Mable: Here we are with the next chapter! Though before we begin, I got a question in a review that I'd like to answer. ^-^
Hello 'A Reader'! I would love to make a character sheet, but my drawing skills are poor, especially for something that ambitious. Though what I could do is type up a detailed description if that would suffice!
Without further ado, let's begin! Enjoy!

The Butcher's Traps

Chapter 10: Sinking

Charlie was surprised that she had gotten any sleep at all. It couldn't have been much from how groggy and disoriented she felt. That didn't stop her from looking for Sammy, but he wasn't beside her or in the closet. Her jacket was left draped over her and Theodore was propped on the pillow beside her. She sat up quickly and looked around.

"Sammy?" she called.

"Up here."

Charlie looked to the bed to see a familiar white mask leaning over to look down at her, with the voice confirming that Mike was nearby too.

Charlie got to her feet and found that they were both still in the room with her. Mike was sitting in an armchair in the corner by the door with his legs cross and a book in his hands. From the cover it looked like it was a western, so it was probably one of Clay's. Sammy was sitting on the bed with a stack of printer paper and a pen, looking like he had been sketching. Mike probably found the supplies wherever he got the book.

Though even before Charlie could say anything, she noticed something wrong with Sammy. He was slow to straighten himself back up from leaning over, and as he did he seemed to teeter a little, even when he was kneeling like he always did. Every movement looked just a little looser. His mask looked a more distant too, with a small smile that seemed too much like his fake one.

"Morning, guys. I guess we survived another night," Charlie said. She pulled on her jacket and sat down on the bed beside Sammy, who gave her a soft chime of agreement. It sounded fainter than usual. She hid her concern and instead looked over at Mike. "You didn't have to wait for me to get up, but thanks."

"Don't thank me yet. I'm just hiding out in here until the coast is clear," Mike admitted with a small smirk. It then switched to a more uncomfortable grimace as he pointed his thumb at the door. "I tried to go out about an hour ago and walked in on Burke and his wife having an intense conversation, so I backed out with my hands up and have been here ever since." He then glanced towards Sammy like he was gesturing for her to look. "Besides, I needed to keep an eye on him… He's not doing too well."

"I can see that," Charlie said with a sigh. She didn't know if it was for Sammy or the knowledge that Clay and Betty were fighting and knew she was a part of it. She couldn't do anything about that though, so she focused her attention on her brother. "I'm guessing you didn't sleep at all last night. Did you, Sammy?" she asked gently.

Sammy gave a weary chime back with wavering and weak sounding static. His shoulders slumped a little more as he turned his head to look up at her, though didn't seem bothered to lift it. She gave him a sympathetic smile and reached out to rub his back.

"You're going to have to try to get a little rest today. I know it's not going to be easy to relax after last night, but you're not going to hold up like this," Charlie coaxed gently. Sammy flipped through the papers and brought one out with a few responses already written on it. He wrote a quick reply.

"Maybe later." Charlie gave a discontent hum.

"You wouldn't think a bot would even need sleep if they don't have a night mode," Mike chimed in. Book set open on his lap and his full attention on the twins. "How's that work exactly?"

"I'm not sure. Not having a night mode has something to do with it. I don't know the exact specifics of it all, but even though Sammy's haunting the body he is the body too. Hardware gets overworked and isn't getting a chance to shut down, and hasn't really shut down for a significant time in days," Charlie tried to explain. "He might be able to explain it better than I can."

When she turned to her brother, she expected him to be reacting to them talking about him, only to realize he was looking down at the half-drawn sketch with an almost puzzled squint, like he was trying to figure out where he was going with the drawing. He wasn't paying attention at all. For someone like Sammy, who was always listening in, this was a warning sign. This was where she drew the line.

"…I change my mind. Sammy, you need to get some sleep and the sooner the better," Charlie said with slightly more authority. Sammy seemed unshaken and tapped the 'maybe later' with his pen. "No, maybe now. You're barely sitting up on your own."

There came the pouting right on schedule. Charlie definitely felt it more now trapped in this situation, but she held her ground and matched him guilt trip to guilt trip.

"Please, Sammy? I have to go see Clay and find out what happened last night, but it's going to be a lot harder to focus on that when I know you're in here forcing yourself to stay awake. Since I know that if you stay up long enough, you're not going to get a chance to sleep at all," she tried gently. Sammy started to falter immediately, lowering his gaze. She squeezed his shoulder. "I promise you'll be okay."

If not for his exhaustion he might've put up more of a fight, but he just didn't have the energy or willpower to push this off. Especially when he knew she was right. He caved with a limp little nod.

"Thanks," Charlie said, giving him a smile. "I should probably go see if Clay's out there waiting for me. Do you want to keep my jacket?" He shook his head and hooked a long arm around her, squeezing her briefly before giving her an assuring nudge towards the bedroom door. "Okay, I'll be back later. Love you, Sammy." He chimed in return and she left the room.

While shutting the door, Charlie noticed her bag sitting on the floor beside it with a note resting on top. She unfolded the note and found a short message.

"Morning, Charlie. Had to leave for work, so I'll be back as soon as my shift ends. Call me if you wake up. -John."

Charlie got an amused smile at that 'if' he snuck in. Then she scooped up her bag and headed into the bathroom. She changed into a cucumber green short-sleeved shirt and dark denim jeans and tried to get her hair into a manageable position with the brush. She didn't want to look as exhausted as she was sure she would soon feel. At least she couldn't see any signs of shadows under her eyes.

Once she was ready, she left the bathroom and went out into the living room to face her friends, excluding John. Though to her mild surprise she realized that he wasn't the only one who had left. Jessica and Lamar were gone, which made sense with their schedules. She assumed Marla had left too when she found Carlton alone on the couch watching tv.

"Hey. Morning," Charlie greeted him. He looked back at her.

"You're about three or four hours late for morning, but glad to see you up. We were starting to get a little worried," he lightly teased. She playfully rolled her eyes at him. "Everyone had to take off and do whatever, but they all told me that they're coming back. That includes Dad too."

"Clay's not here?" Charlie asked in mild surprise. He shook his head. She knew she shouldn't have been disappointed but she was almost relieved to get a few more minutes to wake up. "At least he wasn't waiting for me."

"No, that was Marla. She'll be back in a second, she's raiding the fridge," Carlton said matter-of-factly. Charlie sat down on the opposite couch and glanced at the television, which was currently airing commercials. They were so familiar that they were almost soothing. "How's Sammy?" Carlton asked, breaking the silence again.

"Doing as good as to be expected. Mike's in there with him."

"I'm not surprised. He walked out on one of the Burkes' patented "parental debates". Which I happened to see since I was also out here watching it. Lamar too, but you better believe that he split the second he got a chance." While Carlton tried to hold an amused tone, Charlie could tell that he was upset about it. Like he wanted to talk to someone about it.

"Mike told me, but you can't really tell when he's exaggerating or not… What was the fight about?" she dared to ask.

"Not you, if that's what you're thinking… Okay, a little about you, but more about how Dad handled this thing with you. So, apparently Mom didn't know about everything going on last night. I don't know how she didn't know or what he told her, but when she found out that he was protecting you here and that the robots were all outside trying to get in, she flipped. She was saying, like, 'You knew she wasn't going to be safe here. You should've taken her to the police station. You were just using her as bait, what were you thinking?'"

"So, it was about me," Charlie concluded.

"Oh no, Mom made it very clear that it was about him… And about me being here when it all went down. I told her that I had to fight Dad to stay, but I don't think it made any difference. After they were done taking shots at each other, Mom packed her bags and left, and then Dad left later."

Charlie was startled by that last comment. "She packed her bags? Did she say where she was going? Is- Is she planning on coming back?"

"I don't know. She said she was going to stay at my aunt's house for a little while, but I think this is it," Carlton said with a sigh. "We all knew this was coming. If it wasn't this, it would've been something else."

Betty Burke was a good mother; she was the last person Charlie expected to just leave her family like this. Carlton didn't seem too concerned about it, but for Charlie it was a horrifying thought, because she knew how easy it was for someone to walk away from their family and erase any trace of them. Her own mother had done the same thing and she hadn't talked to her since.

"Carlton, I'm so sorry," Charlie apologized. Just knowing she was involved made her feel somewhat at fault. "Do you think maybe I could talk to her and explain what happened?"

"I don't think it would change anything. I'm serious, Charlie, it's not about you," Carlton reaffirmed. His face had fallen a little and was letting his true feelings through even while he continued to deny them. For someone who wanted so badly to get into acting, he had a poor poker face. "I'm not shocked she left. I'm just surprised she bought the whole psycho animatronic thing. I guess they must've done a number to the outside of the house or something."

The two fell into a silence for a few moments. This was right when Marla came in with two plates with sandwiches and chips neatly placed on them. It was clearly lunch for her and Carlton. From her somewhat subdued smile, Charlie could tell that she had been listening and waiting for the proper time to come in.

"Here you go," Marla chirped. She handed Carlton his plate and pecked a kiss to his cheek. He thanked her and she turned towards Charlie. "Hey, Charlie! Would you like a sandwich? The stuff is right in there; I could make one in two seconds if you're hungry."

"Thanks, but I'm not really hungry yet. I might pick something up while I'm out if I feel like it," Charlie declined with a smile. Carlton's eyes shot up from the sandwich with surprise.

"Where are you going? I think Dad was planning on you sticking around here," he said.

"I was thinking about going back to the house and checking something out. I heard some noises last night and it got me thinking about the night of the storm. I'm going to see if I can find a way down into the basement," Charlie admitted. Normally she would be reluctant to tell them at the fear they would stop her, but she had learned the risks of going alone without telling anyone. The risk wasn't worth it.

Carlton raised his brows and Marla scrunched her face uncertainly. "Into the hole?" she asked and Charlie nodded. "Well, okay. Just be careful. A fall like that could do serious damage. Mike's going with you, right?"

"No, he's going to stay and watch Sammy. I was planning on going alone… Unless you two would like to tag along with me?" Charlie asked with a convincing smile. She just didn't feel safe going alone this time even though it was daylight out. Thankfully, regardless f her warnings, Marla perked up at the idea.

"Sure! We're not doing anything except sitting here anyways. Give me just two second to get a couple of bites." Marla then proceeded to speed through three quick bites of the sandwich, eating like she was about to bolt from the room. Charlie had to suppress a snicker.

"Go ahead and eat. I'm going to go tell Mike we're leaving and get some stuff together anyways. You have time," Charlie said. She got up and headed back to the guest room.

Charlie was relieved to see that Sammy had already taken her advice and was curled up under the blankets. He was just a lump underneath the comforter. It was cute, she thought, and smiled to herself.

Then she turned to Mike, who was still in the chair reading and looking bored out of his mind. She caught his attention with a wave and half-whisper half-mouthed to him, "I'm going out to check on the house and see if I can find anything in the basement. Do you want me to pick you up something while I'm out?"

Mike quirked a brow with mild interest. She wondered if he was going to ask any questions about why she was going to look in her own basement, especially when he beckoned her over. She just decided to be completely forthright with him and hope that Sammy didn't wake up and find out before she got back.

Any concerns were dashed when Mike instead pulled out his wallet, pulled out a ten-dollar bill, and handed it over.

"You know that burger place by the turnoff to the four lane? Just get me one of everything off the dollar menu. I'm planning on holding up in here for a while. Thanks."

Charlie got a touch of a smirk at the suggestion, but agreed, and he didn't ask anymore questions before she left again.

She shut the door quietly and headed back down the hall and out into the living room. Apparently, she came back quicker than her friends had expected because their positions had changed significantly. The two were locked in a secure embrace, with Carlton's head limply dropped on Marla's shoulder while she gently ran her fingers through his hair. She murmured something, but Charlie couldn't hear it from the hallway.

She didn't want to break up this moment. Charlie quietly stepped back into the hallway and gave them a few more minutes, distracting herself by briefly going through her bag. She eventually came out a few minutes later and they separated, acting like nothing had happened, and finished up quickly before they left together.

Charlie's house was the same now as it was a few days ago, though the newfound revelation of the animatronics once being here made it much more intimidating. The three got the ladder from behind the house, an old metal one worn by age but still strong enough to support human weight- if barely- and carefully maneuvered it inside and down into the hole in the workshop floor.

That smell still radiated from out of the crater. Not as strong as a few days ago, but still lingering in the air. Charlie noticed it while she was pausing to listen for any signs of scratching or movement. There was none and so she carefully started to climb down.

"I'm not going to stay down there long. You two stay up here and keep a lookout, okay?" she asked. Marla nodded but Carlton seemed uncertain. It wasn't until Charlie was stepping down onto the floor that he caved with a groan and started to climb down.

"Wait, I'm coming too," Carlton said. With a tone like he had been pestered into going with her when the only one pushing him was himself and his own curiosity.

Soon the two were standing beside each other in the cold, dark basement, wading in the remains of the collapsed ceiling and floor. Charlie had brought with her a flashlight and Mike's taser which she turned on and held ready respectively. She shined the light over the expanse of the room and was surprised to see how much larger it was than she had expected.

The wall under the hallway stretched beyond where the garage ended and the space was filled with shelves and abandoned prototypes. Two endoskeleton's rested against the shelves, one crumpled into a sitting position and the other stood stiffly. They looked like the typical endoskeletons used in Freddy animatronics. The shelves were lined with spare parts, enough to make a third or fourth skeleton.

Carlton tapped her on the back. "Hey, take a look at that," he said. She turned around and he pointed her towards the opposite wall.

There was a massive hole in the wall. Cement bricks were reduced to little more than rubble and left enough room to leave a gaping tunnel back into the dirt. It looked about the same size as the holes Beartrap Freddy left in the ground, so it was likely that he was the one who dug the tunnel. It confirmed her worst fears.

"That must've been the scratching I heard the night of the storm. They were down here…" Charlie said. Though something didn't seem to make sense about that. She shined her light over the rest of the room. "…But something's off. Why would they break in through the basement when all the other times they broke in through the windows?"

"Why didn't they just climb in the windows if they were already broken?" Carlton added. There had to be some other explanation.

Right then was when the light landed on something neither expected to see. Against the back wall, right under where her father's workshop was placed, was an almost identical workbench desk and shelves matching the ones in the room above. Though that wasn't what caught their attention. It was the large, security door left wide-open beside it that did.

"Whoa. Now that's weird," Carlton commented. They came in closer to get a better look. "That looks like one of those doors from Afton Robotics. What was that doing down here?"

"I don't know, but we're going to find out." She noticed wires coming from a panel on the left side of the door that led underneath a piece of the collapsed floor. She knelt and shing the light under to see a broken piece of machinery underneath. She recognized the square shape. "There's a generator connected to the door."

"A generator? Why wasn't it just connected to the house's electricity?"

"I'm not sure…" She stood and looked behind the generator. She could barely see a cord plugged into a wall outlet. "I think it was. The generator must've been used for backup if the power went out."

"Makes sense." Carlton leaned into the doorway before Charlie could stop him and squinted into the darkness. He couldn't see much, but a slow look of realization crossed his face. "So… Charlie…" he drew out slowly. He pointed between the hole and the door like making a connection. "I think those things came out of here."

They didn't even have enough evidence yet to prove this and Charlie still had a feeling he was right. A twisting feeling rising inside. An inner voice saying, "Ah! Yes! Of course they did! That just makes sense." It shouldn't have made sense, but it did. A security door in the basement, a generator to keep it from opening, and the growing panic at the realization that they had been down here the entire time.

Charlie didn't say anything as she shined the light into and around the next room. It was nothing more than an empty room with metal line walls. There didn't look to be any restraints of any kind. The only thing of not was a large, circular light source in the center of the ceiling, dead without the supply of electricity. It stood out so much that she wondered if it was made to control the beasts.

Still not saying anything, Charlie drew back from the doorway and looked towards the desk with the hope she would find something to explain this. She did too, as her eyes fell on a cassette player resting on the edge of the desk. There was already a tape in it and rewound to the beginning. She knew right away that it had been left by her father; she remembered that he had an affinity for cassettes.

She pressed the play button and listened as her father's voice spoke from beyond the grave.

"If you are listening to this, then that means that the basement door is no longer sealed and that the monsters I've tried so hard to keep restrained are on the cusp of freedom. I ask you, whoever you are, to immediately leave this basement and reseal the door. If you will not or- dare I say- cannot do this, then I ask you to leave the security door be and find a tape labelled 'Butchers' on my desk. It shouldn't be far from this one. It should answer any questions you have. Under any circumstances, do not open the door."

The tape ended unceremoniously after that, leaving them with few answers and more questions.

"They were down here. The whole time I've been living here they've been down in this basement, in that room, with nothing more than a single door holding them back," Charlie said with growing dread.

"And I thought the stuff Dad was putting in our basement was bad. Remind me to never come complaining to you the next time he stashes something down there… Unless it's one of these things, then I plead the first," Carlton said. While he kept his wording playful, it was clear that he was as shocked as she was. "So, did he build these things and hide them down here?"

"I don't know… Here, help me find that tape. We're going to figure this out right now," Charlie said. There was a box of tapes pushed to the back of the workbench that she pulled out and started going through. Many of them weren't labelled or addressed with dates that wouldn't clarify anything, but she soon found one with a worn white label and the word 'Butchers' written in black marker.

She popped the tape in the player, made sure it was rewound, and began to play it.

"I have finally found and secured the Butcher animatronics, but I still don't feel safe. I feel less like I am sealing them away and more like I am just buying time until their eventual escape, but there's nothing else I can do at this time. Their programming has made sure of it… These models have been labelled as 'The Butchers', though I would argue and say their creator is the true butcher and that these are just his tools. They were created by my former partner for one purpose… To hunt down my family."

Charlie inhaled deeply.

"The Butchers are designed to hunt humans. They have no secondary functions, no falsified pretense that they were made for entertainment. From their design to their mechanics they are only made to kill. Lying in wait during the daytime hours and venturing out at night as to not be detected. They don't rationalize or feel sympathy, and even their own self-preservation is just based on their goal to reach their chosen victims.

Not only do they have pictures of both my daughter and wife in their coding, but they had been programmed to keep time and age them accordingly. Though without the ability to think, I doubt they can differentiate between victims. They will indiscriminately kill whoever matches their vague description. I have no doubt that this was exactly what he wanted. He made these things to slaughter as many as they could.

…And to kill those I hold dear in one last act of ruthlessness. My wife- my former wife- has left the state. I know she is safe for now, but I worry that they will eventually break free and find my daughter… And my son-… Let me explain. There are five Butcher animatronics, and their designs and functions are based off of both the Freddy characters they resemble and the traps built into them. First is Freddy, designed as a bear trap-."

A dull thump caught Carlton's attention. He looked back over the basement room with paranoia. "Did you hear that?" he whispered.

Charlie shook her head, but she didn't seem to be paying much attention. Instead to focused on what her father was saying about Freddy and then Chica right afterwards.

There was a strange shifting noise. This time it sounded like something spilling, like… dirt. Carlton slowly turned back to the hole in the wall and his face twisted up in terror.

"Oh ffffffoxy."

Charlie's head snapped to attention and she looked back, only to gawk with equal horror at the sight of a rusty muzzle sliding out of the hole in the wall. In an instant, she snatched up the tape player, shut it off, and both she and Carlton quickly ducked through the security door and into the room behind it. They held tight to the wall and listened to see if it was following.

They could hear the animatronic shuffling around in the next room, but it wasn't rushing then. Which either meant that it hadn't seen them or that it had seen them and was setting whatever its trap was. Eventually the suspense got to her and Charlie was convinced into peeking around the corner, and that was where she caught first sight of the butchered version of Foxy.

It had crawled out of the hole on all fours before climbing to its feet. Its back was hunched over like a werewolf, thick and tumorous above its small, sturdy legs. A tattered vest that looked like it once resembles a pirate's jacket barely closed around its chest, but was shredded halfway down the arms. The arms were a sight too, with the right arm's hook being replaced by what looked like a spear or harpoon.

Comically enough, the left arm's hand was replaced by what looked like a miniature cannon. Though Charlie doubted that was what it was. It connected to an arm as fate around as it was, swollen out and spilling what looked like thin rope out of a slice in the top of it. Foxy's face was equally gruesome, with the fabric of its muzzle worn away to reveal the metal endoskeleton underneath and razor-sharp teeth waiting.

It was only when it turned itself in the desk's direction that Charlie noticed something amiss with its eyes. The one that was supposed to be an eyepatch was replaced with what looked like a jeweler's loupe, but the eyes were darkened, with only the left one shining slightly. They flickered as the fox staggered towards the desk before falling dim when it stopped.

"I hope it's blind. Please let this thing be blind," Charlie begged inwardly as she hid behind the wall again. She held the taser tighter as she heard scraping against the desk, the heavy footsteps, and Foxy coming closer.

Inching closer to the door. There was nothing to hide behind in this containment room, it would see them if it looked in, and it was coming closer. Both Charlie and Carlton were silent and wide eyed as they listened to it edge closer until it was just on the other side of the wall. So close that it could reach around the corner and grab them. So close that she could smell it.

The smell coming from the basement had been Foxy, she realized. He smelled like pungent dirt and moldy, stale air. Inching closer and suffocating her until finally-.

"Guys? What's going on? Did you find something?"

Foxy's head snapped back with an audible crack at the sound of Marla's call. With only a second to process, the animatronic began to stalk across the basement, away from the security door. A few seconds later they could hear Marla scream. Charlie was barely able to hold Carlton back from running out while she carefully peeked out.

"Carlton, she's fine! She just saw him," Charlie whispered. This managed to calm him down but did little to comfort him.

"We've got to get the hell out of here," Carlton hissed back. He peeked out behind her to see Foxy standing underneath the hole with its head craned up to look through. It kept moving and shifting its head around, so it either had extreme difficulty seeing her or she had hidden in the hallway. This didn't leave them in any better of a position. "We got to get him away from the ladder."

"We'll need a distraction," Charlie agreed. He was on the same wavelength, but then pointed at the tape player under her arm. She hesitated then said, "…A different distraction. We need the tape."

"Then take the tape out and put another one in. What's the big deal?"

The big deal was that she only had a limited time before sunset and it was direly important that she listened to this tape and figured out what was coming for them. That she couldn't waste time looking for another cassette player when she also had to repair a taser, talk with Clay, check on her brother, and be prepared to live another nightmare tonight.

This translated into: "The big deal is… Hold on a second."

The tape player could lure Foxy out, but it was clear that he was willing to follow any sound, and that he couldn't see well enough to differentiate where they were. The desk was right outside of the door with the second tape on it and a sizable space underneath. Which would've been a terrible hiding space in any other case, except that she was fairly sure Foxy couldn't see.

With a defeated sigh, she took the cassette tape out of the player and slipped it into her jacket pocket. She then hooked the taser onto one of her jeans' belt loops and handed the turned off flashlight to Carlton.

"Here's the plan: you and I sneak out and hide under the desk. Then we turn on the tape player and slide it into this room. When Foxy runs in, we sneak over to the ladder and climb out before he hears us," Charlie whispered. She knelt down into a crouch and looked around the corner again. Foxy was now walking in a circle under the hole, broken pieces of floor crunching under its feet. "Now's our chance!"

"I'm right behind you," Carlton affirmed. Charlie then slipped out of the doorway and crept around the corner to the desk. She grabbed the discarded tape before getting under the table closer to the door. Carlton quickly ducked in beside her without making a sound.

After slowly rewinding the tape with her fingertips- much too slowly for her or Carlton's liking- she put it into the cassette player. She took a deep breath, then clicked the play button and slid it into the room in the moments before her father's voice started to spill out. The moment it did though, Foxy's head snapped aside again and, identifying it as closer prey, it honed-in and staggered hastily towards the room. It didn't even look towards the desk.

As soon as Foxy crossed through the doorway, Charlie and Carlton raced to the ladder as quietly as possible. Charlie looked to Carlton and he waved for her to go first, watching the door closely as she began to climb the ladder. It clattered so loudly under her weight even though she was moving as evenly as possible. Marla leaned over the hole waiting to grab them.

Then, about halfway up, there was a loud cracking sound. It wasn't the ladder, but the tape player, if the sudden silence was any indication. Charlie stilled for a moment and looked up to where Marla was beckoning her. She began to slowly continue up, the ladder squeaking even quieter but still sounding so loud in her ears. She looked to the security door as she climbed and the world seemed to stop.

Foxy's flickering eyes stared out of the darkness of the once sealed room. Suddenly it didn't matter how well it could see, because she knew that it was looking straight at her. Charlie gasped and raced up the rest of the ladder, thinking that there would be enough time to get up and help Carlton up before it staggered over to them.

Except that this time, Foxy didn't shamble around like the other traps had. It suddenly broke into a sprint and ran at a speed that would've put the original Foxy to shame.

Carlton was barely able to run out of the way before it slammed into the ladder with such force that it broke through the bottom steps and ripped it out from underneath Charlie. She held onto the workshop floor for dear life, legs dangling, and Marla grabbing her and trying to pull her up. Carlton quickly backed up from the scene, thinking Foxy was about to set its sights on him.

But it didn't. It hefted its weight off of the broken ladder, creaked its head back, and affixed its attention on Charlie once more. It raised its cannon shaped arm towards the young woman.

"Pull up! Pull up!" Carlton yelled. It was too late.

Out of the cannon shot a bundle of netting and hooks that quickly swallowed Charlie and tangled into her hair and clothing. Foxy then gave a sharp yank, which both tightened the netting and ripped Charlie down from her precarious grasp on the garage, straight out of Marla's hands and to the ground. She got lucky, landing on her back and knocking all of the wind out of her lungs, but otherwise being uninjured.

Not that she had even a moment to process this when the net began to swiftly reel in and she was dragged to Foxy's feet. She looked up to see the harpoon raised and poised to strike.

Before Harpooner Foxy could skewer its prey, Carlton grabbed the harpoon and tried to wrench it away. He managed to get it aiming away from Charlie but not without slicing his palm in the process. It stung for a minute, but then Foxy turned its head, spread its jaws and revealed its long teeth, and suddenly that pain was miles away. He barely moved his hand apart on the harpoon in time to avoid the beast's bite.

While this was going on, Charlie struggled to get free of the binds. She forcibly untangled the hooks, pulling them out of her jacket and apart from the nets, clawing up her hands and arms in the process. The hooks pulled at her hair as she finally got a hole open wide enough to crawl through. In one swift motion, still weighed down by the matted mess, she unhooked the taser and turned it on.

Carlton was trying to duck behind Foxy in anticipation of the next bite. The beast, with its one-track mind, followed him, with its neck elongating and its head reaching over its swollen shoulder to reach him. This was Charlie's opening, and she rushed in and jammed the taser in the exposed section of endoskeleton past his vest and fur.

The moment the taser made contact it began to seize and shake in place, but Charlie noticed that it lasted much longer than when she used the taser from Afton Robotics. When it finally released the trap, who immediately slumped in place, she checked the taser and found the red light signaling it was too low on charge to use.

"It used all its charge at once. That's what's wrong with it," Charlie realized. Now that she knew this it might've been easier to fix it, not that she could think about that now. She hooked the taser again.

Carlton, who had been only lightly stung by the charge through the harpoon, was already looking for a way out. He pointed towards the stairs. "There's the stairs! Let's get out of here!"

"It won't work, they're blocked," Charlie said. She looked to the ladder- even if it was still usable, they wouldn't have time to put it up before Harpooner Foxy roused- and then spun around to search for anything else. That's when she noticed the hole the Butchers had used to escape. "There! We'll climb out the hole!" She could only hope it hadn't been filled in.

"Are you serious?!" Carlton exclaimed. He still ran after Charlie and watched with partial disbelief as she began to climb inside. It was wide enough for them to fit in easily one at a time.

Charlie could already see the sunlight once climbing in. The tunnel only went a few feet before steeply rising to the surface, with a wider area beneath the opening where there were two deep footprints. She could just imagine Foxy sitting here, crouched in the dirt, waiting for something.

Waiting for her to return to the house, she realized. If she would've returned to the house, he would've crept out while she was asleep and found her. She would've awoken with a harpoon through her belly.

Shaking off the thoughts, Charlie pressed on and began to crawl up the steep slope. The dirt was loose and barely cooperative. Carlton was right behind her and helped push her up the slope, but just as her fingers grabbed onto the edge, there came the familiar rapid footsteps of their pursuer. Carlton turned back in time to lurch back as Foxy lunged into the hole with his jaws bared. He kicked back his muzzle.

Apparently, Marla must've heard their plan, because she came running around the side of the house once Charlie was halfway out of the hole and pulled her up the rest of the way. Both then reached back in to help Carlton who was hastily trying to climb up. He was pulling himself out when Harpooner Foxy fired the net at his back. Just like Charlie he was snared, with Marla only able to pull it off of his head.

With a sharp yank, Carlton was pulled back over the edge and into the tunnel. The animatronic's flickering eyes glowed from the safety of darkness as it tried to drag him back in.

"Watch your legs!" Marla screamed. Carlton barely pulled his foot up before the harpoon stabbed into the dirt where it had once been. Frantic, she picked up clumps of dirt and threw them down at the creature, trying to distract it. Managing to nail it in the snout with a rock, which didn't do anything except maybe slow it slightly.

This was enough time for Carlton to reach into his pocket for his pocketknife which he unfolded with his teeth and then began to cut at the netting. Charlie was still holding him around the shoulders to keep him up as he slowly freed himself. Once he was down to only a few hooks, he was able to pull himself up more. Marla pulled off the remaining hooks as he made it out of the hole.

With him free, all three leapt to their feet in preparation to run, but to their surprise Harpooner Foxy did not follow them. Charlie cautiously stepped closer and leaned enough to peer inside, Marla clinging to her arm the whole time. At this angle she could barely see the animatronic lying in wait. It knew they were still out there, but it didn't follow them.

Just like the tape had said and as she had seen with the others, it couldn't come out into the daylight. Though this was little comfort when she knew now that they didn't necessarily deactivate during the day. All that kept them from coming for her right now was simple coding. What a terrifying thought.

"Let's get out of here," Carlton said. Nobody argued with him and they hurried around the house and to the cars without another word.

Charlie checked her pocket and was relieved to feel that her father's tape was still there. Maybe now they would finally get some answers. Or at least some warning for what was to come.

Put your finger in Foxy's hole.
Foxy's not at home.
Foxy's out at the back door,
picking at a bone.
-An actual nursery rhyme.