7 Nights in Hell

by BlackDragon41

Mike has spent 5 frightening nights at Freddy's with mechanical killers at 18, he's back 30 years later to make some cash but is unaware that he's about to get much more than he bargained for. He's going on a thrilling ride of suspense and horror. It's a good thing he's got a little help this time but how well can the aid of a dead Animatronic-possessing psychopath be or even last?

2. Here I Am

7 Nights in Hell

Chapter 2 : Here I am

A/N:I'm 24 today(May 3rd), my birthday came and went and unfortunately, I can't say that I was a good one. Maybe dad's uncle tried to kill himself out of great stress today, and while I was at church at that and his survival rate is half and half. So while writing with much on my mind, this chapter may seem a little rushed towards the end so apologies if it does. Thanks for the reviews, faves, and follows.

…

Heavy eyelids slowly lifted to reveal glassy blue orbs, the sounds of multiple thumps drumming in his ears had him teetering closer to being awake and partially asleep; it didn't help that he had a hell of a headache coming on. The pounding at his front door was making the migraine intensify as he ebed closer to consciousness, he really didn't feel like getting up but Mike knew that he had to or he'd never get to go back to sleep and escape the painful knocks at his brain. He just had to pry himself from the worn-out couch first, he wasn't too quick to move however; he felt a bit stiff from sleeping at an odd angle. Just great.

Small footsteps thundered from the kitchen into the living room, Mike turned his lazy gaze from the floor to the young brunette girl standing a few feet away with a concerned expression lining her features.

"Papa, there's someone at the door."

Mike stretched a little as he leaned up from the couch, a loud 'thunk' sound was made when he did; a thick and dark glass bottle had rolled a few feet across the floor while catching his attention. Removing his careless gaze away from his empty drink; Mike wiped a bit of drool off of the side of his face and moved his feet down to touch the cold floor, his eyes then catches the clock hanging up on the wall adjacent from him. It was a quarter after twelve, past lunch time. He's gone and overslept again, and the girls were probably hungry too. 'Just perfect.' He rolled his eyes at his own sarcastic thought. He wasn't used to getting up in the daytime considering he was a night owl, he was more used to going to sleep around noon and getting up about nine o'clock late and getting ready for work. So he overslept and drank a little too much the night beforehand. It's not that big of a deal; though it was no wonder he was waking up to such a bad hangover. But not even the alcohol could help him deal with his inner demons, nightmares still plagued him from events that happened a little over thirty years ago; now he was up in his late forties and supporting two young girls on his own. Today was not particularly one to look forward to since it was his anniversary, but he would celebrate it alone since losing the love of his life two years ago.

His mood was dampened more now that he had been suspended from his job for a week and a half for showing up late and drunk at that, the guy was still surprised that he still had it; all of his friends thought that his workplace was crazy to allow him to keep it from such misconduct in his line of duty. Especially armed with a steel flashlight, a taser, pepper spray, a nightstick, and a small firearm on him; being drunk he could have hurt or even killed somebody. Well, that is what they thought. Mike knew that he was only buzzed and not completely drunk and out of it. Mr. Schmitz understood why he didn't lose his job, not many people go and get paid to watch several monitors all night long with nothing else to do but try and stay awake from the monotony of doing absolutely nothing and not ever having a break-in to spice things up. Replacing guys like him would be hard, no one wants a tedious job like that. Most nights it was boring as shit. He was okay with it though, this particular job had helped him cope with some traumatic events in his life; he never once seen nor heard an animatronic at the manufacturing factory so he dealt with the post-traumatic stress disorder for a while and eventually came out of it.

He got better over time and started to enjoy the silent and almost always peaceful shift.

"Papa?"

The haunting memories were old and caked with dust, they didn't bother him anymore now that he had grown apathetic and detached to most people and places over the years. Depression helped with that. Those freakish-possessed creatures were out of his life forever. His current job was now actually much easier and tolerable than the shitty night watch duty he took as an older teen; back then he was just trying to make some cash to pay for an apartment after his parents kicked him out. He cycled through many jobs over the years but found that he favored the quieter and secluded nighttime run like a night owl, the uneventful late shift; despite the horrors he had in the old pizzeria. He had found that being a security officer or watchman, whichever; was nicely suited to his bitter nature. He was not exactly a 'people person', he liked working alone. So he was still a night watchman to this day… or so he was 'a few nights ago'. Suspension from his untimely arrival while intoxicated was turning out to be pain, no money means no nothing. Bills would stack. Now he had to find a part-time job to cope until he could return to his real job with better wages; it's only been a day and the weekend without work and he's had no luck in finding other work to keep up with the bills and support.

"Uh …Papa?"

His life was at an all-time low, and judging by his buddies; 'he' was at an all-time low as well. They should understand him though, he's lost three of the family in the past four years, became an alcoholic, had received multiple eviction notices by the landlord, and was struggling with the upkeep of money to support his now small family. Life has been a struggle for a long time now and it was gnawing at his motivation to pull things back together, he's tried to a few times but always failed when an issue came up. He had become virtually careless, isolated, socially withdrawn and bitter, it's like he was in a hole and was digging himself deeper by waking up each day.

He almost couldn't give a damn anymore. Almost.

The young girl tilted her head a bit, long auburn locks rolled over her shoulders and her light blue eyes focused on the man's.

"Papa, are you going to answer the door?" She repeated worriedly after the knocking stopped for a long minute."They might be gone by now though."

The tired soul ran a hand through his dark short hair and sighed heavily before forcing himself to stand up. "I'll get it Bethany, your sister still upstairs?"

The young eight year old nodded.

"Well go get her and go to the kitchen table," He said heading for the door. "I'll fix you two something to eat after I see who's out here, okay?"

"Okay." She replied more enthusiastically and ran for the kitchen with the long fabric of her lavender dress trailing behind.

Mike turned back to the door an opened it up, he was surprised that his visitor was still there; he took a long time to answer it but if it weren't his friend then they would have left by now. "Jer-. Sorry for taking so long." He asked with a dull tone, the slightly older man before him smiled faintly but then recoiled by an odor.

"Dude, you reek! And you're drinking again?" He asked with his smile falling into a frown, Mike looked and smelled like an alcoholic; it was depression that lead him down that way. Then after depression hit he started drinking a lot and that is what got him in trouble with his own job to begin with. He needed to stop.

"Can't help it Jer," Mike said blankly as he reached an arm back to massage his stiff neck. "Got another eviction threat last night and this one's the 'final' one, I don't have the money to pay the rent this month and I only have a week from tomorrow to pay up and I still have to find a babysitter to watch the girls for the week if I can find a small job that is. Otherwise, we'll be kicked out … and I could have the girls taken away from me; but so far I haven't had any luck man. My life is a living hell right now, and I have the strangest feeling that it's only going to get worse."

"Mike, please don't say that."

"Look, I don't even know where we'll even move to if I can't get work in time." With his ache growing by the heat of the sun overhead; the man sighed in frustration and swayed his head back in forth. "Can't get a loan from the bank since we're in debt, just can't make enough money to support me and the girls. Damn it's really frustrating, there's so much stress and I am getting to a point that I can't handle it. Two years of this bullshit and it's the same way- every single month, its hard keeping up with the piling bills and caring for my granddaughters. I'm losing sleep over this shit." Mike motioned his arms to show his disbelief, he had options but wasn't at all willing to go with them. "I- I just can't. My current salary is pretty decent but it's not enough to take care of Beth, Nat, and myself; especially with night sitters chewing the shit out of my wallet every week. It's tough."

"Wait, don't tell me that you've been considering-?"

"No! … Well I mean-." The dark haired man ran a hand across his back of his head and sighed heavily with his gaze shifting. "I've thought about a few times but it's only because I want what's best for 'them' and not for my selfish wish of raising them out of the love of them and my departed son. It's too tough to manage. Besides; they deserve to have a great happy family, not this small dump-hole with me." He finished reluctantly.

"Mike-"

"I can't find any cheap babysitters that would watch them over my late work hours, it would be nearly the same if I had a day job. It's one bill too many and I can't save up anything for my pocket because of it. But I don't want to let go of these girls, other than my friends; they're all I have left. I'd end up losing them for sure if I can't get a replacement house or apartment, the social services have sent me a notice just last week. I hate dealing with this sad-sack shitty feeling, it makes me want to put a gun to my head and end it." His demeanor changed to a poignant one when his friend gave him a look of shock. "I hate to tell you this Jer, but I've thought about killing the lights many times now; all of this damn stress is becoming unbearable. The girls… my life… Nothing can make this never-ending pain go away, Nat and Beth are the only reasons why I am still here."

The shorter brunette nodded with sympathy, that was a tough nail to take and he couldn't do much to help the guy out considering he had his own problems to deal with; but at least he was faring better. Still, Mike getting to the point of contemplating suicide had him really worried; but to fix a problem one had to deal with the first issue. "I understand Mike and I'm sorry to hear that, but you shouldn't be drinking in front of these kids; you're better than this. Is this the example you want to show your grandchildren as they grow up? And what about their health and safety? You could hurt them or have them taken away somehow. And what about yourself?"

"Jeremy, I don't need-"

"Just listen man, you need to get your life together and stop with the drinking, it's really not helping your depression but making it worse. Plus quitting would save you some good cash right there for starters."

Mike narrowed his eyes and lightly glared at Jeremy, the hot rays from the sunlight was making his migraine become intolerable and his friend wasn't helping. "Please don't tell me that you came over to lecture me again, I am really not up to it; especially since today is the day I lost her. You know-?"

"I'm only trying to help you man, and that was two years ago. I know you're struggling but drinking is just part of the prob-"

"Bye." Mike finished coldly and tried to close the screen door until Jeremy's hand caught the handle and he held it open with some careful effort. "The hell?"

"Wait!" He called out and the weary soul stood still in his place with a questioning and yet hard-hearted expression. "I came to tell you that I might have found you a temporary job. It'll pay good enough to get you through the week and may be just enough to keep you in that house for another month."

"What?" Mike asked as he pushed the screen door back open and raised a brow at his bud. "Really?" He asked with his face finally showing slightly hopeful features.

"Yeah." Jeremy now beamed with encouragement. "It's easy, and it's like your current job! I skimmed through the newspapers and found and contacted a man named William who needs someone to watch a downtown warehouse for the week. He needs a night watchman and he's paying pretty well. Here." The younger adult rummaged through his pocket to pull out his car keys and then a waded up piece of newspaper. He shoved his keys back into his jeans and unraveled the ad for Mike to read. "See here." He pointed to the ad and begun to read. "Help wanted, great pay, need night shift watchmen to keep guard over a rare and fine collection of mechanical art and antiques." He handed the ripped slip to Mike and smiled confidently. "See?"

Mike Schmidt skimmed the paper until he found the quoted text, despite his eyes hurting from the light reflecting off the paper he read aloud and continued where Jeremy left off. "Need a guardsmen for five days beginning this upcoming Monday through Friday, shift starting from 12:00a.m to 6:00a.m. At Warehouse 13, downtown on Markstache Lane. Highly prefer one with experience or a recent job related to task. Offering $14.50 an hour." The man's eyes widened a bit. "Fourteen- almost fifteen dollars an hour?!"

"Yeah, that's four dollars more than you make normally at your job. Mike, you're already a night watch for a crummy manufacturing company; but with nothing to do for a week this is a great opportunity. Fourteen bucks an hour watching over a bunch of junk, its awesome right?" He elbowed the older guy and raised a brow. "Come on, how does it sound? I even went ahead and called him up as soon as I could to get your application in before anyone else had the chance! I told him about your current job and experience and he sounded very pleased. All you have to do is show up, do the work, go back home, and repeat for five days and you'll get a great paycheck right on time to pay the rent. Great right?"

"This is more than great, this is perfect." Mike found himself starting to smile while running a hand through his hair in relief; he might not be evicted from the house at all if he could just make it through a week of guarding a bunk of garbage, he does this all of the time. Piece of cake, delicious, glorious, money-making cake! He might just be able to get back on track with his life. Sure, the step would likely be insignificant but he felt the most joy he's felt in a long time. This was the miracle he needed, even if it was more motivation than getting out of the debt hole. "Thank you Jer. I don't know how I could ever repay you?" He pat Jeremy roughly on the shoulder and the man laughed.

"You don't owe me a thing man, you've been struggling enough. I don't think anyone in this dead-end town could see and feel the pain of depression that you've been going through for so long. I'm just glad to help you out of it. Candice would be happy for you too."

"Yeah." Mike agreed softly with most of his focus planted onto the strip of paper in his hands. He couldn't help but smile a little more from Jeremy's last statement. "Thanks a million Jer."

"You're welcome man, I knew you needed this and I'm glad William chose you. I know you won't let him down Mike."

"I've been guarding junk on the late shift for nineteen years now, this should be easy work. I'll see you around, I need to fix my grandkids something to eat okay."

"Just call me up whenever." He waved and was walking through the yard before he immediately halted and spun back around. "Oh, and break a leg!"

"Thanks Jer, see ya!" Mike waved as the shorter brunette got into his car and started it up, Mike then withdrew into the house with a contented smile, his eyes finally peeled away from the paper as he ambled through the living room. The biggest reason why he got drunk so often over the past few weeks was the eviction threats and bills piling up on him with stress from all of his other problems weighing him down. The thought of giving up or losing the girls, and having no money in general was stressing him out to the max; now if he could make enough money then he'd be able to get ahead on his payment and could get a better start the next month with less anxiety.

Finally, things were starting to look a little better. Just one week, only five nights at a warehouse with a bunch of crap and then he'd be able to rest a little easier for a little while.

Mike walked into the kitchen to see Bethany at the table with her ten year old sister Natalie, they had empty bowls sitting in front of them as they sat in silence. "Great news girls, we aren't going anywhere because I now have some work to do." He walked over to the oak cabinet beside the refrigerator and swung it open to take out a box of cereal. "Alright now, let's eat."

…

Mike pulled off the main road and drove down a long and bumpy gravel strip, his headlights revealed the huge dark building he was nearing and going to be working at for the week. The place seemed secure on the outside; there were but a few lights on in this warehouse and only one outside the compound so it was hard to see from the main road, a cage of steel mesh with a topping of razor wire was nicely enclosing the large lot with an automatic gate and lock for added protection. This job was all too easy for sure. The building was pretty big but old-and worn-looking like it was constructed back in the late eighties and weathered down by time, but spotting the first outdoor camera gave him much reassurance. It was hard to see but the first wall clinging device spotted appeared to be a newer-looking model, perhaps newer than the security cameras at his own job; that would be sweet. Easy work, good money; it's a win.

He drove up to the building and parked right next to the loading station for the big rigs, there was only one outdoor light visible and it was painting the ground a warm sepia color from the electric post above.

"Well here I am." He said quietly to himself as he turned the key and killed the car's lights, he then opened the door a little to get enough light to check his utility belt to make sure that he had everything necessary for the night. When he made sure he had his pistol, nightstick, taser, and flashlight he pushed the door open and stepped out to close it behind him. His eyes search for the entrance, it had to be close.

"Ah, there you are!"

Mike spun around from the abrupt voice to see a thin male that looked no older than seventy now walking from a car parked off in the dark a few yards away. "William Nicholson?" He asked casually. Coming into the light; this man was suited in dark pants, possibly black with a light brown collared long-sleeved shirt and a dark colored tie to match his business-like attire. The older male was very thin with his frosted grey hair slicked back by gel, thin-rimmed glasses sat along the bridge of his pointy nose and gave his sharp and slender features more of an authoritative character. He looked lavish, was most likely rich.

"Yes, and I presume that you are Michael J. Schmitz?"

Mike nodded and tipped his security hat. "Just call me Mike."

The thin figure nodded back with a smile forming on his face, he appeared genuinely happy to meet him and held out an arm for formal greetings. "Alright Mike, it is a pleasure to meet you."

Mike took the hand and shook it. "You too, I really needed this job."

"I was told that you needed it, you seem pretty professional in your attire."

"Yeah. I work as a security guard for a manufacturing plant, automotive parts; decent pay." Mike pocketed his hands and put on a light grin, just being here for the work had him in a pretty good mood; which was a rare thing. "I don't have nothing to do for this week so here I am. I've been working and in late shifts for almost two decades now, I know what I'm doing sir."

"Excellent Mike. I am in need of some professional help to ensure the safety and safeguard of my recently massed collection. You see, I have gathered many prized possessions in my travels and I am going to be opening up a showcase of various themes revolving around my particular interests in this town. It will be an amazing spectacle for all. … Now don't laugh when I say that I am going to be hosting an oddities museum, many special and valued items I hold belong together."

Mike didn't laugh but raised a brow. "Oddities museum?"

"Indeed." The man clasped his hands together and beamed more brightly by the security guard's sudden curiosity. "I take interest in things that many in society don't deem 'fitting' for many reasons. As a child I have been into the strange and the vastly mysterious and appalling, don't know why I am so fascinated by old memorabilia but I love things that just 'stand out' or pique an interest of origins and whatnot. I like uniqueness and items that makes one wonder and question, something new and captivating in this boring world of same old same old. As an adolescent I first found interest by the most unbelievable thing, that's how my dream of this museum came to life. Now what I found isn't a common thing but my curiosity and desire for such possessions grew from it, I wanted to know everything as to why it was made and what its purpose served."

"What was that thing?" Mike asked with a hint of interest though he wasn't that curious.

"Why animatronics. I was fascinated by animatronics and I still am today, it helps that I have a soft spot for animals. At least now I have the money and recourses to buy and take care of them. Of course the ones back in my days were not as nice nor as advanced as the models that were introduced almost forty years ago. The kind in my time could only move forward and back and were on wheels and small engines ill dull colors and sharp shapes. They didn't have the fancy technology that most do now."

"Anima-animatronics?" Mike's eye twitched a little.

"Why yes! Amazing machines I tell you. I've always had a love for them, the colors, the various types of animals, and the whole system of mechanisms that run them within. They are truly remarkable, they're the center of my collection. Unfortunately, they are now hard to come by with the progression of technology and advanced 3-D effects along with television and such, animatronics are no longer in production as far as I know so I've been looking for any and every single one that I can find to add to my collection. I have but a handful of robots and several handfuls of parts and memorabilia of old which is it unfortunate, but on the bright side I have good whole ones that shall be preserved forever."

"Uh," Mike began with a hint of nervousness but also seriousness. "They don't happen to-… wonder around at night, do they?" He asked with a raised brow.

Nicolson laughed lightly and swung his head at the absurdity. "Well of course not, they are all either turned off or simply broken; mostly out of order Mr. Schmidt. A few of them have severely damaged servos and will never be able to move even if turned on, but even in ruin their value had not decreased. If I were a restaurant owner then I would want working ones, but as a collector I merely want them to be seen on display rather than walking around and knocking things over. Now come on in, I'll be happy to show you my machines." He gestured to the door close by and the guard followed him with a slower pace.

It was sort of relieving to know that the machines were inactive, but still; he wasn't a fan of mechanical animals due to past experiences and the trauma of almost getting killed by one. If the day program hadn't come on exactly at six o'clock then Bonnie would have done something to him, he really didn't want to imagine getting stuffed into a suit of wires and rods as the phone guy had said the animatronics would attempt to do. The smelly and stained robotic purple rabbit had tried to drag him from the office, time was fortunately on his side and he escaped with his life. Then he got fired over something stupid the very next day. He was okay with that. But still, he'd rather watch over anything that didn't have fake eyes; or any eyes for that matter.

On or off. Active or Non-active. Fixed or Broken. Animatronics were not on his desired watch list.

"Welcome to the Nicholson collection!" The older man began as they walked through a single doorway on the front side of the building and into a dark and large open space room; it appeared to be a loading dock for trucks for the warehouse, a single forklift off to the side was the evidence.

Mike didn't see anything too exiting yet, just a couple stacks of unused pallets, several tall shelves loaded with junk that he couldn't quite make out, loads of boxes and cut cardboard, and scraps of metal under a few old lights that hung low from the ceiling. One of the few lights flickered and lightly buzzed like it was fighting to stay on, it gave the place a kind of a haunted effect. Like he needed that, the spacious place already looked dark enough with the low-watt lightings. What he did see was a dimly glowing exit sign on the opposite side of their entrance, it was useless; the floorplan of the warehouse definitely looked outdated and poorly designed.

"Walk right this way Mr. Schmidt."

The older man had gestured a large door-less opening right from the entryway into a bigger room, possibly the main storage place for large equipment and machines. It was poorly lit up too, all he could really see as he walked into the place was several long tables loaded with boxes and unpackaged stuff, all of it looked like it was either metal or plastic, or glass. "Any fix on the lighting in this place?" Mike asked as he looked up to the high ceiling spanning at least twenty feet up and possibly a little over sixty feet length and widthwise, the place was huge but there wasn't much like most warehouses stored; the lights were pretty high up but only three out of twelve were actually lit up and weren't very bright.

William came to a stop a few feet in and turned to face the guard with a light smile, he folded his hands behind his back and stood in an orderly position. "I thought you were going to ask. Unfortunately no, this place is set to be condemned after I move everything out at the end of the week; it's really old as you could tell and it's under poor maintenance. When I came here for auctions on some amazing and priceless items I had found an open lot and a wonderful structure at a great price, its right in the heart of town and the expense of it was in budget. Even better? It's right next door to the old lot that used to be Fazbears's horror attraction before it burned down, imagine that?"

"What?" Mike felt a shiver climb up his arm, the warehouse suddenly felt a little colder with his sleeves rolled up. "Really? No shi-, no way." He raised a brow and held back the need to curse, he was taken aback by the news.

The old man nodded. "Now imagine how many would come to see my oddities after a series of mysterious anonymities of disappearances and crimes that took place around the area? I do own several items of the Fazbear Entertainment possessions that I got from an auction, this is likely to attract a good amount of curious minds to see the remains of the restaurant franchise; but unlike the last attraction this one will be sound and maintained with safety and much more to see. And when business gets booming then I'll buy and expand my collection over the old barren lot that was Fazbear's and open a section dedicated to my prized animatronics. I heard that they used to be so popular with the children, so maybe in a few years the kids that have all grown up in the community will get to see the likeness that was once their joys and great memories of their childhood playing with their robotic friends. Great plan is it not?"

To be honest, Mike though that it was a horrible idea. Yeah, the kids that grew up around the franchise were now all adults but the past is a darker one that most remember. This guy is from out of town and probably out of state, he doesn't realize that most people around here have buried the history and want to keep it that way; especially from old rumors and the bad luck that was the old company. That's why no one owns the lot of the old building and why no one has built over it or even touched the debris of the crumbled place falling into decay. It was just a bad place with a bad rep. Kids went missing, animatronics went berserk, the main building burned down, a sister location went out of business, then there was 'The Bite of 87'; everything about the place and its history are better left in the past.

However; he can't stop this guy from doing what he wants, and this rich man was not the superstitious type even though a lot of freaky shit happened around the company name and property. Plus, he had a job now and didn't want to lose it out of being a complete 'crack case' as him and his buddies were called for sharing their experiences to people they lived and worked around. They got ridiculed and laughed at enough, but no one saw what they saw nor lived through the nightmare that they did.

"It's what you want Will, if the business is good then I wish you the best of luck."

"Ah, well thank you Mr. Schmidt."

"Please, Mike." Mike corrected.

"Mike then. I do believe that I shall be successful, it's going to take a good few years but I am going to take my dream and make it reality." He finished thoughtfully and turned to face the number of tables lined with his possessions. "Most of my things have been packed up a little early, there's still so much to box up though; but most of my things should be out of here by the end of the week. Wednesday will be the startup of the last packaging session so feel free to walk around sometime and get a preview of what will be in the showcase, there's many strange things here but most of them are metal or antique crafts made by unnamed artisans. Some are works or projects of engineers and everyday people like you, wildly bizarre but unique works of art and pieces of technology. I do own a good amount of oddities that are not of the metallic kind but they are mostly ready to be shipped out after I receive the lease of my renovated building."

"Uhhhh… sure, I suppose I can look around after my shift." Mike said with an uncomfortable tone, he really didn't want to see anything and just get the job over with already. "But I am security and I need to be at my post at all times until my shift is done."

Nicholson chuckled softly and patted the night watchmen on the shoulder. "You are quite a loyal and proficient guard, which I can tell already with such eagerness to your duty. Sadly, I cannot say the same for my other guard. The dayshift watchman is a little… how would you put it? The old man placed a hand upon his chin and looked up at the ceiling briefly as he thought. "Well he's a little impractical. The poor guy has only one year in experience of being a security guard and I believe that he may be paranoid or perhaps just staring at the screens for too long. He says things that doesn't make sense but he does a pretty good job and seems quite honest. When I hired him a couple weeks ago, the poor fellow was coming up with all of this crazy ideas and stories. It's really nothing too alarming so I'll let him be."

That was another red flag.

"Well, it's been a great chat and all but my shift started seven minutes ago, I need to go to the office."

"See, so eager and reliable. I have a feeling that you'll do well!" The man burst out with excitement. "But before we do I just want to show you around a bit and what to watch over protectively like a hawk to its prey."

Mike mentally sighed and rolled his eyes, he just wanted to get started already; he was not interested in anything mechanical and animal.

"In fact, we are standing right in front of them. And there's my collection of them, the man pointed to his right and turned to face the machines with excited eyes. "They're beautiful aren't they?"

Mike turned to face the wall and almost immediately flinched at all of the freakish faces, it was like reliving the old days with those big eyes, bright colors, animal shapes and cloth-coated metal frames. They were not too easily seen with the dim lighting but he saw them. The first he saw was a huge pig with a stained apron and a fork in its hand, then an orange cat with a bow around its neck, next a Freddy-sized green and white panda bear that had a zoo logo printed on the white strip of its belly, and lastly a white and grey owl with very big magenta-colored eyes. They were all creepy looking, well the cat didn't look so bad.

Here they are, the big pig you see here is Papa Pig from Papa-Pig's Pig-Out Barbeque and Buffet; a restaurant that ousted the machine when the business was bought out by a bigger company. He's magnificent and pretty round huh?"

Mike pulled out his flashlight and lit up the big pink animal, the thing looked intimidating with a creepy smile and large mouth. "He sure has a big grin too." Mike couldn't help but point out, it was very freaky to him and that big smile and huge frame made it out to be a freak creation. It would be better off in a freakish attraction… or the dump. Kids would flip at the sight of this ugly thing. "Kind of weird considering its kind was probably on the menu. And does it have to have the huge sharp-looking fork? That could poke someone's eye out."

"Yes, he's a pretty old model believe it or not but he's been preserved pretty well in storage up until I found him and purchased. The fork was a bonus but once in the museum it'll be fine, I don't plan to let visitors get to close to these priceless things. But anyway, Papa Pig is from a restaurant. Tabitha the Tabby cat is an animatronic from a huge pet store, I bought her when they came up with a newer model; fair price but not cheap. The tip of her tail is missing as is part of her left paw but otherwise in a fine condition. The next we have is Clyde the Owl. I don't know where he's from but he's made to make the children wonder I suppose? I don't have much information on him. Poor thing must have seen better days, its neck is rusted in that crooked position and the paint scheme is faded out and peeling by some bits of rust. Next to him is a zoo animatronic mascot that had went into disrepair and I had purchased it and refurbished it for my collection. His name is Tiny."

"But he's tall… and green."

"Indeed. But, that is what they named the real bear and based the panda kid-friendly replica off of. He apparently was pretty popular but took some damages somehow. His right side has a few holes it, you can even see the endoskeleton in it if you look close enough and the left cheek also has a hole. I was told its servos were locked and jammed together after being left out during a powerful storm and getting battered by debris, that's what happens when you neglect such magnificent machines."

Using his light on the panda bear, he couldn't help but feel that it looked or resembled an old animatronic bear of his past; the only difference was the panda's head was bigger and a little more round as was his belly. Still, it wasn't an eyesore like the owl. "Well, at least he's not too bad looking; not like the freak pig or the owl."

"Damaged or not, I love them all. … Ah, I almost forgot!" Nicholson spun on his heels sharply and walked back towards the docking station, he stopped right at the doorway and turned back toward the wall. "How could I forget Huskie the husky?"

"Huskie the what now?" Mike pointe his flashlight in the employer's direction and saw a blue and pale blue wolf-looking dog with dark blue swinging trunks that looked weathered and torn around the ends.

"Huskie here," Nicholson wrapped his arm around the dog's shoulder and patted it. "He is a child favorite, from a famous waterpark; Huskie's Artic Harbor Splash Park. Kids love him. He came with a surfboard but it was severely damaged in packing and had to be shipped out of state to be repaired. There's only two of him made and I own the second rendition. The park was successful and still is but they changed the name and mascot. I kind of wished they didn't but that's what happens when business change. Oh well, I got an animatronic out of it."

"That's it?"

"Oh, and I have another on this side of the room." The old man weaved through the loaded tables on the opposite end of the room and came to a stop at rack next to the wall. "This one is Tina."

The night security guard meandered around the long tables and pointed his flashlight at a rather small animatronic with multiple eyes. "A spider?"

"Yes, this little gal came from a popular haunted house but was sold to support a child in need of medical surgery but couldn't afford. A charitable act from one family dedicated to fright. It's perhaps the smallest animatronic out there. Beautiful isn't she? How about them all huh? Quite the collection." William said as they walked away from the tables and back to the center of the storage facility. "So what do you think? Great?"

"Uh… I guess." Mike replied reluctantly, those metal freak-shows were not even slightly likeable in his eyes. He was traumatized by-human sized furry animals before and still remembered how the ones who hunted him looked and even remembered their names. Freddy Fazbear and his crew of Foxy, Bonnie, and Chica. A shiver shot down his spine as he stared at the new six animatronics bots in their friendly-deceiving poses. The old ones from Freddy's … they were gone now and none of these new machines looked anything like the old ones; well except for Huskie, he looked a little like foxy with the ears and muzzle but that was about it. This collection of wires and animal shapes were nothing but metal and fabric. The old ghosts of the haunted pizzeria were at rest, there wasn't anything to fear about these motionless machines on lockdown.

He still couldn't shake the freaked out feeling with those not-so friendly smiles beaming at him, those faces looked deceiving and he hated them. Kids, now they might have seen them differently. Mike thought he'd never see another one of these damn things again but was surprised to see more after many long years. Jeremy worked with this same nightmare along with others at one point a few decades ago; it's common ground that made him his best friend, his other buddy Fritz Smith was also an unfortunate soul that he met. This poor guy was openly ridiculed for sharing his story to the public of a haunted animatronic figure from Freddy's Frightmare Horror Attraction, Mike believed him. Well yeah he believed the guy, him and Jeremy came together with Fritz and became a circle of friends with the common background of surviving an animatronic hell. Sure they were criticized here and there; particularly Fritz since he was once a suspect for burning the last Freddy attraction to the ground though small evidence proved him innocent, but it's their experiences that pulled them together and they believed what happened was real.

Thankfully, the past nightmare machines were gone; every last one of them. Restless souls had been put to peace.

Nicholson stared at the prized mechanical creatures for a few long seconds before redirecting Mike towards the other end of the room. "Well, there's most of my collection of robotic animals, but I do have another one that isn't part of that set."

"One is not part of the set?" Mike felt his eye twitch. 'How many more must I bare to look at?' He thought to himself with annoyance.

"Down this way Schm-Mike." He corrected. "It's past this room, follow." He gestured for the security guard to follow him out of the huge room and into a smaller hallway off to the side.

Mike looked down the dark hall and shine his flashlight along the walls to find several small storage lockers lining the sides.

"Now this may sound crazy but the animatronic that I am about to show you has a… well… it has a habit of being 'misplaced'." Nicholson said as he motioned to walk through the hall.

"Misplaced? How can an animatronic be misplaced?" That was a red flag too, a sign that he didn't want to acknowledge since it reminded him of…

"I am not sure exactly but I do fear for my collection and I believe that someone has been breaking into this warehouse and moving away my most prized one from the rest to taunt me. It's no telling if they intend to destroy it first, I fear for it and for everything else here. I keep finding pieces of my other collectables broken and smashed, or strewn about the place like the very intention was not to steal but to destroy all that I love to prevent my museum from opening. I've tried to go back on tape to catch any intruder trying to mess with my valuable possessions; and every time I try and watch I come back to find that the recordings has been either destroyed, filled with static, or just goes out. I beleive the reason why i have intruders is because I am not exactly on good terms with a few people, long story. So I had a new top-notch security system installed and I am hiring you to keep watch over my precious collection. I only have a week until my museum opens so as long as no more items get broken then things should go just fine, if I lose too much more than I won't have much to put on display and that would be bad for business. If the animatronics become the next targets of this psychotic and disastrous criminal ravager then I would lose the main centerpiece to my business and will likely be unsuccessful with the museum. Not many out there favor oddities so losing any more of my most interesting pieces could be disastrous and I would have to end up closing the doors and after just before I even open them to the public. I cannot stress you enough how important it is that everything stored in this place must be watched over and protected well, everything here is sort of sentimental in value too; it's a collection of my childhood dreams about to become a reality. I am counting on you to keep everything safe and in 'proper' place."

Mike immediately stopped. Sure if the guy had some enemies then it would make sense that property would be destroyed to keep a business from opening, but one animatronic being moved out of place as a form of taunt? … Very unlikely. For one, they're pretty heavy… or so he was told by Jeremey. Second, anyone trying to ruin a business would taunt in a better way than that. And third, moving a single item from place to place to seem scary was just lame as fuck. Broken items, messed up footage, an animatronic moving; now this was sounding more like… well sort of like an experience he had so many years ago and not someone out to ruin a business. "Wait, uh… how do you know that it's not …something else?" He called out curiously.

"Something else?" Nicholson came to a stop in his pace and turned around to face the guard. "What else could it possibly be? It's not like their possessed or have freewill of their own. They are but mere machines with programs running them and nothing more and they're not even active anymore but on complete shutdown. The day shift guard says that he's seen one of them move before but that is impossible, I fear for the man's sanity; been watching the screens for too long. Don't tell me that you believe in ghost stories or anything of the paranormal sort?"

Mike looked away for a second but glanced back at his current employer with a sterner look. "Hell no." He lied. "There's no such things as ghosts and spirits and shit like that. I was just thinking that someone's… uh- jealous of your collection and is… just trying to piss you off, not stop your business… or something like that." 'Smooth dumbass. That was the lamest. Ever.' He scolded himself mentally.

"It matters not, my business will surely be ruined if the criminal continues to vandalize my items. Now come Mike, he's just in this storage room right here at the main end of the hall."

When both men made it to the main end Mike immediately noticed that the door shutter was damaged and bent inward a bit in many places, it was also scuffed up with dark markings and gashes of metal showing through the chipped up paint. Someone or something has been trying to get inside of the storage locker, how it was still in one piece was surprising.

"Here he is." William grabbed the door shutter and lifted it up with both hands and he smiled. "He's always in this storage locker for some odd reason; the furthest away from the rest, like he's avoiding them-... But that would be a silly thing. Animatronics cannot move without power. This one in particular doesn't even have a power switch, but it does have the circuits and wiring for some purpose. I haven't had much time to take a gander or do enough research but I will when it's on display in my collection." The collector chuckled softly to himself and faced the guard. "This one's too damaged to function and I was told that it was also a mechanical suit. A rare hybrid; one out of a production line that had to stop because of how dangerous it could be out of faultiness. An animatronic is inside when you look close enough but it's not fully intact. However; I can't unlock the tight spring locks that hold it together, and nor can I unlock the hinges that would allow someone to climb right in; it's far too rusty and damaged. I would try more careful and tedious work to open it but I don't have much free time out of my busy agenda. Perhaps in the future? Go, ahead; shine your flashlight and get a look at this amazing piece that I got only a month ago. It's in the main back, resting up against the wall."

Mike moved his flashlight upwards steadily and shined the spotlight into the middle of the room, he then moved it towards the wall when he saw sharp-toed claw-like feet on the edge of the light spot. He moved it up a raggedy metal skeletal form that had charcoal black fabric coating the legs and down towards the ankles, like burns or ashes sticking to it. A tint of olive green was then taking the majority of the form as he moved the light fully over the animatronic.

Mike nearly dropped his flashlight when his eyes landed upon the head of the metal animal that was slumped against the wall, its eyes; open, a permanent grin beamed at them.

His flashlight was fully over the aged and not so golden bunny, he stood there frozen in shock with his eyes wide and chills surging down his spine and into his very bones. No way in hell. It was once Spring Bonnie… now a rabbit of terror with a different title… looking the part as told by Fritz. This was Springtrap he was looking at; the murderous machine that nearly got his friend a little while ago, named for the guy that was killed within it; caught in a spring trap. He stared long and hard into those discolored menacing eyes; mechanical eyes that looked friendly but held so much malice within.

"This one is from the old Fazbear Entertainment Company, the only known surviving suit remaining of the dark history surrounding the business. An amazing piece is it not? Severely damaged yes, but still in one piece; mostly anyway."

It wasn't supposed to be here, Fritz said that the thing was thankfully incinerated with almost all of the Fazbear memorabilia; only a few things survived and were sold at a small public auction after the horror attraction burned down. Looks like his buddy wasn't even aware that Springtrap itself survived and poor William had to be the one to get it, how he hadn't been attacked yet was surprising but at least it being 'misplaced' made sense. He had to warn the guy of the haunted animatronic but seeing as the oddities collector wasn't open to ghost stories or anything of the sort, Mike knew he had to get evidence and if the cameras in the warehouse were recording then that is all he would need. Just one night.

"I consider this one my most valuable possession in the entire warehouse, so much damage has brought this poor thing so much character; a survivor of fire and the jaws of time of the once so great Fazbear's Entertainment. His ruin is art! He'd make an excellent masterpiece to put on display for all to see! I absolutely cannot wait."

Mike blinked in disbelief when he saw the mechanical eyelids of the deadly animatronic lightly narrow inwards but the body remain perfectly still. It moved so quick that he barely caught the show of anger. He didn't even know that the thing could do that and that fast without hardly gaining notice. Nicholson didn't seem to notice.

He stared long and hard at the thing for a good minute. Why was it just sitting there? Why was it not attacking? Was it waiting? Perhaps, two people against one mechanical suit; the odds would be in Mike's favor. Still, it was unnerving. Fritz said that it burned… but it was still here. Only its legs showed any sign of burns, the damn thing was fireproof.

"I cannot wait to get him standing, it'll take a good and thick metal frame to hold him up since his servos are locked up and rusted together. Can't open him up or provide power so a steel frame will keep him held perfectly in place. When I finally get my collection up, I'll have the whole lot of them together as a centerpiece of my entire collection."

A very slight metallic scrapping sound came from Springtrap, it sounded as if it was trying to move slow and subtly or possibly showing disapproval form William's wishes. Either way, it would be out to kill. That is why this 'thing' was moving from it' original place, it's haunted and not some punk moving the thing out of place for the hell of it. Mike turned his head away for a brief second to see that William was already walking away from the room. Of course he didn't see nor hear the freaking killer rabbit. Another low metallic grating sound had him whipping his head back around to see Springtrap now hunched over just a little than he first was when found, his head was partially lifted at a slight angle with those eyes looking directly up at him with such intent. Its pupils were now lit up in a pinprick white with a relentless stare, it was purely intimidating Mike had to admit.

He knew what he saw but wasn't sure if he was imagining it or not. He couldn't be, his mind was not fooling him. William must have not have seen it himself somehow, he was still holding a big smile on his face from his supposed 'most prized' machine. Not all souls were at peace, this one certainly wasn't gone …but here… with him … for five long nights alone.

What did he just get himself into?

...

Chapter 3 preview: They're Watching

... ...

Mike stumbled backwards as the banging on the door continued, his back finally met the wall on the opposite end and he stared at the wooden frame of the old rickety place slowly peel away from the wall. Snapping out of his frightened trance, the security guard went for his belt and pulled out his gun; he held his pistol close and waited for the murderous animatronic to break through his only line of defense. If the stupid wood took too much more wallops then he'd really be fighting for his life; that would be a bad way to end night one of this so called 'easy job'.

How it would end?

He didn't even want to contemplate it.

...

Without much though and relying more on instinct; Mike raised his pistol and shot Springtrap as soon as he took another step into the security room. The bullet had went through the animatronics chest and ricocheted off of the steel frame within and the guard immediately flinched as the bullet pelted the vent at his feet and put a hole through the thin metal grates.

Springtrap stopped for a moment to gauge the man's reaction when he shot a gun at a metal animatronic; his response was not surprising, he almost got himself killed and eyed the bullet hole with quite a shock. That was mildly entertaining to see, but now it was time to get down to business; this man somehow knew of him and that was not going to settle well with him. Anyone who would try and expose him will pay, he already had enough trouble in the damn warehouse to deal with. Besides, he could have some kind of fun…

...

"He's running away? What in the hell?" Mike said quietly to himself as he watched the animatronic rabbit run down the small hallway like it was very afraid, it moved quickly and fluidly as a human would.

...

Mike wasn't sure if the poor lighting was playing with his eyes so he switched the cam onto night vision and jumped back in his seat with his eyes wide. "What the fuck!?" All of the animatronics in the huge dark room were all facing him; or their heads were anyways. All of them, even the dog-wolf-looking thing by the main end had his head facing him.

...

"This doesn't make any damn sense!"