I'll preface today's chapter as - this story is not dead! I just put it on pause for the time being because I was too busy with my other stories. However, given the recent Five Nights at Freddy's updates (from Tales of the Pizzaplex giving us more information about Mimic and Gregory, to the trailers for the FNaF movie, Ruin DLC and Help Wanted 2), I suppose something sparked inside me and I decided to write down another chapter.

Enjoy!

Night 12

Such Sweet Sorrow

''I've done some things in my life that you may think are crazy. A little different from the rest, I get my pleasure from the pain. I've got some ghosts who follow me, that you may think I'm crazy. But in the night I know I feel alright! I see spirits all around me as I try to understand what makes me do the things I do to everyone around me! And I bet you never knew that I could have regrets for all the things that make you see red! But all I see is purple instead!''

– Purple by MandoPony ft. NateWantsToBattle

xXxXxXx

It was dark. William opened his eyes, his vision still blurry as he tried to focus on what was in front of him. He closed his eyes, realizing he was sitting on the ground, leaned against the wall. He felt as if someone hit him in the head with a sledgehammer. He lowered his head and lift his arm to rub his eyes, only to realize that his body felt strange. As he opened his eyes, the blurry vision suddenly cleared and there was a strange sense of déjà vu.

Right, this isn't my first time I returned from the limbo into the world of the living. He pressed his hand against his forehead, the pounding headache fading. Still, I could do without the headache part. I feel like I got hit by a truck.

Once the headache was gone, he lowered his arm, blinking when he saw that it was made of metal and fur. His eyes narrowed. Right… Of course I would be back as an animatronic.

He took a look at his surroundings, noticing a huge piece of broken mirror, probably taken from the restrooms, leaning against the wall. He walked up to it, taking a look at his new animatronic body. It was quite similar to the one had previously, with the suit being new and having clean fluffy golden-green fur. A purple bowtie was tied around his neck, his bunny ears were in tact and on his back was a fluffy cotton tail. His eyes were glowing in a purple hue, but he was sure that they would return back to the silver and green he was used to. There was also a barely visible tear over his right eye, looking like a badly healed scar.

Overall, there wasn't much of a difference, although it looked much leaner and better built than the previous one, and when he stepped forward, he realized that he made barely any sound. He figured that his feet had some kind of padding and smirked, realizing that it would be quite helpful for sneaking around. Not only that, but there was absolutely no noise coming from his endoskeleton either, no matter how much he moved. It also felt quite light, as if he wasn't wearing an animatronic suit at all.

While there wasn't much of a difference to the quality of the suit, there was one major distinction between this and the previous suit – similarly to the Showtime Animatronics, he actually wore a set of clothes; a purple button-up shirt loosely hanging underneath a black vaistcoat, matching his purple bowtie, and black slacks. I suppose this will make me stand out less alongside the Showtime Animatronics.

Springtrap then looked up, having already figured out that he was in the back room at Freddy's, thanks to the merch and spare animatronic parts lying around. However, what he actually was curious about was how much time had passed since his demise and his awakening. Were it only a few days or weeks? Hell, months or even years could have passed and he wouldn't have known. There was no way for him to keep track of the time he had spent stuck in limbo.

Admittedly, I hadn't even planned on returning, but… Springtrap suddenly felt a splitting headache as he tried to recall his memories of before. He pressed his hands against his head, the agony numbing his senses. It felt like something was actively trying to block him from remembering anything. The memories were there, he knew that, but all he saw was snowy static. Something was blocking them.

Springtrap shook his head and walked up to the door, opening it and taking a look at the hallway. He could hear music, chatter and laughter coming from the main area, making him realize that Freddy's was still open. He had to admit that he was a little surprised, having made a grim prediction that, just like all previous locations, it wouldn't last long. However, going by what he heard, it appeared that it was thriving.

He walked down the hallway, taking a quick glance at the main area, noting to himself that he was right. While the building wasn't packed, there were still visitors at Freddy's, mainly young children and their parents, as well as several teenagers and young adults. The Showtime Animatronics were done with their performance, now roaming around the main area, talking to the guests and even taking photos with the children, with the younger ones being completely entranced with them. Springtrap stepped back into the hallway, thinking about his next move.

The sole reason he had even returned was because of the one regret he had – never telling Sam about his plan. However, now that he was back, he had to wonder what would happen if he does talk to her. How would she react? Would she be happy to see him again? Would she be furious at him for basically lying to her?

Springtrap's ears lowered as he thought about the latter. While Sam had always been very supportive and forgiving towards him, he had a feeling that she might not be as forgiving this time. He remembered just how opposed she was to Raven's sacrifice, so he could only assume just how hard his own demise had hit her, feeling a sting of guilt piercing his chest.

Deciding that he would think about it later, he focused at first on getting back to the Blackburn residence… that is, unless they have moved away. However, he couldn't really imagine Emma just moving away from Hurricane, and while it was possible that enough time had passed for Sam to finish high school and leave for college, he held onto the sliver of hope that she was still here. He wondered whether he should leave now or wait until it gets dark. It certainly would be easier for him to move around in the dark.

Which means I'd have to spend a few more hours here. Springtrap leaned against the wall, his gaze lowered. He really wanted to leave as soon as possible, feeling rather impatient, but had to remind himself that last time he didn't think things through, he ended up killing himself and then later on got almost burned to ashes – twice!

Of course, he could wait for Sam to come to Freddy's; after all, wasn't she working here? However, the issue was that he had no clue whether Sam was indeed still working at Freddy's – he wouldn't blame her if she decided to quit after what happened in an attempt to move on. Not to mention, even if by some miracle she still worked here, he had no idea whether she was even scheduled to work. Sure, he could ask the Showtime Animatronics, but would they really know Sam's schedule?

Therefore, he had no other choice but to wait.

xXx

Sam took a deep breath as she parked the car in front of her house, feeling completely exhausted. She had been driving around for a while, just to clear her mind, with Emma telling her she'd have her friend drop her off at home. It was evening when Sam returned and she saw that the lights were all off, figuring that her mother hadn't returned home yet. She stretched her arms as she walked up to the door, only to be surprised as she attempted to unlock it, realizing that it was actually unlocked.

Her heart started to race as alarms started to blare in her head. Why was the front door unlocked if no one is supposed to be at home? Was someone in the house? It didn't appear as if it was broken into, but the voice in her head was screaming at her to call the police.

So, why the hell did she walk into the house?!

''Hello? Mum?'' Sam called out, carefully walking down the hallway and peering into the living room. She felt a cold chill flowing down her spine as she tried to figure out what was going on, only to almost facepalm when she realized that she should've at least turned on the hallway light if she wanted to make her presence known. She turned around and walked back to turn the light on, only for someone to suddenly grab her from behind. She gasped as she felt a pair of arms wrapping around her torso and dragging her back, almost lifting her up. She cried out in surprise as she started kicking around in an attempt to fight back against her attacker, only to suddenly freeze as she heard a familiar voice.

''Do you really think I would let you go so easily?'' Her eyes widened in shock as she heard him talk. His voice was sinister, deep and raspy, and he had a slight British accent. ''Don't struggle, it'll be over soon.''

''William…'' Sam muttered, still in shock as she felt the intruder let her go, allowing her to turn around and took a better look at him. She was correct, this was William, or rather Springtrap, standing in front of her, giving her a rather nervous look. Sam just stared back at him, completely in disbelief. Springtrap just gave her a small wave, feeling a little anxious by her lack of response, but he understood why there was none.

''I… I'm back, I guess… I always come back, don't I?'' he said, trying to sound nonchalant, only to feel worried when Sam was still just staring at him. ''Uh, Sam? Are you-''

''Why are you here?!'' Sam suddenly snapped, gritting her teeth in pure rage. Springtrap winced in surprise, staring at her as Sam stomped with her foot, stepping forward, forcing Springtrap to step back, hands held up in defense. ''Why have you returned?!''

''Sam, I-''

Before Springtrap could even answer, Sam suddenly screamed back, ''Why have you left?! Why haven't you told me what you your plan was?! You're the worst!''

Springtrap flinched, taking an involuntarily step back as she was screaming at him, tears forming in the corner of her eyes. There was so much raw pain she was holding inside for so long, and she just exploded, taking out all of her anger, pain, frustration and rage on him, showing nothing but bitterness and resentment.

''I… I didn't think…''

''Think what?! That I wouldn't be angry and hurt because you refused to tell me anything even though you promised you'd be honest with me?!'' Sam growled in frustration. Springtrap fell silent, not knowing how to respond to this.

''At the time, I had been contemplating whether I should tell you anything, but I decided against it,'' Springtrap started. ''I believed that neither of us would be able to say goodbye.''

''If you had just told me, I would've understood,'' Sam responded, half-frustrated, half-crying.

''Considering how you were adamant about refusing to let go of Raven, I didn't want to risk it and let you get harmed as well,'' Springtrap replied. Sam gritted her teeth, glaring daggers at him.

''Fine, maybe I have abandonment issues!'' Sam growled in frustration. ''But you know what, I had enough! I don't want to see you ever again! Leave now!''

With that said, she turned on her heel and walked upstairs to her room. Springtrap winced when he heard her slamming the door behind him. He sighed, noting to himself that, even if he didn't want to hurt someone, people still got hurt because of him. Maybe he shouldn't have returned at all. He sighed, only to hear the door behind him open and quickly turned his head towards it, meeting the gaze of a shocked Emma. Not knowing what to say, he just sheepishly waved at her.

''Oh, God, not you again.''

Springtrap frowned. Right, Emma and I never got along. ''The feelings are mutual Emma.''

''I thought you were dead,'' Emma said, then quickly added, ''Well, more dead than usual.''

''I had found a way to return,'' Springtrap responded. Emma sighed, looking completely done with with Springtrap's antics.

''Okay, why are you here?'' she asked.

''I just wanted to apologize to Sam for what had happened,'' Springtrap replied, glancing upstairs. ''Although, I even didn't get to that because she started to scream at me.''

''I'm not surprised,'' Emma said, smirking for a moment when she heard that, then added in a more serious tone, ''After you were gone, Sam started suffering from nightmares and depression, and even started sleepwalking. I tried to talk to her, but she would just pretend that she was fine, even though she wasn't. Whatever had happened, it left her heavily traumatized, and you are responsible for it.''

''I had no idea it was this bad,'' Springtrap replied somberly, his bunny ears drooping. Emma fell silent as she observed him, then sighed.

''She was in an incredibly bad shape, but lately, it seemed like she was improving, perhaps even starting to heal mentally and emotional from what had happened. However, I'm certain that your sudden appearance didn't help her case,'' she said bitterly, pausing for a moment. ''Nevertheless, and I hate to admit it, but maybe you can help her. Something has been occupying her mind recently, and while she didn't share anything with me, I know that she will tell you everything.''

''If she ever decides to talk to me,'' Springtrap added.

''Once she calms down, she will,'' Emma responded, walking past him, only to stop. ''You know, if you have already dressed up to apologize to Sam, why didn't you also bring a gift?"

Springtrap gave her an incredulous look. ''Emma, I can't control what apperance I take when I return.''

Emma just smirked, adding snarkily, ''Aside from the fact that you always appear as a 7 foot bunny murder robot who may or may not have a corpse inside.''

''I'm fairly certain that my mummified corpse had been burnt to ashes by my son and my former business partner,'' Springtrap responded in a deadpan tone, then po. ''Not to mention, this body definitely doesn't have a corpse, only an animatronic endoskeleton.''

''Well, how would I know? You never took that suit off to confirm anything,'' Emma responded in a slightly mocking tone, with Springtrap just glaring at her. Emma gave him a devious smirk before walking into the living room. ''Also, if you ever plan on leaving again, let me known so l can prepare some gasoline and a lighter.''

She couldn't help but chuckle when she heard him groan in annoyance. Somehow, it felt as if Afton had never left.

xXx

Sam was sitting on her bed, cradling her legs, with her head placed on her knees. She could barely process what had just happened as a whirlwind of emotions overtook her. However, one thing was constant – there was a sense of emptiness inside her, as if she was in a dream and someone else was controlling her like a puppet on strings. The impossible had happened – William Afton was back, and yet… she felt like she couldn't deal with him, at least not now. She had to admit that, despite what she had told him, she didn't know whether she could even remain angry at him. After all, everyone was telling him to just go back to Hell, and she did feel that William may have shared those thoughts, so he would've at least left on his own terms. That didn't mean that she was still hurt by his decision and wished that he had just told her that he planned to perish in the flames as well.

Sam suddenly heard a knock on the door, only for it to slightly open, with Springtrap peeking inside. ''Sam? May I come inside and talk to you?''

''…'' Sam was silent, one side of her screaming at her to tell him to go away, while the other side wanted to talk to him, maybe scream at him a little more. After a fierce debate in her mind for a moment, she made a decision and hoped that she wouldn't regret it. ''You may.''

Springtrap felt a mild sense of relief as he entered the room, but he knew that he was still on thin ice. Sam was undoubtedly still furious at him and probably didn't want to see him at all, but he hoped that he could at least talk things out with her. He walked over to her and sat on her bed. ''How are you doing?''

''I'm still angry at you if that's what you wanted to know,'' Sam grumbled, refusing to make eye-contact with Springtrap.

''I had figured as much,'' Springtrap responded, sighing. ''You had asked me why I'm back and I never really answered, so I wanted to at least explain myself.''

''Okay, why are you back?'' Sam looked up, glaring at him furiously.

''I wanted to apologize,'' Springtrap responded, with Sam's expression changing from furious to baffled.

''What?'' she asked flatly.

''I had been debating this for a while, and I had realized that I just didn't have the courage to tell you what I had planned back then. As I said earlier, I believed that it would've been much harder to say goodbye if I actually had told you everything. You were already upset over Raven wanting to leave and I didn't want to know what you'd say if you found out I was leaving as well. I know it was very cowardly of me, and I apologize for hurting you,'' Springtrap responded in a sincere tone. Sam stared at him for a moment, eyes wide.

''So… You literally returned from the dead just to tell me that?'' she asked, still stunned. Springtrap nodded in response.

''I don't expect you to forgive me either. All I ever wanted was to let you know that I regret my decision and that I should've at least told you my plan, regardless of how hard it would've been. You deserved to know,'' he added. Sam just blinked, trying to process the situation.

''Okay… If that was your plan, what do you want to do now?'' she asked, with Springtrap being a little slow on the uptake. ''You said that you wanted to apologize to me, and you just did. So, now what? Were you planning on staying or…?''

''Well, I…'' Springtrap trailed off, having to admit that he genuinely had no answer for that. All he wanted was to apologize to Sam, nothing else. He noticed Sam's eyes narrowing as she gave him a knowing look.

''Let me guess; you didn't think this through, again.''

''I… really haven't,'' Springtrap admitted, groaning and lowering his head into his hands. ''I feel like an idiot.''

Surprisingly, Sam chuckled heartily in response. ''Yeah, that's what I suspected.''

Both fell silent for a moment, not really knowing what to tell each other or how to move on from this conversation. Springtrap had technically achieved what he wanted and he knew that he shouldn't even try to placate Sam after leaving without a word. Frankly, he was relieved that she agreed to listen to him without laying down another verbal smackdown. As for Sam, she was still trying to process her own feelings on the matter. This was the man who acted as both a close friend, confidant and a father figure to her for a couple of months and who just left without an explanation. Granted, she was aware that everyone and her mother wanted him to die and stay dead, and he did die to make sure another murderer was dead. However, that didn't mean that she wasn't left with trauma, depression and horrible nightmares, with which she had to deal on her own and had just started somewhat healing and moving on. So yeah, she was still incredibly pissed off, but the flames of rage she felt did simmer down a little. Maybe she felt an ounce of sympathy for him. Maybe it was just exhaustion. She didn't know.

''I suppose you want to stay here for the time being,'' Sam said, breaking the silence.

''Only if you're okay with me being around,'' Springtrap responded.

Sam stared at him for a moment, then nodded. She was still on the fence in regards to just kicking him out, but then she realized that a golden opportunity had just presented itself to her. She had been dealing with a rather emotionally draining situation in regards to Help Wanted and Glitchtrap, and while she had the Showtime Animatronics and even Matt to rely on, she didn't feel like she could really convey the whole situation properly. However, now that Springtrap was back, she could just unload all of her troubles on him. At least he'd have something to do while he was here.

To Springtrap's surprise, Sam suddenly stood up, walked over to her desk to grab her laptop and opened it, searching for something on it. ''Okay, since you're staying, I'll quickly bring you up to speed. For starters, someone broke into Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental and basically took apart the Nightmare Animatronics, and when I say 'took apart', I mean completely massacred them.'' Springtrap's eyes widened in surprise when he heard that, but Sam just continued in a business-like tone. ''Then, there's the Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex, which is going to open soon. Fazbear Entertainment basically used the old Machinations Factory to build it and it's probably going to be the biggest Fazbear location to date with brand new Glamrock Animatronics. From what I've learned, the Showtime Animatronics were actually the prototypes for the Glamrocks. Oh, and speaking of animatronics, I have no clue where the Drawkills are, but I hope they haven't hurt anyone, as we had agreed on.''

''Uh, okay…'' Springtrap tried his best to follow her.

''Lastly, I had been playing a new video game Fazbear Entertainment had released, Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted, and I sort of run into a rather troubling situation,'' Sam replied, opening a file. ''So, I got two versions of the game, one that is the official, and one that Dad sent to me after he got it from a co-worker, Vanessa, and this supposed earlier build has stuff in the released game doesn't. That being a bunch of audio files of a woman who worked on the game explaining that the company used the circuit boards from the animatronics that perished in the fire Henry and Michael had caused for some of the game's coding. This resulted in the release of something that wasn't supposed to be there, a certain glitch.'' She then turned the screen towards Springtrap, showing him a screenshot of a chillingly familiar figure. ''I had decided to call him Glitchtrap.''

''Glitchtrap…'' Springtrap slowly repeated, feeling deeply uncomfortable about seeing the yellow bunny who had been talking to him the whole time he had been stuck in the Void. Somehow the room he was in became much colder as he was reminded of all the, mostly one-sided, conversations he had with this entity, this Glitchtrap, who was actually part of him.

''I am you.''

''Springtrap?'' Sam gave him a curious look, being a little unnerved by his silence. ''Do you have any thoughts on that?''

''What did Glitchtrap do in the video game? Did he try to communicate with you?'' Springtrap suddenly asked, a glint of purple in his eyes as he frowned. Sam wondered why Springtrap was asking her this, but decided to answer nonetheless.

''Well, he just appeared in the video game and waved at me, and asked me if I could hear him, and I could, and I was tasked to collect Tapes, which made him more and more solid. By the end of it, I was supposed to hard reset the game to purge him out of the system and then everything started to glitch out, so I stopped playing because I had no clue what had happened.'' Sam sighed. ''I still have the Halloween DLC to play, but I'm not sure whether I even should.'' She frowned, glaring at Springtrap. ''Why are you asking?''

''I… Well, in a way, Glitchtrap is me,'' Springtrap responded, noting the glare Sam was still giving him deepening. He felt an anxiety spike, but decided to be completely honest and transparent with her. ''During my time in… I don't even know whether I can really call it Hell anymore, because it wasn't. I suppose I was in some sort of Void, and I heard an entity talking to me, telling me to come back. At first I refused, but it became too tempting. It was my decision to return.'' Springtrap's eyes narrowed as a purple glow was emitted from them. ''As for the entity… 'I am you.', he told me.'' Springtrap continued, remembering the cheery and theatrical nature of Glitchtrap, continuing to quote him, '''One would think that having your mind and soul being broken would be a disaster, but I can make it work. You and I are one and the same, even if we take on a different appearance. Our desire is the same – to return once more to the world that has forsaken us'.'' Springtrap lowered his head, adding, '''Sometimes, it amazes me how the human soul works. There is so much that can be done with it, so much that still needs to be explored'.'' He clenched his fists, a sense of anger bubbling inside him. ''I had also heard him talk about you, as if he was observing you. I wasn't sure what to make of it as I was barely conscious half of the time, but I ended up listening… and I wanted to return to see you again.'' He gazed at Sam, who was dead silent, feeling creeped out by that revelation. ''I don't understand it completely myself, but something happened to my own soul while I was in Hell – it was broken, shattered – and Glitchtrap was the result.''

''If that's so…'' Sam trailed off, trying to process the information. She did shudder at what Springtrap had told her, but there was something else she was trying to figure out. ''Tape Girl said that Glitchtrap made it into the video game because of the scanned circuit boards…'' She gave Springtrap a curious look. ''William, do you know what happened to your previous body, the one that burned at the location Henry and Mike turned into a trap?''

''I don't know. I always figured it was burned to ashes,'' Springtrap replied, only for his eyes to narrow. ''You want to say that it may not have been destroyed completely, don't you?''

''Right,'' Sam replied, sighing as she got up, giving Spingtrap her laptop, then added in a brisk tone, ''Okay, here's what we're gonna do. I have school tomorrow and I'm scheduled to work at Freddy's in the evening. While you're here, you can read all of the notes I took in regards to Glitchtrap and tomorrow, I'll drop you off at Freddy's. I told the Showtimes what is going on, so you can also ask them about it. Also, if Anthelm asks anything about your presence there, tell her that I'll explain everything.''

''Okay,'' Springtrap responded, still feeling a little uncertain as he took Sam's laptop and walked towards the door, opening it and being a step outside when he turned back around. ''Are you still mad at me?''

''Yeah, I am,'' Sam added in a snappy tone, shooting him a glare and shutting the door behind him. Springtrap winced at that, figuring that he deserved that response. He spotted Emma at the other end of the hallway, peeking out of her room.

''I didn't hear any screaming. What happened?'' she asked.

''Sam is still angry at me, but I think she calmed down… somewhat. Also, you were right, she basically gave me an info dump in regards to what had happened,'' Springtrap replied. Emma smirked.

''I probably shouldn't say 'I told you so', but I told you so,'' she said. ''Still, I am glad that she's at least talking to someone. Is there anything that I should be made aware of?''

''I'm still trying to figure out the situation by myself, but Sam seems to have at least for a moment returned back to the way she always used to be,'' Springtrap replied. ''I suppose that some good news.''

''Yeah, it is. I cannot really expect from her to feel better overnight,'' Emma muttered. ''Although, be on the lookout for any noise coming from her room. Sam doesn't know about this, but one time I found her sleepwalking in the living room with a knife in her hand.''

Springtrap was disturbed by that reveal, then nodded firmly. ''Don't worry, I'll make sure she doesn't get that far.''

''I hope so. Good night, Afton,'' Emma responded, going back to her room.

''Night…'' Springtrap muttered. He then entered the guest room that sort of became his room while he was here. It looked still the same as he remembered it, so he sat down on the couch, taking a deep breath… or at least what was a deep breath given how he was completely mechanical, but with human habits. While he was content with being back and now had another task at hand he needed to focus on, there was something that was bothering him.

The last time he returned to the realm of the living, he was haunted by a whole group of spirits who basically told him to go to Hell, the group including the children he had murdered, the child that put him through literal Hell, his old partner Henry, and even his own children were of the opinion that he really didn't deserve a second chance and were still, justifiedly, bitter over his treatment of them. He didn't blame them for feeling like that.

However, now, no one was here. All the whispers and hallucinations, the threats and anger – it was all gone. There was nothing but silence. Springtrap had expected that at least someone would confront him for returning, for breaking the promise he made to himself to actually stay in Hell or the Void or whatever that place he was in. But, nobody said anything. No one returned to drag him back. While it was a relief that he was seemingly free of the hauntings, it was also a little chilling. Everyone was just… gone.

''When was the last time you have heard that child laughing at you? No one can reach out for you because of how broken your soul is, not even your tormentor.''

Springtrap's eyes narrowed as he remembered being stuck in the darkness, with just a voice as his company. While Springtrap himself didn't have an explanation for why that child had stopped tormenting him, he always assumed that the voice, or rather, Glitchtrap, was telling the truth in how broken his soul was and that's why no one could reach out to him. It was possible that the child believed that they had finally won and left him alone, moving on to whatever the afterlife held for them. Springtrap sincerely hoped that that was the case.

''Nevertheless, the pieces can still be salvaged, as long as your desire is strong enough. Your own will is the key to survival. It's time for one final performance.''

Nevertheless, it left him with one burning question. What did Glitchtrap, his other self, even want from him? There was talk about one final performance, and Springtrap was not too fond of the idea as he knew himself well enough to be aware that this meant trouble.