Chapter 35: Rain

The weight of responsibility suddenly made the little red book feel incredibly heavy, and my stripped metal hand trembled under the small object. Jack sat in front of me with as I clutched the book tightly and tried to steady my pulse.

"Are we really doing this?" asked Sarah to no one in particular, her voice low and unbelieving.

She looked at Ferny as if hoping for backup, and he returned her gaze before staring back at my brother and calling out in the same tone "What about saying goodbye to our families?"

"Jack's brother still doesn't know anything." I added, looking up at Sean, who bowed his head thoughtfully, ignoring the anxious stares from us and our bleeding killer.

After a few seconds, my brother let out a low sigh before saying "This might be the only chance we ever get to leave these bodies, to make sure no one will ever get hurt again. We thought it'd be better if the truth came out, but maybe some things are best left forgotten, for now." He raised his head to look at me purposefully. "Maybe we're not ready, maybe this isn't the best moment, but it's an opportunity that we need to take." He then commanded with barely contained rage "Do it Don. Erase this bastard."

I answered with a decided nod as I laid the book on the floor and made my way through its bloody pages. Though every seal shared the same basic pattern, every single one also had a unique feature that connected it to its owner somehow. One page had a simplistic bear head next to the main symbol, and I realized that it was the twin of the seal inside Sean's body that I saw over a year ago. I kept scanning through the book until I found what I was looking for: a blood seal with something like a star in the lower left corner of the triangle.

For a minute or two there hadn't been any thunders outside, so now only the sound of raindrops could be heard in the crowded office. I felt a knot in my throat as I stared at Jack's nervous eyes. "I'm… I'm a b-bit scared." he whispered, his words barely audible.

"So am I buddy." I confessed, "But we will meet again in a better place." He managed to give me a feeble smile. Seeing this, I took a good hold of the page, ready to tear it up.

"I… I wouldn't d-do that if I were you, Bonnie." called out Walther, wheezing as he rolled on his side towards us.

Sean immediately pinned down the side of the man's head against the floor as a familiar furious glow took over his eyes. "Too late to beg, murderer." he growled close to Walther's ear

Grunting in pain, the killer focused his eyes on me, and stuttered hoarsely "T-turn over the page."

I glared at the bleeding man warily, lowered my gaze to the book, and did as I was told. And when I saw the other side of that bloody page all my resolve was replaced by surprise and a feeling of betrayal.

There, drawn in the same messy and bloody streaks, was another seal. It was identical to Walther's, except that the star in the lower left corner was now at the top of the rusty red triangle. It took me a few seconds to remember everything we knew about those things, and then I arrived at a conclusion that reignited my hate against that man in purple.

"This is Jack's seal!" I called out angrily, glaring at Walther as a triumphant grin appeared on his bloody face. "You drew his symbol on the same page as yours!"

The killer managed to chuckle arrogantly under my brother's hand, before groaning happily and painfully "Y-yes, it is. You didn't r-really believe I would make it that easy… r-right?"

Sarah and Ferny, who were trying to fix up the Toys as best as they could, looked at me in surprise. "Are you sure?" asked the latter.

I nodded, then I heard Walther's muffled groans as he wretched under Sean's heavy hand. "How do we break free of this?!" demanded my brother threateningly.

"I t-thought you guys knew already." The man let out a short, mocking giggle. "You just have t-to break my blood s-seal! Sure, you'll erase Bucky along with me, but who c-cares?" He rolled his eyes back at me. "The w-world would be a better p-place without him. You said that yourself Bonnie, so why are y-"

Walther's words turned into a choking gasp as my brother clenched his massive hands around the man's throat and lifted him up, so the two were face-to-face once more. "Are you saying that there is no way out of here without erasing Jack?" Sean was almost whispering; desperation and anger blending together in his voice.

The killer smiled innocently, before croaking out "Y-yes."

A silence of defeat took over the room, which was then interrupted by Jack's quiet, shy voice. "Do it." he whispered, pointing at the book in my hands, looking sideways in resignation. "You'll s-stay here forever if you d-don't."

"Are you crazy?!" I blurted out loud, harsher than I wanted to. Jack winced back and looked up at me in mild fright. Sighing, I continued with a milder tone "Please don't say that again… please." He nodded slowly. "I'd never forgive myself if something happened to you."

"Then there's nothing you can do." a familiar voice behind me stated matter-of-factly. I turned my head to see Marionette, still leaning against the wall as he held unto his teared shoulder. "You'll stay here forever, rotting, changing."

"You're wrong." replied Sean coldly, eyeing the puppet with a neutral expression before focusing back on the man hanging in his hands. "If you can't help us, murderer…" A glint of bloodlust appeared in his blue eyes. "…then there's no reason to keep you alive." He tightened his grip on the man's neck even more, until he was visible crushing his windpipe. "If you and me were alone I'd make this much, much more painful for you."

Huffing and gasping for air, Walther wheezed out "If… you kill me… w-what makes you… better than me?"

"A million different things that you will never understand." was Sean's cold reply.

All three Toys stared at the choking man and my brother with unbelieving, scared eyes. Noticing this, Sarah placed broken wrist gently on Mini's shoulder, and whispered softly at the trio "You don't need to see this."

As the three smaller figures turned around, Ferny and Sarah turned their heads away from the ongoing murder as well, conflicting emotions visible in their eyes. But I was entranced by the violent display in front of me.

"You're actually going to let your brother kill him?" questioned Marionette behind me in genuine surprise. I ignored him completely. "That won't fix anything!" For the first time since I met him, the puppet seemed to be concerned for someone that was not himself. "He dies, and then what?! Nothing will change with you! The Toys will still be destroyed anyways! What will you all do, huh?!" By now it was clear everyone was hearing him, but we chose to ignore his desperate words. "Tell the truth?! Without your cousin you have no one to help you! Run away from this place?! For God's sake look at you! You're animatronics! You're not people, you're not human, you're things! You belong to this place, you belong to us! You need us!"

"SHUT UP!" I snapped, turning around and stomping my to him, the red book trapped in my trembling fist. "We're not anyone's toys, especially yours!" Marionette shuffled back from me in fear as I stopped right in front of him. "I don't care if somewhere in your twisted minds you believe that what you did is okay… it's NOT!" I threw a quick glance at Walther, who was desperately trying to free himself to no avail, his eyes closed tightly. Taking a moment to let the anger flow out of me, I looked back at Marionette, and muttered "We're killing a killer, and that's fair to me. Like you said: it's not revenge, it's justice. And there is nothing you can tell us that will change our minds."

An idea suddenly flashed inside Marionette's hollow black eyes. "Are you sure there's not a single thing I can say to make Sean free Walther?" he asked with more confidence, almost teasingly.

"No."

His eternal smile seemed to grow just a bit wider as he turned his face in my brother's direction, and called out with sudden enthusiasm "Hey, Sean! Guess what?!" The brown figure was unfazed, still focused on ending our killer's life. "YOUR MOTHER IS DEAD!"

"Shut up!" I hissed in panic.

"SHE HUNG HERSELF ON YOUR BIRTHDAY OVER A YEAR AGO!"

"We had a deal!"

"Your brother knew this for all that time…" The puppet stared right at me before screaming out triumphantly "AND HE DIDN'T TELL YOU ANYTHING!"

"SHUT UP!" Taken over by anger I threw the red book behind me, grabbed Marionette's damaged arm before he could react, and with one strong pull, ripped it from his shoulder. He shrieked in agony as he clutched unto his armless side, sliding down against the wall, writhing in pain.

I panted with boiling anger as I looked down at his squirming form, before noticing the silence behind me. I turned around to see eight pairs of wide, startled eyes. I glanced at the slender black limb in my hand with horror before dropping it hastily.

"Is it true private?" whispered my brother meekly, his eyes filled with incredible anguish and sadness. A red-headed Walther was still trapped in his brown hand. The killer was barely moving; his fingers twitched slightly and his arms hung limply from his sides. "Please, tell me they're lying."

A heavy silence hung in the room for a few seconds, before I lowered my gaze from Sean's eyes. "I'm sorry." I answered in a thin, weak whisper, realizing there was no point in lying. "I'm so sorry."

"No…" My brother shook his head slowly in denial while the arm that held our killer began to tremble. "No, please, no…" His brown hand opened on its own accord and the tall man dropped to the floor, desperately gasping for air. Sean kept shaking his head more rapidly, blue eyes flooded with horror and pain as he stumbled backwards and leaned an arm against the nearest wall for support; it seemed like he could fall on his knees at any moment. He lowered his stare, closing his eyes as he stood completely still.

For a few seconds no one said anything. Then, without lifting his eyes, my brother whispered in an emotionless voice "Did anyone else know?"

"N-no." I stuttered through the knot in my throat.

"So, Mom died and you didn't say anything?"

A deep guilt nestled itself in my chest, making me feel sick. "I… I wanted to, Sean." I mumbled as I tried not to cry. "I really w-wanted to, but I… I couldn't." I swallowed hard, suddenly feeling nauseated. "I'm sorry brother, I'm so s-"

"DON'T!" He suddenly raised a trembling fist to the side of his still-lowered head, his voice filled with an anger that surprised me. "Don't… don't talk to me!"

"Brother, please…"

"I SAID DON'T TALK TO ME!" Sean raised his eyes, glaring at me with spite. "You lied to me for all this time, and now you say you're sorry?! How many times did I ask you if anything was wrong, how many times did I remind you that we don't keep secrets?!" My mouth opened and closed incoherently; I couldn't make a sound. "I knew something was wrong from the first day we turned you back on, but you said that everything was okay and I trusted you! We trusted you!"

I began to whimper quietly, my head lowered to the ground. Sean carried on, his voice quivering and pained. "I… I really though we c-could just stay the same, you know? Just y-you and me and everyone else, h-helping each other out. I really thought that nothing c-could change what we used to be."

"U-used to be?" I cried aloud, "Used to?" He didn't answer as he slid down against the wall, sitting hard on the floor, his furious eyes cast downward and his arms splayed to his sides in a defeated yet angry pose. Whimpering softly, I picked up the red book and took some slow steps across the office until I was in front of him.

"Go away." growled Sean lowly, not looking up.

"I'm sorry brother." I replied with a wavering voice. "I wish there w-was another way to t-tell you how I feel, but there isn't. You h-hate me right now, I know that." I sighed, "And I u-understand you. But please t-try to understand me."

He didn't move or make a sound; it was as if I hadn't said anything at all. Then, another voice suddenly called out from the other side of the room, and said in an all too sympathetic way "Sean, are you angry at your brother?" It was Marionette. I quickly turned around to see him sit up straight against the wall, his opened hand pointing at us. "It's okay to be angry."

For a few seconds Sean stayed still and silent. Then, with his shadowed eyes still low, he mumbled in a cold and mechanical tone "Yes… I am angry with Don."

Panic took a hold of me when I realized what Marionette was doing. "Brother, don't listen to him." I whispered anxiously. "He's trying to control you. He did the same to me and I almost hurt Mangle because of that. Don't listen to him!"

"Are you going to believe that liar, Sean?" asked the puppet nonchalantly, "After all the things he did to you, you're just going to forgive him? Do you want to forgive him?"

My brother bowed his head even more, closing his eyes as his hands tightened into fists and he breathed heavily with rage. "No, I don't." he growled.

"Don't let him win!" I hissed desperately to no avail.

"What do you want to do then?" continued Marionette with a triumphant hint in his manipulative voice, "Show me. Show him."

Sean's fist trembled eagerly, but he stayed on the floor, head still low; soon it seemed like he had calmed down. His eyes were still closed, shadowed by the rest of his face.

"Brother?" Concerned, I bowed down to find his eyes. "Are you o-"

I gasped as his huge hand tightened around my neck, crushing it like a metal clamp. The figure in front of me stood up and raised his head, unveiling two burning eyes, filled with unnatural anger. Squirming, I felt how gears and metal around my neck whined from the pressure. TB screamed. The puppet cackled with joy. The thunderstorm roared once again.

"Brother, p-please…" I groaned lowly, "You don't w-want to do t-this… I… know."

He remained perfectly still as he whispered mechanically "Now you will learn how it feels to be hurt by your only brother." His cold blue eyes were devoid of any feeling of affection, and I forced back a sob when I saw him like that. Suddenly, I felt his hand trusting my body forwards and down; my feet disconnected from the ground. For one instant I was looking up at the blank ceiling, weightless, then my back was smashed against the floor. Something cracked, and I hoped it was a tile.

"Stop it doofus!" Sarah was suddenly standing next to him, glaring at him with angry and slightly scared eyes. "Can't you see that he's sorry?!" When she got no reaction, she stepped closer and laid a broken wrist on his tattered shoulder. "Please Sean," she resumed gently, "let him g-"

She was cut off by a brown fist that connected with her broken mouth, sending her sprawling on the floor. "Sarah!" Ferny rushed to the yellow body, kneeling next to her, holding her arm as she slowly sat up. Whilst I was lying on my back something heavy slammed itself on my chest, pinning me down. My body doubled over from the pain, and I let out a soft grunt as I saw a brown feet on top of me, below two furious blue eyes.

"Stop it Sean!" called out Ferny in anger, "You're gonna break him in two!"

"Mr. F-Freddy, please…" TB cried behind me, "P-please don't hurt him a-anymore. He's m-my best friend." Slowly and painfully, I leaned back my neck to see my counterpart fall on his back when he tried to stand up.

"Don't… don't c-come closer little me." I wheezed before turning my head sideways. "You t-too Fer. He will hurt y-" I was cut off by another stomp on my chest, pressing me harder against the floor. My vision darkened as I felt how my body was ready to collapse from the pressure. Letting out sharp, raspy breaths, I stared at the dark figure on top of me, and whispered "You're n-not yourself, Sean. P-please, I know you're m-mad at me, and I… I d-deserve that. But do you r-really want to do this?" His blue eyes remained empty and cold. "Does this m-make you happy, brother?"

He didn't answer. For multiple seconds nothing changed; his foot was still on my chest, crushing it constantly as raindrops kept ticking against the roof. Then, for one moment, I thought I saw something in those empty eyes, something similar to the big brother I knew, something similar to regret.

And in that same moment, a square monitor smashed itself against the back of his neck, showering us with pieces of broken glass. The brown animatronic stumbled sideways, away from me, letting me see a panting, furious and blood-covered Walther.

"What are you doing?!" hollered the man, facing the bear, "I decide when it's time to leave someone out of our game, no one else! Besides, did you forget the rules?! You can't touch me!" Sean stood straight, fists ready as he glared at the man with the same anger he had towards me; but he could only growl in frustration as his body twitched uselessly. He was frozen in place.

I noticed that Walther turned his gaze to the little book on the floor, a few feet by my side. Ignoring the pain I shoved myself closer to it and stretched my arm to grab it in haste, only to feel my own body lock up when my fingers brushed the red cover.

"And you…" Our killer's voice oozed with spite as he picked up the book, glaring at me. "You disobeyed me, you betrayed me, you got beat up once again, and you still didn't accomplish anything." He shook his head in disappointment. "One person! You only had to erase one person, the most useless of the bunch, and everything would've been over." Chuckling, he browsed through the book, stopped when he was halfway through, and whispered "Now it's time to receive your lesson. Don't say I didn't warn you, Bonnie."

The sound of ripping paper was accompanied by a crushing, painful burning in my chest. I clutched at my side as I forced back a cry, doubling over, twisting on the floor while everything seemed to fade in and out slowly. After a few seconds the pain began to flow out of me, and I turned my hazy vision to see Walther holding a ripped page out of the book, its blood seal intact.

"This is you." said the man mockingly, "Do you see how easy it is for me to erase everything you are, just like you tried to do with me? Doesn't feel nice, right Bonnie?" I remained quiet while I waited for him to rip apart the page along with my existence, but after a short silence Walther simply folded the piece of paper and put it in his pocket. "From now on you'll be my golden warranty." Looking at the rest of my friends, he yelled out with pride "If any of you try to grab this book from me, I'll simply reach into my right pocket and erase your friend! So, don't ever break the rules again! Agreed?!"

A hateful, scared silence was our answer. Seemingly satisfied, our killer nodded in approval before wiping some blood off his face with his purple shirt's sleeve. "Wonderful!" he exclaimed with a joyful smile. "Great to see we all agree on something."

"Walther, help me." That was Marionette's voice. The puppet groaned as he pulled himself on two feet in the back of the office, his only arm resting on a nearby table. "I… I can't walk." he muttered in shame, before eyeing me with pure hate. "That stupid brat crushed my chest."

The killer nodded casually as he picked up a large shard of glass from the floor. "That's okay." said the man happily, walking up to the slender figure. "I know how to fix that."

"Thank you." The puppet seemed to be genuinely grateful while Walther stopped right in front of him. "Still… they're gonna scrap me when they see me like this."

"Don't worry about that." answered the killer in the same joyful tone, "In fact, don't worry about anything." A look of confusion appeared in Marionette's hollow eyes, but this soon turned into bewilderment when the man drove the piece of glass into his chest and ripped it open. Even from where I was laying, I was able to make out the weak glow of his broken blood seal.

"W-why…" Marionette stared at the tall man with sadness in his eyes as he slowly slid down against the wall. "I… helped you. I d-did everything you wanted, e-everything you asked f-for…"

Raising his shoulders, Walther showed off his characteristic grin. "Yes, you did. Thanks by the way. Unfortunately, since everyone knows that now, you're not so useful anymore."

"Use… useful?" groaned the puppet, a hint of anger in his weak voice. "T-that's all I was to y-you? Useful? I t-thought we were… f-friends."

"Don't be so sad!" replied the killer cheerily, throwing away the piece of glass. "I heard the Shadows were dying for some company. You have a couple of new friends waiting for you!"

Marionette only stared up at the smiling man's tall form, an incredulous look in his eyes. Then, the puppet fell on his side as he lost all control over his body, and after a few seconds the last bit of white light disappeared from his eyes, leaving behind two empty holes in a mask.

The killer turned around to look at all of us once more as if nothing had happened. He then stared down at his book and opened it, before saying with faked sadness "Unfortunately, as we know, not everyone here can keep playing." Walther scanned through the pages and grabbed three of them in one hand. Looking at the Toys, he whispered "I'm sorry guys. Your game ends here."

"DON'T!" I screamed in panic as I tried desperately to do something, anything, to stop him. But I could only look helplessly from my paralyzed body as the killer ripped the three pages from the rest, held the book under his arm, and broke them in two.

The Toys cried in agony as they clutched their plastic chests. Junior and Mini fell flat on the floor like dead weight, a few feet away from TB, the glow in their eyes fading in and out as they twisted in pain. Then, they went completely still.

All five of us looked at our counterparts with pain and horror, but none of us could move one inch. Walther simply walked past the three small, colorful bodies and us, back to the opening to the party room corridor. "Catch you later guys!" he called out friendly, waving at us as he stepped into the darkness. "I'll see you all in the new location." The killer's footsteps slowly faded away, blending with the rain, until they disappeared entirely. A minute later a door opened in the distance, and we could finally move.

Sarah and Ferny rushed to the unmoving Junior and Mini, their expressions were filled with angst and pain whilst I dragged myself to my counterpart.

"C'mon, please…" Fer shook the small bear's shoulders desperately, ignoring his empty blue eyes. "Wake up! Move! Please Junior, p-please, do something…" His shaking gradually died down, and he lowered his head in defeat.

Sarah wasn't doing much better. Her counterpart was sprawled on the floor, her eyes devoid of that human glow they all had. "Move, you l-little bozo." she cried softly as she nudged her side with her tattered wrist, "Mini… j-just move, please!" But the little girl she played with was no more.

I braced myself for the worst as I approached my counterpart, but then he let out a weak groan as his green eyes rolled to see me in pain. "Mr. B-Brandon?"

"I'm… I'm here little me." I whispered as I came by his side, "It's okay, I'm here." He was still on his back, not taking his eyes off me. When I looked back at the three broken pages, I saw that one of them wasn't completely split down the middle: there was still a tiny bridge of paper connecting the two halves.

"It h-hurts…" TB cried softly, "It hurts a l-lot… I d-didn't think it would h-hurt so much."

"I'm sorry." was all I could whisper, "I'm s-so sorry. I wish I could do something."

"Don't go…" begged my counterpart, "P-please, don't go. Stay here."

"I would never leave."

"Thank… you." TB stayed silent for a moment, then asked "If I'm a human, after I d-die, will I get t-to see the outside w-world?"

Leaning my hand on the floor, I managed to kneel up next to him. "Yes." I lied, "Yes, you will. You will s-see all the mountains and oceans and f-forests you always dreamed about."

"That's… g-great." His voice was becoming lower, but he still managed to smile. "Even so, I will m-miss you… so much." With slow, tired movements, he opened his chest and pulled out his rose in his trembling hand. "Take this… Mr. Brandon. I s-still want you to have it." Sobbing softly, I took the plastic flower from him. "It's y-yours, it always was."

Why did you give me that, TB? You knew as well as me that I didn't deserve it in the slightest. Even after finding out about my lies, even after I failed to protect you, you gave it to me. You trusted me to keep it safe. But you never cared about any of that, did you? Why the hell were you so good to me?

…

"Keep it s-safe." he pleaded.

Sighing, I placed his flower inside of my hollow body. "I will."

He smiled, knowing that I meant it. Then, with what little strength he had, he slowly lifted his arms to me, and I realized that he wanted one last hug.

I wrapped my arm around his smaller frame and pulled him close to me with all my force, feeling how he embraced me weakly with all he had. We remained there for around a minute, myself crying more than him, feeling like I was about to lose another family member. Then, he whispered softly: "It d-doesn't hurt… so m-much now. Thank you… Mr. Brandon. Thank y-you for being… my friend."

His arms slid off my back until they were hanging limply by his sides, and I felt how his head lolled sideways. "TB, little m-me…" I whimpered, "P-please, not yet, n-not yet…" I shook my head, letting the body fall back against my hand. The warm light that used to shine so bright in his eyes had disappeared, leaving behind nothing but colored plastic.

He was gone.

I remained on my knees after putting down the light-blue animatronic, weeping, ignoring everyone and everything else as I listened to the sound of crying angels in the thunderstorm above us.

The rest of the night and the following morning are nothing more than blurs. Fritz must've approached the office at some point, since I remember someone screaming and cursing that there had been a break-in. I don't think anyone moved or even made a sound. Everyone was grieving what we lost on that rainy night: the Toys were erased along with the last hope we had on ever freeing ourselves from this curse.

I remember that the morning arrived almost immediately, but in the moment it probably felt like an eternity. The same crew that took away Mangle and Balloons came for us, along with Erik, Dave and Fritz. I think the manager blamed the supposed break-in on Fritz; later I would learn that he fired him right there and then.

They took the Toys first, disconnecting their batteries as if it would make a difference. Then, they grabbed Sarah, followed by Ferny and Jack. My brother was next, and just like everyone before him he didn't bother to resist; he was a completely different person than the energized fighter I knew.

The hands that grabbed me were rough and gloved. Once more, they opened my back panel to disconnect my battery, and of course I didn't even think about fighting. What was left to fight for? This questioned echoed through my mind while they shut me down, sending me once more into a dreamless sleep. I didn't care if I'd ever wake up. After all, what was left to fight for?

A lot of time would pass, but eventually we found someone who would answer that question.

Too much to give up.

End of Tape 2