Some Things Are Better Left Buried
By: Miss-DNL
Chapter 14: Old Scars
A pair of heavy thudding footsteps came from the right hall, causing Kyle to recall the two who'd been lurking in the hall. A cheery chime flowed into the small office, filling the air, to announce bear's soon to come arrival. With a few footsteps later the looming entity known as Freddy Fazbear took up the doorway. Next to him in the window was his back up Chica, on one of her hands was her platter and on it was Carl. Kyle was stunned as the cupcake seemed to be chattering to Chica, its frosting top flapping up and down. The chicken didn't seem interested in whatever noise the mini-bot was making and kept its violet eyes on the office.
The approach of the other two caused Mangle to swivel its head completely all the way around. The fox's ears twitched once before it slunk off into the opposite corner of the room. Once it did Freddy entered the office, and when the lead animatronic did Kyle was stiffened enough to be a legitimate statue. She didn't dare breath out of time with the bear's moments.
Somehow, Freddy seemed bigger up close, even when it stood between her and Mike the bear took up a good chunk of her vision. Weren't Freddy, Chica, Bonnie supposed to be around the same size? Were they all this big? Kyle knew Mangle and Foxy were leaner to attribute to their foxlike quality, but the main trio were huge! With each passing second Kyle wondered more and more how these robots were supposed to be child friendly mascots.
A whir caught Kyle's attention, Freddy was looking at her. The song was continuing to play on, sounding like a timer that would eventually run out, Freddy's eyes flashed in time with the notes. Beads of sweat trailed down from Kyle's forehead, along the sides of her face, and lastly down her chin. The mascot mask wasn't meant to be worn, and even with the extra space it was uncomfortably hot. Or maybe it was just her swelling fear that was causing her to break into a sweat.
Before its song ended Freddy' slowly turned its head contemplatively over to Mike who bore a mask of its own face. Kyle swallowed silently, would it fall for its own visage being shown back to it? Kyle tried looking at Mike from the very rim of her eyes. She could just barely make him out off to the side of her. From what she could make out Mike was sitting still as a dressed up mannequin. Kyle set her jaw stiffly inside the mask, worried that the man would break out into a panic attack. Yet Mike stayed completely still, faintly Kyle wondered if he'd passed out from the intensity of the moment.
When the final note left Freddy's mouth Kyle felt her heart go cold, it was time for the judgement. Slowly Kyle's eyes followed Freddy as the ursine animatronic lumbered out of the office through the left entrance way. Apparently the lead animatronic had been satisfied with what it had seen. Mangle thankfully left right behind him, transitioning over the door head and onto the hall's ceiling. A fading thudding to her right meant that Chica had left as well.
Once the animatronics were down the hall Kyle felt safe enough to breath normally again. She gasped aloud, shoulders heaving as she took air in and blew it out. Hoisting the Chica mask off of her head she turned to Mike. The man was slumped forward, hand gripping the arms of his chair like he'd fall forward otherwise.
"Mike? Mike? Are you alright?" Kyle asked in a hushed whisper, not wanting to draw the animatronics right back to them. She was relieved when the middle aged man gave her a dismissive wave in response.
"I-I'm fine…Just, never had so many in the office at the same time before…" Mike said, the older man's exhaustion finally showing itself. With shaky hands he took the Freddy head off his own, fumbling with it a bit as he pulled it off. It took force of will to keep himself from just dropping it to the ground, but the guard managed to put it gently down. Mask off Kyle could see the man's age showing more than it did before, he looked tormented and haunted. This place was hell to him, yet he decided to come back. While Kyle worried for him, she admired the bravery he was putting forth.
"Time?" Mike asked as he held his forehead, he felt dizzy, on the verge of fainting. He'd surprised himself when he hadn't passed out from three of the damn things being in the room, but he knew he'd passed his limit. One more incident like that and he'd either have another episode, or pass out.
"Five forty-six. Almost there." Kyle reported readily, sounding and looking relieved herself to see the time. She heard Mike bluntly mutter his relief before slumping back in his chair. He stared up at the ceiling, focusing on its blandness in attempt to calm himself.
"Mike." Kyle's suddenly tense, fearful, tone cause Mike to raise his head back up. She was staring at the tablet with an expression that said she was afraid to take her eyes off it. Brows dug downward Mike regarded her as she spoke again, "Mike shut the door. Shut it right now."
Mike didn't question her and sprang into action, the door fell effectively protecting them from whatever had Kyle spooked. The veteran guard seeing something in the window immediately looked to see what had arrived. Instead of a hulking robot he was met with the lithe, long limbed, form of Puppet. Mike quickly pulled back, startled by the far too silent appearance of the simple animatronic. The Puppet's mostly black body caused it to meld into the darkness, its white mask to be floating in midair. It looked at them both silently, wide empty smile quickly becoming unsettling.
One more second, if Mike had taken one more second Kyle knew that the marionette animatronic would have gotten in. The prize corner was just a bit ahead of kid's cove, which was across from Pirate's Cove, and with not even a noise the Puppet had appeared at their window in no time flat. The Puppet didn't have a hook but something about the simple figure unnerved Kyle more than Foxy ever had. It had the air of someone, something, that was in control.
When the Puppet finally moved it tilted its head to the side, as if innocently regarding them with curiosity. Empty eyes landing on Mike, Puppet tilted its head to the other side like it was surprised by his presence. Next thing it did was shake its head as it waggled a finger at them. The guards became bewildered, was this thing scolding them? What for?
The Puppet turned its head away from them, cupped its three-fingered hand, the white rings on its puffy sleeves standing out against the stark, black background. Unexpectedly the animatronic marionette let out a rattling hissing noise. It was calling for the others. Both guards at that moment realized Freddy wasn't the leader of the animatronics, unmistakably the bear was definitely more dangerous than most of the others, but it was the Puppet who led them.
Down the hall in Pirate Cove Foxy's eyes lit up as it heard Puppet's call, now was the time to strike. The pirate leapt right off its stage, starry purple show curtain flapping madly behind it. Rushing down the left hall a growl rose up from its false throat, growing louder and fiercer as it neared the cornered prey. Bending its knees Foxy lunged for the doorway once near enough. Instead of screams the red fox was met with a metal door. Foxy shrieked and snapped angrily, fingered paw hand wiping at its snout.
The animatronic snapped once more before it proceeded to beat on the door. One strike after another the animatronic seemed determined to break the heavy metal door down. It could hear the guards panicking inside encouraging the animatronic to wail on the door harder. Foxy only halted when the obscenely blinding door light flashed in its eyes. Foxy's mind drew a blank, what it had been doing and why was completely lost to it.
Out from the shadows of the hall, Bonnie thudded its way towards the door the call having drawn it over as well. The purple guitarist looked through the window and saw Puppet gesture to the incapacitated Foxy. A ghostly whisper rung clearly in the animatronic's mind, giving it instruction. With large hands Bonnie nudged Foxy out of the way. Facing the door way Bonnie pounded on the door with strong heavy swings, the banging like thunderclaps going off inside the pizzeria.
"What in the world!" Kyle yelled in fright, quickly she whipped her head over Mike who stood staring at the bunny. "Has he ever done that before?" She demanded with a point the attacking animatronic.
"No." Mike answered roughly, hands stiffly at his sides. Bonnie had always been opportunistic, attacking whenever it felt Mike wasn't paying attention or when his guard was down. None of the other animatronics had ever even touched the door! Mike, grinded his teeth together, his heartrate was acting up again, his scar flaring in pain, and his mind was growing hazy. He spun himself around to glare defiantly at the Puppet. No, he wasn't going to let this damn thing win!
"It's the damn Puppet! It's giving them orders!" Mike shouted, Bonnie's banging on the left door continuing. Realizing this he looked at their power reserve, twelve percent and dropping readily. The power usage bar was red showing too much energy from the left door was being used. He snapped to Kyle, "Door light! Now!"
Kyle immediately jumped for the button but no sooner than when she got Bonnie to stop a rush of banging came from the vent. Mike didn't stop to even check was inside as he sealed the vent off. Mike jumped when two bangs in unison came from the right door. He stared at what he saw, Chica was using its shoulder to bang on the door…meaning Freddy was on the other side doing the same. Mike stared at the Puppet, he swore the thing's wide smile had curled maliciously at the ends.
"Who the hell are you…" Mike found himself whispering, he himself hardly hear his own words above the unified effort Freddy and Chica were putting in. Only once before Mike had heard what sounded like a coordinated effort to kill a guard. This was almost unreal…the thinnest, frailest looking animatronic he'd ever seen was just standing in the window like an evil master mind, giving orders to robots that could snap it in half. Mike had thought he knew how the animatronics operated but clearly not.
"It's controlling those monsters?" Kyle yelled. Mike snapped from his moment and shined the door light on Freddy and Chica. Hearing her accusation Mike turned his attention back to her.
"They're not-" His disagreement was interrupted when both Foxy and Bonnie began ramming up against the left door. He bared his teeth when Balloon Boy's jeering laughter came from the hall with the Puppet. With a growl Mike gave an order to Kyle, "Stop them! We're going to have to watch them!"
Fearful and feeling cornered Kyle gritted her teeth back and hit the door light. "Fine, but I want a seriously good explanation after this!" She snapped.
"Have to get out of this first!" Mike yelled back to her. He hit the light again as well to keep Freddy and Chica at bay. Unfortunately, Puppet didn't seem affected by the light and remained where to stood, leering at them. It did at least get Balloon Boy to stop his taunting laughter though.
Mike stood panting at the doorway, watching Chica for any signs the animatronic was coming to. He looked back to the tablet and from where he stood he could see that Mangle was still in the vent! Of course it was, they didn't have a way to make it leave! It was just going to sit there and drain them of their last drop of power! Craning his neck, he saw they had just less than ten minutes left. It was going to be right down to the wire!
As the minutes slowly ticked by Mike kept glancing back to the marionette. The animatronic was slowly getting aggravated with the lack of success its assault was having. It crossed its arms, growing impatient with the two guards' defiance. To Mike's slight surprise it gained white orbs in its masks' eye holes. Despite the situation Mike couldn't help but grin.
"Heh, you ain't getting us…" Mike said with rough defiance. He looked to his shift partner, "Get your flashlight ready."
Kyle nodded, sweat dripping down the sides of her face, and got her flashlight ready in one hand. Mike did the same and stepped back a bit, faintly he wondered how much damage the heavy, metal flashlight would do to a frail animatronic. Mike kept his hand on the door light as he looked to the cam tablet. Less than five minutes to go and down to three percent power. Mike shook his head willing himself to hang just a bit longer, he couldn't leave Kyle to fend off the pack of animatronics by herself.
Mike and Kyle slowly backed up to the center of the small room, sticking together in preparation for whatever the puppet master was going to throw at them. They were thrown for a loop when the animatronic gave a sharp but brisk hiss. It flicked its hand back and the others stopped. Kyle and Mike watched in bewilderment as Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy all tromped off to their designated stages. To further surprise even Mangle left the vent, as was noted by the echoing bumps.
"Wha-what?" Kyle stammered confusedly as she watched the animatronics pass the windows.
"They don't have enough time left to get in and drag us off." Mike answered as he looked at the clock. Three minutes left. Mike gave a shaky laugh in victory when he saw they had two percent power left. Noticing Puppet was still present Mike bared his grin in defiance, but said nothing to the entity. He watched as the animatronic gave him a scathing glare before silently walking away. It almost seemed the thing glided on air.
With a shaky hand Mike disengaged the right door and the vent block. Breathing labored and both his will power and adrenaline drained the man fell back, slumping up against the wall. Mike heard Kyle call out in surprise and he managed a weak laugh to let her know he was alright. Least he tried to, Mike knew he didn't look the least bit convincing with how he was sweating and shaking beyond his control. The least he could do was ensure she knew he wasn't having another episode.
"Mike! Are you alright?" Kyle called as she knelt beside her coworker. Seeing his eye make contact with hers she was relieved to notice he wasn't having a panic attack again. From what she could tell he was close to it though.
"Way…way too close for a first night back." Mike managed with heavy breaths. He gulped down a big breath of hair and exhaled, his frame trembling as he did. He was in for a time of trying to get some sleep, he just knew it. If he managed to get any sleep at all that is.
"You going to be okay getting home?" Kyle questioned in concern. It didn't sit right with her to just let a man trembling like a leaf drive home, especially after having a panic attack. She didn't know much about PTSD but she'd bet money that Mike was suffering from it. Was it plausible that he'd have another episode if left alone, or worse when he was driving home?
"I-I'll manage…" Mike uttered as he tried to get back to his feet, but struggled to. Not wanting to see him struggle Kyle helped him up, grabbing him around his midsection and pulling him up carefully. Too tired, Mike accepted the help with no protest.
"Hey…" Kyle began to catch Mike's weary attention, "If you want, you can stay at my place. My girlfriend Jessica won't mind. Just to keep an eye on you till you settle out…"
Mike gave her a surprised look, but it quickly passed with his current condition, "You just met me, and your gonna let me stay over…?"
"Far as I'm concerned, you're the reason I'm still alive right now." Kyle stated with complete earnest. The man leaned back against the wall on top of a poster. She put her hands on her hips, "Besides, I want that explanation I was promised soon as possible."
"Heh, right." Mike said with a hint of amusement. He nodded limply, "Yeah…I think I'll take your offer…" Mike knew himself well enough. He knew he'd likely go through another episode if he was left alone after this. After being by himself for so long, he could use some companionship for once. At least one of them would be able to relate to what he endured.
Kyle nodded and helped lead the veteran guard out of the office and through the front doors. As she left Kyle felt a cool refreshing breeze hit her. Normally at dawn one would be met with a lovely sunrise, but this time a damp smell in the air greeted the two guards. Mike sat himself in the passenger seat of Kyle's car. As she headed over to the driver's side Kyle looked up at the sky where grey clouds were gathering.
"Hm, looks like a storm is brewing." Kyle noted to herself before she got into her car. As she left the pizzeria parking lot Kyle felt like she just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep for a week, the sleepy weather only promoted that feeling. Yet, she passed a glance back at Freddy Fazbear's pizzeria and got a sinking feeling got her. Shaking the feeling off she drove home, putting thoughts of her workplace behind her. For the time being, she was done with the place.
Author's Notes: Happy New Years everybody! Hope you have a fun, but safe, time!
Thankfully I managed to get some writing done last night, because I managed to get the next chapter pretty much set. We're done with night five, night six will happen in about two chapters. If I guess-timated right. Don't worry stuff will happen in between, the next chapter still has plenty of animatronics for yah. I may or man not take a week to upload the next part, I want to get my built up page count quota back up to 30. Not so likely to happen but a heads up.
Hope you enjoyed!