Thank you for the reviews folks!
As for this chapter, I want to say that it was supposed to be much longer, but then I decided to split it into two chapters.
Still, I hope you'll enjoy this one!
Night 9
Haunted Reality
''Remember me? I knew I'd find you! This family is broken, what are we going to do? Once more we rise up again, the lights go out, off with your head. We are all prisoners in the end; feel the fear, panic and the dread. You're trapped in mechanical hostility, so make the best of your abilities! You can't escape from this haunted reality! Break the chains and set the spirit free! Set the spirit free…''
– Haunted Reality by PsychoticFox
xXxXxXx
''Well, if this wasn't an interesting experience,'' Glitchtrap said to himself thoughtfully, standing on the stage. He grinned, turning towards the audience, which consisted of one figure that was slumped over. ''It seems like Sam is quite determined to learn who we are, or rather, who I am. However, I have my doubts that she would be able to handle the truth considering how she still refuses to put two and two together.''
He shook his head.
''How unfortunate… But, I know that she is going to pull through,'' Glitchtrap added confidently. ''She is smart and is not someone who'd give up so easily, no matter how dangerous the situation is. All she needs is a little nudge in the right direction and once she completes the game given to her, I can finally step in. Or at least, one part of me.''
He gazed at the figure in the shadows. The body was lifeless, dark red and black liquid pooling beneath it. Glitchtrap smirked. He knew that all of the injuries were just a manifestation of the broken mind, and that the body could easily be mended. He had a strong will, and that will would keep him attached to the world of living. The agony that had affected the soul was enough to allow him to return. If that child really believed that they won by making their tormentor suffer, they were wrong. In truth, the suffering he experienced made him stronger. They created a monster they couldn't contain.
''One would think that having your mind and soul being broken would be a disaster, but I can make it work,'' Glitchtrap continued in a calmer, more deliberate tone, clasping his hands together. ''You and I are one and the same, even if we take on a different appearance.'' He observed carefully as the blood on the floor faded, aware that the final part of the process he had set in motion has begun. ''Our desire is the same – to return once more to the world that has forsaken us.''
Glitchtrap suddenly stopped talking as he sensed something faint, only to suddenly sense it again. It was a heartbeat. He placed his hand on his chest, sensing the heartbeat once more. He knew that his other self responded, even if he still remained motionless, reaching an understanding with the part his soul that guided him through the darkness that kept him chained here.
''I had been in denial, haven't I?'' Glitchtrap said, his voice far from the theatrical tone he would usually use. He was unusually calm, having a moment of introspection. ''Despite what I had told myself, my soul cannot rest. I wanted to believe that it was for the best, that this was what I wanted, but I lied to myself. It is impossible to let everything end when there is still something left for me to do.''
He looked up, staring into the pitch-black darkness above him.
''Because…'' Glitchtrap's eyes flashed purple. ''I always come back. Let me OUT!''
xXx
If there was one thing that wouldn't stop bothering Sam, it was Glitchtrap. She had spent the night tossing and turning, trying to figure out what this meant. She had figured that the only way for her to learn more is to follow Glitchtrap's instructions, even if she had a bad feeling about it. Glitchtrap had to have some kind of motive behind her gathering all of the Tapes.
On the other hand, Tape Girl did tell her that she made those Tapes to explain whoever had to deal with Glitchtrap how they should proceed, meaning she needed to gather the Tapes regardless. Then, there was also the fact that she wanted to learn more about the lore of Help Wanted.
In the end, it doesn't matter just how distrustful I am of Glitchtrap, I need to collect all of the Tapes to understand what exactly he is.
Sam was completely lost in her thoughts, not even noticing when Matt had joined her as she entered the school. In her defense, he made no attempt to let her know that he was there. He knew that Sam would eventually turn her attention to him and that it was better for her to finish whatever train of thought she had before she lost it. After all, he too loved to ponder about random stuff and hated being interrupted when he was in deep thought.
''Oh, hey Matt,'' Sam suddenly said when she realized that her friend was following her towards the classroom.
''Hi, Sam, I hope I didn't interrupt anything,'' Matt replied.
''No, you didn't,'' Sam told him sheepishly. ''I haven't even noticed you.''
''It's no big deal,'' Matt replied, shrugging. ''I'd also rather spend more time with my own thoughts than with other people.''
Sam wasn't really sure whether that was supposed to be a compliment or Matt just teasing her. However, considering his nonchalant attitude and the fact that he'd usually leave her alone whenever she was occupied with something, she figured that it was the former.
''So, what is it?'' Matt continued, smiling. ''I doubt that you'd spend your free time thinking about what happened the previous day. Or am I wrong?''
''No, I actually wasn't thinking about Tessa…'' Sam started, only for Matt to cut her off, pointing to the side.
''Too bad, because now, you will,'' he said. Sam followed his gaze, exasperated when she saw Tessa walking towards them with an enraged look on her expression. She had managed to avoid her former friend the day before, but this time, there was no escape.
''How could you do this to me?!'' Tessa yelled at Sam, who just gave her an annoyed look. ''My mum got a call from the principal about having to pay for the cleaning and she took the money from my allowance. I hope you're happy now!''
''It's not Sam's fault that you got punished for something you did,'' Matt responded, stepping up. While Tessa glared at him, Sam was a bit surprised, only to remember the promise he gave her. ''Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.''
''This is none of your business,'' Tessa replied angrily.
''Considering how you're being aggressive my best friend, it is,'' Matt replied, smirking when he saw Tessa glaring at him.
''Your best friend?! I was friends with Sam since childhood. You have no right to claim her as your best friend-''
''Tessa, shut up!'' Sam shouted at Tessa, who turned her attention to the latter. Sam then added in a calmer tone, ''You're causing a scene. Everyone's looking at us.''
Tessa took a glance at her surroundings, noting the looks of disapproval and intrigue some of the students were giving her. They did not forget about the glitter prank nor who caused it. Tessa then turned back to Sam, who continued, ''You have no one else to blame but yourself for having to deal with the consequences.''
''It was just a harmless prank…'' Tessa attempted to defend herself.
''Then why didn't I laugh?'' Sam asked coldly, her voice sending chills down Tessa's spine. Matt gave Sam an uncertain look, sensing that, for a moment, something inside Sam changed, as if a switch had been flipped. It wasn't the coldness and seriousness of her tone, but rather the dark aura he had sensed. Then, it vanished completely, as if Sam suddenly took control again.
The three then heard the bell ring, with Sam glancing at Tessa and shrugging nonchalantly. She turned to Matt, acting as if nothing had happened. ''Let's go, or we'll be late to class.''
Baffled, Matt just followed her. After what had happened the previous day, as well as him sensing negative emotions attached to her, he realized that he had something worth of investigation at his hands.
xXx
Aaron Blackburn was at his computer, fixing a bug in the game he had been assigned to work on, when his smartphone suddenly rang. To his surprise, the call wasn't from a co-worker, but his own daughter. He answered it.
''Hello? Sam?''
''Hi, Dad! I need to ask you something important.''
Aaron's lips curved up into a smile. There were no questions about how he was doing, how the weather was or any kind of small talk. Instead, his daughter went straight to business. It kind of reminded him of Emma.
''What do you want to know?'' he asked curiously.
''When you were working on Five Nights at Freddy's VR: Help Wanted, did any of your co-workers start behaving strangely?''
Aaron's eyes narrowed. He was surprised by the question, wondering why Sam would ask him that. He thought about it for a moment, trying to remember what had happened during that time period, but all he knew was that Fazbear Entertainment was pressuring them to complete the game and fix the bugs. ''Hm… Well, I do remember that everyone was stressed.''
''Did anyone start talking to themselves after playing through the game or complained about having nightmares?''
''Uh, no, I don't think so… At least I can't recall anything,'' Aaron replied. ''Why are you asking?''
''It's something about the game that bothers me and I think someone may have added something that shouldn't be there,'' Sam replied. Aaron rose an eyebrow.
''Sam, are you talking about the official game or the early version I had sent you?'' he asked.
''I've been going through the early version,'' Sam told him. Aaron leaned back against the chair, trying to remember whether anything unusual happened.
''The last person who worked on it was Vanessa, but I don't remember her acting strange,'' Aaron told Sam.
''Vanessa?''
''Our beta tester,'' Aaron replied sheepishly. ''I guess I forgot to tell you her name. In any case, she was sent by Fazbear Entertainment to beta test the game and, after I had told her about you, suggested that I could send you the early version of the game and that she wouldn't snitch on me.''
''What about her? Did she act strangely?''
''She did appear a little stressed, but frankly, everyone was stressed during that time,'' Aaron replied. ''Otherwise, she'd be always chipper and nice, even bringing cookies once to a meeting.''
''Oh, I see,'' Sam replied, sounding puzzled. Aaron assumed that she didn't expect this kind of answer. ''Does she still work with you?''
''No, she actually left about two-three weeks ago,'' Aaron told her. ''She said she'd be working on a different project. However, she did pop up to beta test the DLC.''
''DLC?'' Sam sounded genuinely confused.
''Sam, have you forgotten? There is going to be a DLC this Halloween,'' Aaron told her. ''As a matter of fact, the official version is supposed to come out a day earlier.''
''Wait, Halloween…'' Sam went silent for a moment, with Aaron assuming that she was probably checking the calendar. He then heard a very loud smack, figuring that Sam had face-palmed. ''It's this weekend! I totally forgot!''
Aaron chuckled. ''What? Aren't there any Halloween decorations?''
''Well, Freddy's hasn't decorated anything for Halloween yet, but I guess they'll might do it today or tomorrow,'' Sam replied. ''Honestly, I've been busy with a lot of other things; school, my job… I can't really keep track of everything.''
''It's fine Sam,'' Aaron replied. ''I hope you'll enjoy the DLC when it comes out.''
''Me too,'' Sam said, sighing.
''So, how's Emma?'' Aaron asked.
''She's okay, albeit busy. She said that she would take another trip soon.''
''What about your robot bunny friend?'' Aaron asked casually. He realized that something was wrong when Sam suddenly fell silent. ''Sam?''
''He… He's gone…'' Sam said hesitantly. Aaron waited for her to elaborate, but she didn't. It was clear that she didn't want to talk about Springtrap.
''I'm sorry Sam,'' Aaron told her, wanting to comfort her, but Sam cut him off.
''No, it's fine… I'm okay…'' she said.
''Do you still sleepwalk?'' Aaron asked. There was a moment of silence on the other end.
''Mum told you, didn't she?'' Sam asked, her question followed by a pregnant pause. Not even waiting for Aaron's answer, she continued, ''I'm fine now. I think I was just really stressed out and that affected my sleep.''
''I'm sorry that you had to go through that,'' Aaron replied, feeling bad for his daughter.
''It's okay,'' Sam told him. ''I gotta go now, though. Thank you for the information, Dad. You're the best!''
''You're welcome, sweetheart,'' Aaron told her, smiling. Then, the call got cancelled.
xXx
Sam took a deep breath and turned to her laptop. She hadn't checked her e-mails in a while and after what her father had told her, she realized that she may be missing something, which is why she decided to check the e-mail that had the game attached to it.
Her eyes widened when she saw a new e-mail from the person named nessie97. She opened the e-mail, surprised to see the Halloween DLC inside it. It seemed to have been sent about three days ago. Sam had no idea how she had managed to miss it and she wondered whether she should contact Vanessa, but decided against it. However, she had to wonder why Vanessa had sent her the full game and the DLC. Was it really because her father had told Vanessa about Sam's fascination with the Five Nights at Freddy's games?
Sam shook her head, noting that she'd be dealing with this later on. Her current plan was to go to Freddy's after it closed to talk to Freddy and his friends about what she had found out about Glitchtrap. She didn't have to work today, so she decided to spend the few hours she had by playing another level of Help Wanted. She had figured she'd get at least one or two more Tapes to see whether there was anything
Taking a deep breath, she found herself back in the game. She glanced at Glitchtrap, who just waved back at her and shook her head, deciding to ignore him. Instead, she went to the next segment of the game, Vent Repair.
''Okay…'' Sam muttered, trying to figure out what exactly she was supposed to do. All she knew was that she was inside a vent with three openings and that she needed to repair it. She pressed the button next to her, causing HandUnit to explain everything to her. As she listened to him, she also started looking around for any Tapes, relieved to find one on behind the pipes on the floor to the right.
''Welcome to Vent Repair. Fazbear Entertainment prides itself on having the most comfortable facilities. Each facility is set to a perfect 72 degrees all the time. The 4 active indicator lights mean we have a well functioning ventilation system. Your headlamp should protect you from any critters who may have stumbled into the docks. As a certified technician, you should need no instruction. However, in case of an emergency, it is important to remember that as a vent technician you should never, under any circumstances, attempt to-''
Sam was surprised when HandUnit suddenly started to glitch out. She had to wonder whether it was part of the game or something more… unnatural. Everything turned dark, with the vent in front of her opening. She saw a glowing button and pressed it, revealing a lever. The moment she flipped it, she was startled by none other but Mangle, who was scared off by the light on her helmet turning on. Taking a moment to collect herself, Sam realized that she'd be fending off Mangle while repairing the vents.
''I can't imagine how a person with a fear of being stuck in a vent would feel during this segment,'' she muttered to herself as the vent to her right opened.
She grabbed the Faz Token that was stuck in the gears at the bottom of the second vent and quickly turned to the first vent to make sure Mangle stayed where they were. The second vent started sparking and Sam realized that she may not have a lot of time to fix it. It took her a moment, but she did find a switch at the top of the vent, leading her to opening another lever after she flipped it. She then flipped the lever, quickly turning to Mangle, who was nowhere to be seen. She then heard pipes steaming.
''Now what?'' she asked, reaching out for the valve on her right. Fortunately, this was the right thing to do, as she could turn it, but then she heard more hissing noises, with steam coming from her bottom left. She turned back to the first vent, unable to see Mangle, and then turned the valve on the bottom left. She then looked back up, noticing the steam coming from the panel above and pressed the button on the top.
''So far, so good… Mangle is still nowhere to be seen and I'm still alive,'' Sam muttered to herself as she looked around for the next mechanical issue to fix. The vent to her left slowly opened and she turned her attention to it, while still making sure Mangle was nowhere in sight. There was a box with four buttons on the side, as well as a hatch. Sam opened it, once again making sure Mangle won't come from the other vents, but the sounds she heard made her a tiny bit anxious. She had no idea where the animatronic was and she was completely open to an attack.
She gazed down the hatch, noticing a colour-changing light at the bottom of the vent, figuring that it was connected to the buttons on the side. She gulped when she suddenly heard banging coming from behind her and quickly turned back. However, Mangle wasn't in the right vent. She turned back to the hatch, taking a moment to memorize the colour sequence.
''Green, red, orange, blue…'' she muttered to herself and quickly pressed the buttons. To her relief, the lever appeared and she quickly flipped it. She sighed in relief when the vents closed.
''A perfect 72 degrees, good job. See you next time.''
''That was tense…'' Sam took a deep breath, calming herself down. She had her fair share of experiences with air vents, but she never had to deal with anything like this. After reclaiming her prize, a bottle of Foxy Cove Cooler, she returned to the main hub and selected the next level.
She found herself once again surrounded by vents, but this time, it seemed like she was inside some kind of familiar room, even though she couldn't recall why it was so familiar to her.
''Let's see…'' Sam muttered as she looked down, trying to figure out what she was supposed to do this time. She saw several boxes around her and attempted to open them, only to notice a glowing button. ''Idiot…'' she muttered as she pressed it.
''Welcome to Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental. It has been zero days since last incident. Emergency ventilation repairs may be necessary to reach the boiler room on sub basement G. We apologize for the claustrophobic accommodations of the secondary service elevator, but the comfort of the main elevator is well above your pay grade. Now, let's get to work.''
''Oh, this is Circus Baby's…'' Sam felt a bit embarrassed that she forgot. She shook her head. ''This is not my day.''
She waited for the elevator-like vent to lower, wondering what animatronic she'd be confronting this time. Since it was Circus Baby's, she imagined it would be someone from the Funtime Gang.
''MOTION TRIGGER – BREAKER ROOM.''
Only one vent opened while Sam looked around for another Tape. She was greeted with four buttons and four fuse boxes in front of her, each connected by a wire. One fuse box had the light on.
''So, I just connect them, right?'' she pressed the button at the end, which turned the light on the fuse box from green to red, causing another fuse box to light up. ''Ah, nice!''
She quickly completed the task, connecting each button to a fuse box.
''Well done,'' HandUnit congratulated her and the vent closed. Then, the vent behind her opened and she found the fuse boxes further down the vent, making it a bit harder for her to figure out which one was which. Still, it didn't take her too long to press the correct buttons. ''Well done.''
Sam squinted as the third vent opened. It was quite dark inside, but a spark of light revealed Ennard hiding way back in the vent. She groaned, ''Oh, great…''
Admittedly, she was fine with seeing Ennard, but she realized that she might be put on a time limit in this case. She had no idea whether the light would work on Ennard and she also couldn't find any Tapes, despite probably being at the end of the level.
''Okay, just stay calm, make no mistake and don't let Ennard get to you,'' she told herself, despite her heart beating rapidly when she saw Ennard being suddenly on top of the vent as she pressed a button. Fortunately, he was still far enough and she used every flash of light to figure out which button connected to which fuse box. In the end, she managed to connect all of them and sighed in relief when the vent started closing.
''Finally… aagh!'' Sam screamed when Ennard suddenly appeared right in front of her, attempting to enter the elevator. ''Go away! Go away!''
Luckily for her, the vent shut down and Sam had to take another deep breath, feeling freaked out. She looked around. ''Now what?'' A feeling of dread washed over her when she realized she was being lowered down. ''Wait, it's not over?''
As she was lowered down, she saw a huge gear turning and gulped. She realized that things would take a turn for the worse in this level. Even though she was just playing a video game, she could imagine what would happen to a person if they got stuck between the gears. Nothing more but flesh, blood and broken bones would be left, grinded to a paste. She looked around, finding another Faz Token in a box and quickly grabbed it.
''MOTION TRIGGER – VENTILATION SHAFT.''
Sam inhaled sharply, focusing on the task at hand. She was surrounded by gears, with all of the vents being open. Her heart almost stopped beating when she saw Ennard peering between the wires and gears, too close for her comfort. He didn't attack her though.
''Okay, Sam, focus! What is wrong in this level?'' she told herself as she looked around again. ''Some… some of the gears aren't turning…'' She found a lose gear on the plate below her and realized she needed to place them in the correct spot, all while she was being observed by Ennard. Hands shaking, she started placing gears from one side to the other, feeling that she was doing the whole sequence blindly. ''Com'n, com'n…''
''Well done.''
Somehow, she managed to complete the puzzle without being attacked. This time, she waited a moment before she celebrated, only to groan when she realized that the elevator was being lowered again.
''Screw this game,'' she grumbled in frustration. She looked around, searching for more Faz Tokens and Tapes, but there weren't any. Eventually, she reached the third level of the game.
''MOTION TRIGGER – BOILER ROOM.''
She rose an eyebrow when the vent opened, revealing pipes with buttons on them and flames surging through the vents. ''Why do I have the feeling that this place is gonna be set on fire?''
The next part had her spending several minutes turning the pipes in the correct order to connect them. She hadn't seen Ennard, but she imagined him lurking somewhere in the vents, waiting for her to make a mistake. After completing the pipe puzzle, she was rewarded with a glowing button that caused fire to erupt in the vent in front of her, followed by screeching.
''I guess this means that I burned Ennard,'' she said, startled.
''Well done, a perfect 72 degrees. See you next time.''
Sam sighed in relief as the vents closed and she claimed her prize, a Bonnie plushie. However, she felt disappointed that she only found one Tape in the whole segment. Finding herself at the main hub, she went to the Tape Room to listen to the Tape 11.
''Today was my last day of beta testing and the anomaly that I've been seeing is nowhere to be found. But after inspecting some of the files, it seems that it's attached itself to these logs. My logs. That can't be an accident. So now I have to make a choice. Do I leave these logs here for you to find or do I try to purge this thing myself by destroying the logs. I've chosen the latter.''
''I see…'' Sam muttered. ''This explains why Glitchtrap wants me to gather the Tapes. He is somehow attached to them.'' Shaking her head, she took the VR headset off and checked the time on her smartphone. She was surprised when only around 15 minutes passed, as the game felt much longer than that. Realizing that she still had enough time to spare, she figured she could continue playing for a bit longer and decided to try the Blacklight Level of the Vent Repair segment. She gazed back at Glitchtrap for a moment, who just waved back and then entered Mangle's level.
When it came to the Blacklight Levels, she would do take a break and then try them after she listened to the Tapes, just to check whether she missed something. She also managed to complete each of them without much difficulty, her favorite being the FNaF 3 Blacklight Level, where she had to play in the burning horror attraction. She did run into a few issues during the PlushBaby and Funtime Foxy level of Dark Rooms, though, as well as having some trouble with Freddy and Foxy during the Parts & Service segment, causing her to almost quit. She still pulled through.
As for Vent Repair, Mangle became harder to deal with, especially considering how all of the vents were open and there seemed to also be a second Mangle lurking inside them, moving much faster. However, that level didn't cause Sam as much trouble as Ennard's level did.
''This is a nightmare!'' Sam said, her jaw dropping when she found herself standing completely upside down. Endoskeletons were staring at her, blocking her view. Sam shook her head, feeling completely disoriented, but was determined to complete the level. As she was lowered to the next part of the game, she was also given a lovely view of what appeared to be a Freddy plushie stuck in the vents. As she progressed, she realized that animatronic parts were scattered all over the place, first being greeted by a Foxy head and then having to deal with Springtrap crawling towards her.
Is it just me or does he look like he's desperate to escape rather than murder me? Sam stared at Springtrap, her jaw slightly dropped as the vent closed. She still kept her eyes open for any Faz Tokens and Tapes, barely avoiding being jumpscared by Ennard. Fortunately, she did find another Faz Token in the eye of a broken Bonnet on the left side as she was transported from the first puzzle area to the second and later on another in the head of Nightmare Fredbear during the descent to the Breaker Room when looking in the middle open panel.
''Yes! I did it!'' Sam cheered when she eventually managed to start the fire, feeling much better now that she found another Tape and took care of Ennard. She then promptly screamed when Ennard lunged at her, the elevator falling. Her heart was still racing as the game ended and it took her a moment to recover. ''Never again…'' She claimed her prize, a Chica plushie, and was relieved when she found herself back at the main hub.
''Hello? Can you hear me?''
''You are really enjoying this, aren't you?'' Sam asked in a deadpan tone as Glitchtrap waved at her. She then entered the Tape Room, noting that Glitchtrap was behind her. Ignoring him, she played Tape 12.
''I can't delete them. By creating a protected area to store these logs apart from the game, I effectively gave this thing a safe place to hide itself. It's in here now. I may not be able to delete it. But I might be able to do something else now that it's attached itself. I have an idea.''
''So, this is how the Tape Room came to be,'' Sam said, glancing at Glitchtrap. ''I wonder what Tape Girl's idea was. She wanted to delete you, didn't she? How did you feel about that?''
She waited for a moment, but there was no response, not even the cheeky 'Hello? Can you hear me?'. Sam rose an eyebrow, giving Glitchtrap a curious look as he stared back at her. Suddenly, the room around her started to glitch out. Sam couldn't move at all, only watching in shock as the room shifted between the Tape Room and the main hub, her surroundings turning purple. Pain surged through her head, but it was lesser than before. There was static, but it was weaker, and the noise was replaced by whispering, but she couldn't understand who was whispering or what they were saying. Grimacing in pain, Sam put her hands on the VR headset, deciding to take it off and end this conversation, when she suddenly heard a voice, a whisper clearer than the ones she heard before.
''I always come back…''
Sam stared at Glitchtrap in pure shock, her eyes wide. Her surroundings turned back to normal, but Glitchtrap was still there, waving at her. The virtual bunny could see Sam's eyes glinting for a moment and her mind racing, trying to make sense of what just happened. Her eyes then narrowed, but she still was in utter shock.
''William…?''