Note from CoWriter Corona Pax:
Hello all. My family just learned my mother has breast cancer. The timing could not be worse as we are in a severe financial situation and in the middle of a legal battle regarding a neighbor who cut my family's sewer line, which triggered some very specific PTSD in my mother. She was brought back to the trauma she went through as a teen. Of course, there are other possible factors, but I suspect the stress of the lawsuit might have contributed to the cancer.
My mother survived the Khmer Rouge Killing Fields as a teenager. She was 12 years old when her father was executed and her mother had to lie about the family's identity and pretend to be illiterate or risk being killed as well. My mom watched her baby sister Tari die from starvation. She has suffered so much, before and after coming to this country. Quite frankly, her body turning against her when she already lost everything before is not something I'm at peace with.
I'm writing a book about my mother. Or I was supposed to. I should have written it years ago. Instead, it's just scattered notes about things my mom mentions when something reminds her of something horrible she went through. I was not intentional about collecting the stories. I guess I thought I had time. Silly me. Maybe it's selfish, but it terrifies me that I procrastinated writing something so important and she might be gone before I hear all her stories. Then her stories are just lost forever.
This is a silly Five Nights at Freddy's fanfiction written by two friends for fun (and maybe a tiny bit of therapy) and it's unreasonable to ask anything in return, but I just ask that if this story has ever helped you in a tough time in your life just once, please help me save my mom.
Every little bit helps and I mean that literally. My mom has felt voiceless for the last year and a half in our town. Seeing that there are people out there who care means the world. Please share.
FFN does not like links. This is the shortcode for the GoFundMe I just made.
gofund. me/ e2209627
You may also be able to search help-genocide-survivor-survive-cancer on GoFundMe.
Special thanks to Ghost for writing Alex this chapter.
Chapter 189
Stowaway
Hedy was startled awake by Alex, who shook her shoulder hesitantly.
"We're at the hotel," Alex said shortly, glancing outside the car as Hedy blinked at her.
"What?" she asked as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She groaned when she realized where they were. "Ugh. I'm more tired than I thought." She blinked again and frowned at the can of salt sitting in her lap as if she had been cuddling it. She hadn't even noticed that she still had it with her.
The men had already gotten out of the car and were discussing something outside in the light of the hotel lobby. The discussion seemed tense, but not aggressive. They were probably discussing whether Andre needed to go to the hospital given the amount of gesturing both men were doing toward his arm.
Andre asked William something and the older man briefly lifted the bandage on the younger's arm to just grimace and helplessly shrug.
"Hedy... listen, are you okay?" Alex asked, getting Hedy's attention again.
"I'm fine," Hedy assured, looking at her friend sympathetically as neither of them made a move to get out just yet.
Alex didn't look convinced but she didn't push, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth and looking out of the window at her side.
Their argument a few days ago still hung in the air between them, making it too thick to really talk. Honestly, at least.
"What on earth is going on at that place Hedy? Please tell me."
Hedy swallowed. "It's complicated…" She immediately saw a cloud of frustration wash over Alex's eyes and was quick to add. "And I'm not just saying that."
Alex scoffed and glared at her. "Hedy, none of this is normal! You do understand that, right?!"
"I know. I know. I'm sorry," Hedy said. "I don't know what to tell you. I know tonight was really confusing and I didn't help." It was an empty apology, she knew, but at least it was a real one.
Alex looked away, clearly frustrated. She huffed. She wasn't sure why she even bothered. "I don't like not understanding what's going on." Alex gripped her arms for a moment before continuing. "And I don't like you treating me like a child."
"I'm not…!" Hedy trailed off and when Alex glanced at her friend, the other woman was staring at the can of salt in her lap. She looked so conflicted.
Alex watched her, not interrupting and hoping Hedy was close to actually talking.
Hedy ran her thumbnail over the paper label of the salt. "Do you believe me now? That it's dangerous?"
Alex breathed through her nose sharply. "I never said I didn't believe you. I just want to know what we're up against."
"I don't even know. Not really," Hedy snapped.
"But you know more than what you're saying. "Alex counted on her fingers. "The animatronics are alive. Mr. Afton made them. Something is off about this set. A kid died! That's about all I know. There's more, isn't there?"
Hedy didn't say anything, but she could feel Alex watching her. Those were the important details, weren't they? Alex learned them anyway so was there anything else that even mattered? Alex didn't need to know about the supernatural stuff. She didn't need to know about the murders, the kids' or the night guards'. She didn't need to know Hedy's past with the place. Yes, she knew Hedy witnessed the murders of her friends when she was a kid but she didn't know it had anything to do with this. None of that was important for the current situation, right? It wouldn't make Alex a better engineer. It wouldn't make her any more cautious. She already saw Funtime Foxy –Vixen– attack Andre. That should be enough right? The bots were alive and something was making them act dangerous. That was enough.
"Hedy, I need you to get out of your bubble and understand how this is looking from an outside perspective. You cannot be hiding information from any of us if you really, actually think we're in danger. And if we are really in danger, then we need to tell Mr Afton, or go to the police, or something. Something more than going back there every night and pretending like everything is okay, and like you and Ruby are going to be the big heroes that save us all and fix everything."
Because we are, was Hedy's immediate thought, but she knew how arrogant and ridiculous that would sound.
Things would be so much simpler if she and Ruby didn't have to worry about other people getting in the way. They might have figured out what was causing the bots to act strangely by now. But they hadn't. They couldn't just jump into the fray–or more accurately Ruby couldn't– with the freedom and casual disregard for one's life that had gotten results previously. Not that Hedy approved of such methods, but she couldn't deny that they had worked for Ruby before. But the teen couldn't do that here. There were others around. There were other people to care about. Other people could get hurt if they were too involved.
"Hedy," Alex said, dragging Hedy out of her thoughts. "You can't just zone out. This needs to be a conversation."
"Sorry," Hedy mumbled. "I wish I could tell you more–"
Alex's expression fell even more somehow, and she looked almost ready to just get out of the car and abandon the conversation altogether.
"-but some things…just…don't…" Hedy wasn't sure where she was going with this. "There's a lot of things going on, but some of it is just so…private. And it might not have anything to do with this. And when I say private, I mean devastatingly so. I can't just tell you."
"All I'm hearing is a lot of nothing," Alex deadpanned with a sigh. It wasn't necessarily mean. Alex sounded so tired. It still hurt.
Hedy swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. "It's complicated," she insisted. She pinched her nose between her palms and sucked in a breath. She contemplated. "Alex…do you believe in ghosts?"
Alex blinked, and it took a split second for the question to sink in before her face twisted in anger. "Are you fucking serious right now? Ghosts."
"Y-yeah…" Hedy said softly. This was going about as well as she expected.
"And here I thought you were actually about to tell me something about the danger we're all in. You've done nothing but tell me how serious and bad this situation is and yet when we're finally having an actual, good conversation, you want to talk about ghosts."
There was a brief silence and the two girls just stared at each other, each of them desperately frustrated.
Hedy's mind raced. She had to say something!
"I give up," Alex said, pulling the handle and opening the car door. "Give me a call later if you feel like sharing anything useful."
Hedy opened her mouth to stop her friend but no words came out. The car door slammed on her breath.
She sat there for a few minutes, staring at the can of salt again. Was there a better way to broach that subject? Probably not… Even she hadn't reacted well to the idea of ghosts at first.
Alex was even less of a spiritual person than Hedy ever was, even before all this.
Hedy sucked in a shuddery breath. Maybe she should ask Timmy for help if she decides to push the issue. Hard to deny a ghost when they're in front of you…
There was a soft knock on her window and she jumped.
"Ms. Fitzgerald?" Mr. Afton said awkwardly through the window, raising his voice as much as he dared. "I'm sorry, but I must hand the car off to the valet?" He asked it like a question as if asking her permission.
She quickly opened the door. "Right. Sorry."
"...Is everything alright?" the older man asked, whispering with a glance at the valet waiting a respectful distance away.
"Yeah. Sure. No problem."
He looked doubtful.
Hedy didn't get a chance to crack a smile and offer more assurances before he wordlessly pulled out a purple and blue striped handkerchief and handed it over.
She took it more on instinct, only touching her wet cheeks a moment later in shock and embarrassment. Absently, she wondered why she hadn't noticed. It wasn't so cold her face was that numb was it?
Afton held the door for her and helped get her chair out without a word. She was a little too mortified to tell him to stop and inform him she could do it herself.
She muttered a quiet 'thank you' and went inside. She avoided looking in the direction of Alex's voice as her friend (?) spoke to the receptionist.
Hedy just went to the elevator.
"Ms. Isaacs. I need to speak with you," Hedy heard Andre say behind her as he approached Alex.
She didn't bother listening. and made it up to her and Ruby's room instead of waiting for Ruby in the lobby.
She froze a moment before putting her keycard in. There was a small noise from inside the room.
Hedy frowned and inserted the key.
Opening the door didn't reveal Ruby magically having beat them back. Hedy couldn't see anything off for the moment.
Hedy's frown deepened. She knew she didn't imagine that sound. She stayed in the doorway for a moment, not willing to be an idiot and trap herself in the room. The hallway was empty.
After a long moment, the sound came again.
"Timmy?" Hedy asked, confused. There was no answer. "Who's in here?"
There was a small crash as the hotel's alarm clock fell off the side table.
Hedy hit the light switch. "The fuck?" she mused with a blink as her eyes widened a little.
The room was trashed. The curtains were pulled down. Her and Ruby's clothes were out of the bags and tossed everywhere.
What the heck happened? It looked like someone was trying to cause as much chaos as possible in the room.
She caught movement out of the corner of her eye scrambling to get under her bed.
"Hey!" she snapped. She got her taser out and now closed the door behind her. It was too small to be a person if it fit under there, and she didn't want it to escape.
She hoped it wasn't a rat, though she didn't think a rat could throw all their clothes around.
Ruby left the room a while after Hedy did earlier that night so it was possible Ruby tossed their stuff around looking for something. She would have cleaned up when she got back, most likely.
And Hedy supposed a big rat could pull down the curtains...
Muttering curses, and mildly aware what she was doing was stupid if her real suspicion was correct, Hedy grabbed the small broom from the bathroom.
The noise had stopped again as whatever it was seemed to have decided the bed was a good place to hide.
"Come out, come out wherever you are?" Hedy sang quietly. She hated rats. She hadn't needed to see one in ages.
Between Kitty, BB, and Chica's cupcake, the rodent problem at the pizzeria was sorted long ago.
Hedy took a breath and poked the broom under the bed, realizing a second later that she didn't have a way to trap it. The bathroom? Then she could call the hotel to remove it, right?
That was about the time something grabbed the broom and yanked.
Hedy didn't think to brace herself, already leaning dangerously forward to reach. She yelped as she lost her balance and fell out of her chair onto her knees and forearms, nearly breaking her teeth on the bed frame.
There was a distinct giggle from under the bed. That was not a noise a rat would make...
Hedy froze. She yanked the covers up and looked, only a little worried about her face being attacked. She saw two little pinprick white eyes, so much like Puppet's, but set on a much smaller face.
The eyes stared back.
"You have got to be kidding me..." she whispered.
At that moment Ruby opened the door and stopped short. "Uh...Hedy? You okay?"
Timmy appeared, looking around the room in confusion. "Woah. What happened?"
The eyes flicked in the direction of the new voices and Hedy lunged for the little bot, seizing the distraction.
She got a squirming grasp for a second but it didn't last as something stabbed her hand. She screamed and jerked back, hitting the back of her head on the underside of the bed.
Thankfully Ruby's reflexes were still brilliant and the door slammed shut, the teen on alert.
"What's going on?" she demanded as she came closer carefully.
Hedy's hand burned in pain and she cursed while rubbing a sore bump while she backed out quickly. "Ow! Damnit. One of those little bots followed us back."
"What?" Ruby deadpanned. She looked around for a moment before grabbing a blanket. Quickly she dropped down next to Hedy and reached under the bed to grab the bot with the blanket. "You okay?" She eyed Hedy's hand while pulling the squirming bot into view.
"I think she stabbed me with a pen," Hedy said, inspecting the small puncture. She could move her hand fine, so damaged tendons didn't worry her. The bleeding was already stopping.
Fricking hurt though. Between her and Ruby, why was she the one getting hurt the most this week? She washed the wound in the bathroom while Ruby held the bot down with the blanket.
"Does it hurt a lot?" Timmy asked worriedly, following Hedy. He gently patted Hedy's head where the bump was. "That bang was loud...
She flinched as he touched the tender spot but welcomed the icy sensation. "I'm fine. Just need an ice pack." She went back out, eyeing Ruby and the squirming bot as she used a hand towel to make her ice pack, holding it to her head. She hissed in pain.
Ruby glanced at her in concern while keeping a grip on the bot. She wasn't having much of an issue since she'd spent years keeping hold of squirming kids. A mini bot wasn't much trouble despite pen-stabbing tendencies. She did wince when her shoulder got jostled with the movement but her hold didn't falter.
It was making some noise, though.
"How did she get here?" Hedy asked.
Ruby carefully shifted her grip so she could get a look at the bot without hurting her or risking injury.
"Must have hitched a ride in your bag." She frowned. "Didn't notice her at all."
Hedy opened her mouth indignantly but realized that she hadn't checked her bag when they got back. She had before they left, but there was plenty of time for the bot to sneak out and hide in the room while they were sleeping.
She looked at the bot, who seemed to have calmed down a little. "Sneaky little bugger."
Ruby huffed out a laugh. "She looks similar to Puppet. I wonder if their personalities are similar too?"
"Tsundere cat?" Timmy murmured.
The little bot's head whipped around to look at the ghost, apparently not noticing him before. Her little eyes widened a little and she froze, staring.
Ruby shifted her hold again, surprisingly gentle. She was probably considering it more childlike than the other bots. "Hello, little bot. Here causing some chaos are you?" she tilted her head and glanced at Timmy. "How the heck do you know what 'tsundere' means?"
Timmy shrugged. "I don't. Mangle just called him that one day and he was so mad I figured I should remember it." He was just a little confused about why the bot looked like it was afraid of him. It shouldn't really know what a ghost was, right?
"Cold," the bot chirped hesitantly, staring at Timmy and sinking into the blanket, careful not to make any sudden movements as she stared. "Cold. Cold. Cold. Shock. Bzzt. Not safe."
Ruby automatically moved so she was cradling the little bot. "Hey don't worry," she frowned. "Timmy can't help the cold temperature but he wouldn't hurt a fly." Her expression hardened a bit. "And no one is shocking anyone."
Hedy listened to the bot, a little confused.
"Bzzt." The minireena repeated. "Bzzt. Hurt. You shocked. " She glared at them, but she was cute so it looked indignant. "She shocked."
Ruby huffed. "It was the stupid Handunit system. We were trying to stop the shocks." She tilted her head in Hedy's direction. "She got shocked trying to stop it."
"Not you," the bot shook her little head. She looked at Hedy and tilted her head. "Not you. She shock. She cold. She hurt."
Ruby frowned. "She? Someone there hurt you?" Someone cold huh? She darted a glance at Timmy.
Hedy frowned as the bot nodded. She was curious about how open it was. She was a little cautious. Hedy could see a shine of intelligence in the pinprick eyes but it was underneath a childish voice. There didn't seem to be any malice though.
The words were concerning.
Hedy jumped as the bot wiggled an arm out and lightly slapped Hedy's injured hand like it was a dangling toy.
Hedy bit back a yelp and squealed. "Don't do that, please. That hurt."
"Hurt?"
"Hmm," Ruby hummed. "Like how the shock hurts you, sharp things hurt us," she explained.
"Oh." The bot tilted her head and looked at Hedy. "Sorry."
"I'll be okay," Hedy said gently, very surprised by the quick apology. "I'm sorry I startled you and tried to grab you. You're a very talkative little thing." He looked at Ruby. "I don't think any of the others would talk to us easily like this. She went from stabbing me to chatting with us in less than a minute."
"Well, I think she was probably a little scared so the stabbing makes sense. What were you doing sneaking into Hedy's bag, little bot?" Ruby asked.
"Sneaking," she said proudly. "Hiding. Hide. Follow." She seemed to lose the energy for a minute and looked around the room a little more frightened. "Home? She wants home," she murmured.
Ruby's expression softened. "We'll take you back when we go to work tonight. You shouldn't do something that dangerous again. The other people wouldn't have been as nice as us."
Hedy slipped back out of her chair to sit next to Ruby and look at the little animatronic. "You could have gotten hurt."
She definitely understood that word.
"Who were you following us for?" Hedy asked gently. "Or was it just for fun?"
The minireena shrugged a little and giggled but it somehow sounded strained.
"Who's 'she'?" Hedy asked. "Who wants a home, sweetie?"
The minireena went very still and stared at them, shaking its little head ever so slightly.
"You don't need to be scared here. We won't hurt you. No one will hurt you here." Ruby hesitated. "We actually know a lot of other bots."
The minireena looked incredibly confused at that statement but still fearful. "More?" she giggled a little. "No no. Silly. Silly. We're special." She shook her head. "Cold. Mean. She'll get angry angry angry if I say. Shh. Shh."
"Hey Hedy, could you pull up the others on video chat?" Ruby asked as she moved to sit up properly. She tested her shoulder's mobility and snuck a look under the bandages, apparently deciding the minireena wasn't a danger and was now focused on her injury. "Of course you're special but there's actually a lot of other bots."
Hedy nodded to both the question and the statement and called Mike, requesting a video chat instead of a regular call. She gently petted the bot on the head. Its behavior was so different from any of the others, but Hedy found it endearing, if a little strange.
The bot squirmed a little to free itself from the blanket, curious about Hedy's phone as it cautiously climbed half out of Ruby's lap and hung off Hedy's arm.
"Just be nice and don't hurt Hedy," Ruby reminded the bot, letting go of the bandages as Mike appeared on screen, looking confused.
"Hey Hedy, why did you need the video call?"
A chorus of 'hi Hedy!'s sounded from off-screen.
"I MADE A CAKE!" Chi called in the background.
"That's great, Chi! Make sure Mike and Jeremy take some home."
"I did! Jeremy already left."
"What's going on?" Foxy's somewhat gruff voice interrupted. "Where's Ruby? What are you doing?"
"Oh, just talking back to one of the bots here," Hedy said lightly. She tilted the phone.
"What?" Foxy's surprise was drowned out by excited chatter.
"This little one stowed away in my bag yesterday. She doesn't seem to care about killing us either."
The minireena poked Mike in the screen on the nose. "Human? Trapped." She looked at Hedy in confusion. "It's small like me."
"No no, it's like," Hedy paused, "Do you sometimes watch the camera... back home?" She frowned a little.
The minireena tilted its head and nodded hesitantly. "She does. We see. We see. Sometimes. Everyone's tiny."
The phone was abruptly stolen from Mike who squeaked in surprise as he was shoved out of the way. Mangle appeared on screen. "A bot? Who?" she demanded excitedly.
"Hello!" The minireena chirped. Happily. "Foxy? Colours not right a little. Look weird."
Hedy was confused for a moment before she realized she probably meant Funtime Foxy.
"No this is Mangle. Toy Foxy. She's not your Foxy."
The bot looked more confused.
"Hi! Oh, you're adorable!" Mangle gushed. She ignored Mike muttering about being pushed out of the way.
Ruby doubled over snickering. "Oh, she's so different from Vixen it's not even funny."
"Vixen?" The little bot tilted her head while the bots back home wondered why Mike snickered at the name.
"It's what we're calling Funtime Foxy. Your Foxy," Hedy explained. "It's a nickname."
"Nickname?"
"It's a name your friends call you that's different from the name you started with," Mangle explained. "My first name was Toy Foxy, but my name is Mangle now. What's your name, sweetie?"
"Minireena," the minireena said, mirroring Mangle with a head tilt.
Ruby cooed a bit. "Mini ballerina. She even makes the expressionless mask thing less creepy."
"Weren't there several of them?" Mike asked while Puppet wondered if he was supposed to be offended.
"We're Minireena," the little bot said.
"I'm not sure they have individual names," Hedy said. "Not even sure how many of them there are."
The little bit giggled a bit at that. Despite her short, infantile speech, she seemed very intelligent, clearly taking some amusement in Hedy's confusion.
"Do they have a hive mind I wonder? Or just speak about themselves as a collective unit?" Ruby wondered.
"Mike looks kind of terrified," Mangle noted.
"Don't mind me. Just wondered what it would be like to have a ton of them climbing all over you. And then I freaked out." he told them faintly.
Minireena giggled. "We do. Tickles."
Mike shuddered.
The minireena giggled and pointed at Mike. "Technician?" She tilted her head adorably.
Hedy wasn't sure what she was asking. "Sort of? He fixes some things. I fix others. He works on lights and and the arcade machines, I work on the bots."
The little bot tilted her head backward to look up at Hedy in curiosity.
Ruby cracked a grin at the cuteness.
"But do you see now? Mangle there is a bot too. And there's a lot of other bots there."
"Special?" the little bot asked.
"What do you mean?" Hedy asked.
Minireena thought for a moment. "Voice. Not special."
"The Hand Unit?"
That got her a small nod. "Talks too, but different. Not like Ballora and Baby and Foxy and Freddy and Bon-Bon and Babs and Us and..." she trailed off, suddenly uncertain.
They were quiet, hoping she would continue. When she didn't, Hedy spoke.
"The Hand Unit is not alive," she said in understanding. "It's not special and it can't care about anything like you do."
"Oh, yeah they're all special there. They're all alive," Ruby told her, gesturing at the phone.
"She's actually making friends before smacking them with Betty? It's a miracle." Toby muttered just loud enough for them to hear over the phone. He'd been in a mood since Hedy (and Ruby) left for this job.
"Shut up," Foxy snapped and there was a clang as he probably smacked the rabbit upside the head.
"Ow!"
The minireena surprisingly giggled.
"New friends?"
Ruby softened a bit towards the little bot.
"Yup. We took this job because we were worried about you all."
The minireena looked even more confused.
She didn't say anything for a minute.
"Trap," she said quietly. "You...leave. I like you. More fun than others..."
The mention of 'others' was very ominous.
"It doesn't matter if it's a trap, little one," Ruby murmured. "Hedy and I won't stop until you're all safe again."
"It's a trap?! This was just...Will...having a job. Wasn't it?" Toby freaked.
The minireena looked at Hedy, either not hearing or ignoring them.
"My name is Hedy," Hedy explained, unsure what the staring was for.
"Oh. I know. She said. She listened. Hedy. Ruby. Andre. Alex. Daddy." She looked at Timmy again and tilted her head in confusion.
"What did she just say?" Puppet spoke up from the phone.
"Daddy," the little bot said, maybe answering. "Daddy Alex Andre Ruby Hedy," she recited backward with a nervous giggle. "Timmy?" she asked the boy. "You…Timmy?"
Timmy jolted a bit and looked at her when she said his name.
"Who's she?" Ruby asked, voice still surprisingly gentle.
The bot looked at her like she was being silly. She pointed at her chest as if that was supposed to explain. "Insides."
"I don't understand," Hedy said.
Ruby was also frowning in confusion. "Hmm..." She poked the bot lightly on the head as she thought.
The little bot shifted in frustration that they didn't understand.
"Insides!" She insisted. "Insides! She takes them and makes them. Not mine or other little ones. We're too tiny. Ballora. Baby. Freddy. Foxy. She takes theirs. Then fixed again. Then again. Again. Again." The bot was starting to sound frantic.
She suddenly stiffened as if remembering something. "I need…We need… Take me back! Again. Back! Take back. Freddy again. Insides." She started to struggle against Ruby again. "Go back! I need to go back to help fix!"
"Shh. It's okay. Calm down," Hedy tried to soothe her. "It's okay. We'll take you back tonight."
"I need to fix! We need to fix!" Minireena cried.
Ruby was looking a little disturbed as the bot struggled. She didn't want to risk letting the bot go, worried she'd hurt herself trying to escape. A terrified, confused minireena loose in the hotel was probably a very bad thing.
"We'll help you fix them. Hedy is very good at fixing bots," she promised.
That seemed to worry the bot more for a moment.
"Fixer? But she just wants to play. She wants their insides so outside." She shakily poked Ruby's stomach. " Ennard wants innards ." She sang that last bit but sounded so tired and strained. There was no happiness in the singing. She started shaking a little again. "Talk too much. Talk too much. Say too much. Bzzzt." She mimicked the sound of the controlled shocks a little too well with her tiny voicebox.
It made Hedy jump.
"Shh, you're safe, little one," Ruby murmured, mind racing. She glanced at Hedy.
The bot seemed to panic more like she wasn't listening anymore.
"Okay. It's okay Minireena," Hedy gestured for Ruby to pass her the bot. "We're just going to take a little nap so we all can calm down."
"No. Back. Go back. Ballora…" The bot let out a screechy little sob and was twitching a bit in her panic. "Ennard. I need to fix. We need to fix. Inside outside inside outside…"
Ruby lifted her to pass over to Hedy but one arm got free and the bot accidentally hit her in her bad shoulder. Not expecting it, Ruby let out a yelp.
Hedy quickly pulled the bot away, giving the teen a concerned look.
"I'll look at Freddy with you tonight," Hedy said softly to the little bot, trading Ruby her phone. She spoke like she did when Marcus or Mercy was upset. She knew that shutting the bot off meant they needed to wait a little bit for answers, but she was worried about the bot hurting herself at this point. She just needed some rest and maybe a reboot. Gently, Hedy felt around the small torso for a panel or screws while she continued to soothe.
Ruby took the phone and quietly reassured the bots. Or tried to. They'd all heard her yelp which was a very rare sound from her.
The frantic cries of a tiny bot they just met were not comforting either. It was hard to listen to.
Hedy and Ruby couldn't see, but Mike noticed how Puppet stiffened when Minireena started rambling, glancing at the younger bots and especially the Toys.
The minireena didn't even notice when Hedy took a small screwdriver to a panel in her back while cooing and soothing the frightened animatronic. She looked at the tiny wiring for a minute, then gently disconnected a small red one connected to the power source after checking the circuits.
The bot's little white eyes shut off abruptly and she went limp in Hedy's arms, cut off in the middle of her frantic chatter.
Hedy carefully put the panel and screws back in place. She cradled the tiny limp being in her arms like a small child, careful of the delicate-looking limbs.
Meanwhile, Ruby was attempting to hang up but the bots wouldn't let her and were demanding answers.
"I'm fine."
"You fucking yelped!" Foxy snapped.
No one even scolded him for his language.
"An undignified moment I shall not repeat."
"Ruby!" Chica scolded. "How bad is it?"
"We heard not a peep from you when Mangle bit you…" Puppet said, just off-screen. "Any noise seems…" he trailed off as if realizing he was sounding a bit too caring about the Night Guard.
Ruby could see Goldy in the back of the group roll her eyes and tiredly glare in the direction of the lanky bot. Spring wasn't even trying to hide his amusement as he stared at Puppet.
There was a faint whimper, hidden under the weak growl Mangle let out at the unpleasant memory.
"I'm fine," she insisted. "Just wasn't expecting the little bot to hit me there. It's not nearly as bad as the other stuff I've dealt with. Besides, Hedy's here. You know she's gonna be all responsible."
"Ruby…" Chica whined.
"I'm fine. Gonna go clean it up right after this phone call and then sleep. I promise."
"You haven't even said what happened," Foxy growled. "Who did it?"
"It doesn't matter," Ruby said flippantly and firmly. "It's not their fault anyway. We're pretty sure something is making them attack us." It was half a lie. They couldn't be sure yet, but something was up and Ruby was fully convinced this group needed her and Hedy's help. Then everything would be fine. If they still wanted to kill people? Then they were getting dragged back home for a deal and the Toys' Peg Knocking Down a Notch treatment.
"It was Foxy wasn't it? I mean Funtime Foxy. Vixen," Foxy guessed. His tone was odd. He sounded angry but his eyes looked sad.
Ruby looked at him. That was interesting. She was never sure how well her bots knew the younger groups. Did Foxy know Vixen? It was funny he referred to the younger fox as Foxy too. Wouldn't that get confusing?
"What is it with the foxes always getting close!?" Bonnie fretted.
"Ruby likes them too much," Mike deadpanned. "Even her subconscious wants to get close enough for a hug, even when she knows that stupid."
"Schmidt, I know you're joking," Foxy said, his tone now a little more obviously stressed, "But that may be a little too close to reality so I'd appreciate you shutting yer trap for a moment."
"Aye, Captain."
Ruby let out a reluctant huff of laughter. She couldn't fully deny that in all honesty. She had a bias towards the foxes. They were also just the fastest and most agile usually.
"I'm fine," she repeated for the nth time. "And I've got to go deal with it now. Okay?"
She got some grumbles but Mike took his phone back from Mangle.
"Bye, Ruby. Love you, Hedy!" he called, "Be safe. Don't do something more stupid than normal. Eat more than ramen. Don't let Ruby blow up something she shouldn't. The usual." His tone was chipper, but everyone could tell he was just trying to bring some lightheartedness to the situation, especially after that conversation.
Hedy chuckled as the bots did the expected mix of coos and exaggerated disgusted groans. "Love you too, Mike. And the rest of you, of course."
"Oh good," Spring said. "I was feeling a little neglected over here."
Mangle snorted. "Bye, Hedy. Bye, Ruby."
Ruby hung up. Mike would drag a goodbye on for hours if he could get away with it.
It was quiet for a moment. The three of them stared at the minireena for about a minute before speaking.
Hedy took a breath. "Ruby. What the fuck..."
"We got a name now," Ruby muttered. "Ennard..."
"What is it though?" Hedy wondered.
"Trouble," Ruby stared at the minireena. "She's terrified of this Ennard."
"She is," Hedy nodded, glancing at Ruby's phone. The others were probably still talking about this themselves and trying not to freak out. Poor Mike was probably trying to calm them down. Hopefully, the more mature bots were helping. "That part about...insides... bothered me," Hedy said. She frowned. "And I don't just mean how it sounds. I mean..." She glanced at Timmy. "Something feels off." She swallowed a little. "Maybe it's because she's here." She nodded at the mini bot. "Or Timmy's presence. I can't usually sense stuff outside of the building."
Timmy was staring at the floor. "Even though you aren't in any part of the building…I think you have an intuition for some things now. Just from exposure. Even outside…" he whispered. "I think almost everyone is a tiny bit psychic…They just don't notice it or have a frame of reference for sensing stuff. You have a lot of practice now."
Hedy huffed.
Ruby frowned again. "I thought we were leaving the weird ghost stuff behind for this job," she muttered to herself.
"Me too," Hedy said. "I thought the ghost stuff stopped for me the second I left the building. I didn't even sense Timmy in the car with us on the way up here. But there'ssomething in that place. It doesn't entirely feel like a ghost, but I have no idea what else it would be."
Timmy didn't say a word. No one was forgetting his previous insistence that there wasn't a ghost.
"Then there was the building...butting in," Hedy said. She looked at the minireena for a second. "I wasn't expecting that to happen, but it coming in is probably why I'm sure about what I'm sensing now." She made that slightly disturbed face she always did when she had to admit to her weird ghost connection to the building.
"Hmm," Ruby leaned back against the bed. "We're going to have to search that place properly tomorrow night. Now that we know the building can back us up a bit it makes it a little easier. But we've got to find this...Ennard. And figure out if we've got another ghost problem."
"I don't like this, Ruby. She..." Hedy gestured at the bot. "Said it's been watching us. It knows our names."
Timmy shifted, looking a little freaked out at the reminder. He had been terrified alone in that hallway.
Ruby, predictably, shrugged. "The brats and Goldy aren't any different in that sense. They're terrible eavesdroppers."
That was more the reckless teen Hedy knew. The calm cooperation Hedy had been seeing from her had been starting to freak her out.
Hedy huffed and looked at Timmy. "Has anything changed for you?"
Timmy startled and looked at her. "What?"
Hedy looked at him for a second. "You haven't sensed anyone have you? Even something you thought you were imagining? I know you said you didn't the other day. Yesterday? But…"
Timmy stared at her and shook his head. "No."
"Well, I guess-"
"You're just going to ignore it?" Timmy suddenly snapped quietly, and the temperature dropped a little. Timmy seldom affected his environment. He had too much control over himself. This week had been hard on him.
The room was silent for a second.
Timmy gestured at the minireena. "She...she called my dad 'Daddy'." He shook his head. "That..."
"Maybe some of the Funtime bots know your dad that way..." Hedy suggested quietly. "Maybe this bot remembers him and that's what she knows him as. Or she heard the others call him that."
Timmy shook his head. "N-no.. The bots always called him 'Will'. Even Puppet! Puppet and Goldy always called him that. O-or 'Mr William' if they were working! 'Mr Afton' if they were mad at him." It wasn't a total lie. They called him another name too, but it wasn't "Daddy."
Timmy clenched his fist. There were only two people who called their father by that moniker. Him and…
…Michael refused to call their father anything other than "Dad" or "Sir" or occasionally "Father" for as long as Timmy could remember.
Ruby reached out to touch his shoulder, seeing him trembling. Her tone was careful when she spoke again.
"We don't know what's going on yet, Timmy. Don't make assumptions just yet. We'll figure it out."
"You don't even know what I'm assuming," Timmy said, but he was already calming down at Ruby's touch.
Ruby's gaze flicked away at Timmy's words but he didn't notice.
Hedy reached out and ran her fingers through his hair, concentrating on being able to touch him. She was relieved when he leaned into the touch for comfort. She wasn't sure how he'd react to the physical affection from her. The little boy usually got his hugs from Ruby. "Everything will work out. We know more than we did yesterday at least."
He just nodded slightly to Hedy.
Hedy retreated her hand and sighed. "I'm exhausted..." she admitted.
"Get some sleep," Ruby looked back at minireena in Hedy's arms. "I've got a feeling things are going to get busy tomorrow night."
Hedy nodded. She glanced at the door to their room.
"I think we freaked out the others tonight."
Ruby scowled. "Not my problem."
She didn't like having them around. She was used to no one stepping on her toes during the night. She rolled her shoulder and flinched.
"Stupid Andre."
"That was...stupid," Hedy admitted while Timmy frowned. "But it's not like we can just explain everything to them, right?"
"Your friend might believe you–"
Hedy flinched and Timmy frowned in confusion at her.
"-but I don't think that guy would," Timmy said.
"He'd call us insane," Ruby stood up, rubbing her shoulder. "I'm going to clean my shoulder up before bed."
Hedy nodded. She should probably take a bath or something in an attempt to ease some of her stress.
"Do you need help?" Hedy asked, tilting her head.
"Nah," Ruby waved her hand. "It's not serious. I got it."
Hedy huffed but waved Ruby off to the bathroom and didn't press as she picked up the minireena and gently put the tiny body on the bedside table, clearing the alarm clock and pushing the lamp so the bot was comfortable, despite knowing she wouldn't feel anything while powered down.
She'd learned that Ruby had enough medical knowledge to get by. She didn't like thinking of how she got that knowledge but it came in handy.
Ruby took a while but after some running water Hedy didn't notice anything was wrong as she went about trying to clean up their belongings. What she could reach without needing to get up and bend down at least. She needs one of those grabber claw things.
Timmy floated above her and nudged her shoulder, his hand passing through.
Hedy shivered a little and the boy looked apologetic. "I think you need to help Ruby," he whispered. "The cut looks…uh…pretty bad."
Hedy blinked. "Timmy. Were you spying on Ruby?"
Timmy's eyes widened in horror and if he had any blood, he would be red as a tomato. "What?! EW! N-no! I just asked if she needed help! She asked me to help with the gauze. She can't reach all the way. But I can't put the gauze on right and…" his fast words trailed off. "It goes under her clothes…" He looked away, mortified.
Ruby could be heard laughing in the bathroom.
Timmy pouted. "Were you just messing with me?" He crossed his arms.
Hedy smirked. "How old are you again?"
Timmy scowled with embarrassed wide eyes. "I'm older than you!"
"Don't make it weird, Timmy," Hedy admonished. She shook her head in disappointment.
"ME?! You were the one—!"
Hedy laughed as she went into the bathroom and closed the door.
"That's not fair!" Timmy complained outside but didn't dare come into the small room.
Ruby also laughed.
"I'm watching TV!" Timmy announced. Then there was the sound of the television turning on.
"Was that too mean?" Hedy asked as she tried to find the best way to maneuver in the small bathroom. It was rather large as far as hotel bathrooms went, accommodating for her chair with enough floor space and both a shower and a bath.
Ruby, sitting up on the counter while straining to see her injury in the mirror, shrugged and then immediately winced. There was a small pile of bloody gauze and tissue paper in the sink. "Meh. Older siblings are supposed to embarrass the younger ones."
Hedy sucked in a breath at the site of the massive bloodstain covering nearly all of Ruby's back of her shirt. Or what was left of it. Still, despite the gash in the fabric, Hedy had trouble telling the difference between bloody skin and bloody shirt. "Timmy's around the same age as Jeremy, you know."
"Nope. Doesn't count," Ruby said, decidedly. "He's still a kid. He has feelings like a kid his age. He thinks like a kid with the brain chemistry of that age. He just has a few more years packed in that cute little iceblock of a head."
"I don't mind you guys talking about me," Timmy called over his vampire cartoon. "But you do know I can still hear you, right?"
Hedy ignored him with a smirk. "It's weird being the eldest for once."
"Oh, so you're very familiar with all the times Jeremy embarrassed you."
"Well, I'm pretty sure I got back at him all the time. I was always cramping his style," Hedy said. "Ruby, turn around. I can't see."
"I just need to clean it," Ruby lied, probably on instinct. She immediately winced.
"Ruby, please take your shirt off," Hedy said. "Neither of us can see anything. Your whole back is bloody!"
Ruby hesitated. She sat there, contemplating as Hedy stood up, leaning a hip against the sink for support as she sorted through the first aid box Ruby had brought into the bathroom with her.
Hedy looked up when Ruby didn't move. "Ruby, I'm sorry if you're uncomfortable taking your shirt off in front of me but I just want to make sure it's not too deep. I don't think you should still be bleeding."
"I shouldn't," Ruby said, tiredly. "If you keep bleeding through the gauze, you need stitches. It scabbed over some, but I guess I ripped it open. I need stitches. You're gonna have to do it since I can't reach." She still didn't move though.
Hedy paled. "Maybe we should go to the hospital…"
Ruby gripped the edges of the countertop and tensed.
"I just…" Hedy stammered a little, trying not to stare at the blood, but it was impossible to ignore. "I…I can't do blood, Ruby. It's too…" She swallowed. "And sticking needles in someone else–" She nearly threw up right there. There was a reason she preferred bots.
"It's fine," Ruby assured her, seeing the early signs of an anxiety attack. "I can figure something out. "I bet this town has a vet!" Ruby sounded enthusiastic.
"Why?"
"I always wanted to bribe a vet."
They could hear Timmy laughing.
The statement was so ridiculous that Hedy couldn't help but laugh too. She shook her head, trying to focus on not feeling nauseous."N-no…I can…I can do it."
"Hedy–"
"It's either this or the hospital, Ruby. And I know you don't want to go to a strange hospital and I'm not letting you go to a vet."
Ruby didn't look so sure. But Hedy seemed determined. "Okay…" she said, unnaturally quiet.
Hedy didn't say a word as she helped Ruby pull up the back of the shirt so it was clear of the half-dried wound. She sucked in a breath.
"That bad huh?" Ruby said sarcastically.
Hedy stopped her when the back of the shirt gathered around Ruby's neck. "You don't need to take it completely off. Let me just…" Hedy took a wet piece of clean gauze and cleaned up the blood around the three ragged claw marks as gently as she could.
Ruby stiffened as Hedy got too close to the actual cut although she didn't hiss or anything.
Hedy huffed. "We need to clean it first."
"I brought rubbing alcohol."
"I read that soap and water is better if you have it," Hedy said. "Can you handle flushing it out in the bath? And then I'll come back and help with the…stitches." Hedy still looked a little pale.
Ruby nodded and Hedy went outside into the room to wait.
Timmy refused to look at her, resolutely staring at the TV.
After a few minutes, Ruby let Hedy back in and they got the stitches done, Hedy looked like she was going to throw up the entire time. But she managed, despite her shaking hands. The stitches weren't pretty, but between a diagram she found on her phone online and sheer determination, they ended up with something that would be called a closed-up couple of scratches.
Hedy didn't comment on the other ugly scratches scarring Ruby's back, the more recently healed ones clearly from Foxy's claws and Mangle's jaws. There were more though. Hedy also didn't comment on how Ruby kept dressed enough to specifically cover her front and her lower arms, getting her sleeves wet instead of rolling them up to wash her hands.
When Ruby finally, painfully, pulled on her sleep clothes, she left Hedy throwing up in the toilet.
Ruby winced but there wasn't much she could do besides offer some water.
"Thanks…" she said.
Hedy waved her off before puking her guts out again. Her presence didn't do much more than remind Hedy of why she was throwing up in the first place.
Ruby was already asleep by the time Hedy finished with her bath. Maybe it was blood loss that made her so tired. She wasn't in any danger though, Hedy knew. She would have to make a visit to the doctor when they got home though just to make sure everything was fine.
Hedy couldn't sleep for a while. Among other things, her hands felt wrong, like she couldn't quite get all of Ruby's blood off them. She had used gloves from the first aid kit and scrubbed her hands very well anyway so she knew she was being crazy. Knowing didn't make the sticky or wrong feeling go away. She kept staring at the minireena and glancing over at Timmy who laid on Ruby's bed pretending to sleep.
Hedy rolled over and forced her eyes closed, trying not to think about Alex and all the bubbling thoughts of how a teenager shouldn't need stitches in a hotel bathroom.
Not too long later, Alex made it to her room only just in time before tears started to run down her face, and she swore violently as she buried her face in one of the pillows on the bed. She'd never been so scared in her life. Andre's arm, there was so much blood…
Why won't Hedy just tell me what's going on?
Alex knew she'd regret not grabbing breakfast later, but right now she just needed to think. There were too many thoughts running round and round in her head, and no outlet for any of them. None of it made sense.
She sat up, wiping her face with her sleeve, and took a few deep breaths. The hotel room was small and a little dingy, but there was enough room for her to pace up and down as she tried to straighten out her thoughts.
Mr Afton had maybe done something bad in the past but was now maybe trying to make up for it. And the animatronics were dangerous, but Hedy and Ruby maybe knew what was going on but also maybe didn't.
She scowled to herself as she toed at a piece of torn carpet. There were far too many "maybe"s in this situation for her liking. This was why she liked engineering – computers and machines only ever did what they were told, and always gave straight answers. A 1 or a 0, true or false.
Sighing, she returned to the bed and rummaged in her bag for her phone. Continuing to pace, she dialed a number and listened to the phone ring. Her face split into a smile when she heard the voice on the other end.
"Well, hello! I thought you'd be asleep by now, honey."
"Hi, Mom."
She wasn't sure why she was calling – there wasn't really much she could say. But maybe she just needed to hear a familiar voice, one that she knew would be on her side.
"Honey, have you been crying? You don't sound right."
"Oh," Alex said and attempted to laugh. "No, I think it's just this hotel room. You should see it when the sun comes in the window in the late afternoon, it's full of dust. It's probably just going for my throat."
"It probably hasn't been dusted properly in months. You'll be looking forward to getting home to your own bed soon, huh?"
Alex smiled and hugged herself as she listened. "Yeah, this job is…" she tried to think of an appropriate word that wouldn't worry her mom. "Well, I'm learning so much. And it's really… hands-on."
They talked for a while about some things going on at home before her mom circled back to the job.
"And you're definitely enjoying it?"
Alex sighed and blinked away more tears, and tried to sound cheerful.
"Yeah, Mom. I promise. I guess I'm just tired. And I have something to do this afternoon, so I won't get much sleep, so I might not be able to call you later. So don't worry, okay?."
"Well, okay then. You'd better go and get some sleep, sweetie. It was nice to hear from you. We all love you and miss you!"
Alex grinned and made a kissing noise down the phone. "I love you, Mom. Talk to you tomorrow."
Her mom hung up first, and the silence that filled the room weighed on Alex's shoulders. She sighed and toed off her boots, and crawled into the bed. Grabbing her phone, she set an alarm for just after noon then settled down and stared at the wall. It took a long time before her mind was quiet enough to drift off to sleep.