I'm sorry for the delay, guys. I've had a lot going on and I lost the inspiration to continue the story, overwhelmed by the plot I had planned. But here I am, and here you are. Take this long chapter as an apology. 3
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I will be changing perspective from 1st person to 3rd. I feel like I could express more of the true feelings of the characters and the environment without the awkward "Peyton's P.O.V." interruption.
Peyton awoke in a dizzy, sweat beading along her forehead and soaking her bedsheets and clothes. She took in jagged breaths, coiling and flexing her fingers in a needless attempt to convince herself they were still attached, that she still had all of her. Now awake because of her awful dream, she sighed in frustration and rose to her feet. She grabbed her bedding, the sheets pooling in her grasp as she stripped her bed. She clumsily made her way to the washer room and put the sheets through a wash cycle. The soft hum of the washing machine seemed like a loud intrusion in the otherwise deathly silent house.
She settled into the sofa, it's rich brown and worn leather melting around her. She pulled her laptop next to her and logged in. As the computer illuminated to life, Peyton squinted in the bright light. After a moment, she regained herself and opened her Internet browser. She hovered over the Google search bar idly, afraid to proceed. Slowly, carefully, her fingers pushed into the keyboard the demons that had plagued her.
Freddy Fazbear's Pizza
The search brought hundreds of articles on the ill-fated pizzeria. Some listed the tragedies that unfolded in its walls, other's explained the corruption and downhill spiral of a beloved children's hangout. Wading through the results with a critical eye, something stood out to Peyton. She had read of the murders of the children, their small, betrayed bodies stuffed into the mascots. She knew how they were left for some kind of sick secret display, the mascots to be viewed by families daily. She also knew the rampage the animals partook in once the Sun went down. They hunted, they breathed anew predatory life, and they killed without prejudice.
She shivered at the thoughts of the guards, and the aftermath left in the animatronics' wake. Still though, she couldn't find any pictures or articles on Springtrap. He was absent from any documents, a fleeting ghost amongst the rest of them. There had to be SOMETHING, he had to come from somewhere. She just had to dig a little deeper.
3 hours later and 13 Google pages in, and Peyton finally found what she was looking for. She found an article detailing the restaurant where Freddy's gathered a lot of its atmosphere. A humble little spot called Fredbear's Family Diner, a place where children could eat and hang out with their furry friends. Springtrap was known as Bonnie back then, and he appeared much more peaceful and benign. For some undisclosed reason, he and his partner Fredbear were put into storage and the restaurant was closed.
Pulling the monitor down and rubbing her temples, Peyton sighed knowing that was probably as much information as she would get on the devil's origins. If she wanted to know anything else about him, how to stop him, it meant going back there again. Even if only to attempt to save someone else from her fate.
But somewhere, deep down, in the floor of her soul, she knew she wanted to go back. Springtrap was a rush of mortality, like flipping a coin for life or death. Her life was not her own in those halls.
Peyton yawned and stretched, looking out the window and seeing the sunshine slowly creep into the room through the blinds. Her body finally began to slow down and she settled down into the sofa, sleep once again lulling her away. She did not dream again.
.
.
.
The phone buzzed and screamed. Peyton groaned and reached blindly for it, groping the sofa repeatedly in a half-hearted attempt to silence the noise. She managed to find the blaring little box and turned it over to calm it. She noticed the time, and shot up. It was 8:30 pm and she'd only have a few hours to get to work. As if on cue, her stomach growled fiercely, reminding her of the neglect she had cast upon herself. She quickly changed and grabbed her keys and headed to the first diner she found.
As she parked in the lot of the hole-in-the-wall diner, she felt strangely alone. The air was biting with chill and she only had herself to huddle into. She stepped out into the winter night, locking her car and cursing the chilly season. Once inside, the fluorescent lights gave a harsh light compared to the soft glow of the street lamps. Peyton scooted into a booth and a worn down looking waitressed greeted her. They exchanged pleasantries and Peyton ordered breakfast for dinner.
The waitress mumbled something about 'it'll be right out' and shuffled away. Peyton nodded and turned her attention to the window. The stars were twinkling with such a pure innocence, that it felt like they shone just for her. It warmed her blood and she smiled slightly. Was the world always this big? She hadn't known, she felt like her life would never escape her small, rainy (and now snowy) town. She was huddled in the forests of Washington, the other parts of the world didn't exist. Her town wasn't even a blip on the radar, it was hidden under a coat of rain and pine needles. You lived and died here.
Lost in thought, Peyton didn't realize the food in front of her. She shook the wonder out of her head and glanced at the time.
'9:45pm'
She only had a little time left, and she wanted to use it wisely. She was nervous though, her heart felt fluttery and she ate quickly, even though she had to force herself to finish the meal. She threw two twenties down and told her waitress to keep the change. She hurried out the door, now suddenly urgent in her mission, and the cold, crisp air actually felt good in her lungs. She put her key in the ignition and drove to him.
Once she parked, she took in a breath to steady her nerves. Her hands were shaking but they calmed when she glanced over and saw Dylan's car a few spaces over. She wondered why she even considered coming alone, scolding herself. She walked briskly to the back of door the building, pulling the door open and stepping inside. She glided into the office, where Dylan looked up at her wide eyed, but quickly calmed.
"Hey Peyton, you're early. What's up? You still have… about an hour and a half before your shift starts." He asked.
Peyton open her mouth and it hung for a moment. She hadn't thought about that. Why was she here?
"I just came to check out the place again, as a guest, ya know?," she smiled gently. "I thought it would be cool."
Dylan nodded and returned his attention to his paperwork, clearly not buying her poor excuse but not caring enough to pry. Peyton left the hallway and ventured deeper into the halls. An arcade game at the end of the narrow, long hallway served as the main source of light and even then it strobed in and out. Peyton had difficult orientating herself in the darkness, sliding her hand along the wall as a reference to her position. She walked down the long passageway, really looking at all the children's drawings scattered on the wall. A yellow bunny was shown playing and dancing with the children in the pictures, and the image would be heartwarming if it were anywhere else but here.
Eventually she reached the end of the hallway, standing in front of the arcade game, and on either side of her were two doorways, both completely dark. She took the one to her left, and as soon as she made the first step, her heart began galloping. She once again used her hand as a guide till she found the very corner of the room and took a shaky breath. Her blood was on fire and she needed a moment to gather her surroundings, to gather this moment.
Softly, weakly, she breathed into the air,
"Springtrap."
The air seemed to chill at the name, like it shivered at the thought of him. At first there was nothing but the drowning silence. Peyton closed her eyes and balled her hands into fists, waiting. And yet, still there was silence.
Nothing stirred.
After a few minutes, Peyton sighed and began to walk back to the office. Two steps in, and she heard him. The clank of his feet in the room across the hall. Peyton almost screamed in pure anxiety, but tried to contain her body's flight response. She scurried back to her corner and waited, for what she wasn't sure. The clanking was slow but heavy; he was teasing her. Soon his large outline appeared in the doorway, the only light was the fading-in-and-out arcade light and his eyes. She stared at him, breathing heavily, painfully aware of how helpless she was. He just stood… staring. His ear twitched, and the light faded out again. Just before he was swallowed by the darkness again, Peyton saw him move. The lights in his eyes flickered out, and the arcade light stopped strobing. Peyton started panicked, like a caged animal desperate for escape.
Where is he?! I just saw him! Where did his eyes go?!
Suddenly and all at once, Peyton felt her body bump into something roughly and fall back into the corner she was once occupying. Her throat seized, and her eyes frantically strained to see. She knew he was right there, right in front of her. He wasn't talking, he wasn't moving, he was just standing.
Once she realized this, her panic slowly declined enough for her to speak. Her lips and mouth were dry though, and she couldn't find the words to say.
"Yes?"
As he spoke, his silver eyes illuminated once again, two metallic irises staring down at her intensely.
"I-I-I…" Peyton's tongue flapped ungracefully in her mouth as she tried speak, failing and making her feel miniscule and pathetic in front of him.
"What is it, dove? Have you come to visit me? Hmmm?" Springtrap stepped forward slightly, pinning her against the wall even more. Peyton opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off. "Or have you come to let the lion sharpen his teeth on your bones?" His tone remained even. A large matted paw stroked her face and Peyton cringed.
"Please don't touch me…" she whimpered, shying away.
"Why not?" he mused, "Did you not come here, come to me, for this? You know that I will be your end, I will make your body an empty shell, your eyes glassy and your skin cold, and yet you stand before me, you seek me out. What could you possibly want besides this?" Springtrap dropped his hand away, but his tone had an edge.
Peyton found her voice in this dark room, and spoke as calmly as she could manage. "I came here to talk to you, that's all. I wanted to know why you feel this way, why you feel like you can play God. You are a machine; you were made by man. What right do you have to take life? You will rust away and fall apart, and no one will remember you," she saw his ear twitch, "so if you kill me, or anyone else, why would they not destroy you sooner? Are you suicidal?" That last question was supposed to intimidate him, but it came out as genuine curiosity. She wanted to know.
He didn't respond for a long time. The room was so quiet, Peyton could hear his internal mechanics, the turning of gears and cogs. He reminded her of her washing machine, and if she were somewhere else, she would have laughed out loud at that.
"That's quite a statement for someone in such a helpless state. I suppose you're right in a way, humans could come, tear me a part and throw me in a junk yard. But little dove, all that mouth," he roughly grabbed her jaw in his hand, her lips pursed loosely together from the force and she whimpered in surprise, "and no brains." He let her mouth go and roughly flicked her in center of her forehead hard enough to cause her to bang her head against the wall. "Why would any of the humans think it's me before they thought it was your friend down the hall? Even if they DIDN'T, and they KNEW it was me, in this small town, tourism makes money. I'm the main attraction this shit hole has. I bring money, you cost money. You need a paycheck, I don't. Do you really think this cash starved little community is going to notice YOU missing? And do you really, honestly, believe they don't know anything about me? Did you even read this position qualifications? Probably not. This job is listed as temporary." Peyton's face conveyed disbelief and shock, recalling what he was saying. The job said it was a temporary job, and those who worked it, 'due to its difficulty, caused too much stressed and were sent to different chains for a more relaxing work environment.' She looked at Springtrap with disgust, wanting nothing more than to burn the whole building down and watch his metal melt. She snarled in fury and pushed him back with all her might. He staggered slightly, but stepped back for her. She stepped forward and looked up at him, glaring with a stare that could rival his own.
"Springtrap, what you don't know about me, is that I will take. You. With. Me. Play this game with me if you want to, but I will win. You are bigger, you're stronger, you're clearly fucking crazy, but you aren't human. You will fail. I will watch them gut you and use you for spare parts. I will burn your skin away from that metal body that you think makes you invincible and I will go on. You will be an afterthought. You could kill me right now if you wanted to, but you won't. You want to be beaten."
She sneered at him, and he shook slightly and a velvetly laugh rumbled from his body.
"You think I'm looking for a competition?" He pushed her back against the wall hard, his hand against her chest and he stepped forward. "You think you compare to me? I will be your eternal fucking rest, dove. I keep you alive to kill you another day, you yelling and shouting about man's victory over machine, you're fucking stupid. I will gut you and you will be forgotten within a year. You are my toy, and I will break you down. I will love you and protect you, I will hurt and punish you, I will fuck you like an animal, I will consume you because you are MINE. That is the ONLY reason you breathe, it's why your mom pushed out her cunt. You were born and bred to be mine." He could see the blood draining from her face, but that wasn't enough. He was insulted and irritated at her outburst, annoyed with such awful behavior, but wanted to comfort his special prize, let her know he still loved her.
"I'm sorry, dove. You are extraordinary and the object of my romance. We all have roles in life, and we just have to learn to play our parts." He stroked her face lovingly, and hummed in pleasure. "What if I gave you a choice? A chance to live your days out?" She perked up and looked up at him. "Hm, yes? Does that interest you? All you have to do is choose. Choose someone else. Every night you come back, bring me another person. Someone to take the burden of your pain, someone to take your punishment. I will spare you every night you do; you will go unharmed. Far from danger, I will show you the depth of my love." He nuzzled her cold, clammy neck and took in another breath, pulling away and once again meeting her gaze, as her phone rang out that it was midnight and her shift began, "But every night that you don't, starting right now, you will receive your punishment. They will start small and grow as the days go on."
Peyton's head was swimming. What was she doing here, playing with fire with the devil himself? Lucifer, himself was standing in front of her and she had summoned him. She wanted to vomit, sick that somewhere in her heart, she knew his offer was something she could do. What else could she do? He was going to kill her; he was going to follow her forever. Heavy tears fell down her face, and she mumbled, hoping her humanity would tell her to deny his wicked offer.
"W-… What is the punishment tonight?" She whispered.
He sighed in response, a look of disappointment is his face.
"Well since you were so ill behaved tonight, I suppose you need to learn the lesson." Her hand was suddenly encased in a large paw, his cupping hers effortlessly and gently at first, then locking like a vice grip that caused her to cry out in pain. "I will break your hand." He said coolly. "You have two choices, I do it now, or I let you go and I walk down the hall and break Dylan's. Which will it be?"
He dropped her hand and backed away from her. Peyton fell to the ground crying, the gravity of the situation getting to her. What if she needed both hands for another night with Springtrap? She balled her hands into fists and sobbed harder.
"Hurry up. Dylan will be leaving any minute." Springtrap said coldly.
Peyton croaked at his words, shaking her head.
"Him." Was all she said, low and seemingly inaudible. She stared blankly at the ground, hollow. All she heard was the clanking of feet moving away from her, followed by a short span of silence.
She heard Dylan asked what Springtrap was doing, she heard Dylan call for her, and she heard him scream as his bones were crushed. She curled into a ball quietly, and let silent tears fall down her cheeks. She belonged here, she was just as much a monster as him.
What did you think? What would you do if you were Peyton? What do you think Springtrap has planned for her? Let me know your feedback! :)