A/N: For some reason, when I posted the last chapter (Chapter 16), I didn't get an email notification that a new chapter was posted for this fic. And since I haven't received a notification, there's a pretty good chance that you guys didn't either. So this is just a quick PSA letting you know that there is indeed a Chapter 16 that has been posted before this one. I swear FF's been having more glitches in the last 2 months than in the past 3 years I've been on this site…

I haven't really dived into the fact that these ghost kids have been forced into tortured existences for decades. I think it's time we addressed that particular detail a little more, shall we? Shout-out to Gadget the Critic for giving me the idea.

I kind of feel bad for what I do, and this is just the beginning.

On an unrelated note, my exams so far turned out fine. So that's good, I guess. It helps that I can drop one of them and let me tell you, that takes off a TON of pressure :D

Trigger warning: trauma, implied violence

Chapter 17 – Darkness Approaches

Mike hummed merrily to himself as he drove his car back home. He had received an invitation to a birthday party from one of his college buddies, and the party had been a hilarious riot of fun and shenanigans. Pool party, poker night, reminiscing over college days, the whole nine yards. "Damn, I can't remember the last time I had this much fun," he thought to himself as he rode up the driveway to his house.

"Even got a nice chunk of cake left over for some late-night snacking," he thought with a grin as he got out of the car. "Chris must've really wanted that cake gone before we all left. Better keep it hidden so the kids don't get jealous." He quickly checked the door the small separate garage building that he had converted into his personal workshop to make sure it was locked properly and then headed for the front door and pushed it open. "Hey kids!" he called out. "I'm back!"

There was a flurry of movement and the ghost kids popped up in front of him. "Hey, dad!" Susie cheerfully called out to him. "How was your day?"

"Great!" Mike replied. "Had a lot of fun. Wish you guys could've been there, but this is one of those things that I can't bring you along to no matter how much I want to."

"It's all right, dad," Liz assured him. "We got through the second Harry Potter book and movie while you were gone. They're even better than the first ones!"

"Also made some pretty good headway in the first Spyro game," Jeremy added. "So it's not like we were out of options for things to do."

"Glad to hear that, Jeremy," Mike said, secretly relieved that they didn't seem to be affected by the periods when he was absent from the house. "You guys can keep doing what you're doing, I'm gonna be in the kitchen for a couple of minutes."

"Sounds good!" Gabe answered as the ghosts went back to whatever activity they were doing. "His name's Doctor Shemp, you idiot, not Doctor Sheep!" Mike heard him shout to someone.

With a chuckle, Mike made his way to the kitchen and sat down. It had been a decently long drive back home, and for some reason driving for longer distances always tended to make him hungry. Taking out the leftovers that had practically been forced onto him by Chris's family and the cake, he put the former in the microwave and opened up the latter. "Dessert first, cause why the hell not?" he asked himself with a smirk.

As he made his dinner, Fritz had landed the final hit on Doctor Shemp's back with Spyro's flames. "This has gotta be one of the derpiest bosses ever," he commented dryly as he collected the gems left over from the gnorc shaman's corpse.

"Hopefully they get harder," Gabe agreed. "Then again, from what Alex told us, it seems like the second and third games are much better than the first one, and that might include the bosses."

"The first game's already great, though, so I can't wait to see what Spyro 2 and 3 are like!" Susie added enthusiastically.

"The ones that REALLY bother me are the stupid blue egg thieves," Jeremy commented, annoyed. "Those guys can take forever to catch, and in Magic Crafters they're probably going to get even worse."

Cassidy got up from her spot. "I'll go ask Dad if he can give us any help on how to catch them easier," she decided as she headed out of the living room. As she floated towards the kitchen, she could hear the sounds of Mike eating something. "Hope it tastes good!" she thought to herself as she arrived. She peered around the corner to see what Mike was doing.

"Man, this cake is perfection!" Mike thought as he took a big bite out of a chocolate cake, oblivious to the presence of anyone around him. Cassidy stared at the cake in stunned silence.

Chocolate cake…just like back when…when…

June 26, 1982

"Come on, Fritz, we're going to miss the party!" Jeremy called out to his friend.

"Oh, please, Jeremy, it's not like Cassidy's going to have her birthday party without us," Fritz retorted as they hurried into the pizzeria. Still, their two other friends, Susie and Gabriel, were already there and waiting impatiently for them.

"Could you guys be ANY slower?" Gabe joked as he got up to greet them. "We've been waiting for ages!"

Fritz shrugged. "Well, we're here now!" he replied. "So let's get this party started!"

All five of the children cheered as an attendant guided them over to the dining hall. Freddy, Chica, and Bonnie were standing proudly on the stage, happily singing their songs. "Freddy's is so awesome, isn't it?" Cassidy asked Susie. She was hoping to distract her friend from the death of her beloved dog, who she heard had been run over by a car. Hopefully, the party would distract Susie from the tragedy going on in her life.

Susie managed a small smile, not wanting to ruin the party for her friends. "I wish we could stay here forever!" she replied wistfully.

"All right, kids!" Freddy announced to the crowd. "Today, we have a very special announcement! One of our guests is having her birthday today!" Everyone cheered, especially Cassidy and her 4 friends. "Will our birthday guest please stand up and say her name?"

Cassidy got to her feet. "My name is Cassidy!" she called out to Freddy proudly.

"That's a great name!" Freddy replied. He gestured to the rest of the audience. "Everyone, let's wish our buddy Cassidy a very happy birthday! Ready? One! Two! Three!"

As everyone started singing the Happy Birthday song, Jeremy gave his friend a light punch on the arm. "You ready to hit the arcade games later?"

"Yeah!" Gabe replied with a smirk. "Bet you can't beat me this time!"

"Hah, we'll see!" he laughed as one of the employees brought up a chocolate birthday cake to their table. Together with their pizza, they began to eat voraciously, all thinking and talking about how much fun they were going to have once they were done with their food.

Hours passed as the kids enjoyed Cassidy's birthday party until the pizzeria was just about to close. At one point, Susie jumped out of her chair and looked over towards the hall where she knew the arcade games were. "I'm gonna go for one last shot at the arcade games!" she declared. "See you guys later!"

Cassidy laughed. "All right, Sus, have fun!" she called back as she watched her friend and her pat dash down the hallway and out of sight. She spent the next few moments enjoying her birthday party, not noticing that her friend had been gone for an awfully long time.

Right when she was about to suggest that they call their parents to pick them up and go look for Susie, Cassidy looked up to see a figure walk towards their table. It was another animatronic, and it looked like a yellow, older version of Bonnie. "Hey kids!" he greeted them. Cassidy gave a start as she realized that it was a person talking inside the suit.

Wait a minute…

"Hey, mister!" Fritz cheerfully greeted him. "How's it going?"

"I'm having a wonderful time!" Spring Bonnie replied. "Would you like to have a wonderful time too?"

Something is wrong…

"Yeah we would!" Jeremy grinned.

Something is terribly, terribly wrong…

Spring Bonnie gestured towards the exit of the dining hall. "I've got a very special surprise waiting for you!" The animatronic grinned. "You're going to love it! I can only give it to you one at a time, though, and I already showed it to your blonde friend from earlier. Who wants to go next?"

Don't follow him…

Fritz jumped off his chair. "I do!" he declared. Spring Bonnie took him by the hand and began walking with him down the hallway and out of sight. One by one, Spring Bonnie came back and began escorting the kids to wherever he had taken the rest of her friends, until only Cassidy remained.

Don't follow him!

"Mr. Bonnie?" Cassidy asked with curious eyes that were slightly starting to get worried. "Where are the rest of my friends?"

Don't follow him!

"They're waiting for you, birthday girl!" Spring Bonnie answered as he held out a hand. Cassidy began to feel a faint twinge of uncertainty, but she nevertheless took the hand and followed Spring Bonnie to the Parts/Service room. As she walked inside and the man inside Spring Bonnie closed and locked the door behind her, she screamed in horror.

All four of her friends had been brutally slaughtered, with gaping wounds on their bodies and blood pouring out onto the floor. Their expressions were contorted into horrifying expressions of fear, disbelief, and pain. A nightmarish welcome to the fate that was about to befall upon her.

He's going to kill you. He's going to kill you!

The last part of the suit came off, revealing a man in a purple uniform. The man grinned sinisterly and picked up something from the table. Cassidy's eyes widened in growing horror and all she could do was scream fruitlessly as the man picked up a razor-sharp knife.

"Smile, birthday girl!" The man laughed as he raised the knife.

NO NO NO NO NO NO

Present Day

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Mike gasped as he suddenly felt his head explode into agony, visions of a purple-dressed man with a blood-drenched knife flashed in front of his eyes. He forced himself to ignore both the pain and the hallucinations and looked up to see Cassidy screaming in fear and horror in front of him. "Cassidy!" he barely managed to breath out, and then he found his voice. "Somebody!" he shouted. "Anybody! Help!"

He could flurry of panicked activity as the ghosts dropped their game and rushed towards the kitchen. Mike quickly rushed over himself to Cassidy and wrapped her in a comforting hug. "It's okay…" he mumbled consolingly to her. "Dad's here. Everything's going to be okay…"

The Marionette was the first to arrive at the scene. "Cassidy!" she too hurried over and started calming her down, although unlike Mike she was also using some of her powers to relax Cassidy's panicked state magically. "Are you all right?" she asked once the ghost had finally calmed down.

"No…" she mumbled. "I just remembered seeing the day that we…the day that we…we…"

"…died?" Fritz finished for her. Everyone shot him with a disapproving glare. "Just trying to help…" he defended himself.

"I don't know what happened," Mike helplessly tried to explain. "I didn't even notice Cassidy was here until she started screaming. I was just sitting here, eating some pizza and cake that from the party that I went to earlier today.

Wait a minute…pizza and cake…birthday party...

Shit.

Without wasting a single moment, Mike picked up the cake he had been eating and hurled it into the trash. "Fucking damn it…" he growled, furious with himself for being so careless and insensitive. "This whole episode is my fault."

"It is NOT your fault," Mary corrected him fiercely. She had no intention of letting one of the few true innocents tied to the fate of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria fall into the trap of self-blame. "You had no idea that this would happen, and we didn't give you any warning that it would throughout the weeks we have been here. If anything, this is my fault for not seeing this coming."

"Don't blame yourself, dad…" Cassidy weakly added. "You did nothing wrong."

Mike clearly didn't look convinced, but it was clear that the ghosts were brooking no argument. He sighed wearily. "If you say so…"

"I don't get it, though…" Fritz muttered. "Cassidy's been fine for the entire couple of weeks we've been here!"

"She was obviously triggered, you idiot…" Gabe growled. Of all the times Fritz could have chosen to be an insensitive prick…

"No, Gabe, listen to me, I'm not trying to be a dick here," Fritz countered. "We've been here for a while now. And we've seen or heard plenty of things that could've triggered Cassidy or any of us, for that matter. Remember back when Mike was talking about taking a knife with him out to the streets to defend himself? Or how about any time we ever talked about Freddy's? Those should've triggered her a lot more, or at the very least a lot earlier. Maybe I'm just an idiot, but you're telling me that it takes a chocolate cake of all things to set Cassidy off? Something doesn't seem right here."

Gabe's anger toward his friend faded as he listened to his friend and brother. Now that he thought about it, what he said DID make sense. He turned to Mary. "Shoot…" he muttered. "Mary? What do you think?"

"The mind is a complex thing," she answered in a grim tone. "But I can see the logic behind Fritz's reasoning. It may not necessarily be that simple, but I agree that something isn't right here." She turned back to Cassidy. "Cassidy? Would you mind staying still and closing your eyes? I want to check your mind to make sure that there's nothing wrong."

Cassidy nodded mutely as Mary closed her eyes and focused, her hands glowing bright blue. For several moments, nothing happened. And then, her eyes widened and she gasped in horror. "You were cursed…" she breathed.

"WHAT?" everyone shouted.

"There was a curse placed on you, Cassidy," Mary shakily explained. "One that was meant to trigger the unpleasant memories of your death. It must have been placed very recently. That is why you did not suffer any traumatic flashbacks before now."

"Is…is this curse still there?" Susie asked as she started rubbing Cassidy's shoulders, as much to calm her down as to alleviate her own anxiety and fear.

Mary checked again, and she smiled in relief. "No…" she reported, and the tension in the air faded visibly. "It was meant to activate once, and only once. Now that it has run its course, it has no power anymore. In a way, we are fortunate that things did not turn out worse than they actually did."

"Thank God…" Jeremy muttered.

"But there's still someone out there…" Liz worriedly realized. "Someone who wanted to hurt Cassidy, someone who very likely wants to hurt all of us. And something tells me that whoever cursed Cassidy isn't human."

"That's what I was thinking too, Liz," Mike agreed grimly. "And while I'm very glad that Cassidy's curse was minor and temporary, there's still some worrying implications. Mainly the fact that someone planned this, and that they weren't going all-out."

"What do we do, dad?" Jeremy asked worriedly. "We don't even know what's attacking us!"

Mike thought for a moment. "For a moment, there's nothing we can do about this," he admitted reluctantly. "Realistically, we have no idea who or what did this and why." He looked over at Cassidy. "Do you guys want to talk about the day you were murdered?" he asked quietly.

The ghosts looked at each other, and then Gabe shook his head. "We've had over thirty years to think about that day," he replied grimly. "I just want to move on, and I think all of us do too."

Mike nodded. "Then I think we should be more careful from here on out. If you guys notice anything suspicious, you tell me or Mary immediately. But at the same time, we're going to continue living life as we have," his eyes flashed with a determined look. "There's no point in worrying over this until we are actually able to do something about it. If whoever cursed Cassidy thought they could break or weaken us with this little trick, then they're going to be very disappointed."

The ghosts mulled over Mike's words, and then they nodded. "I think you're right, dad," Liz smiled. "We're not going to let anything ruin this!"

"That's the spirit," Mike said approvingly, then smirked, "no pun intended." A few giggles were elicited from this. "So, what did you want to see me about before this little shitshow happened, Cass?"

"I was going to ask you about how to beat those blue thieves in Spyro," Cassidy replied. "They're so annoying!"

"Oh yeah, fuck those guys," Mike grumbled. "Here, lemme give you some tips…"

As Mike began to talk with his children, a figure watched them from outside the house. The sun had long since fallen, and the creature was next to invisible in the cloak of darkness that the night bestowed upon the world. Even if he wasn't, his ability to magically mask his presence in the shadows made him undetectable to anyone either inside the house or outside of it, even with heightened or supernatural awareness.

"WELL, WELL, WELL…" the monstrous being hissed. "A BETTER SHOWING THAN I EXPECTED. THE BONDS BETWEEN PARENT AND CHILD ARE SURPRISINGLY STRONG FOR HOW LITTLE TIME THEY HAVE SHARED TOGETHER. HOW VERY INTERESTING INDEED."

The creature's lips stretched into a grin that revealed a mouth filled with razor-sharp fangs. "YOUR INTELLIGENCE DOES YOU CREDIT, MIKE SCHMIDT, BUT YOU ARE WRONG ABOUT ONE THING. I AM NOT DISAPPOINTED. ON THE CONTRARY, I HAVE SPENT FAR TOO LONG IN THE COMPANY OF IMBECILES TO TOLERATE THE PRESENCE OF FOOLS. IT'S SO MUCH MORE FUN WHEN THE VICTIMS CAN ACTUALLY THINK." The monster started laughing menacingly, a sound that heralded the terror and despair of the damned. "SOON, WE SHALL SEE JUST HOW STRONG THOSE BONDS TRULY ARE. HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

/

Well, that was dark, wasn't it? And a hint of even darker things to come. Especially now that HE'S arrived. And if you read "A Legacy Laid to Rest," you'll know exactly who this is. Heh heh heh heh heh…

I was originally going to choose either Gabe or Cassidy to be the "victim," but I felt that Cassidy would be easier to "curse" since she's the most emotional and youngest of the ghosts. But don't you worry, I have something else planned for Gabe. Depending on your perspective, it might be even worse than what I did to Cassidy just now…

This is a little foreshadowing into what is probably the darkest part of this entire fic. But I will say this, to pre-emptively eliminate some false expectations – I will not be turning the family against each other. No matter how dark this fic can get, I simply cannot be that cruel to them, especially since it would go against the entire premise of this fic. Though the question still remains, what exactly is this new enemy planning?