The Buried Voice
Chapter 7: Secrets
"What… Is this place?" Jessica voiced everyone's thoughts as they stepped into the fake restaurant. They looked around with equal wariness. "Why would they have a pizzeria all the way down here?"
"This was called an observation room… Maybe they brought people down here and did, I don't know, intense focus grouping?" Carlton guessed with an uneasy shrug.
"I guess if we're looking for some sort of answer then that's… Something," Jessica unconvincingly agreed. She looked around slowly at the room. "It's exactly the same. I can't believe it, it's all exactly the same."
Except that it wasn't. Charlie was the first and perhaps only one of them to notice that there was something different in the pizzeria. On the opposite wall from them there was a large, closed door. It was entirely made of metal and sealed closed like some sort of enforced security door. She walked over to it and looked around for a keypad or a button to open it, but there wasn't. Like the vent's door it was just sealed shut.
"Guys, look at this," she called back as she rested her hand on the door. It sent a shiver through her body. Somehow she knew there was something being hidden behind this door. "Do you ever remember a door like this being at the old pizzeria?"
"…No. And I pretty much remember that place like the back of my hand," Carlton said as he came over. He gave up on his half-hearted attempts to excuse away what they were seeing and instead asked, "What would someone need a door this thick for? They would've taken anything they needed on the way out, right?"
"I guess just to keep someone out… Or to keep something in."
"You don't mean like busted up animatronics, right?"
Honestly, at this point she could've, but thought there was something else more likely. "I was thinking more like incriminating evidence that they couldn't let anyone see. Documents, boxes…" Charlie felt that shiver again. "Bodies…?" Someone could be hidden in this room and never found. Someone taken from a place just like this, someone like Sammy. Somehow in a matter of moments she convinced herself that there was something behind this door that either related to him or the missing children. "…We need to shut the power back off."
"Oh good. I was just thinking it was too bright in here," Carlton said flatly. He glanced to her curiously. "Why, to get the door open?"
"Exactly. It could be like the door in the vent and only activate when it has enough power. We need to see what's behind it," Charlie insisted. She turned to tell the others when suddenly the room lit up around them.
"And let there be light," she could hear Lamar saying as he stepped back from the light switches by the front doors. She watched as he then nudged the doors open and peered out, then called back to the others, "Hey, come check this out! There's a whole outside area here!"
"Outside?" Charlie repeated.
"There's no way," Carlton remarked. He started heading over to the doors. "Not this far underground. Its got to be a greenhouse or something."
Charlie began to follow when she looked around the room once more and just happened to spot something black laying on the closest table. She picked it up and studied it in her hand, soon realizing that it was a heavy duty tazer. "What's this doing down here?" she asked herself. She pressed the button on the side and it jolted to life. "Still works…"
"Charlie, are you coming?" Jessica called to her. She noticed the object she was carrying. "What's that?"
"It's a tazer… And yes, I feel the same way," she said, noticing the disturbed look that crossed Jessica's face. The brunette tried to fit it in her jacket pocket. It was half hanging out so she kept her hand on it almost protectively to keep it there, somewhat disguising it while still keeping it close by. "Just in case."
Upon catching up with the others, Charlie was surprised to see what they were referring to as 'outside' was actually another room. It was about the size of the pizzeria before it and was styled to look like a parking lot. The tiled floor was painted to look like asphalt, blue skies with white puffy clouds were painted on the walls and ceiling, and the wall that the front doors were against was painted like the outside of the restaurant. It almost looked like something that would've been in a daycare and it would've been quaint if it was anywhere else.
"This is insane. Why would someone go through the effort of making all this and hiding it underground?" John asked in disbelief. He shook his head and asked Charlie, "Did you see this on the map?"
"I saw rooms that were shaped like this, yes. Which means there's more around that corner over there," she said and pointed ahead. Past where the 'parking lot' ended and where it was replaced by a painted sidewalk, 'grass' carpet, and a fence lined up alongside the wall. It abruptly ended in a sharp right turn. "Let's go see what's down there before we turn the power back off."
"Yeah. This place is creepy but it's a lot less creepy with the lights on," Marla agreed. She took Carlton's hand tightly and tried to steady herself. "Let's go."
Charlie led the way with John at her side and the others right behind them. They walked to the end of the room and turned the corner, finding more of the sidewalk leading on.
On the right side of the path they walked up on a playground. The equipment was old but still in decent condition, largely because of the lack of elements it would've face if it was actually outside. It was while looking at a small swing set that Charlie suddenly had a unsettling realization.
"I just got a very, very disturbing thought…" she admitted out loud.
John turned to her questioningly. "What's that?"
"…What if this is where all the missing children were brought to?" That was enough to stop him in his tracks and she slowed to a halt as well, still watching the playground alongside them. "Think about it, why else would someone set up all of this? He was obviously doing something down here… And there just happens to be a dozen missing children who aren't accounted for." John was silent. When he still didn't respond she looked to him and saw that he was staring at the playground too. "…John?"
"This… This looks a lot like the park I told you about. The one I used to play with where Joe went missing…" His eyes slowly widened in a dread she had never seen on his face before. "He was watching us the whole time. Our parents thought we were safe because we weren't at Freddy's, but he followed us here."
Silence spread over the group and the others were clearly listening. Charlie wasn't sure what to say, because she knew John was right. It only seemed to back up what she was seeing. All of those children who disappeared could've been brought to this fake pizzeria, to that fake hallway she saw in the Ballora Gallery, and to whatever observation rooms remained, and yet there was no trace of them. They had all vanished.
Just like Sammy, all gone.
"We should hurry," Jessica finally spoke up, breaking the tension. "I don't think any of us want to really see what's down there, but the longer we stay here… I don't think we should stay here any longer than we need to. Let's check the rest of the rooms and get out of here."
"And check the door," Charlie quickly reminded.
"That too. We can do that on the way out… Unless you think we should turn around now?"
"No," John spoke up. He finally turned away from the playground and faced the opposite wall. He looked more somber than angry even though he clearly thinking about the man who did this. "We already came this far. Let's just see this through. Is that okay with everyone?" There was mutual agreement and they continued down to the next turn.
That was when the scenery suddenly changed. The sidewalk now led up to another wall that was painted like the outside of a house and a wooden door that looked suspiciously like the one in the hallway. Charlie turned the icy doorknob and opened the door to reveal a dimly lit living room inside.
Like the pizzeria before it, the rooms were styled to look like a real house. There was a television and an old couch covered in a layer of dust. The carpet was overly spongey and smelled old. To the immediately left was a door that she tried and found it stuck tight. There wasn't even a keyhole but it felt like it was locked.
"This is seriously disturbing…" Jessica whispered as she stepped inside after John. "Whose house was this?"
"I have no idea. I don't remember there being a house this close to the playground… Then again, I don't remember the playground being this close to the pizzeria either," John admitted. He continued to look around while Jessica followed after Charlie, who was still looking around and heading in the direction of a nearby hallway.
Carlton, meanwhile, approached the television and bent down in front of it. "Wouldn't it be insane if they still got cable down here?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood. Persuaded by his own curiosity, he pressed the button on the television and it came on to static. "Guess we couldn't be so lucky."
"What's in that drawer down there?" Lamar asked, pointing to the drawer under the television. Carlton opened it up and raised his brows.
"Huh. It's a VCR and a bunch of tapes. Sort of looks like it's wired up through the bottom," he said. He and Lamar exchanged a look for a second, getting the same idea, and the redhead promptly turned on the VCR and checked inside of it. There was a tape already in it so he started it up.
A cartoon popped up on the screen and the sudden, loud sound coming from it startled the four who weren't paying attention to what he had been doing. The two in front of the television were not too surprised to see what cartoon was being played on the television.
"I remember this show! It was that Freddy cartoon they used to have a long time ago. Talk about a blast from the past," Carlton said. He smiled a little as he saw familiar characters chattering on the screen. "Man, I used to watch this show religiously before it got cancelled."
"I kind of remember it? I don't know, that looks familiar, but I don't think I watched much of it," Lamar agreed. He was much less nostalgic but still curious. "Do you know why they cancelled it?"
"It had to be something to do with Freddy's because the show was great. Halfway through they got this plot going where they had this wizard or something that was taking over the island and mind controlling their friends. I thought it was the coolest thing ever, like the show was growing up with me. Then, all of a sudden, it was off the air."
"Did they stop the wizard or did it just stop in the middle of the story?"
"I can't even remember. I kind of just watched reruns whenever they came on."
"Can you turn that down?" Marla asked with a light huff. "You remember we're technically trespassing, right? Trespassing in some… Creepy… Dark… Underground, human-sized dollhouse. Turn that off."
"Alright, alright," Carlton said and shut it off. He ejected the tape and whispered to Lamar, "Think anyone would care if I took this?" Lamar shrugged before shaking his head.
Meanwhile, Charlie stepped into the short hallway. It was largely empty with the only furniture in it being a grandfather clock. The walls were barren without windows or decoration and even the clock wasn't running any longer. It probably hadn't been wound or maintained in years. On the far end of the hall was an open door and Charlie could see into a bedroom, specifically seeing a pink bed. The second door, directly to her right, was shut tight.
She thought it too would be locked and so she checked the door quickly. To her surprise the door readily opened and what she found past it stopped her in her tracks. It stopped everything all at once.
"Charlie?" Jessica noticed how she froze up. As the brunette slowly stepped into the room, the blond called back out to the living room. "Guys, Charlie found something!" The others hastily hurried to catch up and she followed into the room after her friend. "Charlie…?"
The room looked like it had once been a child's bedroom. There were toys on the floor and on the dresser, some of which were plush versions of Freddy Fazbear and friends. A simple lamp sat on a bedside table with a vase squeezed on the very edge beside it.
The main thing that stood out in the room however was the bed. Not a child's bed but a hospital bed, old and forgotten, with a hospital gown crumpled at its foot.
Charlie stood in the center of the room and stared at the hospital bed silently as her thoughts raced. Everything Michael said suddenly came back to her. Suddenly she knew what was being kept down here.
"He always knew where he was."
"This was where he took him…" Charlie whispered. Jessica heard her.
"Him?... You mean Sammy?"
"No, Afton's son… When I was talking to Michael he told me this story about his brother. I think I mentioned it to you, how his brother was in an accident? Before that he had said his brother disappeared for a few years and that he thought his father knew about it. After the accident, after he was declared brain dead, William took him from the hospital and took him home to die… Or brought him here." Charlie lifted the hospital gown and could see it was small enough to fit a child. "Brought him back here."
"Why would he bring him down here?" Jessica asked in surprise. She was already shocked that he got the bed down here at all, but to keep a dying child in a place like this seemed sadistic. "…Why?"
Charlie felt it too. "I don't know," she admitted. There was a long moment of silence. "…We have to get that door open."
"The door back in the pizzeria, the metal one?" Jessica asked.
"Right. Something has to be in there if they're trying that hard to keep it closed, and after this… It could be anything. It could be evidence, it could be more equipment…" Charlie took a deep breath and steadied herself for that possibility. "…That could be where he put them."
"Oh God, don't say that," Jessica begged. She watched Charlie head out with a disturbed look.
John, who was listening the entire time, had a doubtful look as Charlie passed by. He almost let her go without saying anything, but this time he couldn't stay silent, not when he had seen all of this. He felt like he needed to warn her and simply stated his feelings. "I don't think we should blindly put our faith in Michael. Or someone who says he's Michael without even showing his face," he said.
"Who else am I supposed to trust, John? Nobody else knows anything and those who do pretend that they don't. Everyone's always hiding something in this town," Charlie said sharply. She regretted her tone immediately, especially once she saw his surprised look, but she couldn't find it in her to apologize. It felt less like she was defending Michael and more that she was struggling to be heard, even if she knew in the back of her mind that wasn't the case.
All the while the creeping thoughts of Sammy were coming back. Reminding her that he could've been down here, scared out of his mind, used as William's plaything. That it had almost been her.
Feeling the thick tension, Marla decided to step in and try to do damage control. "Yeah, let's start heading back. The sooner we get the power off, the sooner the doors open, the sooner we can leave."
So, they did. They started heading out of the fake house. John fell to the back of the group, which Jessica noticed and looked at his face as she passed by. He had the same look of regret that Charlie now had. The walk back to the pizzeria felt much longer than it really was, and once they were in the dining room Charlie headed straight for the door.
"I think I'm just going to wait here. You guys can shut the power off and then I'll check what's inside… And then I can meet you out in the gallery," she offered. It was clear what she was really implying though, trying to spare them of seeing whatever was hiding behind the door. The others didn't seem as content with this idea and all looked equally concerned.
"I don't know if you should stay here alone… What if something else locks when we shut the power off and we can't get you out? You could be stuck back here," Jessica warned. Charlie feigned a smile and prepared to assure her that it wouldn't happen when she was cut off by a surprising interjection.
"I'll stay," John volunteered. She looked to him in surprise and he looked to her with that same remorse. "If that's okay with you."
"If you're sure," Charlie agreed. They both seemed to stand there awkwardly and Jessica looked between them, raised her brows thoughtfully, and then stopped any further protests. Instead she turned to the others and began to usher them back towards the hatch with only a few words of encouragement. Charlie could imagine her having that smile again. Or would've if this situation wasn't so dire.
Then it was just Charlie and John standing there beside the door. Again she felt that need to say something, but unlike in the control room this time she couldn't ignore it. She took a deep breath and began.
"I know it sounds crazy that I still believe Michael after seeing all of this. I don't even know him, so how can I just believe some stranger on the phone? It's just… When I talked to him, even though it was just that one time, I got the feeling that he knew what I was going through, because he went through it too. He had a brother who he loved and lost. He had a father who was living this double life that ended up destroying their family. After so long of having people beat around the bush, he didn't talk down to me when it came to Freddy's. I feel like that means something."
"I just worry about you. I don't want to see you get hurt or have someone take advantage of you," John admitted. He faced Charlie again and hesitated a moment before noticing something she had said. "…I don't think your dad was involved in any of this."
"I can't even tell anymore. I just don't know how he couldn't know about this place," Charlie admitted. She looked around the room with a wary frown. "It brings up so many memories. So many things I thought I forgot and all it took was just seeing it again to bring everything back. And what makes it worse is that now all of those good memories are ruined. I can't remember playing at the diner without thinking about the rabbit…" Her gaze settled on the security door again. "I don't remember this door, but when I look at it I get this… Strange feeling."
"Like what?"
"…Like the feeling I got when that rabbit carried Sammy away. I feel like Sammy's right here and is getting carried away. Like he's just beyond this door," Charlie admitted. She knocked on the door and it echoed hollowly, then she rested her hand on it. "…What am I going to do if he's in here?"
"…I don't know," John admitted honestly. "But I know that if he is, we're here for you and we're going to get through it together… And no matter what happens, we're not going to leave you." He put his arm around her again and pulled her into a secure hold, one that she felt more than willing to accept.
It was the first thing to bring a real smile to Charlie's face in what felt like forever. "Thanks, John. I'm glad you're here." And even though she didn't feel the same sheepishness or butterflies in her stomach, she was truly glad that he was. It made the wait a little easier.
Back out in the Circus Gallery, crossing into the Ballora Gallery, their four friends were trying to make due with the tiny flashlights. The rooms seemed so much more dark in comparison to the ones they were just in, but it seemed pointless to try and get the lights on when they would just be turned back off a few minutes later.
"Maybe we shouldn't have left them back there like that. You had a point with the doors, we could've just killed the power and walked back together," Lamar said doubtfully. Surprisingly, nobody else seemed worried about it. Not even Jessica who had been very concerned about this whole thing.
"They'll be fine. They need to work out some things anyway," she said. Then let it drop without any further explanation.
If anything, this made Lamar more suspicious. He stopped with an unenthused look and bluntly asked, "Alright, what's really going on?"
"We're doing that thing when a group of friends try to discreetly shove two friends into a romantic relationship without them noticing," Carlton added with that same lack of amusement. This instantly got a frown from Jessica and he raised a brow challengingly. "What, was it supposed to be a secret? I thought we were a team here." The blond rolled her eyes.
Seeing Lamar's shocked look caused Marla to snicker. "Oh, don't act so surprised. Remember how close they used to be when we were kids? John always had this huge crush on Charlie and from what I've been seeing it didn't go anywhere."
"…Huh… I didn't know John had a thing for Charlie," Lamar said. He discreetly glanced towards Carlton who pointedly looked away. "I could think of a better time and place to play matchmaker."
"We're just giving them a moment to talk some things out. That's going to be easier without us hovering over them," Jessica reaffirmed. The conversation trailed off as they passed through the Ballora Gallery and into the Breaker Room once again. Jessica approached the breaker panel and scanned over it. "Okay, now how do we get this off? It doesn't look like there's an option here."
"There's a switch on the back that we used to turn it on. Maybe it works both ways?" Carlton asked. Jessica circled the panel to check and found it right where Charlie had, unlabeled and carefully hidden. She clicked it off and the panel went dark, but the dim, flickering lights were still on. "Or maybe it just works for the panel and nothing else."
"Looks like there's a fuse box over there. Carlton, hand me your light," Lamar said. Once he was handed it, he headed over to the panel and easily opened it. It looked just like a normal one and after looking over it he found what looked to be the main power switch and clicked it off. Immediately the lights died and a distant hum faded in the facility to a hollow silence. "There we go. That should be it."
"But you think the elevator still has power, right?" Marla asked worriedly.
"Yeah, I think it's fine. It had power when the floor didn't," he said nonchalantly as he shut the box.
Their footsteps echoed across the Ballora Gallery as they headed back towards the door. It was the only thing that fought back the suffocating silence. They made it to the door and Jessica led the way through the passage, all the while feeling her anxiousness beginning to grow as she thought about that suspicious room. She swallowed it down enough to open the door to the Circus Gallery.
Only to have hit something only an inch out.
"Huh?" Jessica tried to press harder at the door but found it unwilling to budge. She pulled the door back closed and then threw it out more firmly to no avail. All it did was confirm that it was hitting something on the other side. "Something's blocking the door…?"
"What?" Carlton asked. He tried to lean past Marla to see. "Wait, hold on. Are you sure it didn't just lock when we turned the power off?"
"No, it's hitting something. Something must've fell over, or…" Jessica trailed off as she shined her little light through. It was then that she noticed the color of the bulky object wedged up against the door. It was red and white. "I think it's Circus Baby!"
"The clown? No! How?" Marla asked in disbelief. "How could that happen? How could she get in front of the door?"
"I don't know, but it's her alright. Look," Jessica offered. Marla squeezed beside her to look through the crack and recognized that it was the empty clown too. She grew at least a shade paler.
"Maybe it got up and walked itself over here," Carlton said. Jessica gave an exasperated huff and was about to scold him for joking at a time like this, but he beat her to it. "I'm dead serious," he said. One look at his face showed not even a shred of amusement. As unbelievable as it sounded there was no denying the facts; something moved this heavy body across the Circus Gallery.
Almost like it had blocked the door on purpose.
Jessica suddenly had a bad feeling that they weren't alone down here. "We have to find another way through, now."
It was jarring when the pizzeria lights suddenly died with little more than a dying hum. Then a loud clanging came from right beside the two. Charlie's breath caught as she realized it was the sound of the security door opening. At the same moment that John turned on his flashlight, Charlie was hit by something else: a rotten, grotesque odor. It was faded from age but still stood out prominently.
It reminded her somewhat of the smell of dead animal, except more vile and less sharp. The wave of sickness that rushed over her was not from the scent but from the realization of how out of place it was. Though she didn't have time to dwell on it when the door was open, the flashlight was on, and she could see what hid inside of the room. Cautiously she stepped into the room.
The small room was no bigger than the fake bedroom just through the wall. Large gift box props were stacked in the corner and a few shelves held dusty, old plush toys, as though on display. There was a table off to the left turned on its side and with a drop cloth thrown over it, giving this room the impression of being a storage room. If not for that smell she might've believed it was.
Two things stood out immediately to Charlie and not just because they were across from the door. One was a large box that was also painted to look like a gift box, though the size made it look like a toybox. One of its flaps was slightly opened because of the slender tube caught in it. The tube that led up to a lone IV stand mounted right beside the box, the bag long since depleted, now worthless.
Charlie was immediately drawn to the box. She took a cautious step towards it, her boots sounding so loud in an otherwise silent room. Though she heard John say her name, trying to caution her, she continued ahead towards the box. Her eyes followed the tube from the IV stand into the box. There was something in that box. The smell was only growing stronger the closer she got to it.
She stared down at the dark crack in the flaps and could hear her heartbeat pounding in her ears. "This is it," she thought as she reached down. "In here..." With that, Charlie threw the flaps back.
…But the box was empty. Except for that terrible smell which was clearly coming from the box. Except for that IV-line dangling down into the box loosely, like it had once fed something. It was then that Charlie knew this wasn't someone's toybox.
This was someone's coffin.
John noticed Charlie's frozen state and expected the worst. He took a hesitant step closer and asked, "…What is it?" She slowly turned her head, unable to answer at first and still trying to get her thoughts together. "Charlie?" he pressed further. He could hear the hatch opening, signaling the others' return, but his attention was all on her and the box. "Charlie, speak to me."
"There's… There's nothing here… But I'm pretty sure there was," Charlie admitted. She looked back down into the box again and it was like the temperature in the room dropped even further. "…I think William brought his son down here and put him in this box."
"Why would he do that…?"
"I don't know," Charlie admitted. "I don't know, I just know he did. This IV, the- the smell… Maybe he was hiding the body. It doesn't make sense why, but that's the only thing I can think of. Maybe back then there were people working down here and he didn't want to risk them seeing. There had to be some workers in a place of this size…" She shook her head slowly, almost in disbelief at her own words. "I can't believe this." John was silent, not knowing what to say, and Charlie turned back towards him.
And saw the dark figure looming behind John. Her eyes popped open in surprise and she yelled, "John, behind you!"
He turned around just in time to have something metal slam against the side of his chest. John was thrown to the floor by the sheer strength of it with the flashlight falling from its grasp. It rolled only a short way but was turned enough to cast some light over the tall figure standing over him. To his alarm it was something much worse than a crazed maniac, it wasn't even human.
Wires frayed out of its metal body. Some sticking loosely from its chest and shoulders while others stuck out of its head, almost like hair, one resembling a pigtail and the over a melted mess of wires crawling down half of its face. Paint was streaked down its face plates from where it had liquidized. A metal ring around its legs, styled like a tutu, had been warped from the heat and sunk down where some of the red mixture clung to its thigh. One of its arms ended in a twitching hand while the other, the one that struck him, was ended in a large, menacing claw.
It was a horrifying creature, but there was no doubting what it was. It was the same character as the one they had passed in the Circus Gallery. It was a scrapped, half-melted, broken version of Circus Baby.
Its eyes alit in a brilliant green before locking onto him. That was the only warning he got before it attacked. It dove forward on wheels like roller skates and pulled in its claw like a snake drawing back to strike. John pushed off the wall and rolled just quick enough to avoid the claw that slammed into the tile. He then tried to get to his feet, but it slid its claw on the ground and swung it against him, knocking him onto his back.
Then it got above him, drawing back its claw again, and stared down at him with an angry unlike any he had ever felt. It was prepared to crush him under its claw, and the only thing that stopped it was its green eyes suddenly darting to the side in time to see Charlie running up and spot the taser in her hand. The moment it saw that taser its target shifted and it pushed off and skated for her.
Charlie tried to duck out of the way into the room but the animatronic overtook her, ramming itself shoulder first into her and knocking her back onto the floor. It hit the corner of the wall which deflected it from crashing into her, but the force had still knocked the taser out of her hands, and she had to crawl after it. Charlie could hear the melted clown skate back into the room as she grabbed the taser and rolled onto her back just in time to face her assailant.
The clown was too fast and swatted her hand with its own. The sharp tips of its fingers left a couple shallow cuts in her palm as the taser was thrown again into the darkness. Charlie then reached for the only thing she could, the IV pole, and yanked it in front of her to shield herself. The clown's claw shot out and clamped down on the thin pole, and Charlie watched the sheer strength as it was crushed in its grip.
It then ripped the object away and tossed it aside. Now she was entirely at its mercy, but much to Charlie's confusion it didn't immediately attack like it had with John. Instead it stood over her and stared down at her, illuminating her in the pale green glow. She could only hold her breath and desperately try to think of any way out.
But before that could happen, something swung from the darkness and hit the clown in the back. It caused the clown to teeter, almost falling forward on Charlie, and made an incredibly loud clattering sound. Looking past it, she could see that John stood over it with one of the chairs from the tables in the dining room. The animatronic hesitated and so he raised the chair again and brought it down on it.
Except at the last moment its arm twisted back and that claw easily caught the chair by the seat and clamped down tightly. It yanked its shoulder forward, ripping it out of John's hands, almost hitting Charlie who just crawled back out of the way. The clown's arm dangled there for a moment before it slowly started to turn back towards him, green eyes glowing brighter with anger.
It was at that moment that Charlie heard something she never expected.
"W-Wo-Wrrr…" Through heavy static and crackling from deep in its chest she heard the faintest sound. "Wrrr-Wor-Wrrrthhhl-ss." It was a voice. The animatronic was speaking. "Worthhhle-lesss th-thi-i-ing."
It seized back its arm and then threw the chair at John. He ducked to the side and out of the way, just dodging it, but the clown was now after him. He turned and ran into the dining room to try and lead it away, grabbing his flashlight and weaving through the tables. The melted clown crashed through chairs and tables alike as it hunted him down.
Hearing it speak had changed everything for Charlie though, because it wasn't a prerecorded message. At least, it didn't sound like it was. It sounded like an insult, a sign of sentience and some intelligence, and that meant that maybe there was another way to stop it. Because it was going to end up killing one of them and they didn't have the means to fight back with it raging like this.
Charlie had to figure something out as she fumbled blindly in the dark and got back to her feet.
John kept up the game of cat and mouse for a while. He moved erratically with sharp turns, circling the tables, listening as the clown crackled, hissed, and closed in behind him. He knew that his best bet was to go through the door as the passage was too narrow for the animatronic to follow quickly, but he had to give Charlie enough time to get away or it would turn on her once again.
It wasn't until its clawed hand scraped his jacket that he realized he had no choice but to go for the door. He threw the chair at the clown's feet and made a run for it. He got to the door in only a few seconds and threw it open, only to have his arm grabbed in the claw's tight vice. The clown yanked him back so aggressively that it nearly wrenched his arm out of socket and tried to throw him to the floor.
Forced to the floor, John turned over and kicked into the side of the clown's knee. The animatronic's leg briefly gave and it wobbled while he tried to twist free, but the melted monstrosity didn't fully buckle and its grip never wavered. In fact, it was getting steadily tighter. It yanked John closer to stare him in the eyes as its claw increased pressure. Enough to leave bruises, then cutting off circulation, and soon would break bone.
It suddenly tightened harder and John choked on the pain. Its eyes only glowed brighter in delight. It was only a matter of time until something gave and it was then that Charlie knew she had to step in.
"Circus Baby, stop!"
John noticed a reaction instantly. Baby flinched like she was startled and her eyes briefly flickered. Her head began to slightly tilt like she was confused and she began to turn back towards Charlie who was standing outside the security door. It watched her was an unreadable look, emotionless, and yet it still seemed perplexed. Charlie stood firm even while her heartrate quickened and she began to sweat under her clothes.
"Let him go," Charlie commanded. She tightened her fist at her side and held her ground. "Now, Circus Baby. Let him go."
Baby instantly released John's arm and dropped him to the floor, much to Charlie's relief. Except this didn't last long as the animatronic turned further towards her and then began to slowly glide towards her. The animatronic had taken the bait and was now boldly approaching her once again. That curious tilt and silent stare was almost as threatening as the aggressive pursuit had been.
Baby clearly wasn't following her commands because it had to. Charlie had very little control of this situation and still pushed on with the plan.
"Why are you doing this? I heard you talk, can you tell us why you're doing this?" she pressed. As it got closer she was cast into its shadow, only able to see it so well by the glow of its own eyes. It was through this that Charlie noticed all of the damage on the outside of its body and once it got close enough she suddenly realized something much more telling; it smelled like it had been burned recently. Charlie's eyes widened and without much thought she asked, "What happened to you, Baby?"
The clown stopped only a few feet in front of her and stared down at her. For a long moment it silently stared and Charlie kept her eyes locked on it, not wanting to tip it off to the fact that she could see John getting up. She watched it out of her peripheral vision as she continued to stand her ground, letting Baby roll ever closer, needing it to be within arm's reach.
Then, just like before, Baby spoke, "H-Heee b-rrrr-rrrned me-e."
Charlie's eyes widened in alarm. "Was she at the restaurant when it burned down?" she thought. Then she focused on the 'he' and her heart sank. "Could Michael have really-?"
Her thoughts were abruptly cut off when Baby raised its hand towards her. She stayed still and watched cautiously, ready to jump back if it looked like it was about to hit her like it did to John. Instead it rested its hand on the side of her head, the sharp tips of its fingers poking into her scalp and then slowly dragging down the side of her face. Charlie's teeth clenched at the cold, harsh touch.
"Su-Suuuch-ch pre-pret-t-ty hairrr…" Baby said in a hushed tone. it was staring at her hair, not Charlie directly, mesmerized by the feel. Tangling its fingers in it and studying it close.
Up until it heard a soft squeak- the sound of John cautiously lifting another chair behind her. Baby's eyes snapped forward and it abruptly spun around, its hand ripping out of Charlie's hair and causing her to stumble.
Charlie recovered and while Baby's back was turned she thrust the taser into its back and pressed the button. All at once the voltage emptied into the animatronic and caused it to shudder and seize in place. As soon as the taser ran out of charge, Baby slumped where it stood, arms dropping to its sides and head falling forward. Only then did Charlie pull the taser back and run past to John's side.
"We have to find the others and get out of here!" Charlie called as she continued running to the door. John didn't argue and grabbed up his flashlight before taking after her. She paused at the door long enough to look back at Baby and notice that its eyes was flickering like it was malfunctioning. It was still on though and she had a bad feeling that single jolt wouldn't hold it back forever.
They were in way too deep. They had to get back to the surface.