Everything happened so quickly; Elizabeth could barely believe this. What were the chances of this happening for her to meet a childhood friend in a fashion so random and surprising? But she was not complaining at all. Seeing Charlie reignited something in her, something that immediately forged a connection to her past other than fading memories of her family. Finally, it is an opportunity to talk and discuss what happened to them in recent years. Elizabeth was ashamed to admit that she rarely wondered about what Charlie had been up to…Perhaps she didn't want to imagine how gloomy his fate might have been. The two of them sat at one table, both finding themselves smiling amidst what Elizabeth initially saw as yet another grey and depressing day. The waitress approached them almost immediately.

"Are you ready to order?" She spoke while maintaining a welcoming smile.

"Yes, but we'll only have drinks," Charlie answered. "A cup of latte for me."

"And for me…" Elizabeth began to talk.

"Hot chocolate?" Charlie finished for her.

"Well…Yeah." The woman smiled and nodded. The waitress wrote the order down and left the two alone.

"Sorry, shouldn't have interrupted you like that," Charlie said. "Wondered if I could guess it correctly there, and I did."

"It's fine, don't worry," Elizabeth reassured him. "It's not like my tastes are going to change too much, but hey, you remembered, at least!"

"Hard to forget when you'd go around drinking one cup after another and begging your mom to get you more."

"Oh, stop that!" Elizabeth smiled playfully. "I always knew measure, well, most of the times…"

The two of them gazed towards the stage, noticing a young boy trying to get closer to Frankburt and other animatronics on the stage, an endeavor that got promptly interrupted by his mother.

"Toby, don't get too close to them. Don't you remember the rules?"

"But Mom, he's so cool, I want to touch him!" As the argument between them was unleashed, Charlie let out a light chuckle.

"Kids never listen, do they? I can't imagine spending a whole day with them…"

"Said Mr. "Let's get onto the stage while the adults aren't looking."" Elizabeth smiled.

"Hey, it was just that one time." Charlie shook his head playfully. "To be fair, everyone must have had that annoying phase when they were a kid; no one looks back on those times proudly."

"Maybe…But you have to admit, it was fun while it lasted." Elizabeth looked at the stage. "You know, it's the same building…The one where we celebrated my birthday. All of us…" Her voice grew quieter as Charlie remained silent; they both knew exactly how it felt to dwell on the past. Besides, this wasn't the only vivid memory Elizabeth had of this place. The hellish bite that was the final nail in the coffin of her family's happiness happened here, as well, and this was the last image she wanted to incur in her mind.

Thankfully, she was saved from those thoughts by a waitress properly arriving and putting their drinks on the table.

"Here you go!"

"Thank you." Both Charlie and Elizabeth said before taking their first sips. It's been a while since Elizabeth spent time in a restaurant or a cafe, mostly because there was no one she could share those precious moments with until now.

"So, how have you been?" Charlie asked. "What has it been, twelve years? More than a half of our lives up to this point."

"There isn't much to tell." Elizabeth shrugged. "I lived in an orphanage after my father…Well, I guess you know."

"I do," Charlie said in a grim tone. "I'm sorry, Liz…I really am."

For a moment, Elizabeth felt the desire to tell him the truth about his father, tell him that he didn't actually commit suicide and instead ran off for a reason still unclear to her. Surely he wasn't in any way connected to the company? She could trust him with her secret…But she quickly dropped the idea. Trust has never brought her anything good; why should she expect it to change now?

"It's alright, it was a long time ago…" No, no, it wasn't alright, anything but 'alright.' "I finished school, did uni, got a flat, and now earning my keep…Sort of. But I'm alright, really." Elizabeth wasn't sure if she was staying to reassure Charlie or herself.

"And that's it?"

"Did you want anything else?"

"Hm…" Charlie pondered without breaking the eye contact. "Where are you working right now? Do you enjoy it?"

"I…Well, I'm mostly helping out in certain…Places." Elizabeth said with reluctance.

"Places?"

"Bars, clubs, mostly going from one another wherever they have free places…" She said, realizing that this vague wording could easily be taken very wrongly. "And before you ask, I don't mean in THAT way; I'm a waitress there. It's an easy way to earn money, but it's nothing to be proud of, really."

"And where do you want to end up?" He was really direct with his questions, and this caught her off-guard.

"Well…" She paused before letting out a sigh. "I kinda want to become a psychologist. Help people with their issues. I like to think I'm good at it after a degree and especially living in a family like mine…"

"Have you tried?"

"Not yet…" The woman shook her head. "I don't think I'm ready yet."

"Really, why?"

"Well, it's complicated…I just don't think I'm ready yet. And what about you? Any aspirations, successes?" She decided to turn the conversation on its head, making Charlie chuckle.

"You could say that, though I think I'm at the beginning of my path." He said. "I was lucky enough for my Uncle to adopt me after my mother went missing; they treated me very well. I wouldn't have been prepared for adult life if not for them…"

"I'm glad to hear it. Where do you work?"

"In the Hurricane Police Department."

"Really?" Elizabeth said with intrigue. "That sounds interesting; father said he considered becoming a policeman when he was young. Are you an officer or something? Sorry, no idea about their ranking system."

"I've become an independent detective recently." He said with a glint of pride in his voice.

"So you don't have anyone supervising you?"

"Most of the time, no."

"God, that sounds lovely…" Elizabeth sighed. "Whatever happens in your department must be infinitely more fun than the bars I work in."

"It can be that…Most of the time is spent catching thugs and infiltrating crime lords' estates. At least that's what it was in my case." He chuckled before taking another sip of his coffee; Elizabeth quickly noticed the strange pause in his speech, as if he wondered whether he should say what was on his mind.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, no, just…I don't usually go around telling people about this, but I think you would understand better than anyone." He looked into Elizabeth's eyes, making her all the more intrigued. "I know you're a trustworthy person, but I still need to make sure…I want this to stay between the two of us for now, alright?"

"My lips are sealed."

"Good. Natural inclination wasn't the only reason why I joined the police. There is one specific 'case' I'm very interested in." Charlie explained. "A case that shaped both of our lives."

"Fazbear Inc?" She quickly understood what he meant before turning towards the stage. "Well, now is as good of a time as ever considering all of this. I could barely believe it when I saw the news and had to see for myself…"

"That's why I came here, as well. I was so busy working on different cases that I didn't even know about Frankburt's before my friend told me." Charlie said with some shame in his voice.

"It doesn't look as frightening as I expected."

"Neither did the old restaurants. But they hid something sinister, and this one does too…" Charlie noted. "Not to mention that this grand reopening coincides with a series of missing persons incidents that I have an eye out for. Maybe you've heard about those. Jacob Mann was the last one."

"Yeah, I heard something like that on the news." Elizabeth nodded. "I didn't know about the timing coinciding, though."

"The culprit walks very effectively and usually leaves no trace, but I found something while investigating the crime scene. Take a look." Charlie took out his phone and opened some photos for Elizabeth to see. There were claw marks on some of the walls and a very visible bump.

"That…Doesn't look like something a human could do. Not the one with normal levels of strength, at least."

"That's exactly the conclusion I came to. I also met with a man who expressed concern for those who were missing, all of whom, by the way, were scientists or engineers. He suggested that this case is linked to Fazbear Inc, as well." There was so much Elizabeth could tell him, yet she couldn't force herself to talk about it. "I thought you would be interested to hear about this. You haven't done any research yourself, I assume?"

"No…Not really." Perhaps she should've known that she was an adult.

"If you ever find anything, come to me. I will be looking into this case; hopefully, this time I'll finally find the truth."

"I'd gladly help, but I don't really know much…I've only learned about this restaurant yesterday." It wasn't a good idea to lie, yet Elizabeth simply couldn't force herself to talk about this. Did she still care about the promise she made to her father before he left? He broke his, so why was she so eager to keep hers? This was an act of weakness…

"I know, but just in case," Charlie reassured her. "I'd like to keep in contact if you don't mind."

"Yeah…Sure!" She sounded a bit too excited, Elizabeth realized that, but the prospect of having someone she knew relatively well and could talk to at any moment was giving her much-needed hope. "And I promise to help you with it, maybe…" Maybe he will help her discover what happened to her father.

Perhaps there was still hope.

…

Jim never denied that he was uncomfortable with the idea of working with Fazbear Inc., yet he gave Blake a world that he would stay for a while, and he would not break it. His friend deserved some guidance, and the surest way to make sure that Blake could trust him was to help him with his current endeavors. A list of priorities, the first of which was traveling to the abandoned Freddy Fazbear's Pizza Location and picking up all that was suitable for salvaging. Of course, Blake would show the way.

As the two friends approached a small, dark, and lifeless building, memories crept into Jim's mind; none of those were pleasant.

This is a symbol of their old friendship, of times when they were young and careless teenagers with Mike and Lamar still by their side. It was simpler back then when they didn't care for the consequences of their actions and believed that they never had to answer before anyone. They would laugh at the assertion that a single day could change their lives forever, but this is exactly what ended up happening, and instead of freeing himself from any further associations with those tragedies, Blake chose to charge right into their embrace again.

"Here?" Jim wondered as he looked at this forsaken place.

"Yep, the one that Alison wanted to open after the trio failed but never got to it. Now he wants me to repurpose some of this stuff for Fazbear Fright…What better way to use those rumors than to turn them into an advantage?"

"There is something foul about this place…I'd say we leave."

"Oh, you're not backing out now, are you?!" Blake said with disappointment. "Didn't you say you'd help me? That place is most certainly empty, nothing to worry about."

"Why was it even closed? Was there some accident that happened here, like in the other three? We've seen what these machines can do…I don't know; there must be more to this. Don't you care at all?"

"Nope, not in the slightest. All I heard was that there was some robbery, after which the manager Alison put in charge of this project promptly shut it down and quit their posts without proper explanation or report…But It's been a long time ago, we don't have to be afraid now. So stop whining and help me bring Alison his favorite toys."

"Fine…"

The duo walked inside. It was time to take a thorough look around. Whatever suspicion Jim felt while seeing the dirty, abandoned building from the outside grew tenfold once they were inside. The halls were covered in darkness and dust, the tables and chairs were in shambles, some were broken, and many others snowed cracks. One table was lying right in front of the stage on its side.

"What happened here?" Jim spoke in shock.

"Eh, probably some looters who came here over this decade, fucking pricks…Oh, look!" Blake pointed at the wall and rushed towards it. As Jim followed, he saw an animatronic head lying on the floor; it was Foxy's, a shabby mask of the pirate fox, drained of its color and lying behind one of the chairs, torn from the rest of his body. "This would be a perfect decoration, don't you think?" Blake chuckled and grabbed the mask. After noticing Jim's evident displeasure, Jim sighed and shook his head. "Cheer up, Mr. Pope, remember how much we loved masks like those before? Looks pretty dumb when you look back at it, but you, it was definitely fun while it lasted!"

"Don't." Jim cut him off as a little boy's screams echoed in his head. Screams that were followed by a crushing bite, and then going utterly silent. "Let's just focus on the task."

"Whatever you say, Jimmy…" Blake shrugged and continued to scour the empty halls. "Oh look, here's the hook…And is Chica's mask I'm seeing there? Apparently, someone broke down the animatronics, and they didn't even bother to clean up the mess, whatever they were so scared of?"

Jim didn't dignify it with a response, for he couldn't quite put his disdain of this place into words, either, but the sense has become more than pressing. The priest took a few steps further into the hall, expecting to discover some more animatronic parts, but he found something more.

"Blake…Come here."

"What?" His friend said uncaringly as he approached. "Holy…"

A single endoskeleton lying on the floor, motionless and unbroken, face down. A being with endless wires and joints, something directly out of a nightmare, a skeleton stripped of all its skin, muscles, and now energy.

"This is wonderful!" Blake exclaimed as he rushed into the hall. "Alison won't believe his ears when he hears about this! An entire endoskeleton! And what if it's operational? You know, the prospect of a new attraction has suddenly become far more entertaining." He examined the room with his excitement growing with every second, absolutely unable to stop, as Jim stood silently and looked at him with horror. All of those were remnants of a dreadful past that Alison wanted to restore. Jim couldn't know if the last few years he spent among the churchmen made him more susceptible to the stain of death and misery that was left over in some places, this inexplicable sense of dread, of evil that the past had masked. Jim never sensed its presence as strongly as here. This wasn't a simple abandoned pizzeria; this was a graveyard…

"And what is this?" Blake wondered as he approached one of the walls. "This one looks strange, don't you think?"

"Hm…" Jim examined the wall. It was different from all others; the tile pattern was non-existent, and there wasn't even a trace of coloring there, only a pale and colorless outlook. "This couldn't have been part of the original design. Try to knock on it."

Blake followed those instructions, and an echo from the other side reached their ears almost immediately.

"It's hollow!" Blake smiled. "A-ha, now that's getting interesting. You were right." He took out a small hammer from his pocket. "Think this would be enough to break it?"

"If you are strong enough, I'd say yes."

"Oh, I am strong enough," Blake said with confidence and began his work. Of course, he won't be able to destroy the entire wall with a simple tool like this, but it would be enough to poke a hole and see what's behind it. While he did that, Jim decided to take a closer look at the endoskeleton. There was something deeply wrong and deeply uncanny about it, and strangely enough, Jim felt as if this wasn't the first time he saw it. The man took a deep breath, took a few steps towards the mechanical abomination, and tried to turn it around. It was incredibly heavy, being the heaviest part of an animatronic, yet Jim was used to heavy lifting after spending years doing taxing work before his turn to Christianity. Its 'face' looked torn and disfigured with wires sticking out. He didn't have to be an engineer to understand that this was a deeply flawed design; it couldn't have been the original intent. And then there were its purple eyes that immediately made Jim take a step back. He felt as if he already peered into them one day as if those lifeless eyeballs stared back at him with unbridled rage…

"Holy fuck!" Blake's voice interrupted Jim and made him turn around. His friend was shining a flashlight into the opening in the wall that he just pierced. "Look at this…It's a real one!"

Jim stood beside Blake and peered into the opening. A dirty, withered bunny animatronic sitting by the wall without any motion, his body tattered and torn with only a few occasional spots that resembled his original golden color. A real one indeed…Jim didn't know how it ended up sealed or why it was relatively untouched compared to the others, but one matter was absolutely clear.

This was the foul stain that Jim sensed.