Mable: Here we are with the next chapter! I hope everyone enjoys!
Can't Go Home Again
Chapter Eight
There was no greater relief than waking from a nightmare, knowing that it wasn't real and that all was safe. Unless you were Mike, who awoke more shaken than even and with a slight hangover nagging at his head. He laid there panting and sweating as he stared in the direction of the window. Sunlight was pouring in and signaled a normal day commencing outside. He wasn't trapped in a dark Pizzeria, Foxy was gone, and he was in total control of his body. He rubbed his face tiredly and tried to ignore how dried out his throat felt.
Something was pressed against the center of his back. It felt like it was some sort of fabric and he slowly looked back only to see the blanket folded awkwardly and a lump underneath it. He took the blanket and start to drag it back, stopping when it revealed a patch of black fabric. Clearly it was the Puppet, who for whatever reason was completely wrapped in the blanket, pressed into his back. Mike let the blanket drop into place again and rubbed his face tiredly, exhaling in relief. Everything was alright and everything was safe; the nightmare was over.
Mike started to climb out of bed, trying not to jostle the figure beside him, but then stumbled back a little. His body was weakened and weary, as though the sleep hadn't rested him at all. Though he supposed that it was probably from the hangover. He didn't think he had gotten that drunk, yet here he was, and he could only be grateful that it wasn't that bad. He got to his feet and crossed over to the dresser where he had some of his clothes lying out. He needed a shower before he did anything else and he was still wearing the clothes he went out in.
There was a shuffling on the bed and he looked back to see Marionette now looking out at him. It made no attempt to get out of the bed though, but stared at him with a wide smile. "What are you so happy about?" Mike hadn't meant for that to come out sounding so grumpy. Nor did he intend or expect his voice to come out so hoarse, but not once did he remember screaming inside or outside of the dream. Even short cries shouldn't have caused this; he finally decided that it had to be a side effect of the alcohol as well.
Marionette did seem to be particularly happy beyond the normal smile. He clutched the blanket closer to him and spoke, "Last night was the first night I slept without the music box." His voice chirped with delight as Mike furrowed his brow, "Without the-… Oh." He clasped a hand over his face in frustration, "It's one thing I need to remember to do and I can't. I'm shocked you haven't 'fired' me yet." He didn't even know what he meant by that, but the puppet didn't seem bothered. "I slept just fine without it, so don't worry."
He disappeared under the blankets and Mike finished grabbing his things. "Just don't get too attached. If you think I'm giving up the bed to go sleep on the couch, you've got another thing coming," he was mostly teasing, but there was a shred of truth in it. The Puppet merely chuckled at the comment and curled in a lump under the comforter. Mike continued out and to the shower. He felt a little better during the shower though not as much so once the shower was finished. Either way, he was clean and dressed in something new, then started his day.
There was a missed call on his cell phone that he noticed right away. It was Sam, as expected, and Mike got himself a drink of some strong coffee before he made an attempt to call back. After a few rings Sam answered, "Hello?" He sounded surprisingly rough and half awake. "Hey Sam, it's me. I saw your missed call so I was just checking in." Sam's voice was surprisingly meek over the phone, "Yeah, I was just… Calling to say that I got back last night… It was a late night." Mike's confusion turned to suspicion, then to concern. "You don't sound right. Is everything okay?"
"…No, Mike, it isn't." Mike went alert at Sam's sudden drop from the false normal. He looked to the hall, "Was it the Puppet? Look, I was out all night, so if he did something- Did he do something?" To Mike's surprise and relief Sam shot the theory down. "Nothing to do with the Puppet, it… Last night I headed over to Freddy's to move out the last of the animatronics. There's not a date on the destruction or anything, or what they're going to do, but I had to move them into the warehouse. When I got over there though… They were strange. They weren't, you know, on."
"I thought they didn't turn off," Mike pointed out. "They don't. Or they're not really supposed to. They weren't moving and I couldn't manually get them on. I had to move them out on a trolley into the van and move only a few at a time. Three of them moved fine, but then… They weren't all off." The former security guard inwardly cringed, "Which one was it?" He knew something had happened, something awful, and he had a feeling he knew the answer. His mind briefly reflected back on the nightmare and he grew terrified that it meant something more than just his own internal fears. Then Sam revealed it fully.
"It was Foxy." Mike's heart dropped into his stomach. "I had already gotten Freddy and Chica into the warehouse, and then moved Bonnie into the van… But when I tried to move Foxy he woke and lashed out at me. He only got me by the shirt, but he chased me out of there. I was afraid he would follow me out so I turned on the headlights of the van to spook him. It worked and scared him back inside. I… I just locked everything and finished at the warehouse. I don't know what I'm going to do now. Foxy was violent, how am I supposed to tote him over to the warehouse?... Mike?... Are you there?"
By now Mike had stood and started to pace the floor. So the nightmare had meant something. He was chased by Foxy, the teenager had a Foxy mask, and now Foxy was awake at the Pizzeria. It all had to be connected. He didn't know if Sam would believe him, but before he could even explain something hit him even harder than the realization about Foxy. "Sam… I think the missing children were murdered by a security guard who was working the night shift." Sam sputtered on the line, "What?! Who told you that, the Puppet?!"
"No, it's a long story, but that's not all." Mike went through his dream further. "I… I think there was another storage room. I don't know what happened to it, but there was one there, and it might have evidence about what's going on…" He huffed and finally admitted, "I dreamt about Foxy. Maybe it sounds crazy, but I have no doubt that this is connected somehow. Look, just… I'm coming over to the warehouse. You don't have to go in with me, but I have to go into the Pizzeria and look for that spare room." He already knew something was looming behind him as he said this.
"…Okay, I'll meet you at the warehouse. I just have to call someone first," Sam finished and they ended the call. Mike waited patiently, staring forward into the living room, waiting for the other being in the room to say something. "Who told you about the room?" Marionette's voice was surprisingly flat and had just a tinge of aggression. He apparently didn't hear the entire conversation, but seemed like he was about ready to lose his temper. Mike decided that being blunt was the only outlet in this situation, "Dream people; it's a long story. I'm heading down to the Pizzeria."
"No, you're not," the Puppet firmly stated. "There's nothing down there. There's no room, there's no mystery, there's nothing worth looking for." Mike very eagerly called him out on the lie, "You just asked about 'the room', which means that there is a room." He looked back and, sure enough, the Marionette's face had changed to a look of frustration and… Panic? It was clearly there and this was why he probably kept the ongoing smile, because when he showed something he showed everything. There was definitely something being kept in that room.
"I won't be in there long. Look, you don't have to be involved-." Mike tried to convince the other, his tone dropping to a more reassuring one in an attempt to pacify. "I'm already involved!" Marionette spat back. The room filled with a few seconds of silence. "I'm asking you as a friend to not go down there," the animatronic finished in a much quieter tone, static playing with his voice. Mike didn't remember when they suddenly became friends, but it seemed like a good enough word to cover whatever it was that they were doing, especially now that he shared a bed with him.
Mike's response took longer just trying to ignore how wrong that thought sounded. He recovered well enough to counter, "I know… And this isn't about you or us. This is about me having to know what happened. This is about me knowing that for a moment I was a part of something bigger, something that nobody else was able to see, and not being able to go on without the answers." Mike's dramatic explanation was ended by Marionette's voice. "Then I have no choice…" For a second Mike had a slightly foreboding feeling, but it disappeared when the striped being moved in front of the door.
"I can't let you leave," the Marionette announced. He crossed his arms as though to mock Mike and stared him down, clearly trying to sound firm. "That's cute," Mike patronized with as little care as he could. He moved closer towards the door, the Puppet slid closer against the door. "Come on, move, you throwing a tantrum isn't going to stop me." He grabbed the doorknob, Marionette grabbed his wrist, and then suddenly there was a tug of war. The Puppet clung to his back and Mike tried to wrestle the arms wrapped around his body. "Get off of me!"
That was when the wires appeared. They were a sudden addition that Mike didn't notice until he tried prying the Puppet off with the back of the couch. Three in particular caught his attention; one around his midsection, one around his chest and right arm, and the third wrapping around his left arm. It wasn't enough to have him frightened, but it kept Marionette stuck to him. The radio noise grew louder as Marionette struggled to hold Mike back, as Mike was clearly wanting him off. "You clinging to me isn't going to change my mind! I'll tote you over there if I have to!"
The Puppet seemed to ignore the threat, but was then shoved down onto the couch. The wires tightened as Mike tried to slide out of them. Then the animatronic was back on his back, Mike lost his balance and crashed to the floor, the wires tightened, and Mike found him suddenly in a much worse situation. He felt the wire that was once around his arm slide firmly around his neck. Again he was getting choked and, even though this one didn't look as intentional, he found himself in a direr spot. He was too stubborn to give in and instead tried to actually strike the Puppet to get him off.
The animatronic knew what it was doing. As light as it was, it eagerly pinned him down, tightening its grip as the former security guard's efforts became more desperate. Then the panic suddenly set in. Mike hadn't been afraid, he hadn't worried about his life, but suddenly the adrenaline kicked in and his heart thumped in his ears. The urge to breathe past the choking wire grew more intense as his right hand stopped its attempt at the Puppet and went to his neck, clawing at the wire. He choked against the bind, trying to get in a gasp of air past the pressure.
Then there was a different gasp and suddenly the wires unraveled and seemingly vanished. Mike was released, catching himself to keep himself from falling forward, and the Puppet moved back, or fell back against the back of the couch. He was in shock and stared at the human to see if he was alright. He had truly meant to just suppress Mike, to stop him from going back to that place, and hadn't intended to hurt him. In fact, that was why he was so determined on holding him firm instead of doing anything more drastic. He couldn't feel the wires; he hadn't known that they had slipped so close…
Now Marionette was the one horrified at his own actions. Mike managed to get his heartrate down and get himself under control. Then he started to stand, saying nothing at all. "Wait, I didn't- I didn't mean to," Marionette insisted, raising himself as well. "Please don't go." He couldn't even look at the other, though it was mostly because he didn't want to increase the panic to something worse. Mike knew what this feeling was and tried to fight it back. "I'm sorry, I didn't know," Marionette insisted, his voice more somber. Mike started towards the front door.
"Please, Mike, please don't go. I would never hurt you. I… I made a mistake." He was starting to plead, "I was just so afraid that you were going back there…" Mike was acting strangely and he grasped his wrist to stop him. Mike glanced to him for only a second; this was the only time that the Puppet ever saw him look afraid. It was jarring enough that he released his arm and watched, unable to do anything, as Mike slipped out the door. Then Mike was out the door and hurrying to the car. He needed some distance, he had to get away for a second, and he tried to remedy himself by reminding that it wasn't his fault.
What was his fault was that he left his keys, which he realized the second he sat down in the car. He groaned and took a few minutes to cool down, fighting back his migraine and any panic still lingering. The last thing he wanted was to go back inside and fall into another attack, especially in front of the Puppet. He didn't want anyone to know that he still had them after Freddy's, even after all these years. The sensation started to pass after a couple of minutes and Mike pulled himself together enough to get out of the car, head back to the door, and step inside with as much confidence as he could muster.
Marionette was now sitting on the floor behind the couch, but rose quickly when he saw Mike enter. "You didn't leave?" "I left my keys," Mike flatly replied to show his continued frustration. He went into the dining room to grab them off the table and the Puppet followed him. "Are… Are you coming back?" There was fear in his voice. The same fear Marionette had the last time he thought that Mike was planning on leaving, the same amount of dread, and suddenly Mike calmed just a little. But he couldn't just let something like this go entirely.
He practically strangled him again; unintentional or not it was a serious manner. "I don't know. Maybe in a couple of days. I think we need time to cool down." If he thought this would sate Marionette, then he had another thing coming. Marionette started to become much more frantic, "Please, Mike, I'm sorry, I promise you that I won't ever touch you again, I promise, just don't- please- don't go. Don't leave me alone here." He was laying on the guilt heavily, but Mike couldn't tell if it was sincere or a sort of manipulation brought on simply by the threat of him leaving.
He made up his mind and headed back towards the door, determined to do this, while the Puppet came undone. Marionette knew he had to say something, that he only had one last chance before he was alone again, and he couldn't stand another day of that. It then clicked what he had to do. He didn't want to, but he did, and as Mike opened the door Marionette forced out the words that he didn't want to speak. "I'll tell you everything." They literally hurt to say, bitterly slipping out of him without any control. He under no circumstances wanted to bring these things up again, but he had to.
Mike stopped what he was doing, "…What?" The Puppet knew he sealed his own fate; Mike was interested, so there was no turning back. "I'll tell you about everything. That's more than you could ever find back there." He couldn't look as Mike slowly entered again, looking rather surprised as he shut the door back. "You're serious about this?" Mike asked and Marionette nodded silently. They then stood there for a few moments. It was Mike who initiated the conversation further.
"I'm not going to put you under a vice for answers over this. Maybe… We got carried away, and that's why some separation might be good. I'm not going to be gone forever." Like earlier, he was interrupted before he could say more, "I don't know that…" Marionette began to fidget and move around the room aimlessly. "Especially if you're so determined to go there. You don't know what it's like to know…" He had trouble getting started, like his body didn't want him to continue, but Marionette would continue if it meant Mike staying, even if it just stalled him.
"Where do I even start?" he chuckled dryly and clutched his head, tightening his grip on porcelain and fabric. "It's been so long; I don't even know where I'm supposed to start." He cut off, stopping himself before saying that he didn't think he could do it. "…Just start with you," Mike instructed, because at the moment this was the subject that he was focused on. He felt like he was using emotional blackmail, but was under the impression that there wasn't any other way at this point. He was going to talk, so Mike would listen, and then Mike would do whatever felt right.
"You already know that I wasn't always like this, Mike. I know that you already know," Marionette quietly spoke as circled the back of the couch, the human moving to sit down. "I had a feeling. The pictures and all, and Fredrick keeping you here." There weren't too many pictures of course, but the one that was there, with the family and the golden bear, was all he needed. "I was human too once. A long, long time ago. I lived here with my father, with my family, and I… I won't lie and say I was happy, I wasn't happy, but I was alive." Marionette dipped back and forth from telling his story to babbling it.
"…And you asked me about Fredbear, so I'm assuming you already know about the bite." Mike gave a slow nod, "Yeah… Fredbear bit you, right?" The Puppet chuckled again, a bit more strained this time. "You could say that. It was a group effort, I assure you… I hated the Pizzeria back then. I saw things happening there and I knew disaster was coming."
"What sort of things?" Marionette stopped in front of the couch, the finally lowered to sit on the floor in front of it. "I… I really don't want to say… You're smart, Mike. You'll figure it out on your own." He pulled his knees closer to his chest and rested his head on them. "This is good. I feel pathetic, but I can say something. I couldn't really say anything then… Then I literally couldn't speak at all after the bite. I don't remember much between the bite and what came after, but I know that I was alive for a short while before I became this."
"Wait, so… You just became this? No stuffing in suits or anything?" Mike was baffled. Marionette looked amused, "Oh, it's good that you mentioned that. That's an excellent segue." He paused for a moment and Mike tried to resist the urge to prod, to get him talking faster than he was. "But no, I was just like this. When I was first-…- like this, I wasn't like I am now. I was bound by certain programming rules, I had trouble seeing things as they were, and I couldn't speak, but I stayed at Freddy's and I did what I was supposed to." His more upbeat tone changed once more.
"…And then one night I noticed that some kids had stayed after hours. I tried to appease to them, I was the only one awake at the time- I mentioned that my perception was wrong, right?- But I eventually noticed that I recognized them. One of them was my older brother, who I hadn't seen since the accident. I couldn't tell you how much time had passed; I really can't remember. Then I noticed that they were dead, so I put them in the suits to give them life again." Mike blinked, baffled at how suddenly the drawn out explanation dropped that sentence, "What?"
"But it worked! After that time-." He was interrupted by Mike, "Wait, hold on. You just- You were sticking children into suits?" He thought that the murderer had been doing it to hide the bodies. "Yes, but they were already gone," Marionette casually offered. "So you just saw some dead kids and thought, 'hey, yeah, let me just stick these guys into Freddy and the gang'? You said that you just became like this, where the hell did this thought process come from?" The Puppet continued to speak as though this, out of everything else, was the most natural part of the story.
"Perception got better my ass," Mike thought in retort. "I had a feeling it would work, and it did. There wasn't really much doubt. After all, it worked for Gol- Hah…" He abruptly cut of, anxiousness suddenly slipping onto his face. "It… It worked before, I knew it worked before… Besides, restless souls will cling onto whatever form they can if it means they can live again." Naturally, Mike clung to what he was given. "Worked for who?" There was a moment of silence and he noticed that Marionette turned his head so he couldn't see his face; he was learning that it was best not to let Mike look.
"Nobody in particular, just an old friend of mine! We go back some ways. Anyway, where was I?... So they came to life again and we stayed in Freddy's, trying to protect and entertain children." Finally, he managed to get himself together and looked back, now giving his default smile. "But you already know that something dark was hunting there. I won't beat around the bush." Mike scoffed a little, "You're already beating around the bush… All around the mulberry bush." He couldn't resist quoting it, as it was too ironic. The sudden chime of 'Pop Goes the Weasel' caused Mike to flinch back.
Marionette managed to get himself under control. "Sorry, sorry! I get a little overexcited," he fought down the chime with an amused chuckle. Upon seeing Mike's still alarmed look, he seemed to grow even more amused. "It was just a little music. I could've grown teeth, spun my head around, and started hiding under beds; music is harmless." He was joking, but Mike firmly stated, "If you ever do any of that, I'm gone. End of story." Unlike the threat of leaving earlier, Marionette understood it was a joke and stayed in good enough humor.
Then the tone darkened once again. "So… Who was the one who was doing it? You know… That guy who killed the kids." Marionette looked forwards again. It seemed for a moment that he actually wasn't going to say anything more. Mike wasn't going to pry him to go any quicker as he had enough to digest as it was. He didn't need to rush him any quicker. The animatronic eventually continued. "He was always there... He never stopped, he always came back. He was always waiting, watching, he turned my father's restaurant into a graveyard."
There was anger on his voice. Not like the frustration, not even like his behavior earlier, but a pure hatred that revealed itself. "He was dyed in purple. It stained his skin, his face, and his smile. It was awful. He was awful. People feared us when he was there in plain silent… He was a monster." Mike gave a slow nod, "He sounds like it. Anyone who's going to kill a bunch of kids…" He cut off as he thought of the dream from the night before. The distorted face of the man with the altered voice seemed stuck in his head. It was disturbing, but a tease to know that he hadn't seen enough to identify him.
"But it's okay," the smile was there, but it was covered in a dark tone. "We can't save them. We can't stop what happened… But it's over now. He won't be hurting anyone else." There was a slightly sadistic chuckle, but it sounded extremely forced, like a way of self-comfort. Mike considered whether he wanted to know more on the subject, "So he's not around anymore?" Marionette shook his head in response, falling silent. "Sounds like a good thing to me. I prefer it to knowing he's still running around creeping on kids," Mike honestly answered.
After all, it was the fact that he believed the killer was still at large that helped drive him for answers. If he wasn't a threat then it made everything less urgent. It still didn't make him any less curious. "And he was a security guard, right?" There was a nod in response. Somehow the Puppet suddenly decided to shut down. Mike reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, "Are you okay, Mari?" The Puppet suddenly tensed at the sentence. There was obvious surprise and he looked back at the human. Mike raised a brow, "You don't have a problem with me calling you that, right?"
"No, I like it… It just took me off guard," Marionette smiled at Mike. "So after hearing all of that, are you reconsidering your current situation, yet? I wouldn't blame you if now is when you decided to run." The former security guard shrugged it off, "I'm already in too deep… Wait…" He paused for a moment, looking away, and then glanced back. "Sam said something strange on the phone. You told me a lot already, but you wouldn't mind answering one more, would you?" The Puppet smiled at him, "Ask away! There's certainly much more I cut out, but it wasn't as important."
It seemed like Marionette recovered, so Mike wasn't afraid to ask. "Sam went over to the Pizzeria to move the… 'Others' out and into the warehouse." He didn't know if calling them just 'animatronics' would be offensive somehow. "Apparently they're not running like they usually do. Or, you know, not attacking any adult that comes within a few feet. You know what's going on?" The Puppet stared blankly, then meekly answered, "I don't really want to talk about that…" Mike blinked, "But… Okay, that's fine. Could you at least tell me why Foxy's up and moving around?"
Marionette's head suddenly rose to alertness and he looked back to Mike. "...Foxy?" He rose off of the floor, standing, or hovering, at full height. Mike followed his gaze and then continued, "I thought you heard the whole phone call. Sam said that Foxy attacked him, which means he was acting normal, but the others were-." And suddenly he was just gone. "Mari?" Mike called out in confusion, thinking that Marionette had just teleported to another part of the house. He then checked his room, the master bedroom, the bathroom, and soon realized that he wasn't in the house.
Now something beyond panic clutched ahold as Mike swore and grabbed his keys again, taking out of the house. He had a feeling that he knew where Marionette had gone, and he wasn't going to wait around there without finding out.
Mable: So more of the past has been revealed, and now the Puppet has vanished to an unknown location… Or, well, maybe not that unknown. The next chapter will be posted soon. I hope everyone enjoyed!