Chapter Five

When It All Falls Down

At long last is William Afton booted from a franchise drenched in blood.

After a six-year battle with lawsuits brought on by five distraught families, all of the Hurricane children who vanished from the beloved Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. To this day, they have never been found, but many locals believe them dead, and the still-grieving families have never had the chance to bury the bodies.

Not only the tragedies themselves Mr. Afton has been tied to, including his brief stint in custody and suspect only to be released when the corpses were never found, along with reports of customer complaints of blood and mucus around the eyes and mouths of the core four mascots, matching them to "reanimated carcasses" as quoted by one father. The putrid odors were identified by other parents who were either off-duty or retired police officers who were familiar with the stench of death in the field. The health department received some more complaints since then, but by the time health inspectors arrived on the scene, there would be artificial air freshening and extreme cleaning from the staff, but the smells would always return.

William Afton, the last remaining co-founder - the other Henry Emily who resigned from the franchise following the death of his daughter in 1983 - has always cooperated, but according to old customers, the reception of his handling matters was less than stellar.

"It was supposed to be a safe place for families and children, but it's NOT!" shouted one father of three who wishes to remain anonymous. "If seven children die within what's supposed to be 'safe and so much fun', and the establishment refuses to take responsibility, then count us out."

Another parent, a single mother who declared she'd "do anything for my son", was more vulgar. "Tragedy, my a%$. Afton won't take any kind of responsibility except to compensate the families of those kids. It's bribery for silence if you ask me. Suck on this, Will!" And she had flashed the bird to the reporter's television camera.

The new toy versions of the main four animatronics - Freddy, Chica, Bonnie, and Foxy - were placed behind closed curtains four years ago, following a close call when William Afton himself nearly became what would have been the victim of a new bite, as his youngest son had been by the jaws of the Fredbear animatronic at the long-defunct diner of the name. The excitement that initially filled the air of both branches of Fazbear Entertainment would be replaced by an unsettling silence as the toy animatronics, once seen as a fresh start, would then be scrapped due to possible malfunctions that would have either maimed or killed the senior Afton, leaving behind an eerie reminder of the horrors that unfolded within those walls.

The fate of Fazbear's remains uncertain as there have been searches for potential buyers, but as of now, no one wishes to go near the haunted legacy. However, the original four characters are being kept and rebuilt in hopes of a possible reorganization.

~o~

It was all over the news at the hospital that got her coworkers talking amongst each other. But that morning at home...

"Damn it all, they're already talking about reopening after that fat son of a bitch gets the boot," Grandma Akela scoffed in disgust. Kaleia was up early to help her with breakfast, Grandpa at the table with his coffee and unsweetened creamer while he glowered at the television in their kitchen. "Goddamned corporate opportunists."

"- determination in their hearts, the pizzeria's team sets out on a new chapter, committed to reopening and bringing back the joy this place once offered. Together, we look forward to the day when -"

"Yeah, yeah," Mason grumbled sarcastically. "When the ovens are fired up, the tables set, and the aroma of freshly baked pizza fills the air again. And I thought that crap tasted like cardboard. We've had better than there."

Kaleia put his plate of eggs, sliced pineapples, and bacon in front of him. "I loved it as a kid, Grandpa," she reminded him, but her tastebuds were a little different now. Now that she was grown, she wasn't sure she'd ever want to go back to that place if it ever did reopen as they were saying, even if she had a kid of her own.

He warmly smiled up at her. "Yeah, but we know you, and you got acquired taste like your grandma."

"You old fool," Akela said haughtily, laughing as she joined them at the table with her plate and Kaleia's in both hands. "The only tastes you'll ever have are machines and this." She then flashed him the ring he gave her back in the mid-forties, that delicate silver band ridged into whimsical nautical ropes and centered with a single diamond between two pearls. A love story that's lasted for nearly fifty years.

And nowadays, how many couples were married as long as her grandparents, or longer than this?

Akela and Mason had lost two children in adult years, but were estranged from the final who was back home in Hawaii; Kaleia's aunt, the middle child, blamed her father for the argument that led to her only brother joining the army and dying in Vietnam, as well as being jealous of her younger sister, Kaleia's mother, for being favored over her, and that didn't change after her niece lost both parents. In spite of all of that, Akela still came out as the comfortable, wise, kind, and firm woman she was now. Her features were once oval-shaped, now grown fuller and lined in the forehead as well as at the lip corners. Her once-shiny mane was now tastefully peppered and tied into a smooth, loosened bun behind her head. The sandy-hued, knitted sweater covered all over with dimensional, colorful blossoms gently outlined her full frame, which came with time after having three kids. For the granddaughter, the only one she and her husband would ever have, one or two kids would personally be best, and it would depend on how many she and whoever her husband was could afford.

"- captured on the security feed, wearing one of the company's old springlock suits, seen luring ten-year-old Susie Stampler away from the main dining hall and towards a back room -"

All of this had been seen years ago, but if...what if this could be shown again in the future and Kaleia could record it herself? She was just becoming a teenager then, starting to physically grow up, but she didn't care then because she was one of the lucky ones.

Thank God Mason changed the channel to something happier. "Not that I don't care about those younguns," he said, "but I think we need something cheery to start the day. Don't care about that Fazbear shit in the slightest. What about you, Leia?"

His nickname for her ever since she fell in love with Star Wars upon its release, hence the name spotted in the one her parents gave her after birth. How funny that the first strong princess in fiction had always been present in Kaleia. "Miss the robots," she answered after daintily slicing off the egg whites from around her eggs, which was a habit that Grandma used to frown upon but now grew used to.

"Psh, those things?" Akela snorted. "How can you miss those...fiendish things? Even at my age, they give me the heebie-jeebies."

"Nostalgia, like you guys miss some things from your day."

~o~

One thing he actually found himself tolerating above everything else was not just the good food, his appetite selective, however, but the nurse who attended to him more than the others.

Kaleia Kai.

She treated him like a person, always asking him how he was, talking about her grandfather with him during her breaks - he noted she hadn't done that with the majority of the other patients - and sometimes administering his nutrients and meds when his primary nurse wasn't available. She was fantastic at her job. Dare he say...undeniably sexy? The shiny dark hair in a bun of loose knots, honeyed skin as he saw in Mason's photograph, the depthless dark eyes that pulled him in, the scrubs that hid everything he could have fantasized about...and yes, he had no control over the dreams of eternally touching her body and being linked to her, which belonged to the unattainable.

He got to talk about her with Jeremy when his old bud visited him during the seven weeks of being here. "Tried putting the moves on her friend, but she won't give me the time of day," he said with a crestfallen face. "I'm not going too hard, but Melinda just - I don't know what her problem is, and I don't know why she fascinates me. She just does, you know?" Michael felt for the blond, but at the same time, it hadn't been that long, and maybe Melinda Warner was just focusing on her career path and needed to make sure she didn't get with the wrong guy who'd make her give up her hard work.

Kaleia was an angel but took shit from no one. He didn't know why, but he felt like he could talk to her about anything; when she'd ask something of him, he'd answer while doing his best to not mention anything of Hurricane, though he could have sworn he saw a twitch in her features. Did she suspect something he didn't? A few of the things they had in common were they weren't afraid of the danger though extremely cautious, they had cultured tastes in media entertainment - except she wasn't too big a fan of soap operas, but The Immortal and the Restless was the only one she LOVED! - and they were extremely responsible while wanting to live life a little since you only got it once. They were content with the simplest things in life instead of the superficial shit; those jewels he noticed seemed to be her preference, earrings and a brooch, which she'd said were her grandmother's that Akela Kai let her borrow to this day. Other differences: she loved art but couldn't draw to his level or higher. She also chided him for his need to always chew a piece of gum even though she understood his anxieties; it wasn't like he wasn't thinking about quitting, but hell, it had been better and safer than smoking.

She was good at her job, but while he minded her hands with equipment, Michael admired her heart the most.

She was everything Mason said she was.

But then it would be dampened by what he saw on the news for days until he asked her to change the channel for him. She'd known for a while, too, scowling as she sarcastically said "Good riddance".

"Used to love that place as a kid," Kaleia told him. "My grandparents took me there after school every Friday, but then the bite happened. I was there and barely got a full look before Grandpa shouted at me to get out with him, picking me up and rushing out, Grandma after him, and they told me what happened as soon as we were in the car."

The day everyone's lives changed.

"I'm so sorry, Evan. I messed up, and I'll always hate myself. It's all my fault you're hurt. If you can still hear me, please forgive your asshole brother, or someday. I'll be nicer from now on. Just please, please, hang on. Just PLEASE hang on! No, no, don't go! Evan, you gotta hang on a little longer! EVAAAAAN, don't leave me...!"

For all he knew, his baby brother strongly developed hard feelings and went into heaven with Charlie, but the negative feelings hinted otherwise.

"Didn't stop there," Kaleia finished somberly, unaware of his inner turmoil. "The Missing Children Incident was the final straw along with me turning thirteen and hitting puberty. I had nightmares after that just like the first time, and I never wanted to go there again. I'd seen that stuff on TV, read about it, talked about it, but I wondered if I had been one of those kids..."

You'd think talking about this would get better over time.

Michael didn't know how to even respond right now, but he did want to know something. "Which of the characters you loved before all of that?"

She grinned at him. "Chica, the only girl in the group. When you're a kid, it's the genders without reason, so sometimes I wished there had been one more, or two - that way Bonnie and Freddy had someone." She blushed then. "But now that I'm grown, I see things this way: if any of them were real, romance is awesome, but it's not a full requirement to be happy. Like me. I'm happy where I'm at, but a man would be fantastic. Human heart, after all."

I agree, but if a girl knew about my past... "What about the others?"

"Freddy's the major star, and I love his playfulness and carefree attitude. Bonnie's...how do I put it...?" Kaleia then covered the lower half of her mouth for a second, brows furrowed, then switched the hand's position to her fingertips on the bottom lip. "He's a harmless fellow, but you can't deny his simplicity is a little scary. Less is more. Always gave me the shivers, Bonnie did. Though, my number one favorite..." Now a faint blush darkened her cheeks. "I'm a little embarrassed to even say he's more than a favorite."

"You loved Foxy best," Michael finished, elated inside that someone shared his love for that old pirate, though it was also tied to that day, so he had a love-hate relationship now.

"More than that, Mike. I had a crush on him."

Okay, now he wanted to change the subject even though it was cute.

I used the YouTube videos "Give Life [FNAF/VHS]" by Valox and "The Factory [FNAF/VHS]" by Nonezer, the latter having been recently uploaded.

The little bit where it's mentioned Kaleia wears her grandma's jewelry - my grandma did the same for years before she died two years back. I miss her to this day.

R and R. :D