Some Things Are Better Left Buried
By: Miss-DNL
Chapter 26: Matter of Seeing
The Golden Freddy had disappeared. Ethan pursed his lips, disapproving of the result. The boy looked around the hall, his disappointment shelved for curiosity. Parts of his ticket ribbon stuck out of his pocket haphazardly, from him absentmindedly stuffing it in there, as he stood in the middle of hall. Ethan looked around the hall from underneath the orange bill of his Chica hat, the back hall sure was different than the rest of the pizzeria. The main part of the building was lively and colorful. The back hall seemed to carry an almost dreary grey tone to it. The confetti pattern was still present, as well as the tile border that ran along the middle of the wall, but the life seemed to have been sucked out of it somehow.
Ethan rubbed his arms, the air was chilly back here. He supposed that made sense, no one was back here and it wasn't as bright. Ethan perked, he'd heard on TV that cold places were where ghosts hung around! That meant the Golden Freddy was still around, or could be, right? Ethan looked around with renewed excitement only to remember that he wasn't supposed to be back here. He could get in trouble.
Indecisively Ethan shifted where he stood, trying to decide if it'd be worth it. Possibly get in trouble or possibly see the Golden Freddy?
Up above him a watchful camera whirred from right to left, sending all it saw to the security office.
"What is that kid doing back there?" Leroy questioned aloud as he set down the soda he'd quickly gotten from the concession counter in the main party room. He'd just been checking around the building and clicked on the back-hall camera. Leroy hadn't expected to see anyone, but there the kids was.
Leroy watched the child fidget where he stood in the middle of the hall. Worried something might be wrong, Leroy got up from his chair and headed to go see what was going on. He needed to escort him out of the back hall anyway.
As he entered the main party room Leroy saw the curtains of the stage being drawn back. Looked like the show was about to start, but he had a kid to check on. Leroy continued on his way, saying "excuse me" a couple of time to get past people. They gave him wondering looks but didn't question him. By the time Leroy reached the hall Freddy had already begun to speak. The children had already been cheering when the curtains had begun to open but now they were yelling full force.
"Hey kids! It's your good pal Freddy Fazbear! Welcome to my pizzeria I hope you're having lots of fun!"
A loud unanimous cheer of "We are!" followed. Afterwards Chica and Bonnie chimed in. Chica encouraging kids to enjoy their pizzas and Bonnie asking if they wanted to hear them play a song. Of course, the crowd screamed at the top of the small lungs that they did. By the time the Fazbear band began their recorded singing Leroy spotted the kid he'd seen from the camera view.
"Hey kid." The boy jumped in surprise. Leroy glanced the child over, thankful when he didn't see any bruises or the like on him. That was a concerning worry off his mind. He'd been afraid that the boy hiding from someone. "What are you doing back here?"
Leroy furrowed a brow when the child fidgeted, like he was unsure about answering. Leroy's worry returned, "Is something wrong? Are you okay?"
The boy shook his head then nodded. He sounded timid when he spoke, "I'm okay…"
Still concerned about the boy's behavior Leroy asked one more time, "Can you tell me why you're back here?"
Leroy watched the child thoughtfully bite down on his lower lip. He offered the boy a friendly smile in hopes of encouraging him to answer. The attempt failed, the Chica capped boy shook his head and muttered a, "Uh-uh."
After a soft sigh, Leroy bent down some to be more on the kid's level and asked, "Why can't you tell me? Is there a reason?"
The child seemed to become shy now, he scuffed a foot along the linoleum tiled checkered floor. His head down he quietly said, "Because you won't believe me…Mom said people wouldn't believe me. That people would think I'm weird or make fun of me…" The boy looked up at Leroy, he looked at the guard almost pleadingly, "Am I in trouble…?"
Leroy blinked in surprise before figuring the boy knew he wasn't supposed to be in the back here. He was going to assure the child he wasn't in trouble when he said that his mother said no one would believe him, it set a red flag off in his head. Leroy prayed that his assumption was wrong, an issue like that would be too much for his first day at work. That said, if it was true, he would do everything he could to help the child.
"No, you're not in trouble, but aren't supposed to be back here. It's not for costumers." The child uttered that he knew that in an ashamed matter, his head hanging low. Now that he'd gotten that across Leroy wondered if he should put his hand on his shoulder. Try to gain a form of trust from it, but he worried that would be pushing his boundaries. Leroy wished he'd had some form of training for this. So, he instead decided to use a softer tone, "You can tell me. I promise I won't make fun of your or anything." He pointed to his name tag, "I'm Leroy a security guard here. I'm here to help."
The boy looked at the offered hand quietly for a moment before taking it. "My name is Ethan."
"It's nice to meet you Ethan. I like your Chica hat." Leroy complimented with a friendly smile.
"Thanks!" Ethan answered, smile beaming. It was quickly replaced with a look of confusion. He looked around and asked, "Where's the other security guard? The one that was here the last two times I was here?"
His question got Leroy to arch a brow, "The other-Oh! You mean Gregor." The boy gave him a quizzical look and Leroy realized he didn't know his supervisor's name. He kept his smile and explained, "He's the other guard. He's busy doing deskwork."
"Sounds boring." Ethan commented, getting the idea deskwork was like homework.
Leroy nodded in agreement, "It is, but us adult have to do that stuff."
Ethan looked back to Leroy, he knew the adult wanted an answer. His mother told him not to talk about it though and he didn't want to be made fun of, but Leroy said he wouldn't and he didn't seem like he would. He seemed nice and he seemed like he was a little worried maybe. Ethan didn't know why he would be but it seemed like he was. He didn't want the security guard to be worried about him, he's okay.
He was still uneasy about explaining, but he'd always wanted to talk to someone about what he saw. Whenever he told his Mom she'd tell him "not to worry about it" or "just ignore it", things like that. They'd never really talked about it. He got the feeling his Mom didn't like talking about the things he saw. His sister knew too but they didn't really get along, she was always talking about girl stuff and her boyfriend. Mitch was okay, he guessed. He didn't really know him that well- aside from his sister saying how much she liked him. He usually was with his friends or his sister anyway. Maybe he could talk to Leroy about it? The more Ethan thought about it the more he wanted to. What harm could it do? Not like he'd be here every day, he'd just been lucky so far.
"Um, well, I…" Ethan stammered, he still felt so unsure. He couldn't bring himself to speak correctly.
"It'll be okay, promise." Leroy encouraged, like he was talking to a little brother. He'd never had a sibling. So he tried to mimic the tone his mother had used with him when she reassured him, and it seemed to do the trick.
"I saw a golden Freddy." Ethan finally answered, his eyes averted and his tone shy, almost sounding embarrassed by what he said. "He put up a picture, I think."
"A golden Freddy?" Leroy echoed confusedly. He regretted his reaction when Ethan made a sour face at him.
"You promised!" He cried out.
Leroy held his hands up, trying to show he meant no insult, "I'm not making fun! I'm just confused, okay?" Ethan looked at him, trying to figure out if the adult meant it or not. Leroy explained, "I don't know of us having a golden Freddy. I only know about our star on stage," He gestured towards the stairs that led backstage, "and he's brown."
Ethan settled then looked back to the ground, uncertain again. "That's because only I can see him…"
"Only you, can see him?" Leroy's question came out slowly in two parts. He wasn't quite sure how to take this. Had the boy been following an imaginary friend? But he'd said he'd saw the Golden Freddy, which, to Leroy, didn't sound like it was his friend. He felt Ethan would've mentioned it was his friend, at least. Maybe he was just pretending, or, the boy could be lying all together, but Leroy had already told him he wasn't in trouble so why lie?
"It's because he's a ghost." Ethan's explanation was heard clearly amongst the noise of the show that was still going on. The rumor's that the animatronics were possessed by murdered children that had a hatred for security guards. Warmth seemed to drain from Leroy, had the back hall always been so cold? He felt for the cross that was just beneath his thick dark purple work shirt. The feel of the necklace pendent calmed him some but Leroy still felt a sneaking sensation of unease building up.
Ethan picked up on this and looked at the guard, wondering what was wrong. Leroy flashed a reassuring smile and let his arm drop back to his side. He forced the sudden surge of anxiety down, suppressed it and pushed it back. The child happened to claim he saw a ghost but that didn't mean there was one. Nonetheless he wanted to get out of the back hall and to somewhere more…populated. Leroy focused on Ethan, he needed to get this child to his parents, he had to do his job. He could mull over the possibility that Freddy's was haunted or not later.
"Let's get you to your parents Ethan." Leroy said as he stood back up.
Ethan frowned at him, he recognized an adult dodging a subject; his Mom did it a lot herself, "You don't believe me…"
Leroy opened his mouth to respond but didn't know what to say. Instead he took his hand and, with insistence in his voice, said, "Come on, let's go."
Disappointment painted on his face Ethan hung his head and gave a compliant nod. Leroy frowned, he didn't want to sadden the child, but he really did have to get him out of the back gall. If there was a ghost of a vengeful child back here, Leroy didn't want this boy to be around it. If, there was one. Leroy didn't want to devote too much belief in that. He hoped that the boy was just making things up, or his imagination had gotten a little too vivid for a moment. The thought of a child's ghost hanging around both saddened and brought Leroy great concern. He was a man of faith, not totally devout, but he did his prayers and went to church most Sundays. Restless spirits unsettled him to say the least. Ones that were rumored to be particularly vengeful ones stressed his anxieties.
A sense of great relief allowed Leroy to relax his nerves some when they rejoined the other people in the main party room. It was a sense of safety in numbers, nothing bad could happen while other people were around. Least that's what Leroy let his mind convince him. He scanned the room, trying to see if he could spot a pair of concerned parents. The show was still going on: Freddy and his two friends were singing another song, much to the excitement of the mass of children crowded around the stage. The sight soothed Leroy enough that he managed a faint smile.
He looked back to Ethan, "Where are your parents?"
"I didn't come with my Mom." Ethan answered as he absently poked at the ticket ribbon that jutted out of his pocket. He pointed over to a group of teenagers sitting at a circular corner booth. They all seemed to be talking and laughing avidly about something while eating pizza. "My sister's boyfriend brought me here with his friends."
Leroy looked from the boy then over to the group of teenagers. He quirked a brow, it was a bit odd that his sister's boyfriend brought her brother over and not the sister herself or the mother. He dismissed the oddity and began to lead Ethan over to the group. It didn't take long for the teens to notice the guard's approach. They quieted, but watched him with a keen interest. One of the boys quickly noticed Ethan was with him and seemed somewhat confused and concerned, Leroy guessed he was Ethan's sister's boyfriend.
"Ethan don't tell me you got in trouble!" Mitch exclaimed in surprise.
Leroy was quick to dismiss his worry, "No, he's not in trouble. I did find him in the back hall through. Try and keep an eye on him so it doesn't happen again. The back hall is for staff only not costumers."
Mitch looked at Ethan as he answered Leroy, "Yeah, don't worry I'll keep an eye on him." He looked to the guard with an apologetic smile, "Sorry, I didn't think he'd wander off like that."
"Don't worry about it," Leroy reassured before he let go of Ethan's hand. Quietly the child walked over to the booth and sat on the end seat. He looked down at his lap in silent shame. Leroy frowned, he didn't mean to have embarrassed the child or betray his trust but this was his job. He turned his attention back to the teenage boy, "Just make sure it doesn't happen again."
"I will, thanks for bringing him back." Mitch thanked as he curiously looked back to Ethan.
"No problem, and enjoy your time at Freddy Fazbear's." Leroy wrapped up before he left to return to his post.
Mitch watched the guard leave before he looked back to Ethan. The boy had his still head hung, face hidden by his Chica cap but he could tell he was upset. What had him curious was why he'd gone into the back hall. Mitch wasn't all too close to Ethan but he'd never heard the kid to be the type to go against set rules like that. He was the well-behaved type that didn't like to get in trouble. What Mitch also knew was the reason he'd volunteered to bring Ethan to Freddy's today. He'd heard from his girlfriend that, supposedly, Ethan could see ghosts.
"Hey Ethan," the boy lifted his head and looked over to Mitch, "why'd you go into the back hall?"
Ethan looked back to his lap. Mitch barely heard his answer over the singing animatronics and screaming kids, "I was just curious..."
It was hard to tell of Ethan was just feeling ashamed for getting caught or something else. Mitch's gut told him it was the latter but he knew that's what he wanted it to be. The Fazbear missing kids cases were a big intrigue of his. He found that sort of thing interesting whether it was unsolved cases or unsolved happenings. From criminal to the possibly supernatural, the unsolved was a fixation of his. He liked to dig up as much information as he could and see if he agreed with popular theories or come to his own conclusion. Naturally he planned on going into the investigation field when he got older, preferably federal or maybe private. The Fazbear case being a hometown case, that was now a hometown urban legend, added a more personal interest.
"That all?" Mitch questioned. It was a long shot but he hoped to egg something out of the kid.
Ethan clamped his lips shut tightly and nodded.
At that Mitch was willing, disappointedly so, to drop it. One of his friends; however, was more eager to continue pressing the child, "Did you see something?"
The kid's expression seized up before he feverishly shook his head. This reaction got Mitch to think that he had seen something but, for whatever reason, didn't want to talk about it. He drummed his fingers on his pants leg. Much as he'd like to know for sure, here and now, it was obvious to see Ethan had clammed up. When his friend was about to pressure the kid again Mitch elbowed him in the side. His friend, Jayden, shot him a look but Mitch shot him one right back and motioned for him to lay off. Jayden still didn't look to happy but sat back against the booth with a huff under his breath.
"Just leave him alone for bit, okay?" Mitch sharply whispered to his friend.
"Alright, alright…" Jayden responded.
Leroy sat back down in his chair, his leg bouncing impatiently. He was so antsy that he already felt like getting back up and pacing the length of the security office. What Ethan had told him had his nerves up in arms. Leroy shook his head and exhaled through his nose. Get back to doing your job, Leroy's mind told him sternly. Mentally he nodded his head in agreement.
With a couple of scoots Leroy pulled his swivel chair back up to the desk. He with a gentle exhale he put himself back to work. The distraction worked for a while but he kept finding himself looking at the crayon pictures tapped to the walls. He recalled that Ethan had mentioned something about the "Golden Freddy" putting up a picture. Leroy had been so caught up on the "Golden Freddy" part that he hadn't asked about the picture bit.
A sudden itching sensation yanked Leroy from his thoughts and he scratched at his sleeve. All the uncertainty was causing his old needle scars to act up. Leroy stared at the camera screen, a colorful wall plastered with pictures being shown, as his hand firmly gripped his arm. His leg bouncing grew more vigorously as his anxiety built up.
No, I need to watch the cameras. Leroy reminded himself, but a thought came along to change his mind, I haven't done a round around the pizzeria yet though, and walking would help my nerves…
Just being out of the solitary security room helped Leroy ease his stress. The busyness of the party room, the kids running around; making all kinds of noises, people eating and talking, almost made him forget about why he'd convince himself to leave the office. He absentmindedly glanced over the crayon drawings and spotted something odd, out of place, among the playful and innocent pieces.
His green eyes pinned on the piece, Leroy approached it. At first, he couldn't make out what it depicted. It was difficult to tell among the swarm of other colors and images, especially with the varying level of artistic talent. As he grew closer, Leroy stared, disbelievingly, at what he realized what was drawn. Quietly he took the picture off the wall, the paper quivering in an unsteady hand. He couldn't believe what he was holding and he couldn't decide if he wanted this to be a sick joke or not.
The picture was done in crayon like all the rest. The shades of the colors were the basic hues that the pizzeria provided giving it a bright cheery look, which sharply contrasted to the subject matter that was dawn.
There were two figures on the picture. One was what appeared to be an all purple security guard. Only three colors were used on him, purple, black, and yellow. Yellow was only used on what Leroy guessed was a security badge, while the black crudely defined clothing such as his hat. His eye were almost all black aside from small white dots that were possibly pupils and a black empty smile that was scribbled wide across the face.
Lying next to the guard was what looked to be Fun Time Foxy's animatronic head. The fox's head had a rough, waxy pink outline, the same color used on its cheeks. In contrast with the mostly white and pink colors were black holes for eyes. There was a roughness as to how that was drawn, Leroy could see small bits of black wax dust clinging just atop the paper, like whomever had drawn it had done it with vigorous strokes. Leroy could spot similar with the purple on the guard, if not done more feverishly.
With the guard's grin and the fox's eye empty eye sockets Leroy found himself second guessing his thoughts on what Ethan had said. With that possibility, the picture he was holding wasn't near the back hall. It had been on the party room's back wall. Quickly Leroy went to go check if there was another. He hoped he was just overreacting.
Author's Note: Sorry for the late update, but unfortunately something came up that had me in the hospital for a few days. Nothing serious, I'm fine but it caused me to lose my train of thought for this chapter. Following that the flow of events I had set out changed giving me a stint of writers block. Sadly it left this chapter a bit less happening but we'll get to what I planned just not yet. We'll be getting back to Gregor's nightmare next, so I hope you all look forward to that. :)
And since a new 5NAF book is out, please don't ask me about it. I'll leave a short thoughts on it when I finish.
Hope you enjoyed that chapter ^^