"You're a naughty Night-Guard. Naughty, naughty, naughty…not even wearing your uniform!"
Jack stumbled back a bit, barely managing to keep his footing as he nearly tripped on a pile of wires. He didn't dare take his eyes off of the shadowy creature as it grinned tauntingly at him, though he did allow his pupils to flicker to the side as he heard the whirr of the camera, indicating that the Puppet was watching him.
Damn it, Puppet, he thought. I know you're concerned, but don't watch me, keep your eyes on Springtrap!
He focused on the smiling Shadow-Freddy. Shadow-Bonnie had warned him that this particular spirit was a friend of the Purple Man, so his biggest priority was to distract the Shadow so that it wouldn't alert Springtrap to his presence…and get him away from the exit so that when he did inevitably call to Springtrap, the Night-Guard wouldn't be cornered.
"Shadow-Bonnie told me about you," he said, and Shadow-Freddy giggled.
"Did he now, did he? Spreading rumors as always, that no-good James! He always used to just go outside and bad mouth me and Mike…bad, bad, bad, always bad, always at fault, though maybe not as much as them…"
He nodded towards where Bonnie had been standing previously.
"'Them'?" repeated Jack. "You mean the phantoms? The kids?"
Shadow-Freddy cackled and nodded energetically. Jack began to step to the side, trying to bait the phantom into beginning to circle him so that he could have access to the exit. Shadow-Freddy refused to move, however, and continued to block the only escape.
"The kids, the kids, they're always just called the kids. Like they were just sweet little angels…hahahaha! Well, I know better, I know because I saw and because I didn't do!"
"You're out of your mind," snapped Jack, cringing as he could swear that he heard a metallic footstep somewhere a bit too close for comfort.
"Well, I technically don't have a mind. No body, no mind, not like Mike, but he was always the smart one. Yes, yes, yes! Smart, but always under-appreciated, poor Mike, not appreciated by anyone but me!"
"So you know the Purple Man, Michael Schmidt," said Jack. "How?"
"Ooooh, how coy!" chirped the ebony phantom. "You're trying to interrogate me like you did the others. Naughty, naughty! How sneaky! Maybe you deserve to be punished like the rest of us…"
"'Deserve'? 'The rest of us'?"
"Oh, yes, yes, yesyesyesyesyes! All out fault, all our fault. My fault, their fault, all of us are sinners and so here we are, in Hell where we belong! You don't have any right to take us out, Night-Guard, no right at all! What Mike says goes, so let's see what he wants to do with you!"
"Wait, d-!"
"MIKE! MIKE! HERE HE IS, HERE HE IS, FOLLOW MY VOICE AND COME GET HIM!"
Jack swore viciously and tried to run for the exit as he heard the unmistakable sound of Springtrap's heavy steps beginning to trod towards him. The Puppet desperately tried to lure him away, but no matter how many times it played the various Balloon-Boy sound effects the animatronic bunny ignored it in favor of following Shadow-Freddy's bellowing.
Shadow-Freddy was apparently much more solid than he appeared. Try as Jack did to open the 'Exit' door and escape, the phantom kept pushing him back, cackling all the way.
Jack felt his heart beating so hard that he almost keeled over right then. He looked behind him and saw a bunny-eared shadow. Shadow-Freddy giggled.
"I'll leave you two to it!" he chirped, vanishing just as Springtrap entered the room. Jack lunged for the now-unguarded door and tried to open it, but it was locked and he didn't have time to dig the key out of his pocket.
He leapt behind a pile of crates, sweating so profusely that he almost left a trail in his wake. He curled up into a little ball and held his breath, nearly fainting as he heard metallic footsteps draw closer.
Clomp!
Closer…
Clomp!
He heard the camera whirr. The Puppet was watching, likely in dismay.
Clomp. He was so close. Jack could practically smell the rotting flesh inside of his metallic shell. He bit his bottom lip so hard that he almost pierced his own flesh. He wished he had called his brother one last time, really told him how much he loved him. He wished he had visited his dad once more and thanked him for raising him right.
And almost the second he began to think of his own father, the second Springtrap's glowing eyes began to shift downwards, a sound was heard, a familiar voice that did not belong to the recording.
"Daddy!"
Springtrap froze. Jack looked towards the voice and managed to just barely catch a glimpse of Balloon Boy before the phantom fled.
Springtrap followed Balloon Boy with utmost eagerness, his heavy steps surprisingly swift given how slow he was on normal occasions.
As Springtrap's steps faded, Jack yanked his key out of his pocket and unlocked the door. He rushed outside, slamming the door behind him and sitting on the rusted metal stairs. His heart was still hammering, and he inhaled as much of the cool night air as his lungs could contain. It helped alleviate the terror. The cold air nipping at his nose and filling his functioning lungs…it was a reassurance that he was alive.
He sat out there for maybe five minutes before he felt his phone vibrate. He looked at the caller ID.
Fazbear's Fright-The Horror Attraction
He put it on speaker.
"Yo," he sighed, and he wasn't in the least bit surprised when the Puppet's voice came through the other end.
"I have him stuck in a vent," it said. "You can come in…if you want…but if you don't, that's…fine…"
"I'm coming back in, just gimme a sec…I'm a bit winded…"
"Of course…"
"You okay in there?"
"Yes…Night-Guard Jack…really, if you don't want to…"
"I'm literally coming back in right now," said Jack with determination, standing up, stealing one last glance at the starry sky, and entering Fazbear's Fright (the Horror Attraction) once more.
"You are a strange man, Jack," said the Puppet gently. "Very strange and very brave. I wish…"
Its voice trailed off and before Jack could ask what it wished, it hung up.
"Typical," he huffed, creeping back towards the office. Having Springtrap so close, close enough that he had been able feel his ragged breath and smell his rancid stench, had been quite the experience. He would never take the simple act of living for granted again.
And because of that, he would do his best to make sure that the kids who lacked life, who didn't have what he did, would suffer no more. Even if he had to risk his precious existence, he was gonna see this through no matter how much Shadow-Freddy decided to interfere.
"Hell," sighed the Night-Guard, glancing about the decrepit establishment that Shadow-Freddy had defined as a realm for suffering sinners. "Screw that. Never did believe in Hell anyway, not for kids…not for anyone."
He looked over at the wall, which had been residence to Springtrap's shadow mere minutes ago, pursed his lips, and scurried away.
Hey guys! Sorry for the slightly late chapter! We're all snowed in up here, so I got a chance to polish it off. I've actually been late because I just added a new story to my list, one on Undertale. If you're an Undertale fan, please go and check it out! It's called "The Machine".
As always, a special thanks to those who reviewed, including…
ChuckNorris'ssister: Thanks for the three reviews! You get THREE Internet hugs (*hugs thrice*)
CT(Guest): You made my stomach sink briefly :)
Peace: No problem! Thanks! Also, excellent Frisk face…Undertale reference FTW -_-
Guest
Xafai: I'm so happy you love this story! Thanks so much for the long review!
Shippings
Guest #2: The bullies are indeed the missing kids : ) Lucas and his friends.
RuetheFox: You are correct on the song guess!
Speaking of which, guys, I'm curious as to what your favorite FNAF songs are! For me, I can't choose just one because I love them for different reasons, but in terms of the ones I adore most and listen to most, in no particular order, these are my favorites:
Five Nights at Freddy's (The Living Tombstone-I especially enjoy DarknessMare's younger version!)
It's Been So Long (breaks my heart every time)
Break My Mind (breaks my mind every time…with how awesome it is!)
March Onward To Your Nightmare (criminally underrated)
It's Time to Die (IN FIIIIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S THREE!)
I'm the Purple Guy (You'll notice there are a lot of DAGAMES songs here)
Dream Your Dream (so sad…)
Painted Face (the song that inspired this fic's title!)
Survive the Night
Die in a Fire
Just Gold
Five Long Nights
Noticed
Nightmare (so sad…)
Balloons (WAAAAH!)
And last but certainly not least, all of the FNAF Musicals (I loved the ones with Markiplier, he's such a good singer, but of the three I think my favorite is NateWantsto Battle's song during Night 3…so great! Go check it out if you haven't!)
Those are just my absolute favorites! What are yours? Comment below, let me know! (Channeling Jeremy Jahns).
Thanks again for reading!