Chapter Nine

Leap of Faith

"How do...you know...?" Then it hit him just like that, and his mood darkened. "Mum."

"It took place while you were still in the hospital, but she made the choice herself. She confided in me because she was worried about you, she trusted me. But didn't give me all the details, just said enough, and I did the rest myself. Said I be the judge after I had everything."

Yeah, that sounded just like Clara. Still, there were no words to describe the horrible feelings mixed. "Why didn't you say something before, after all this time?" Michael demanded, keeping in mind he had to get back to work, and that they could pick another time to continue this. Meanwhile, he'd be haunted by this until next time.

Kaleia had a glisten in her eye which meant she was trying not to cry out of fear. "It's like I keep saying, you tell me when you were ready. But just now, I..." She swallowed. "I got sick and couldn't take keeping this from you."

It's both guilt and because you mean it.

She wasn't judging him at all, wanted to know his side, and thinking about his past made him ill to the point he wanted to throw up even though there was no food in him at the moment. In fact, he wanted to eat so much later and then puke it up afterward for stress relief, but his mom wouldn't be happy with that and would fret over him. His nerves lost control at the thought of telling her about Evan, Elizabeth, his father...his asshole behavior youth...

"I should let you get back to work." Her voice, cracking, broke him out of his thoughts. She turned away. "You know my days off, I know yours, so let's pick this up another time next time both of us are off."

Yeah, that sounded brilliant. That way he could get over being miffed a little because his mother had to step in the way she did, even though he understood her intentions. "Yeah. I'd like that," was all he could say. He wanted to give her a kiss either on one of her cheeks or her lips goodbye, but there was a slim chance Mason could come out again. If he was watching from his office window, well, you get the picture.

When she was gone after a pained smile and wiping her eyes, which he saw while her back faced him, that was Jeremy's cue to arrive. "Yep, I know what this calls for now," he said, lunch bag now in hand and Michael's with. "You need more of my wisdom." Jeremy winked.

"What this time?"

"Simple: she knows now. I heard just a few bits from a distance to know that. Could have been worse, because she didn't judge you at all and will hear you out. And your ma? She meddled, but she helped you and trusted Kaleia's judgment. All of that's gotta mean something going forward, man."

~o~

"Oh, so that means what I think it does."

"Sure does, Mel, unless you're thinking something I haven't."

Night had fallen, and that meant they would see the Fourth of July fireworks in the great field near the neighborhood. They were all over the place in town, and it would have been at the lake had Mother Nature not been a bitch as Grandpa said. The girls were getting ready just as it was getting dark. It was nothing super special, but the colors fit the event, for the most part. Kaleia's skirt and tank were mismatched, but to hell with it. The white shirt was printed boldly with an arrow and bright feathers with the words Wild & Free, and the peasant skirt dark blue with a black-lined diamond patterned, dyed at the bottom with soft red. She settled on earrings of asscher-cut crystals suspended with enameled USA flags, a brooch unnecessary this time. Melinda picked jeans with ripped knees and earrings which were also enameled, but red hoops with gold-finished white gems inspired by the Art Nouveau era, except she was stuck between two options.

"Which one?" One was elbow-length navy and printed with glowing gold and white suns, crescent moons, and stars, the other sleeveless black and draping in the front with scattered sensually with red roses and light blue morning glories.

Kaleia laughed, wishing she had a coin to flip. "Celestial."

"After school, girl, we're not gonna worry much about this during the day."

"Nope, so better enjoy it while it lasts," Kaleia concurred, brushing her hair one final time together in a bunch within her hold before letting go and setting the brush on the bathroom sink, which Melinda had been outside the whole time.

Enjoy it while it lasts...like his hands all over my naked body.

And she couldn't stop thinking about that last night in the privacy of her room as soon as they got home.

Turned out tonight would have to be her and Mike's conversation while the fireworks took place, or at some point after. Oh, to hell with it. She didn't know what the exact time would be, but it would be tonight. Both Sean's were going, as was Jeremy, and that meant she'd see not only Mike but his mother and Henry Emily.

Major question: how the hell would she get him to the side so he could tell her his side?

BBQ food was made and brought so they could enjoy a nice late-night snack and then pass out later after the bright colors were done shooting. Kaleia enjoyed some nice pineapple-flavored BBQ chicken and pork and beans, seated by herself while Melinda was off with Jeremy. Those two seemed to be getting along well after smoothing over the misunderstanding.

Father and son were too busy to notice anything else around them, engaging in conversation with Senior's oldest friends, Grandpa and Grandma, while Junior cracked jokes with Jeremy and did Mike's apparent job of asking when he and Melinda were gonna give each other a shot, and they just threw bits of their Hawaiian rolls at him in retaliation. That got Grandma Akela scolding them to behave and not act like children while smirking.

A shadow found its way over her plate, the only light being the illumination of both families' cars. "Hey," Mike told her, hands in the pockets of his dark hoodie, the color hard to tell in this light. "This a bad time? Not gonna stomach any of this good food while it's on my mind."

Behind him were Clara and Mr. Emily, both comfortable on beach chairs of their own they'd brought. They looked over and waved at her, Clara enthusiastic and holding a soda in hand, Henry having been in the middle of a robust pork rib in which barbeque sauce was in some places on his beard, making Kaleia stifle a giggle before turning back to Mike. "Okay, where do you wanna take it?"

"This is good enough, but next to the car."

He meant her family's. They were here, everyone else was further away and engrossed with each other rather than them until the fireworks began. The anticipation had returned with the suddenness of any one of those giant sparklers.

Now they were side by side with their backs against the right rear door, behind the front passenger. "So, you know my name," Mike said. She nodded. "Figured. You know my sperm donor's name."

"Yeah, and I understand you don't want to hear his name." So she settled on saying it in her mind as she'd done several times: William Afton. Former founder and co-owner, and prime suspect of the missing kids. "I got questions, but it can wait till you're done speaking. I won't interrupt at all." Kaleia held up a pinkie for the solemn vow. Michael returned it with a smile, his skin against hers a small flame like a candle. But then he was serious as expected.

"William Afton was born in England, then moved here with his folks, but I never knew my grandparents. He never had anything good to say about them, so I'll spare you the details since it's for the best, and they've been dead a long time now. I remember some details, though: his old man was a World War II vet, drank like a fish, then died from the complications before my father finished his school years. His mother was...how do I put this...?" For dramatics, Mike put a finger on his chin and tapped it a couple of times. "Oh, yeah, she was just a bitch. That's the best I can think of. He never spoke to her again as soon as he got the scholarship, the genius he was. And at the university, he met Mum and Uncle Henry. All I know is that my father had always been interested in robotics and making them lifelike, almost like a fanatic."

William Afton had issues from the very beginning, based on this little paragraph of information she compiled into her head. Kaleia wasn't the least bit surprised at all. People of that sort of intelligence generally had rougher home lives than others. Perhaps she could feel sorry only a little, but that was as far as she'd go, especially with the nightmarish history that followed him. "What about his own family - you guys?" she had to ask, keeping her promise and noticing he'd paused to recollect based on his distant expression as he glanced to the grass between them.

"You met Mom already and know what she does now, but before I was born, she was striving to be a dancer. She had this way of drawing people to her, and she did that to my father. And because she's the one who gave birth to me, I'm not gonna go far and repeat something that can only come from my sperm donor and other admirers." Kaleia giggled with him. "So, yeah, I was born before they even got married. It was accidental, but they still loved me, they said once. For some time, I saw it and believed it. But you know what they say when nothing good lasts forever.

"It was during the middle years of the Vietnam War that things were made worse before any of us even knew it." He paused and looked her way again, expecting her to say something.

"Yeah, Clara told me that part. Vet just like my uncle who died over there."

Mike folded his arms across his chest. "Yeah, saw demented shit AND did it just the same. A friend died in front of him, too. Mom and Uncle Henry knew of it and were there for him, thought he'd eventually recover...but we were all horribly wrong," he said grimly.

This is it - the start of the nightmare.

"They founded Fredbear's Family Diner, Henry and William did, before the seventies ended." She didn't blame him for calling him either by the Christian name or "sperm donor". "It was a dream project of theirs for a long time, and that meant their families would also be a part of it along with other families back in Hurrican and tourists'. Yeah, it was boring at times because I'd been there so much it was just mundane, but it was still heartwarming and brought the community together. My siblings and I were there almost all the time, even after school, and so was Charlotte, Henry's daughter who was the same age as Evan. Meant we got the shit for free - the pizza, actually," Mike added with a little chuckle, and then it was gone. "But it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, like I said, Kaleia."

Just then, they were both startled by the first explosions of color in the skies, of purple, yellow, red, and white. It startled the hell out of Kaleia and made her squeak in shock. He burst out laughing at her reaction. It was too funny to be mad at him for reacting to her cry, so she joined in with him. "I remember they were the good days," Kaleia said, hiccupping once after calming down from the mild hysteria. "When Grandma and Grandpa took me there every Friday while my parents were too busy. The pizza, the arcades - certain ones I'd liked...and Spring Bonnie and Fredbear before they were replaced with the Fab Four themselves."

He smirked, remembering the day she told him her feelings towards them, continuing somberly once again. "It's said that once you start a business, you get married to the business. That's what my old man did, and whatever my mother told you was accurate, knowing her. He was better being a businessman than he was a husband and father anymore." The venom was there.

"Times were tough, but flourishing despite the oil shortage and high prices. Except I was a kid then and didn't care except when the old man bitched. It was much tougher at home, in my opinion. Didn't give a rat's ass at the time, but I regret it now." A slight crack. "I really do, to the point I had nightmares to this very day...especially regarding Evan, my baby brother I should have protected if I'd known what kind of man William Afton truly was. I also wish I could have done the same for Elizabeth.

"By '83, that was when hell broke from beneath the earth. My father was at work on a second location thanks to the diner's success, calling it Circus Baby's Pizza World. The star at the center was Circus Baby, inspired by Lizzie, and yeah, Old Man did it for her. Also included were Funtime Freddy with Bonbon the bunny puppet on his right hand, Funtime Foxy, and Ballora - who he based on Mom and her ballet passion." Funtime animatronics...hm. "It was the sister location if you wanna call it that. Except that one didn't last long, because we heard of gas leaks in the building, and it was closed down in the end. Still had Fredbear's going on, though, so knowing my father, he would bounce back someday with something better. Only things wound up reaching a dead end because of something I believed was my fault for the longest time despite Mom and Uncle Henry reassuring me otherwise." He paused and looked up at the sky, transfixed by the fusion of red, green, white, blue, and orange which cast a fruit-hued landscape over the landscape. Was he really into it or lost in the ghosts of his past?

Kaleia reached for him, putting a hand on his elbow. "Mike...?"

"I just wanted his attention again, and from my point of view when I saw him paying attention to Evan more than he ever did to me, but not spoiling him rotten too much like he did to Elizabeth, I was filled with a lot of jealousy. I thought maybe he decided 'cause I was the big kid now, I didn't need it. Or maybe he just didn't care anymore because of work, or when it just suited him. Guess I'll never know now. But Mom and Henry used to say he wasn't always like that, though Mom was smart to finally get out, though legally, that shit took time, and the divorce was finalized sometime after my brother died.

"It was his birthday when it happened. My stupid, jealous brain along with my friends - including Jeremy, who didn't even WANT to do anything, but was dragged along against his will - decided we'd give the birthday boy the entertainment of his life now that he was a year past the first of the double digits. He and Charlie were at one of the tables just enjoying pizza by themselves when we just made ourselves at home, uninvited."

If this were any other time, if she'd known the Aftons back then - and small bits of her childhood memories of that day slowly coming to life with each revelation - then she would have called Michael out for being a jerk, or a curse word that would earn her the belt. But based on what he was telling her and the Michael she'd gotten to know since early spring, Kaleia was positive he was all grown up from back then.

Her blood had gotten cold with him saying his younger brother was dead and he blamed himself, the fireworks overhead jolting her anxieties, and it had gotten worse.

Mike paused in his story, citing the need for more food because he sometimes stress-ate. The feeling was mutual. In the process, they could use the admiration of the next many fireworks that were still going on. "You tried Grandma's chicken?" she asked Mike, holding up the large tupperware, one of many.

"Not yet. But already I like the smell of it," he said, accepting a drumstick which joined two of his mom's pork ribs on the paper plate. They returned to their spot, paper towels beneath their plates. "Before I go on with where I'm at now, the week before, Father took Evan to the hospital because he had been screaming and crying, saying there were monster versions of the diner animatronics in his room."

"All kids see monsters," Kaleia supplied, still laughing at her own memories, but this here was far from sentimental.

He shook his head, tearing the outer skin of the chicken as a habit. "He was diagnosed with schizophrenia, the week before his birthday."

Kaleia heard herself gasp in horror. Psychology wasn't her favorite subject to the point where she'd wanted to get a degree, but she did study enough of it. Schizophrenia was VERY serious, resulting in abnormal delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking, disabling behaviors, and reality altered differently from other people. Some were quick to use that in a negative light in entertaining media. How could the nerve -! To have a young child diagnosed before his birthday?! It made her wonder if William Afton did that just to get some of the blame off him, or was it pure pity? Michael was making it clear that the man harbored little love for his own sons if it ever even existed.

Would Evan truly have gotten treatment or continued to suffer a long, horrendous life, forever tormented by his brother who had serious behavioral problems as a result of parental neglect?

Clara had said she did the best she could, but it was her ex-husband's absence that affected all of them.

She found her voice to ask because the schizophrenia thing could wait for another time. "What did you do to your brother?" Kaleia whispered hoarsely. He forced his attention to remain on her, and she could see the glaze. His hands shook as he struggled to hold onto his plate.

"Before that day, I'd hide behind the TV or under the bed, anywhere he'd pass, and I'd put on a Foxy mask to jump out and scare him. Now it makes me sick." He paused to swallow, Adam's apple bobbing. "Since we were the 'evening's entertainment', the pièce de résistance was the three of us, Jeremy in the back, putting him up to Fredbear's mouth for a big kiss."

Oh, no...no, they didn't...

The loudest shock of fireworks scared Mike this time. He swore, dropping the F-bomb, and the ribs landed on his shirt after he regained his hold, accidentally slamming the plate against his abdomen. She would have laughed if not for what caused it and what they were talking about. "Shit, hold on. Sit down and I'll get more paper towels!" Kaleia let him walk over to the chair she'd been in and joined the group where everything was, getting the attention that would prolong the private conversation.

"Something wrong, Leia?" Mason asked with a twitching brow. The others joined in with a slightly concerned and curious expression.

"No, not at all!" Kaleia laughed lightly, fake to her, and failing to lighten it up for herself. "This time, Mike was startled by the last one."

Jeremy looked over to where his bro was. "Looks like it," he said, sniggering. "Be sure to give him plenty of napkin care, Mom." Sean Jr. chortled and called him out for his turn to make jokes; that also meant he deserved karma's hand in bits of Hawaiian roll his way, but that was quickly shot down by Akela. Kaleia giggled and quickly returned to Mike, whose meat pieces were back on his paper dish, but the paper towels he had himself had done the job, so he could use the ones she'd retrieved for him.

How was she supposed to feel? How was she supposed to process all of this? She got to know him enough and knew he wasn't a bad person, and definitely not perfect. Clara knew her son, too. But he'd relentlessly bullied his baby brother all for attention, and in the end resulted in his DEATH via one of William Afton's creations, in the very diner that was supposed to be a fun haven for families and children.

The day she'd been there and her grandparents whisked her out before she saw the full picture.

"I still see it all to this day. Used to be every morning and night, all hours after, but now it's decreased. Sometimes I forget if I even had the nightmares. The blood, the screaming, the sick crunch of Evan's skull, and how sick I felt, thought I'd throw up..." Mike gagged for a sec before swallowing again and straightening. "I also see Fredbear with his gory jaw - my little brother's blood - and the words 'It's Me'. I felt he was haunting me as punishment for what I did to him, and I know I deserved it."

Kaleia bent down to pick up her plate of half-eaten chicken but suddenly had no further appetite for the rest. But thank God for leftovers the next day. Maybe we should pick this up when we're both mentally able to process, but it's also too far in to stop. It'll just plague us both and make us sicker. She sat down beside the chair, cross-legged, and put her plate in her lap but not touching anything. "Want to stop for now?" Kaleia asked carefully.

He took a few deep breaths to calm down, looking down at her again and leaning against the chair back. "Nope, I can handle continuing. So, yeah, Evan lived a week before he flatlined in the hospital." He hiccupped a couple of times. "I swear to God, I didn't know better at the time. I now know why it happened because of Henry: the moisture of Evan's tears and the humidity of his breath caused the gears and mechanisms in the bear's jaw to...close down on the front part of his skull. Became known as the Bite of '83," Mike said sarcastically, then choking on a few tears, turning his face the other way in case the others noticed. Any of the others who weren't Jeremy, Henry Emily, or his mother.

"I swear to God, Kaleia...I never meant to hurt him. I never hated my little brother. I thought I was just being a normal big brother until we both grew up because I heard older brothers do that sometimes. I should have known better that I'd gone too far."

"...while I agree that it was an asshole thing to do," Kaleia said firmly before softening, "you guys were KIDS. Your father should have paid attention as much as he did that business of his. That's what a good parent does. I know because mine did the same when they were alive."

"He struck me." He acknowledged what she said, but this way. "He left me with a black eye for almost the entire week after that, and Mom let me cover it up with her foundation so the entire town wouldn't see William Afton was an abusive father. He even told me that he wished I'd died in Evan's place, keeping up the story that I was the demon to the angel living in his house. He made sure it was my fault alone despite Mom believing otherwise.

"I was questioned by the cops after that and spent a year in juvenile detention. It was ruled an accident also thanks to Uncle Henry, but my sperm donor was far from happy. While I was locked up, Henry was the only one who visited me, gave me the time of day, and looked after Elizabeth in the meantime while Mom was taking care of her own shit. I wish I was there to keep her safe if I'd known that was gonna happen to her, but she was gone just like Evan...except my father was responsible for neglecting her. It was sometime after we lost Evan that she was with him in his place of work, which I knew was called Afton Robotics or some shit like that, and she was not to go anywhere near Circus Baby - which he'd been inspired by her to build. The Funtime Animatronics differed from the originals in that they were destined for private parties instead of in general, but that didn't last long, surprise, surprise, as I said. Anyway, Elizabeth wanted so much to see her, so I was told, that she snuck away from him, not listening to him, and that was when she saw the clown girl robot. That thing could sing, dance, take song requests, blow balloons from her fingertips, and the best part: dispense ice cream." Kaleia could imagine her younger self being in heaven over that. "But then a malfunction happened, and the scooper from the middle of the clown's body scooped my little sister in and tore her to pieces."

Now she wanted to throw up the food she had in her stomach at the images produced. Images she did not want to put into words. By this time, the fireworks were finally ending, and everyone could pack up and drive on home.

"Oh, Mike..."

"Yeah, the grisly life of Michael Schmidt - whom you know is Michael Afton," he said grimly. "I left all that behind a long time ago, but life was never good to me until I was brought here...and met you and your family."

~o~

She didn't stick her nose in her son and Kaleia's conversation, also too busy fussing over Henry making a mess of himself with the BBQ sauce on his beard, which also endeared and made her laugh, while the younger ones were causing small bits of chaos in terms of the food that Akela Kai put her foot down and jokingly told them to behave.

Clara loved ribs because her daddy had taught her good old Southern hospitality, so no one was able to resist just as much as they couldn't resist the Kais' pineapple-flavored barbeque chicken. No one was going home on an empty stomach after the explosions of colors symbolizing when this country gained its freedom from England, but she noticed Michael's little incident in which he'd been in the middle of whatever grim part and slammed the food against himself. Everyone else laughed about it, unknowing what was going on, except herself and Henry when they were back in the car with Mike and on the way home.

"You sure you don't need Mom's handkerchief?" Henry teased him from the front passenger seat. They'd come in her car.

"Henry, don't do that. He's had enough of that tonight," Clara chided, chuckling in her throat. "So, that mean you finally told her? You two were busy talking to each other more than watching the fireworks." She looked in the rearview mirror as she started the engine. He looked down at his lap as he answered.

"Yeah, Mum. She didn't judge me, again. But she was shocked - the understatement of the century."

Henry nodded somberly. "Know the feeling, Mike. I saw a little bit, too. Could have gone worse."

And cut to them in the living room, since Clara had a feeling they were in for another long conversation and heart-to-heart. She was on her son's left, Henry on the right, and Michael exhaled and leaned back against the sofa, the back of his head hitting the wall where the mirror and accompanying picture frames were above their heads - the oval-shaped, leaf scroll-framed piece sided with two pictures on each side, one of Mikey, Henry, and herself beneath a quote of "Family is Worth Everything", and the other of him with Evan and Elizabeth when they were still a family, above "Love Begins in the Home". "So she said what we've been telling you for a long time, Michael," Henry said first, joining him in the pose, though crossing one leg over the other and folding his arms behind his head, looking up at the ceiling. "She doesn't see you as that kid you were thanks to William. She knows it was his fault, and what happened to Evan was. An. Accident." He punctuated the last word firmly. Now it was Clara's turn.

"And I'm not saying this because I'm your mom, sweetie. Give that girl a chance. You said it that the nightmares were becoming less and less. You still feel guilty? The pain never goes away, but you don't let it define you. Don't let it start again now just because you told her this." She then smirked.

"No pressure, but I'd love to become a mother-in-law and eventually a grandmother at some point. My old ring is still waiting."

"MOM!" Michael bolted forward, covering his face like the kid he used to be, hiding the mad red flush in his cheeks.

"Oh, Clara, seriously?" Henry chortled. "Just as it was serious a moment ago."

Sources for Michael's recount of his family history and of the evils of Fazbear Entertainment that he's aware of, as listed:

-"Henry Emily's Suicide" by Scarecrow, YouTube

-"Memories" by Squimpus McGrimpus, YouTube

-"Remnants" by A_Hoping_Beetch, Archive of Our Own

-"The Golden Years" by Scarecrow, YouTube

-"The Ride Home" by snoodlez, Archive of Our Own

-"Take The Fight From The Kid" by Sword_and_the_Faith, Archive of Our Own

I completely lost the Midnight Velvet item which the mirror and pictures in the Schmidt family living room are based on, but the original had three frames on each side, though reduced to two on each side in here. XD