Now things had somewhat settled down in Superstar Daycare. Paige was sleeping peacefully in the little bed. No signs of the nightmare that plagued her for weeks so far. But he had hoped she was going to be fine. That her pattern of good dreams after taking one of his candies would take hold and there wouldn't be another screaming fit. He was extremely hopeful of this fact. That the little Moonbeam would be perfectly fine and sleep until her mother came in to check in on her. Which would be in about thirty minutes or so.
If he was lucky.
Though Moondrop hadn't felt lucky in the past few weeks since it started. No matter how hard he tried to ask Monica what was going on at home, she never answered. Or outright ignored his questions when she showed up to check in on her daughter. There was something off about the way she talked about it. How her eyes narrowed when he mentioned the nightmare a few times and looked outright tense. Eyes darting over to her poor little daughter's sleeping form as a look of worry crossed her features. Almost as if she wanted to speak about what was happening at their home but kept silent for some odd reason. Moondrop never pushed her on it as he feared she would pull Moonbeam out of his care. Even possibly quitting her job as security guard for the Pizzaplex, too. It was another thing that he didn't want either.
He needed to get to the bottom of these nightmares.
Figure out what and why they were being triggered. Then when he did, he could possibly offer a solution for her. Or for her mother. Maybe even think up a few ideas for Monica to help ease her daughter's troubled mind. Like possibly having a discussion with her daughter about how school has been? As he remembered her coming to the daycare with a backpack that had a few rips on it along with a note. One that was written by a teacher about an incident that she had during the school day. Paige getting in a fight with another girl and her giving that girl a bloody nose for seemingly no reason. Though Moondrop didn't believe that there wasn't any reason for her to do that. After all Moonbeam never hit anyone for no given reason at any point when she was in Superstar Daycare.
Even when she broke another kid's nose there was a reason.
It wasn't the best reason in the world, but it still was a reason. One that Moondrop somewhat understood when he read Sundrop's note. Using language, he hadn't anticipated the normally upbeat attendant would ever use. Not cursing. But he came close to it when he described how 'bratty' Paige had been about the whole thing. It made him roll his eyes as he sat the note down on the desk. The punishment that she was given was a little bit harsh in his book. Sundrop informed him that he had her sit in the corner for twenty minutes. Then had her help him clean up the entire daycare before she had dinner. It was a little much. Okay so yes, she had indeed broken another child's nose. But if it were the person that Moondrop was thinking of then the little jerk had it coming.
He never stayed in place during naptime and always tried to wake other kids.
Moondrop could understand why Paige broke his nose. He couldn't say that he agreed with what she did. But it wasn't like he could entirely condemn her for the act either. While he glanced in her direction he watched her turn around in her sleep again. Nuzzling her pillow as she quietly snored into the pillow. Poor thing was really tuckered out. Thank goodness she hadn't woken up when that Gregory kid came in. Whoever he was. Aside from being up way past a normal kid his age's bedtime. And for whatever reason was hanging out with Freddy. It made him wonder just what in the world they were up to. Wonder but didn't really have the urge to go seek either of them out to find out what was going on. Leaving Paige alone in the Daycare wasn't just against the rules. But it was also unsafe. Paige was vulnerable to whatever was going on in the Pizzaplex like this. Those missing children he heard Vanessa and Monica talking about.
Thank goodness none of them had disappeared from the Daycare.
Nearly thirty or so minutes later, Monica was coming into the Daycare. Keeping her flashlight carefully pointed to the ground. And to the side that wouldn't bother Paige when she came over to him. Softly, Monica asked,"So how's everything been today? Anything interesting happen?"
"Well, there was an odd visitor earlier.",Moondrop explained. Leading her to the other side of the room. That way they wouldn't accidentally wake up Paige. As he didn't want her to be afraid if she somehow managed to overhear. He continued,"A child came into the Daycare. He was looking for some strange card that we have."
"He was also with Freddy for some odd reason.",he added. This seemed to catch Monica's attention as she raised her eyebrows. What did this mean to her? Just what in the world has this Gregory child done wrong? Monica asked,"Do you know where either of them were going?"
"No. I assumed they were headed to Freddy's room, but I was clearly wrong about that.",Moondrop admitted. Maybe he should have told Gregory to stay in the Daycare? Have him sit in the corner until Monica showed up. That way someone could call his parents to bring him home. He also wanted to have a word with them. Who in the world doesn't come looking for their child at this late at night? Or called the cops? Either way Monica didn't seem to be happy about this. She gave a curt nod as she muttered,"Of course, Freddy has to be part of this. I'm going to have to check his room to see if they're there."
"If he comes back here for whatever reason, call us. He needs to be sent home as soon as humanly possible.",Monica informed. With that he nodded his head. Watching her quickly leave the Daycare faster than she ever had before. What in the world has that kid done to be wanted by her and possibly Vanessa? It couldn't just be because he was in the Pizzaplex this late at night? Could it be though? Moondrop walked back over to Paige's bed to see that she lifted her blanket to cover her whole head. Shaking his, he gently gripped the blanket and pulled it down. If he had a heart, it would have sunk when all he saw was a pillow instead of Paige. Tearing off the blanket he saw that she wasn't in the bed at all. Panic gripped him as he immediately started checking the entire Daycare for her. Fearing that his Moonbeam had possibly been sleepwalking out of the Daycare or something. When he didn't find her in any part of the play structures, he sprinted out of the Daycare itself. Wincing as he soon encountered the lights outside of the Hallway. Forcing himself to not shift into Sundrop.
Sundrop wouldn't be entirely useful at this moment.
Paige was terrified of him. Terrified and really didn't like going anywhere near him. So, if she saw him then she might not come back to the Daycare. At least not willingly. Pushing the shift down he hurried to the bathroom near the Daycare. Peeking carefully into the women's room. Only to be greeted with it being completely empty. Nothing and not a sign that anyone had been there recently. Which was great for the janitorial staff bots. They were doing their jobs correctly. Yet it wasn't all that good for him right now. As he needed to know where in the entire Pizzaplex Paige could possibly be. Moondrop yanked on his hat as he hurried back to the Daycare. Feeling that despite how scared Paige was of his counterpart, he needed him. Needed him to go find where his Moonbeam had either willingly or unwillingly been taken to.
Hurrying over to the desk, he got out a notepad and started immediately writing what happened to Sundrop. Telling him that Paige must have been taken from their Daycare. As she had been sleeping deeply not that long before Monica left. So, there was no way that she willingly left. Moondrop also added to not tell Monica that her daughter was missing. Fearing what she would do once she found out what happened. When he finished with that, he hurried over to the light switch. Giving an annoyed groan as he flipped it on. A second later Sundrop found himself holding onto the light switch once more. Tilting his head to the side, he asked,"Now why in the world are the lights on again? Isn't Paige supposed to be sleeping?"
With this he headed over to the desk. Seeing if maybe Moondrop left him a note about why he was out this late. Sure, he didn't mind being awake so late at night. It was a lot of fun being out at night and spending time with some of the Superstars. Even Paige sometimes. When she wasn't feeling so bratty that was. When he found the note, he picked it up and read it before letting out an annoyed groan. Setting down the note, he grumbled,"For Faz sake kid. Why can't you just stay in one place and not run off?"
"Moon really spoils you way too much.",he continued. Moondrop was so sure that she hadn't run off on her own. But Paige wasn't exactly the best at obeying the rules. Her behavior was something he had frequently warned Monica about. Ones that really went nowhere if he were being entirely honest. It was like she and Moondrop shared a brain instead of him and Moondrop. He started walking out of the Daycare. Determined to bring her back and put her back to bed before her mother could find out. There would be Hell to pay if Monica found out her daughter went missing on his and Moondrop's watch.
Mostly Moondrop's.
And he wasn't going to get yelled at for no good reason. Well, it was technically a good reason but still he didn't want to be yelled at. When it wasn't his fault at the very least. While he walked, he kept an eye out for Monica and Vanessa. Praying that he could find the little…sweetie before anyone else did.
On the other side of the Pizzaplex. Paige found herself on the floor of what looked like a security room. Sitting up she quickly found that her hands were tied tightly behind her back. Her ankles done in a similar fashion. An itchy rope that made her bite back a whimper as she looked frantically for Moondrop. Where was he? Why wasn't she in the Daycare anymore? Was she going to get in trouble for 'leaving' even if she hadn't willingly left? As she glanced around, she spotted a two odd fabric ears in a swivel chair. Trying to get up, Paige hesitantly asked,"Excuse me? Why the fuck am I here and who the Hell are you?"
The person turned around to reveal a rabbit woman. One that looked like it was built together with left over fabric. Had creepy red eyes that weren't staring directly at her. But she felt the person in the suit was looking into her eyes. She tilted her head to the side as she toyed with a shiny object that lay in her lap. When Paige focused on it, she realized it was a knife. Causing her to freeze as the woman scolded,"Such a potty mouth. I'll have to fix that once I get that nosy Gregory."
"And you're here because I want to help your mother, Paige.",she answered. Helping her mother? Did her mom ask this freaky rabbit lady to kidnap her? Was she really that mad at her for telling her that she hated being in the daycare sometimes? It made her stomach twist as she stared at the rabbit woman. Doing her best to keep her fear from her face as the rabbit woman got off her chair. She skipped over to Paige before kneeling in front of her. With her free hand she grasped Paige's chin and gave a harsh squeeze. Nearly making her wince as she continued,"You can call me, Vanny. And when I get Gregory in here. We're all going to have so much fun."
"Now don't you go anywhere, I'll be right back.",Vanny chuckled. With that she shoved Paige back down onto the floor. Cackling madly as she skipped out of the security room. Not paying any attention to the girl as she struggled to get herself free. Clearly knowing that she wouldn't. Paige screamed in frustration as she shouted for anyone's name. Shouted for someone to please come save her from Vanny. Despite knowing full well that no one would be able to hear her. She couldn't stop herself from screaming repeatedly. Tears running down her cheeks as she looked around for anything that could help her. When her eyes landed on the scissors, she felt somewhat relieved but a little disappointed. How was she going to be able to use them to cut herself free? They weren't going to work all that great when her hands were behind her back.
Why did her luck have to suck so bad?
Ignoring this she managed to scoot herself over to the desk where they were. Pushing herself up to her knees to get her face level with it. Carefully she leaned over to grab with her chin and slowly pulled the sharp object onto the floor. It took at least two minutes for her to get them into her hands and slowly cut at the ropes on her ankles. Which took somewhere short of forever before she managed to get to her feet free. Paige tried using in on the ropes on her wrists but couldn't manage it without hurting her hands. Then ended up accidentally dropping them. With an annoyed grunt, she just pushed herself to her feet and decided to just flee anyway. Her hands weren't free, but she could still outrun this Vanny and find whoever that Gregory kid was.
Maybe he could undo her hands when she did.
She walked over to the door and turned around. Opening it was difficult, but somehow, she managed to do it. Soon as the door was open, she started running along the catwalk to find someone to help her. Looking around she spotted a familiar red and green animatronic on a catwalk not that much lower down from her. A smile came to her face when she spotted him. Leaning over the railing, she shouted,"MONTY! MONTY UP HERE! LOOK UP HERE!"
Montgomery Gator froze midstride before turning around to look up at her. Tilting his head to the side as he moved his glasses down. His red eyes fixated on her in confusion as he headed towards the catwalk she was on. He looked like he was trying to figure out what was before him. He called,"PAIGE? WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP THERE?"
"DID YOU RUN AWAY FROM THE SUPERSTAR DAYCARE AGAIN?!",he questioned. When she shook her head, he raised an eyebrow. Climbing up the catwalks railings to where she was as quick as he could. When he noticed her hands were behind her back he froze for a second. It probably looked like she was hiding something. When she showed him that her hands were tied, he looked a lot more confused. Going over the railing to get onto the catwalk, Monty asked,"Why are your hands tied up like that for?"
"It's a really long story involving a creepy bunny lady with a knife that we can talk about later when we're far away from here. Monty, just please help untie me.",Paige pleaded. This wasn't something he ever anticipated coming from her. But didn't say anything out loud. Instead, he just strolled over to the ten-year-old and started untying the ropes from her wrist. Praying that the story he got wouldn't involve a call to the police. As they have had enough of that this month.
