Chapter 3: Retconned Childhood
"Hey, Ness, Despierta. It's time to go home."
Luis said as he slightly shacked Vanessa, who was asleep on her desk chair.
"Huh?"
As she rubbed her eyes and stretched her arms, Vanessa looked around confused, not feeling well rested at all.
"What hour is it?"
"Um, it's 6:30 p.m."
"WHAT?"
She asked surprised. There was no one else in the building. No beta testers, no kids, no visitors, no nothing. Vanessa put her hand against her head while looking down. Something about her felt strange…
Something about her felt…
Different.
Like if something had been changed, but she couldn't tell what it was.
"It's getting late, we should go now Ness."
"Y-yeah, yeah. Let's go."
As the two friends walked out of the building, Vanessa still confused about how strange and different she was feeling.
"Welp, I'll see you tomorrow Ness."
Luis said as he waved her goodbye and saw her leave, still worried as to what was happening to her. He was the only one in the office who had been noticing Vanessa's strange behavior. He tried telling the others, including his boss, but everyone else just thought that she was sad about the death of her parents, since it was the anniversary of their deaths. But Luis wasn't fooled so easily.
There was something else.
But what? He was unsure about that. Luckily, he did manage to make Sarah give Vanessa company mandated therapy.
Eventually, after walking for a few minutes, Ness finally arrived at her apartment. She still had that odd sensation, but tried to brush it off as tiredness, so without thinking about it too much, she went to bed. Perhaps this time she wouldn't have nightmares…
…
Sadly, she realized that wasn't the case, as she woke up. But not in her bedroom as the last nightmares, which involved something trying to enter to her room, banging and scratching the door.
No.
This time, she was back at that place again.
That pizzeria, that stage…
A cold chill creeped over her.
"Haha…"
A deep voice echoed behind as she looked around to find it's source.
…
"Hello, Vanessa"
"Ahh!"
She looked at the stage once again and there he was. The man in the golden bunny suit…
He came back.
He always does.
"S-Stay away fr-from me!"
Vanessa stuttered pointing a finger at him.
"But I'm your friend! Why do you want me to stay away from you? All I want to do is give you a gift..."
The man said calmly.
"I… Don't understand… Wh-What gift?
"A legacy…
…
My legacy…"
Vanessa looked at the man baffled. Legacy? What kind of legacy? Questions filled her head as she stood there in disbelief. Who was he? What legacy? Why her?
"Wha-What do you want… from me?"
"I want you to continue what I started many years ago… You see, Vanessa, years ago, I was the original owner of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza…"
There was no way this was happening; this couldn't possibly be real.
"A place for kids and grown-ups alike, where fantasy and fun come to life…"
He said while theatrically moving his arms, remembering a better place, in a better time…
"I always made sure to make it special… But now, it seems that Fazbear Entertainment has lost its magic."
He added as the beta-tester stared at him speechless. What magic was he talking about? Sure, Freddy's used to be famous at one point in the 80's, but nothing too special. Plus, for some reason, tragedies always seemed to strike at that place…
"That's why I've chosen you to help me to give Fazbear Entertainment its magic back."
The golden rabbit said as the blonde girl raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"What? You have been destroying my life! I am NOT helping you with anything!"
She yelled at him filled with rage. Yes, she was scared to death, but also angry. Why on earth would she help the man that had been torturing her relentlessly for the past weeks?
"Oh, you don't really mean that, do you Vanessa?"
William taunted as he let out a dark chuckle.
"After all, you know what happens to kids that don't do what others say, remember?
…
"I thought we've talked about this."
A man stood in front of a young 12-year-old Vanessa. She was dressed in a grey t shirt and blue shorts.
"I… I was just playing… Dad…"
Rain poured outside the house, and a few lightnings briefly brightened up the dark room with grey walls.
"You disobeyed me, Vanessa. Michael."
Her "father" said as he raised his fist in anger.
"You have a lesson to learn."
"PLEASE, NO!"
The little girl desperately cried out as she covered her face with her hands, crying and uncontrollably shaking…
…
Vanessa completely froze in place and went pale as her heart started to race.
William smirked under the suit.
"So you do remember."
There was a terrifying silence as they stared at each other. The man in the golden suit started slowly walking towards her, menacingly. Suddenly, he grabbed her arm and violently pulled Vanessa towards him.
"IF YOU DARE TO DISOBEY ME AGAIN, I'LL MAKE SURE YOU'RE IN A WORLD OF PAIN! UNDERSTOOD?"
"YES! I UNDERSTAND!"
Vanessa desperately said, filled with fear and tears on her eyes, as William let go of her. She fell onto the ground, trembling while covering her face with her hands.
She felt small.
Pathetic.
His plan had worked perfectly. With the power of Agony, he had managed to "rewrite" Vanessa's childhood memories. Now, instead of 2 loving parents, there was a single father whose wife had divorced and was physically abusive to her. And so, like many other children with abusive parents, her self-esteem plummeted onto the ground, no longer having any confidence on herself, making her weak-willed.
Just like William wanted.
"Now, let's put some rules, shall we?"
He said as he started to circle around her.
"One. You will not question the orders I give you. Two. You will not listen to anyone else but me. And three…"
William commanded as he stopped right behind Vanessa.
"You will do as I say. And you will bring me what I want."
She turned her head in fear, looking up to the man in the golden rabbit suit.
"Because if you fail me, I'll make sure you regret it- "
And so, everything turned black as she woke up in her bed, with a mix of shock and horror. This was real. He was real. A feeling of hopelessness took over her body, as she realized there was no escape from this.
A small tear rolled down her cheek.
…
"Have you noticed Vanessa's behavior has changed?"
"Yeah, you've been telling me about it for about a month now."
Sarah answered to Luis uninterestedly.
"No, I'm not talking about that. I mean, yeah, Vanessa has been acting paranoic for the past month. But now it's different. She doesn't look scared anymore. She looks… depressed."
Luis commented while he looked over at his friend. She was sitting on her desk, mindlessly staring at it, with a tired face. Her eyes were red and irritated, as if she had been crying every night for the past week. That thought made Luis shiver. What was hurting her so much?
"It's called grief, Luis."
"No, it's not!"
"It's the anniversary of her parent's death! Of course she's going to be sad for a while!"
Luis sighed and looked down to his feet, shaking his head in disappointment. Why did no one else seemed to notice what was happening? Were they blind or something?
"Though, I will admit that some therapy could help her get over it more easily."
He looked up with a small feeling of hope.
"When is the appointment?"
"This Friday, on one of the floors beneath us."
That brought a bit of relief to Luis. At least she was finally going to get some help. Right?
…
"Now, you are going to search 'blood angel' "
The voice inside Vanessa's head commanded. She obeyed reluctantly. Her search history was now filled with all sorts of strange and morbid searches, like "How to much blood can you suck out of a human child". And now this. Blood angel? What was that supposed to be? Some kind of cringy OC made by an edgy teen? Regardless, she typed the words onto her computer and…
Was horrified by the results.
Images depicting people getting their backs brutally opened flooded her screen. Their bones exposed and twisted outwards, like nightmarish wings. Blood dripped to the floor, making red puddles on it. She felt nauseous and tried to look away from it, but something didn't let her.
It was a Viking torture method.
"Fascinating. Now type 'How many times can somebody be torn apart before losing consciousness?' "
"Please no…"
"DO IT"
"Ness?"
Sarah's voice interrupted.
"Huh?"
She blurted out, quickly closing the morbid imagery on the computer and changing to the main screen background.
"It's time for your therapy session."
"My… Therapy session?"
"Yes, Luis told me you were having a hard time lately. So, I decided to sign you up for some therapy to make sure everything is okay."
The woman explained with a smile. She knew Vanessa worked hard on her job and always tried to do her best. She was a good person, and Sarah cared for her.
"And don't worry about the VR class for the kids, Luis will teach them while you're gone. Now go."
"Go to see the therapist. We don't want to raise any suspicion."
"Okay…"
As she got up from the chair and walked out of the room, Vanessa wondered what she was going to say to the therapist. Maybe this could be her chance to try and ask for help…
But why bother. No one was going to believe her. And even if they did, HE could just control her and make her say something else. There was no point in trying to escape.
After a few minutes, she arrived at the therapist's office. It was a small room with a desk that had some flowers on it. Sitting behind it was a woman with red hair and blue eyes. She was also wearing some glasses.
"Hello. You must be my new patient, correct?"
Vanessa silently nodded.
"Please take a seat."
There was a nice blue chair on which Vanessa sat. There were a few moments of silence as the woman looked through her files and made sure everything was in place.
"Very well, let's start by presenting each other. My name is Mary and I'm 30 years old. What's your name?"
Mary asked with a joyful attitude.
"I'm Vanessa. Vanessa…
…
Afton."
She answered, with a small bit of doubt as she said it. Was that really her last name?
"I'm 23 years old and I work as a videogame beta tester for Fazbear Entertainment."
"Well, nice to meet you, Vanessa."
"…Nice to meet you too."
"So, tell me, how have you been doing lately?"
"I'm… Fine…"
She lied. She didn't want to make him angry.
"That's good to hear. Have you been doing well at your job?"
"Yeah, I guess…"
"Do you have any friends?"
"I talk with Luis sometimes. He's funny."
"Yeah, I actually spoke with him a few days ago! You seem to be really good friends."
She added playfully.
"Do you have any siblings?"
"No, I'm the only daughter."
"Hmm, I see. What about your parents? Can you tell me more about them?"
That question made her freeze in place.
"My… Parents?"
She looked down as memories that she thought were hers, but weren't, flashed in her eyes…
Bad memories.
"I know it's a hard topic for you, but I can't help in anything if you don't tell me what's wrong."
Mary kindly explained to Vanessa.
"That's why I'm here after all, to help you move on."
The therapist told her with a reassuring smile. Vanessa stood quiet for a moment, looking down to the floor, before eventually shyly speaking.
"Well… I wasn't very close with my parents…"
"OPEN THIS DOOR"
"Specially not my dad…"
"I SAID NOT TO DISTURB ME!"
"He… used to hit me when he thought I misbehaved..."
"WAIT, NO!"
"What… Was his name?"
The therapist asked while raising an eyebrow.
"His name was…
Bill."
Vanessa answered, shuddering at the memory of who she thought was her father.
"…And he divorced my mom, Claire, when I was 8 years old. He… Made me lie in court about her, in order to win the custody battle… He told me I was supposed to be a good girl…"
She said quietly, almost as a whisper, while she rubbed her arm. There was a silence as Mary looked at her, before then deciding to check her file once again…
That wasn't true.
Her last name wasn't Afton. It was Aarons, and her parents were named David and Michelle, Not Bill and Claire. And they weren't abusive, on the contrary, Luis had said that Vanessa was actually really close to them. This didn't make sense. She could confront her about it but instead decided to play along in order to evaluate further the situation.
"I'm really sorry to hear that. Do you still talk to him?"
"No… He died on a car crash when he was driving drunk one night five years ago..."
While the two women were talking, Luis took Vanessa's place as teacher for the kids.
"Oh, hi Luis!"
Regina said joyfully.
"Hey there, kiddo!"
Luis answered as he entered the beta testing room for kids. All of them were already on their desks, waiting for the class to start.
"Are you here to take the class too?
"Uh, yeah… About that… I'm actually going to be your teacher for a while."
He said awkwardly answered while rubbing the back of his neck.
"What?! But what about Ness?"
One of the little kids exclaimed.
"Yeah, we want her to give the class!"
"I know, but… She's going to be busy for a while. So, I will be the one teaching you how to break videogames!"
Luis answered, trying to get the kids to like him, but they wanted Vanessa, and nothing would make them change their minds. Regardless, they still behaved and obeyed Luis, so there were no issues.
"Vanessa…"
He thought to himself. The girl of her dreams. He always tried to ask her out, but something always seemed to get in the way. She used to be so bright and joyful and had that beautiful smile that made Luis' heart flutter. He loved her so much.
"…What happened to you?"
…
It was already dark when Vanessa got to her home. The therapy session wasn't so bad, but she always had that fear of saying more than she should. She didn't want to disobey William.
He and her dad were so similar. Maybe that's why she was so afraid of him, because he reminded her of her own father. As she got onto the bed, Vanessa thought about all of those memories she had of the man she thought had raised her.
God, they were so awful. One time, she decided to sneak off to a nearby arcade that she loved. It was full of awesome videogames and had neon lights everywhere, in contrast to her bedroom, that had boring, grey walls and one simple bed. No nightstand, no toys, no nothing. At the time of sneaking off, Vanessa didn't think to much about it. But when she got back…
"WAIT DAD, PLEASE, I'M SORRY!"
Vanessa remembered hysterically crying while feeling a terrible pain on her face as her father dragged her out of the house in the middle of the rainy night and locked her in the basement of a small shack outside the house.
What had she done to deserve such a horrible father figure? Why couldn't she have normal, loving parents like everyone else?
At least her father was gone now…
…
More weeks passed and the therapist sessions continued. William didn't want to go to them anymore, not only because they were a waste of time to him, but also because there was always the possibility that something could go wrong like Vanessa saying more than she should. Each time he grew more and more tired of them. It was just so boring. He needed to do something. Now.
"Good morning, Vanessa. How are you feeling today? You look a little tired."
"I'm fine. I just had some trouble sleeping."
She said uninterested while looking at the window. The sun shined and the birds chirped outside the building.
"It's a gorgeous day, isn't it?"
"I like the blue sky. I sometimes sit outside to read."
Vanessa answered without looking at the therapist, still focused on the sky, almost in like a trance.
"Really? That's good. Do you have any other hobbies?"
"No. I work a lot."
"I know you do. Maybe more than you should. More free time would do you good. I have a craft space in my basement. Maybe I could come up with something you could learn to do!"
The therapist said cheerfully.
"I don't like dark basements… My father used to lock me in there as a punishment…"
"Dad! Please let me out!
PLEASE!
…Please let me out…"
"Yes… About that… There's an issue that I think we need to discuss before we continue further with your therapy."
"Huh? What issue?"
"It's about your past."
"What about it?"
The therapist opened one of the cabinets of the desk and got some papers out.
"Well, I don't mean to make you uncomfortable but, I was looking through your files and well… It turns out, you seem to have some sort of 'fake memory' issue."
"Oh no."
"Fake memory? What do you mean 'Fake Memory'?"
"You say that you remember having an abusive father named Bill, who divorced your mom, right?"
"Yeah…"
"Well, turns out, that's not actually true. It didn't happen."
Vanessa stood silent for a few moments, processing what the therapist had said.
"Huh?"
"The truth is, you actually had a great childhood, with two loving parents. And your last name isn't Afton, it's Aarons. Similar, yes, but definitively different. Your file says it here."
The therapist handed Vanessa the papers so that she could see them herself. As she read what they said, questions started to flood her head.
"Wh-What? N-No… That's… That can't be right… I… I'm not lying about my past!"
"It's okay. I never said you were. It's common that, after a traumatic incident, our brains forget or even create memories in order to protect us. Your parents died on a car crash about a year ago, and their names are David and Michelle, not Bill and Claire."
"But… I don't remember anything of that…"
She said with a mix of disbelief and shock.
"Here, this might help you remember. It's a photo Luis gave me of you and your parents before the car accident."
The woman said as she handed Vanessa a small photo. In the left there was a man with red hair and green eyes, and a woman with blonde hair and brown eyes. They were both hugging Vanessa.
She froze in place, completely paralyzed as her true memories started flooding her brain. She started to feel lightheaded, as the world around her started to blur out.
The therapist was right. Those were her parents. But then why did she have other memories? Who was that other man that had pretended to be her father? -
"No."
Her face turned expressionless as she let the picture down on the table. Vanessa was now asleep, and now he was talking…
"I don't know who those people are."
Vanessa said uninterested as the therapist grabbed the picture once again and left it inside a drawer again.
"Hmm. I see. Well, we'll talk more about this on our next session. You can go now."
She then stood up from the chair and left the office, but not the building. She waited outside and kept hearing what the therapist said.
"I spoke with Vanessa, patient 46, today. After about a month of therapy and diagnosis, I've finally confronted Vanessa with her true past. Oddly enough, she doesn't seem to remember any of her actual childhood. She recalls having an abusive father named Bill Afton, when in reality her father is David Aarons."
The therapist recorded on her phone.
"It's a strange case. I don't think she's lying for attention, since she has many of the symptoms that people with abusive parents tend to have, like low self-esteem. Perhaps it's something along the lines of the 'Fake Memory' syndrome, but it doesn't match the symptoms."
William, controlling Vanessa, was secretly listening to the therapist recording the tapes.
"She didn't go through any traumatic experience that could have affected her memory. Sure, the death of her parents must have been hard for her, but not exactly traumatic since she wasn't there to live it or witness it. I'm thinking that maybe she could have been manipulated to believe she had an abusive parent but why would anyone want to do that?"
He frowned. The therapist was officially crossing the line.
"The strangest thing about it is that I think I have heard the name 'Bill Afton' before. And it's related to Fazbear Entertainment. I am unsure of how exactly to diagnose her, but I'm going to continue researching about this 'Bill Afton' she talks about to see what I can find."
…
"I don't think so."
…
That therapist did not live to see the dark past of William.
And so, after rewriting once again Vanessa's memories and wiping out the last day of her therapy, she was once again in her apartment, with no memory of the crime sha had just committed.
She was on her bed, hugging her knees. She didn't feel like an adult anymore. She felt like a weak and small girl, with no power or authority over her own life. She didn't know but William was watching her, pondering.
He knew he needed to have control over her, and that she needed to fear him.
But that blonde hair…
Those green eyes…
Elizabeth
His little daughter. His affection towards that girl was probably the closest thing he had ever felt to genuine love. And he had ruined it.
He felt a pang of guilt through his body.
"Maybe I was too harsh with her…"
As Vanessa sat on her bed, a glitchy figure appeared in front of her.
"Hello."
The golden bunny said in a soft tone as he tilted his head.
"Hi…"
"How are you, Ness? Is that what your friends call you?"
She nodded. His voice echoed in her head, like if they were in a cave.
"Well, Ness, I know I was a little harsh with you, but you have to understand that this is your new life now."
William said in an almost fatherly tone, as he teleported to her side.
"Maybe if you gave it a try you could even learn to enjoy it!"
Afton said excited. Vanessa turned her head towards him and looked at William with sad and scared puppy eyes. More guilt started to take over him.
"Here. Why don't we draw something to cheer you up?"
He said teleporting next to Vanessa's white desk. She got up from the bed, and slowly walked towards it, sitting on the pink chair in front of it. Then she grabbed a pencil and paper, waiting for William to tell her what to do.
"Now, I want you to draw a costume. A bunny costume. Like me. But with your own twist. Like if you were a mascot entertainer at Freddy's. Okay?"
"But, why?"
"Now, what did we say about questions?"
"Oh, right…"
Vanessa looked down on the table and started to draw as the William observed her. A few minutes later, it was done.
"Good job.
He said as she showed him the drawing. It was a cute, anthropomorphic white bunny, with cute puppy eyes and a small blue bowtie…
"So, tell me, Vanessa, what is… Her name?"
…
"…Vanny."
…
Susan entered the therapy room. It was a nice, brown desk with a few cabinets. She sipped her coffee and sat down to read Patient 46's files.
"Aarons, Vanessa. 23 years old. Works in the videogame developing team of Fazbear Entertainment. She has inconsistent childhood memories, recalling an abusive father named Bill Afton who divorced her mom, Claire, when she was 8 years old. However, she actually had normal parents, David and Michelle Aarons, who passed out in a tragic car accident on the 13 of August of 2022."
"Hmm. Inconsistent childhood memories…"
The new therapist thought to herself as she read the papers. Some minutes later, Patient 46 showed up.
"Hello, it's nice to meet you!"
As Vanessa entered the room, she raised an eyebrow. Sitting on the other side of the desk, there was someone she had never seen before. It wasn't a red-haired woman with blue eyes, now it was a slightly older woman with half-moon shaped glasses, brown eyes and dark hair.
"I don't know you. What happened to the other? – "
"Oh, don't worry about that. We'll get to know each other in no time."
"Great. Another one."
Afton thought to himself as he watched another nosy therapist meddle with his plans. As Vanessa sat down, once again she began to talk about her "past" and how sad it made her feel. It was exhausting. And once again, the therapist eventually found out that what Vanessa was saying wasn't true.
Fine then. Let's just kill her and move on! But eventually, a new therapist showed up and so, history repeated itself again. Not only that, but Fazbear Entertainment was also starting to become suspicious of Vanessa, and all of her therapists "mysteriously" disappearing.
By the time the fourth therapist had found out the truth about Vanessa's parents and the police had started to get involved, William had realized that this plan wasn't working at all.
"ENOUGH!"
He snapped at the therapist, and made Vanessa fall unconscious. Some time later, he woke her up, once again in the twisted Freddy's pizzeria inside her head. There was an eerie silence in the room.
…
"You lied to me, didn't you?"
"Listen, Vanessa- "
"You put those memories on my head! My parents weren't abusive! They loved me!"
She yelled at him in fear and anger. All of this time, the man who she thought was her father, the man that made her feel so weak, wasn't even real. But he was real. And she had been blindingly obeying him, doing grotesque searches at her work, buying stuff for a stupid rabbit costume he had told her to make.
This was it.
"Vanessa."
"Why did you lie to me?! Who are you?! What are you?!"
"VANESSA THAT'S ENOUGH!"
"NO!"
…
"Fine then. If that's how you want things to be…"
…
Suddenly, The Princess felt how she was dragged by something. Something that looked like a rabbit but was made of purple goo and glitched as it violently dragged her towards a giant metal door, opening it with a glitchy, purple key. Shadow-like monsters started to appear all around the pizzeria, as The Monster threw her into the room and quickly closed the entrance.
"NO! LET ME OUT!"
The Princess yelled desperately as she tried to open the door. But her efforts were in vain. Now she was trapped in a dark prison in her own mind. Then, from a small opening in the door, The Monster talked to her.
"I tried to be gentle with you, Vanessa. But since you aren't willing to cooperate, you will stay here, until you finally accept your new life."
And so, as The Monster walked away, The Princess was left completely alone.
William glitched back into his "normal" Springbonnie form, as he returned to the animatronic stage. His plan to make Vanessa obey him had failed. But that wouldn't stop him. Irritated, he looked at one of the small and pathetic shadow bunny blobs in the ground.
"It seems that I'm going to have to take some… Drastic measures."
With his eyes glowing purple, William raised his bunny hand above the shadow, and he used his agony powers to do something he had thought about before, but was reluctant to do. However, it seemed that he didn't have another choice.
If Vanessa won't obey him…
…
Vanny will.
The dark blob started to screech and make horrifying sounds as it enlarged and became a monstruous and glitchy anthropomorphic, bunny, with glowing green eyes…
"You are Vanny."
"I am Vanny."
"You obey me."
"I obey you."
"You will bring me whatever I want."
"I will."
"You will stay the course."
"I will."
"You will focus only on my voice.
"I will."
…
"Are you ready?"
"I am."