Some Things Are Better Left Buried

By: Miss-DNL

Chapter 28: Unease

Leroy looked down at a small stack of papers he held between his hands, a look of unease was written all over his narrow face. It hadn't stopped at just one other drawing, it didn't stop at three. Leroy had ended up looking at every single drawing hung up on the wall. He'd given up on trying to look inconspicuous after the fourth picture, his anxiety had compelled him to speed walk everywhere he went and look around worriedly. He'd gotten some odd or concerned looks from costumers but none of them asked what was going on. Some of his coworkers asked what was bothering him and, apparently, someone had felt more comfortable asking a waiter to ask him, and Leroy had replied that he was just feeling antsy. The coworker didn't look to convinced and told him if he needed a breather that he should step outside for some fresh air, commenting that they wouldn't tell Gregor about it. Leroy had responded by just grinning reassuringly and nodding.

Before he walked into the staff break room Leroy looked over the stack of pictures, there were seven in total. He felt a sensation of unease run through him, how many kids had gone "missing" at Freddy's again? Leroy knew at least four had. He wondered if he should look into this, but then he felt he'd been jumping down a rabbit hole that had no sure end. It was bad enough he was already working at the metaphorical warren.

He took a breath, and pushed the door to the staff room open. Inside there was a couple of people sitting down eating. Leroy didn't know them but he waved in greeting and they were courteous enough to wave back. The slight lift in mood he gained from the casual exchange faded away as he laid his eyes on the door to the manager's room. Why was it that he felt like he was in trouble? His thoughts brought his gaze down to the crayon drawings he was holding. On the face of it they looked innocent, albeit the guard added an oddity to them, but Leroy felt they were conveying a grim message.

"You okay?" Leroy's head shot up. He turned his head to the voice and saw one of the Fazbear staff was eyeing him with a look of concern.

Leroy offered up a sheepish grin to put him at ease and nodded. With some effort, he opened the door to the manager's office. "Uh, Mr. Scott?" He called as he opened the door. Carefully he peered his head inside when he got no response. At the desk, Leroy spotted Gregor hunched over, gripping his head like it was about to split apart. It seemed like he had a headache of some sort. Leroy looked at this a moment before concern drove him to fully enter the room. He called him again, "Uh, Mr. Scott…?"

The second-time Gregor raised his head. He looked like he hadn't slept all week. He shifted to a somewhat slouched position. He didn't say anything until Leroy shut the door behind him. Leroy notice his voice was horse and sounded as bogged down as he looked, "Took you long enough…" just then he noticed the papers he was holding, "Why do you have papers?"

"It's what I was about to call you for." Leroy answered. He held the papers out to Gregor to grab. When his supervisor only stared at them blankly, like he didn't understand the gesture, Leroy placed them on the desk. For extra measure, he gently pushed them towards him. Leroy brought his hands close to himself and his fingers danced about each other as Gregor drearily picked up the stack.

It didn't take long for the haze to miraculously clear from the man's eyes. Spotting this, Leroy spoke again, "I found one after escorting a boy out of the back hall."

Gregor stopped and looked to him, some sharpness returning to his expression. "There was a child in the back hall? What for?"

Briefly Leroy deliberated with himself if he should mention the Golden Freddy Ethan had claimed to have seen. He decided he would, in hopes that Gregor could put his mind at ease about the claim. Leroy truly hoped that he mind was just over thinking things. Yet, looking at Gregor, he got the sense something was wrong. His gaze didn't seem completely focused and his skin seemed a paler than when he'd last seen him, which had only been a few hours prior. Was he coming down with something?

"Yes, about six or so? He was wearing a Chica cap, he seemed to know you." Leroy answered.

Gregor looked off for a bit, he seemed to be thinking back. Leroy waited patiently where he was, understanding that Gregor probably had seen a lot of children at the pizzeria. However, after a couple minutes had passed with no change, he spoke up again, "Sir?" Gregor didn't respond and he seemed to have become unfocused.

What was more worrying was the fact he seemed to be drifting off. His head dipping down slightly before swaying back into its former position. Leroy watched with his mouth hanging partially open, he wasn't sure what to do. He reached out tentatively, thinking he should at least nudge his supervisors shoulder, to wake him up a little. Before he could even reach him, Gregor passed out completely. He slumped over onto the desk with his head resting on his shoulder. Leroy gasped in alarm and quickly shook Gregor's shoulder while saying, "Sir? Sir! Wake up!"

In an instant Gregor sprang back to like, much like a startled cat. This in turn startled Leroy as well, who pulled back from the desk as Gregor stared at him. His grey eyes wild. Silence settled in the room as Gregor righted himself. He rubbed the side of his forehead while muttering, "What happened…?"

"Erm, you passed out for a second sir…" Leroy answered. He looked at unhealthily pale man with concern. "Sir, are you alright? You seem really tired, and you don't look well."

The deathly looking guard stared at him with hazy eyes, he didn't seem to recognize Leroy. His eyes snapped around Leroy's features. The red headed guard gulped warily, feeling uncomfortable and a little unnerved by his gaze. Gregor then shook his head and seemingly regathered himself. He turned to face the door and rubbed his face, "Mn fine, I'm fine. I'm fine." Gregor exhaled through his nose and looked back to Leroy, appearing focused, "Just… Haven't been sleeping well. Running this place, has taken a toll on me. Been stressed is all."

Leroy nodded that he understood. Gregor cleared his throat, signaling to disregard his odd moment and got things back on track, "Now, about the kid."

"Ethan," Leroy stated.

"Yes, I believe I remember him." Gregor recollected as he sat back in his chair.

"Yeah, he," Leroy laughed, an attempt to lighten the mood though it wasn't very affective, "seemed to think you were the only guard. He wondered where you were."

Gregor wasn't moved by the fact and disregarded it completely. "What was he doing in the back hall?"

"He…" Leroy began slowly. Suddenly he was uncertain about telling Gregor again. He shook it off and finished what he was going to say, "said he saw a Golden Freddy sir."

"We don't have a Golden Freddy." Gregor stated immediately after. His tone was so stern and his response so quick that his subordinate was taken aback. As Leroy looked at him in surprise, Gregor's gaze steeled and he firmly said, "We don't have another Freddy. The boy probably just made it up, an imaginary friend or something like that. Or he was just lying altogether to avoid getting in trouble."

The sternness of Gregor's words carried an unsaid order for him to not question what he said. With the drawings still in Gregor's hands, Leroy stayed his course and pointed to them, "I thought so to but then I found those drawings sir." Gregor looked back to the papers in his hands and looked vaguely confused before flipping through them. "Ethan said he'd seen the Golden Freddy,"

"That we don't have." Gregor restated as he examined a drawing.

Leroy continued despite the interruption, "putting something on the wall. I went and checked around and found the drawing of, what I think is, a guard with the Fun Time Foxy head. Then in the spot, that I believe is the one, Ethan mentioned I found the one with the guard and the Bonnie head. I found seven of them, all of them have the guard with an animatronic head. I think Puppet is the only one that isn't in the pictures."

"Speaking of," Gregor said before motioning behind Leroy, "take him back to the prize corner."

Confused by what he said Leroy looked behind him and was surprised to see the Marionette lying on the floor like a discarded doll. The guard stared at this then looked back to Gregor. "What is Puppet doing in here?"

Gregor shrugged uncaringly and continued to look through the drawings in a disinterested manner. "Don't know. I went to the restroom, came back and there he was sitting against the wall. Think the prize corner girl tried to scare me, knows I don't like creepy puppets."

"Heh, I understand that." Leroy sympathized. He glanced back to Puppet and felt his own dislike send an unnerved feeling slithering down his spine. He faintly shuddered then looked back to Gregor when he heard the stack of crayon drawings get set back down.

"Look," Gregor began. There was a brief pause before he continued, "Leroy, I think that these drawings are just some people trying to mess with us. You know, cause a stir because of the old rumors about the missing kids. A distasteful prank at best, mean spirited at worst."

What Gregor said made sense but Leroy couldn't fully let go of what Ethan had said, "But what Ethan said, one of the drawings was in the spot he said the Golden Freddy…" His words trailed off as Gregor stood up.

With a completely at ease and sure look, that contrasted sharply with his prior appearance, Gregor looked at Leroy. He smiled and said, "Leroy, I think you're thinking a little too deeply into this. Ethan is a kid, kids have wild imaginations. Kids also get scared when they get caught doing something they shouldn't be and will make things up to keep out of trouble." He put a finger to Leroy's chest, "And you, are letting those old ghost stories get to your head."

"I guess you're right…" Leroy conceded as he looked down at Gregor's hand, now feeling foolish for getting worked up over what was a small incident. He rubbed his arm self-consciously. "Sorry, about that sir. The coincidence just got to me, what with the missing kids and all."

Gregor smiled reassuringly to him and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it." He patted his shoulder before he sat back down. He picked up the drawings again and thumbed through him. "I'll get rid of these. If you find anymore just crumple them up and toss them. We don't need any one seeing them. People are still…sensitive about the incidents." Leroy nodded. Gregor looked past his subordinate, "And don't forget to take Puppet with you."

Leroy looked slowly back to the simple animatronic. He felt his skin crawl with invisible ants at the thought of getting near the thing, but he had to do what his boss told him to. Consigning himself to do as he was told he nodded curtly. He walked over to the animatronic, rubbing his arm while doing so to prepare himself for his task. Leroy looked down at the puffy armed thing like he was looking at something unsightly. Swallowing a lump in his throat, Leroy bent down and grabbed Puppet by its skinny waist and slung it over his shoulder. The feeling of the creepy, smiling, Puppet's arms meeting his back sent unpleasant shivers through his body.

Taking his discomfort in stride, Leroy headed to the door. Before leaving he looked back to Gregor. "Thanks again, for putting my mind at ease, sir."

"Don't worry about it." Gregor answered simply. He waved him off then added, "Go to our technician, he should be in Parts and Services at the end of the hall. He'll get Puppet set back up."

Leroy nodded one last time and left.

Gregor looked at the door a moment after it shut, listening to the sound of Leroy walking away. Once he could no longer hear him, he pressed the palm of his hand firmly against his neck as he stretched it to one side and sighed as he got a satisfying pop. He cracked his knuckles as he eyed the computer screen, which showed a plan basic screensaver of a grassy field with a clear sky and a collection of various desktop icons. With a couple of clicks he pulled up the schedule and began looking at all the employees and their corresponding shifts.

The Parts and Services room was larger than Leroy expected it to be. Although, now that he saw the sizes of parts that needed to be stored away and some of the tools, it made sense. The hefty metal shelves and large stainless-steel tables; however, took up large chunks of room, making it look cramped. The walkways around the two tables, that were stuck together in the middle of the room, were spacious enough to allow at least two men room to walk around at the same time with some comfort. Somewhat unsettlingly an animatronic endoskeleton was laying on the table like it was about to be autopsied. For the sake of his nerves, he looked towards the sound of someone moving about in the open back storage closet. In the background Leroy could hear some sort of music was playing, sounded like rock but he wasn't sure on what specific subgenre. A brief curious search found the source to be a small speaker on one of the shelves of suit parts.

Leroy turned his attention to the well-built man who walked out of storage closet in the back, carrying a metal part of some kind. "Oh hey, I was told to come get your help with something."

Clifton set the part, a thick metal cord filled with wires, down on the table next to the endoskeleton before looking at his visitor. Immediately he homed in on the fact he was carrying Puppet over his shoulder. Clifton frowned, wondering what'd happened that brought the possessed marionette to his room. Clifton walked over to the side of his work table then asked, "What's wrong with Puppet?"

"Uh, nothing actually." Leroy answered and then went right into explaining, "Gregor found it in his office."

"And how did it get there?" Clifton asked. He knew that the dayshift guard wouldn't have an answer, or at least not the right answer. Clifton knew that the poor child haunting the animatronic somehow had gotten into the room with no one's noticing. Not questioning the fact that Puppet had been found in the room; however, would come off as odd. So, Clifton questioned it and Leroy told him the lie that had been fed to him.

"Apparently the girl at the Prize Corner wanted to scare Gregor a little," Leroy uttered an awkward laugh, "since he's not fond of puppets. So, she put him in the office while he was out for a bit. He needs to get set back up."

Clifton didn't bother to nitpick the errors in the lie and simply accepted it. He'd asked Gregor what happened with Puppet later. He nodded, "Alright."

Clifton led the meek dayshift guard back through the hall and out the side of the party room where the prize corner was located. The sight of the gift giving animatronic being carried over shoulder caught a few eyes of costumers, leading to a couple of kids asking what was wrong with Puppet. Leroy gave quick reassuring answers that nothing was wrong and they were just taking Puppet back to his box. In no time, they arrived at the comfy alcove that housed the prize corner. There to meet them was a young blond clerk, who was currently trying to explain to a child's mother why Puppet wasn't present to dance for the kid. The mother oddly seemed more upset by the fact than the kid, her face red at the fact her child was being denied something.

"Ma'am Puppet is in our parts and services getting repaired if you just wait," Summers's lie hanged out in the air when she spotted her lie turn out to be a truth. Eager to diffuse the upset costumer, she enthusiastically pointed to Clifton and Leroy, "Oh, never mind, there Puppet is now."

"About time!" Huffed the mother.

Leroy looked to Clifton for a sign on what to do with an irate costumer. Clifton didn't respond to the woman right away and walked around her to the Puppet's box and Leroy trailed behind him. The mechanic gestured with his hands and the guard handed the lightweight animatronic over. Holding Puppet with one arm he flipped a switch on the hidden controls under the counter. With a soft whirr, a connecting device that attached to Puppet's puppeteer cross lowered down. As Clifton worked to reattach the marionette, he then addressed the costumer, "Sorry about the wait Ma'am, this will only take a moment."

"It'd better." The mother responded. Leroy looked over to Summers with a sympathetic smile. Silently Summers returned it with one of gratitude.

"There we go." Clifton announced only moments later, Puppet now hanging limply from his suspended puppeteer cross. He reached under the counter and randomly flipped one of the switches that made the animatronic dance. Music began playing and the puppeteer cross began tilting from side to side and moving up and down to make the animatronic dance. Clifton looked to Summers then smiled at the huffy costumer, "On the house."

As the mother irately said that it better be, then moving on to get a doll for her kid, Clifton moved back over to Leroy. He pointed back towards his work room, "I'll be back in Parts and Services if you need me."

Leroy nodded that he understood and Clifton left for the back hall. As he worked his way over he thought over what'd happened. Puppet had, somehow, gotten itself to the manager's office without anyone noticing. Gregor had lied about how it had gotten there, and Leroy had bought it. If the sheepish guard had suspected anything supernatural he'd likely bought the lie to the sake of his nerves. Clifton could've sworn that a man had been working at the prize corner earlier but he guessed he'd gone on break. He had been shut away in parts and services for most of the day, aside from running the occasional show. As for Gregor's supposed phobia of puppets, Clifton didn't think he had one, but after his near-death experience…well he wouldn't blame him for developing one.

Still he planned on talking to him before his shift was over anyway. Clifton looked at the endoskeleton he was working on, he needed to talk to him anyway.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the long wait guys ^^; College kind of drains any desire to type. This chapter is a bit on the short side, barely more than nine pages, but I didn't want to have you guys waiting any longer! Also please disregard the bit about the computer in the last chapter, I realized that what I had planned wouldn't work out the way I wanted it to. I'll be going back and editing that out.

Also don't we all just love costumers like that Mom?

And something is up with Gregor...

Hope you all enjoyed and please let me know what you think! Feed back is fuel :)