that you take good care of Gregory, Vanessa. That goes the same for you, Ultra. Help with anything in the fridge; it'll be expired in four hours. Also, if anything, give me a call and I'll try to come back here as soon as possible."
"Understood," I said. "Take good care of yourself out there."
"Hope you have fun staying away on Open Day!" joked Ultra.
Elena weakly grinned before she slithered through the gap in the opened door.
"She's…a little wasted," I commented.
Gregory shrugged. "This feels somewhat normal. But…does she need sleep?"
"Yes," I said, yawning. "And…I might need to close my eyes for a while as well. I got to say, Elena seemed to have changed her tune about the Pizza Plex."
"It's a little sudden," explained Neptune. "But she's willing to try to give the Pizza Plex a fair chance. I mean, I'm still reluctant and so is she, but she's gonna try."
"That explains why she dedicated so much time to finding out what's with the princess story," said Ultra, picking up one note. "Well, she did cross out that the princess character was a spirit haunting the Daycare Attendant…wait, why does that make a lot of sense?"
"Don't look at this one!" said Gregory, snatching it away. "That's actually my theory."
I couldn't help but laugh. "Don't worry. Sunnydrop and Moondrop aren't possessed!"
"Well, it looks like it's clear that neither of the Pizza Plex animatronics are possessed," said Neptune. "But the only danger is, you know, if anyone hacks into the animatronics."
"Agreed."
The rest of the day appeared to be nearly easygoing. I decided to take a rest on the couch. I need some sleep as well before staying awake all night again. Though, I should have cleaned up first since when I woke up, Gregory already got many of the notes in a folder and the whiteboard back in the basement. And I was surprised that he didn't ask for any help.
Even when I apologized that I didn't join in packing things up, he didn't seem to mind.
Maybe it was due to him taking enough rest before he woke up again.
He didn't place the notes back in, wanting to read out the story Neptune wrote so far. Ultra decided to randomly look around the house (under the promise of not looking into Elena's closet), so he missed out a lot. You know, on first hearing and probably for the rest of the time, I would have found the story of the Golden Princess unnerving. Especially with how it was presented.
But then, as Neptune read through it with the passion of his own narration, I found myself interested as well. And starting to wonder if it was connected to the rabbit lady. Damn, Elena had a good point that we need to look into the lore of it…
…though, but not in the sense of coming up with theories for a video game.
It didn't help that I was sitting on the couch next to Gregory…with my legs on a (newly repaired) coffee table and snacking on a bowl of chips. All while Neptune was in front of us holding a bundle of pages and dipping a cookie in milk; he insisted that he should eat yet the food went through his invisible body.
Hopefully, this would be more like trying to solve this mystery that was right in front of us, but with only limited guesses.
"This sounds more like a psychological projection of the rabbit lady," I said.
"What's that?" asked Gregory, unfamiliar with the words/
"Oh, it's self-inserting herself, her personality and her feelings to make up an 'interesting' story."
Neptune remained silent for a while. "OK, that was a bit of my fault there. Well…lots of kids these days insert themselves in artwork, so…I thought that was the purpose of the rabbit lady."
"Then who could it be the Golden Princess?" I asked.
Gregory hummed. "OK, hear me out. This is the main theory I tried telling Elena about. I think the golden princess is the rabbit lady."
"And why's that?"
"She was romantically involved with a guy! And she trusted him, taking his word for granted to kill her uncle and aunt! The guy practically influenced her to do such dirty deeds to the point of exposing a secret he had; some bunny that brainwashed her! Think about it; the rabbit lady might be under the influence of something."
"Your point is?" asked Neptune, looking like he heard this too many times already.
"It couldn't be possible that she was born to have magic powers or grown up studying about them. She might have learned that from her ex-husband."
I blinked. "Well, it sounds like some crazy woman got dumped by a murderous, handsome man and overreacted."
Gregory nodded with a comically serious look. "Pretty much. It's a closer-to-realistic story than a fairy tale. Guess that love played a part in this one."
I sighed, shrugging. "Well, that might be her motive. Though, not sure what she wants now. And her being dumped isn't an excuse to be a murderer. Good thing I'm not crazy over love."
Gregory raised an eyebrow. "Have you been in love before?"
I smirked. "Well, a couple of times. Yeah, yeah. Though, back in the old days, it is more complicated. Ah, the young love that bursts from teens' hearts. I could say that today is more merciful given that Melody got a good boyfriend. It was horrible back then with the dating system. Always have the same ideas that the girl needs to be attractive and the guy needs to be handsome. One ends up being the smart one and the other the dumb one."
"Doesn't that relate to today?" asked Neptune.
"Thankfully, no."
"Weird, I thought I saw some couple earlier playing dumb with a water hydrant."
"That reminds me," I said, turning to Gregory. "Have you ever fallen in love before?"
Gregory's eyes widened. "No…"
I smirked. "I know that look."
Gregory groaned. "Vanessa, please. It's gross."
"C'mon! Tell me the juicy facts! Who's the lucky girl?"
"It's…it's just multiple girls," said Gregory, crossing his arms. "OK, I thought of asking them out. But after tonight, I'm not gonna do so immediately. I might do it slow if I want a wife!"
"Do it slow? You mean steadily?"
"Yes."
"You mean before you become really alone?"
Gregory sighed. "Love is kind of complicated. I don't want to go in looking like a fool. I-I'm not really ready for that. There's still a lot I like to do, but…is it too early to be invested in love?"
I had a thought about it. "As long as you don't switch schools often."
"Yeah," agreed Neptune. "I met my wife when we were close to finishing university. Only took two years of dating until we decided to get married."
"Well, I'm gonna wait until I'm a handsome grown man to find a wife," deadpanned Gregory.
"You already look handsome," I teased, ruffling his hair.
Gregory giggled, playfully slapping away my hand. "Let's not get too mushy now, auntie."
It was brief, but a warm feeling bumbled in my chest when he called me an auntie. It shouldn't surprise me that much since…we did get along with each other closely. Hearing him saying it out loud meant a lot. Even if Gregory didn't seem to notice yet.
"There's something I want to ask you, Vanessa," said Gregory.
"I'm all ears," I said.
"Do you…have any family around? Well, I know that Elena's father passed away and you must be living independently. But…is your family around? Where are they at?"
Suddenly, the fun in the room seemed to be nearly sucked out. I was caught up in the events of the Pizza Plex that I might have nearly forgotten what I told to Ultra about my family a few nights ago. And it was…sad to remember back at the time. I took a deep breath, trying to smile.
"Well…not that many, " I said, my strained with a lie. "They're…currently living on the other side of the States. I'm the only one who moved to Canada."
"Ah, I see then!" said Gregory. "So, do you have any siblings or parents? Or…a husband?"
"I don't have a husband," I said blankly. "That would make me the Golden Princess in the story."
"Ah, that's true. Well…guess that family members cannot live together for long. But you keep in contact with your family, right?"
I had no answer to this. I had no idea how I should really tell him that I didn't really have any family left. There were no regrets about leaving behind my father and me and my brother disowning him. But…it had been decades since I saw my mother and I didn't know what become of her ever since. Especially since Heywood went missing…
The memory of when I last saw him came over…but it was filled with static once again.
My lips were wanting to zip tightly and a growing pain developed inside my chest.
Neptune lifted down his page sheets, noticing something. "Vanessa? Are you OK?"
"I need to go to the bathroom," I blurted out.
Without asking for directions, I shot out from the couch and ran up the stairs. I didn't look back to see Gregory's reaction. Right at that moment, I wanted space for myself. Once I reached the top floor with nobody following behind me, that was when I found myself breathing.
I chided myself for the clumsy excuse of leaving so quickly. Why did I have to pass by Gregory like this? He would have listened, but I doubted that he might understand. In fact, revealing that I got separated from Heywood due to the work we did would leave him asking for more questions. Ultra did tell me that I had to reveal soon, especially with the fact that I was working with Oswald, but…I found myself unable to.
I nearly had no idea why. It felt stuck. And it was bothering me. The same grief for my brother resurfaced. I suddenly felt helpless without him. I could feel my body tightening, unable to move properly. What would he do if he know that my memories were mixed? What would he say if he knew I was found in an elevator? He would have a clearer plan of what to do. He always did.
Rubbing my forehead, I tried to take a few deep breaths. I came here to relax from the mysteries that occurred last night. I didn't want to over-worry; that would invalidate my point to Elena about staying up for too long without rest. As I took in breaths, I noticed that the air felt much cooler than downstairs. In a strange way, it was making me feel calmer.
I took in another deep breath, letting the cool air of the upstairs level come in. Not as shaky as before.
"Hello? Hello, hello!"
Thought that was Neptune for a second, but when I turned around, it seemed to be coming from what Ultra was watching nearby.
"Uh, I wanted to record a message for you, to help you get settled in on your first night."
A chill ran down my spine with a familiar feeling to those words. I thought that I never heard them again. Looking closer, Ultra was sitting on top of what must be Elena's bed, close to a nearby radio. He was awfully still, his eyes pointed at the radio like it was a dangerous weapon. I entered in and waved my hand, letting him know about my presence.
As the recording went on, I sat down next to the green ghost and found myself looking back at past lessons.
"Um, I actually worked in that office before you. I'm...finishing up my last week now as a matter of fact so...I know it can be a little overwhelming, but I'm here to tell you: there's nothing to worry about. Uh…you'll do fine! So...let's just focus on getting you through your first week. OK?"
I frowned, feeling a new kind of grief. Even though I barely met Phone Guy, it felt like I knew him for a long time. His recordings were the ones that guided me and my brother to get through the night shifts at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria years ago. Back before, his voice was probably the one comforting thing when needing to survive in the dark. The first few tapes left me wondering if I might meet him one day.
And then, came in the last tape which spelled out that no, he was already long gone. It made me feel worse since I didn't trust the fact that he might be dead all along. When me and Heywood discovered his death, it made me want to take action to find him. Maybe give his family and loved ones some closure to his disappearance. Alas, we couldn't explore the pizzeria building further due to what we did next.
I guessed that his death and the fact that it was glossed up triggered my and my brother's desire to stop Fazbear Entertainment for good. Because of Phone Guy's love for the Fazbear characters, it ended up killing him when he tried to look up from the cycle of murder.
This tape right here was the only source of comfort for his daughter: Elena.
"Y-Yeah they don't tell you these things when you sign up. But hey, first day should be a breeze. I'll chat with you tomorrow. Uh, check those cameras and remember to close the doors only if absolutely necessary. Gotta conserve power. Alright, goodnight."
I was drawn into this new revelation that I didn't listen to the recording until this part. Strangely, it sounded like Neptune's voice
This new reveal drew me out that by the time I drifted out from my daydream, Ultra was staring at me with a confused look.
"Anything wrong?" I asked.
"Say, don't you find that voice familiar?" asked Ultra.
"Why's that?" I said. "It kind of does, but not really."
Ultra was about to explain, but he closed his mouth before he let it do the talking. "...promise me that you won't tell everyone about who it was. I-I know that you already know who it is, so…I don't want you to say it out loud."
I was beginning to become confused. "Ultra? Is there anything wrong?"
Ultra shook his head. "It's not me. It's someone else."
"Who is it?"
"I cannot tell you."
"C'mon, Ultra. You did say that I have to tell the truth to the others as well since they will have to know soon. Remember?"
Ultra hesitated, nearly moving away from me. He looked betrayed by his own words, conflicted on what he thought of the recording. Eventually, he moved closer to me.
"This is a thing going on with a friend of mine," he said. "Let him figure things out first. He's having trouble coming back near his family."
My mind was already spiraling into question. We were talking about Phone Guy. Elena's father. What did Ultra know about him? It could nearly sound like it was either Elena's father still out there, alive, or someone Ultra knew that missed him a lot. It could…mean that it was related to one of the three other ghosts. But Ultra wasn't going to give any more answers as he floated away, back downstairs.
The radio slowly popped out of the slot with the tape. And written on the tape's sticker was 'Riskin Chaser's Night Shift #7'.
I hummed, bowing my head down in respect. At least I got to know Phone Guy's real name now. [2]
I decided to come back downstairs. Gregory and Neptune waited enough. But during my absence and listening through Riskin's tape, Gregory already put up some entertainment. His TV was on and he was flickering through so many channels.
It didn't last long as Neptune took the remote from him.
"Don't be too picky!" said the blue ghost. "You kids really skip through a lot of things."
"Aww, but I haven't found a channel that I want to watch," said Gregory, playfully pouting.
"Yes, dear, child. But it's not good for your eyes to see flickering images right in front of you."
"Like that protected me from the bright lights at the Pizza Plex?"
"...that's different. Those aren't screen technology! Staring too long at digitalized images on a screen might cause a seizure."
"That would make him a vibrator then!" joked Ultra. "Enough to get the ladies to wiggle."
Neptune shot him a cold glare. "No. And two, that's a horrible joke."
"...what about the part where this might interest people into having-?"
"Lalalalalalalala!" squeaked Neptune, placing his hand over Ultra's mouth. "Zip it! Zip!"
I chuckled, reaching the last stair. "Man, we really need to watch our language in front of this kid."
"I can handle it," said Gregory. "I didn't copy the swear word Elena kept using."
"Sure you do."
Gregory settled for a music channel. Must be a karaoke program going on as it was mostly instrumentals playing with lyrics displaying on the screen. Happy pop music was playing, but it felt wrong at this time. Not after remembering Riskin and silently paying my respect to him. It felt a little disrespectful to be happy and cheerful again.
Though, Gregory wasn't done yet.
"You're alright, Vanessa?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm alright," I said, rubbing the back of my head. "I'm sorry that I walked out earlier. It's…a sore spot for me when you said 'family'."
Gregory dropped the smile, lowering his voice to a quieter tone. "I'm sorry. Is this…something you want to talk about?"
On instinct, I shook my head. "...not really. But don't worry. It's not that much of a big deal. It's still in…good control. I keep in contact with my own family. They are still around. And right now, I guess that I have my own family to take care of now in these crazy times."
In turn, Gregory smiled, touched by what I said. As I broke out of eye contact briefly when thinking that I might tear up, I noticed Ultra smiling at this sight. A sad smile as if in resignation. But he seemed proud.
I thought that he might not be since I was still hiding a lot from others. However, he seemed to respect my decision by not revealing my brother or my brother's background. For some reason, he appeared touched as well like I said something inspirational.
I decided not to think too far about this, turning my attention back to Gregory. "You have a good family as well. And I hope that you'll remember this. Promise?"
He was a little surprised to hear this. I felt a bit embarrassed that I said something like this too earlier, but he eventually didn't mind. He nodded before leaning his head into my shoulder. [2s]
- Opened Doors -
A soft melody played on the TV. The next instrumental was playing already. 1980s synths came in on a lonely solo without any beat at D key. It was a little throbbing, but they carried a melancholic tune. The sound of this was familiar; I know this song before and I had been listening to it ever since…Heywood disappeared.
Vanessa - Does it feel right to close the door?
Come back for more but I want nothing at all
Only one of us knows the truth
It's been a while since we have lit that fuse
The kick drums came in and more layers of synths were added. I found myself singing the whole song to myself, giving Gregory a journey to see for himself. I laid back and let the words come out, my hand wrapped around Gregory's body.
I was beginning to imagine. Daydream. Remembering back to those good times with my brother. The entire living room seemingly disappeared. Just me, Gregory, Ultra and Neptune in a dark void with stars around us. But I imagined that the horrors from the previous nights made us feel confident drifting into space. What led the show was memories beginning to appear like movie screens.
Vanessa - Bet that this has left me breathless
Don't mind the feeling until I feel so helpless
Only need my torchlight when I'm at my best
And yet I forgot about the things you have blessed
The first memory to materialize was one where me and Heywood were walking through our old school. Back then, as teens, we usually hung out together. We had our own social groups, but just seeing the memory of us together in the hallway reminded me of how close we were. The way we were laughing over nothing. The way we shared tips for homework needed to be done. The way we said our goodbyes, ranging from noogies to a kiss on the forehead.
Vanessa - Haven't thought about your beautiful eyes
But I still remember there's something behind them
If it's not love, then it would be a lie
Keeping those deceptions under their thumb
As I sang the chorus kicked in, a new memory formed in front of us. That one got me feeling sorrow, knowing really well about that time when our father won custody. The upbeat instrumental didn't do much to get rid of the feeling as despite new harmonies coming in, they even sounded gloomy.
Vanessa - Does it feel right to close the door?
Come back for more but I want nothing at all
Only one of us knows the truth
It's been a while since we have lit that fuse
I'll say
It was in my head, but I felt ashamed that I imagined showing this to Gregory and Neptune. It was a memory of me curled up in bed after delivering the testimony in court. And Heywood was lying next to me, a hand reaching out to my back…I didn't notice him nearby, too busy sobbing. It made me feel bad that I forgot that he was trying to reach out to me when our parents split up.
Vanessa - Does it feel right to close the door?
Come back for more but I want nothing at all
Only one of us knows the truth
It's been a while since we have lit that fuse
I'll say
A new memory came in, but it was more of an imagination. All in a golden tint. I imagined that me and my brother were hugging together, tears going down our faces in relief.
Vanessa - I miss you and these opened doors
I miss you and these opened doors
The next memory came. The time when me and Heywood were entering the house we bought after getting away from our father. Opening the door, Heywood was already jumping down in joy before picking me up. He spun me around and I laughed, wrapping my arms around him in sisterly love. It felt free back then, just the two of us.
Vanessa - Feels like you're missing, but 'don't you worry'
I know your next adventure will be a little dirty
Yet I found myself wanting to do
Our fantasies where we were happy with our glory
Another memory came in and this one got me a little uncomfortable. It was one when the two of us were outside and Heywood was encouraging me to enter a fun race competition. The memory was stuck, showing me backing away and trying to make an excuse to not join. This wasn't really a memory I like looking back at since I felt that my brother would do better in it, not me.
Vanessa - Mummy told me to look for new friends
But nothing compares to the warmth you gave me
Going apart may look so easy
But I think of you all day, so nothing's as if seems
The chorus came back in with the beats becoming a bit more intense than previous. And it was fitting since the next memory that I remembered was when the two of us were working at Freddy's.
Vanessa - Does it feel right to close the door?
Come back for more but I want nothing at all
Only one of us knows the truth
It's been a while since we have lit that fuse
I'll say
I remembered back then when we took the night shifts, we were working like a team. I was on watch while Heywood was on the cameras. It would be nearly scary, but the two of us were determined. Ready to get through the night. Sweat was dripping down, but the only fear that got us worried was losing each other. I was the one who called if there was an animatronic coming and he would be the one to close the doors.
It was around that time when we started working as a team in our jobs and later career.
Vanessa - Does it feel right to close the door?
Come back for more but I want nothing at all
Only one of us knows the truth
It's been a while since we have lit that fuse
I'll say
Gregory briefly looked up at me, amazed by how I was singing. I even imagined that he was amazed by the memories that appeared in this fantasy world of mine. I gave him a smile, ruffing him on the head again. He chuckled before moving his head to my lap.
Vanessa - I miss you and these opened doors
Oh, oh
I miss you and these opened doors
The memories forming around us suddenly stopped growing. These screens of memories floated around us, capturing every moment I had with Heywood. An anti-climactic way to come to the bridge as the coming slowness of the bridge allowed me to look through every memory made.
Vanessa - The blood drips from the cross and on the ground
And God's not happy, cause he's not around
Will I ever find the courage to pray
To hope how I'm feeling can really change?
Will you disappear from my mind?
Without you, will I be myself?
When I wake up, will you be by my side?
To remind me what we put at first?
And then, one memory caught my eye.
The night after we successfully destroyed the first Fazbear Entertainment robotic factory.
Vanessa - Owe you that oath I made to you
The final chorus surprisingly went to a slow pace, backed by a lonely piano solo. As I continued to sing, I watched the happy hour between me and Heywood. He ordered a huge milkshake, I ordered a rich cherry soda. It was sweeter knowing that he encouraged me to get out there to place the bomb. A true moment where we could speak louder, fixing our mistakes from our parents' divorce.
Vanessa - Does it feel right to close the door?
Come back for more but I want nothing at all
Only one of us knows the truth
It's been a while since we have lit that fuse
I'll say
The memory was starting to fade away…but not the figure of Heywood. He was in the same position, laughing away while swinging his cup around. His whole body was painted over by a gold tint.
I wasn't able to sing the last few lines since my imagination led me to imagine how Heywood might have left. The figure of him floated around, looking at his surroundings. When he turned to me, there was a look of tiredness yet relief. Looking like he might have finally found peace within himself. He sadly smiled, his eyes shining as if tears were about to form.
One of the stars from the left glowed brighter. He smiled before forming his hands into a heart. It was when I remembered why I grew attached to the song I was singing. It was a song about missing someone close to me. Sure, the narrator's lyrics had mixed feelings about missing their loved one, but I was on the side of missing my brother every day.
And he was gonna leave me again.
This time, no static got in my way. I tried reaching out my hand in a futile attempt to reach to him. For some reason, my imagination seemed to accept the fact that he was gone. Because the golden figure of him flew towards the bright star. Once he entered into the bright white void, the star grew brighter like the sun shining through the clouds.
It looked like a gateway to the happy afterlife.
I stared at the bright star for a long time. The lonely piano continued playing, enhancing this loss. Once again, I dived right back into this grief. This disconnection away from my brother. He told me to keep on running. But seeing what his fate must have been made me feel like there was nothing else worth fighting for.
The starry fantasy was fading in front of my eyes, switching back to the living room where I truly was at. The familiar sorrow bubbled inside my chest, leaving me wanting to pour out more. Instead, I slowly grabbed Gregory close to my chest and hugged him. He stirred and wrapped his hands around me. I didn't look down to see his bright smile, but I know that he was, albeit a bit confused.
In this hope for a cooldown, Neptune and Ultra came closer to us. The former was smiling with admiration. The latter…looked a little down. The song must have moved him. He smiled sadly, but he was trying to not look away. It was a little strange as this…would be like how Heywood would appear when feeling down himself.
For a moment, he nearly looked similar to Heywood.
Ultra just shrugged before sitting near me, patting me on my shoulder.
I smiled to myself, feeling as if I already got everything off my chest.
- End of Song -
AN: Nothing much to say, but there are a lot of slow realizations going on and with what's presented in the last chapter…start making your guesses on who the ghosts are. We're getting close until the fifth night strikes! The fourth night will begin in the next chapter (with a side of possibly generic slasher genres lmao).
By the way, Elena, Neptune and Gregory coming up with multiple theories and ideas about the Golden Princess Dream the former two saw reflects how much fans come up with theories for a short story, especially in horror stories. It's inspired by the 'lore scene' from Shiloh and Bros' 'If Poppy Playtime Was In Real Life' video.
This chapter's song had been rewritten yesterday apparently. There was a draft made somewhere around the time I started on this story, but looking back, I wasn't really proud of how it was made. So, I rewrote it to make it better. I decided to try putting in a bit of a dissonant lyrical theme since this song 'Opened Doors' goes into detail about the narrator missing someone while feeling that they are fine without them for a strange reason. It's kind of like already over the loss of a loved one, but keep thinking back to them. To Vanessa, it's interpreted as her desire to try looking forward but still wondering what happened to her brother. That's the fun with doing musicals since in some jukebox musicals, the songs don't often align with the scene meaningful. Imagine that this song would go in the style of 'One of Us' by Ava Max. There were a few other inspirations for this one which includes 'Music' by Kate Hudson, 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot' by ADONA and 'Breathe Me' by Sia to get into the upbeat yet melancholic tone. Hell, the entire musical number also take inspiration from the 'Music' song number of Sia's rather controversial film.
Thank you for reading this chapter! If you enjoy this story, be sure to follow or favorite this story, so you can get updates about this story. If there is any honest feedback or constructive criticism you want to share, let me know in your review. Any spam, flames or threats will be questioned and I'm not kidding.
Until next time, keep on rocking!