Hey all, there's another chapter, it has been over a month since the last one, but now I am free to devote more time to this story and make up for time spent in other places.
I already have the next chapter in the works, so things should progress more smoothly from here on out, no timetable though.
And good news, FNAF Ultimate Custom Night is 100% complete and Scott is already adding voice actors to some of the animatronics, although I wouldn't spoil who it is for you, unless you look into it yourself. Also he has beta tested 50/20 mode and given that he knows all of their mechanics, he reportedly only lasted for a solid minute at best, although his son had better luck apparently.
He has teased at adding another character to the set up. ;-)
A huge shout out to Goldenhenix25, thank you for making this a favouritive, that means a lot. :-)
Also, I am slowly going through the previous chapters, beginning with the first one and improving the grammar and structure to match that of recent ones to make them easier to read. I will extend on some scenes, but nothing that will fundamentally change the story.
Apologies for any grammar mistakes that I have missed.
Enjoy...
Chapter 33.
In The Night They Rise.
"What defines us is how well we rise after falling…"
Unknown
There are some who say that the waking world is the real dream, and that the dreams we enter at night are in fact the real world, but these are just theories on something quite complex.
Yet after two millenniums, we are still no closer to understanding dreams, how they work, why they work and what they mean for humanity.
Still, there is a common accepted theory for what a dream is. . .
A dream is often thought to be the mind's way of interpreting and understanding the day's events before storing them into long term memory.
Sometimes you could be watching something, just watching, but never able to interact with the world around you, then you wake up, feeling none the wiser.
And then there are vivid dreams, dreams in which you can walk, talk and explore. The dream feels like a story with you hopping from one random scene to the next. Logically it doesn't make sense, but you never ask yourself that question until you wake up and scramble to make sense of those fading remnants of memory before they disappear for good from your mind.
It is where the conscious and unconscious parts of your mind meet, the barrier separating instinct and choice disappears and the two merge, sharing information like two massive databases, before splitting apart again just as you wake up from your deep slumber. There are always connected, constantly sharing information every hour of every day of every week, but only during sleep do they become one.
We often wonder whether what we see in dreams are real, or if one can enter a dream and change it making it dance to their personal tune.
While this level of mental power excites those who write psychological thrillers, it was never a real thing. . .until recently.
The night dragged itself across the earth as everyone under its thick black shroud slept in sweet slumber, even the Fazbears currently all curled up in their beds. Together they all slept peacefully, their dreams not being touched by the poison of their nightmarish counterparts for once.
This uninterrupted sleep was bringing so much relief to their minds, for once they could rest without the fear of being attacked, seeing how the Nightmares were brought to their knees and then barely escaped with their lives.
No, they wouldn't be back anytime soon. . .
So, for now, they could all just sleep and dream of better days, those which had long since passed and those that they hoped were still yet to come.
It was a nice optimistic view to hold and there was plenty of good reason for it to be held.
So, in all the night was quiet and relaxing.
Well, it was all like that. . .until Balloon Boy woke up screaming his head off, thus swiftly rousing everyone else from their otherwise uninterrupted slumber.
His frantic screams echoed throughout the house, no one could ignore it and given what it meant they couldn't afford too.
After the first few frantic seconds of falling out of bed and then stumbling to her feet with the others. Chica wasted no time in effectively breaking down their own bedroom door as well as that of the Toys'.
There was a massive slam as the brass knob impacted with the wall as the door was thrown wide open.
"WHAT IS IT?" she asked, stumbling in after being surprised by her own strength. Her whole face expressed a deep concern as the others quickly followed her inside.
"WHERE'S BB, WE HEARD HIM SCREAMING?" Bonnie shouted, looking from left to right, her eyes having to rapidly adjust to the pitch blackness.
"HE'S OVER HERE GUYS!" Toy Bonnie yelled, the outline of her thin figure could be seen in the darkness, as she spotted the small figure of Balloon Boy hiding in one of the room's four corners. From his body's outline, he appeared to have his knees tucked into his chest and his arms covering his head.
"Jesus that was loud," Toy Freddy groaned, rubbing his head as his ears now finally recovered from the high pitch screams which had filled the room only seconds earlier.
He turned and reached for the bedside lampshade and flipped the switch on, bringing some much-needed light into the room.
"God, I don't know if I'll sleep again after that," Jeremy muttered, resting his head in his hands as his brain caught up to speed with recent events.
Puppet, after recovering from the intense shock, was the first to approach Balloon Boy. Now that the light was on she could fully see multiple reddish/blueish/purplish bruises decorating his fair skin, his brown hair looked messy and his overall appearance was ghastly.
Obviously, something rather vicious had attacked him.
"BB. . .who did this to you?" she asked, clearly worried for him, something had obviously scared BB and she held a good idea as to what that specific something might be. She carefully placed a tender hand on his shoulder, the sensation making Balloon Boy raise his head to meet her gaze. For a moment, blue pupils stared into two white dots which shone like diamonds.
But it was only for a moment. . .
"NO, I STILL SEE THEM, ALL OF THEM KNOW WHERE WE ARE!" he screamed, throwing her hand off with one hand and forcefully pushing her back with the other.
"THEY'RE ALL CROWDING AROUND ME, THEY WANT TO HURT ME!"
He buried his head in his hands again, almost like he was trying to form a protective cocoon around himself. That was a massive shock for Puppet, BB had never been one to lash out at her.
"PLEASE. . .I don't wish to be harmed," BB whispered in an emotional tone, he sounded tense, like he had just ridden through a huge storm and felt lucky to get out alive.
Puppet stepped back, shock was clearly written across her face, whatever had happened to him, it was big.
"They?" she asked out loud.
"Whose they?"
It took a minute or so for the others to come up with their own thoughts, however, everyone knew who it could be, there was only one group of people capable of doing such things and Goldie beat them all to it.
He spoke aloud.
"The Nightmares."
Everyone apart from Balloon Boy turned to face him, they were not surprised with his answer.
"Them, but how could they risk coming here again?" Toy Chica asked, sounding confused.
"Didn't you scare Nightmare Freddy off, the last time he came here?"
"Yes, but maybe with there now being four Nightmares, he felt that he could risk showing his face again," Goldie answered, his voice now plain and monotone, but his wide eyes spoke of his concern for the boy. Internally, he suspected that Balloon Boy had been attacked because he was the weakest out of all of them, easy prey for those looking to strike a quick blow.
It was shameful. . .
Although he didn't say it out loud to avoid offending the boy, although perhaps BB knew already, he was fairly smart despite his childish behavior at times.
He approached slowly and got down on his knees before Balloon Boy.
"BB. . .do you want to tell us what happened?" Goldie asked, he didn't try to reach out to him, seeing how the lad was still in shock.
"It'll make you feel better."
There were a few moments of silence from Balloon Boy before he gave his answer.
"Yes…I do…" he muttered softly under his breath.
"Come, we'll discuss this in the kitchen then," Goldie replied warmly, now confidently holding his hand out to which Balloon Boy instantly grasped.
Several minutes later. . .
They had all gathered round Jeremy's kitchen table, all seated with Balloon Boy uncomfortably finding himself to be the centre of attention.
"Here you go laddie, when I was a kid your age, hot chocolate always calmed me down after a night terror," Jeremy said warmly, placing a cup of hot chocolate down before BB. The boy gave him a small smile, although it was brief, Jeremy smiled back anyway, despite all that he had done in the past, Balloon Boy was still a child.
"So, Balloon Boy, what happened in your dream, how exactly did the Nightmares attack you?" Goldie enquired, returning them to the serious matter at hand.
"Did they try to read your mind?"
Balloon Boy instantly started to fiddle with his fingers, his bright blue eyes darting from one person to the next, he was clearly under a significant amount of stress and internal turmoil. All thirteen pairs of eyes were on him, waiting for his retelling of events, even Puppet who was seated opposite to him just stared longingly at the boy. Her white dots for eyes which still shone like diamonds if it were possible, only helped to put him even more on edge.
However, they all needed an answer and he had no reason to hold it back from them.
Regaining control of his nerves, Balloon Boy spoke, and his voice was of course shaky.
"No, but they teased me with the idea, everything was happening so fast and unpredictable it felt so real, they looked so real."
"The Nightmares are at their strongest in dreams, they can be as physical in there as they are in real life," Foxy muttered, before continuing with.
"You would question whether your eyes were playing tricks on you."
"I did question what I was seeing Foxy," BB remarked softly, slowly reaching out and gripping the mug of hot chocolate with both hands.
"I questioned a lot of things and the Nightmares were indeed there, but they were not alone."
That last bit caught everyone by surprise.
"Wait, who else was there?" Chica asked, leaning in closer from her end. She sounded surprised as one would expect, but she instantly had a likely suspect as to who it might be.
"There were only six of them, but still I'm starting to doubt if they were really there and it was all just a part of the Nightmares' trickery," Balloon Boy muttered, allowing his head to rest itself on the table.
"They're very good with projecting illusions."
His words had swept away the ideal suspect from everyone's mind.
"So. . ." Chica began, leaning back in her chair and letting her golden hair flow down the back of it.
"It wasn't Vincent?"
"No, unless the Nightmares were to create an illusion of him," BB replied, his voice muffed by the table.
"Dammit, that was my gut feeling!" Toy Bonnie groaned, slamming her fist down on the table, expressing her inner frustration.
"Still where to begin, everything just quickly decayed into a real life game of cat and mouse," BB moaned, swaying his head from side to side.
"Then perhaps starting from the beginning would work, take your time though," Toy Freddy suggested, patting the boy on the shoulder. He had laid out a structure for BB to follow, as he tried his best to shape recent events into something that would make sense to everyone else.
Balloon Boy slowly raised his head off the table and ruffled his messy hair back into shape.
"Well. . ." he began as fragments of his memory started to piece themselves back together.
"It was all quiet at first, in fact it was just like a normal dream, in which I was walking and interacting with the dream's environment. . ."
And thus, he recalled his horrific experience.
Flashback. . .
Balloon Boy slowly opened his eyes, finding himself to be in the old night guard's office in the second Pizzeria, his former home.
"I am back," he muttered, pushing himself up straight.
"Home sweet home."
He looked around, doing a double take, yep, this was definitely his old home alright.
This place hadn't changed, it had a dark history like all Fazbear establishments, but it was home.
Upon the desk lay a Freddy mask, just like the one Jeremy had used when he was the night guard, holding a round and brown head with attached bear ears. Even the flashlight whose batteries Balloon Boy had long since craved was there, as was the fan with its blades spinning wildly but on a controlled setting.
He approached the desk and immediately took the flashlight, but he didn't empty it as he normally would, but rather used it as a source of light. He shone it around the room, revealing various posters of the Toys with the famous four worded slogan: 'Rock, Eat, Party, Play'. There were also pictures of the Toys drawn by the children who had visited the Pizzeria, all looking very happy. There was even one of Goldie for some odd reason.
Balloon Boy smiled, he didn't feel scared, this was the pizzeria he knew and loved, even if it was just a dream. Taking the flashlight with him, he headed off down the main hallway, passing the four party rooms on the way.
As he shone the flashlight on them he found that the tables were still there, all decorated with balloons and party hats, with the walls covered in even more posters.
All ready for a day of fun. . .
He remembered being in one or two of them, handing out balloons to the children who eagerly took them as they celebrated someone's birthday.
All of this was when the Pizzeria was in its 'golden days', before the Second Missing Children's Incident, back when the Originals and the Toys hated each other bitterly, seeing each other as a rival.
Although to be fair the Originals started it, they more or less pushed the Toys into hating them, simply because they were unfriendly and tired to wreck their performances in the hope of getting them removed, so they could regain their place on stage. He remembered that on the night before one of their performances, the Originals sneaked out of the Parts and Services Room and set up a cunning prank, which would activate later during the day.
And it did, causing nearly all the Toys, save for BB himself to end up hanging upside down from the ceiling covered in flour and chicken feathers. Not very threatening obviously, but then the children thought that they were actual life sized pinatas and proceeded to smack and hit away at them with plastic sticks in the hope of cracking them open and gaining lots of sweets.
Somehow in the chaos, Puppet had also been pulled up along with the others and she wasn't an intended target, but supposedly Foxy had by accident left one of the ropes trailing by her music box. Because when she stepped out to warn the others, as she had only just noticed several odd things about the stage, her foot caught the rope and the trap was sprung, ending with her getting coated in flour and chicken feathers like the others
And amidst all that chaos, with the Toys shouting at the children to stop, the children themselves being too loud and preoccupied with getting the candy that would never immaterialize, Balloon Boy did what any reasonable person would do.
Hand out fresh plastic sticks to any child who wanted one, and then join the fun.
He would claim that he was trying to whack them down, but they were not convinced.
In the end, there was no serious damage done to the Toys, despite a few bruises and Goldie personally made sure that the Originals didn't interfere with their performances anymore.
He made dead sure. . .
The rivalry and all the tension it accompanied still remained though, and things only began to change in August later that year, when the Pizzeria lost its kitchen staff for a short while and management somehow couldn't hire temporary staff.
So, they concluded that the Toys could make the pizzas the night before, so they could still perform during the day.
And yes, you would be right to point that it would run them down and wear them out. . .however, the Originals unexpectedly stepped in.
They weren't doing it out of any concern for the Toys, but rather overheard the issue and knew that if the place lost money then it would inevitably close down and they would be re-moved. Plus, they were bored, not having anything else to do, but sit around in the Parts and Services room all day, listening to the sounds of children running about the place outside.
So really, they were looking out for themselves, regardless of what happened to the Toys, they were just hoping that management would lose faith in the newbies and reinstall them to their rightful place as children entertainers.
They snuck out of the Parts and Service Room, somehow stole the keys from the locked drawer in the manager's office, all while the Toys were asleep on the main stage and entered the kitchen. As it turns out, it was a good thing that they stepped in, because the Toys fell asleep due to exhaustion on the first night that they were meant to make the pizzas.
By God did they panic when they woke up, rushing around and barging into the kitchen only to discover much to their surprise that the requested number of pizzas had already been made.
It was a miracle in their eyes and they didn't say anything to the staff and passed off the miracle as their own.
Yet for the next few nights, despite their best efforts to stay awake, the Toys fell asleep and the Originals would sneak out. Ever hungry for the act of finally getting to do something productive with their time in this pizzeria which was better and bigger than their own, yet they didn't get to perform in it.
Eventually the Toys eventually suspected them and caught them all red handed in the act, that was a moment to be seen and Balloon Boy would remember it forever.
In the end they formed an agreement, the Toys would entertain the children during the day and at night, the Originals would make the pizzas.
Between the two of them, they would keep the pizzeria afloat and both groups would be satisfied. Tensions cooled from that point onwards, slowly though for it was no walk in the park.
Yet over time they slowly came together, a mutual understanding was formed, then a friendship which then grew stronger as the weeks went by and ultimately it formed into a family.
Balloon Boy smiled inside, he remembered the past well, and especially the moment when they became a real family. It was after the Originals went out of their way to save them from certain death. Basically, with Jeremy's help, the Originals acquired a box, knocked out the staff who were guarding the Toys, hid all six of them inside the box, which was filled of plushies to act as cover and then proceeded to get them onto the lorries which took them to the Originals' pizzeria.
It took a while for the Originals to find them once they arrived, after all the boxes looked the same. However, they eventually found them, and the Toys then had to go under cover.
And pretty much until 1994, they had to remain hidden within the Pizzeria, living in one of the secret rooms and only coming out at night when they were possessed by the ghosts of the children who Vincent had murdered at their pizzeria.
They joined the others in murdering the night guards, thinking about it brought back a wave of guilt and shame for BB.
Balloon Boy sighed, he didn't choose to commit those dreadful acts, yet he could easily imagine the blood that was on his hands. . .just how many did he kill?
How many fathers and mothers had he taken away from their children, whose lives would a lot darker without them?
From 1994 onwards, the Toys were free and able to walk around, without the fear of being spotted and kidnapped. In that year, Fazbear Entertainment had finally registered itself as dead, having collapsed under the weight of its foul reputation and never ending financial chaos. They were now equal to their Original counterparts and they would now stick together as a unit of eleven. For many years they planned to escape the past and see the world with Jeremy's and Mike's help, after a substantial bond of trust was formed between them and the latter.
Finally, in 2015, after so many years of hiding, waiting and preparation, they all prepared to head off.
And yet, completely out of nowhere, Vincent Afton turned up with his endoskeletons, leading them to their current situation, a position which none of them foresaw.
Right out of the blue, just as they were about to walk free, the past had snuck up from behind and dragged them all back in chains.
Pulling himself out of his trip down memory lane, he walked passed the old Parts and Service room.
He then stopped and turned towards the metal door, which by all appearances had not rusted. It was a door which you really didn't want to open at night, unless you wished to lose your life.
Curiosity took hold, urging him to open it and so he did.
Slowly with a strong enough twist on the door knob, he pushed it open and shone the flashlight inside. There was nothing, it was just an empty room with several mattresses, pillows, bed covers and some metal pipes in the back. Balloon Boy shrugged his shoulders, this was a dream after all, not everything would be here, his mind could only recall so much.
He closed the door shut, this place seemed so real, he could feel the cold hard metal of the door handle and hear the wiring noise of the fan from down the hall.
It was his home, but it was only a memory now, the real second pizzeria was probably a rundown dump.
He turned around and headed on further down the corridor towards the main play area which consisted of the stage, the game zone, prize corner and 'Mangle's Cove' so to speak.
He passed the kitchen and the toilets on the way down, taking a quick look inside both. The toilets were still the same and held little interest, other than being gender colored, blue for boys and pink for girls.
The kitchen was more interesting, as BB pushed the door wide open, revealing a clean and polished room with everything in its place as he shone the flashlight around. Strange, because normally the kitchen was a chaotic cluttered filled mess after the Originals had been in it. He remembered being with the others when they discovered the Originals making pizza, after Toy Freddy had kicked the door open commando style. What followed was a long-drawn out moment of silence, with both sides just looking at each other before anybody had the nerve to break the tension.
But here, everything was normal, so he left, continuing to explore.
He soon reached the door to the main stage, which led to the game zone, prize corner and Mangle's Cove.
It wouldn't be far to speculate that those areas were empty like everywhere else was. Still it would be nice to see everything again, after not seeing his home for nearly thirty years since he was last here.
Balloon Boy reached forward and grabbed hold of the knob, he turned it. It didn't open, he tired again, this time with more force involved, but he got the same result. He tired for a third time, twisting his arm to force it open, but again got nothing. He then body slammed himself against it, the door jolted and groaned, but it did not give way, firmly remaining shut.
He did it again twice and got nothing.
He could not access the other rooms, for some reason his mind wouldn't let him go any further. . .how strange.
He glanced back, shining the light around, but there was nothing to which he could use to help his attempts to gain entry.
He then pressed his ear against the door's cold hard metal surface and listened for anything on the other side.
Nothing, just silence.
He sighed, accepting defeat, turning around and leaning back against the door, he felt bruised after repeatedly slamming himself against it.
Maybe he should go back to the office and try to find something which could force the door open, after all the main entrance was on the other side.
"There has to be a crowbar in here, if this is from a memory then there must be one, because I remember Jeremy referring to having one hidden away at some point," he muttered out loud to himself, trying to remember.
"Then again, I could always find a-"
DECLUNK!
The lights went off, they just died, all at once and darkness quickly filled the void.
The drawn-out sound of the whole building powering down echoed around BB as he pushed himself into the door in a moment of pure adrenaline.
He franticly looked around, from left to right, shining the flashlight around to reveal any hidden predators that waited for him in the darkness. His panicked filled eyes found nothing to confirm his fears, there was no one to jumpscare him, but he strongly disliked this new reality as his heavy breathing confirmed.
He was all alone. . .
Slowly he calmed himself down, but his mind was still gripped with the realisation that he wasn't in control.
Was he about to have a nightmare?
He had plenty of traumatic experiences, more than the average kid which would scare any of them to death.
Yet everything was still silent, so his mind relaxed, letting go of his fears, even though it was still dark.
Then it happened. . .
It started small, but rapidly grew.
The whole building began to shake like it was caught in a typhoon, tossing and turning from side to side with increasing ferocity. BB could hear the sounds of pots and pans breaking and smashing together in the kitchen. As well as the noise of multiple doors in the building, rattling and smacking into the walls as they swung back and forth on their holdings.
Each shake got worse and worse as did the strain he received in trying to hold on. Eventually he lost his grip in the chaos and slid towards one of the walls, impacting it into his side as he slammed into it with a heavy thud.
"MMMM!" he groaned, agonizing over the pain as it flared up in his right side and then the whole building tipped again, and he found himself sliding over to the other wall and hitting his left side.
Then the building leaned backwards, and BB rolled back towards the locked door, impacting it with his back and head. The act made him feel light headed as pain appeared in the back of his head, throbbing and making him lose focus momentarily. Somehow, he had been able to maintain his grip on the flashlight, with the light itself constantly shaking back and forth from the walls to the ceiling and the floor, whilst his whole body was shaken from side to side like a rag doll.
His vision was blurred for a moment, although in all fairness there was not much to see with everything being hidden away in the darkness.
But his hearing was not affected and soon he wished it was, because what he heard next terrified him to his core.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
A wail, a long-drawn out scream, like a banshee howling through the halls of the pizzeria.
The terror in the voice, the tone of never-ending sadness made his blood go cold and sent his heart beat on a marathon.
Regret, pain and anger shrieked its way onto the scene, it seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. The only thing which could make him even more scared, was having the owner of this voice appear before him. The shaking got worse with each passing second, seeming to grow in its intensity and the voice reached a higher pitch. Then the whole building tipped forward and BB rolled, aiming to impact with the far wall, but when he was halfway there the building suddenly tipped the other way and he fell in the opposite direction. He slammed hard into the locked door again, with enough force to knock him out with a metallic clung.
The last thing he heard was the endless screams of a tormented soul, begging for release.
An unknown amount of time later. . .
Balloon Boy's eyes shot open as he instantly gasped for breath, all five senses were on high alert, as his blue pupils darted back and forth, trying to spot anything unusual in the surrounding darkness.
There was nothing and he couldn't see anything.
Seeing that he was still holding onto the flashlight and that it was still working, he lifted it up and shone it around, revealing his empty surroundings. He was still alone in here, the doors to the kitchen and toilets were wide open, but other than that, everything was still the same.
The screaming had stopped as had the shaking, how long had he been knocked out for?
Could you sleep in a dream?
As his breathing relaxed as did his heartbeat, BB lowered the flashlight and turned it off to preserve its battery life.
He sank down to the floor, stretching his legs as his whole body gave up the adrenaline rush to report multiple instances of pain.
He lowered his head and sighed deeply before inhaling. Obviously, something was very wrong in here, and he knew who was behind it. It couldn't be any clearer in his mind given recent past examples.
He needed to get out and wake up, he had to find the exit.
Now looking up, his eyes in the fair distance spotted something.
When the chaos had first erupted, all the lights in the building had seemingly gone off, and yet they hadn't by the looks of it. At the far end of the hallway, he could just make out the Parts and Service door which appeared to be closed. Yet it was partly illuminated by a whitish glow coming from further off down the corridor which led to the Night Guard's Office.
He couldn't see the rest of it, but he hoped that it might lead him to the exit, so he decided to investigate.
Pushing himself up and ignoring the pain from his muscles, BB wandered over to the other side of the hall. He briefly shone the flashlight into the kitchen and found it to be in a state of chaos as everything which wasn't held down had become free and cluttered the place.
He left it be and continued on his way, reaching the door to Parts and Service which he found to be slightly open after being jolted out of its lock by the earthquake earlier. The door and the area around it was lit up to the point where he didn't need the flashlight, so he quickly turned it off, saving its battery life. He pushed the door shut, hearing the lock click into place and turned to face the light's source.
As it turned out, he couldn't see it, as now it was far too bright to focus on from where he stood. Although he could see the outline of the desk and the doorways which lead off to the four party rooms.
He gripped the flashlight and slowly walked towards it, wary of what may lay ahead.
Don't trust everything you see. . .
As he approached the office, his ears picked up on a sound, static, mumbling static, white noise on an endless loop.
As he drew nearer, the noise grew in strength, crackling away, emerging from the background to the foreground. Looking down he could see his reflection on the tile floor, it was murky, but he could still see himself, he paused to look.
He looked bruised, his left cheek had become swollen and looked red, probably from having taken a direct hit. He could make out some marks and scratches on his head, but the rest of it was covered by his hair. A part of his neck was also damaged, having a purplish-blue colour to it.
He put his hand to it, pressed lightly and instantly felt a flash of intense pain ripple through his neck, forcing him to grit his teeth to stem the agony until it subsided. God alone knows what the back of his head looked like, having taken on a full hit when he slammed into the door from behind.
For now, he couldn't feel anything. . . was that bad?
He turned his attention away from the floor and looked up at the light's source, it was clearer now, but he wanted to know more, so he advanced further.
Upon entering the room, a sight met his eyes.
Amidst the loud growl of static noise, what he saw was truly odd and yet somehow intimidating.
A large stack of black TVs, rows of them, all lined to form a solid wall at the back of the office from the floor to the ceiling and all of them were blaring out white noise nonstop.
BB slowly walked forward, going around the desk, passing the Freddy mask and the still active fan.
He felt confused, where was the exit and what was with the new set up?
He briefly glanced around, everything else was normal and yet this was here. Then came an abrupt sound, the static noise stopped for a brief second, it instantly caught BB's attention, making him return his focus to the multiple rows of TVs. On their screens was a message, with each individual letter being big enough that they needed their own screen just to fit.
It read as: 'HELLO BB, DO YOU LIKE WHAT WE HAVE DONE WITH THE PLACE?'
Then it vanished, only to be replaced with.
'DOES IT BRING BACK OLD MEMORIES?'
Balloon Boy sort of understood what was going on and decided to play along.
"Yes, it does," he answered firmly.
The message disappeared and a new one took its place, each time the words changed there was a brief distorting sound which erupted from the array of TV screens.
'ARE YOU OK, YOU LOOK HURT WITH THOSE BRUISES?' the new message read, making Balloon Boy chuckle internally.
As if those bastards cared about him, did they even understand the meaning of concern?
"Why would you care?" he asked back defiantly.
"You've never showed that side of yourselves to me and I'll take a guess that it was you who caused the shaking and screaming."
Their response was.
'CURRIOSITY REALLY, AND YES WE CAUSED THE SHAKING AND THE SCREAMS, REALITY HAS NO PLACE HERE.'
"What do you want?" Balloon Boy enquired bluntly.
'YOU!"
"Me?"
"YES, TO PASS A MESSAGE ONTO THE OTHERS."
"No."
"WHY?"
"WE WILL OPEN THE WAY FOR YOU IF YOU JUST ACCEPT THE OFFER, YOU WILL NOT BE HARMED."
BB laughed, he couldn't let that awful line pass, seriously, they wouldn't try to harm him. These were the same Nightmares who had beaten Chica to within an inch of her life, tortured Freddy, kidnapped Goldie and then tried to seriously harm Mari.
Not to mention, the long list of innocent people who had been caught in their crosshairs.
"That is utter crap, you are liars by nature, so I'm sorry if I'm having a hard time trusting you."
In truth, a good part of him wanted to accept the offer and just get out, but his more cautious side strongly suggested otherwise.
What if it was merely a ploy to lure him into a trap or worse. The Nightmares were gods in this world and he was in a poor position.
And yet. . .they needed him.
"Why do you need me to deliver your message, can't the four of you just visit the others in their dreams and tell them yourselves?" he asked curiously. Actually, how could they see him, if most of the building's power was off than that included the cameras and there wasn't one in the Night Guard's Office.
There was a long drawn out pause, only broken by the continuous static from the TVs before the reply came.
'IT IS MUCH EASIER THIS WAY, SIMPLER AND YOU HAVE NOTHING TO BARGIN WITH, OTHER THAN YOUR LIFE.'
BB sighed, they had him there, but still he was not going to play their game.
"I still won't do it," he replied sharply, gripping the flashlight tightly, trying to give off a tough impression.
'OH, COME ON, HONESTLY BB, IF YOU ARE HOPING TO HOLD OUT UNTIL THE OTHERS SAVE YOU, THEN YOU ARE GRAVELY MISTAKEN.'
BB knew that right now any hope of rescue was a distant possibility, yet he wasn't giving up.
"I will get out of here myself, I don't need to play your games to escape."
'WE WILL NOT LET YOU LEAVE THIS PLACE BB, ONLY UNLESS YOU AGREE TO DO ONE SIMPLE TASK, ONE TASK, THAT IS ALL WE ARE ASKING FOR.'
"No, I won't do your dirty work for you, you do it."
He knew this was a bold move, it was like going up to a cage with a lion in it, opening the door and simply standing outside, arms open wide and hoping that the lion doesn't charge out and eat you. But, he hoped that he could change the game and force the Nightmares to concede.
It was a long shot, but if he wanted to get out then it would be on his own terms.
There was a long silence, longer than the last one, leaving Balloon Boy standing there staring at a wall of TVs screaming out constant static.
Eventually though, there was a response.
'FINE, WE WILL DO IT OURSELVES, BUT SEEING HOW WE WENT TO ALL THIS TROUBLE, LETS HAVE A GAME.'
'AND IF YOU SAY NO, WELL, WE CAN JUST KILL YOU IN HORRIFIC WAYS INSTEAD!'
'WE ARE GODS IN THIS WORLD AND YOU ARE SMART ENOUGH TO RECONGISE THAT.'
Balloon Boy gulped, but he did raise an interesting point.
"True, I do know that, but. . ." he began, casually passing the flashlight between his hands.
"Goldie can come in here and kick your ass to kingdom come and consider this, he beat Nightmare Fredbear, who is supposedly more powerful than you four put together and yet Goldie soundly defeated him from a very weak position."
"So, I would reconsider your claim to being gods."
Their response was.
'UNFORTUNATELY, THAT IS TRUE, BUT GOLDIE IS NOT INVINCIBLE AND THERE IS ONLY ONE OF HIM AND FOUR OF US.'
'SO, WE STRONGLY SUGGEST THAT YOU ADUST YOUR CONFIDENCE.'
'BUT STILL, HERE IS HOW IT WILL GO.'
Then a series of words popped up, enough to take up all the screens.
'IN THIS BUILDING ARE TWO PUZZLES TO UNLOCK THE EXIT, THAT BEING THE DOOR TO THE STAGE, WE KNOW THAT YOU WANT TO OPEN IT.'
'THE DOOR WILL NOT UNLOCK UNTIL YOU HAVE SOLVED THE PUZZLES AND FIND THE KEY WHOSE LOCATION THE PUZZLES WILL REVEAL, IF YOU TRY TO OPEN THE DOOR BEFOREHAND, WELL, YOU KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO YOU.'
Balloon Boy could sense a sick sinister smile behind that last part, a thinly veiled threat being given by a set of monsters.
'YOU WILL FIND OUT HOW THE PUZZLES WORK, YOU ARE SMART.'
'FIND THE KEY TO FIT THE LOCK, JUST WATCH OUT FOR THEM'.
"Them?" Balloon Boy asked, feeling worried.
"Who is 'them'?" He asked, visibly giving away his concerns, a bad move to do in front of people who will exploit that fear for all it is worth.
There was another pause.
'THEY WANT OUT, WE HAVE OPENNED THE WAY FOR THEM, BUT THEY HAVE WAITED IN THE DARKNESS FOR SO LONG."
"SO LONG IN FACT, THAT THEY CAN BARELY REMEMBER WHO THEY WERE BEFORE.'
'THEY COME FROM A PLACE OF UNENDING PAIN, LONGING FOR IT TO END AND TO BE PUT TO REST.'
'WE FOUND THEM, SO CRIPPLED, SO DESPERATE TO RELIVE THE AGONY, SO WE GAVE THEIR BODIES SHAPE, A FITTING CHOICE GIVEN THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THEIR DEMISE.'
'ALTHOUGH SEEING YOU WILL BRING BACK OLD MEMORIES FOR THEM.'
'YOU KNOW, OLD FRIENDS.'
Then all the TV screens changed to be replaced with images, one for each screen.
BB dropped the flashlight in his horror, it made a metallic clang as it impacted with the floor, but he didn't notice.
His mouth fell open as his heart began to race, his breathing grew in its intensity and his eyes widen in fear.
The images were of people and he recognized every single one of them.
For every image shown on screen was that of a nightguard, all thirty of them, men and women, who all shared the same thing, being murdered by them with the same demise each time. They had been stuffed into a prop suit, and on most occasions the act alone had killed them outright with a slow agonizing death.
Yet on the other hand, sometimes in the morning with the Fazbears now under their own control would find them, just barely clinging onto life by their finger nails.
They did the humane thing and took them out of their misery, before going to excessive lengths to hide the body and any other evidence that could implicate them in their disappearance. He personally knew at least six of them, all shown through the TVs which were situated in the centre of his field of vision. Amy Crawfield, David Adam, Laura Summers, Richard Bolten, Henry Williams and Jessica Woods, who had all worked at the Originals' Pizzeria before moving over to his, and then moving back again when the company abandoned it due to the Bite and Second Missing Children's' Incident.
They were the first people to go, and then others followed like lambs to a slaughter which they could not possibly foresee.
Seeing them again for the first time in decades brought them into his mind's eye, Amy's brown hair and bright blue eyes with a beautiful smile to match. David's hair had been going grey, but his hazel eyes always held a sense of youth to them. Laura, with her glossy blonde hair and dark green eyes which made her look moody even though she was rather kind, despite having a sarcastic personality. Richard, with his brown hair and green sea eyes was a serious kind of guy, blunt, but hardworking and he would always make sure that they had what they needed for their performances. Henry, with his dark sense of humor and optimistic mindset which was reflected through the energetic expression of his dark blue eyes, which was countered by his black hair. And then lastly there was Jessica, a somewhat moody girl, with her pretty angelic face, her amber eyes and smooth brown hair. She was nice, but just didn't like being called out for doing tasks, which in all honestly were above her station of being a daytime staff member.
She and the other five had always helped the Fazbears at their job and they did care about the welfare of the pizzeria. BB knew that they didn't like the underhand ways in which Fazbear Entertainment conducted itself and they often felt like the company was dumping their problems onto them, they complained, but did the jobs anyway as they needed the income.
Then suddenly the images of all the nightguards vanished to be replaced with static, before new words took their place.
'THEIR SHAPES ARE VERY SIMILAR TO ONE ANOTHER, BUT STILL DIFFERENT AND UNIQUE.'
'WE HAVE GATHERED THEM ALL TOGETHER IN ONE PLACE, JUST FOR YOU BB, THE ENTERTAINMENT WILL BE A GIFT FOR US.'
'YOU BALLOON BOY, WILL BE THE FIRST TO WITNESS THE JOY OF CREATION, OUR CREATIONS!'
'DO NOT WORRY THOUGH, WE WILL NOT MAKE IT TOO DIFFICULT, BUT JUST ENOUGH TO MAKE IT CHALLENGING.'
'LISTEN. . .BE STILL. . .AND BEFALL- '
Then suddenly, the TVs went completely silent, switching off and killing the last source of light in the whole building, allowing darkness to descend and reign supreme, choking everything in its thick shroud.
Instantly Balloon Boy's heart began to race again, as his fears quickly took hold.
He reached down and picked up the flashlight, it hadn't moved from where it had fallen so he soon found it.
He turned it on and shone it around the office, nothing had changed so far. The various posters and pictures of the Toys were still here, as was the Freddy mask and the fan on the desk, although even that had ceased its droning noise. The multiple rows of TVs remained switched off, gone was the endless buzzing of static.
In the darkness, it was just him.
He slowly turned on the spot from left to right, spotting the vents on each side of the office which led back to Party Rooms 1 and 2. Then there was the main hallway which led all the way down to Parts and Service. He knew that within this small area, there were two puzzles he needed to solve and the key to his escape. He didn't know how the puzzles would work, the Nightmares deliberately avoided giving him any hints, but he would soon find out. He just hoped that they wouldn't be too hard and require immense thinking on his part.
Sighing deeply, he wished that he wasn't alone in this hell, that Mari or Goldie was here to help him get through this mess. Yet here he was, playing a game for the Nightmares, whose track record on what they do to people in their dreams isn't one of positivity to say the very least.
He would find a way out of here, in this corrupted memory which had become a playground for his family's enemies. He strengthened his grip on the flashlight as his other hand molded to become a fist. He would win, he would get out by playing their game and then soundly beating them at it.
"I will win," he muttered determinedly, declaring his intent to see the night through.
Then, no sooner had the words left his mouth, a loud metallic groaned erupted into being. It was the sound of several doors being opened, all in the immediate area, their jolts moaning as they were moved by some unseen force. Instantly BB switched the flashlight off, hiding himself away in the darkness, just behind the office desk.
He breathed in deeply to calm his nerves and then exhaled.
Then he listened, becoming completely still and breathing slowly and quietly so not to give away his location.
Nothing. . .nothing came through the still nighttime air.
Just a tense silence, waiting for another sound to come.
He continued to wait, but still nothing reached his ears, it was all quiet out there in the halls and one could almost be forgiven for thinking that there was no real threat given the silence.
Yet Balloon Boy knew better than that.
Still nothing, he turned back to where the multiple rows of TVs were. He couldn't see them even though they were right in front of him, that's just how dark it was.
He then turned around to where the main hallway was, everything around him was cloaked in darkness. Maybe he should start looking for the puzzles, at least he would be moving forward, rather than standing out in the open and leaving himself exposed for anything.
Crunch!
His whole body froze on the spot, his ears pricked at the sound as his breathing despite his best efforts began to race again.
He wasn't mishearing things, that sound was something completely new.
The new sound quickly returned with others, slowly growing in strength.
Crunch!
Stomp!
Squeak!
Groan!
Moan!
The crunching sound was of something being crushed, the stomping of feet against the tile floor and the squeaking noise of something mechanical moving. The groaning was probably from old joints struggling to function correctly as they moved, and the moaning probably originated from metal being bent and forced to turn in ways unnatural to its original purpose. Then a new sound made its way onto the scene, a rasping one, like someone was desperately struggling to breathe as if they were being compressed or suffocated.
It got louder along with the other sounds as they moved up the hallway in unison towards the main office.
Balloon Boy wanted to run and hide, his primeval instincts were screaming at him to seek safety and he knew that he should, but he wanted to see the voice's owner.
He was shaking all over, his entire body was trembling as the owner of the sounds approached, drawing ever nearer to his location. It took all his willpower not to scream out in fear right there and then. The rasping got louder as did the moaning and the groaning, it was as if the owner was pushing itself forward, but its body was struggling to comply with its demands.
His mind had quickly created an image of what the thing looked like and it was truly gruesome.
He stared out into the darkness, in the direction of the main hallway from where the collection of sounds was coming from.
He dared not blink unless he wanted to miss something as the sounds finally reached the office as evident in their density.
The sounds continued, moving ever forward until they all stopped abruptly.
Balloon Boy was on the edge of his seat mentally, his whole body was pulsing with fear, his legs were shaking like jelly and his arms were trembling so much that he was struggling to maintain a grip on the flashlight. His breathing was rushed, although he was doing it in short quiet bursts to keep himself calm and hidden. He knew that the thing was right in front of him, just beyond the office desk, he couldn't see it, but he just knew.
Could it see him?
Could it hear him?
Was it also playing the wait and listen game, waiting for him to slip up and then pounce when the opportunity arose?
Why was he here, why had he put himself in this position, when he could have just run and hid?
Was it just because of his curiosity, or something else, something which ran much deeper than mere human curiosity of the unknown?
"B...a...l...l…o…o…n…B...o...y."
{Balloon Boy.}
BB held his breath to stop himself from gasping out in shock.
The voice sounded old and worn, having to stretch itself out in order to speak probably. It carried something of a robotic tone to it, but there was human emotion in it as well, curiosity and desire, reaching out to him.
The owner of the voice, called to him again, whispering as it did, coming over as soft, yet firm and despite having a robotic edge, the voice sounded distinctly feminine.
"I…k…n…o…w…y…o…u…a…r…e…t…h…e…r…e."
{I know you are there.}
Balloon Boy didn't speak, choosing to keep his mouth shut, but his mind dug deep into his memories and brought up the voice's owner, creating a strong mental image that he couldn't shake off.
He knew who it was that stood opposite to him in the surrounding darkness, but God alone knows what had become of her in both mind and body.
He would not say her name vocally, but his inner voice would.
"Jessica. . ."
Then as if the owner of the voice had read his mind, it spoke again in a delightful, yet sinister tone.
"I…t's…m…e!"
{It's me!}
I took inspiration from the FNAF fan game Joy Of Creation Story Mode, especially from the basement level, and that game among others has given me some extra ideas to work on.
I'll leave it to you to imagine what Jessica looks like. . .for now.
Please Review, your feedback is more than welcome.