Mable: I'm sorry this took so long. Alas, life events got in the way… One event being my birthday! So, Happy Birthday to me. ^-^ Anyway, I won't waste any more time. Enjoy!
The Buried Voice
Chapter 8: Haunted
Jessica clamored through the northward vent from the control module as fast as she could. Being that it was longer than the one to the Ballora Gallery, she could've believed that it would release directly into the Circus Gallery, but the map had already foretold that it wouldn't. Instead it led into a separate control room, this one with dark windows looking over the Circus Gallery.
The others started coming in behind her as Jessica looked for another vent. She almost thought she found one in seeing what looked like a flimsy cover under the control panel, but when she slid it aside she found nothing but an empty space and no way through. Now she was beginning to panic and quickly sprung back up.
"Dead end. Okay, new plan; back through the vent and we'll try the other one to that room over there, the auditorium. There's probably another door like the one in the gallery," Jessica rushed out. She hurried back to the vent and crouched down before Marla could come through the rest of the way, beckoning her back and beginning to follow her inside. "We've got to hurry."
A clanging noise caught both Carlton and Lamar's attention and they looked through the windows to see that now there was a light in the darkness. Specifically, a flashlight's light.
"Hey, I think I see them!" Lamar said. Jessica turned back in surprise as he reached out to knock on the glass. "Guys! Hey!" he called through the thick glass.
Charlie and John had just gotten through the hatch and closed it behind them but were unable to lock it. They had to make a break for it and Charlie briefly noticed the knocking and lights in the nearby windows. Though they went quickly forgotten when John's light fell on the door and revealed something unexpected propped in front of it, the empty Baby body.
"What the hell?!" John exclaimed. He quickly pushed Charlie back warily, expecting this animatronic to also get up and charge them. Charlie knew that it wouldn't.
"She blocked the door! We're going to have to find another way out!" she said. Then she looked towards the windows before grabbing John's wrist and running towards them. "Come on, this way!"
Jessica got back up and now she, Carlton, and Lamar were all leaning against the windows and stared down at the two who stopped underneath them. It was clear from how frantically Charlie was looking that she was trying to find a vent through just as Jessica had. The blond frantically knocked to get her attention and the brunette looked up to her.
"There's no vent in here! You have to go that way!" she yelled and pointed further down the room. "There should be a door to the auditorium!"
Charlie nodded and made a run for it with John lighting their way with the flashlight. To their relief there was a second door, or they assumed that was what was poking out from behind a mound of stacked gift boxes. They began to toss them aside with little care for the ones with things rattling around inside of them. Baby must've known the blockade wouldn't be difficult to get through and just tried to hide the door.
Right when they had gotten it uncovered enough to see the door handle, there was a resounding banging sound from back across the room. The green eyes glowing through the darkness gave away exactly what it was and the two scrambled to get the door open. Their friends could only watch in horror through the windows.
"Is that the endoskeleton?!" Jessica blurted out in shock. She kept looking in between her two friends and the approaching monstrosity. "They're not getting through! We have to do something!"
"We've got to get into that other room and make sure the other door isn't blocked off!" Lamar commanded. He ducked back down into the vent and began to climb through, driving Marla out the other side. "Guys, hurry it up! They don't have much time!" Jessica snapped out of her shock and followed. Carlton lingered a little longer to watch the scene in through the glass before following after them.
Baby had approached slowly at first, but the moment John started to pull the door open she broke into a skate. She rushed towards them so quickly that he could only get the door halfway open and tried to push Charlie through. She resisted though and instead spun around, half standing in front of him, and swung out the taser threateningly. Baby turned her skates and stopped with a loud squeak only ten or so feet away.
Then the clown just stood there and stared them down threateningly. Charlie stood her ground with the taser gripped tightly and her eyes locked onto the animatronics. She listened to John frantically get the rest of the boxes aside and then finally get the door open. He then looked back at the scene, took in the position they were in, and leaned close to Charlie's back to whisper.
"What's the plan? Do you want to hand me the taser and go in first?" he offered. She shook her head quickly.
"You go first. I'm right behind you." While it seemed like Charlie was being brave, what really held her in that spot was the fear that if she turned away, Baby would charge them. She couldn't take her eyes off of the clown for a second without risking their lives. Once John stepped into the passageway she backed in after him. "Don't follow us, Circus Baby. I don't want to hurt you," Charlie warned.
Baby twitched before replying through her broken voice. At first, Charlie wasn't sure what she said, but it started to make more sense the longer it lingered. "H-How muuc-c-ch ch-ch-chaarrrge is le-eft…?"
It almost sounded mocking, as though Baby didn't believe there was any left at all. Though she must've been somewhat wary as she continued to keep her distance and only rolled the slightest bit closer when Charlie backed into the passageway. John quickly slammed the door and they made a run for the next one. Surprisingly, Baby didn't barge after them.
Neither were willing to believe that it had given up. More than likely it was just biding its time, so they had to move quickly. They got to the other door quickly and John started to push it open only to find it caught up on something. He pushed with all of his strength as whatever was stacked up on the other side scraped on the floor. All the while Charlie could hear a different kind of scraping back from where they came. Almost like the sound of claws scraping along the door, taunting her. It chilled her to the bone.
But this was soon drowned out by the sound of voices, thumping, and scooting outside the door. Something was dropped aside with a loud bang as John finally got the door open halfway and slid through, pulling Charlie through after him. There was their friends who had just moved two heavy lockboxes that had been stacked and blocking the door.
Charlie was caught off-guard in a tight hug from Jessica while John slammed the door behind them. He waved Lamar and Carlton back over, as they were the ones who had moved the boxes. "Bring those back over. They'll buy us some time," he said. They didn't even question it and hefted the lock boxes back up. Charlie watched them do so when she suddenly had a revelation.
"Wait a minute, how could Baby block the door from both sides? She couldn't have," she said. Jessica pulled back to look and realized she was right. John was quick with an answer.
"That means there's another way through. That's why she didn't stop us from shutting her out, she's probably halfway to whatever door or vent she used last time," John said. He hurried past the two with his flashlight in his hand, face firm and determined, and intending to lead them all back to the elevator. Even with his confidence, Charlie wasn't entirely convinced. Especially not when Jessica voiced her thoughts.
"Or that means there's something else in here, just on this side of the door…" she murmured. She looked disturbed by her own words and quickly turned to Charlie. "He's right. We need to leave right now."
Charlie didn't disagree. Even if she hadn't found what she wanted to, she couldn't risk everyone's lives, including her own, in staying any longer. The last set of observation rooms would have to go unfounded. From what she could see in the light barely reflecting off the walls and tiles, there was a dark opening that looked like a security door right around where those additional rooms would've been. Disappointed but not suicidal, she turned away and followed alongside Jessica.
John reached the vent first but waited to make sure the others, including Charlie, caught up. Carlton took the lead and while holding Marla's hand again, he began to lean into the vent.
Then immediately swung back out and staggered a few steps away. He stared at the opening with wide eyes before muttering, "There's a baby in there."
"Baby's in there?! How could she move that fast?!" Marla exclaimed in surprise. Jessica reactively yanked Charlie back and even John seemed shocked, but Carlton quickly shook his head.
"Not Baby. No, that is a baby- Sheez, it's coming out!" He pushed Marla back and waved for John to do the same as he distanced himself from the vent opening. Everyone looked on with baited breath.
Slowly, a head began to immerge from the opening, and just like Carlton said it looked almost like a baby. Or, more specifically, a baby doll. It had large eyes and a bald head, and Charlie recognized it as one of the small dolls posed with Baby in that poster she had seen before. Except something was wrong with it; its neck looked too long. The eyes rolled around to count out the people in the group.
"It's her toys. They're here and she's not," the baby doll creature said. "…I wonder if she'd share?"
Then a second voice spoke up. One that sounded like its own but more broken. "Sh-She never shares… But She-e-e's not heeere." Then the head started to slide out of the vent revealing a torso and arms that were harnessed by dark, oily wires. The next words that came out sounded like they came from further inside the vent. "Leeet's pla-a-ay."
"No, let's not play!" Carlton retorted. Though this plea fell on deaf ears when the source of the voices started to climb out of the shaft and reveal its full form.
The creature was not a baby doll at all, but a horrible amalgam of doll and animatronic pieces matted together with black wire. The doll torso was attached to the end of an arm where the elbow should've been. The other arm also held an identical doll, except that it was in worse shape, with one eye dangling loose, a missing arm, and a partially crushed torso. Both arms were attached to a larger torso of barely held together plates. Marla recognized it immediately as the chest of the ballerina in the poster, Ballora.
Its body lifted long enough to slide its legs free. They matched the chest in being long, feminine legs without feet. There were wires spilling into them too along with a thick pieces of piping that didn't look like they belonged inside of animatronics at all. It stepped out cautiously, daintily, touching the ground like a spider would. This was a painfully fitting analogy when its second set of legs came out from behind it.
They didn't fit the ballerina body at all and were instead thicker, purple and white with large feet, and large gaps where wires fell through. They were much clunkier and as they dropped down from the vent they hit the floor with a loud thump. The whole body looked so fragile, like it was barely staying together, and yet it was even more grotesque than Baby's melted form had been. A body composed of leftover parts of animatronics, dolls, pipes, and what looked to be soundstage equipment.
The most unsettling part of all was its lack of a head. As though the two hand-puppet looking animatronics on the end of its arms were controlling the mess and misadjusted pieces. They turned their heads separately and studied the group close before the broken one stopped and nodded towards Lamar. "I wa-a-ant thisss one." Lamar's eyes widened as he took a step back with his hands defensively raised.
"What about a girl? This one's close," the other doll said. Marla clutched Carlton's hand tighter as the other's eyes fell on her. Both doll heads now turned to face her and him before the one quietly said, "I spy someone even better. I don't think she would care if we took that one."
If they were going on where they were looking, it was clear that the two meant Carlton. He pushed Marla back further and looked half prepared to start running, regardless of what the amalgam said about him. They took a few tentative steps, the bent ballerina legs leading the much less graceful ones. Then, before anyone could move or do anything, the amalgam swung its arm out and released the doll.
Still attached by a few feet with wires it wrapped around its chosen victim, the completely blindsided John.
He barely had a second before the wires snared around his neck and the doll clung to him. The amalgam then yanked him forward, throwing him to the floor, and then pounced on him before he could fight.
"John!" Marla cried in horror. Lamar was the first to race in and grabbed the back of the amalgam's body, trying to pull it back. It kicked up with its thick leg and stuck him across the gut, momentarily staggering him. Carlton also ran in at this point and went for its grip on John by grabbing at the baby doll. The creature made a mechanical hiss and hooked him with a ballerina leg to force them apart. Marla managed to swallow her fear enough to circle behind John and try to grab the wires around his neck.
All the while, Charlie prepared to run in with the taser and arrived just as Carlton and Marla had with full intention to help. She almost dug the too into the thing's main torso when she suddenly caught herself. She remembered how Baby had seized from the attack and knew the taser must've been powerful. Which meant that everyone currently touching the amalgam, including John himself, could get the brunt of it too.
"Charlie, do it!" Jessica called behind her. Charlie was frantic, standing there unsure and trying to think of another way, and finally calling back.
"I can't! It'll hit everyone!" she said. Jessica realized she was right and seemed to grow pale. Though not nearly as pale as when something suddenly slammed against the blocked door so hard that it moved the boxes back. Charlie knew exactly what it was trying to break through and it was arriving at the worst possible time. "Jess, get behind me! I can't shock that but I can shock her!"
Jessica nodded and ran past. She now faced her friends fighting off the animatronic and felt helpless, wanting to help but not knowing how and not even having an opening with how it kicked and flailed. It seemed like John could still breathe because he had fit his fingers underneath the wires, but they were quickly losing circulation.
The doll dangling on his chest gave a cryptic, "She's coming!" before he fought it back with the butt of his flashlight.
All while this was going on, Charlie was watching in the direction of the door as the light flickered by it from the flashlight being tussled. She might've not been able to see the door but she could clearly hear it as it was hit with incredible strength and the boxes dragged against the tile floor. When one just happened to fall off she knew the struggle would be over. It was just enough that Baby could force her weight and slowly slide the door open in one motion.
The glow from her eyes fell over her body eerily. It only seemed to grow brighter upon seeing Charlie and focused intensely upon her. It was almost too much to bear.
"Gah!" Lamar exclaimed as he was somehow knocked to the floor. She looked back in time to see one of the amalgam's back feet holding him down, but it looked like he was already squeezing from the weak grip.
She then turned ahead again to see that Baby had silently moved closer. Now she was less than ten feet away and still staring at Charlie with that fixated look. As disturbing as the amalgam was and as bad of a situation as it put the others in, she knew it was nothing compared to Baby. It could tie up her friends and tug of war against them, but it was Baby who could crush bones with a single snap of her claw.
But she noticed that once again Baby was only watching her. That gave her an idea; a risky one, but one that could guarantee her friends' safety.
"Maybe if I make a run for it she'll follow me. I can lose her in the observation rooms and give the others enough time to get John free," Charlie thought. Though there was a warning in the back of her mind that this could go very badly. That she might not be fast enough to outrun Baby. "…And I don't really have much of a choice. She's… She's not afraid enough of the taser to keep from getting closer. All it would take is me losing sight for a second-." Her thoughts stalled at Marla's frantic cry and a sound like Carlton grunting. "…I have to get rid of her."
Before her nerves could get the best of her, Charlie called back to Jessica. "Jess, I need the light."
"Which one? John? Mine?"
"Any of them." She held her hand back and Jessica put the small cat light into her grasp. It wasn't much but it would work well enough, she hoped.
"What are you going to do?" Jessica cautiously asked. Charlie took a deep breath.
"Something really stupid."
Then darted across the auditorium towards the open security door. Once again, Baby took the bait- or perhaps had no interest in any of the others except for her- and took after her. She skated quickly across the tiles and closed in on her target. Charlie could hear Jessica screaming after her, hear Baby closing in, hear her heart pounding in her ears, but ignored it all as she disappeared through the door. Baby was quick after her.
Jessica could only look on in shock and in a moment of irrational panic considered going after them. The only thing that interrupted this was a newfound choking noise.
Just as Carlton and Marla had started to unwind the wires from John- and Lamar had finally gotten unpinned from the amalgam's legs, which still stomped at him- the more broken doll let out a cry. "You'r-r-re ruin-ruini-ing every-verything!" Then was slung forward by its arm and directly onto Carlton's shoulder. He tried to rip it off as it crawled over him with nothing more than a single arm and a knot of wires, but failed to pull it free before it wrapped its line around his neck.
Carlton jammed his fingers under it like John had, but unlike John he had missed catching a single wire which quickly cinched around his throat. By time Jessica heard him he was already gasping for air. Marla was now trying to get the wires off of him while the other two ganged up on the amalgam. It was clear that the amalgam wouldn't give up even though outnumbered and screamed at them with a voice mixed between a child throwing a tantrum, a wild animal, and scraping metal.
They needed to cut the wires if they were going to free themselves for good. Jessica frantically squinted at the crumbled-up map in the darkness and just barely spotted the parts and service room nearby. Swallowing her fear, she ran up to her friends and grabbed John's flashlight off the floor beside him before running into the darkness. He called after her, "Jess!?"
"I'll be right back!" Jessica answered. She continued to sprint across the long stretch of the auditorium. While she could still hear them fighting behind her, she couldn't hear anything of what happened to Charlie. That almost seemed worse than if she could've heard Baby still crashing around, searching for Charlie. She was able to shake her thoughts and focus on the task at hand as she arrived at the parts and service door.
The room was small with a few shelves of tools, a mount for animatronics to be repaired on, and an automated conveyor that led out of the room. Jessica's focus was directed to the shelves first and foremost and she began to search them for a tool that would help them cut the wires. There were a few overfilled toolboxes, animatronic replacement parts, even another taser that Jessica picked up and tested, only to set it back down when she realized its battery was dead.
"There have to be wire cutters in here somewhere… This?" She picked up a pair of small clippers. "A good start but not enough. There has to be something stronger."
She began to shove tools aside on the messy shelf, dust clinging to her skin and sharp tips poking into her palm, until her hand almost landed on a jagged toothed blade. She shined the light over it and realized that it was a handsaw. It lacked a cord and instead seemed to have a battery pack attached to it. It was more heavy with the pack but Jessica was still able to lift it up relatively easily.
She slid on the power switch, held down the safety button, and pulled the trigger to find the saw whirring to life. "This should work. I might lose a finger trying to use this thing, but it should work."
A small giggle caused Jessica to freeze in place. Not just because it sounded young and childish, almost like the doll amalgam had sounded, but because it came from above her. She slowly looked up.
There was a small, white face peeking out from an upper shelf. It had a hollow head with a wide, dark smile and as it leaned out further she could see that its body looked like an artist's mannequin. Jessica took a cautious step back, which instantly triggered the doll's eyes to light up with yellow irises. Its only warning was a hiss before it suddenly leapt off the shelf and down onto her.
Jessica screamed and shielded her head quick enough that the doll landed on her arm. She tried to sling it off before being caught off-guard by a second doll diving off the shelf and onto her torso. It eagerly climbed up towards her face and she tried to knock it off with the weight of the handsaw. It slid around her shoulder and tried to escape to her back, and she barely caught its leg with the hand holding the flashlight.
More dolls ran out from the bottom shelf and began to circle around her feet. By now Jessica was getting overwhelmed as the dolls tried to get to her face, so much so that she didn't notice the dolls getting behind her feet and bracing their arms together to trip her up. She fell back with her elbow hitting the conveyor on the way down and her dropping the handsaw. Now on the floor, the dolls swarmed her and clung to her, resisting most of her attempts to get them off.
One of the dolls became interested in the handsaw and started to play around with the buttons. Jessica noticed it just in time and kicked the doll off before grabbing the handsaw again. Finally getting an upper hand, Jessica struck a second doll with the flashlight and lodged it free. Then she got to her feet and ran to the door, managing to snatch one of the dolls off her hair and wedge the other in the door as she shut it, forcing it to release and shutting them away once and for all. She could still hear their hisses and clawing at the door.
Jessica ran back to the others before they could figure out how to get the door open. She tossed John's flashlight into Lamar's hands and started turning on the handsaw. "Hold the wires tight!"
Marla didn't need any more explanation. She stopped trying to free the wires from Carlton's neck and instead grabbed the section between him and the amalgam and tried to hold it still. The amalgam realized what was going and suddenly tugged the wires tightly, the doll being yanked up against Carlton's neck and Marla pulling back being the only thing offering resistance.
Jessica swung down the handsaw and slowly shredded through the wires. There was a loud crackling pop as they broke apart and recoiled back into the creature's arm. Marla immediately turned and helped Carlton unwind himself from the tangle. The doll dropped helplessly to the floor as Carlton gulped in air and scrambled to his feet.
But they weren't safe yet. Seeing him out of harm's way only encouraged John to grab the second doll and twist it around his body to bear its wiring to Jessica. His free hand desperately holding the amalgam's torso back. "Jess, right here!" he exclaimed. She didn't need to be told twice and quickly dragged the handsaw through the wires with another quick crackle.
This time they found a very different result waiting. The amalgam which had been shoved up against John's back, trying to forcefully climb over him with its ballerina legs hooking around his, froze up the moment the second doll dropped to the floor. Then its body went slack against him, all of its weight falling onto his back and sliding to the floor as he ducked out from under it. The thing was completely unresponsive.
"Stay back! It might still be playing dead!" Lamar warned. John and Jessica took his advice and moved further from its form as he shined the light over it. He could see the black cords, its innards, spilling out of its plates and onto the floor and cringed. "Look at that, it's just wires and junk on the inside. I get that there's a real psycho running around here, but why would he make it so… Disorganized?"
"I don't know. The other one's not much better, Baby, it looks like it was burned… And I'm thinking it must've been in that pizzeria when it burned down," John revealed and Lamar was shocked. John's concerns shifted the moment he mentioned Baby and he turned to Jessica and asked, "We need to find Charlie before Baby does."
"She ran into the observations rooms! That door over there, it should lead back there, somewhere. Baby was right behind her," the blond rambled as she shut off the handsaw.
"Then we need to go now-."
"Look what you've done!" John and Jessica looked over quickly to see the more complete doll crawling beside the fallen amalgam. It began to beat its hands angrily on the floor. "You broke our toy, you big bully! You don't play nice, you don't play fair!" the doll yelled. It suddenly twisted its head with a loud crack as its glare fell on Jessica.
It made a hissing noise somewhat unlike the dolls in the parts and service room before its facial plates suddenly spread wide to reveal the metal underneath. It began to crawl speedily at her with a threatening cry.
Only for Marla to notice and abruptly run forward and kick the doll so hard that it skidded into the darkness and disappeared. She had a tight glare on her face and snapped her head towards the incomplete doll with a challenging look and found that it was already struggling to crawl away, seemingly unwilling to risk getting kicked as well. Marla then turned back towards her friends with her concern returning.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go find her!"
Everything was a blur once Charlie went through the open door. She passed through an office and down a hallway to the back room. It was hard to remember the map when she was this frantic but she was certain the hatch had been at the back. She shined the tiny light over the back wall until she found it, let herself through, and closed it behind her, then hurried through the passage and to the next door.
Charlie was no longer surprised to step from tile floor onto carpet. If anything it was expected and she didn't bat an eye when she shined around the light and saw the same false familial décor. This time she didn't have time to look for long as she shut the door behind her and kept moving. There were two hallways to her right but she only had a chance to choose one, and that was the closest one. She sprinted down the hall and to a lone door at the end and to the left.
The door was gaped open and she pushed through it to find herself in another fake bedroom. This one was larger than the one with the hospital bed, but styled rather similarly. To her right there was a large bed that was made up, but didn't seem to be in use, and a nightstand with a turned off lamp. To her left were two dressers, one topped with another lamp, scattered toys, and wide closet doors. Across from her was another door identical to the one she came through.
"That must go to the other hallway," she realized. She didn't get much more time to think as it was at that exact moment that she heard the sounds of Baby making it through the hatch. Her hang-ups with doors had only gotten Charlie this far but now her time was limited. She quietly shut the bedroom door and ran towards the one on the other side before stopping suddenly. "Wait a minute. Baby's going to know I came through here. If I hide but she thinks I went out the other door, I might lose her long enough to get back to everyone."
This seemed like the best plan. With how fast and relentless Baby was, when not slowed by tight spaces or doors, it was only a matter of time before Charlie accidentally got herself into a corner she couldn't run out of. Losing Baby was the best option and she looked around for a hiding place. "The closet's a little obvious, but I don't think I can get under the bed in time."
This was only stressed further when she heard the sound of Baby coming down the hallway, only slightly slowed by the carpet underneath her wheels. The closet would have to work and Charlie quickly hid inside.
The closet was claustrophobic from the moment Charlie stepped inside. Shirts were hung in a row looking nearly identical except for their colors, obviously just for show. There were a few small boxes stacked around the floor of the closet. Just enough to make the space feel even tighter. Though nothing compared to when she shut the flashlight off and was swallowed by the darkness. It was suffocating.
It wasn't more than a few seconds later that Baby got in through the door. She scanned the room in one quick swoop before her eyes fell on the opposite door- her eyes which illuminated everything she was doing for Charlie to see through the door crack- and rushed for it. Within seconds Baby was out into the opposite hall and heading away from her prey.
But there wasn't even enough time to breath a sigh of relief before Charlie heard her stop in the hall. She could hear the silence through the wall as the animatronic stood there, listening, thinking, and then much to her horror, turned around and slowly returned to the fake bedroom. This time, Baby did not take the bait. She had grown suspicious of the ruse.
Charlie watched through the crack as the green light slowly flooded the room again. Baby turned her head slowly to get a full panoramic view of the bedroom. It wouldn't be long before she noticed the closet.
"Whe-rrrrrre arr-re you?"
Charlie was beginning to grow panicked and tried to think of a way out. Throwing open the doors and running out would only work if Baby got far enough from one of the doors. Even now she drifted into the center of the room, seemingly guarding them. The taser was an option to keep Baby back, but that didn't mean she would let Charlie by. Even using the taser required her to get incredibly close and equally lucky. Charlie looked around the closet for an answer and found boxes.
Once Baby was sure that the woman couldn't be under the bed, she turned her gaze towards the closet melted clown's eyes seemed to glow brighter with budding excitement and slowly rolled up to them. Her hand rested on the door, fingers slipping into the crack, and then in one quick motion she yanked the door back… But there was nobody inside.
The animatronic scanned the inside of the closet quickly but just found hanging shirts and stacked boxes. Little did she know that Charlie was behind one of these stacks, crouched down in the corner behind a makeshift mound, hoping this would hide here long enough for Baby to become convinced that she wasn't in there. If it didn't, she still had the taser in her hands while she struggled to keep her breathing quiet.
The clown's sharp fingers scraped along the wood of the door as Baby leaned in further. The green glow fell over most of the closet and Charlie watched it closely to help her judge where Baby was looking. Her gaze dragged over the closet before falling suspiciously close to the small barricade of boxes. It was arranged to look inconspicuous; it would've been believable if she didn't suspect someone was in here.
Just then Baby lurched upright and stood at attention. She stared blankly towards the back of the closet, completely still, and Charlie thought her cover had been blown. That was, until she heard a voice.
"Charlie?" It was Jessica, and she probably wasn't alone.
Baby made a chuffing noise, robotic and impatient, but then said in a very calm tone, "Waiiii-t he-here." She yanked the closet doors shut before Charlie could even feel the weight of those words.
Baby slipped out of the room quickly but was now moving so quietly that she made little more than a squeak while doing so. Charlie realized that was how Baby had followed them so long undetected, she was at least smart enough to stay silent, which meant that the others could be easily ambushed. Charlie hurriedly climbed out of the closet and rushed after the animatronic.
John and Jessica entered the darkened room cautiously. He held the handsaw, she held the flashlight, and they both looked shaken in their own ways. Though not only from the amalgam they had just faced, but from the creature they were about to face. Both of them knew what they were doing when they stepped through the hatch, which was why the others stayed behind on the outside. This time it would be them putting themselves on the line for Charlie's sake. They mutually agreed to do this.
"Charlie!" Jessica called again. There was no answer and she turned worriedly to John. "She should be hearing us. These observation rooms aren't that big."
"She might not be in a position to call back. She could be hiding," John suggested. He kept a firm face and tried to ignore the gnawing thought that something worse could've happened. That Charlie wasn't physically capable of calling back. He inched towards the first door on the right when he heard a dull squeak. "Did you hear that?" Jessica paused to listen and he held out his hand. "Here, hand me back the light-."
The moment John had his back turned, a dark form charged out of the hallway and slammed into his back. "John!" Jessica cried as he staggered momentarily. He recovered fast enough to turn on the handsaw and spin towards Baby, but the meager threat did little to detour her. She smacked his hand aside and threw him back against the wall, her claw opening wide enough to pin him there by the neck.
Jessica gasped loudly at the horror she was witnessing and this was what finally drew Baby's attention to her. Still holding John to the wall, using the weight of her claw to hold his chest down and the teeth to threaten the tender skin, she slowly turned her head and stared down the new woman. Even without expression, Baby's gaze seemed to hold a silent warning for her to stay back.
It was at that moment that Charlie stepped out of the hallway and saw what was transpiring. Baby had her back towards her and was fully focused on staring down Jessica while holding John in a very dangerous position. This time she knew she had to risk using the taser and just hope that the shock wouldn't reach John.
Adrenaline rushing and fear for her friends' life numbing her nerves, she began to carefully inch closer. The taser tight in her grasp, her boots nearly silent on the carpet, keeping her eyes trained on Baby's back.
Even when Jessica saw Charlie approaching she didn't break eye contact with Baby. Both to not tip her off and because she almost in a trace, afraid to break eye contact and set off some chain of reactions. John was a little more crafty in his response. The moment he saw Charlie he grabbed at Baby's claw with his hand and tried to fight with it. Not to free himself- it was clear that she didn't plan on letting him up- but to make himself into a distraction.
But the clown was too busy staring at Jessica. She noticed a subtle movement and lowered her gaze to the clown's arm that was slowly adjusting itself, as though she was bracing herself for something. Turning her arm and adjusting her legs to prepare herself for something. Yet as far as it would've known, it had gotten control over both her and John, so whatever it was bracing itself for-.
Charlie, Jessica realizes at the last moment. That was why it was holding John against the wall like this, why it hadn't just clamped straight through his neck and been done with it. It was drawing Charlie closer.
The moment she figured this out, Jessica tried to speak up, "No, wait-!" But it was already too late.
Baby's free arm twisted backwards and swiped back like a viper. In that split-second Charlie drew back the taser to keep it from getting knocked from her hands again and stepped back. Then she ducked down and swiped for Baby's torso, the taser almost making contact and her thumb still hovering over the button, but just ghosted the metal. Baby made a grab for her arm but once again Charlie was too quick, dropping into a crouch and half-stumble half-crawling just out of Baby's reach.
In a chilling moment, Charlie had felt Baby's fingers slide through her hair as she grabbed for her and almost thought she had been caught, but the claw couldn't keep its grip.
Charlie stood alongside Jessica and they both stared back at the animatronic and tried to desperately think of a plan. Charlie had a tool she couldn't get close enough to use and Jessica only had John's flashlight. They could only watch powerlessly as John was clamped tighter in Baby's grasp. It didn't help that Baby herself was becoming more riled, twitching like a crazed animal, making her look even more broken.
That was, until the handsaw suddenly clattered against the wrist holding her claw. Baby's head turned just in time to watch as it sliced through a loosened wire on top. The animatronic shrieked and slung its arm to throw John aside before protectively drawing its arm in, almost by reflex, its green eyes scanning the cut cord. John spared no time in making a run for it while he had the chance.
"Let's get out of here!" he called ahead. The two women turned and ran for the hatch as well and through the passageway. Baby pursued them closely with her voice so garbled and distorted that her threats weren't clear. They were almost more menacing than when Charlie could understand them.
"Watch your step!" Jessica warned before running out the other side. Charlie quickly noticed a thin bundle of dark cords laying in front of the door that hadn't been their earlier. She stepped over them and out of the passageway before looking back to see Carlton, Marla, and Lamar crouched on either of the opening and holding the wires like a rope.
John immediately dropped down alongside Lamar and across from Carlton and Lamar. He took ahold of the wires as well and then turned to Charlie and Jessica. "Keep going! We've got this!"
Charlie was reluctant to leave them but Jessica grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her along. She decided to trust their plan and follow along back to the office and auditorium. The remaining four only had a few seconds before Baby made her way out of the passageway and right before she did they pulled tight.
The animatronic hit the cords with a weight they weren't anticipating. It was enough to yank them forward and drag them on the tiles but didn't knock Baby down. Desperate and unwilling to let her get a chance to turn on them, John sprung to his feet and charged her, ramming her in the back with his shoulder. It was like throwing himself against an empty furnace, as hard as metal and wafting the odor of ash. By some sheer luck, between that, the wires, and her wobbly frame, this toppled Baby over the edge.
The melted clown collapsed to the floor with a resounding clatter. Without an exchanged word, the four made a run for it. Lamar was in the back and while her couldn't see her- Carlton's meager light lighting the way and nothing else- he could already hearing her getting back up behind them.
By this time, Charlie and Jessica had made it back to the vent into the Control Module. Jessica had started to climb inside when she was stopped. "Wait," Charlie said. She dug into her pocket and pulled out the cat light, which she had stashed away earlier, and handed it over. "Let's trade."
Jessica quickly handed over John's flashlight and took hers back then started to climb into the vent again. Only to pause when she noticed that Charlie was looking back towards the door. "You're coming, right?"
"I'm going to wait for the others, but you go on ahead and make sure the elevator's still there," Charlie said. Jessica nodded and started to hurry through, and she had just gotten into the Control Module when Carlton came sprinting through the security door, Marla behind him, and John and Lamar behind her.
Carlton reached the vent first but let Marla go before him. Lamar went next and John looked to Charlie expectantly. "Let me go last. I can keep her back with the taser," she told him.
"Really? Because she didn't bat an eye back at the house," John retorted.
"Because she had you and she knew-." Charlie was cut short by a steadily growing sound echoing into the auditorium. The best way to describe it would be to say it sounded like heavy machinery, and technically it was, echoing out of Baby's ever-approaching speaker. She could see the green glow appear through the door and pushed John. "Get in! Get in quick!"
This time he didn't argue and nearly dove into the vent. He crawled so quickly that by time Charlie got inside he was already out the other side and waiting. She crawled after him with the taser in one hand and the flashlight in the other, and he helped her to her feet on the other side. Baby hit the other side of the vent so violently that it nearly shook the wall and climbed in without even a second to recover. John and Charlie hurried into the next vent and crawled the stretch to the elevator.
Charlie had hoped the tight space would slow Baby down, but she was terribly wrong. She was only halfway down the shaft when the melted monstrosity quickly gained on her. Only a few feet to freedom when it grabbed her boot and twisted it aggressively, like she was trying to break her ankle. Charlie was forced to turn over and quickly shined the light past her legs to see the claw that had her boot in a vice.
Baby flinched back at the light like it hurt her eyes, but the recovered just as quickly, and yanked her prey back closer.
"Charlie!" John called back. He started trying to climb back in after here. "Grab my hand!"
"D-D-Don't leeeeave me," Baby said. It sounded sweet and soft, and Charlie didn't buy it for a second. The voice then took a sinister tone. "I-I-I c-can show-w you wha-a-at he- he did- he did t-t-to us." Us?
But this comment was disregarded as another powerful yanked pulled Charlie further into the vent. She knew this was a precarious situation. "Circus Baby-," her firm tone was cut off by another sharp yank. The commanding tone wasn't going to work either and it was now that she knew she had to fight back.
The next time that Baby pulled her down, Charlie had the taser ready and planted it right on the damaged wrist before pressing down the button to empty the volts into the animatronic's arm.
But the only thing that came on was a small, flashing, red light on the side of the taser to warn that it was out of charge. This whole time Charlie had been walking around with a dead taser, unknowingly bluffing her way into some form of defense. One that was now literally wrenched from her grasp by the clown.
"D-Doesn't w-rk withtho-out a cha-arrge," Baby spat. No longer afraid of the object, she took it into her non-claw hand and squeezed. Even in this weaker hand the taser's case cracked under her grip. "D-Dum-my."
Baby then began to slide backwards before ripping Charlie along with her, preparing to forcibly drag her back into the control room. John swore and tried to crawl in after them, reaching out for Charlie who was too busy trying to brace herself on the walls of the vent. It wasn't working though, not with the clown's strength as it slid back and dragged her further. Charlie was beginning to panic.
"If she gets me out of the vent, she'll kill me! There's got to be something I can do!" The only thing she had to fight with was her free leg and she shined the flashlight down to look for a chance to kick at the claw holding her. Though before she could, Baby twitched again and momentarily turned her head down. "Does the light bother her?" She didn't seem to have a trouble being in the light, but when it was directed at her eyes she always gave that full body twitch. Almost like she was malfunctioning.
It was only now that Charlie realized how damaged Baby's eyes were. The optics no longer had any protective covering and their glow came solely from the irises. Nothing was shielding them from direct light and if that was somehow effecting something deeper- off the top of her head, Charlie guessed her servosystem- it might cause something to malfunction. She turned the light away before shining it into Baby's eyes.
Baby shuddered harder this time and made a crackling noise from deep in her chest. This time Charlie wouldn't let her recover and began to click the light on and off, flashing it into the clown's eyes, and watching as the tiny twitches turned into full convulsions. It was almost as effective as the taser had been. Still clicking the light, Charlie started trying to climb backwards but found that Baby's claw was still tight on her boot.
She reached back blindly for John's hand. "John, pull me out! Quick!"
"Got it!" He grabbed her hand and turned back. "Guys, I've got her! Pull me out!"
With the others pulling John, who held Charlie tight with both hands, she started to slide further upwards. Still she focused on flashing the light on Baby who was now shaking and clattering so badly that she couldn't hear the others over the banging. Finally, the animatronic regained enough control to flail, but all it did was succeed in freeing Charlie enough that the others could pull her free.
The flashlight only broke contact once Charlie was dragged out of the vent and pulled to her feet. Within seconds they were all piling into the elevator and rushing to the keypad to get it moving. They seemed to be having trouble getting it to respond, but she wasn't paying much attention, instead watching the vent opening with her flashlight ready.
It wasn't long before she heard the hurried scraping of Baby's frantic crawling and saw the dull flickers of green light. Then the animatronic appeared once more before her. Charlie felt her heart sink into her stomach as she watched it try to follow them, except now the clown seemed labored. It seemed like it was struggling to move its body and yet it still pressed on. Something this damaged and broken continued to obsessively chase her for no discernable reason.
It hunted them mercilessly, cunningly. It was smart enough to separate them and block their means of escape. It was capable of speech. This should've been both the most terrifying and most incredible feat of animatronic technology that had ever been created. In fact, it was beyond basic animatronic technology. This was much more advanced than anything that could've been programmed. Like she was alive.
The elevator door finally slammed shut and nearly closed on Charlie. She barely noticed it and instead looked out the window to see that Baby was now in a struggle. At first glance it looked like she was stuck, but then she started to slide back into the vent, like something was pulling her back in. She wondered if it was the doll amalgam, though doubted it as she had seen most of its remains in the auditorium.
Charlie's view was cut off before she could see what became of Baby.
"…That's what sends the elevator up?! The big, red, STOP button?!" Carlton vented in disbelief from behind. Jessica was currently slumped against the wall while Marla was anxiously rubbing over her face and muttering under her breath. Carlton continued, "That thing could've killed us back there and we couldn't even get the doors shut!"
"Which one?" Lamar asked dryly. This got a low groan out of Marla and he patted her on the back. "But it's okay. Let's just stay focused. We're almost out of here. We can think about all this later."
"We will have a lot of time to think about this in group therapy," John remarked. He exhaled slowly and tried to keep his calm just in case they still weren't out of the woods. He then turned to Charlie and noticed how she was still silently standing beside the door. "Are you okay, Charlie?" he offered more gently.
"He was right…" Charlie said quietly. Almost more to herself than then.
"Michael?" John guessed. He was still suspicious about him but had to admit that he was at least honest about something. John didn't get a chance before she turned to face him.
"Not him. I'm talking about Schmidt, the guy who used to work as a night guard, who works- worked at Freddy's," Charlie said with a grim and shaken look. "He was right. The animatronics are haunted."
And after they had seen that night, nobody was willing to disagree with it. The rest of the elevator ride was taken in complete silence.