Fredbear's Diner - Thursday June 22nd, 1978

James and his mother went to the local pizza restaurant that afternoon. The warm sun was shining, the birds were singing; it was hard to not smile on such a lovely day. He rushed inside the restaurant, in spite of the pleasant weather. His mother followed shortly after, shaking her head. To a young child, the allure of what awaited inside was much more enticing.

After he raced through the doors, James quickly realized that the ads he heard for Fredbear's weren't only true, they were an understatement. It was better than he ever could've dreamt! The petit restaurant had a dining area with a small stage at the far end, featuring a golden bear wearing a purple top hat and matching bowtie. Beside it was a bunny in the same colour, wearing a bowtie that matched the bear's and strumming a guitar in jerky movements. The bear appeared to be a boy bear, but James wasn't sure of the rabbit. It had long eyelashes like a girl, yet something about it still made it appear as if it was actually a boy.

Questions aside, the dining room was exciting on its own. It was decorated with multi-coloured streamers, balloons, and confetti everywhere. The mouthwatering aroma of pizza tempted him as it wafted from the nearby kitchen. James couldn't imagine it was possible for it to get any better.

Yet it did. There were games to be played. There weren't many, but the ones they had looked like fun and there tokens to earn for playing. The tokens could then be redeemed for prizes at the nearby Prize Corner, which was overflowing with plush toys, balls, candies, and many other interesting things.

For now, games could wait. The aroma of the cheesy delight was irresistible, reminding him of his hunger.

"Mom, can we please get some pizza?" James asked when she caught up to him.

"Of course, sweetie. It's why we're here." With that, the boy and his mother took their seats in the dining area. Fortunately, although the restaurant had plenty of customers, it wasn't too crowded. They got seats near the front with a perfect view of the stage.

A perky young woman approached the table. She wore a visor with her uniform, with a bouncy ponytail that poked out behind it that swung as she walked. "Hi, welcome to Fredbear's Family Diner!" she chirped. "Can I get you anything?"

"We'll have a medium pepperoni piz-"

"With garlic sauce!"

The mother rolled her eyes before continuing, unable to hide the smile that came to her face, "Pizza. With garlic sauce, please."

"Alrighty then! Anything else?"

"That should be all for now."

"Your order will be ready soon. In the meantime, please enjoy the show!"

The show began, and James was thoroughly entranced. The robotic performers were engaging, cheery, and entertaining. He loved it, and he never wanted to leave. It was everything he could have ever wanted. When the pizza came, it only affirmed that feeling.

James was enjoying his time at Fredbear's immensely thus far. Once he finished his food, he bounded away from the table to play the games. His mother followed him considerably slower. Children had endless energy. Somehow, it seemed as though the games managed to capture his interest more than the show.

He travelled from machine to machine, usually requiring his mother's help to reach half of the buttons for the various machines. Even with assistance, James found he wasn't the best at them, but this didn't put him off. His efforts were worthwhile, seeing as he continued to win tokens to redeem at the Prize Corner.

After playing every machine numerous times, his mother had a Fredbear's bag filled with tokens. "Come, let's see what you can get for all these," she urged, the weight of the bag settling in. After carrying it for so long, she was growing tired of it.

Much to the weary mother's relief, her son agreed and raced over to the coin counting machine. When she caught up, she set the bag down and James eagerly began to insert tokens into it. She helped in order to speed the process up. Unfortunately, after having counted about 400 tokens, the coin counter displayed an error message. James stared at the glowing red letters in shock and horror as he saw how his hard work had been wasted.

"M-Mom…" he whined, not far from tears. His otherwise wonderful day had been ruined in one fell swoop.

"Aw, honey…" she soothed. "I'll talk to the manager about it. I'm sure they'll make sure you get your prize." She picked up the bag containing the remaining coins. "Why don't you go to the Prize Corner and look at the pretty toys while you wait?"

"O-Okay…" James choked. He wiped away the tears that began to form in his eyes as he headed to the counter he had noticed before. The prizes all seemed larger than life; the candies were so vibrant that they almost appeared as if they should be inedible. To James, they looked delicious. Everything at the Prize Corner looked positively amazing to the little boy, except for the figure managing the station.

He had no idea what it was, but he knew one thing for sure: it terrified him. It was a tall, stick-like black figure with white stripes on its arms and legs, and three matching buttons on its chest. It had a white face with rosy red cheeks, red lips, and an odd purple streak extending from under each eye to the top of its mouth. Its eyes were the most disturbing part, however. They were empty and black, with only a small glowing pupil to give them some life. It was horrible: the very worst thing at the entire restaurant. Or anywhere for that matter. It may have looked like it was trying to be friendly, but James knew better. It was a monster!

If the creepy thing wasn't behind the counter, he would've stayed there to look at the prizes he could claim. But it was just too scary! James began to cry at the mere thought of going near it. He ran away in search of his mother, yet she was nowhere to be found. Clearly, the evil monster had something to do with it. He had to get away; he needed to save himself while he still could. With that, James ran straight for the front doors.

He sat alone in the parking lot, crying. After the token error, his mother going missing, and the horrible monster lurking at Prize Corner, he couldn't help it. Not more than five minutes later, a car pulled up beside him, and a man in a Fredbear's uniform poked his head out the window. "What's wrong, kid?"

James sniffled, wiped his eyes, and began to explain the situation. The man listened patiently before ducking his head back into the vehicle for a moment. He stepped out of the car with a vanilla cupcake in his hand, topped with white icing, a red cherry, and a dusting of icing sugar. The employee knelt beside the boy with a smile on his face and offered him the sweet treat. "Maybe this will help you feel better?"

He demeanor brightened as took the cupcake from the man. James oogled at the treat and said, "Thank you, sir!"

The man's smile grew. "Eat up. Enjoy. It'll help you feel better until your mother comes back."

James nodded and greedily began munching on the cupcake. It was sweet, moist, and delicious in every way possible. Soon after he started to eat, the employee hastily got back into his car and drove away, presumably to park it. He was sad to be alone once more, but it helped to have a delicious treat to keep him company in the meantime.

As he was finishing the dessert, he began to feel strange, as if his chest was filled with water. He tried to take deeper breaths, but it didn't help. His heart began to race. The edges of his vision started fading. His clawed at his throat in desperation and bawled. "M-M-Mom…" James sobbed as he felt his mind grow foggy. Unable to remain upright anymore, he fell on his side, gasping for air. The last thing he remembered was the man picking him up and stuffing him into the garden outside the restaurant.

The mother went to the front desk of Fredbear's Family Diner and requested to speak with the manager. The employee left and returned quickly with a nicely dressed young man.

He extended his hand to the concerned mother and greeted, "Everett Fazbear, manager and owner of Fredbear's Family Diner, at your service. What seems to be the problem?"

"My son went to get his tokens counted, but the machine broke part-way through. He's devastated…"

Everett frowned. "I'm terribly sorry that happened. Tell you what, I'll let him pick any prize he wants, no matter how many tokens he had."

"You would? That's very kind of you."

His smile returned. "Anything for our customers. As long as your son is happy, we're happy." After a moment of hesitation, Everett continued, "So, where is he?"

"He's over at Prize Corner," she replied.

With that, James' mother and Everett ventured to the counter, with no sign of him.

His mother frowned. She called out his name repeatedly and received no reply. She muttered, "He was here just a moment ago…"

"He couldn't have gone far, I'm sure. Maybe he wandered off to look for you?"

"He couldn't have… He would never go somewhere unless I gave him permission to."

Despite the mother's remark, Everett began to search the restaurant with no luck. James was nowhere to be found. Not long after the search began, his employees, Anthony and Porfirio, had walked in. Naturally, he enlisted their help, yet their efforts did not yield the missing child. It was as if the boy had vanished into thin air.

"I-I don't understand where he could've gone to…" his mother sobbed. She was growing hysterical at the thought of James being missing. She'd only left him alone for a few moments. It just didn't make sense.

"Just... call us if he comes home before then. If not, bring us a picture and we'll file a report."

She nodded and left, absolutely heartbroken. She just had to go home and hope that James would come home. Unfortunately, he never did.

Freddy waved his hand in front of the animatronic's face, a look of concern across his own. "Are you alright?"

He looked up from his spot on the floor and blinked. "Huh?"

"You looked lost in thought... Is something wrong, Puppet?"

Marionette frowned and looked away. "It's nothing..."

Freddy sighed, "I know there is something wrong... You can talk me, you know?"

"I was... thinking. About that day, Freddy."

The bear looked heartbroken. "I'm so sorry..."

His friend began to sob uncontrollably, hugging his knees to his chest as he did so. The memories haunted him and crushed him every time they came to mind. Freddy sat beside him and pulled him into a bear hug, which he readily accepted.

He himself was haunted by the past, yet he tried to remain strong for the others; his family. When they were hurting, he made sure he was there to keep them safe. He was always there for them.