There were few people in Hurricane more dedicated to their job than Detective Charles Carson Takaliken. Even fewer had goals as specific and unique as his. Despite endless arguments with his adoptive parents on this matter, Charles made a decision for himself, and he would stray from it. Asking him to leave the unsolved mystery of his parents in the distant past was too much. He tried but eventually had to make peace with the truth. He will find the truth or dedicate the rest of his life to doing it.

He wondered what Owens would say if he knew the truth about Charles's motives. That there was no desire to help people around the city and bring criminals to justice, no matter how much the black-haired young man believed in the cause. His purpose here was utterly selfish and just a stepping stone on his way to eventually set on a course of exploring the legacy of Fazbear Inc. With any luck, Charles would gain a position of higher authority so he could turn other policemen to this cause. Perhaps, in due time, he would untangle this web of lies.

As for now, his focus was on gaining reputation and authority further, and this meant working on one case after another. Even now, Charles stood amidst a small office of his in the bush halls of the Hurricane police department, looking at the board with the most recent reports lined out. Those included confirmed murder, missing persons incidents, rape, armed robbery and theft, violent assault…Many of those Charles wouldn't even consider when walking the streets, but working on the other side certainly expanded his horizons as to how dangerous some places and people were.

His musings were interrupted by a hastily opened door.

"Thank god you're here!" A short, slightly chubby man with blonde hair said with relief when he saw his friend. "Don't think they would've appreciated me running all around the department."

"Hello, Cody." Charles looked away from the board and let out a faint smile. His visitor had a reddened face and a clearly tired gaze. "Have to say, it's strange to see you so agitated. Owens giving you flack?"

"Yeah, and for once, it is kind of deserved…" Cody sighed. "I was late, after all, but with good reason!" He declared proudly and took a seat at one of the spare chairs. He had a small bag which he placed before him. "I brought some donuts; want any?"

"No. I just had lunch, and it's not like they're healthy for my job, anyway."

"Your loss." Cody shrugged.

"Aren't you supposed to be working in the archive right now?"

"I am, but I have something for you…Actually, that's the reason I was late. I might have gotten too interested in reading one newspaper. I have it with me." Cody reached out for his bag.

"People still read newspapers?" Charles chuckled.

"Hey, some can't afford to spend an entire day watching the news on TV, and anyway, I think you should read them more…Just look at this." The archivist took the newspaper out and gave it to Charles for examination. Cody always had a talent for digging up the most outlandish news, but nothing prepared Charles to see this heading.

FRANKBURT'S FANTASY LAND: REVIVING THE LEGACY OF "FREDDY AND FRIENDS"?

"What the…"

"See? I knew you'd 'love' it." Cody said with a snarky tone; he was one of the few people Charles trusted with some details of his past and his connection to Fazbear Inc. Charles skimmed through the few paragraphs underneath the heading and read about a new restaurant opened in Hurricane by those who had experience with animatronics and previous restaurants while those were still at their most popular. But what struck Charles's eyes the strongest was the mention of an infamous name from the past.

Alison Bairren.

He was about to return to Hurricane, and this was the first time Charlie heard about this…An absolute disgrace to his mission, but better late than never.

"Alison, opening another restaurant in here? And no one finds it suspicious after all the crap that happened in the eighties?"

"I guess a decade is enough for people to stop caring," Cody said. "Most don't really care about 'that' stuff when they got a cute robot to entertain their kids. But yeah, that's exactly what Alison guy is doing, apparently…I even heard that they are renewing the old Fredbear's building for the new one." It made sense; this building remained abandoned for years now, yet no one brought it down. Charlie has been avoiding it for the last few years due to the bitter memories it awakened, and this was his mistake.

"Alison has been off-radar for as long as the old restaurants were shut down, a very bold move on his part…" Alison was the man who knew all the secrets Charlie sought and was likely responsible for hiding the truth in the first place. He must have been responsible for his parents' disappearance. His parents had a chance to make peace with each other, but all of this ended up being ruined when they met Alison. "Thanks for bringing it up to me. I'll…I'll look into it."

"Just be careful to not have it divert you from your actual work…Don't want Owens ranting at you. Speaking of work, I have something that I wanted to mention to you."

"You really haven't been wasting time, have you?"

"I'm never wasting time on a work day, even if I'm not working. I could technically bring it up to detective in here, but I had to pick the most trustworthy one…Especially considering how our superiors treat that particular case. You know Owens's cronies, they…"

"You're ranting, Cody; what did you want to tell me?" Charlie interrupted him, hoping to bring his friend back to his point.

"Ah, yeah, sorry. So, remember the last missing person case we got on here? The one from yesterday that they just began investigating?"

"Jacob Mann's disappearance?"

"Yes, that one! Owens doesn't want to get to it for some reason, just like with some previous similar cases…"

"It's the fifth similar case in two weeks, more than it usually is." Out of recent cases, the disappearances were the most intriguing to Charlie. They began recently and had almost no trace or explanation for them, at least none that the police discovered. However, there was a link between all of those. Each missing person was engaged in engineering or science of some sort, one time or even both.

"I think I found an interested third party."

"And that is?"

"An old guy that contacted me, Hano."

"That's a unique name."

"I think he's a Japanese immigrant or something…But that's beside the point. Basically, he had some deep-seated concerns about some recent developments in the town and said that he wanted to talk to a trustworthy detective about it when they have time…" It is an intriguing development; perhaps it was worth looking into.

"And how did you respond?"

"I went for a diplomatic answer of saying that I'll look into it…And hey, I did exactly that. He suggested a couple of cafes that could be a meeting place. Want to look into it?" Something told Charles that perhaps he should divert this to someone else; a part of him wanted to rush to the new restaurant and see this abomination for himself…After all, this was the moment all his work led to, but he still had his job, and he could not simply neglect it.

"Very well, then, I'll contact him."

…

Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart

Be all else but naught to me, save that Thou art

Be Thou my best thought in the day and the night

Both waking and sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my wisdom, be Thou my true word

Be Thou ever with me, and I with Thee, Lord

Be Thou my great Father, and I Thy true son

Be Thou in me dwelling and I with Thee one…

Once again, Elizabeth closed her eyes and surrendered to the soothing sound of the hymn sung by the preacher. She and others came to pray for their loved ones, to reflect on their path in life, to beg for God to be with them, and to provide strength for the challenges that the future will inevitably bring. Truth be told, during her visits to the chapel, Elizabeth grew to envy those who looked into the future with hope, those who had something bright and joyous awaiting them there. All of her warmth was left far away in the days of her childhood with people who were no longer by her side. She prayed for them. For her mother and brothers who left this world too early…Maybe they would hear her on the other side.

A small comfort for a young woman who has been alone for years now, but perhaps just enough to hold her grievous tears back. To allow her to stay calm for a few more moments, to attempt to maintain this warmth and joy of the past inside her, knowing that the moment she leaves this godly place, it will all become mundane, grey, and depressing. It was always the same cycle. The one she was used to repeating every week…And even so, there was always a moment of hesitation, the one she dreaded even now.

As the sermon ended, it was Elizabeth's time to place candles for the people she prayed for so that God's blessing would stay with them. She placed three without hesitation. One for her loving mother, who was always there to make her daughter smile. One for her brother, who always inspired her with his imagination and hope. One for the other brother, the one who carried a grievous sin on his shoulders but did everything to make up for it. She always prayed for them. But there was a fourth candle that Elizabeth held in her hand, still unsure if she wanted to give it light. Did he deserve her prayers? They should've prayed together…Wherever he was, they should've prayed together.

"Excuse me?" Elizabeth heard an intrigued voice from behind her, pulling her away from her trance-like state. She saw a young man with dark hair and tanned skin wearing dark robes approaching her. Elizabeth had seen him a few times before. He must have been one of the priests who helped Father Roberts, the preacher. "I do not mean to pry, but you've been standing here for a few minutes now. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah…I'm alright." Elizabeth said quietly as she looked away from the candle and towards the man before her. "I've just been thinking about life and all I always do when I come here."

"It's always easier to reflect underneath God's watchful eye." The priest said with a smile. "I always try to use my time here wisely, as well. Just as I do with the blessings I try and channel by his might."

"Hm…" Elizabeth thought to herself for a moment; there was something she wanted to ask the priest. "Have you ever wanted to pray for someone's soul, but something stopped you? Something that made you think that they just…Just didn't deserve it."

"Every soul deserves a prayer." He responded. "Each one has its own path to walk in the afterlife."

"But would you pray for someone who hurt you?" Elizabeth wondered. "Someone who betrayed you and gave you promises they never fulfilled…Someone you've waited for years and…And nothing changed." Nothing but her memories of the time she spent with her father and the pain she felt when they grew all the more distant with the passing years.

"It's not always easy…" The priest sighed. "But I do my best not to hold onto petty grudges. No one is perfect, but all of us deserve a chance. And speaking of this person, is it someone you loved once?" Once, and perhaps up to this day. She was full of deep-seated anger, but she could not call it hatred.

"My father." The woman said. She didn't like sharing the story of her past, but if there was ever a fitting place and time, it would be in a chapel just when she was about to pray. "He…Isn't with me anymore." She said with echoes of spite emerging in her voice.

"If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to."

"No, no, it's fine." The woman reassured him. "It's good to talk about it sometimes…He was all I had left. My mother died in a car crash, and my brothers…" A small tear fell from the woman's eyes as the priest listened attentively. "I loved them so much, and then one of them killed the other…By accident, he gets near a dangerous machine. And then he left too and something…Something horrific happened to him. Something that I still can't really explain." The images of the mechanical monstrosity that was Ennard flashed before her eyes. "My dad could. I knew he could, but

he never did. He kept secrets from me and left me alone; he said he did it all for me…But I never felt it. And then he…" She was about to tell the truth outright, a secret Elizabeth still kept with her. "He took his own life. He was hurting, of course. I don't want to judge him too much, but I was always there to help. I wanted to help him. I wanted him to feel better, but…He always pushed me away. Maybe it was for my own safety like he said, but it still hurt." Elizabeth turned to the priest, seeing his eyes fall to the floor as he got visibly uncomfortable. "Is everything alright?" Elizabeth said with concern.

"It's…Yes, it's alright." The priest spoke quietly before looking up at her. "Is your name Elizabeth? Elizabeth Afton?" This question came in such a shocking and unexpected manner that the woman could barely hold herself from recoiling. She never told her name to anyone here; how could he know? Why did he even care?

"H-how do you know?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." The priest spoke in a soft, calm voice. "To be honest, I'm really surprised as well…I'm Jim." He let out. "You probably don't remember me, but I was Mike's friend when all of this…Happened."

Memories flooded back to Elizabeth. She remembered standing at the door of the dining room in 'Fredbear's Family Diner,' a powerless girl screaming and pleading to four ruthless teenagers wearing masks of characters from the cartoon she loved back then, as they refused to yield, as they forced a crying boy into the jaws of the animatronic that turned out to not only be terrifying, but extremely dangerous that anyone who comes close. This was the day when the stain of trauma became inseparable from Elizabeth's mind, a grotesque image that still haunts her to this day.

"You were one of them…" Elizabeth said quietly as the realization finally hit.

"I…Was the one who wore the Bonnie mask; I helped Mike get him up and then…" His lips quivered as his voice grew full of shame. "I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I still need to say it. I'm sorry, Elizabeth, I'm sorry." He spoke with honesty and an earnest tone; the woman with strawberry blonde hair appreciated that. She allowed a faint and saddened smile to creep on her face before turning towards the candles before her.

"There are three that I already lit. One of them is for Mike. It took time…But I forgave him in the end." Not only that, she knew that she would forgive her father, too. Despite her anger, if he was about to show up at her door one day, Elizabeth would immediately forget all of it before rushing towards him and burying herself in his sweet embrace as tears streamed down her eyes. "It wouldn't be fair to still be angry at you."

"I…Thank you. You're kinder than most would've been." Jim said with relief.

"Is that why you turned to religion?" Elizabeth wondered. "Sorry if that's blunt, but I wouldn't take you or Mike for someone who'd care about spirituality."

"That day made me reconsider much…I was a carefree teenager with too much confidence and no desire to reflect on his own life. It would've come back at me one day, and it did in one of the most horrifying ways possible…I have played a part in a killing. A killing of a child, the most grievous of all…I can never wash it away, but I can use the rest of my life to be better. Helping causes that are worth helping. I still have a long way off, but I am not straying off the path…God is the witness to that."

"I'm happy for you…" Elizabeth said quietly and in a pained tone, the one that could be read as an attempt at sarcasm.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make it all about me."

"No, no, I'm genuinely happy for you. I just wish that my 'path' was as clear as yours…Because now, it all feels rather meaningless."

"Everyone has their purpose. Some need more time to find it than others."

"I will try to cling to hope." The woman smiled as she looked at the candle in her hand. "Thank you for being honest with me, Jim…At least I can say something with certainty now."

"And what is that."

"I will light the fourth candle."