happy new year

here's hoping that 2017 doesn't end up being a fuckin hell hole

ShoutOuts: antoniodjones123 (thANK U)

Chapter 35

Zoe walked into the pizzeria a few days later, feeling satisfied. She'd gotten a short break from the pizzeria, and she was ready to get back to being a security guard.

But there was one thing she needed to do before she could get back to her job.

She looked around the dining room. Scott and Vincent were both helping Mari and BB organize the prizes in the Prize Corner. Foxy, Bonnie, and Teddy were sitting on a table and talking, which blocked Vincent and Scott's view to the hall. The rest of the animatronics were milling about, talking and getting ready for the work day. Unless Vincent suddenly decided that he had to visit his room, there was no way he'd know that Zoe was in there.

She made her way towards the hall, greeting some of the animatronics as she passed. She walked down the corridor, glancing back to make sure no one was following. She quickly reached the door to Vincent's room and was about to open the door when she heard voices from the far end of the hall. She startled and ducked into Party Room 3. The voices continued their conversation, unalarmed. So whoever they were hadn't seen her. Good.

She peeked out of the party room and looked down the hall at the security office. Two people clad in yellow were sitting on the desk, both facing the far wall and talking. She immediately recognized them as Chica and Goldie. Why were they talking back here?

"They're actually starting to open up to me," Goldie was saying. "Either they're beginning to trust me, or they're just helping me regain my memories out of pity. Whatever the reason, I'm not complaining."

Zoe furrowed her eyebrows. Memories? What memories? And who was he talking about?

Before she could dwell too much on this, Chica interrupted her thoughts. "Knowing them, it's probably pity. I don't know if they trust anyone. Even me."

Zoe got the feeling she wasn't supposed to be hearing this. She tiptoed out of the party room and quietly pushed the door to Vincent's room open. She wouldn't bother trying to figure out what they were talking about right now. Focus on one thing at a time.

Once she was in the room, she thought back to what Fritz had told her about the voices he heard when he was in here. He said they were coming from under the dresser, in the closet, and from the nightstand. Since the dresser was closest, she decided to start there. She crouched down and looked under it. There were pieces of scrap metal and dirty clothes scattered across the carpet, just like he had described. She also found it suspicious that there was metal in his room, but she was here for the voices, not for the metal.

"Hello?" she whisper-called. "Is anyone in here?" She paused, waiting for a response. When no one replied, she tried again. "Hello? Are you in here?"

Zoe waited a few seconds and was about to give up when she heard a giggle from the closet. "There's someone in the room," a feminine voice sang. Something else chuckled from under the dresser, and the drawer of the nightstand scooted open.

Zoe stood up. She was scared, but she couldn't leave now. If she could see what these were, then she and Fritz would be one step closer to finding out what Vincent was up to.

The nightstand drawer stopped, and something poked out of the opening. Zoe took a step towards it, and something suddenly pulled itself over the edge and tumbled out. She cautiously walked over to it. It was thrashing about on the floor, tangled in a towel, and she couldn't see it very well through the mess of fabric. She hesitantly reached out. It jerked violently and she withdrew her hand. Then she quickly grabbed the towel and ripped it away.

The thing that fell out of the drawer was not one thing, but four small things. They were peach-coloured humanoid figures. Their heads and feet might have once been white, but were now a dusty grey. Each one was wearing a ripped up grey tutu. One of them pushed itself to its feet and looked up at Zoe. Its yellow eyes whirred as it focused on her.

The closet doors slowly scraped open. Two more things waddled out. They were also peach-coloured and humanoid as well, but these were bigger and resembled babies. Both of them were caked in dust and the metal on them was dotted with holes, but their eyes were bright blue and undamaged. "Hello out there~" one sang in the same feminine voice as before.

Something else giggled from under the dresser. Zoe whirled around to see a small blue bunny animatronic crawling across the floor towards her. It reminded her of the original Toy Bonnie animatronic, but this one was torn up and damaged beyond repair.

Zoe stumbled backwards and tripped over a pile of clothes. Her ankle twisted in the same place it had broken once when she was twelve and left it permanently damaged. She tried to get up, but her foot throbbed with pain, and she fell back down. She was filled with fear as the little animatronics advanced on her. Here she was again, alone and afraid, unable to get away. She couldn't help but think back to that day when she was twelve. She was in the same situation now as she was back then, but this time, she might actually die. She tried to move, to crawl away, to do something, but fear overtook her and froze her in place. She was helpless.

"Hey."

Zoe was snapped out of her frozen state and looked up. Vincent was standing in the doorway, his left sleeve soaked with blood. He was glaring, but not at her.

"Get back to your places, shitheads," he ordered the animatronics. "Don't make me ask twice."

The babies and the bunny giggled, but didn't move. One of the ballerinas shot across the floor and lunged at him, but he swiftly scooped it up and tossed it into the nightstand drawer. The rest of them glanced at each other and scuttled back into their respective places.

Vincent sighed. "I wish they'd listen to me better. Anyway," he turned to Zoe, "could you get out please?"

Zoe blinked. "You're- you're not mad?"

He shrugged as he walked over to the sink next to the closet. "Nah. Just a bit annoyed that you came in here without my permission." Then he raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "But I'm guessing you're not the only one who's come in here without asking."

Zoe sighed. "You know?"

"Of course I do," he said, rinsing the blood off his arm. "Those little fuckers tell me everything." He pointed to the closet, where the two baby animatronics had hidden.

She grabbed the edge of the dresser and pulled herself up so she was standing on her good foot. "But why would they tell you stuff? No offense, but they don't seem to like you very much."

He snorted. "And the feeling is mutual. But it's not me they're talking to. It's-" He hesitated. "Someone else."

Zoe raised an eyebrow. He said they told him everything, but then he said they weren't talking to him. That made no sense. Unless-

"Do you have multiple personalities?"

Vincent shook his head as he wrapped bandgaes around his injured arm. "No. Not exactly. Good guess though."

"Why do you even have those things in here anyway?" she asked. She wobbled on her one foot and grabbed the dresser again for support.

"I'm trying to fix them. An old friend of mine fucked them up really badly, and I've been trying for a long time to make them normal again. That's what all the metal is for," he said, gesturing to the floor. "Why are you asking so many questions?"

"Why are you answering them?" she fired back.

He shrugged. "Touche, Nova. But I can't answer all of them."

"Why not?"

"Like that one, for example." He pinned the bandages in place and rolled his bloody sleeve back down. "Look, I would love to tell both you and Fritz what's going on, but they won't let me."

"Who's they?"

He sighed. "Like I said, I can't tell you. Sorry."

Zoe was getting frustrated. Everything he said just raised more and more questions. She wasn't getting anywhere with this. "But- but isn't there anything you can tell me?"

He shook his head as he walked towards the door. "As far as I know, no."

She hopped along the dresser, following him. "What about where you got those scars?"

He winced. "Even I don't want to talk about that."

She got to the edge of the dresser and let go, trying not to fall over as she bounced along behind him. "What if I guess? Can I do that?"

Vincent snorted. "You can try." He walked out of the room, Zoe following. She waited and leaned against the wall as he closed the door.

She thought while they made their way down the hall to the dining room. "Car accident?"

"Nope."

"A bunch of feral cats attacked you in an alleyway?"

"Definitely not."

"Hmmm..." She thought back to the conversation they had when she first started working there. "You said it was from an accident, but you also said that Scott saved your life. So maybe... Attempted murder?" he said nothing, and her spirits lifted. "Is that it? Did I get it? Someone tried to kill you?"

He sighed. "I actually can't say for sure. I only remember pieces of what happened. But there is something I can tell you."

"What is it?" she asked eagerly.

"You need to stay away from Scott and me." Vincent turned back to look at her. "You and Fritz are asking too many questions, and they'll see that as a threat. You're also adults, which makes it worse." He shrugged. "Sorry, Nova. But as annoying as you and Fritz are, I'd rather not see either of you dead." He turned again and walked into the dining room.

Zoe's hope deflated. If they couldn't get information from Scott or Vincent, who would they get it from? And how?

sry fr the shitty chpter i had to go to school today and im tiRED as FUCK