Some Things Are Better Left Buried
By: Miss-DNL
Chapter 20: Old Acquaintances
It was early morning, a while after six am, when Karen Santos opened the doors to Freddy Fazbear's pizzeria. She had a feeling she was going to find a mess today. Both Mike and the other guard's cars were still parked in the lot. So Karen had grabbed her extra supplies carried under her free arm. She let the doors close behind her as she looked around the front, nothing so far, she didn't even smell any blood. Karen gave a mental shrug, animatronics probably left the body in the parts and services room.
Karen fetched her mop and bucket from the closet in the left hall and headed towards the back. As she did she saw the animatronics were in their places. Foxy was hidden behind the cove's show curtain and the main three were on stage, their heads bowed. Karen gave them a watchful eye and continued on, past six am or not she wasn't going to just dismiss the killer possessed animatronics.
As she continued towards the back hall she noticed a thin speckled trail of blood. Like she'd expected it went into the mechanic's room, but much to her surprise the spare Freddy suit wasn't stuffed. The janitor stood in confusion, her mop and bucket waiting idly behind her. Karen went back out to the hall and with a bit of looking found the trail of blood instead headed to the employee lounge.
There we go, must've been trying to hide. Karen figured as she followed the trail. The smell of blood became apparent as she neared the manager's office. While opening the door Karen figured she'd find a guard, or both, with a bite wound. She'd read from her parent's notes that it was the way the animatronics killed the guards if they needed to be quick. Foxy was the bloodiest of the group, went without saying he was the most aggressive. It didn't take long for Karen to spot Kyle's lifeless body lying on the floor. She didn't think much of it at first, until she spotted the bloodied animatronic part that was beside her.
As she went over to the murder scene Karen slipped a pair of gloves on before picking up the part. The janitor didn't know much about the insides of an animatronic but it looked like part of a limb. There weren't any other parts to be seen around the room and the part she held didn't look like it'd been broken off something. Karen knelt down and examined Kyle's body, her head had been beaten in with the part. The back of her skull was caved in and caked with dark, dried up, blood.
"Shit." Karen swore to herself, this wasn't a good sign. The animatronics were brutal and bloody killers. While this was no doubt not a quick death, this wasn't the animatronic's method of killing. Karen looked around the room again, just to check, and spotted Kyle's phone lying in a corner. She swore to herself when she saw it'd been busted, now she couldn't risk it. Karen placed the phone and part onto her cart before pulling out her cellphone.
After dialing a number, she waited somewhat impatiently. Her eyes glanced around the room, keeping a lookout for any slight movement. Three drawling ring of the phone later Karen's call was answered, "Jones," she said quickly, "we got a problem. Your old pal is back."
There was a long moment of grim silence before an older voice answered, "What happened to make you certain? Last you said the current management had him sealed away like before."
"He is." Karen reiterated as she looked at the wall briefly. She stood in the middle of the room, a discomfort lurked in the air, and continued, "Unless the animatronics have taken to using their own spare parts to beat someone to death I doubt it was them. Also found the guard's busted phone. This isn't exactly their style. From what I've heard their usually pretty direct."
A long tired and dismayed sigh come from the phone, "Yes, you're right…" A grim tone was heavy in Jones's voice, "I should've known he wouldn't stay down."
"So what now?" Karen asked, still keeping her eyes glancing around on occasion. She forced herself to calm and asked, "Burn it down like Fright?"
"I wish it were that simple…" Jones answered dully, "but this isn't some horror attraction in an uncared for building. It doesn't help that we weren't sure about the activity until the first guard's death…" The former manager muttered something somber to himself before he spoke up again, "We were lucky that Vargas assisted us last time. He's refused to answer any calls, it's clear he doesn't want further involvement. I can't blame him."
"Still haven't found where he lives?" Karen questioned. She headed out of the room, chatting with a body nearby was too off even for her. The cause of the conversation being just beyond a wall was an added reason to leave the room.
"No, the news didn't exactly broadcast where he moved to. He's been lying low, doesn't want any more trouble." Jones assumed. Karen could practically see him rubbing his eyes through the heavy tired tone in his voice. He'd told her of the nightmares that plagued him. She hadn't had any herself, despite the time she'd worked at Fazbear's Fright. Karen didn't bother to question why; supernatural things were often finicky.
"Well, we'll have to work on that." Karen partly muttered. She looked around the lounge, recalling that Mike was supposed to have been with Kyle, "I haven't found the other guard Mike Schmidt yet."
"Mike Schmidt?" Jones echoed, "Sounds familiar…" he mulled it over for a moment, "Oh yes, he worked at the last establishment for a week."
"Sounds about right." Karen said mostly just to respond. She stopped, lowering the phone away from her ear while doing so, when a thud come from beyond the staff lounge door. Karen furrowed her brows downward as she wondered what could have caused it.
On the other end of the phone, Jones stalled a response as a crackle came from the cellphone. He looked at it in confusion, his reception was perfectly fine there shouldn't be any disruption. Things got stranger as he thought he heard what sounded like words through the crackling that began going on and off.
"H-H—ey, t-h-ere J-Jones."
Jones's eyes expanded to their widest point as all color drained from his face.
Karen had just exited the staff lounge when she heard what sounded like Jones dropping his phone. A loud clatter shot from her cellphone's speaker, drawing her attention back to it. Once the sound had finished she brought her cell back up to her ear, "Jones? Hey Jones, everything alright?"
The janitor arched a brow when she heard Jones's shaky voice, "Karen, please tell me you'd tried to speak me a moment ago…"
"No," She began, now more confused, "I'd heard a noise and was going to check."
Karen listened as Jones took a shaky breath, "Well then, I," he steadied himself, "can say for certain that he's active."
"Care to say how?" Karen questioned, unease settling back into the air. She looked down the hall, the shadows were thicker back here. It was only natural but Karen felt like she was being watched. Her eyes examined the hall for anything out of place, but all she could gather was the feeling of eyes on her.
"He spoke to me over the phone."
Karen felt the back of her hair bristle, if that was true then the phantom had been up close to her. The janitor suddenly felt exposed and vulnerable, could it harm her during the day? She hadn't heard of anything like that. This was insane, and the only reason Karen believed it was because of her parents and what had happened at Fazbear Fright.
"Nice of him to say hi." She said, trying to recover from her fear by using sarcasm. Karen knew it wasn't convincing but it helped her a bit.
A pause in the conversation as Karen moved herself to somewhere brighter, trying to ignore a feeling she was getting. She was using the old tactic of "ignore it and it'll go away logic" and go somewhere bright, like a child. Karen had never been afraid of the boogeyman or things like that when she was young, she'd been exposed to the aftermath of real horrors. Now something was around but she couldn't see it, a territory completely new to her.
Karen was in the main party room when Jones finally responded, "Just stay calm. You're fine during the day. Deal with the head of security, and don't forget to document what happened. See about getting information on the other two guards, I want to try and persuaded them out of working there." The man gathered himself once more and there was a weak ring of gratitude in his voice, "And thank you again for the help."
For the moment Karen snapped from her stupor. It was odd for her to address this sort of thing, that being gratitude, what with her position and all. Still the notion helped her even out her tone so Karen went along with it, albeit a little awkwardly at the end, "No problem. You helped me and my Mom out a lot after the last Freddy's went down. Names changed and all."
"After what happened to your father it was the least I could do." Jones responded, despondency faintly returning to his voice. It was quickly erased as he moved on, "Call back soon as your shift is over."
"Right, call you back soon as I get home." Karen replied before the call ended. She looked at the phone before she dialed her other boss, now to get the other thing out of the way. Karen perked when she heard the sound of something falling nearby. She looked over to where the sound was coming from, the prize corner. Karen canceled the call and opted to send a text message instead. Once that was done she went to see what was causing the noise.
Elsewhere in Hurricane, Jones sat on an old worn cushioned chair his once piercing eyes stared down at his cellphone. He swallowed a heavy stone and put the device onto his desk, not looking at it. He ran an old hand through his greyed hair and slowly shook his head. A heavy weight filled his chest and bared down on his shoulders, guilt threatening to crush him at any waking moment. Eyes distant, haunted, he looked back to his cellphone then slowly dragged his gaze over to a photo that sat on a book shelf; the shelves covered in dust due to neglect.
The man pulled himself up from his chair with some effort. Had the past taken a different course Jones likely wouldn't be frail as he is now, but through selfishness and cowardice he was a shell of his former self. The once shrewd business man was just a guilt ridden old fool.
The photo was kept in a simple frame and the image itself had some age to it, there'd been no preventing that. Four men were shown in it, himself included. Jones looked at himself with a mixture of wistfulness and repugnance. He averted his eyes from his own self to a man dressed in the old Fredbear hybrid suit, who was holding the mask in his hands. The lucky one, he'd been right to leave after the accident. The actor was wiser than he'd given him credit for. Jones briefly wondered what his life was like now, no doubt miles better than his.
Jones felt his gut twist itself into a tight knot and his chest give a slight clench as he brought himself to the Spring Bonnie actor, who held the mask against his chest. He actually looked cleaner in the capture moment, black hair combed back and clean shaven. It bothered Jones how normal he looked in the photo. His teeth were crooked but there was no outright indicator of that he was monster Jones knew him as. Of course he'd asked why later but he'd never given an actual answer, he had no reason to confide the reason for his undoubtable madness.
He should have pushed letting him go from the get go, but no, he'd let Arthur convince him to give him a chance. Arthur, the man in the center of the picture between the two actors while Jones himself stood off to the side. He was a short man, curly brown hair, eyes behind a pair of rectangular glasses. The man who watched his dream decay into a nightmare around him. It was no wonder Freddy's fell so hard, the heart and long since broken and ultimately died.
Jones still dreaded the thought, that Arthur had learned the truth and then took his own life as a result.
He looked away from the photo and back to the cellphone. Once he'd thought it'd all been over thirty years ago. He couldn't forget coming in that day, finding the animatronics broken apart, then finding Spring Bonnie with its former actor entombed inside. He'd found it bitterly fitting, that the device he'd used to lure and kill had been his demise. Then thirty years later, he'd returned as a more literal monster. Now, once again he'd returned.
Once again, it was his fault. After the last Freddy's he'd given up the rights, left it out for any to claim that had enough money. He'd thought it'd been over with his death. After Fazbear's Fright there was nothing he could do, it wasn't in his hands anymore. All he could do was try and find a way to end things from the outside.
Jones held his forehead, he could hear their cries in his mind. They were always present, always blaming him and he accept the blame wholeheartedly. There was no denying to truth. He had to do this to atone for what he'd allow to happen. Thirty years wasn't enough punishment, not enough for him, but at the least he'd find a way to end this.
That though brought him back to the present. He had work to do. He had to try and find the location of Isaac Vargas, the only person he knew to survive against the murder. Jones tried to steady himself to some success and got to work on his computer. He couldn't help but give a glance to his cellphone as he began his search. The voice that'd come through it, haunting his thoughts, he hadn't told Karen everything he'd heard. The voice had spoken to him as she'd talked, it'd been distorted but he understood.
"I'm still here. They won't let me rest, I won't let them live."
Author's Notes: Sorry for the short chapter, but; once again, I felt this was best as it's own part. Jumping from this to Mike wouldn't have flowed well I feel. Yeah, Mike's realization is coming up. Get ready for that.
And also. Holy shit! 90 reviews and over 10,000 views! Good god you guys are awesome! Seriously, I truly enjoy the comments on this. It makes me eager to work on this knowing people are enjoying. I'm sincerely thankful for that. I'll do my best to keep it up. :)
Also, official chapter 20!
Guest Reviews:
Drakeon: Hey, no worries! I wasn't bothered by it in the least. :) Hope you're getting more sleep though! Glad you liked the twist with phantom Purple Guy! And yeah, ghosts typically tend to be unfair to go up against. Especially if not knowing how to deal with them. They're not easy to deal with in horror settings. Be glad he doesn't have crazy supernatural powers! He does unfortunately know what'd screw a guard over. I'm well aware of the salt tacit, I've looked into the supernatural in the past. I find it pretty fascinating. However, I won't be using it here. It'd be a bit out of place to suddenly pull out, but don't worry there is a way to deal with Purple. And thanks for much! Great to hear you think that! :D
Hope you guys enjoyed! See you next chapter!