Some Things Are Better Left Buried

By: Miss-DNL

Chapter 2: Salvage

"H-Hey! I found it…I found it!" The Phone Guy yelled, sounding very enthused about his discovery. There were thuds of rubble scrapping and tumbling away in quick succession as he moved the broken cement and brick away. Hearing the excitement, the Phone Guy's cohorts moved over beside him. Wrenching one big chunk of cement away, the others looked inside a previously buried ventilation shaft. Phone Guy had a wide, beaming, smile on his face as he got a better look at his find, "I found the animatronic they had! And the endoskeleton is still in one piece"

Almost all the way inside the vent was a dingy, dirty, golden-yellow, animatronic bunny…at least it was presumably yellow, the ash and dirt made it difficult to tell. The suit covering the complex endoskeleton was ratty, rotting, and covered in holes. While the torso and the rest had been spared from the fire, the legs were scorched and bare of any fabric that had covered them. The way the animatronic was lying inside the vent caused Phone Guy to think of a dead body, helped by the way it was rotting and the skeletal metal legs. It almost looked like it had been trying to escape…

What had the thing been called again? Springtrap?

"How did it get into the vent…?" A helper asked sounding confused.

"Well with all the rubble, guess it got knocked in." Someone suggested as he looked at all the debris.

Someone coughed then gave a disgusted groan, "Oh god, what is that smell?"

The Phone Guy wrinkled his nose in agreement, the animatronic was giving off an absolutely reeking odor. He shook his head trying to remove it from his nose. With disheveled dirty blond hair, he wiped his sweating brow, "Probably the smell of the suit rotting. Come'on we need to pull it out. The demolition crew isn't giving us a lot of time to try and salvage stuff, and no way in hell am I letting them toss this into a dump."

After a bit of bickering a helper, whom gave a faint groan, was chosen. Taking one metal leg each the two pulled back and heaved it out from the vent. Scraping noises ensued, first of metal on metal then metal on hard concrete ground. The Phone Guy frowned seeing bits of matted suit fur trail behind, they really needed to get this neglected hybrid animatronic fixed.

Phone Guy shook his head looking down at the decaying animatronic, it was sad the former owner of Fazbear Entertainment had to sell the franchise. Though with all the bad publicity the chain had gone through it was no surprise. Thankfully the new owner, Herald Griffith, wanted to revitalize the franchise, keep it as close to the original as possible. Freddy's still had plenty of fans and keeping things close to how it once was would bring them back. Ironically, there were also a good amount of people who liked the dark rumors behind the pizzeria. Phone Guy found that strange but whatever brought in costumers was fine by him.

Getting permission to look through the site had been more difficult than had been expected. The owner of the construction crew had been purposefully difficult. The man just wanted to tear the place down and be done with it. Phone Guy felt he shared Isaac Vargas's feelings towards the franchise, that there was something wrong with it.

Regardless of the time crunch, they'd found some metal parts that'd be used to rebuild the animatronics. Now they wouldn't go to waste and they'd be able to keep some authenticity. Before this, they'd searched for parts that'd been sold off. Locating the old part had been like pulling teeth, difficult and frustrating. Finding Springtrap was like hitting the jackpot. Hopefully fixing it up to be Spring Bonnie again would attract more fans, maybe even the older generation from the original restaurant. They had the blue prints for all of the models. Remaking them was only a matter of money, which thankfully Griffith had.

"Okay, let's get this big guy to the truck." Phone Guy said, as he mentally readied himself for his nose to be assaulted by the horrid smell. Lifting the animatronic by the arm, two others helped him carry the metal contraption. The blond wholeheartedly agreed with the groaning this time. The wretched smell was even worse now that he was close up, the man nearly gagged this time, and swore he felt bile riding up in his throat. This thing seriously needed a suit change and then a bath in perfume.

It was a literal and figurative weight off his shoulder when they deposited Springtrap into the back of the truck. Another minute and the Phone Guy was certain he'd have puked his guts out. He rubbed his nose as if to dislodge the foul smell. Phone Guy shook his head to clear it and got into the driver's seat.

"You owe me big time for this." The guy in the passenger seat muttered to him, looking sweaty and disgusted at the moment. He hadn't been too pleased with helping haul Springtrap.

"Yeah, yeah," Phone Guy droned as he turned the key in the ignition, starting up the truck before driving away.

Returning to what was to be the new Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, Phone Guy parked his truck and looked out the window. Construction workers were still moving about, working to finish up the near done building. A few where standing against the front of the building on break, taking sips of their water while idly chatting. Once the building itself was ready, the fun of decorating would begin. They also had to finish up the security office, the electrical wiring would be finish soon then it was just the matter of tech setup. Though personally Phone Guy didn't understand why a pizzeria would need one but it'd become a staple of the Freddy's, and they didn't want to disappoint the fans. Then again they may need a night guard with how some people weren't happy about the restaurant coming back. Last thing they needed was to open up and find smashed animatronics. Better safe than sorry.

Hearing another car pulling up Phone Guy turned his head and saw the others park next to his truck. One by one the three others got out of the larger truck. Moving to stand in front of the group Phone Guy clapped his hands together, rubbing them as he gave instruction, "Okay, let's get everything to the safe room then you guys can head home."

"You mean the storage room?" One of the guys asked, far as he knew the future pizzeria didn't have a safe or would need one. At least not one room-sized.

Phone Guy nodded, "Yeah that's the one." Looking to the bed of his truck he let out a long sigh, he wasn't going to enjoy this, "Big one first."

A pair of groans came from guys who'd helped carrying the animatronic. Phone Guy inwardly rolled his eyes before dully saying, "Hey, I'm not thrilled about it either."

"Let's just get this over with…" One of his helpers grumbled as he moved back to the truck bed. He bristled at the thought of touching the blasted thing again, it was utterly filthy. Even someone who lived in a literal dump would consider the thing gross. As he reached his arms into the bed to lift the ratty animatronic up he noticed something.

The man chuckled, "Wow, they even put fake guts inside it. Ha, maybe that horror attraction would've been good if it hadn't been burned down."

"Maybe." Phone Guy agreed spotting the fake guts, they'd have to remove that. He gagged as he helped hoist the putrid thing from the truck. A buzzing alerted him that a fly had caught wind of the smelly suit. He groaned in annoyance, a fly, that's exactly what he needed bothering him while he carried this thing inside. Once the third helper grabbed up the metal feet, to keep them from scrapping along the ground, they carried the animatronic into the building while the two others grabbed the parts.

As they entered the building the bunny animatronic, that looked like something more out of a horror movie than a pizzeria for families, quickly became the center of attention. Mutters and hushed whispers began stirring among the hired work crew. Most were surprised to see the animatronic but others were unnerved, Phone Guy could see it in their expressions. Two were exchanging wary glances, muttering to each other. Saying what Phone Guy wasn't sure. There was evident disapproval on one's face as he shot a brief look at the dirty blond, but said nothing. Phone Guy ignored the negative whispers and looks, the stench coming from the animatronic being easily more overpowering. He'd only be carrying the thing around for a few minutes and his nose was already begging for him to put it down.

Navigating the bare halls, they came to the storage/safe room. It was a small room filled crats and boxes. The more durable crates were filled with animatronics parts, while boxes contained various things such as supplies to be used for decorating later. Phone Guy and helper rested Springtrap on a pile of crates, the only thing that could serve as a table of sorts. Phone Guy instructed the third who'd been assisting them to go get his boss. Eager to get away from the smelly bot the man nodded and left.

Phone Guy watched him go before looking back to Springtrap, it was hard to imagine that it once entertained kids. Then again he'd only seen it in this deteriorated state. Phone Guy wiped his dirtied fingers on his pants. Flecks of fake fur, rust, something else had rubbed off onto his hand while carrying the bot. Didn't matter, he was going to shower later today anyway. Still, he somehow doubted one shower would rid him of the smell. Then again that was what cologne or body spray was for.

Looking at the animatronic brought something else to mind, looking to his helper he laughed, "Hey, remember that guy that burned Fazbear's fright?"

The man quirked a brow in confusion, "Yeah why?"

"He came by the site a while back." Phone Guy chuckled amusedly, he waved his hands spookily in the air, "saying that bad things would happen if we didn't leave this alone." He laughed, "Like some freaking crazy old guy from a cliché horror movie."

With a shake of his head the man gave laugh of amusement, "Wow, really?"

He snorted shaking his head again, "I swear, half of this town is too superstitious." The man thought for a moment, taking the quiet nature of the town into consideration. "Then again, nothing much happens here. Bound to leave an impression I guess." He shrugged, not really caring. The past was in the past no need to worry about it. "Anyway, I gotta go. Joana and I are going out tonight and I can't go out smelling like…" He motioned to Springtrap in revulsion, "that thing."

Phone Guy shook his head wistfully, "Hard to think you've been married a year now."

A snort, "Hard to believe your still hung up on this place," before Phone Guy could retort the man waved good-bye and left the room saying, "see yah around."

After a couple more things of parts were dropped off by his two other helpers Phone Guy was left alone with the crates, boxes, and Springtrap. He waited patiently for his boss to arrive, most likely with the mechanic. Phone looked back to the withered animatronic, almost feeling sorry for the state that it was in. Yet, he couldn't help but feel creeped out by its permanent grin that it had. A grin created by its mouth covering being worn away by time. Being sat upright, it was grinning at him almost wickedly. Yet its eyes were closed like when they had found it, but Phone Guy couldn't help the feeling that it was looking at him, grinning. Feeling on edge he looked around, like he'd spot something else but there was nothing else but crates and boxes.

Why did he have this feeling? Like something else was with him?

He didn't show it but Phone Guy was relieved when his boss, a man shorter than him, walked in with the taller mechanic. The height difference did nothing to diminish his air of authority, nor did the slight belly he had, as he carried his head high and shoulders squared. The suit he wore gave him an important presence, and the fitting showed there was still some remaining build of his prime. Phone Guy couldn't help but smirk proudly when he saw his boss's eyes lit up upon seeing Springtrap sitting on the crates.

"You found him!" Herald exclaimed, both sounding and looking amazed. Phone Guy couldn't blame him, he had his doubts about the animatronic surviving despite his own sureness. He'd half expected something major to be broken but luck had been on their side. His boss moved closer, swaying his head to get a glance over from where he was, "And he's in one piece too!"

"That we did boss." Phone Guy stated with an elated grin before he looked to the tattered suit covered endoskeleton.

Herald's excited expression evened as he eyed the suit, it's condition was beginning to make him doubtful. "Does it still work?"

Phone Guy opened his mouth to answer but paused unsurely, "I'm not sure..." quickly he explained, "the construction crew was already working on demolishing the site. We didn't exactly have time to test it."

The man's boss grunted in affirmation. He looked at the robotics mechanic next to him then nodded towards the suit, "Well, let's have look see. Crack it open Clifton."

Clifton Schwartz, the mechanic, blinked having been staring at the animatronic before nodding. As he neared, tool box in hand, the smell he'd been picking up from his prior position only intensified. He waved a hand in front of his face, trying to get rid of the stench, "Holy crap, this thing reeks. You sure you didn't pick it up from a dump Greg?"

Phone Guy, Gregory Scott, rolled his eyes, "Don't call me Greg, and surprisingly no."

Clifton set his bright red tool box on the crates, jostling the tools resting inside, he shook his head, "You're the only guy I know who prefers Gregor over Greg." Gregor rolled his eyes again, but said nothing as he curiously watched Clifton look over the battered shell of the animatronic. Clifton scrunched his nose, poking at the suit, "I can tell you this, its gonna need a new suit."

"No really…" Gregor dully mused, his sarcasm dry as his expression, which was completely ignored by the mechanic.

Spotting what was strewn the animatronic Clifton frowned irately, "Did those idiots really have to put the fake guts inside like that? I can hardly tell where it starts and were it begins!" He gave a loud huff, "Doing shit like this will seriously mess with the animatronic! It'll tangle upside and mess things up. Not to mention melt if the stuff is cheap enough." The mechanic grumbled something to himself that the other two couldn't make out.

With a tired sigh he moved to take off the ripped up chest cover. Gregor knitted his brows as he saw the mechanic fiddle carefully with something at the collar of the suit. Whatever he was doing he was being meticulous about it, the shifting of his hands slow and precise. After a while curiosity and impatience caused the Phone Guy to ask, "What are you doing that's taking so long?"

Clifton immediately snatched his hand away from the suit, like it was going to bite him. Gregor guy had nearly caused him to mess up some dangerously delicate work. Clifton looked back at the younger man with a rare expression of reprimand, causing the Phone Guy to stall. A long slow exhale came from Clifton, "I'm trying to disengage the spring locks." He waved a hand, "And I want to keep my hands."

Understanding now Gregor watched as the mechanic went back to carefully fiddling with the suit casing. Fazbear animatronic suits were notoriously dangerous, if he was going to get a look at it, he'd have to be careful. Something which Clifton went on to explain aloud, "Since this is one of the original suits. It's a hybrid, it uses spring locks so that it can go into costume mode. They're very testy, one wrong move could result in injury or worse."

Gregor remained silent, unwilling to risk causing an accident. Clifton worked in a quiet focus as he dealt with the locks. While doing so he coughed and snorted as he fought to endure the reeking stench. Eventually he stepped back with a relieved sigh, "Okay I got them. I'll remove the cover. After that I'll be able to get a look at the parts."

"Will you be able to get that mess out of him?" Herald asked as he undid the latches at the shoulders.

"Yeah I should be, it's gonna take forever though-" Clifton's words halted when upon popping open the chest piece as he was assaulted by an even stronger scent.

Reflex took over and the mechanic reeled back gagging strong enough that it sounded like he was trying to hack up his guts. The chest covering he'd been holding fell to the ground with light thuds. Those thus were still strong enough to set off the spring locks. Herald and Gregor jumped as loud snapping noises resounded from the torso, the mechanical parts inside going wild. Snaps went off one after another sounding like gun shots going off in the room. The startled panic settled once the writhing suit torso settled with one final resounding snap.

Clifton gripped his knees fighting the urge to spill his breakfast, he felt so ill that he hadn't even noticed the spring locks going berserk. Both of his cohorts were so shocked by the sudden incident they only just caught wind of the smell and just as soon recoiled. The only way to describe was of something dead and decaying. It was bad enough that Gregor briefly felt bile rise in his throat before he forced it back. Coughing he looked back to Springtrap to see just what was causing the foul odor.

What he'd thought to have been fake guts, while hidden by the suit, Gregor could now see were not fake. Holding the rotting meat together was a ribcage, broken in a couple of places, with the flesh hanging off of it like torn curtains. Withered organs and wires were sharing housing within the cage made of bone. What was left of the guts were coiled and torn around metal rods. The sight was the ghastliest and horrifying thing any of them had ever seen.

Horrifying as the reveal was, it posed one major question. Who'd this carcass belong to?

Gregor looked at Clifton as he continued to gagged and wretch, stumbling over to the nearest bare concrete wall for support. Fine white powdery dust of fresh concrete rubbed off onto his fingers but that wasn't even on his radar of concerns. Gregor was almost baffled to see the mechanic like this. He'd always seemed so sturdy, like not even a bull could knock him down. Upon smelling death, he looked ill and frail.

Egged on by concern the Phone Guy moved over to him, hesitantly tilting his head to get a look at his face while asking, "You okay?"

"I'll live…" The brunette mechanic answered with a couple of coughs. Wiping his mouth Clifton lifted himself back up and turned his head back to the wretched sight he'd revealed. It didn't take him even a minute to recall the missing children. While he was no anthropologist or a coroner, Clifton could still tell that the body inside was no child. The ribs were far too big. Covering his mouth with a fist Clifton fought back a cough, "That's not a child, that's for sure."

In light of the situation the Gregor felt the mechanic's answer to his worry was a bit inappropriate. Still, he had a point, looking back at the carcass it was clear that it was an adult. The flesh was oddly well preserved, the look of it was very close to jerky-the smell was no less appalling though. If it wasn't one of the lost children, then it could only mean one thing…

"They never found the real murderer," Clifton said, voicing Gregor's own thoughts.

He ventured back to the trapped carcass. Carefully as if it might bite the mechanic lowered Springtrap's lower jaw, sure enough he saw a human skull stuck inside. Wires and cables were sticking in and out of it like a pincushion. He didn't dare look towards the eyes though. Clifton didn't need to see them to know something gruesome happened when the animatronics' eyes and the human eyes fought for the same space. Looking back, Clifton finished speaking, "I think we found him."

"Wonderful…" Gregor muttered looking at the murderer's body.

Phone Guy and the mechanic continued talking, but their words just seemed to be background noise to Herald Griffith as he stared at the withered Spring Bonnie. No that thing wasn't the bunny from the golden era of Fazbear entertainment. This was Springtrap a withered husk that served as a tomb for a what was likely a sick, twisted man of a monster. At that moment, his own choice of words halted his train of thought, his eyes widened a fraction, his heartrate picked up slightly. Isaac Vargas's words of warning played forebodingly in his mind. Somehow they didn't seem like the of words from a mad man as they had before,

"When you have a real monster on your hands, staring you down…whatever it does is on your hands. It's body count will be your body count. And when it does happen, don't come crying to me!"

Herald felt a nip of coldness enter his blood. His deep brown eyes looked Springtrap over, worry fogging his eyes. Was this the thing Isaac had been warning them about? But, how? How could a rotting animatronic be a threat? Heart fretfully fidgeting in his chest his eyes roamed around as his mind tried to figure out whether it believed the arsonist's words. His employees still seemed to be talking but their presence was barely even noted by Herald now.

The new owner of Fazbear entertainment froze in place when he heard a struggling, rasping, and distorted voice speak up out of seemingly thin air. Words weak but hauntingly resilient,

"W…k gak….hk…hhh…m-hhh-e…"

Hearing creaks of old, rusted, mechanical parts moving Griffith slowly dragged his eyes back to Springtrap. Utter horror befell him when he saw the animatronic looking right at him. There was an eerie, unnatural glow to its eyes. Leaving it no mistake that it was looking at him. Its head gave unnatural twitches at random making them appear involuntary and almost painful. Suddenly it's shoulder gave a jerk, wheezing as it lurched its arm forward to grip the edge of the crates it was sitting on. Terrified Herald couldn't take his eyes off the creature but he heard Clifton yell in surprise. Springtrap didn't even glance at him as it lashed one of its arms outward knocking him back with ease.

Wheezing in a sickly manner, each breath and movement seeming to be tasking Springtrap pushed itself off the crates. Each metal foot met the concrete with a sound thud. For a moment the withered animatronic swayed there as if it had dazed itself by standing. It lowering its head, bunny ears slumping forward, as a metallic, gutter growl oozed out of its old voice box. It wheezed something that faintly sounded like words again as it shambled forward each jerky movement horrid, seeming unnaturally rushed.

Herald blinked once as he took a step back. Suddenly, in the time he blinked, Springtrap was upon him. The animatronic loomed over him, eyes gleaming with unnatural malice as they twitched around inside the mask. The permanent grin jittered when the animatronic's jaw jerked from side to side, popping once as it clamped its jaws together. Joints grinded together inside the possessed robot, weak from not being used for so long, yet the thing seemed like it could snap Herald in half. The smell, and the smell, it was unbearable at such a close range.

"Y-hhh-ou…w-hrk me!" The spring lock animatronic wheezed forcefully, voice rough with anger. Though the bot wore a grin but its eye lids were slanted in rage making the grin look more menacing than gleeful.

Herald wanted to move, wanted to run but his body seemed to be literally frozen with terror. His blood was cold, body shaking in fear. Unable to react he could not move out of the way when Springtrap grabbed him by the throat, hoisting him into air, shrieking his unintelligible message again,

"Y-hhh-ou…w-hrk me!" Somehow this time the animatronic managed to sound even more furious. Its distorted, seemingly static filled rage was making Herald's ears begin to ring but he couldn't bring his hands up to cover them.

He finally got his body to do something, let out a weak whine of fear when the animatronic's jaws began to open. Revealing the decaying skull inside more and more as they pulled apart. He began repeating no over and over, begging the animatronic not to expose him to the sight. The skull of the murderer, impaled by cables, wires snaking in and out of the eyes and jaw, glared at his next victim. The glowing in the eyes intensified, turning a furious, burning red. The skull, Springtrap, shrieked as it lunged its jaws forward aiming to take a bite out of the man's neck.

"Boss!"

Herald Griffith snapped his eyes shut then opened them with a start. He looked around wildly, the scene had changed entirely. Everything was normal again. Clifton was standing by crates with Springtrap, the animatronic seeming like it hadn't moved at all. Indisposed as it should be. Gregor, the one that had snapped him from his hallucination, was looking at him confusedly with hints of worry flickering in his slate grey eyes.

Herald shook his head in attempt to shake off the cold sweat clinging to him, "Sorry, what did you say?

Gregor looked at him a moment before slowly repeating himself, "We were wondering what we should do with the body…should we hand it over to the police?"

"No," Came the quick and blunt answer from Herald. The two other men looked at him surprised. He shook his head, "If this became public, it'd dig up what happened again and ruin any chances we have of reviving Freddy's successfully. There'd be protests about the restaurant reopening. We're already having a hassle ensuring it'll be safe now. More than thirty years after the disappearances!"

"Pretty sure it's safe to say murders by now…" Clifton commented dryly, the two other men gave him a look. Grinning awkwardly, he apologized, "Sorry."

"All the more reason to distance ourselves from the incident." The Herald said carefully, voice hushed like he was trying not to be overheard. His mind was still trying to suppress what he had envisioned. Trying to shove the terror he still felt to the back of his mind to be forgotten.

"What do we do with this then?" The Phone Guy questioned confusedly, motioning to the carcass that was behind him.

"We don't need this room," The owner started stiffly. Herald turned away to stop looking at the horrifying sight, to avoid Springtrap's haunting visage. To ignore the feeling that it was watching him. "Put the torso piece back on, lock its joints, and then seal this room. Remove all the electronics. I don't want any evidence that this room exists left behind!"

Standing at the doorway Herald looked back to the two, "Can I trust you two to keep quiet about this?"

The Gregory Scott looked at the other man still in the room. The second one seemed uncertain but the first nodded, "Yeah, you can count on me boss."

"Clifton?" The Griffith questioned to his mechanic, his voice having a hint of firmness at the very edge.

Clifton ruffled his hair forcing an answer out of his mouth with a rough exhale, "Yeah, sure I'll keep my mouth shut."

The owner eyed his worker for a moment before inwardly deciding he was being honest and left. They'd regret this decision, not right away but they would come to regret it down the line.

Gregor would regret ignoring the feeling that Springtrap was watching him as he left the small backroom. A cold burning gaze staring at the back of neck, he brushed it off as remains of the intense moment of their discovery. Telling himself the he hadn't heard it twitch, that he hadn't heard a weak wheeze come from it. No, it was all in his mind.