Hello hello!

So can we just pretend Sammy Emily doesn't exist? Like for this book? Because I don't know a single gosh darned thing about him, and I can't find a single gosh darned thing about him! I don't know if he's canon, or even real, or her actual brother, or dead, so we'll just say he's with Balloon Boy in the Place Of Stolen Characters.

Pog.

Also, I changed the name! Maegan's sad about it, but it was cringey anyways.

Reviews!

Sadfox729: Haha, I trolled you. Get noobed. Also, Mario has great music!

mixsii: had to google what wolfhook was. you know I won't get those references. and i noticed you were under my bed last night.

Guest: Wonderful review. Very touching and heartwarming. Appreciated.

Also, reviews are free! You don't have to put in your email address or anything like that, it's completely anonymous. Not trying to beg for likes or anything LMAO it's just really fun to read your guys's comments!

Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 26

Of Secrets And Puppets

Steve yawned as he hammered a hard metal casing. He was helping Elise work on her animatronic that she was submitting for the contest. She'd decided to call the fox Maggie, after her aunt's friend's grandma's son's colleague's brother's daughter. Or something like that. It was hard to keep track of all of Elise's relatives with how much she talked about them.

It had been several months since the Bite had occurred. Since then, there'd been a lot less patrons coming to the restaurant. Steve couldn't really blame them though, that scene was... horrific.

Elise was chatting with one of the waitresses, Queen, and simultaneously spray-painting an arm casing hot pink. Steve didn't quite know how she did it.

Queen seemed to say her goodbyes and left, and Elise turned her attention back to Steve.

"Oh my goodness, Queen is just so nice! I'll bet she's my sixth favourite person in this building! Gosh, I wonder what it would be like to work as a waitress. It's probably very difficult. I prefer this job, although I do wish I was on my family's farm! Waking up at dawn, planting seeds- actually, my niece is named Dawn! She's only three. My oldest sister Annette had her, and I can't believe she's a mother now! My older brother John has two little boys, Andy and Ollie, and they are four and five. So cute! And then my other sister Gracie is only eighteen. Too young for kids! And my younger brother Jake has a girlfriend, Aria. Hey, your wife is expecting a child, isn't she? A boy, if I'm remembering right? And you have a daughter too, although I can't remember her name for the life of me. Amazing! I can't wait to meet them. Oh- Steve are you okay?"

Elise had stopped her ramble because she noticed Steve's face. He looked...sad? Angry? Elise didn't quite know what to label the emotion he was showing, but it certainly didn't look positive.

Steve sighed.

"I- well, I didn't want to tell anyone because I didn't want to bring the mood down but...it was a miscarriage."

Elise gasped and put a hand to her mouth.

"Oh my goodness...I am so sorry honey. That's horrible. My cousin Mercedes...well, I won't bore you with a long tale, but her first try at a child ended in a miscarriage. So I sort of understand. But that must be terrible. How's your wife, is she okay?"

Steve nodded and screwed a couple bolts into the sides of the arm casing. "Stella's been doing well. Still sad about the baby, of course, but physically she's okay."

Elise smiled. "Well, that's nice to hear. And Steve dear, I'm always here if you need to talk. Or if you want to listen. I've got plenty of tales, that's for sure!" She grinned.

Steve laughed. "Not right now, but certainly some other time would be great." He looked around, suddenly remembering something he'd wanted to ask Elise.

"Um, where's Kenny? He hasn't been here in a month at least. I know he said he was taking a two-week-break, but it's been way over two weeks now."

Elise shifted uncomfortably. She picked up the casing and screwed it to the arm.

"Well, you know that him and Rosie got married. My goodness was it a wonderful wedding! I was so honored to be the best woman, and Rosie looked so gorgeous in that dress, and the veil had these lovely little-"

She paused, remembering that Steve was waiting for an answer. "Sorry. Well, Steve...after Elizabeth's death, people just assumed it was bad luck, that some creep had taken her away. But after everyone saw Evan get bitten by that dreadful bear, well, that didn't do much for this place's reputation. Parents stopped taking their kids to the diner. But at least we had Freddy Fazbear's! Until Charlie's disappearance, and...presumed death."

Steve gasped. He hadn't heard about that yet.

"What? Charlie died? As in Henry's daughter Charlotte Emily?"

Elise nodded gravely, and there was even a bit of surprise on her face.

"Yes, you didn't know? It happened about three weeks ago. They said that the last place she was seen was playing a puppet game with a group of kids her age. And then she just... disappeared. That was when workers started quitting, fearing their own safety. And Kenny, well, he now has a wife who's pregnant with twins! So, he quit. He didn't want to, he really did like you Steve, but he quit." Elise said sadly.

"And I feel so bad for Henry! And William too, because he lost Clara a couple months ago, in that terrible accident..."

Steve ran a hand through his short blond hair. So many deaths, and all at the same place. That couldn't be a coincidence. It had only started about two months before Steve had joined. Something weird was going on at this place. Sure, the animatronics were janky, the sanitation was questionable, and the food was greasy, but that wasn't enough. William must feel terrible, and the same could be said for Michael. And Henry too, that was his only child. But...why? Why so many deaths?

Steve didn't know the answer to that, but he was sure he'd figure it out.

Suddenly, there was a long and loud pitchy microphone screech. Steve and Elise both clapped their hands over their ears. The rest of the workers groaned.

A thin man wearing thick blue glasses, a green gingham shirt, white pants, and red...suspenders? shuffled up to the stage. He appeared to have questionable colour and fashion choices, but Steve didn't object.

The man cleared his throat loudly and leaned in close to the microphone.

"U-um, he-ello. My n-name is-"

There was another loud feedback screech and everyone winced. The man cleared his throat again before continuing.

"My name is C-calvin Longshire, and I am here t-to deliver a m-message." He stuttered. Calvin proceeded to pull a small stack of notecards out of his fanny pack and examined them carefully. He cleared his throat for the five billionth time.

"It is with a g-great sadness that we m-must, um, announce the…um." He flipped through his notecards. "Please keep i-in mind...wait, those aren't the right cards." Calvin flipped through them a couple more times before finding the correct card.

"T-the death of Vice Pr-president, Henry Samuel Emily."

There was a collective gasp from the crowd. And then hushed murmurs broke out.

Was he bitten too? Maybe an animatronic followed him home. The crowd immediately went to assumptions and rumours before poor Calvin even had a chance to explain what had happened.

"How did he die?" Lucia, the hostess, called from within the crowd.

Calvin adjusted his glasses and flipped through his notecards. He read them carefully.

"It says th-that he...committed suicide following the d-death of his daughter Charlotte. They said not to-to reveal more than that to the public."

More whispers followed that, ranging from 'poor Henry' to 'what if he killed Charlotte?'. Steve shot glares at those who were leaning towards the latter. How could they be so disrespectful? Steve couldn't imagine how horrible it must have been, losing so much in the span of six months. And he must have blamed himself, too. Henry must have felt so much agony.

Calvin began to shuffle off the stage, then proceeded to slip on a stray wire and almost fall flat on his face, but caught himself just in time. The notecards, however, didn't get so lucky. They spilled to the ground, fluttering in the air like that one scene from Matilda. Unfortunately, Calvin didn't have telekinesis, and he was forced to restack the cards once more.

"Hey, it's William!" The crowd turned their attention to the man in a purple suit who was walking down the creaky stairs from the kitchen. Which was something Steve found strange. He had to go through the kitchen, and through a door by the pantry to get to the workroom, which they also used as a basement place for storage. Steve understood that it was low-budget and saved space, but he still found it a bit odd.

As William got closer, Steve noticed with a pang of sadness that the man looked...empty. There were prominent bags under his flat gray eyes. His hair had lost it's sleek shine, and had gone from black to a sort of dark purple with streaks of silver. His walk was barely that, more of a slow shuffle. And yet somehow, William's face remained emotionless.

The crowd backed away from him as he walked down the aisles, as if he had some contagious virus. When he got to Steve and Elise's table, Steve felt he had to say something. Something to hopefully not make him feel any more loathsome. Something that maybe would cheer him up a little.

"Hey. I, um, like your hair!"

Steve mentally face-palmed. That was his genius plan?!

William paused.

"Oh. Uh, thanks, Steve. I like your...shirt. Very, um, blue. Powder-blue, if I'm not mistaken."

This is so awkward. Why did I even say that? Steve mentally cursed himself. He cleared his throat, and attempted to better their conversation.

"Yes, it is in fact powder blue. It's a, um, very popular colour choice actually-"

"Oh, just stop. This is the most awkward conversation that I've ever heard! Hello, William dear. It's been a while, hasn't it?" Elise said whilst pulling her protective goggles off her face, revealing bright eyes and a smile plastered on her face.

"Ah, yes, it has! Wonderful to chat with you again...Lisa?"

Elise laughed.

"Elise Newberry. Forgotten already? I remember you though. My mother said I never forget a name, or a face! Her name was Gwendolyn, and I adored her! She bought me my first horse, which I named Skittleberry, and we..."

Steve noticed William's attention drifting to the cracked wooden walls. In order to prevent another awkward repeat, Steve quickly glanced around for something, anything, to change the subject.

His gaze landed on a small stairway leading down two tables behind them.

Curious, he drifted away from the rambling Elise and bored William and slowly made his way over to the staircase.

There was a little bar to put his hand on, that looked to once be a vibrant crimson but had faded and chipped after years of wear and rear. The staircase itself didn't seem to go down far, only a couple feet, and led to a faded blue door with a wrinkled paper taped over the window reading 'Hazardous Material Ahead: Authorized Personnel Only' and then in messy, scrawled blue pen handwriting 'KEEP OUT!'.

Steve had every intention of keeping out, he really did. But there was something just so...tempting about the door. Like there was some force pulling him towards it. As if a puppet master was pulling the strings, and he was the puppet. Time seemed to still for a few short seconds as the crowd's murmuring ceased to exist to Steve. He could hear a long humming emit from the door, almost like a buzz.

Steve was almost at the doorknob when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Steve."

Reality came crashing back down on him as he snapped out of that trance. Steve flinched in surprise as he turned to meet William's empty gaze. He wasn't quite sure how to respond.

"What's behind that door, then?" Steve stared into William's gray eyes with his hazel ones.

"I don't think that's any of your business, now is it. I'd advise you not to mention this door again, and I'll trust you not to go near it. As the sign says, it could be... dangerous for you and your loved ones."

Steve wrinkled his brow. "Huh?"

William kept calm. "Did I stutter? Go on now, the talky one needs your help."

Steve nodded slowly. "Okaaaay. Can you please take your arm off me?"

William removed his hand.

Steve climbed up the stairs, an itching feeling crawling up his spine. Once he was at the very top, he looked back at William. The feeling returned.

William was still staring at him, a smile stretched across his face. Not a kind, warm smile, but a deeply disturbing one. Steve shivered, trying to shake the image from his mind.

As he reached his table, he still couldn't shake it. Even with Elise yammering on about horses and dogs and mangoes, it remained in his mind and the unsettling tingling remained in his muscles.

One thing was for sure.

He wasn't sure when, or how, or why. But he'd find out what was behind that door, no matter the cost. Steve couldn't explain it. He had to.

He just did.

~lll~

"We need one more to start the game."

"Who else can we get? This place is closing soon anyways."

"Hey look! Isn't that Henry's daughter?"

"It is! Hey, Charlotte! Charlotte!"

Charlie glanced over in her seat. She'd been colouring a tiger purple with her broken set of crayons for the past ten minutes. Her dad had left her to her own devices while he did some paperwork in his office, which he always did. Charlie didn't mind, but it could get a little boring at times. She'd already coloured three mermaids, a lion, five princesses, and a kitten playing with yarn.

The other kids thought she was weird and never played with her. It didn't really bother her too much. They were all butt-faces anyways. Besides, she already had a best friend, Elizabeth! But she hadn't seen her since last Christmas, and Charlie was really starting to miss her.

But now, there was a group of three kids calling her over!

Charlie dropped her purple pen and ran over to them.

The girl who'd called her over grinned.

"Hey, Charlotte! Tell us about that little passion project of yours." The girl said, referring to her drawing.

"It's Charlie." Charlie corrected the girl. And she didn't quite feel like sharing her artwork with other people. They might bully her like Michael used to. He never came around anymore. Neither did Evan or Cassidy, the two girls Charlie used to hang out with the most.

"Whatever. My name's Katie, and this is Baxter and Sophia. We wanted to play this puppet minigame, but we need one more person to play." Katie pointed to a short boy with a massive amount of curly black hair, and a thin girl with red hair. Katie herself had interesting short pale blonde hair.

Charlie grinned. She'd play-tested the minigame with her dad when he was first building it. She was quite good at it. Pink was the best colour, as everyone knew. It always won. Then blue was second best, then orange. And then the dreaded green. Green had never won, not even once. It was the most unlucky colour Charlie had ever seen.

The game was simple. Four players would each draw a colour, and then press start. Then the cute puppet animatronic would rise up and pick a colour. Whoever has that colour would win and get a token that you could exchange for a plushie or some candy at the prize stand (run by Foxy.) Her daddy said he'd built it specially just for her.

Katie went first. She reached into the box and selected her card. Covering it with her hand, she looked at it carefully. Charlie studied her reaction, but Katie kept calm.

Baxter went next, then Sophia, then finally Charlie. She grabbed the card.

Please be pink, please be pink…

Covering the card with her hand, she glanced down. She frowned in dismay. Green.

"What'd you get, huh?" Katie leaned over her shoulder and laughed. "Hah! Green. Should've guessed. Loser. I got pink."

"Of course." Charlie thought aloud.

Anger darkened Katie's brown eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" When Charlie didn't respond, she added. "You wimp. Can't even answer me."

Charlie glared at her. Unbeknownst to Katie and the other kids, Charlie had her grip on a small red plastic cup filled with non-alcoholic Freddy Fazbrew.

Which she proceeded to swing forward and completely drench Katie and her pink dress.

Katie gasped, bright orange drink dripping down her face. She slowly lifted her gaze up to a worried Charlie. "So you got me all wet, huh?" She growled. "Well let's see how you like it!"

She snapped twice, and just like servants, Sophia and Baxter were at her side, awaiting orders.

"Carry her outside. That'll teach her a lesson."

The two kids advanced and grabbed her arms. Charlie began to panic. She tried to escape, but they held her tight.

"Let..me...go!" She squirmed and kicked, but it was no use. She was only four, and they looked to be about nine.

Baxter used his free arm to unlock and open the back door that led to the alleyway behind the pizzeria. Charlie could hear the rain pounding against the window.

"Stop it! Get off me!" Charlie protested. Baxter responded with a heavy shove out the door. Charlie landed on the wet asphalt and coughed. Her knees stung where they'd been scraped, red running down and mixing with the rain like the watercolours she loved to play with.

Katie grinned and waved cheekily.

They slammed the door shut. Charlie scrambled to her feet to try and open it, but the click of a lock prevented her from trying.

She instead opted for the big glass window beside her. Rain poured down, soaking her dark gray t-shirt and collecting her brown hair into dark, sodden clumps.

Charlie pounded her fists against the window desperately. "Lemme in! This isn't funny! Somebody!"

She caught a glimpse of the three kids at the window. They just pointed and grinned and laughed. They laughed and laughed and then they just walked away.

Charlie crumpled to the ground and cried, fat tears joining the raindrops. Water pooled underneath her. She stomped her sneakers and they made an interesting squishing sound. She sniffled and squished it a few more times. She looked around the alleyway. There were trash cans and rubbish bags lining the alleyway. A purple spray can left absent-mindedly by some graffiti artist lay on its side. There were ratty, wet posters advertising the pizzeria.

Charlie stood up and looked through the window again. Nobody was there. Had they forgotten about her so soon? Maybe they all wanted her gone. Maybe they all wanted her to sit in the rain and freeze to death, alone.

The rain pounded harder.

There was a roll of thunder, and Charlie jumped in surprise. She really hoped lightning wouldn't strike her. She'd be burned to a crisp. Or maybe she'd be like that guy in the news who survived lightning seven whole times.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps. Charlie whirled around, trying to spot someone who could possibly let her in. But it was too dark and foggy for her to see.

"Help! Someone, lemme in please! It's yucky out here." She called, hoping someone would hear her cries. She wanted to go back in and see her father. She wanted to go back to colouring her purple tiger.

The footsteps got closer.

"DADDY! Help me!" She screamed, slamming on the window with her fists, now rubbed red and raw. Maybe she could break the glass and then she could crawl inside! But no, her daddy always said not to break the glass. Which meant she was trapped out here with stinging knees and aching hands and a sore throat. "DADDY, PLEASE!"

The footsteps got slightly closer, and then stopped. Charlie gulped, taking a deep breath. She turned around and gasped. There was the puppet! She gazed at it in wonder. It had a white-painted face, red, happy circles for cheeks, and a gaping mouth always in a smile. And...oh! It's eyes were blinking green!

Charlie held out her green card.

"Did I win?" She asked. The marionette didn't respond, but took her card. And slowly unclasped it's hand to reveal a single golden token. Charlie took it gratefully.

Now, this is when something happened that confused Charlie. One moment, she was thinking about lightning and tigers and puppets. The next, she felt something large and painful wrap around her throat, squeezing the tears out of her eyes. She fought for air, but couldn't. It hurt. It hurt so much.

And suddenly she was falling and couldn't control her body. And then she was floating above herself, and she could see her own face as clear as the reflection of a mirror slowly become bluer in hue. Charlie looked around. Everything seemed so much...clearer. She turned around to see if she could spot the person now. The person was wearing a fedora and a purple trench coat.

Oh.

...Oh!

It was Uncle William! She liked him. He bought her chocolate and plushies and he was good at telling stories. Plus he was her father's friend, and Elizabeth and Evan's dad. And Michael's dad, but Charlie didn't like Michael. He was a bully, and never played with them anymore.

She tilted her head to the side. But why had he been holding her body's-

"It works…" He suddenly said.

Charlie pondered this.

What works? She tried to ask, but her mouth was glued shut. Puzzled, she looked down.

A long, slinky black body met her gaze. She appeared to be wearing a black shirt with striped sleeves and big white buttons on the front. Charlie caught a glimpse of her reflection in a puddle and gasped.

A white painted mask met her gaze.

She glanced desperately at her body, which was crumpled on the floor by the trash cans. She shook her head. This was all a dream, just some crazy dream. Charlie wasn't an animatronic. She just wasn't.

William suddenly snatched her arm. His nails dug into her slinky black arm.

Hey! She tried to scream. It was happening again. Nobody would listen. Nobody cared. Nobody paid attention to the poor little girl being thrown into a van, her old body cold and blue beside the garbage cans like it was just another piece of trash. Nobody was sent to go check on the unfortunate little girl, trapped outside and murdered in the pouring rain. William had betrayed her. Even her own daddy had abandoned her.

Charlie sniffled, and began to cry, blue painted stripes on her mask pouring down.

A/N

Aww, poor Charlie. Why are kids such brats? Also, yes, I know Charlie wasn't playing a game, and the puppet was programmed to follow her, but I thought it would be an interesting idea.

Also if anyone gets the subtle Katie reference I threw in, I'll be very impressed.

Random question: Who is the first YouTuber you ever watched?

Have a great day!

~ghost