The last of the other employees have finally left after quarter to eleven and Saphira was on her own. When she was completely alone, Saphira went through the cameras briefly to check for any movement and sign that someone might be present in the building. When she saw there was no one in the building, Saphira stretched her legs, grabbed a flashlight, stood up and walked out of the office into the hallway.
She hummed softly to herself as she checked the back door first. She wasn't extremely worried about the doors being left unlocked, but it was her job. Once she finished checking the back door and she made her way through the hallway to the loading docks to check the door there.
She did notice that since it was dark and no one was here, the atmosphere almost felt as though it was different from when it was during the day. It was creepier. But she guessed it was just because the place was alone and it was a place that had a lot of horror in the restaurant. While the main stage and Toy Plaza did not have horror elements, it seemed Mike had wanted to focus on the horror part for the restaurant more. That was fine, the place was popular for that so it makes sense.
The loading docks was locked and Saphira moved onto the kitchen to check the side door. With the door checked she made her way to the main dining room. She shines the light of the flashlight around the room. She smiled as the tables were already set up for the next day. White plates with red and purple lines around the rims and silver utensils all clean and ready. There were party hats sitting on top of the plates and Saphira smiled.
I remember wearing one of these. I used to wear them like I was wearing a crown.
She chuckled a little and looked up at the stage. She shined the light up and watched as the light reflected off the surface of the paint of the animatronics. Freddy, Bonnie and Chica stood on the stage, their heads were bowed and eyes closed on the stage. She walked closer to the stage as she felt nostalgia fill her mind. It was really nice to be here.
"Hey, guys." She knew not one of them would respond to her. They were shut off for the night. "I just realized I might have missed you more than I thought I would. The good old days…" Saphira turned away from them with a deep sigh. She shines the light on the purple curtains of the second stage with a red fox. "I hope everyone still loves your stories, Foxy. I know I did."
She turned away from the stage, not noticing that Foxy's ears twitched after hearing her tell him she loved his stories. She left the main dining hall and walked by the smaller seating area. This was the Golden Room where Fredbear was, and would host private parties. She shines her light inside and smiled as she saw the yellow paint off the old animatronic. She forgot that the bear's head is bigger than Freddy's. She guessed it was just because the designs worked back then.
She turned away and approached the front door to check. She shakes it and it didn't budge. Though being an auto door, the lock was on properly and she knew to ensure that it was not loose so the doors could slide open. Thankfully, that was not the case. With that done, she went to the Toy Plaza to check the animatronics there. Though she had no issue with them, as she found Toy Freddy, Toy Chica and Toy Bonnie on stage facing the tables in this part. It is here where a lot of cakes, biscuits and other sweets were consumed, along with pizza. Toy Foxy and Mangle were in a different part. Toy Foxy is often confused for Mangle, but Mangle is different to him.
Toy Foxy is ruby red instead of the musky red that Foxy is. He had a small captain hat on his head with tiny, yellow, rubber ducks sitting in the rim of the hat, signifying he's meant to be friendlier than Foxy. He had his own pirate area, which was more about singing and dancing, and getting kids to act like his scurvy crew. Saphira did remember playing here a few times as a kid as well.
Mangle is the one who was rarely put together. She was in the Know the Animatronic's room where kids and adults learn about the animatronics. It was weird that she could transform from being an animatronic with just an endo and weirdly positioned limbs into a full, proper animatronics. She never understood how it was possible. Though when Saphira checked on her, she found Mangle to not be in her broken form. If Saphira had it her way, she would leave her like that.
She checked Golden Bonnie's story time corner to find the animatronic sitting in the chair. She looked like she was simply sitting back with her eyelids closed. Saphira smiled. Unlike Bonnie, Golden Bonnie was rather slender with pink bows in her ears and green eyes instead of the pink eyes that Bonnie had. Saphira could see the bookshelf that was kept neat and tidy so the animatronic could just pick a book and get reading.
I guess I should check on the Phantoms and Springtrap. Hopefully, he's somewhere that I can find easily.
She opened the door into the Haunted Schoolroom and walked around. She had not checked around the entire layout of the area, so she wanted to do so now. She found Phantom Freddy, Phantom Chica and Phantom Foxy in the Mess Hall, which was another area for people to eat and primarily served pizza, pasta and Mexican food. Those three animatronics had a different stage show, and often sang Halloween songs and performed them here as well. While Phantom Foxy and Phantom Mangle were in a classroom, standing with their heads down and eyes closed.
That is where you all are, now where is Springtrap?
Saphira checked the different classrooms curiously and arrived at the back of the area, where it was considered the rundown arcade area. She walked between the machines and soon found Springtrap. She was surprised to see him sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall in a corner. His head was tilted downward with his hands on the ground either side of him.
This would explain why I couldn't see him on the camera. He's in a blind spot.
She smiled a little as she stared at him. The memories she had of spending time with this animatronic when she was child was flooding back. She remembered the last week she had spent with Springtrap. She had bought him something special. She doubted he would still have it, but it was a friendship necklace and charm. Saphira still had her piece and she had actually worn it everyday, despite what happened years ago. Even now she was wearing it, but she kept the charm underneath her shirt, so the silver chain was all that could be seen.
"It's been a long time…" Saphira turned away from Springtrap. "At least we had good times a long time ago."
Saphira knew that she could have good times again, even though the animatronics would be left offline during the night. She stopped in her tracks and glanced over her shoulder at Springtrap. She had thought about talking to him about the last ten years and catch him up with her life…but she felt it was a waste of time. As a child, she would tell him so many things about herself and she felt like she was talking to an actual person. But she was seventeen now, and she didn't want to feel childish about talking to the animatronics like they were people. Brief chatter was fine.
Saphira left the Haunted Schoolroom and checked Chica's Love Chapel quickly and the bar itself before heading back to the office. There was nothing else to do but make some coffee and keep watch over the system's necessities. She entered the staff room first to make a coffee and walked into the office while she waited. She grabbed the tablet, checking the systems to see they were fine. She brought it with her back to the staff room and leaned against counter.
She reached into her shirt to pull the pendant out and looked at it. The pendent wasn't a proper friendship pendent, but it was a heart-shaped, pale gold pendent with a white daisy on both sides. She begged her mother to buy both necklaces because they were the last ones on the hangar and told her she would give the other to her best friend. And at the time, her seven-year-old self thought Springtrap was her best friend. She gave the other necklace to Springtrap. She smiled a little as she stared at it.
Kind of ironic that I kept this and wore it daily since that day…I even changed the chain so it would fit about my neck. It's cheap, but sentimental.
She took a deep breath, breathing in the scent of the coffee and slipped the pendent under her shirt before grabbing the cup and making her way back into the office. As she walked towards the chair, an alert goes off on the tablet. She looked at it and saw the camera system error. She sighed and hit the reboot button for it before taking a seat. She glanced at the monitor and saw each camera was covered in static.
She placed the cup down and rests the tablet on the table, waiting for the cameras to come back online. When they do, Saphira clicked through them casually. She did not find anything peculiar at the moment. Everything was quiet. She checked the time to see it was only twelve-thirty. She smiled and wheeled herself over to the shelve to open her bag and grab out a packet of chips to eat and one of her schoolbooks and a textbook.
She rolled back over in front of the desk and was placed the textbook onto the desk and opened it. She was going to focus of math for the moment. She glanced at the cameras briefly and clicked on the cameras that watch over Haunted Classroom to see if anyone could have wondered into the building. Nothing. She was about to turn away and focus on her school when she thought she saw something at the corner of the screen.
She frowned at one of the cameras facing the long hallway of the Haunted Classroom. At the doorway to the right that led into the arcade, Saphira thought she could see Springtrap standing there. She frowned and looked away from it in disbelief and rolled her eyes. She guessed she was seeing things. She checked the tablet to see if the ventilation system was working and it was still on. She was relieved and opened her book and chip packet before she began to work on her work.
She didn't check the cameras again until fifteen minutes later. She saw nothing unusual in the cameras in the Haunted Classroom, and she saw nothing that would seem as thought Springtrap was standing in a doorway. She figured it was just her imagination. She sipped her coffee to check the rest of the cameras curiously before an alert goes off again and she saw that the ventilation system had an error. She reboots it and looks at the screen.
She frowned when the camera pointed at Fredbear's stage showed something weird. The animatronic seemed like he was…looking at the camera? His eyes had rolled back and she only saw white, which was rather creepy. She tapped her finger on the desk and guessed this was the hallucinations Mike was talking about. So she went through the rest of the cameras until she found one pointed at the main dining hall.
Standing by the tables closest to the staff door that leads to the office was Springtrap. He was standing there with his body slumped forward and his arms hanging downward. She was shocked. She thought this was all a big joke. There was no way the animatronic could be there without someone activating it. She frowned and began looking for any sign of someone moving in the dark areas of the facility. She knew that the blind spots of the cameras will be doing a disservice to her.
As she focused, another alert goes off and the cameras are covered in static again. She frowned and grabbed the tablet, seeing that the camera system was down again. That was frustrating. She didn't expect it to go offline so soon after being rebooted. She hit the reboot button and froze. The sound of a door handle slowly being turned from down the hallway echoed loudly. She moved her schoolbooks back onto the shelf and checked the camera that was outside the office, pointing down the hallway.
When the static clears, she saw Springtrap standing at the end. He was staring at the camera. And he was glaring. There was no smile. He was glaring. And it made her shiver and felt goose bumps over her skin. She thought about stepping out and trying to get him to go back to where he is meant to be, but something in her gut told her that was a bad idea. She glanced around the room quickly to see if there was anything she could use. There was a crowbar leaning against Mike's filing cabinet, but that wouldn't really help.
Saphira almost held her breath when she heard the loud, first, heavy step from down the hallway. And the next one. Each step slowly made their way towards the office. Saphira could hide in the bathroom, but that was too obvious. The vent was covered, so she couldn't get inside without needing a screwdriver to take the cover off.
She picked up the tablet, deciding it was the only thing she needed for the moment and crouched, crawling underneath the desk to try and hide. And to her surprise and relief, there was space behind the drawers on the right side of the table. It was enough room for her to crawl into and hide. And she did just that. She was a little uncomfortable with her knees pressing into the back of the drawers, but it was better than being a sitting duck.
The footsteps were louder and with the window above the desk, they were essentially behind her. She held the tablet tightly and tensed when the footsteps stop. She thought she heard a surprised hmmm, though she didn't really want to know. Springtrap walked over to the office door and stopped at the doorway. Saphira thought about leaning to see, but decided against it as the animatronic entered the office and slowly approached the desk.
She flinched and covered her mouth when she heard the bathroom door open. It was slammed shut a second later and she almost shrieked when the chair is wheeled away from the desk. She heard the sound of someone getting on their hands and knees and she was able to see the shadow of a rabbit animatronic on the wall beside her.
She felt warm air and the sound of breathing, which was strange to her. She kept her mouth covered as the animatronic stood up and walked out of the office. He stopped just outside the door briefly before he stomped away. The sound of his footsteps made it seem like that he was angry. She didn't really want to know why he was angry. But she was shaken by what had happened.
She flinched when the sound system and ventilation system have errors a minute later and she reboots them while she tried to calm her racing heart. She had no idea what just happened, or why it happened. She took fifteen minutes before she slowly emerged from under the desk and peered out for a moment, listening intently for any sign of an animatronic. When there was none, Saphira stood up slowly to peer out of the window, worried someone would be standing there. Nothing.
My heart can't take much more of this!
She was relieved and she checked the cameras and found that Springtrap was back in the Haunted Schoolroom, and he was in the dining area this time. He was standing by the Phantom animatronics and seemed to be shut off. She still thought it was weird. She didn't know if someone was messing with her or not…but Springtrap moved fluidly…he shouldn't be able to crouch easily like he did before.
She rolled the chair back in front of her desk and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her and running the water at the vanity to splash her face. She needed to wash the sweat off and try to make sense of what happened just now. She didn't know if she wanted to believe it. She placed her hands on the sides of the sink, staring at the mirror.
And I thought I would like it here.
She turned away from the mirror and opened the door, walking towards her chair. "Ahem!" Saphira gasped loudly and looked towards the doorway, widening her eyes when she saw Foxy standing there. "Ahoy, there!" Saphira backed away quickly from him, grimacing as she backed into the corner of the shelf. "A'right, there's no need for that, lassie." He walked in slowly as he stared at her. "I think I may not need to introduce m'self, but me name's Foxy, Foxy the pirate…" He held out his hook towards her like he was trying to shake her hand. She glanced down at it with a frown and stared back at him. "Now I must say, I never thought in all me years, I would meet a nightguard who came here so many years ago. What is yer name lass?"
Saphira did not know what to think. He was talking to her. He was actually talking to her like he was an actual person. "Uh…um…S…S…" She swallowed nervously as she didn't know if she should say. "S-S-S-Saphira…"
Foxy's ears perk up slightly and lifts his patch with his hook to look at her with both of his yellow eyes. "Saphira?" She nodded. "Hmm…I know of only one little lass by that name. Gosh, it has been so many years. Are ya the little, wee, whipper snapper who came almost everyday and hung around Springtrap a lot?" Now she really didn't know what to believe. He remembers her! She nodded hesitantly, not sure what will happen. Foxy's eyes widen and he smiled at her, a gesture that the animatronics only do at Meet and Greets. "Oh, jolly, good, gosh! When we got told the new nightguard's name is Saphira, I did not want to believe me ears! Then ye said ye loved me stories, I knew ye were a kid from long ago. Never thought it would be Saphira Dawn."
Saphira relaxed a little when she realized he wasn't going to hurt her. She smiled a little at him. "Umm…well…I'm back!" She shrugged a little with a nervous smile. "I never thought I would be, but I guess ten years has been enough time, huh? Uhh…but…how are you…roaming?" Foxy chuckled a little at her. "Because…Springtrap…"
"I will say, I am impressed ye hid well from him." Her smile fades immediately and stared at him worryingly. "Ye see, lass…uh…we never thought ye would come back. Ya and Springtrap were good friends…then ye stopped comin'…"
"Oh…I see. Um…I have a good explanation…"
Foxy lowered his eyepatch suddenly as he stepped forward, making her flinch. "Don't count on it bein' enough, lass. Ye been gone a long time. Don't think it will be the same. We do not forget." He sniffed suddenly, which made Saphira uncomfortable. "Hmm…yeah…I don't wanna do it, but we must. Ye are lucky tonight…" He lifts his hand and boops her nose with his thin, metal finger. "It was nice seein' ya again, Saphira. Try and last until the end of the week. We do like challenges."
Foxy turned away and walked towards the door, leaving Saphira very confused. "Uhh…w-w-wait!" He stopped and glanced over his shoulder at her. "Why do you even remember me? You speak like…like…"
The animatronic rolled his eyes. "We do not like bein' called robots. We are not robots!"
"Oh…uhh…sorry…" Saphira rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "I didn't mean…" She knew she had been implying they were just robots. But she had thought of that about them until tonight. They seemed…too different. "I…I only knew you during the day, Foxy. How could I possibly know anything else about you?"
Foxy turned away from Saphira with grunt. "Ye would 'ave learned eventually, lassie. Too late now. Ye might be lucky now. I just wanted to know it was ye." He walked away and she watched him walk by the window. "Try and relax, Saphira. Rest of the night is very long."
Saphira remained standing against the corner of the shelf in disbelief. Her whole body was shaking. She had not expected that one, or any of the animatronics, would speak to her that way. Springtrap did when she hung around him, but she thought it was his programming, nothing more. However…tonight she has learned something. And she wasn't sure if she liked it. Plus, it sounded like Foxy just threatened her. Or warned…whichever was true. When she sat back down and looked at the cameras, she saw Springtrap had left the Haunted Schoolroom again. She tried searching for him, but she could not find him at all. She only saw Foxy returning to his stage and seemed to shut down…but now she was wondering if that was all an act. She needed to find Springtrap now…maybe she could speak with him. She hoped to anyway.