I sprint home. On the sidewalk, the girl I met is fast asleep. Phew. She clutches the Freddy doll with an iron grip. I notice a lump in her sleeping bag. Opening it very slightly, I find a small purple ear sticking out. A Bonnie doll.

What is with this girl and all her dolls? Does she have some sort of weird obsession with Freddy's? Maybe she doesn't know that the place haunted by killer robots.

I go inside the house and open my closet. I take out an old box. This box is where I keep stuff that I had as a kid and took with me when I moved out. Digging through the piles of junk, I find a night-light. This'll keep any animatronics from jumping me at night… Hehe…

Just as I am about to close the box, writing catches my eye. At the very bottom of the box are four old newspaper clippings. Weird. I never kept newspapers as a kid. My mom probably put this in here.

"Two local children were reportedly lured into a back room during the late hours of operation at Freddy Fazbear's pizza on the night of June 26th. While video surveillance identified the man responsible and led to his capture the following morning, the children themselves were never found and are presumed dead. Police think that the suspect dressed as a mascot to earn the trust."

"Five children are now linked to the incident at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, where a man dressed as a cartoon mascot lured them into the back room. While the suspect has been charged, the bodies themselves were never found. Freddy Fazbear's Pizza has been fighting an uphill battle ever since to convince families to return to the pizzeria. 'It's a tragedy'".

"Local pizzeria, Freddy Fazbear's Pizza has been threatened again with shutdown by the health department over reports of foul odor coming from the much-loved animal mascots. Police were contacted when parents reportedly noticed what appears to be blood and mucus around the eyes and mouths of the mascots. One parent alikened them to 'reanimated carcasses'".

"After a long struggle to stay in business after the tragedy that struck here many years ago, Freddy Fazbear's Pizza has announced that it will close by year's end. Despite a year-long search for a buyer, companies seem unwilling to be associated with the company. 'These characters will live on. In the hearts of kids, these characters will live.' –CEO"

I'm surprised that I've never seen these before. I vaguely remember hearing reports about a child murderer going around several years ago, but I shrugged it off as a rumor. Nobody has ever told me about these things that happened to Freddy's, not even my parents.

All I know now is that it's still in business. Somehow, some way, Freddy Fazbear's Pizza managed to stay alive. There's more going on there than I remember. Should I tell anyone about what's happening?

No. It's not my business. The police would probably call me a lunatic or not do anything. I lay in bed.

The next morning, I am completely burnt out. My eyes are red and bloodshot from not being able to sleep last night. Night terrors about creepy murderous animatronics haunted me all night long. I hear a knock on the door. The girl.

She hands me the sleeping bag I lent her. "This is yours." She speaks in a hushed tone. "Ummm, can I stay? Please?"

I have nobody else in the house, and I pity the girl, so I let her inside. She is holding her two dolls. I make a decent breakfast of toast and eggs for her.

It seems like about 15 minutes before I finally say something. "Do you have any idea where you live?" She shakes her head. She is eating her eggs with one hand, playing with her dolls in the other.

"Huh. Do you want me to call the police?"

"No. I will stay here."

"Are you okay?"

"Yes. I am okay. They are okay."

"They?" I drop my toast. Who's they? Does this girl know other people?

"My friends are okay." She holds up her dolls. In the light, I can see how similar the dolls look to the real animatronics. It scares me. I lean closer and pull back almost immediately. The dolls reek, as if they had been stuffed with sauce and mucus.

"So um," I cover my nose with my shirt. "How many friends do you have?"

"Five."

"Where are they? Are they lost too?"

She curls up on the chair. "No. Yes. No. Maybe?"

She gets off her chair and walks to the living room, sitting on the carpet to play with her dolls. I decide not to ask her any more questions.

"I'll be right back." I throw on my jacket and get in the car.

I'm on my way to the police station.