"Dad! Please, please, please! Let me go there!"

"Michael, no. I already told you many times. Be a good kid now."

But when do kids ever be good and listen?

Little Michael Afton was heading to the local Freddy's restaurant against his father's wishes, under the pretense of going to a friend's house. After waiting for his father William to leave towards an unspecified location he seems to always to go before work, he asked his mother. While she was tired from trying to get his baby sister Elizabeth to sleep, she was less strict, so she let him go.

"This shouldn't be a problem. I'll just go in for a bit and leave before my dad shows up."

Michael liked that his dad was one of the co-owners of the Freddy Fazbear's franchise, but hated how William seemed to limit his son's visitations to the establishment, on the grounds of it being dangerous.

How exactly is it dangerous, Michael never understood.

Regardless, the boy was now standing outside the restaurant, his heart filling with excitement as he approached the front doors.

Suddenly, the doors swung open and Mike was knocked down to the ground by a bunch of running children around his age. They continued on while he was left briefly disoriented before he realized what happened and looked back confused.

"Why are they running like that? Did they get in trouble?"

Mike got up, dusted himself off and went in, figuring that trying to get involved with whatever those kids did would bring him trouble. The weird encounter was instantly forgotten the moment he stepped in and saw the very recognizable and colorful interior. It was truly every child's dream.

The giddy child ran up to the back area to have some fun but his ears stopped him.

Banging.

Lots and lots of banging.

Michael turned his head to the right. "It's definitely coming from this direction..."

Before him was a metal door, one that seemed to be producing a lot of noise.

He cautiously approached, leaning one ear on it.

"Help! Someone! Please!"

"I'm either imagining things or there's someone locked out behind this door."

A few more seconds of listening confirmed the call for help to be authentic.

"So someone is in trouble. No one must be hearing it cause there hasn't been anyone here yet today." Michael concluded. Now he had to intervene.

If he was being honest right now, trying to get someone who works here to deal with a problem is like asking a blind person to describe colors: it goes nowhere. Yes, the entertainment value was all over the place here, but the security and surveillance was another story.

"I mean, they didn't even notice I came here alone and wandered here."

So with his decision made, Michael ran back outside the restaurant and into the alleyway leading to the back, estimating where the door would be as he walked.

"Okay so if I walk like this, I'm sure to get to..." He was stopped in his tracks when he noticed a wall blocking his way. "I can hear the sound from behind this..." It was now clearly sounding like a little girl.

"There's gotta be something I can use to look over." The boy looked around and spotted a dumpster, and although it was heavy, it was set up against the wall exactly how Mike needed it, thankfully.

"Perfect."

Climbing over it, he can just about see the other side and as expected, there was a little girl, also around his age, banging on the door and calling for help.

"Hey! Over here!"

The girl looked over in shock at the voice calling for her. She couldn't even formulate a response till she heard it again.

"Don't worry! I'm gonna help you." Then it hit him that he has nothing to help her over. "Hey, is there anything around you that can help?"

She looked around her. "Uh..uhm...Oh! There's a rope here!"

"The poor thing. She must've been so frantic that she didn't see it.."

"Okay! Throw it over and hold on. I'm gonna tie my end to something and you're gonna have to climb over." Michael instructed. "Can you do that?"

"Y-yes! Yes, I can!" She yelled back.

"Seems like she's gathering her courage. That's good."

The rope appeared over the wall and Mike grabbed it, tying it to the very dumpster he was standing on. "Okay, gonna do the tie my dad taught me. Works every time."

After making sure it was securely tied, the boy yelled to the girl. "Okay, you can come over now."

Hearing the struggling noises she made on the other side was nerve-wracking for Michael.

"Come on, you can do it. I believe in you."

She soon appeared over the wall and climbed over it.

"Yes! You made it! Good job! Now easy does it, let me help you get down." Mike extended his hands towards her as she slowly inched downward, but when the girl landed on the dumpster, she almost lost her balance a d fell off. "AAH-" She yelped, but the boy next to her was fast and caught her.

"Oh..." The little girl breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you for helping me...I was so scared..."

Mike smiled at her. "Don't worry about it. I'm glad to help. Come on, let's get off this thing and go back inside."

She shook her head. "No...no, I wanna go home now...please..."

"Wow...she still looks scared. I don't blame her though."

"Okay sure, I can walk you home."

And the two set off on their way.

"What's your name?"

"Charlotte. What about you?"

"I'm Michael."

"Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too."

Despite the relief he felt at the moment, Mike was apprehensive.

"I want to know what happened exactly but...Is she ready to tell me?"

"Charlotte..." He began hesitatingly. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to but...How exactly did you end up locked out there?"

Now Charlotte looked apprehensive just like him while trying to find the words to tell the story.

"He was very nice to stop and help me. The least I could do is explain what happened."

"Well..." She began. "I was having fun with some of the other kids in the restaurant until...until...they suddenly told me to go out a door and...they locked me out...I kept yelling for anyone but no one came..."

Michael patted her on the back, sporting a sympathetic frown. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"Were those kids that ran into me the same ones that did this to her? Is that why they were leaving in a hurry?"

"Hey, if you ever see those kids again, just tell me. I'll protect you, okay?"

Charlotte looked at Mike with awe. "R-Really? You would do that for me?" When he nodded in response, she smiled. "You're very nice."

"Thanks. You too. Do you go to the restaurant often?"

"That was actually my first time going. I was very excited but now..."

"Ah...that's alright. Maybe when you come next time, I'll come with you. It's a really fun place that my dad made with his friend, you know."

"Wow, really? That's so cool!"

"I know, right? It's every child's dream."

Then there was some silence after their bonding moment.

"You know...There's something weird about what happened..." She told him.

Mike looked puzzled. "What do you mean?" He asked, eager to know what she means.

Charlotte pulled up her hand, showing Mike a green bracelet on her wrist.

"That's a pretty bracelet." He commented, and the girl nodded in agreement. "Mhm, my dad gave it to me and said it will protect me..."

"Oh..." It hit Michael why she brought it up, and it made him feel anxious. "Did he tell you exactly how would it protect you?"

Charlotte shook her head no. "It's not that I don't believe him. Just...it's weird that it didn't protect me, but you did."

The boy only hummed, unsure what to make of that.

"Oh yeah...we're almost at my house now and I think I will be okay to go on my own now." Charlotte stopped in her tracks, making Mike stop as well. "Thank you again for today. I don't know what I would've done if you didn't come."

"Again, you don't have to thank me. I just did what anyone would've done...I hope."

Charlotte giggled. "Still. I hope we can meet again someday."

Mike giggled as well. "Me too. Take care, Charlotte." He waved as she continued on.

"I guess I should go home now as well. Nothing like going back after helping someone out."

When little Michael Afton got home, he found that his mother finally put Elizabeth to sleep. She asked him if he had fun with his friend.

He said yes.

Elsewhere however, another Afton was not having fun. Far from it, actually.

He was irritated.

Irritated that one got away from him.

Got away from him because someone helped them.

The area was empty, the rope was tied to something over the wall.

"Looks like the kids were not being good..."

"I must discipline them."