A/N: So, I let myself go on this one. Future chapters will be shorter and more concise, I promise. But bear with me, many things here will come back in the future. To be more specific, next week Friday. See you guys then.

Edit concerning title: Some of you will notice that I changed the title of chapters 2 and 3; this is purely to match the content itself better. Besides that, I didn't change absolutely anything, so rest assured!

Chapter 3: The taste of blood

With new confidence, I climbed up the stage, fixed up my Fazbear top hat and grabbed the mic from the MC. "Okay sir, we're ready!" My friends cheered and clapped at these words.

"Yes, very good Brandon." said the now tired MC. "You still miss someone."

"Oh, umm…" I babbled as I felt my little confidence flush away. At our table, my friends were calling me over, signaling me to just forget about the guest we didn't pay for and go to the party room. They pointed at the door where Bucky stood, inviting me to get in. But I couldn't help that my eyes glided over to the lonely kid in the back, still hunched over his untouched meal, still tracing little circles on his table.

"Him!" I said, pointing directly at him. My friends and the few people in the audience still following turned their heads to see the little kid. He finally stopped the circle tracing to look back at them with sleepy eyes, surely wondering what was going on.

"Well then, umm, great!" stammered the MC, clearly surprised. "Umm, enjoy your party! And… yeah, Bucky will be there with you. Enjoy!" he said at least, walking away behind curtains, muttering something I couldn't understand.

The kids' eyes were fixated on me as I climbed down the stage towards my friends' table.

"Brandon, you know him?" asked Sarah, clearly hoping for a 'yes' as an answer.

"Nope." I said smugly "All I know is that he's been alone on that table since we went in here. He needs company, and we're gonna give him a fun night." Again, Ferny raised his eyebrows. Again, my brother facepalmed.

"Did you even stop to think, Don." he said, still with his hand on his face. "That he may know the real Brandon Williams?" I didn't stop to think that.

"Or that he may not have a special ticket?" said Ferny.

"Or that he wouldn't want to join us?" said Sarah.

"Or maybe…" started Sean again, but I was already walking towards the kid's table, not noticing what he was saying. "Don!" I heard him call out behind me. "Brandon!"

All along the kid's eyes were glued at mine, looking at me like a deer looks at an approaching wolf. But as I walked towards his table, they slowly went lower and lower. By the time I was next to him, and I heard my brother, Sarah and Ferny get up behind me, the kid was looking at my feet.

"Hi…" I said softly. "What's your name?" No answer, at least not in words. He started to slowly trace and retrace an 'X' on his table.

"You really are something aren't you?" I heard an irritated Sarah say behind me. I turned around to see my friends standing beside her.

"These are my friends." I said just as softly and slowly, ignoring Ferny's and Sarah's sighs. The kid's eyes slowly went up to see them, then fell to the floor again.

But I wasn't going to give up. "My friends and I would really like it if you joined us at our party."

"Would we?" asked Ferny sarcastically.

"Yes." I hissed back. "We would."

Then, he spoke. "I'm waiting for my brother, Michael." It sounded like a loud, shy whisper. He didn't look up at us. "He's at the arcade… he'll be back soon."

"Guess that settles it." said my brother. "Can't say we didn't try Don…"

"Listen… you." I said, telling myself that I had to convince this kid, even to just prove my friends wrong. "Just, half an hour. We go, eat some cake, play some games and you can leave whenever you want." I saw that he stopped tracing the X's; he was thinking about it. "Nothing bad will happen, alright? We will keep you safe. Bucky will keep you safe. I know you're shy, but I just want to see a smile on your face." I smiled at him, and to my surprise, he got up and looked at the arcade at the other side of the room.

"You promise?" he said in his whisper, but this time there was emotion in there.

I sighed. "I promise." I said at last. Sarah and Ferny did a little clap.

"So, I'm Brandon. These are Sean, my brother, Ferny and Sarah." I said, pointing at each respective person. "And you are?"

"I-I'm Jack." he stammered, still not looking up. "J-Jack Sch-Schmidt"

"Alright Jack…" said Sarah. "Should we get going? We've wasted enough time already."

"Don't worry." said my brother "We'll have to wait out the rain anyways."

We hadn't noticed, but the rain had gotten worse: it was a pretty heavy shower now. At the entrance to the room, Bucky was holding the door open, patiently waiting for us to enter. Inside we could see the arcades and what looked like a very, very big birthday cake. With smiles on everyone's faces, but Jack's, we walked over to the open door. As I saw everyone walk in I realized Bucky didn't ask anyone for tickets. Standing on the doorframe, looking at the expensive party I never thought I'd get, I felt the slightest bit of guilt. It was then that I saw Sean, Ferny, and Sarah run through the room, laughing, smiling, and waving at me to join them. I took a deep breath and stepped inside. Behind me, I heard Bucky slowly close the door.

"Woah, look at these!" shouted Ferny as he ran past Jack towards the arcades at the back of the room. "They're all free to play guys!"

"Look, my drawings!" called out Sarah as she looked at a bunch of pencil drawings posted on a wall next to a little door. "They kept them!"

But my brother and I were mesmerized by the giant cake in the center of the room. "What do you think Don?" he asked, "Looks like vanilla to me."

"I don't know brother," I said with a hungry grin on my face, "and I don't care as long as we get to devour it!"

Our trance was broken by Bucky walking behind us and going to where Sarah was standing. Without saying a word he opened the door beside her and stepped in a little dark room before closing it again.

"Weird…" I said to my brother. "Isn't he supposed to play with us, or sing, or something?"

"Give the poor man a break Don." he answered, grabbing a cherry from the cake. "He's only human."

"Well, aren't you supposed to protect my innocence and childhood dreams?" I answered, faking anger.

"Please, you were the one that ran up to mom and I three years ago shouting 'Mommy! Mommy! Theiw wobots! Theiw wobots!', not me!"

We both laughed at the happy little memory, but then, I heard something. Through the constant sound of rain, I heard a faint banging noise coming from a tall locker on the opposite wall to where Sarah and the door where Bucky stepped in were.

"What the..." I whispered, as my brother and I approached the locker. Without hesitation, he opened it. Out of it, a man dressed in a golden shirt and pants fell to the floor at our feet, his wrists were slit wide open and covered in blood.

"H… Help… me…" he groaned. As he did, I felt my blood freeze in my veins. My head felt heavy, my legs were weak. Before I could even scream, I heard the door behind us open, then a footstep, then a high-pitched whimper, loud and soft at the same time.

I turned around to see Sarah's teary eyes staring at us blankly, a kitchen knife's handle sticking out of the side of her chest. A dark stain ran down her body, dyeing her clothes red. Her mouth twitched a few times before she fell to the ground in slow motion, barely making a sound, like a dead leaf that falls from a tree. Behind her stood a tall, lean man. He had a ski mask on his face, a cleaver in his hand, and the purple uniform and orange badge of the security guards of Freddy Fazbear's.

"Oh no… you weren't supposed to see that." he said with exaggerated worry on his voice, while he got on his knees to pull out the knife from Sarah's still moving chest. "Well, guess that doesn't really matter that much."

A cold sweat broke out of my forehead and I felt an unbearable sickness in my stomach. I tried to scream, shout, cry… but no sound would come out. I saw Ferny standing in front of the arcades, paralyzed; his mouth and eyes wide open in an expression that was the definition of terror. My brother looked at the man in pretty much the same way. By the door, Jack was sitting motionless on the floor, his hands covering his face.

"S-Sarah…" I heard Ferny whimper softly. "Sarah…" he hissed strenuously. "D-Dammit… I… I can't scream…" his voice was drenched in desperation to make itself be heard. "H-Help… somebody…" he hissed, "P-Please…" his voice cracked as tears rolled out of his eyes.

Besides me, my brother was groaning, his legs were twitching and bending, but his feet didn't slide an inch. "I… I can't move…" he whimpered in disbelieve. "Goddammit! Why can't I move!"

"Yeah, about that guys." The masked man in purple said casually, while pulling the bloody kitchen knife from Sarah's now completely inert body. "I apologize for the inconvenience. Couldn't take any chances you see." He stood up, carelessly swinging the dripping knife and the cleaver as he slowly walked towards Ferny. "Don't worry tough." whispered the man sweetly "It will be over very soon."

"H-How…" stammered Ferny forcefully through the sobs, looking pitifully at us.

He looked up at the man standing in front of him, but now there was more than just sadness and fear on his face. As the man rose up his cleaver, he snarled at him with feral rage, growling like a wild animal. The instant before the cleaver fell down on Ferny like a guillotine, my brother's hand covered my face. I winced in blind pain as I heard Ferny's muffled groans, filled with anger and helplessness, become weaker and weaker with each hit. There was a loud bang, and then silence. After what felt like an eternity, the hand slid weakly of my face, and I saw my friend's body on top of the arcade where he was playing, both covered in red. I looked away in horror, feeling my stomach twist and revolt.

"Phew…" said the man, turning to face us. "He took more hits than I expected." Terrorized, I looked at him, trying to avoid looking at what remained of Ferny as much as I could. He held the now bloody cleaver and knife in front of him, admiring them for a moment. He then pointed the knife at me, and looking at me in the eyes, whispered "You're next in line, buddy."

With each step he took towards me, I felt my knees get weaker and weaker, until I fell on my hands and knees, sobbing.

"No… he's not." hissed my brother behind me. I turned my head to see him balling his fists, snarling at the approaching man. "I don't care what happens…" Sweat drenched his forehead as he took a step forward, his whole body quivering "I don't care what you do to me…" Groaning, panting, he stepped forward again, until he was by my side. "You can slice me open like a pig if you want…" With one final step, he was now right in front of me, facing me. Through my tears, I saw his open hand. I grabbed it pathetically, and pulling me up back on my feet, he tuned to face the man. "But you're not touching my brother!"

The man stood still. For one moment, something more than cold indifference seemed to come out of his masked face. He then resumed his walk, shaking his head.

"Very noble Sean, very noble." he said flatly. I didn't register the fact that he knew my brother's name. "But then again, the noblest people I know are also the most stupid." Once again, he looked at the knife and cleaver alternatively, as if deciding which one to use. He dropped the cleaver besides the man in golden clothes, still lying on the floor with his wrists open, still breathing. "And you my friend…" he chuckled lightly "are not the exception. I'll just kill you first then… no biggie."

He quickened his pace. When the masked man was a few feet away from us, my brother turned around. He looked at me for one second, and I still like to believe that he smiled that little smug smile of his. He pulled me close to him, and hugged me like I've never been hugged before. He wrapped his arms around my back and covered me entirely with his own body.

"It's okay Don." he whispered into my ear. "Just think about Dad." I buried my face in his chest, and cried.

The first stab. His body jolted, and he groaned in pain. The second stab. He let out a little cry and tightened his hug even more. The third stab. His breathing got heavier as I felt a tear fall on my head. The fourth stab. His arms went limp, and he let go of me as he collapsed into a bloody heap.

I let myself fall on my knees. He lay on his side, his back turned to me. My mouth opened and shut pathetically as I tried to scream, cry, speak… but I just lay there, sobbing silently as a red pool appeared under his body. I looked up at the blurry purple figure, just about making out something glowing in a soft, sinister red under his jacket, right besides his badge, around the place where the heart should be. Then I made out something coming at me with great speed from above.

The fifth stab. I looked down at the knife wedged between my ribs, feeling an icy pain spread throughout my body. As I fell on my back, my breathing got faster and shallower. My fingers went numb, my mouth filled up with the taste of blood. With my last bit of strength, I turned to see Jack still sitting silently by the closed door, still covering his face with his hands, as the tall purple figure walked towards him. After that, everything slowly became darker and darker. Before the lights went out completely, I still managed to hear the soft sound of rain coming from above.

"Angels are crying." I thought, before finally falling into a dark, cold void of silence.

I was dead.