Hi. It's been a while, sorry. I have a lot on my plate and my anxiety and depression have been going crazy lately. Don't worry though, it won't stop me! Anyways, thanks to all the patient and very supportive followers of Free. I didn't think this story would get much attention, lol. This chapter was going to be a little longer but I wanted to at least give you guys something, so the rest will just be in the next one.

That night Alex had slept in their parent's old room and decided that from now on that was her room. After they had let Foxy loose he bolted through the house in a panic until running into Alex's room and diving under the bed. She wanted nothing to do with that room and definitely wasn't going to sleep in a bed with a fidgety robot under it.

Lea was interested to find Chica sleeping on the sofa with her new toy cat and Bonnie still waiting wide-awake for them on the recliner. The blue rabbit had made a face as Foxy had rushed past but Chica only mumbled and didn't wake up.

"You're back," Bonnie stood up as the girls entered. "What about Puppet?"

"He wasn't in that box," Lea said. "I found Foxy first and thought it would be better to get him here first. Tomorrow's our last chance to get Puppet out of there before they tear down the block. I won't leave tomorrow night until I find him." She yawned and walked to her room. "Do you want to stay in my room again?"

He looked a bit bashful. "Oh, um, yes. If you don't mind."

"Of course not," she smiled. "Who doesn't like a big blue bunny with a bowtie?"

The next morning Lea was woken up by Bonnie. "Lea," he said softly as he gently shook her shoulder. She groaned and opened one eye to look at him. "There's a lady in the living room."

"Huh?" Lea sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Miss Westin?"

"I don't know," he said worriedly.

"She's the only one with a key to our house," Lea said as she got up. She walked down the hall and stopped to see Freddy peering around the doorway to the living room. He glanced at her as she poked her head out to look. "Oh, hey Miss Westin."

The old lady was sitting on the couch beside Chica and holding a friendly conversation. "Oh, good morning dear." Freddy withdrew from sight as she looked over and Bonnie's ears folded and he made a worried face as he peered from over Lea's head. "Sorry I came over unannounced, but it's been a few days since you borrowed my van. I was just curious if you were successful on your mission."

"Almost," Lea said. "There's one more left. I'm going to make sure I find him tonight."

"Good, good." She nodded. "So far the only one who would talk to me is Chica here."

Chica smiled. "She was telling me about her pet cats!"

Lea laughed. "Yeah, Chica's not very shy." She looked back at Bonnie who was still watching from the hall. "Bonnie was pretty excited when he first met me, but I think being out of familiar territory has him a little nervous." Bonnie retracted a little. "Freddy takes a while to warm up to people and I don't think he can talk."

"And the other one?"

"Foxy…well he's…skittish."

"Such cute names," Miss Westin smiled. "Don't be shy." She waved for Bonnie to come over.

He glanced at Lea who smiled back then entered the living room and sat on the recliner adjacent to the sofa. "Hello."

Lea went over to the kitchen and sat at the table with Alex. "So, any plans to get your room back?" she smirked.

"Nope," Alex said. "That's his room now."

Her sister laughed.

Later that evening, as Miss Westin went home, the sisters quickly checked up on everything before heading out as well. Lea stared silently out the passenger window. She had never met or even seen Puppet and she was feeling a little nervous. Bonnie had assured her beforehand that he was friendly, but he seemed to say that about everyone. She wondered what Puppet looked like or if he could even speak.

As they slowed near the alley entrance they were shocked to see someone there. Standing in the center of the alley entrance and staring into it was a tall, thin man, probably in his thirties or forties. His brown hair was long and messy and he wore an untucked button-up shirt light blue in color with khaki pants. He turned curiously at the sound of the van's tires on the road.

Alex stopped the van and watched him closely. "Good thing the windows are so tinted. What's that guy doing?"

"Probably wondering why we stopped," Lea leaned over to look. He didn't seem like a ruffian or bad person but something about him made her a bit uneasy.

The man stood there watching for a long moment, waiting for someone to exit the vehicle. After a while he made a concerned face and walked off down the street. Alex used the side mirror to watch him. After he turned the corner she waited a few minutes before moving the van and backing it into the alley as quietly as possible.

"Stay here," Lea told Alex. "Keep the doors locked until I get back."

"They're always locked," Alex said.

...

Lea dropped down from the vent and clicked on her flashlight; she headed straight for the main entrance. "Hello?" she said quietly as she carefully lifted the lid of the big present. It was empty. She walked around, using her light to look behind and under everything. "Puppet?"

A clinking sound caused her to stand up straight and turn towards the hallway. At that moment, a shadow quickly passed by and she ran over to follow. Glancing down the hall she spotted it turn suddenly and dart into a room. "Wait!" She chased after it.

Lea rushed into the room and came to an abrupt stop, almost falling forward from the momentum. "Hello?"

"I recognize you…" a voice like that of a young child's echoed softly from the darkness.

She flicked her flashlight around to try and find the source of the voice. "Yeah? I'm Lea."

"You come here a lot."

"Are you Puppet?"

"That's what the others call me…"

"Where are you?" Lea swung the light around. It seemed as if the voice kept moving positions around her.

"Where did they all go? I promised…to look after them."

"Bonnie and the others? My sister and I took them home, because this place is going to be torn down tomorrow. I came to get you, too."

"There was a man in the alley…"

"Huh? How do you know that?"

"I was there…"

"Just now?"

"A long time ago… The others don't remember, but I do."

"... Someone told me that people died here. Kids."

"Yes…they were sad. So, I gave them life. They were trapped here…forever, so I gave them life. He wanted to keep us here. I've been protecting them…from him."

"From who?" She thought she saw something reaching out to touch her but when she turned there was only darkness.

"He won't let them go…"

The voice was close now, and Lea turned to find a tall, thin figure leaning over her. A thin black figure with white buttons down the chest and long, white-striped limbs. Its face was off-white and resembled a mask, with rosy cheeks and a thick purple line running down its face from each of its dark eyes. There was an overexaggerated smile carved into its face, and it reminded her of someone laughing and crying at the same time. It slowly held its hand up and, with long pointed fingers, appeared as if it was going to touch her.

She stared blankly for a moment, she wasn't scared, but it definitely wasn't what she was expecting to see. Alex really won't like this one, she thought. "You're going to come with us, right? We can protect them, together." There was no answer or further movement from the animatronic. "I took them away because I want to protect them, too. Come on."

She kept her eyes on the robot, afraid it would vanish, as she moved towards the doorway. It turned its head to watch her then slowly followed. It seemed like it was gliding rather than walking. "Okay," Lea nodded. "This way."

Lea crawled out from the vent, pushing the wooden boards aside then went over to the driver side of the van and tapped on the window. Alex unlocked the doors for her to open the back. "You found it?"

"Yeah," Lea said. "He's kind of…odd."

"This entire situation is odd. More than odd, actually."

"I'm just warning you." She looked back at the vent. She was starting to worry that he wouldn't come after all. She was about to go back inside when the thin figure slowly crawled out. He stopped halfway and looked around slowly. "Come on," Lea called his attention to the van. "Let's get out of here."

...

"Okay," Alex stretched her arms out on the table. The morning sun cast bars of light across the table from the window blinds. "So, we have an ADHD chicken, a nervous bunny, a bear that creeps around in the shadows, a fox that stole my room, and whatever the heck that thing was that we brought home last night. I have no idea where that one went, but I feel like he's in the attic."

"The attic?" Lea tilted her head.

"Any other seven-foot tall sentient robots you want to add?"

"No, I think that's all of them."

Alex shot her a look. "By the way, you need to clean them."

"Clean them?"

"Yeah, give them a bath or something. Foxy and Freddy smell weird."

Lea made a face. "They're probably not supposed to get wet. And why do I have to do it?"

"Why?! It was YOU who wanted to bring them here!"

"Okay, okay, calm down. I'll figure it out."

To be continued…

Too short, yes I know, sorry. Did you guys know that the ghost inside of the puppet is actually a little girl but the animatronic is a male? Lea and the others don't know that of course. I mean, little boys' voices can be similar to little girls' sometimes anyway.