someone once asked me, "what's the hardest part of writing your book?" and you know, there's so many little things, like motivation, plotting it all out, making everything fit. but here's the hardest part, and tell me: have you ever tried to scroll to the very bottom of a laggy mobile 113k+ word doc? it's literally the most annoying thing ever.

but enough about me, onto the reviews. speaking of which, that's a funny number. (apologies.)

The Sassy Scorbunny: thank you so much! i'm glad you liked it :))

(future me here: oh my god I had a ton of writers block working on this chapter for some reason. But it's out now, enjoy!)

Chapter 34

A Murderless Night

It was the night.

The night that Amanda Wilson would arrive at the pizzeria. The night that they would drive her out without killing her, something never done willingly before.

Freddy paced back and forth in front of the whiteboard he'd rolled out from the closet. On it, he'd drawn plans. They'd try and scare her out of the job.

Freddy was positive that Amanda had heard the spooooky rumours, and he was also pretty sure she'd come here either as a dare, or a chance to make some easy cash, the latter being more likely. So scaring her should be pretty simple. He just hoped nobody would believe her. Because having known Ruby for almost a year now, they trusted her to keep their secret (or at least only tell people she trusted.)

Freddy paused. She didn't know their secret though. Well, she knew they were aware and all that, but when it came down to ghosts possessing the suits? Ehhh, not so much. They should really tell her sometime. He made a mental note to discuss it with the others after Ruby got back from her field trip.

Mangle jumped out from behind the corner.

"Red paint bombs are set and ready for launch," She reported, saluting.

Freddy rolled his eyes. Foxy doing the whole soldier thing had been tolerable. The rest of his friends doing it? Kinda getting on his nerves. But he let it slide.

"Great. Is Chica ready with the cameras?"

Mangle nodded. "And Foxy's at the window, and Bonnie's prepared the sound effects."

Freddy sighed.

"I just hope we can all control ourselves. I really don't want to kill her either."

Mangle nodded, and smiled sadly.

"I'm sure we can. We have more self-control now, Ruby taught us that."

Freddy nodded, and looked over the whiteboard one last time just to triple-check. Everything was going according to plan. All they needed was-

"She's coming! Quick!"

Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica ran to the stage as fast as they could. Foxy dashed over to Pirate's Cove, and Mangle snuck over to the Parts and Service room.

Amanda opened the door, whistling to herself and swimming the keys around her finger. She turned around and waved goodbye to someone, probably the person who drove her here. She was only about fifteen, she most likely couldn't drive herself.

"Bye, Fayne! I'll see you soon!" Amanda called to a red car. She shut the doors, locked them, and began walking down the hallway to her office.

Freddy made sure she was completely gone before he nodded to his friends on either side of him. It was time.

~lll~

Amanda yawned and leaned back in her chair, kicking her feet up on the messy desk in front of her. She looked around. There were two vents on either side of her, and a long hallway in the middle. Amanda flicked on her flashlight and made shadow puppets on the wall, bored.

She sighed. This would be a piece of cake. Christian Lee, the owner of Freddy Fazbear's had hired her for a night to replace Ruby, the other night guard. All she had to do was flip through the cameras occasionally to make sure the animatronics were in their proper place, but they were completely still. All in their places, exactly how it shou-

A stroke of fear shot through Amanda's body.

Where was Chica?

Panic set in as she realized Chica wasn't on the stage with her friends. She flipped through the cameras- oh, phew. There she was, on Camera 3. And...what was she doing?

Suddenly, her face shot towards the camera screen with a terrifying screech, and static broke through.

Amanda jumped back and screamed. What was happening?! Was she going to come and kill her? She didn't want to die! She had just reached a hundred followers on Chirp!

Suddenly, there was a scraping sound coming from the window beside her. It wasn't a very fun sound, it resembled nails on a chalkboard. Amanda slowly stood up and flicked her flashlight back on. What was out there?

She took a deep breath and pushed back the purple star-covered curtains.

"AAAAH WHAT THE HECK."

Foxy's face met hers. His long black claws scraped against the window, as if he was asking to be let in. His one eye glowed a bright shade of yellow, and his layers of sharp teeth suddenly seemed even more terrifying now that they were aimed at her. His long black claws scraped the glass with a horrific screech.

Amanda shut the curtains and pressed her back up against the wall, breathing heavily. She squeezed her eyes shut. Get a hold of yourself, Mandy!

She adjusted her turquoise glasses and tied her sandy blonde hair into a ponytail with a sparkly purple scrunchie. She'd just have to survive till six, right? That wouldn't be so bad, it was already three. She'd just have to distract them somehow…

Suddenly, a ghostly howl rang through the building. Amanda shivered. What was that?

Bang. Bang. Bang. The rusty copper lockers behind her rattled, as if something, or someone, was trying to get out.

Amanda grabbed her flashlight and held it in front of her like a sword, or a shield. She tensed up, prepared for a horrific jumpscare, or a gruesome sight. She fiddled with the door, and flung it open, prepared for something terrifying.

What?

There was nothing there but a tiny gray speaker. Amanda leaned down and picked it up. It was just making banging noises! There was nothing in the lockers! Amanda wanted to jump for joy, but she knew that she had to keep checking for danger.

She spun around and gasped. There was a dark red substance leaking across the floor, sinking into the checkered tiles. She sniffed the air. Weird, it didn't smell like blood. Still, freaky. Was it really blood? Would her blood flow across the floor like that? She shook herself. Stop thinking like that!

From inside the vents, Mangle did a silent fist pump.

Amanda shivered and flicked through the cameras. Chica was back at the stage, along with Bonnie. Mangle was still in the Parts and Service room. Foxy was...wait. Where was Foxy?!

Amanda flashed the vent lights. Nope. She flashed down the hallway…

There was Foxy. And he was heading straight for her. Metal screeched and footsteps rang out and echoed across the hallway. And did he look...different? His eye, that was it. It was now a shade of black with a simple white pinprick of light illuminating from the center. Amanda barely had any time to react before her reflexes kicked in and she flashed the light in his eye.

"Arg! Dammit, me eye- er, um-" Foxy cursed, then caught himself. His eye flipped back from black to its usual yellow and he scurried back down the hallway.

Amanda's heart was pounding, adrenaline pumping through her veins. She shone the flashlight around her wildly, as if daring the animatronics to come out and get her. Which she didn't want, but she'd like them to think she wasn't afraid of them.

"COME AND GET ME, YA STUPID IMBECILIC FUR-FACES!" She crowed, tugging the rubber Freddy mask over her head.

Bells tolled, and Amanda glanced down at the tiny red alarm clock. Six am. It was six am!

Amanda collapsed on her swivel seat, panting. Sweat dripped down her back, and her heart was going a million miles a minute. She took off the mask and wiped her forehead. Fayne would be waiting for her outside, and they didn't like to be kept waiting.

With pride, she stood up with the flashlight. She'd keep it as a reminder that she truly was awesome.

Amanda strolled down the hallway with ease. Nothing could touch her. She was on top of the world. When she reached the front door, she yelled out with confidence.

"SUCK IT, DIRTY ANIMALS!"

With that, she turned and ran out the door, ready to accept her check and never return again.

~lll~

"Oww. Her voice is so annoying."

Bonnie rubbed his ears in pain. Freddy shrugged.

"At least we scared her off. I don't think she'll be returning anytime soon."

Foxy, Mangle, and Chica ran back, all with gleeful looks on their faces. Well, all except for Foxy. He had a sad, mournful look on his face. He crossed his arms and seemed to disappear further into his purple coat.

"I'm sorry, cap'n. I lost control there for a wee bit. It won't happen again." He reassured Freddy.

Freddy smiled. "It's okay. I know it was difficult. I was on the brink of murder too." Freddy almost laughed at how casually he could say that.

Sometimes Freddy wondered what his life would've been like if he wasn't an animatronic. He'd be top of his class, and he's go to college to become a teacher. First grade, he'd decided. It was one of the most important grades learning-wise.

He shook himself. Wishing wasn't going to get them anywhere. They should cook breakfast and get ready for business. Ruby would be back from her field trip tomorrow, and it was their job to get everything prepared.

Freddy smile, allowing himself an ounce of pride to burn in his heart. Maybe this was a step closer to freedom from the curse that had inked onto their lives.

A step closer for the five friends to be a happy family together.

~lll~

Long, spindly fingers plucked the strings of the harp. Chords and melodies rang out through the small black room. The music was calming, reassuring. It soothed the listener, like a warm lullaby sung by a mother telling her child there were no monsters under their bed, no nightmares in the closet.

It reassured Charlie that there was a way out of purgatory, a way out from the madness of shadows and whispers. A way out from smells and sounds that manifested their way into sights. A way for her to believe that she could escape from the endless blackness, with only her silver harp to guide her.

The music rose in pitch and tempo. Rage emerged from the depths of her body, peeking it's bud out and blossoming into a crimson thorny flower. Vines snuck their way around her heart and her brain, then tightened. So tight, that they shattered.

And the marionette awoke once more, with a sense of duty. Afton was back. And her friends were in trouble. Charlie took a deep breath, and opened her eyes.

It was a beautiful day.

A/N

I know, it's short. I apologize for the long wait. Next chapter will be pretty exciting, two new characters will be introduced (hehehe). We're actually getting kind of close to the end of the first act, which is awesome!

Have an amazing day/night!

~ghost