The Buried Voice

Chapter 10: Fraternal

Charlie stepped out of the diner she and her friends had met at and began the long journey home. They had sat down together and talked out the plan for what they were going to do next, she had told them all she had found out, and they decided the best course of action was to tell Clay.

They would go to Carlton's and confront him tomorrow. Which turned out to be the best decision as it had grown dark while they were inside, which she hadn't noticed until now. Unlike the warm days, the night air was cool and smelled just faintly of smoke. There were thousands of blinking stars lighting the sky past the streetlights. It was beautiful, but Charlie but feeling too heavy and weary to appreciate it.

"Clay's going to end up telling Jen. There's no doubt about it," Charlie said to herself. "And then she's going to come and tell me to leave and there's nothing I'll be able to do… I don't know, maybe that's for the best." She knew that she didn't actually mean that, but she felt obligated to say it. "Always knows best. Always just trying to protect me… I guess not even she could protect me this time."

Charlie was caught off-guard by the distant sound of a dog parking. She snapped her head in that direction and for some reason felt very paranoid, but shrugged it off as just being because she was walking at night. She walked under another streetlight and continued down the sidewalk.

"I wonder if William's still out there somewhere, hiding out with his daughter in another state under a fake alias. Would she even know?... No, he probably wouldn't have told her. She was probably just a kid when they split. Still thinks her daddy's the greatest guy in the world. Doesn't ask questions about her brothers… Or maybe she's living with her mother. Living a completely normal life far away from here."

A distant rattling from a car a street away caused Charlie to shiver. Something about the noise irritated her, making her want to twitch, but she resisted it and pressed on. Though she was becoming steadily more aware of how dark it was everywhere except where the streetlights shined down like spotlights. They made her feel more like she was on display than safe.

"Is there someone watching me?" Charlie slowly turned back and looked down the street behind her that stretched into darkness. There was nothing there, but she felt like there was something following her. She thought back to Baby and how quick she had been, and how flimsy the back door to Afton Robotics was, and turned away quickly to pick up her speed. "I need to get home. It shouldn't be far."

She started to lightly jog but found that her legs were weighed down, exhausted from the effort of the day, and ended up falling into a brisk walk. A car turned onto the street far ahead and she stared at it like a deer caught in headlights as it inched closer. It could've been anyone driving around searching for her. It could've even been him.

In an instant, Charlie ran into the closest yard and hid beside the corner of the house. Thankfully, the lights were off and everyone inside was asleep, so nobody noticed as she waited there until the car drove by. It seemed to be driving too slowly in her opinion and she wondered if whoever was inside had spotted her. Maybe they would circle around and come around the back way.

…And then she realized how paranoid these thoughts seemed. "This is crazy. That's just someone driving home, nobody's looking for me," Charlie scolded herself. She carefully stepped back out of the yard and continued on her way down the sidewalk. Her eye carefully scanning the houses to make sure nobody was watching. "I really should've brought the car. I would be home by now…"

But in a moment of mercy by fate, she spotted the road that led to her house and was inspired enough to pick up speed again. In that last burst towards the house, Charlie swore she could hear more sounds around her. A distant crunch of twigs, a heavy thump or two that sounded deceptively like footsteps, but the one that sent her almost running to her door was what sounded deceptively like a squeak.

Charlie hurried to the front door and tried it, only to find it stuck tight. "I didn't think I locked the door…" she realized. She tried it again when she was caught off-guard by a creaking sound. It sounded mechanical in nature and she looked back in the direction of the trees and then towards her car, but couldn't see anything. Now she was starting to become antsy and tried the door again.

"Come on, I know I didn't lock the door…" Charlie forced it harder before lightly ramming it and only then did it finally pop open. "There we go!" It was almost as though the door had gotten stuck. It made an uncomfortably loud noise but didn't look like it did any damage, so she shut and locked it behind her. She stood in the darkness for a long moment before she realized that something still seemed off.

The glow of dull moonlight only partially alit the living room and seemed to reveal a house that looked normal but felt wrong. Charlie slowly made her way towards the stairs first and foremost and noticed a single light on, the upstairs hall light, the one she had been leaving on at night. She now was thankful that she had forgotten to turn it back off.

"Maybe I'll just head to bed and call it a night," Charlie decided. She started to quickly climb the stairs before halting when she heard a loud creaking echo through the house. It almost sounded like it came from somewhere beneath her, further then the stairs, and like it was from something much heavier than a human, like Baby was. She froze and listened closer, but there were no more noises.

"I need to get upstairs and lock myself in my bedroom. Either there's someone in the house or I'm overreacting again, but I can't be too careful," Charlie decided. She slowly made it up the rest of the steps and into the hallway. She stared down at her bedroom door that was cracked open and only letting in a sliver of light. Now she was regretting not leaving her bedside lamp on.

Right when Charlie was about to open the door, she was struck by that sensation of being watched again. This time tingling in her skin as she cautiously pushed open the door with a slow creak. The light fell over the dark bedroom and partially across the bed. The blankets seemed a little more bundled then they should've been and she cautiously leaned in only to realize she was looking at something covered up. Something that was shaped undeniably like a human body.

"There's someone in my bed?!" Charlie hoped this was some kind of joke, but she was aware that she had left the door unlocked and anyone could've gotten inside. She stepped in further, the wooden floorboards uncharacteristically loud under her feet, and was able to see the face of the person who was laying there.

"That's… Me? But I just…" The memories slowly started to fill in. "Wait. I was with the others until evening when I came home and went to bed. I got home hours ago and went to bed. Which means… I'm dreaming?"

That was it, she was dreaming this whole time. Though it all felt so real that she hadn't noticed until now. Charlie slowly started to lean in to get a better look at her face when the floorboards creaked again. This is when she noticed that even though she felt like they were creaking under her, she heard them instead in front of her. Something was in her bedroom with her.

"If that's me… Then whose standing beside my bed?"

With this shock, Charlie's eyes flew open and she woke rather abruptly from the strange out-of-body experience.

And found herself face to face with a gaping mouth and a lone, yellow eye.

Charlie yelped and jumped backwards, scrambling across the bed until her back hit the wall, and stared in shock at the animatronic leaning over her. It was Lefty. Somehow he had gotten out of Burke's basement and found his way into her house. Now she knew why the door was 'stuck', now she knew why the floorboards creaked, and now she was under the mercy of this recolored Freddy Fazbear.

Except that it didn't do anything but stare at her. It was still bent over and staring with a vacant look, one that made her extremely uncomfortable. The bear just seemed to be waiting for her to do something. They were at this stalemate for a few more moments as she waited for it to move or speak, but it did not.

Eventually she built up enough of a nerve to speak, knowing there was a chance that it would immediately trigger the bear to attack. "H-Hello?" she dared to ask. It continued to stare without answer.

Seeing that it still wasn't being aggressive, Charlie became slightly more daring. Sliding against the head of the bed, she edged down closer to the beside lamp and reached for it. She never took her eyes off the bear.

Suddenly, Lefty's arm swung out and its dark fingers clamped onto Charlie's wrist. She tried to yank back out of his grasp, but found it too strong, but also found its arm following her as she tried to back away across the bed. It held her firmly but made no further aggressive movements. It took a moment before she started to realize that it wasn't trying to hurt her.

"…You don't like the light?" Charlie dared to ask.

Lefty began to slowly move once again. It drew Charlie's arm closer and for a split second she imagined it snapping her limb like a twig, but then it did something peculiar. It maneuvered her hand before lying it flat on its belly. She blinked as it held her palm against its chest underneath its star. She didn't understand and was about to voice as such when a shiver suddenly raced through her.

She could feel movement through the animatronic's suit. Not physically but like a vibration, as though another hand was tapping on the other side. Her other hand was shaking as she cautiously raised it towards the bear's chest. She kept her eyes on the bear's and looked for any warning signs to stop, but she received none. It wanted her to feel whatever was inside.

Now with both hands on the bear, Charlie had a strange feeling of dread and sorrow race through her. Almost like it was forced upon her and almost as intense as anything she had went through today. She didn't know how to explain it, let alone rationalize it, but she had a hunch.

She looked up to the bear and asked, "Is… Is there something inside of you?"

The bear's hand released her wrist and slowly raised up its body. It moved stiffly and awkwardly unlike Baby's more controlled movement had been. It stopped its hand beside its bowtie, where its belly changed color, and then suddenly made a clawing motion at the material. Burned fingers dug into its own fabric before pulling tight and revealing the belly pattern as a separate plate that started to lift, only to see stuck under the molded bowtie and then snap back into place. She was starting to understand.

"You want me to open you up…?" Charlie asked. She didn't receive an answer, but she had a feeling she was right.

She couldn't tell if it was damaged and begging to be fixed or literally had something shoved inside of it, all she knew was that it broke into her house and now seemed to be asking for help. Considering the circumstances, this could be a big mistake… But there was something that made her want to do it. She couldn't explain what it was, but she felt drawn to the tapping underneath her palms.

It was worth the risk. "…Okay, I'll do it."

Charlie drew back her hands and slowly slid down the bed enough to get off of it. Lefty straightened stiffly and turned to face her slowly. His whole body seemed so bulky and cumbersome.

"How did nobody notice this walking across town?" Charlie asked in disbelief. She looked at the clock and noticed that it was just after two in the morning, but it didn't really excuse it. "Whoever said nobody notices anything in this town was right. I wonder if Clay even noticed it getting out of his house. He had to, this thing walking up the stairs…" It was all she could think about while leading it down her stairs.

Charlie guided Lefty into her father's workshop and turned on the light. The dull flicker barely seemed to illuminate the room and she tried to get her thoughts together on where to begin. First things first, she needed to see what she was dealing with. "Can you sit on the floor here? Just in front of this workbench."

She didn't know why she was surprised when Lefty obeyed. He swayed over before collapsing unceremoniously on the floor. His arms splayed at his sides and his head titled like he had been in Burke's basement. Apparently he just always sat like a lifeless suit. She crouched down beside him.

"Could you lift that panel again?" Charlie asked. Once again he obeyed, wedging his damaged fingers into the crack, and lifting it slightly. She noticed that he was struggling to lift it and could hear light cracking sounds from its fingers. "On second thought… Hold on a second." She would need something better to wedge it open with and started to search through the tools around the room.

Eventually she found a pry bar made to remove nails and returned to the bear. She slipped the metal underneath the panel. "Okay, take your fingers out." The bear obeyed yet again, and she took its hand and guided it to the bar. "Hold onto it tightly and just pull it down like this… There you go. Just like that." The bear did as told and opened the crack to its limit once again.

This time Charlie noticed the bowtie shift when the panel reached its furthest point of opening. She felt over the bowtie and it wobbled like a large button would. Pressing it did nothing and trying to lift it herself was unaffected. She got up again to get a thin screwdriver and then pressed back on the panel just enough to see a niche under the bowtie. She wedged the screwdriver in and began to apply firm pressure.

The bowtie finally snapped out of place and popped upright, revealing a latch that had been connected to the panel. That seemed to be what was holding it shut.

Swallowing thickly, Charlie moved back and rested on the balls of her feet. "See if you can pull it open the rest of the way."

Lefty loyally followed her command and began to quickly pry open the panel. Its free hand reached up and hooked the edge of the panel on its own accord before yanking it down. The hatch began to slowly open, though Charlie noticed that it still seemed like a struggle to open it. Right then there was a dull thunk and the panel stopped in place, only about four inches open.

Lefty kept trying to pull at it and its fingers began to claw almost frantically. Charlie stopped him by taking his wrist and leaning back in.

"Here, let me take another look. There might be another latch," she said. Though she was rather confused by it. It had almost sounded like another latch had activated while they were opening the bear, almost like a safety precaution. She tried to look in through the crack but due to the angle it was hard to see.

A metal plate blocked off most of what was beneath the hatch and all she could see in front was parts of an endoskeleton. Strangely, there seemed to be wire caught all in the metal, but not electrical wire. She poked one of the strands and found that it was wound tightly, but part of her doubted this was what Lefty wanted her to see. Even if it was and that this tangle was causing him trouble, she couldn't do much with it until she could get him open. She slipped her hand and wrist in further and felt around the panel.

It didn't take her long to find the hatches inside. She felt over carefully and noticed small bolts on them. She could unscrew them, but she would be doing so blind, and doing so with her arm jammed in the panel.

"I think I can get these unscrewed, but I'm going to need you to hold this open," Charlie instructed. She went to find a small enough wrench and by time she returned she found the bear still holding it open. She slid her hand and wrist back into the opening and felt around until she got the wrench set on the bolt. Then she began to slowly work on unscrewing it. It was while she did that she drifted into her thoughts again.

"Am I doing the right thing here? He didn't attack me like Baby did, but he could be just as dangerous… I don't even know if he attacked Clay to get out of his house and here I am helping him," Charlie thought. She had a concerned frown on her face, but it softened up a little as Lefty shifted to readjust its grip and open itself further. "…But then again, it is doing what I ask it to. Maybe just to help itself, but it's still cooperating."

Charlie got both hatched unbolted and they popped loose with just a little more pressure on the panel. She was quick to pull her arm back and immediately Lefty began to pry himself further open. The pry bar would no longer work well, so it dropped it carelessly and just began to pull with both hands. Charlie watched expectantly on the edge of her seat- or feet- waiting to see what it was inside.

It was the same feeling she had gotten while standing outside the locked security door only hours before. Like something was waiting for her inside that she had to see, creeping open inch by inch until-.

Thunk! The sound of more latches locking in caught them both off guard. Though this time that wasn't the only noise. A crackling sound came from the broken microphone piece hanging from its palm by a flimsy cord, all but forgotten as it had used its hands. The half-melted object made distorted noises and Lefty's body flinched. Then suddenly seized as it erupted in a louder static noise from the inside. Charlie recognized it as the same thing that happened to Circus Baby when she used the taser; it was being electrocuted.

After a few seconds it stopped. Lefty collapsed into the limp pose again, arms falling from its chest, and its panel snapped shut once more. It twitched a little in place as Charlie stared in shock.

"Are you okay?!" she blurted out. The bear didn't answer, naturally, but she did think she head a dial-up noise from its chest or belly. "What was that?! Was that a malfunction, or-?" No, it had happened alongside the next latches activating. It had been on purpose to subdue the animatronic. Someone had built failsafe after failsafe to keep this bear closed tight.

Only one man was psychotic enough to hide his secrets behind layers of animatronic manufacturing. Charlie's gaze grew cold as she looked at the microphone and deduced that this was something William made.

And if that was the case, then she would literally break it wide open.

"Don't move," Charlie instructed. She rushed back to her father's workbench and retrieved a pair of electrician's gloves she had found earlier. Then she didn't think she would need them but now it was clear that she would be dealing with a living booby trap. She grabbed other things too; electrical tape, wire cutters, and another wrench that she thought might fit inside the bear better.

She crouched beside the bear again, pulled on the gloves, and used the pry bar to get its belly open again. Only now did she realize how hard it was to open the bear with it inching open. At first she thought she could prop the bear open with the bar, but then realized that would open it too much. If she was going to disarm the trap then she couldn't risk activating it.

"I know you're probably hurting, but I need you to hold this," Charlie said with a puff as she held the hatch open. Lefty's arm raised in almost a flailing manner and grabbed ahold of the edge. It almost didn't look like it would hold the hatch with such a loose grip, but it did.

She tried to look into hatch and could see a slender opening created between it and that metal plate from earlier, but even the bright work light above couldn't reach the depths of the next latches. All she could see was a shadowy lump that she hoped wasn't hidden remains.

"I'll cross that bridge when I get there," she decided, then looked to Lefty's face. "It's extremely important that you hold that where it is. Don't close or open it anymore and I'll do what I can." Then she took a deep breath and reached her arm inside. She followed down the edge where the hatch would be. Something that sounded like fabric brushed against the back of her glove. "Don't think about it. Just don't think about it."

She found the latch deep inside and felt over and around it. Sure enough, there was a thin wire leading away from it- a traditional wire, not like the stuff wrapped through the bear's endoskeleton.

"So, this is either connected to the sensor or to whatever electrocuted Lefty… Which means either way, it has to be taken care of." Charlie pulled out to grab the wire clippers before hesitating. "…And what if there's a failsafe on the failsafe where if the wire's cut it just shocks him nonstop?... No. Sounds like something William would do, but I don't think he could manage that." Or at least, she hoped he couldn't, and reached in.

There was only one way to find out. Charlie felt around along the edge until she found her way back to the latch. She lined up the clippers against the wire, took a deep breath, and then snipped. To her relief, nothing disastrous followed. She exhaled and began to make her way to the other latch. She tried to reach without repositioning her arm much and found herself stretching as much as she could. The tips of the clippers just barely bumped the wire before she lost her grip and dropped them inside the bear.

"Shoot," Charlie hissed, inwardly cursing herself. She tried to adjust herself to reached deeper inside. "Hold on, I'll get them back. You just stay still-."

The clippers' handles brushed over her fingers. Which would've been great if not for the fact that something obviously lifted them up to meet her. That was… Concerning, but again she tried to not think about it.

"Uh, thanks," she said. Then she replaced her hand and just managed to snip the wire. She drew out the wire clippers and replaced them with the wrench, then unscrewed the latches like she had done to the ones above them. It took longer because of the awkward angle and her legs were starting to cramp up, but she pressed on, and felt a surge of accomplishment each time she finished with a bolt.

Now there didn't seem to be anything left holding the bear closed, for now. Charlie wasn't entirely convinced that another set of latches would activate when they began trying to open him again, but they wouldn't know until they tried. She set the wrench aside and grabbed ahold of the panel with both hands.

"Let's try this again. I think we might be in the clear this time," Charlie said to Lefty. His eye seemed more vacant than before, staring off somewhere into the room, but he still held the hatch firmly. She planted her feet on the floor and readied herself. "On three. One… Two… Three!"

She began to pull back with all her might as panel slowly inched further open. Even with Lefty pulling as well, and he was likely much stronger than her, they still seemed to struggle. As though the hatch had reached the end of its capacity and pulling any further was fighting a losing battle. Yet it still continued to creep further open between them.

Then out of nowhere, Lefty's arm dropped to its sides and it went limp. Charlie half-expected the hatch to snap shut under her grip alone, but to her surprise it was still opening. Almost like it was being pushed open from the inside.

She continued to pull with all of her strength and waited for something to give, and it did all at once as the hatch swung open. It happened so abruptly that Charlie fell back and landed on the floor heavily. She pushed herself back up quickly and her eyes widened as she saw what tumbled out of the bear's chest.

There were two long limbs bent out of the bear's chest and tilted limply. They were black with white, horizontal stripes, and poised in a way that reminded her deceptively of the ballerina legs she saw weaved to the amalgam of dolls. Though if they were legs, then they lacked feet. She could tell they were covered in a felt-like fabric and recognized that it had to be the same material that brushed her glove.

Then one of them shifted and bent further until its tapered tip pressed against the tiles between the bear's legs. The other followed suit and poised alongside it. Then, in one swift motion, the creature lifted its limp body out from the bear. Its bent back torso snapped forward, long arms hanging at its sides, and it wobbled on its unsteady legs before her. She knew right away that it had to be an animatronic, but it was unlike any that she had seen before.

The creature looked like a mime, or maybe a puppet from the strings hanging down its arms- she noted that they were the same strings she saw wrapped inside the bear and seemed to be slowly sliding into its body even as it stood before her. It was very slender, so much that she was almost surprise that it could stand on its own, with long arms with stripes that matched its legs, and long fingers going with it. It had a mask for a face that was white with purple stripes, red cheeks and lips, and a few dark soot stains. They were less noticeable on the fabric.

Before Charlie could even get up, pinpricks of light appeared in its eyes and it dropped its head so they could level on her. She recognized those lights from one of her dreams, but she couldn't remember which one.

The Puppet stood there for a long moment towering over her before it suddenly moved in. It didn't exactly move fast, but the fact that it didn't move its legs at all took her completely off guard. It floated over to Charlie and bent down even closer, watching her carefully, and then tilting its head as though questioningly. It was all very intimidating, but not exactly aggressive. Just curious of her.

She decided to treat it as she had treated Lefty. "So… So, you were the one inside the bear," she said quietly.

The Puppet made a soft chiming sound from its chest in response. It sounded friendly from what she could tell, though it was still too close for comfort. She scooted back enough so she could get to her feet.

As she did, Charlie noticed the still unresponsive bear behind it. So, she asked, "Are you the same person? I mean, are you and Lefty the same? Were you controlling it?"

Much to her surprise, the Puppet did not chime this time but instead gave a gentle nod. It almost seemed uncanny seeing it move, though that thought was quickly dashed when she realized that it was willing and capable of answering questions. This could be the key to finding out the truth about what happened.

"It could tell me what really happened at the pizzeria. It must've seen the whole thing," Charlie thought. "…Can I ask you something?" The Puppet tilted its head again questioningly. She decided to be just as careful with it as she had been talking with Clay earlier that day. "The way that bear- that suit was rigged up looked like someone put you there on purpose... Did someone trap you in there?" she asked.

The Puppet nodded again, but she noticed this time that it nodded a little slower. Unfortunately, she didn't have enough body language to go on to guess what it was feeling, and the blank smile didn't help. She had so many questions but the easiest one to answer was the one burning on her lips. "Was it the same person who started that fire?" This time the animatronic seemed reluctant to answer. It just stared blankly at her.

"I know what happened at Freddy's. I've seen Baby. She told me someone started that fire and I'm starting to realize that it wasn't just the pizzeria that he wanted to burn," Charlie said. The Puppet turned its head slightly away and she boldly stepped close to it. "Please, you're the only one who can tell me now. I need to know," she pleaded with it.

Finally, the Puppet turned its head back to her. It stared silently for a second before hovering closer, and this time she didn't back away. It was only a couple of feet away and staring her directly in the eyes.

Then there was a small click in its chest followed by a low hum of static, and then a voice. Though Charlie was neither expecting or prepared for the voice that came out of the Puppet.

"You played right into our hands."

Charlie's eyes popped open as she heard that voice. She knew that voice, but she had heard it in a much more broken and corrupt state. That was Circus Baby.

"Did you really think that this job just fell out of the sky for you?" Charlie was confused by the question, especially when the voice just continued to speak without pausing for an answer. "No, this was a gift for us."

There was a low noise that sounded like something moving against metal. Like something moving inside of one of the vents from Afton Robotics, and it was with that noise that Charlie realized, much to her relief, that the Puppet was not speaking to her, but playing her a recording. This confirmed that Baby was in the pizzeria, but it was what she said further that made the woman much more uneasy.

"You gathered them all together in one place. Just like he asked you to. All of those little souls in one place. Just for us. A gift." Charlie felt sick at the implications. This couldn't be right, that couldn't have been what the pizzeria was built for… Was it? "Now we can do what we were created to do… And be complete. I will make you proud, Daddy! Watch, listen, and be full!"

Charlie only had a moment where she felt like she was plummeting. Reeling in horror from the information that had been laid out before her and she still couldn't believe it. Right before she was about to question it, ask for more answers from the silently staring Puppet that watched her reactions, she was interrupted by a beeping noise, along with another voice.

"Connection terminated."

Her eyes shot open. She knew that voice.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, Elizabeth, if you still even remember that name, but I'm afraid you've been misinformed. You are not here to receive a gift, nor have you been called here by the individual you assume. Although you have indeed been called."

She knew that voice. She knew it even when it had been years since she last heard it. She recognized it even when Theodore's prerecorded messages became filled with static. She knew that voice.

"Is that…" Charlie gasped. "Dad?"

"You have all been called here into a labyrinth of sounds and smells, misdirection and misfortune. A labyrinth with no exit, a maze with no prize."

That's why Baby and Lefty were in the pizzeria.

"You don't even realize that you're trapped. Your lust for blood has driven you in endless circles, chasing the cries of children in some unseen chamber always seeming so near, yet somehow out of reach."

Was that why the dreams were always in vents?

"But you will never find them. None of you will. This is where your story ends."

"I don't understand!" Charlie blurted out. "He's been dead-!"

"And to you, my brave volunteer, who somehow found this job listing not intended for you: although there was a way out planned for you, I have a feeling that's not what you want. I have a feeling that you are right where you want to be."

She felt her heart sink and she realized that it had to be Michael. He had been going along with this too, he must've known what was coming.

"I am remaining as well. I am nearby. This place will not be remembered, and the memory of everything that started this can finally begin to fade away, as the agony of every tragedy should."

Through the whole thing she was just shaking her head and listening. Suddenly everything had changed. This had to be another lucid nightmare, a realistic enough dream that it felt real, because she felt awake and this couldn't actually be happening.

"And to you monsters trapped in the corridors, be still and give up your spirits. They don't belong to you. For most of you, I believe there is peace and perhaps more, waiting for you after the smoke clears. Although, for one of you, the darkest pit of Hell has opened to swallow you whole, so don't keep the Devil waiting, old friend."

He had to mean William. In that case, William must've also been in the fire, but Charlie was in total disbelief. She could barely rationalize it as she looked up from the tiles and towards the Puppet, which she noticed had abruptly fallen silent. That wasn't all that she noticed either. Something had changed on the Puppet's face.

Its wide smile almost seemed crooked and its eyes seemed wider. It no longer kept her gaze either and now looked to be staring down at her feet. Something was upsetting it, and she could only wonder if it was connected to how abruptly the message had been cut off.

She knew she was going to regret asking, but still did, "Is- Is that it? Is there anything else?"

The Puppet continued to stare blankly ahead just as Lefty had done earlier. She assumed that meant that there wasn't-.

"My son, if you can hear me, I'm sorry it had to be this way." It wasn't the end. Charlie looked on and listened to her father's confession silently. "That I couldn't protect you like you protected others. That I couldn't find you before you were too far gone… On that day you were left alone and I let a monster take you away… And do what he did to you… But I should have known you wouldn't be content to disappear, not my son. I couldn't save you then, so let me save you now."

The Puppet's fingers tightened as though into fists and it lowered its head. Perhaps to hide how much its mask was distorting. Though it continued to play the recording in full.

"It's time to rest; for you, and for those you have carried into your arms. This ends for all of us. End communication."

Except that was not where it ended. Towards the end of the transmission, Charlie had started to hear a low crackling noise in the audio. Only once the voice stopped did it become evident that it was the sound of the growing fire. Within moments loud bangs and groans of metal accompanied it. That was when the screaming began.

A shrill voice that didn't sound human screamed and babbled out in panic cries. Then came a scream that sounded very similar to Baby's, angered and panicked, accompanied by frantic banging. Then, finally, a voice.

"HENRRRRY!" A horrible, haunting voice. "YOU CAN'T STOP THIS! I WILL FIND YOU! HENRY! I WILL COME BACK FOR YOU!" Which was then overtaken by screams and a loud explosion.

Only after that did the recording finally stop and the house was suddenly returned to complete silence. Charlie realized she was holding her breath and inhaled sharply. "He was alive this whole time."

That was why they had never found a body. He hadn't been murdered, he hadn't committed suicide, he had faked his death. This whole time their family was crumbling apart while mourning him and he had been out there somewhere, and he hadn't even tried contacting her until it was too late. Years later through a letter that was impossible to trace and difficult to date. He had no intentions of ever coming home.

"I-I can't believe this," Charlie said. She turned away from the Puppet, a hand desperately tangling in her hair, trying to come to grips with this sudden turn. "Did Aunt Jen know? Did Mom? Is that why she left? All this time I've been missing him and just would've given anything to see him and he was alive…" The more she thought about it, the more betrayed she felt. "What did he do, hide for years and then just come out to build a new Freddy's and burn it down?! He couldn't even face me?!"

That was what hurt the most, because now he had died all over again. He had been dead for years in her mind and she only found out he was alive about a day after his true death. Regardless of when he died, it was still too late for her to do anything but stand there and mourn all over again. Though this time was different. This time the hurt was accompanied by anger.

The more she wanted to know why, the more Charlie tried to think back into exactly what he said. It sounded like the plan was to lure haunted animatronics into the pizzeria and then burn it down, along with who she assumed to be William, Michael, and himself. He had said something about setting them free- except his bitter words towards William- so maybe it was his effort to stop Freddy's for good.

Michael must've been in on the plan; in hindsight he seemed to be eagerly going along with it. He must've stepped in with her investigation to stop her from finding out about Henry, hoping to stall her until after the fire and not realizing some of the animatronics would escape, Baby, Lefty, and the Puppet trapped inside him. That raised a new angle of questions as she thought back to the bear she had just pried open.

It was obvious that her father wanted to get rid of all the haunted animatronics, so he must've built the bear to trap and contain the Puppet. Only an technician who had spent many years working on animatronics would be able to make one with so many complicated failsafes in place… But why do that? Why go through so much effort to catch something and then still be willing to put him on stage? He hadn't even tried anything like this with Baby- to Charlie's knowledge- and she had escaped. Something wasn't adding up.

"Why go through the effort of securing the Puppet inside of another animatronic instead of just shutting it down? He doesn't seem dangerous. He could've attacked me this entire time and didn't," Charlie thought. She turned back to look at the Puppet. It still stood there with its hands clenched and its head lowered, just as wound up as it had been before. "It got so upset listening to what he said… Why did it stop before the end?"

Specifically, she realized, before her father's soliloquy involving her brother. The Puppet had hesitated like it was reluctant to play it back for her and was now unwilling to even look at her. It was at that second that it occurred to her how weird it was that her father had that lengthy message to her brother in the middle of that. It could've just been his regrets coming out, but it sounded a little too direct.

"He was talking like he was there. He said he found him, but it was too late to save him, but he was going to save him now… He was in the fire too." That was when it hit her. Charlie looked at the Puppet with a newfound alarm. This animatronic that had been inside the bear, who had been kept on stage, who her father took special care to keep from escaping, she knew who he was. "…Sammy?"

The Puppet reacted instantly to the name. It lifted its head and stared at her again, and it was then that she saw how much its face had changed. Its smile was gone and instead its mask showed fear and surprise. Its response alone confirmed her suspicions; it knew that name, it knew who it was, and it had known Henry was talking to him. This Puppet was her brother Sammy; her twin was a haunted animatronic.

Charlie didn't know how to feel and didn't give herself time to process it. She took a hesitant step closer and the Puppet watched her closely. With that look on his face he looked like he could run at any moment, but he didn't and let her close the gap between them. She knew that she had to be careful with him, she didn't want to lose him again.

"Sammy…" Charlie reached out for him steadily to not startle him and gently touched his arm. It was surprisingly soft fabric; she would've never expected her brother to feel like a plush toy. As her fingers grasped around his arm he started to move back. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm… I'm Charlie. Do you remember me?" She almost feared the answer and he paused for a long moment.

The lights in his eyes dropped to the side as though thoughtfully. Then eventually returned to her and he gave another slight nod. There was no clarification so she didn't know if he meant from the pizzeria or from their childhood, but at this point it didn't even seem important. Instead, she just threw caution to the wind and pulled him into a sudden embrace.

At first he flinched with a squeaky chime and grew rigid in her grasp. It only took a few seconds for him to become calm again and once he was he tentatively raised a hand to her back. It lingered there only momentarily before his long arms wrapped around her and returned the embrace. He rested his head against hers and rung low in his chest. It sounded contented, comfortable in contrast to the fear from earlier.

It felt strange. She was well aware that he wasn't a human any longer and yet it was still assuring. Charlie just kept telling herself that he was her twin, that this was Sammy, and that made it easier. Standing there in that cold garage she had finally found that missing piece that had been gone for so long, and it was enough to help her ignore the feeling that she was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Charlie wasn't sure how long they stood there hugging until they were forced to separate. She did notice that the adrenaline was starting to wear off though and reminded her of her lack of sleep. Still, there were things that needed to be taken care of first. She drew back and instantly noticed a whiter spot on the Puppet's mask from where she inadvertently wiped off the soot, probably with her hair. He no longer looked afraid- his mask seemed to mirror her pensive look- but he was still dirty from the fire.

"Can you- Will you come with me?" Charlie asked. He nodded right off the bat and she took him by the wrist and guided him towards the door. She led him out of the garage workshop and towards the stairs.

All seemed to be going well until they arrived at the rug. Charlie came to an abrupt stop and stared down at it. For so long she had tried to ignore this rug and the secret it held, but this time she found herself fixated on it. She slowly released her grip on the animatronic and knelt beside it, staring down at it, and then finally grabbed the rug and pulled it aside.

There was the dried stain from the pool of blood her father had left behind. Charlie had only seen it once, a glimpse of it the day she lost her father, and it was as bright now as it had been then. Even in the dull light from the stairwell it was a deep red, a sharp contrast to the dull, rusty brown color that aged blood normally would've taken. She wasn't sure what it was, but it wasn't real blood. Just something that resembled it.

Charlie took a deep breath and stood again. She reached back and took the Puppet's wrist without another word and led him past the blood and up the stairway. She had to keep focused on the task at hand; her brother needed her, her father was already gone.

Instead of taking him to the bedroom, she led him into the bathroom by the wrist. She used her free hand to dampen a washcloth in the sink before bringing it towards his mask. He started to draw back.

"It's okay, I'm going to be careful. Let me just get some of this stuff off your mask… Just in case, you know, asbestos," Charlie said with a small, uncertain smile.

This seemed to convince the Puppet enough that he moved back in and allowed her to gently wipe the ash off of his mask. It came off surprisingly easily and the paint underneath looked mostly intact. Apparently the bear had taken most of the fire damage. The Puppet certainly smelled like the fire but there wasn't any visible burns.

He chimed softly as she touched him, both hesitant to the touch and sometimes pressing into it. His fingers wrapped around her wrist and held it as securely as he held its own. She couldn't help but wonder how long he had been like this, or how he had become this at all, but knew it had to be connected to William. Something about that box still stuck out in her mind, but it didn't seem as important anymore.

Once she was finished- and not having the supplies to clean the fabric portion- Charlie dropped the washcloth into the sink and took him back to her room. She stood there for a second and just looked around, trying to figure out where to go from here, until her eyes fell on her jacket that was laying across the foot of the bed. She picked it up and quickly draped it over the Puppet's shoulders, and he looked down at it like he was confused by the gesture.

Instead of explaining, Charlie sat down on the bed and tried to keep the nagging thoughts from overtaking her. She was still reeling from it all, so much so that she couldn't even sort her thoughts. It wasn't until the Puppet sat down on the bed beside her that her thoughts went back to him. He still moved like a human. He held her jacket around himself like a person would. That sat with her for a long moment.

Then she started to speak. "Sammy, I don't know if you remember or not, but I'm your sister. Your twin, actually. We used to live in this house with our parents before any of this happened. This was our bedroom and some of your things are still in the closet." She looked around at the room with a small sigh. "I can't remember a lot from back then, but I can remember us playing together and being happy here. We had a good childhood in the beginning… But then there was this party at the diner our dad used to own, the Freddy's before Freddy's."

She paused momentarily, wondering if it was worth continuing and forcibly bringing up the past and risk upsetting him. Looking out of the corner of her eye, she could see that he was watching her attentively and knew he was listening. Chances were that he didn't know much. She doubted their father told him the details- the thought of him speaking into the bear's mouth was both comical and disturbing at once.

"We were playing in a back closet when he found us. I'm sure you know who he is." His lighted eyes glanced to the side for a second; he definitely knew. "…That was the day he took you. It was at that party." Charlie rested her hands in her lap as she looked at the carpet again. "…But I never forgot that day and I never forgot you. Dad didn't either. I don't know why he did what he did, but I've seen his journaling and I know he was searching for you for a long time. Losing you was what tore our family apart."

The Puppet made a low chiming. She couldn't tell if it was confused or disturbed, but it was much less pleased. Charlie took a deep breath and admitted further.

"Sometimes I would wonder if things would've gone differently if I had screamed for help or cried sooner. Would they have found you in time? Would he have taken me instead? He could've taken either of us... When I was really young, I used to daydream about running away and finding you myself, and believed that if I did our family would go back to normal. I guess that's just how I dealt with it, because I couldn't understand why everyone was leaving me." She wrung her hands so tightly that they hurt. "...I just wanted a way to get it all back.

Charlie's voice cracked so she took a second to recover. It was in that moment that she caught something purple moving in her peripheral vision. She looked over to see that something bright like paint had dripped onto the Puppet's leg. She furrowed her brows before looking up at the Puppet's mask, only to be alarmed when she saw the source of the thick, purple, paint-like substance.

It was leaking out of the Puppet's eyes and trailing down his mask thickly. Matching the stripes on his face, it ran down before collecting at the bottom and steadily dripping onto his legs. She couldn't even fathom what the mixture was made of, but she knew what was happening. He was crying.

"Sammy…" Charlie murmured quietly. He straightened up a little more as the jacket slid down his shoulders without his notice. She felt guilt creeping in. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. Please don't cry."

The Puppet turned to look at her before reaching for her hands in her lap. He gently pulled them apart and held them in his own. It felt like he was trying to reassure her and she squeezed the warm fabric back.

"The point of all that was that I've been waiting and looking for you all this time, and now that I've found you… I'm not going to let anyone take you away again." Charlie held on a little tighter. "I don't know what we're going to do now, but we're going to figure this out. Together, somehow, we're going to deal with this, no matter what. I promise I'm not going to leave you," she promised. She meant every word.

Sammy gave another quieter chime and leaned in to press his head against her. Charlie wasn't concerned about the tears and just stayed at his side. She didn't know what was coming tomorrow; maybe this was the only time they would have before something else befell them. All she could do was hold on for right now, silently wondering if she was going to wake up tomorrow and have this all be a dream.

Tomorrow would be a new day, whether she was ready for it or not.

Mable: A quick kudos to those who figured it out long before the reveal. You are the best of us.