Snow gently fell from the sky covering the street in a pristine white coat.
Mateo watched through the window, right at the other side of the road a bright sign that said Freddy's Fazbear Pizza illuminated the night, he watched as the customers just keep coming even through it was already quite late.
Mateo's gaze shifted staring at four employees of Freddy's wearing costumes of the animatronic band that had attracted so much attention towards their stablishment.
"What the hell are you doing slacking off?!, Mateo hear his boss Jorge say," There's nothing to do, we don't even have clients, they are all in Freddy's", Mateo responded without turning around, Mateo could hear Jorge mumbling to himself, "Perhaps we should close early today" Mateo suggested, "What if a customer arrives?" Jorge asked, Mateo finally turned around and scanned their own stablishment, poorly lit, cold an lifeless, he looked at the single and outdated animatronic model standing on a very small stage, the only thing remarkable about the animatronic was it's sombrero, "I don't think that El Chip brings in as much people as the animatronics from Freddy's", Mateo responded, "Who cares about the mascot?!, what matters is the stablishment!" Jorge said, "Perhaps if you turned on the heating", Mateo said quietly, "What did you say?!" Jorge asked, the veins in his forehead becoming visible, "Me? Nothing" Mateo answered looking again through the window at the employees with the costumes, it was a impressive craft, they looked identical to the real animatronics.
Mateo and Jorge lingered at the window watching as the last people in Freddy's finished eating and leaved the building, the light turned off and the workers started to leave, three of the four persons with the costumes, left too but one remained, the one wearing the Freddy costume, he was holding some pamphlets, "Why doesn't that one go home?" Mateo asked not expecting an answer, "Hmmmm, I got an idea!", Jorge said, a smirk formed on his face, Mateo looked at Jorge puzzled, "Listen, I want you to fill a bucket with cold water and go into the roof and wait for my signal" Jorge said with a mischievous smile, "What?" Mateo asked confused.
- "Hey, my friend!" Jorge shouted at the man in the Freddy costume, the man looked around him searching for anyone else who might be the person who Jorge was speaking to, "You are talking to me?" the man in the costume asked, "Yes of course there's no one else at this late hours", the man approached Jorge moving clumsily and with difficult, "I didn't think you were talking to me, aren't El Chip and Freddy's business rivals?" , the man in the costume asked," Well, yes but I have no quarrel with a man doing honest job ", Jorge responded extending his hand, Jorge could see inside the mouth of the costume a trembling but sincere smile forming in the face of the man as he also extended his hand and they handshake," Thanks, I appreciate it", the man in the costume said, "You alright?" Jorge asked, the man in the costume nodded, "What are you doing this late still working?", Jorge asked, "I am in serious need of some extra money, my wife is trying to take the kid away and I need to pay my lawyer but my boss is an ass and doesn't stop demanding stupid things, I need to have all this pamphlets distributed for tomorrow morning!", the man in the costume said with a tired voice, "But the there's no people in the street this late at night", Jorge responded, "You don't say!", the man in the costume said followed with a quiet giggle that soon faced, Jorge tried to put a hand on the shoulder of the man but this one moved away, Jorge looked confused, "Sorry, this thing is very sensitive" the man in the costume said, Jorge raised a eyebrow, "I am really sorry for reacting like that, this thing makes me very jumpy" the man in the costume continued, "Don't worry, what is it anyway?" Jorge asked examining the costume closely, "Is kinda a secret of the company, soooooo..." the man responded, Jorge's eyebrow rose even further, the man approached Jorge and spoke quietly, "You mustn't tell anyone", the man said, "My lips are shut", Jorge answered, "So this is called a springlock suit, it can change from animatronic to costume in a moment" the man said, "No way!", Jorge shouted, "Yes way! It's amazing!" the man responded, "So that's why it looks so... Faithful to the real ones" Jorge said surprised at this discovery, "Yes!" the man responded sounding almost proud, "But it sucks to use it, I have to wear the thinnest of clothes and the cold is unbearable" the man said, "Why don't you just leave the job?", Jorge asked, "When I said that I need the money I really mean it, I am desperated and I don't have any skills" the man responded, the sadness was apparent in his voice, there was a long quiet moment in which neither of them was speaking, "Hey, do you want to drink something? , Ehhhhhhh... I forgot to ask your name", Jorge said rubbing the back of his head, a warm smile adorning his face, "Name is Edmund and no thanks, I appreciate the offer but I cannot drink anything with this thing on" Edmund answered, Jorge's smile banished and he gave a mischievous look to Edmund, "You really don't want anything to drink? ... Not even a good glass fully filled with COLD WATER?!" Jorge shouted making a lot of emphasis on the cold water part, Jorge stared intensely at Edmund as if he was waiting for something to happen, after a while nothing seemed to happen, Edmund was absolutely confused," I said COLD WATER! ", Jorge shouted looking above himself, Edmund looked up seeing a man standing on the roof of the stablishment holding a bucket, "I feel bad for him!", Mateo responded, "Do it or I'll fire you!" Jorge shouted, "But I need the money for my family!" Mateo responded, "Then do it already or you are fired!" Jorge screamed, "I am really sorry" Mateo said shutting his eyes and preparing to throw the content of the bucket, Edmund turned around and tried to run away as fast as possible but the costume made it impossible to move fast enough, "NO, NO, WAIT, DON'T DO IT!" Edmund screamed at the top of his lungs as if he was about to be hit by a car or mauled by a bear, SPLASH!.
The splash of water was loud and clear and it was immediately followed up by a metallic sound and a second splash that sounded way more crude a heavy, Mateo looked down, Edmund was laying on the snow completely soaked, a puddle of liquid was right below him, in the dark of the night the liquid was difficult to discern, it didn't look like water.
Mateo found himself waiting for something, Jorge telling him to come down or laughing victoriously, or Edmund demanding a explanation or screaming in anger but nothing came, absolute silence, still watching over Edmund laying on the snow, no movement had been made, no attempt at getting up, nothing, Mateo went back down, he looked at Jorge standing in the door, "Hey!" Mateo tried to call Jorge's attention but he didn't respond, Mateo walked to the door, his eyes fixated on the back of Jorge's head, "Why don't you..." Mateo's words got stuck on his throat mid sentence as he noticed the bright red color that covered the snow, Mateo ran up to Edmund and rolled his body so it was facing him a faith gurgling sound came from inside the suit, "We have to call an ambulance!" Mateo shouted at Jorge who still hadn't move until that point, "Are you stupid?! ... He is already dead anyways!", Jorge responded, "Even then we should still call! ", Mateo said, "Don't be stupid besides... It was you who did it!" Jorge said, Mateo looked at him in disbelief, "But... I am a good man.. So be glad because I am helping you... Take it to the freezer while I clean!" Jorge continued, Mateo's fear clouded his mind as he looked back at the suit covered in blood, his own hands had been stained by it to, Mateo lifted the body with great difficulty, dragging it across the main area to the back of the kitchen and into the freezer without even stopping to think about what he was doing, he just did it.
He locked up the freezer and then he put his back against the door, Mateo breathed and for a moment his fear disappeared and was replaced by gilt, Mateo shake his head trying to suppress this throughs, he ran back to Jorge who was moving the snow covered in blood inside the restaurant, "Don't just stay there, grab buckets, the mop, we have to clean! Jorge shouted at him, Mateo took a long breath and ran to grab all the cleaning supplies that they had.
- Mateo's eyes opened as the sunlight shined upon him, he found himself feeling uncomfortable positioned as he was laying on the floor of the restaurant, he looked around, Jorge was also laying on the floor half asleep, as Mateo's memories from the last night returned he frantically looked everywhere, no traces of blood, Mateo ran to the front door, there were people walking in the street like any other day, looking at the snow in front of the restaurant his eyes were meet with a clean white, no traces of red, he breathed relief as Jorge fully waked up.
"What are we going to do?!" Mateo asked nervously, "Don't worry I got everything under control" Jorge answered, Mateo stared intensely at Jorge, he open his mouth to try to respond to what Jorge just said but he found himself without words, he was absolutely baffled, "Under control?!" Mateo asked, he looked at Jorge desperate, almost begin for an answer, however Jorge merely walked away, Mateo stood there still waiting for a answer even fully knowing he wasn't going to get it, Mateo's legs were shaking and he sat down on a near-by table, eventually Jorge came back he was holding some kind of business card, "Just one call and we will be free of that dead weight, hehe" Jorge said more to himself than to Mateo, Mateo watched silently as Jorge made the call, "Hello, yes, I am Jorge Moreno... Ehhhhhhh.. I'd like to talk to Alberto, he knows who I am...Yes, yes I can wait" Jorge seemed as equally happy as nervous as he hold the phone, after what it felt like hours, Mateo tried to comprehend what were Jorge's intentions, who was he even calling that could help them?, Mateo's attention switched to the business card as this was not the typical professional one, it was far to colorful, a completely dark blue background with various golden stars made of glitter, Mateo read it and he couldn't believe it "You are calling the circus?!" Mateo shouted, Jorge merely made a gesture to him to shut up, "What are they going to do send some clowns to pick up the body?!" Mateo said, Jorge's response was to look at Mateo with anger, if looks could kill Mateo would be burning in hell right now, finally someone answered the phone, "Alberto, mi amigo, cómo estás?, si?, y que tal el joven Wally?, si? Fabuloso... Oye, necesito un favor, tengo un ligero problema, uno muerto para ser exactos, si?, tú te encargas?, gracias amigo sabia que podía contar con... Detalles? Está muy dañado? ... Ehhhh.. Un segundo!" Jorge turned towards a very confused Mateo," I need you to go check the body! " Jorge said," What do you mean with check the body?!" Mateo asked," Go see if the damage is too serious or if there's still something salvageable and also his physical characteristics, is he strong, short, his hair, his eyes, skin, those things!" Jorge responded, Mateo was in completely shock, he looked at Jorge with disgust and he didn't had any intention to hide it," Salvageable?!" Mateo asked in utter disbelief," Just do it! ", Mateo left immediately, he could still her Jorge talking in the phone.
Mateo was now standing in front of the freezer trying to gather the courage to open it, he cleaned some sweat from the palms of his hands and opened the freezer, he had his eyes slightly shut during the first seconds as he looked inside but he was unable to locate the body like this so he fully opened his eyes and he was shocked the very second he did it, he rubbed his eyes to see if he was seeing clearly and indeed he was, even if he couldn't believe it, he was unable to find the body even now.
"It's gone" Mateo told Jorge, "What do you mean?" Jorge asked, "It's gone! The body is gone, Edmund isn't in the freezer!", Mateo tried to explain "Where did you put it?!" Jorge asked enraged, "In the freezer, like you said!" Mateo insisted, Jorge got up and walked to the freezer, Mateo merely waited and when Jorge returned a smile adorned his face, he picked up the phone again, "No te preocupes amigo, el problema se soluciono solo... Qué?, qué pasó?... No tengo ni la menor idea, ni me importa... Jeje...Ya hablaremos mi viejo amigo, dile, hola a Wally de mi parte" then Jorge ended the call.
Mateo stared at Jorge awaiting, anything, anything that would tell his he was dreaming, "Hehehe, I the end everything worked out" Jorge said, Mateo stood still, what should he make out of the situation, nothing made sense, "Well kiddo, time to go home" Jorge said grabbing his coat and walking out of the restaurant as if it was just another day, it was night time already, the time had flung over Mateo's head, Jorge waited at the entrance waiting for Mateo to react, "Do you plan to stay the night or something?" Jorge said, slowly Mateo grabbed his own coat and stepped out, the white light of the moon shined on the snow making the entire area feel alien to Mateo, "See you tomorrow" Jorge casually said as he began to walk away, Mateo watched as he disappeared into the night, without any other options Mateo to adventured into the night.
Mateo walked with difficulty, his soul felt heavy and his throughs murky, he walked and walked without notion of what was happening outside his own throughs, he could hear the splash resonate I his mind, Mateo stopped walking for a second and breathed in the cold winter air finally regaining some sense, he started to walk again now focusing on the sound of his footsteps on the snow to keep his mind occupied but something was off, the more he focused on the sound the more he felt like it didn't sound quite right, Mateo stopped walking looking down at his boots sinking in the snow the wind howled and chills ran up his spine, Mateo continued walking, the way to his home never had felt so long, the he stopped again, his mind full of throughs he wanted to ignore, Mateo began running unsure why, perhaps trying to run away from himself, a moment of clarity allowed him to stop once again but then the step didn't stop, one second, is all that it took him to identify the sound of someone's footsteps following behind him, his face went pale, he gave one single step and there was it again, the sound of another step followed behind, Mateo looked down his legs shaking, a shadow on the snow that wasn't his, a cold breeze against his neck, Mateo look at the pocket of his jacket, a photo of his family was inside, as his heart began to beat faster he started sprinting,the cold air burning on his lungs until reaching his house, his guilt eclipsed by the dread he was feeling.
- Waking up the next morning Mateo wake up, yesterday felt like a dread or rather a nightmare, getting out of bed and going into the kitchen, he couldn't find the strength to go to work until he felt a hand on his shoulder, his wife standing besides him with a smile on her face as with her other hand she was holding their four months old baby, Mateo smiled through the pain that he felt in his soul and headed to work.
Mateo reached the restaurant, he had no desires to go but he had to, the sound of ruckus on the Fazbear Pizza restaurant as three employees struggled with the door, "Need some help?" Mateo asked them, they looked at him for a moment and quickly turned around, "Don't worry we got this" one of them said, Mateo continued to look, a voice inside of him screaming at him, demanding that he tells what happened to Edmund, his train of thought was interrupted when the door of Freddy's finally opened with a sound as if a block of ice slided through the floor, " Aaaaaahhhhh!", one of the workers screamed, Mateo look inside to see a man frozen solid as an statue, he quickly identifier the man as the owner of that restaurant, Mateo stood by as the ambulance and the police arrived to the scene, they carried the body on a bag outlining the awkward position that the body was as if he was holding out his hand, pleading for help
Mateo went out with his life for the rest of the day, clients finally showing up with Freddy's closed, Mateo looked at Jorge going on about his day and he couldn't help but comment on it "How can you be so.. Indifferent?" Mateo asked not with anger, sadness, happiness or any other emotion, jealous of the man that didn't feel anything guilt, "People die all the time and the world keeps spinning" Jorge said without no other words he walked away, that phrase resonated inside Mateo's mind, Mateo know that it was in fact true but those words didn't seem to mean anything in such situation, his question answered but his mind still in doubt of what was going through the mind of his boss.
The next day continued normally but the words still wandered in his head, " The world keeps spinning", Mateo listened to the radio while he cleaned as he always does but now he couldn't help but notice the amount of dead reports that came up, he had never pay them attention but now he couldn't ignore them, "Today Richard Shepard, 52 years oldn, a lawyer infamous for his high prices was found dead in his office, his body was found completely covered by ice", Mateo gulped, the mere mention of the word ice made him shake.
And the next day too, "Today another strange case of a dead person found fully covered in ice, making in three consecutive deaths in three consecutive days in the exact same position reaching out as if pleading for help, Miranda Volo, 37 years old was found in her home, his 8 year old has claimed that a monster made of ice had done that to her mother, the police are currently investigating the possibility of... ", Mateo turned of the radio, was this some kind of ill omen?, a message from the universe to him?, or just his mind playing tricks?, none the less he keep going with his day, the world was still spinning.
The next day Mateo didn't even attempted to go with his routine, he sat down in front of the radio, waiting for another similar announcement, "Today the bodies of the three frozen victims had been stolen from the morgue the investigators are..." Mateo turned off the radio and got up from the chair, he breathed with difficulty, on the verge of a panic attack, his lungs began filling with cold air, unusually cold in fact, Mateo could see a faint mist on the air, moving like a white snake through the restaurant, up to him and coming out of the kitchen, Mateo followed the mist, the floor of the kitchen was cover in a very thin ice layer that made cracking noises as Mateo stepped on it, the mist leaded him to the freezer, decide to confront this head on he opened the freezer, "Oh God!" Mateo screamed as he was meet with the sight of three frozen persons inside, the inside of the freezer had become a hostile environment, ice spikes covered the walls and the ceiling and the floor was covered by snow, Mateo didn't need to look at the three bodies, he could imagine who they where, but how?.
The snow began to move something underneath trying to get out a big figure was emerging out of it, CRACK, SNAP, CRACK, the sound of ice cracking and bone snapping caused pain to Mateo's ears, Mateo turned around a ran, a gust of colder wind surged through the restaurant as the broken and malformed beats covered in ice that was once a man named Edmund walking out, they brown fur of the suit was barely visible through the thick ice, it's eye sockets black covered by a coat of frozen blood, the form of the suit twisted by the ice forming on it's extremities and torso, the suit opened it's mouth and bits of frozen blood feel from inside of it as the metallic jaw tried to move.
Mateo ran to the front door and tried to open it but it was already cover in ice, Mateo turned around, the suit moved with difficulty leaving a snowy trail behind it, as the mouth of the suit open and closed more icy wind came out from within the suit, the temperature of the restaurant quickly dropping, "Mateo! What the hell is going on?!" Jorge's voice came from behind the curtain of the stage, as Jorge's head came through the curtain his angry face turned to one of shock, "Santo Dios!" Jorge screamed and closed the curtains, the head of the suit rotated while the rest of the body stayed still, fresh blood came through the opening of the neck as it rotated but quickly froze, the suit open it's mouth to the limit, Edmund's dead body cover in dark blue ice and his face pierced by ice spikes of crimson red color, the wind become more strong opening up the curtains of the stage revealing Jorge standing behind El Chip, a growl came out of Edmund's immobile mouth, Mateo's skin was quickly turning blue, he couldn't die, his family needed him, he hugged his own body on an attempt to keep the heat but it was useless, his mind raced through the events up to Edmund's dead, he wished to say sorry but that wouldn't change nothing, as his throughs became more sad his body temperature lowered but then something went flying carried by the wind, it was the photo of his family, even if it was just for a second and he couldn't really see the photo, just seeing it go by made him feel something, no!, he couldn't leave his family behind, with all the strength to he had he got up and bashed against the door opening and falling outside, catching his breath he looked back inside he saw Jorge not moving, "Jorge, you have to get out or you'll die!", Jorge raised his head struggling to see beyond the bear suit, a light!, a way out!, the moved crawling, his eyes filled with hope, he moved even through here couldn't feel his body but then something crossed his mind, his mental strength faltered, his mind going blank, get out?, but why?, "The world keeps spinning" Jorge said to Mateo far to quiet to be even remotely possible that he heard him, the door slammed shut as the wind pushed it back, the suit approached Jorge, the face of Edmund's corpse at a few centimeters away from him, looking him down, just enough space so one of it's ice spikes wouldn't pierce him, the mouth of the suit closed again fresh blood poured out of the inside now falling like a cascade on top of Jorge covering him on it, the blood began to freeze around Jorge, right before being fully frozen Jorge looked up lazily, not caring about what was going on, bright and small blue dots shined inside the eye sockets of the suit and through the ice, judging him but Jorge didn't care.
Mateo as ice began to form around the restaurant, fully concealing it and knocking down the sign of El Chip.
Mateo stared at the ice tomb that was now El Chip, he contemplated what had happened this days, he got up, the sun shined over the snow, a warm feeling going across his body, he had to keep going, because he couldn't leave those he cared about behind, so Mateo started walking through the snow as if it wasn't there.