Some Things Are Better Left Buried
By: Miss-DNL
Chapter 17: Night Six
"Again?" Mike said as he heard the faint, odd, animatronic cry in the distance again. It was definitely louder this time but still distant. He quickly checked the back again, still nothing. What worried him was the noise had happened more this night than on Friday night. Further the cry was still going! Mike gritted his teeth, he didn't like this, "What is going on?"
"Mike, I don't like this…" Kyle as she eyed the open left door. She had half a mind to shut the door preemptively, but she held this urge back. They needed to conserve power. The animatronics had been hounding them like there was no tomorrow! Every percent of power was precious and needed to be used properly.
"Neither do I." Mike uttered carefully in agreement as he eyed the right doorway. He looked back to the tablet, "I haven't spotted anything yet, just stay alert."
"Right." His partner said with a stiff nod.
So far they'd been lucky, both Foxy and Freddy hadn't budged yet. The fox was even still behind the curtain. Mangle on the other hand seemed to be particularly active tonight. The white fox had attempted the right door then immediately ducked into the vent when deterred. When it got blocked Mangle went immediately back to the right door, this time with Chica as back up. Bonnie was also being rather hard to turn away. The bunny was practically pacing up and down the left hall.
Their focused silence was destroyed when the tablet let out a broken screech that quickly turned into a droning tone. The sudden burst of noise had sent Kyle to her feet, her flight instinct nearly kicking into gear. She stared at the tablet like a frightened animal waiting for a predator to make its move. That noise, she recognized it from the night before. Tensely she waited for Golden Freddy to appear, but the animatronic didn't. Hesitantly she moved towards Mike and the tablet, giving a glance back at the left door just to check.
"What's it doing?" Kyle asked warily as she peered at the screen. Mike didn't give an answer as it appeared on the now black screen.
"Why…? Why come back?"
The text was at the top left of the screen. Mike and Kyle waited for Golden Freddy to appear, to attack them, but the phantom animatronic remained unseen. The two guards both jumped when the phone rang. It was well past twelve am and no message had been left for the two of them. Mike and Kyle exchanged unnerved glances as the phone continued to ring. Neither of them said anything as Kyle hesitantly pressed the play button.
"Y-re in da-aaa-nger. Y-ou sho-dn-t h-ave c-me ba-ack. I t-d you b-st-stay away." The guards were rendered speechless as a young girl's voice came from the phone. Her voice sounded off, distorted, faded, and bared grim sadness.
Mike stood up straight, stricken with the realization that it was one of the lost children speaking through the phone. He heard a soft words coming from beside him so Mike looked up towards Kyle. Her eyes were locked on the phone, staring with a mixture of shock and sadness.
"My dream, she told me to stay away…" Kyle didn't seem to actually speaking to him, the words were just tumbling from her mouth. The moment had rendered her unable to cage her thoughts.
Mike looked back to the phone, wanting to say something. To say sorry, ask forgiveness, for answers on to how to help them. If anyone, one of the children would know something. Just as he opened his mouth a loud frightened screech rang from the phone before the message ended normally. Startled the guards were left staring at the office phone. The tablet jumped in Mike's hands as he was frightened once again when it let out a jumbled whine.
"It's him! It's him! IT'S HIM! IT'S HIM!" The phrase repeated itself all over the screen some overlapping others as if in a panic.
The device blared again as red lines appearing all along the screen, appearing, disappearing, and then reappearing again at random. Then the screen changed completely and the results left the guards more stunned than ever. Their camera screen had changed into the style of an eight-bit pixel game. Everything on the screen was still recognizable if not a little abstract. At the moment the camera was still on Pirate Cove. Foxy's stage was still recognizable, the lavender curtain was dotted with yellow pixels representing the curtain's stars. From between the curtains of the light brown wooden stage was glared Foxy's yellow eye.
A clunk from the right hall drew their attention and a swear from Mike as they saw Chica staring at them from behind the window, beak hanging open. In her hand laid a barren platter plate. Mike only got to register this for a moment when a bouncing clatter caught his attention. He heard it only slightly above Chica's disturbing wail that was pouring unceasingly from her beak. From around the corner leapt a small pink shape that quickly latched itself onto Mike's arm.
"Mike!" Kyle cried as the elder guard swung his arm up and down, trying to shake Carl off.
"Worry about Chica!" Mike shouted as he banged the mini-bot on the desk. The small animatronic stubbornly clung on and bit down harder into the man's arm. Mike cringed in pain and was forced to put down the tablet and try to wrench Carl from his arm.
While Mike fought to get the cupcake off of his arm Kyle moved around him and towards the right door. She halted as Chica filled the doorway with its bulky form. Kyle's eyes darted from the death wailing animatronic to the door button. With what courage she had gathered, Kyle rushed for the red button. She let out a startled cry as the possessed animatronic latched onto her wrist with painfully strong grip.
Kyle stared up, face stricken with fear, as Chica glared down at her, eyes soulless white little orbs. The guard felt her eyes widen as Freddy's laugh echoed down the hall, the bear had moved. Shortly after Kyle heard Balloon Boy's cheerful, unsettlingly innocent, laugh nearby. This sent the guard to struggle faster against the animatronic's grip. If Balloon Boy got into their office they'd die for sure.
The animatronic's ability caused her to remember her flashlight. Kyle pulled the torch from her pocket and readied to take aim for the bird's eyes. Chica screeched and lunged her beak forward, Kyle yelled and pulled her arm out of the way. The animatronic was trying to bite her arm off! Chica grabbed her side and seemed to be aiming to bite into her when it froze up. Kyle titled her head back and saw Mike had managed to shine his flash light on the yellow bird. Quickly she worked on freeing herself from Chica's grip. This proved to be hard as expected, even with the possessed robot dazed its grip was still strong.
Mike smacked the mini-bot, that was still latched onto his bleeding arm, with his flashlight. Carl only seemed to react with muffled annoyed hisses. Finally, with one strong swing, Mike managed to knock the miniature menace off. He wasted no time in punting the cupcake animatronic out of the room. Carl sailed back with a shrill cry before it smacked into the left hall. The mini-bot growled, hopped back onto its cup, and tried lunging again only to smack into the office door.
"Let me help with that." Mike said as he began trying to pry Chica's fingers off. When the animatronic's head began to twitch again, Kyle panicked strongly enough that she ripped herself away from the backup singer. The robot froze up again when shined her flashlight on it, leaving Chica staring blankly at nothing while standing halfway into the room. Mike took this opportunity and pushed back on the yellow robot, "Push it back into the hall!"
With Kyle's help the two guards shoved the dazed animatronic back into the hall. Chica fell back against the wall and laid slumped against it, head tilted back at an awkward angle. The guards shut the door, hoping to prompt Chica to leave. Both guards stepped back, panting from the rushed effort. Kyle took a couple of breaths, easing herself slightly from the fear she'd felt, her heart still pounded away with quickened beats. A wince from Mike, caught out of the corner of her eye, got Kyle to look fully to her coworker.
"Are you alright?" She asked in worry. Kyle reeled in her concern when Mike shrugged it away. She watched as he fished something from his pocket, a small roll of bandages. She quirked a brow questioningly, "How long have you had that?"
"Brought it with me on our last shift." Mike answered, as he quickly bandaged his bleeding wound. Once done he shoved what remained back into his pocket, "Isn't the first time they've drawn my blood, remember?" He stated as he made a couple quick points to his shoulder.
Kyle nodded, recalling the damage Foxy had done, "Uh, yeah…" A series of dull, blunt, tones caught her attention and brought it back to the tablet. She glanced back to the left door where she presumed Mike had tossed Carl out. Kyle pointed towards it, "I-I'll check to see if the…cupcake," She couldn't believe she was equating a pastry to something dangerous, "left."
Mike nodded his approval and focused back on the tablet. It was still in the style of an old eighties game. He touched the screen warily, unsure of what would happen if he did. He jabbed it at the main party room, pulling his finger back quickly. The pixels on the screen fell apart piece by piece, the tablet droned and once again flickered with red lines. The screen was quickly refilled with colored pixels once more and this time the main stage was shown. The only real difference was the perspective had changed, now it was top down not angled.
"What the…?" Mike uttered softly to himself as a new development appeared. He heard the left door open but didn't look to his coworker as she headed over to him. Mike kept his eyes fixated on the screen.
"What is it?" Kyle questioned. She immediately got her answer when she saw the figure moving in place on the screen. The female guard's expression shifted to one of uncertain confusion, her brows pulled close together. Kyle then parroted what Mike had said, "What the?"
Moving in place on the stage was a purple figure of what appeared to be a man. Aside from the primarily purple color scheme the figure had some black trimmings, adding basic details to the form. He seemed to be wearing a hat with a black bill, a belt with a grey buckle, and black shoes. On closer inspection Kyle noted there was something familiar about the figure's design.
"He's wearing a security uniform." She said, noticing what looked to be a badge on the figure's chest. Kyle frowned in concern, she didn't like the look of the wide empty grin on his face, or the black eyes with single white pixels for eyes. It reminded her of the Puppet's malicious expression.
"What's this all about?" Mike muttered as the dull beeps in the background repeated, "The beeps already looped."
"Wait…" Kyle held a hand up, indicating for Mike to be quiet. He gave her a puzzled look as she seemed to be listening intently. After a moment she spoke, "H-E-S-H-E-R-E." She spelled out, "They're letters. It's spelling something."
Mike looked at her for a moment before looking back to the tablet. Now that he focused more on the sounds he could make it out, barely, but it was there. Before Mike could try and figure what was being said Kyle beat him to it. "He's here."
Right after the words were said the figure shifted, looking left then right, before walking right off the front of stage and off the screen. Once the purple man was off screen a dull digital boom sounded, like a game over had occurred. The screen went black, and when it came back everything was normal. The camera showed its proper angle, swaying back and forth with a soft whirr.
"Okay, what was that about?" Kyle said bluntly, voicing her confusion towards the sheer strangeness of what'd happened. When that was out of her system the answer became more obvious. It wasn't something she liked either. She looked to Mike, getting a feeling he thought the same, "It-she, was warning us about him. Is…is he?"
"Possibly." Mike answered with a grim frown as he immediately got back to the routine. It didn't look like he was opening the right door anytime soon. Chica was still present, and Balloon Boy was heading down the hall. Foxy was getting ready to charge. Bonnie was hanging around the entrance to the left hall, and he wasn't sure where Mangle was. Mike opted to wind up the Puppet's music box. Thankfully, with the adjustment to the song the charge had only been reduced to half.
"So what did it mean?" Kyle said, pressing the conversation forward. Trying to rush an understanding of this new element in their situation. She looked towards the left door and continued, "Is someone literally here? I didn't hear anything, did you?"
"Don't think so." Mike answered, though he didn't sound certain, glancing left and right. Looking back to the now normal tablet screen he checked the left and right halls. He stared at the screen a moment, whatever had just happened Mike knew it wouldn't be good to just disregard it. The veteran guard thought over how to deal with this and what he'd heard in the background recently. He began recanting, "Last we heard was the animatronics moving, and that strange cry, but that stopped a while ago."
Kyle looked to the open left door, almost tempted to lean out and check for a figure. Better judgement won out and she discarded the thought. Silently she tried to think back as to when the strange cry had stopped. The panic of being attacked by Chica; however, made it unclear as to when, the event overshadowing anything beforehand. Kyle thinned her lips, "You don't think it has something to do with this purple figure do you?"
The suggestion got Mike to stop a moment. Had the cry stopped before the lost child freaked out? He couldn't clearly recall; he'd been focused on the contact that had been made. As such, Mike wasn't comfortable with saying yes or no. Mike gave a half attempted shrug, "I can't say. This is new territory for me. If that guy is alive he's gotta be pushing sixty to seventy at least." The veteran guard huffed in disdain, "If the animatronic's get to him, it won't make it any harder for me to sleep at night."
Kyle just gave a murmur of agreement then hesitantly asked, "And if he isn't alive…?"
"Then we have a new problem." Mike uttered, dreading the possibility of another phantom assailant. He was barely at ease about Golden Freddy being a possible ally. Mike wanted to believe that the lost child was trying to help, but if it was its help was dangerous. Its presence messed with their heads and its warning drew attention. The possibility of an ally was also seemingly too good to be true.
From the shadows he observed the security room. There was only so much to tell from this distance, but at least an idea could be gathered. Whoever was inside the office was certainly handling the situation well. It was surprising how fast the guard had adjusted in the last two days. Regardless, this guard would die like the other had. One issue was that he didn't need the kids seeing him, no doubt they'd not take his presence too well.
He glanced towards the sound were "Pop Goes the Weasel" was coming from. However, a chat with their leader might make things easier for him. That'd have to wait until he had the opportunity. The music box, he noticed as he listened, was playing the full song, so his chance likely wasn't going to be for a while.
All the more reason to dispatch of the guard. He just needed the right opening. A tell-tale whir drew his attention to the camera mounted in the hall.
"About time Chica left." Mike commented dully as he finally opened the right door. It'd taken longer for the chicken to leave than he liked. She'd seemed bound and determined to just stand there and wait them out. Eyes back on the tablet Mike checked the time and power. They were just nearing two am. Their power was nearing sixty percent, that wasn't good. Mike had a bad feeling they were going to black out. He glanced to Kyle who was watching the left door like a hawk. Damn it all, that reminded him of Foxy, and upon checking Pirate Cover the animatronic's curtain was pulled all the way back. The captain himself was giving a seething glare up at the camera. Mike gave another glance at Kyle, but decided not to burden her with the thought unless he was their power got far too low.
"Bonnie is still pacing back and forth…" Kyle said as she stared through window and into the darkened hall. The guitarist seemed to turn right around soon as he reached the end of the hall. With his quickened pace he returned far too frequently for her taste. Oddly enough he'd went into the supplies closet a couple of times.
"Foxy is getting ready to charge." Mike told her, overlooking the bunny's persistence. He knew this was how Bonnie acted on the later nights, Chica frequently enough being just as bad. Kyle was about to respond when the tablet screen suddenly changed along with a brief static-like pop. Mike looked down and was stunned to see "Camera Offline" dead center on the screen. Hand shaking the veteran guard jabbed at the camera button repeatedly, as if that'd somehow reset the camera or to make what he was seeing not true. Mike was further alarmed when nothing changed. Something had disabled the camera, and of all the cameras it had to be Pirate Cove's.
"The camera, Pirate Cove's camera is offline." The words let themselves out of Mike's mouth before he realized what he was saying. Kyle herself only just got to register what her coworker said before something more pressing caught their attention.
What sounded like a raging thunderstorm, rivaling the one still going on outside, came rushing from the vent. In an instant both guards realized in the confusion and fast pace of their shift they'd forgotten to check the vent, and the skeletal fox Mangle had realized this. In full fury Mangle shot from the vent and onto the office ceiling, leaving neither guard time to disguise themselves. Ear stabbing radio static pouring from its jaws, Mangle hissed and snapped at the guards from the ceiling.
"Shit!" Mike cursed as he flung himself from the office chair to avoid getting bitten. The frantic action sent the older guard to the linoleum tiled floor with a thud and the chair to go crashing. The impact sent a wave a pain up from Mike's up and to his spine. He groaned and briskly lamented about not taking better care of himself. Mike looked up and to his alarm the animatronic had turned its attention to Kyle. Mangle was unrelenting, snapping repeatedly at the other guard. Mike's eyes widened in horror, the fox was separating them, and yelled out, "Kyle!"
His yell did nothing to keep Mangle from lunging at Kyle from the ceiling with a violent screech. Mangle coiled itself on its hunches before bolting forward, chasing the female guard down the left hall. Mike quickly got to his feet, ready to rush over and try to help his cohort. A ghostly laugh from behind him caused the man to freeze up. An iron grip grabbed his shoulder and next thing Mike knew is he was flung down the right hall.
There was a crack as he collided with the hard floor. Mike groaned and pulled himself up. He looked down at the source of the noise, which thankfully wasn't him. In his panic he'd kept the tablet in his hand, which now sported a long crack across the screen. If he made it through the night Mike just knew Gregor was going to bitch at him. Heavy flat footsteps redrew his attention back to the advancing Freddy. The mascot was leering down at him, eyes beginning to flash as it played its death song. The dim flashing lights from its eyes were just enough that Mike could see the blunt white teeth that formed a heartless grin.
The bear's lifeless blue eyes rolled into the back of its head revealing its ethereal, possessed set. Freddy glared down at Mike as it took slow deliberate steps towards him. With each step the animatronic took the guard could feel faint vibrations from them grow stronger.
Mike couldn't help a faint laugh, "Heh, so you do recognize me." The bear's ears lowered in angry acknowledgement. The middle aged man slowly, carefully, shifted his hand to his belt loop, "Can't say I blame you for being mad at me. I'm mad at myself." Mike admitted with somber honesty.
The confession did not effect on the bear, if anything its eyes burned with validated hate. Mike grabbed hold of his worn flashlight, Freddy didn't seem to notice this, "But," Mike continued tensely, edging back a bit along the ground, "I can't help you if you kill me."
Freddy's arms shot forward with surprising speed. Only to freeze as its sight was blinded by a bright beam of light and the song stopped. The ray seemed double in strength from the entity's point of view. All it had been doing was suddenly erased from its consciousness leaving it with a complete blank. From the being's core anger and pain burned fiercely, quickly the raw feelings worked to overpower the momentary stun. Freddy's hands twitched, head gave a jerked, and Mike took it as his cue to leave.
The guard got to his feet and flicked his flashlight off, to avoid wasting precious battery power. Mike clenched his jaw, he had to regroup with Kyle as soon as possible! A rustling in the kitchen brought a weak feeling of relief to Mike. Chica had gone to the kitchen. Soon a pair of loud metal thuds drew his attention back to the office. A sense of dread overwhelmed Mike, the office door had been shut and by the sound of it both of them had. He lifted his head when he saw a figure briefly moving inside.
Had Kyle just locked him out of the office?
Mike had no time to ponder this as more movement came from Freddy. He gave one last look to the office before hurrying down the hall. A child's laughter cause Mike to halt, Balloon Boy was making his way towards the hall. The guard swore to himself, if the short robot saw him it'd start laughing and draw its pals towards him. He turned and booked it into the prize corner, for the moment Mike disregarded the Puppet's box. Instead he headed behind the counter and hid inside the supply closet.
The night guard sat hunched up against the wall next to some boxes, listening for the sound of the animatronic's moving. They didn't seem to be moving in towards him. Hastily Mike checked the tablet and was relieved that it was still working. The Pirate Cove camera, much to his dismay, was still offline. Mike's hope dropped as he watched the power reserve quickly deplete itself.
What was Kyle thinking? Had she gotten this panicked?
Mike suddenly felt unsure, a short phrase echoing in his head, He's here. Uncertainty made its home in his gut, it's weight considerably hefty.
That had been Kyle right?
Author's Note: Here we go. And holy cow, 80 reviews. This is nearing to be my most reviewed story yet. Seriously, thanks guys! The support on this means a lot. Especially with how it differs from, well, what's going on in the canon right now.
The next chapter may take a bit, things were a bit rough recently and I didn't get much done in terms of writing. I'll try and get it up soon as I can. I already have the first scene written.
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Mia: Not getting an account then? Alright. Sorry but I'm going to turn down your, suggestions. The first option is particularly. I have my story ending planned, and I don't want to make any changes.
Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!