Thank you for the follows, faves, and reviews. I like what a few of you thought along the lines of the animatronics and their connection to Jade. And I personally enjoyed the possibility of Jade have a small army of animatronics for those who make her mad. Is it a hint on things to come? Who knows? Read and find out.
I don't remember what year the bite that happened before the first game took place happened, so I'm saying it happened in 1987. If it's wrong, I apologize.
Disclaimer: I own an original animatronic we'll see in this chapter, but that's it. All other characters, animatronics, places, and whatever else, outside of a couple of OC's we see throughout this fic, are not mine.
Jade POV
"Dad? What are you doing here?" I ask, glaring at my father.
"I was watching you all night. I've been watching over you here since your first night." My dad says, staying where he is.
"What did you mean, I'm not at risk with the animatronics?" I ask, staring at him, trying to wrap my head around him being here.
"I have a story to tell you." My dad says, not answering my question. "But first, you need to know. You aren't our eldest child. You're the middle child." He admits, sounding sorrowful.
"What?" I ask, stunned by the words.
"You have an older brother. To explain it, I have to tell you a story." Dad says, not meeting my eyes.
-Flashback/Story-
No POV
In the early eighties, Michael and Genevieve West had their first child, a healthy baby boy, just after they graduated college. At four years old, the little boy named Jackson was an energetic young boy with a passion for animals. For his fifth birthday, his parents through him a small party at a newly opened pizza parlor nearby with five animatronic animals to entertain the children and their parents.
Arriving early to set up, the West family unpacks the boxes from the car to get the decorations set up as young Jackson wanders the building, showing in interest in the Pirate Cove area. Though not finished, the manager assured the West parents that it was safe for Jackson to enter, since his older cousin and his girlfriend were going with the young boy to wander around.
As Jackson talked to the two pirate animatronics, a male fox with an eyepatch and a female with what looks like a barmaid's outfit, Logan West and his girlfriend Sasha snuck away to make out in the pirate ship prop, using it's 'Closed For Maintenance' sign as an assurance that no one would bother them.
As the two teens made out in the ball pit of the pirate ship, Jackson failed to realize something off with the female fox, her jaw twitching and body jerking, as he was too busy laughing with the male fox. When he finally decided to play with the female, her joints locked up and she fell forward, the failsafe to make sure her jaws close and her arms and legs to move to catch herself failing. As she falls, her mouth wide open, Jackson turns the corner, only for the female fox to land on him, her jaw snapping shut as they land.
With a yell at the female fox falling on him, Logan and Sasha make their way out, thinking he's just being an annoying kid. They, however, are proven horribly wrong at the sight before them.
On his back, with a large mechanical fox on top of him, lies Jackson West. Because of how the female fox fell, her jaws were just above young Jackson's head. When they snapped shut upon impact, they created what the news has taken to calling 'The Bite of '87', taking a chunk of the young boys skull and frontal lobe with the bite.
Screaming, the two teens alert the others, who quickly run in to see what happened. Most notably were the parents, Michael and Genevieve, who freaked out instantly at the sight. Michael froze, his eyes wide and mouth agape. Where-as Genevieve collapsed, a silent scream on her lips as she breaks down, crying over her baby boy.
When it was released that the animatronic malfunctioned, the West family quickly went to legal action against the pizza place for allowing a five year old to enter a place where there was a malfunctioning animatronic. Like-wise, the two teens got chewed out for not watching him. When it was discovered that not only did they go to make out, they also snuck weed and a flask full of whiskey with them, their parents sent them away, too engulfed in their pain from losing a young, innocent member of the family because the ones asked to watch him wanted to get high, drunk, and get laid.
After the accident, the pizza place shut down. It was believed the owner moved out of California, leaving the animatronics and sets in a storage locker to be picked up at a future time. When that never happened, the chain was bought by a new company, wanting to bring it back after fixing the animatronics and start a family food chain to rival 'Chuck E. Cheese'.
With the details of the lawsuit locked away, those involved tried to put it in the past, with Michael and Genevieve having the hardest time. Almost ten years after their first child was hospitalized and sent to a special hospital to keep him alive the best they could, the West's had their second child, a daughter they named Jadelyn Augusta West. Not wanted to dwell on their pain, they hid away all signs of their firstborn. Pictures of him, alone and with family members, were locked away in Michael West's safe deposit box. Other members of the family were asked to do the same, those old enough to remember where asked to keep Jackson a secret from Jadelyn, for fear of how she might react upon learning she not only has a brother, but what happened to him.
-Flashback/Story End-
Jade POV
"I wanted to tell you when I first heard about this place reopening, in the same building as before no less, but I was too ashamed to." Dad says, looking down.
"What?" I ask, too stunned.
Before either of us can say anything else, the doors behind me open, the girl from before running out, her body covered in blood and cuts. "I'm going to get you, you bitch." The girls says, holding her left shoulder as heavy bloodflow seeps out.
"I highly recommend you get to the hospital, young lady." My dad tells her, something in his voice unnerving me. "Since something more than twenty years ago, for reasons I do not understand, the animatronics have taken to keeping the members of my family safe. If you try anything against my daughter, I assure you, you will not live to tell the tale." He tells her as I see Foxy, Chica, Bonnie, and Freddie come up behind her. Behind them, I see the gold Freddy standing in the doorway, as still as a statue.
"What the fuck are you talking about, old man?" The girl says, stumbling towards me. "She had my boyfriend and brother killed. I'll kill her." She says, using her free hand to pull a kitchen knife out of her boot.
Before she can lift it up enough, Foxy runs up to her and snaps his mouth down over her right shoulder, yanking her back. As she screams in pain and terror, Chica walks up and bites her neck, cutting off her screaming.
Standing still, eyes locked on to the scene before me, I watch as she's dragged back into the building, unable to make a sound.
"I never understood why, but since the incident, I've always seen regret in their eyes." My father says from behind me.
"What ever happened to the one that attacked Jackson?" I ask after a few minutes of silence, the animatronics long behind the curtain to Pirate Cove.
"She was taken apart. No one knows what happened to the pieces that made her up. It's rumored that they're used as spare parts in the others, but no one knows for sure." My dad says, sounding close to me.
"How do you know that they're protecting us?" I ask, not knowing what else to ask.
"Because shortly after the bite, we came back to demand the owner cover the hospital bills, since it was his fault it happened." My dad says, now beside me. "When the owner denied us, we got upset and demanded he take the blame at least for his mistake, but he again denied us. This time, he tried to slap your mother to shut her up. When he did, the chicken one ran into him, knocking him down. We didn't think anything of it, thinking it was just acting up like the last one, but any time any of us stopped over before they shut it down, one or two of them always seemed to be there, watching us like a guard dog watches it's family." Dad says, his hand on my shoulder. "You should go inside and pretend like nothing happened. If the authorities ask you if you saw anything tonight, tell them you fell asleep because it was a boring shift. Rely on those acting skills of yours." He says, walking away.
"I already called the cops. Or, I had Tori tell her dad, a detective with the L.A.P.D. anyway." I say, not knowing why I felt the need to say that.
"When he gets here, tell him it was a false alarm. You thought you saw someone breaking in, but it was just an animatronic or something bumping into the door." My dad says, heading to his car.
A few minutes later, he's gone and I'm back in the office, watching the doors and Pear Pad constantly, glad the Pear Pad was charging while I was trying to escape. After a short moment of waiting after arriving back in the office, I get a call. Looking at the number, I see it's Tori's dad's. "Hey, Mr. Vega." I say, seeing Foxy at the door beside me.
"Jade, why did Tori wake me up, freaking out about something?" The detective says, sounding barely awake.
"Sorry, Detective Vega. I fell asleep and woke up when one of the animatronics wandered into the office." I say, hoping he doesn't detect the lie. "I freaked out and ran, and called Tori while I was trying to hide, thinking they were trying to attack me."
"Jade, what's wrong? You sound distracted, and you never call me 'Detective Vega'. It's either 'Mr. Vega' or 'Spanish Bacon', which you are to never tell anyone about, by the way." He tells me, concern in his voice.
"Nothing. Still trying to calm down." I lie, avoiding Foxy's gaze. "What took Tori so long to wake you up, anyway?" I ask, changing the subject.
"It took a while to get her to calm down enough to tell me what was going on without thinking she was speaking a mix of Spanglish and some language no one knows." He says with a sigh. "Are you sure there's nothing to worry about? I'll be there as soon as I can if you need me to?" He asks, his concern strong.
"I'm sure. See you in an hour or so when my shift ends." I say, fighting the urge to close the doors as Foxy continues to stare at me from the hallway.
"Okay. I'll tell Tori to calm down, but expect a call from her after I hang up." He says with a tired chuckle. "See ya." He says, hanging up when I say it back.
"Just how smart are those things?" I mumble to myself as I watch Bonnie and Freddy through the cameras dragging two trash bags out from Pirate's Cove.
From beside me, Foxy watches me and Chica watches from the other door, both acting like bodyguards or something. "Oh, I think I'm going crazy." I say with a sigh, everything I learned tonight coming in strong and giving me a migraine.
Hope this chapter was good. As an explanation for why the animatronics are keeping Jade safe, I see it as them having a soul of sorts, not being just animatronic, and regret what one of their own did to the West family, so they keep them safe when the can. As for Golden Freddy, I'm taking a page out of Invader Johnny's story, hope that's okay, by having him be a friendly one. I'll explain it all a bit more in the final chapter, which I'll aim to have out Thursday.
Sorry if some of this doesn't make sense. I watch 'The Big Bang Theory' a lot nowadays, and I'm starting to think about sci-fi, which is where I got the idea for the animatronics not being just machines or whatever.
See you all next time. Thank you for reading, and please review.
Blessed Be.