Some Things Are Better Left Buried
By: Miss-DNL
Chapter 7: Night Three
Kyle stared at the phone as it continued to play the recording. She'd just heard about how the animatronic could, and would, kill her if they got ahold of her. Kyle felt both fear and anger mixing inside of her. Fear for the obvious danger and anger for being blatantly lied to. Yet because of the lock on the doors she couldn't leave. Her key wouldn't mean a thing to a separate lock, she was stuck here. So, for her own benefit, Kyle sat there listening to Gregor as he continued speaking.
"Since you're here on a Tuesday, they'll be particularly active. They get more active as the week goes on. All but Freddy will be active tonight, but keep an eye on him just in case. Not sure how he works really. Keep an eye on Foxy too…I'm not a hundred percent clear on him. The recording I found was very old. With him it has something to do with the cameras…Just keep an eye on him just in case. Mangle really likes using the vents, there's only one so keep an eye on it. Balloon Boy, should be harmless. His mouth can't move and he's very small."
Kyle shifted in her seat a little, only one out of seven was harmless. Least it was something she supposed. The woman felt fear twinge inside as she heard noises come from different directions around her. They were moving. Quickly she picked up the control tablet and quickly flicked around the cameras. Both Bonnie and Chica were no longer in their spots, leaving Freddy to stand vigil alone on stage.
Turning to Kid's Cove, the play room, Kyle saw that Mangle was no longer on stage. She looked around for the fox. When she did find the Mangle it was hanging upside down from the ceiling. The fox's mouth was hung open wide as if it were smiling, showing off all its round pointed teeth, and more chillingly the second endoskeleton mouth at the back. One of its eyes seemed to be missing, leaving a black hole with a small white glowing orb.
Kyle stared at the sight, what in the world is going on? She found herself thinking, What sort of programing glitch would cause a robot to take out its own eye? Or crawl on the ceiling for that matter! Something in her gut went cold when she found no answer. If she made it out of this, she was going to have serious talk with Gregor.
"Keep the Puppet's music box wound and you won't have to deal with him. Which is best…keep the box wound. That's all of them, oh," Kyle arched a brow when the man's voice grew stiffer, "Try not to damage the animatronics. The other guard, Cole, managed to snap Carl the Cupcake's candle off last night. Any damage to the animatronics will be deducted from your pay."
The night guard felt her lips twitch in irritation. It sounded like Gregor was more concerned for the animatronic's condition than her life! Honestly she felt like applauding the kid for defending himself from a killer robot! Cupcake or not! Just when Kyle felt like she couldn't get any more ticked off at the guy he managed to impress her. Then Gregor told her about their policy should she be injured or worse killed on the job.
Kyle sat there and stared at the phone. She couldn't have heard that right, but she knew she had. There was no way her mind was creative enough to make that up.
"This is insane." Was all she managed to say in response.
Peeling her blue eyes from the phone to the control tablet Kyle forced herself to put that moment behind her. She had a job to do, and her life literally depended on it. Checking on Pirate's Cove Kyle felt herself gulp when she saw Foxy's glowing eyes peeking out from behind the curtain. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath, she could do this, she could make it out of this alive.
Still Kyle knew she had a long night ahead of her.
Two hours had passed and Kyle's heart was beating at a steadily quick pace, trying to manage the power was weighing heavily on her mind. She was doing decently so far, at least she thought so. She had sixty-five percent power left. What drained her was checking the cameras. She had to check on Foxy, Freddy, the vent, wind the Puppet's box. Kyle had given up on trying to flip through the cameras constantly to keep tabs on them all. She figured it was just best to check in on Chica and Bonnie occasionally. They didn't seem to shift around very quickly.
Currently Chica was in the kitchen. Kyle didn't even need to check that through the cameras to know that. She could hear the bot bumping against things from her office. Bonnie had his back turned to the camera in the mechanic's office. He'd been standing there for almost an hour now, seemingly staring at the empty masks lined up on a shelf. It made something inside Kyle twists slowly. She was going to click on away on the screen when static started popping into the screen. Kyle arched a brow questioningly as static flowered into the screen until it was covered entirely.
When it cleared Kyle jumped back in her chair. The bunny's fake, animatronic, eyes were staring right up at the camera. Taking a deep breath Kyle switched the camera, trying to ignore the thudding in her chest.
They're just robots, she told herself, They're just following their programming. Don't let it get to you.
Echoing metallic thuds caused Kyle to raise her head, looking up towards the vent entrance above the desk. Quickly she toggled to the vent camera. The night guard was bewildered to find not Mangle but Balloon Boy's smiling face looking towards the camera. Notably its "Balloons!" sign was gone.
Kyle shook her head. The animatronic was the only harmless one so dismissing its presence she changed the camera to Pirate cove. The pirate fox was still peering around the glittering show curtain, hook looking ready to pull it back. Foxy's head was low, preparing to spring from the stage at a moment's notice. Looking back to the time Kyle gauged how long it'd taken for the Fox to change positions. About an hour she figured.
Briefly she checked back in with Freddy to find the bear still standing squarely at the center of the stage. Winding the music box Kyle did a mental check list, everything was accounted for. And with Balloon Boy in the vent she figured she didn't have to worry about Mangle much. Kyle relaxed slightly in the black rolling chair. So far so good, she was halfway through hour two.
Hearing a padded thudding, in what sounded like the hall, Kyle aimed her finger to switch to the corresponding camera. She shook her head and picked up her flashlight instead, putting the control tablet down. If the light really caused a restart glitch, then peeking down the hall with the flashlight would be safe. Getting up from the office chair Kyle carefully peeked her head out of the office room. The light from her flashlight landed right on the bib of Chica the Chicken, putting a spotlight on the worlds "Let's Eat". Both the cupcake and its platter was gone, leaving the animatronic's bulky limbs placed almost limply at its sides.
The animatronic seemed to spot her, it's head twitched repeatedly to the side. Kyle felt the hairs on the back of her neck bristle up when a garbled, choking, noise leaked from the animatronic. Shakily the chicken's head righted itself, the beak opening slowly. The unnatural noise turned into a wail as the robot's hands raised up.
A panicked rush surged through Kyle and she quickly flicked the light up to the robot's eyes. The noise abruptly stopped and the animatronic's arms went limp at its sides. Not risking anything further Kyle pulled herself back into the office and onto the chair. She breathed heavily, hairs still standing on end. Kyle swallowed and gave another labored breath. She stared blankly at the corner of the office trying to understand what just happened.
She was given no reprieve when she heard the sounds of multiple animatronics shifting around in the pizzeria. Kyle looked around wildly, her mind suddenly going blank on what to do. More thudding came from the vent, she jerked her head back up to it. Kyle stared wide eyed at the cheerily offsetting face of Balloon Boy leering down at her, liked it'd caught her doing something. Kyle could only stare back unable of what to make of the small animatronic. What was she supposed to do about this? The animatronic was supposedly harmless, should she do anything?
Hearing more footsteps shifting around her Kyle disregarded the small boy robot, and looked to the control tablet. Freddy was still on stage, she ignored the fact he was looking towards the camera and moved on. Chica was thankfully heading her way back towards the party room. Bonny was unfortunately making his way down to her. Foxy was now off the stage, its hook hung in the air, turned towards the hall. Frantic the night guard went through her mental list again. Changing to the prize corner Kyle didn't even check to see how charged the music box was when she pressed down hard on the button
As the cranking noise sounded Kyle's ears picked up on something else creeping towards the office. At first it was faint but steadily grew louder, from a strange background noise to a low hiss. Quickly it drew the guard's attention, she looked back towards the right office door. The sound was now louder, sounding like a static filled radio transmission.
"What in the…?" Kyle muttered stiffly. Recalling her task, she looked back to the pad screen. The music box meter full, the guard checked in the hall camera to the right. She was met with a brief wave of static, then an empty hall. Whatever had been there was gone now, and judging by the sound, growing nearer.
Kyle was going to turn on the hall light when she heard footsteps heading down the left hall. Switching to that camera Kyle was stunned to see Bonnie standing in the hall. Quickly the screen was swarmed with static. Footsteps followed shortly after. Bonnie was closing in from the left, Balloon Boy was in the vent, and something was coming down the right hall. Not to mention Foxy was ready to lung at her.
The night guard cringed as the static sound became blaringly loud. Covering her right ear Kyle looked over to the right again. She jumped in her chair seeing Mangle looking at her from the other side of the window. The noise was coming from the white and pink fox, whose mouth almost seemed unhinged with how low it was hanging open. Mangle's eyes were fixed right on Kyle with an unblinking stare as the sound spewed out. The second set of eyes on Mangle's shoulders also stared. Then Kyle noticed the parrot was also missing an eye. Leaving only a tiny pupil of white light staring out.
Hearing footsteps coming in more steadily from her left Kyle recalled the other incoming animatronic. Bonnie was coming in faster. Unwilling to take her eyes off Mangle, Kyle stared at the animatronic thinking, Is the noise drawing them in faster?
Things had gone from good to terrible in one fell swoop. She needed to find a solution and fast. Kyle quickly used the flashlight on Mangle's eyes before rushing over and slamming the left door down. Not checking if the animatronic was at the doors yet. Turning back to the right the night guard felt her heart stall, Mangle had advanced to the doorway. The fox's upper torso was turned around the office entrance. The horrid noise still scrapping against Kyle's eardrums.
Then the night guard remembered something. With reflexes faster than Kyle knew she had she bent down and pulled the Freddy mask over her face. The mask not meant for a person to wear, was stuffy, and rather heavy, weighing down on her neck. Sitting completely still Kyle stared at the fox, hoping that the ruse would work.
A weight was lifted off of Kyle when the noise stopped coming from the fox. It stared at her a moment longer before turning and leaving. A confused look come over Kyle when there was a series of receding clanking from the air vent. Looking up from the Freddy mask the night guard saw that Balloon Boy had also left. She pulled the mask off and put it down, disregarded the occurrence.
Kyle took only a moment to gather herself before looking back over to the left window. It was more difficult to see the bunny, with its darker color, but Kyle could make out the animatronic's form.
The moment of emergency over, Kyle gave herself another moment to breath and gather her nerves. The bunny would probably leave once it registered the door was shut. Feeling a little steadier Kyle picked up the control tablet again. It was nearly three am, she was basically halfway done. A breath caught in her throat when she heard a series of rushed footsteps rushing towards her location. Kyle cringed as something began banging on the closed doorway of her office.
Checking the control panel Kyle saw Foxy had left Pirate's Cove. She turned and clicked the lights hoping that would get the fox to go away, maybe Bonnie too. A moment after there were some footsteps heading away from the door. Bonnie on the other hand seemed content to stand by the window. Kyle looked at her power meter, she was nearing fifty percent. Her stomach knotted itself once, hoping the bunny would leave soon.
Quickly she did a check of their locations, Freddy was thankfully still on stage. She checked the hall were Foxy was to be heading down. Only to see static for a moment and then an empty hall. Confused she went to Pirate's Cove. Static and then it cleared, the curtains were drawn back around the stage. Kyle found this as odd, but guessed it was part of the fox's programming. At least the animatronic was away from her.
A couple of flips later Kyle found Balloon Boy and Chica were both in the main party room. Mangle was hanging from the ceiling in one of the side rooms. Leaving the only one near her was Bonnie.
She was about to put down the tablet when she recalled the other, supposedly most dangerous, animatronic the Puppet. Quickly she flipped to the prize corner and wound the music box. That taken care of she leaned back into her chair, this job was way more stressful than she thought it'd be.
"Least I have company…" Kyle muttered to herself, looking at her killer robot companion with a sideways glance.
It was ten minutes later when Bonnie finally decided to leave the guard be and wandered away. Once he was gone Kyle did another check of the pizzeria. During her check she thought she'd seen something head into the back hall that led to the mechanic's room. Thinking it might be Bonnie she followed through the cameras. Coming to the parts and services room she found it empty. She checked the hall and there was nothing.
Kyle shook her head, "I'm so on edge I'm seeing things…"
In the sealed away backroom there was a deep shroud of darkness. The walls of the room couldn't be seen making it seem vastly larger than the small room actually was. The old, withered, and rotting Springtrap sat against the wall of the room it'd been left at. The animatronic's head twitched. Lifeless eyes staring out at nothing, but seeming focused on something that wasn't there. A few attempts to get up and move were made, but its locked joint kept it firmly in place. Urging a garbled, frustrated, growl from its throat.
Another noise caught the animatronic's attention. In one of the front corners of the room a pair of small white orbs stared at him. A pair of distorted words were repeated over and over as the eyes were jerked around erratically.
The growl in Springtrap's throat grew until the animatronic let out a furious shriek at the other entity.
"What was that?" Kyle asked aloud to herself. She swore she just heard a noise, it was muffled and distant but she'd heard something. Looking at the camera screen she flipped though the cameras but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Kyle shook her head tossing it up to her imagination again.
Gradually the time slipped by with nothing new happening. It was now five thirty, Kyle rubbed her tired eyes. It'd been a while since she'd worked a night job and the last leg of the shift was beginning to get to her. Drearily she casted her eyes down at the screen that's brightness was starting to sting. She had twelve percent power left, which was a relief. Hearing a shifting Kyle turned her head towards the noise. Seeing nothing was at the window she eased up just slightly.
The sound of something moving in the air vent prompted Kyle to switch to the vent cam. Kyle felt her hair bristle at the sight of Mangle's leering face. The night guard wasted no time in slamming down the vent block. As she listened to the sound of the animatronic retreating back down the vent Kyle heard two others heading towards her. One down each hall. Wanting to conserve power she readied herself to put on the heavy Freddy mask.
She was about to put the mask on when she heard that distant sound again. Kyle still couldn't place what it was so she flipped through the channels again. Once more nothing seemed out of place. Hearing the animatronics nearing she quickly put the tablet down, swore to herself, and put the mask on.
Bonnie and Chica stared at her from each side of the office through the hard windows. Kyle had assumed that they'd just turn and leave after a moment but they didn't. The chicken and bunny animatronics stared at her with unblinking gazes. They weren't so much as twitching this time. Both were completely still. Kyle faintly worried that it wasn't working this time. Nothing happened despite her thoughts, yet they two animatronics didn't move. It was almost like they were standing sentinel. Waiting for the guard to return to their sights.
Ten minutes passed and they were still standing there. The mask was making her neck swore from holding its weight up. She wanted to take it off but Kyle worried moving would set the animatronics off.
When only fifteen minutes were left in her shift Kyle made a snap decision and muttered, "Screw it."
Quickly she shut both of the doors before the animatronics could react. Both metal doors fell down with heavy thuds. She wasted no time to relieve her neck of its heavy load. Her worn exhale stalled midway. The mascots had begun shaking, twitching, and letting out garbled noises. Kyle felt smaller as their gazes bared down on her, but so long as the doors were up and the power stayed strong she'd be fine.
A few minutes before six am Bonnie and Chica left their positions behind the windows and returned to the stage. Kyle took that as a sign that she was in the clear. Once the clock ticked to six am she let out long held in breath.
Pushing back from the desk Kyle stood up, readying to leave the office. Standing just before the doorway she hesitated. Carefully she looked around at the hall, nothing. Not trusting it she went back to the camera tablet and checked all the cameras. It was almost surreal what she saw. All the animatronics were back in their places, like they'd never moved. Mangle even had its missing eye back.
Kyle decided to leave the occurrence be and just head home. She needed sleep, and to get a hold of Gregor so she could have a nice long talk with him.
Author's Note: Hey, sorry for taking a bit, but I'm back in college and chemistry is proving hassling but I'm getting the hang of it. Sort of. Anyway. Mangle is one of my favorites to work with. The fox is definitely up in my top faves along with Springtrap and the Puppet. Death is taking a bit but it is coming. The chapters are just turning a bit different than planned.
Guest Reviews:
Mia: It was just a typo, sorry. And no, the sister location won't be involved. Like I said in the last chapter I'm not going to be adding anymore animatronics. It wouldn't be a good idea for me to add them in without knowing how that game is going to play out. I don't want to just make things up just to have them in the story. If anything this just may include the first four games.
Ultimate SMS Fan: I'm touched you'd like to play a game with me but I don't have that game ^^; I'm working on playing quite a few at the moment, but thank you for the offer.