Tuesday, August 1, 2017, 9:30 AM

Mike was accustomed to the sounds of children outside his office door drowning out the noise of his fingers clattering on the keyboard. It rarely bothered him even when they were at their most annoying. Now, deafening silence ruled over what used to be a place of joy.

It made the man sigh as he kept slaving at his dreary work. The restaurant hadn't become a mausoleum: it was already that for as long as he could remember. But it had become a stuffy library. That wasn't a bad thing. It just felt diametrically opposed to what it was meant to be.

How long have I been here? he pondered, taking a break from his mental labor. Rested a hand under his chin, feeling the start of a beard from almost a week without shaving. It was itchy.

Driving home and back took precious minutes that he didn't have, especially as time ran out for them all. Well, he went home last night, which was the first time in a few days. Occasionally did to shower or sleep - though more often, he stayed here, bracing against the cold spray from a garden hose to save precious time. And, this most recent time, to download all the information and web pages he could find regarding strange magic.

Mary claimed she didn't look at their search histories, which were available to her because she was one with the local Wi-Fi. Always took her at her word, but no longer. There was no trusting her until he figured out what she hid, so he kept his data offline now. Tough as it'd be, Mike might have been able to find the consequences Henrietta alluded to by digging through the sources she cited. Many had been sages or mediums whom he couldn't easily get in contact with: some lived in other countries, didn't speak English, or had died in the last couple decades. Or all three. Some came from psychonautic visions induced by poultices of venom and herbs.

And fewer than a dozen, including the ones he downloaded, were transcribed in actual writing! As Mike flipped from one to another, he was surprised by the diversity in this small group. These weren't photocopies of dusty grimoires (well, two were). One was a skeptical inquiry of different superstitions by some professional skeptic that Mike had vaguely heard of - how strange that some of the things they discussed turned out to be legitimate. Another was a college thesis paper on Theosophy. And so on. He wondered how his patroness managed to come across this stuff.

There wasn't time for Mike to read them all, but thanks to the magic of technology, he didn't need to. All he needed to do was search keywords Henrietta used: aura, component, qi, etc. He was led to the sources of this knowledge, spread bare before him. Still, it wasn't easy. These tomes were denser than every single document he typed in a year. Had to cross-reference what he found in one with the others to get a more complete understanding of what he read. The task made his temples ache.

It must have taken Henrietta months or years to put all this knowledge together in a relatively easy to digest package. He'd already been at it for several hours the previous night, and he had a feeling it'd take until at least the weekend to finish the task - all without the guarantee of learning anything. That was assuming he continued; he only had time to maintain this search for the rest of that day. Still needed to hop on learning the physical movements of the ritual, like the others did outside, before putting the words and movements together like they rehearsed a play. He almost heard the words, which made the silence stranger.

Stop thinking so hard! He internally screamed, telling himself to get it together as desert heat flashed through his body. Nobody else would do that for him. Thinking was good, but it got to the point that his head brimmed with extraneous shit. He needed to focus on one thing at a time.

None of this provided exactly what he sought. It must have been there, but he might not have found it in time. Or ever. Mike gulped, and his throat felt like sandpaper.

He needed to make educated guesses about what would happen based on the relatively little he knew. Therefore, he slammed the laptop shut and rested his head on the warm wood it previously occupied. He'd start wearing a groove in the desk if he kept doing this. What do I know?

Well, he knew Mary hid something from them. He knew all the details about this ritual except what Mary hid. He knew Mary didn't want them to do this. And, most importantly, he knew Mary loved them, being their sister of 17 years.

Upset as Mike had been, that last part was the truth. She hadn't been a sleeper agent this entire time or decided to go rogue. Whatever she learned, she must have thought keeping it secret was best for everyone. That meant it'd hurt them or others if they found out.

OK, I know something bad will happen, he thought, closing his eyes and trying to purge every other thought from between his ears. He was still thinking, just in a different way. Before, he absorbed information. Now, he relied on what he already had and the intrinsic knowledge within himself, however flawed it may have been.

Would the world end? His first idea was the most apocalyptic. No, that's impossible. Everything he'd read and seen indicated magic worked on a far smaller scale. It couldn't blow up a planet or even a city. Otherwise, that would have happened long ago. This ritual must have been done at least once or twice for it to be known at all. He let out a sigh of relief that the worst scenario was off the table. It must have been more intimate, yet still dire.

Would something happen to one of them? The idea gave him pause, and a feeling that he could only describe as "rot" ate through his stomach. That'd make sense. Mary wouldn't want them to do this if it meant putting everyone into the line of fire. She was still pragmatic, though; this wouldn't be a big deal if they risked cuts, broken bones or longer-term damage. Everyone accepted those risks already. It must have been worse.

He remembered certain words that popped up throughout the texts he read: life, death, energy. It was a cycle, with one moving to another. Suddenly, Mike was overwhelmed by a feeling of dread. If they continued, he suspected one or more would die. Magic was about life. This specific spell involved making an immortal into something which could be killed. It might take one or more lives to balance the scales. It was a hypothesis, but all the pieces lined up with it. Picked his head off the desk, looking through tired eyes. He didn't cry. There was no time to bother with things like emotions when he had so much else on his plate. Thinking that made him wince, and a tear rolled down his cheek whether he wanted it to or not.

He came to no conclusions, for there were none to be found. He was just thinking. But he'd tell his wife. Even if he kept this from the others, hypocrite that he was, of course he'd tell the one person he trusted more than anyone in the world, including his parents and sister.

Whatever the answer turned out to be, one thing dawned on Mike during these minutes of meditation: Mary would do more to stop them if she believed keeping this secret so important. That included sabotaging the ritual. Mike's eyes widened until he remembered all the materials he needed were in his car. It couldn't hurt to put them inside the next time he went home, though… perhaps hide them, while he was at it.

Mike stood, feeling his spine pop, and he looked around the office. Phil used to spend as much time here as possible, for he had nothing else. Much as Mike loved this place, he hoped to always have connections to the outside world and not regress into a weird hermit - something he'd failed to do recently.

And he did everything for the world. Not only this world, but for the fate of all worlds. Auric came from beyond Earth, and he'd return to the stars after he had his fill of demented fun here… or when there was no more fun to be had at all. Who would stop him if they didn't? Not politicians or the military or any institution that might have protected people against "normal" problems. He snorted.

When put like that, the task sounded completely insane. Good thing he and his friends were just as crazy.

10:45 AM

Foxy sat back while her friends flopped about. She wasn't sure what it reminded her of most: interpretive dance, a bad martial arts movie, or just glitching animatronics. No, she thought about that last one, cringing slightly. That was too mean for her to think for more than a moment. Still, they weren't the most graceful of creatures as they attempted to perform complex movements with each individual finger. Mary, as expected, was a no-show.

Meanwhile, Foxy got to lounge and look at her phone.

The reason for why was simple. This ritual came from texts transcribed in the Akashic Records, according to Henrietta, and it was designed for being with two arms and hands. She lacked one of those, which made her exempt from the activity. Rolled her eye at the cosmic ableism. She supposed it was interesting that the alien or angelic species that designed it had the same body plan as humans. It might have been how most beings in the universe looked. Still, Foxy wasn't into sci-fi, so she didn't put too much thought into it.

No, her thoughts were on her own activities… and Mike's for that matter. He confided in her that he attempted to learn about the downsides and dangers her sister hid. She would have helped, but she didn't want to draw Mary's attention by making Google searches like "ritual magic consequences" or "how can i read minds" or even "a family member is hiding info which could save millions of lives please help".

It sounded like a task suited for one, anyway.

Her job was easy to the point of making her almost fall asleep (though lack of high-quality sleep was the main factor). She had to look at a map and pick which spot in the path of totality they would attempt to lure Auric to. While the eclipse's path spanned the entire country, only this nearest segment would be plausible to box the demon into. The decision wasn't unilaterally hers, of course; everyone needed to look at it and agree. Foxy didn't see why they wouldn't.

They managed to avoid most conflicts because they got along well. In this case, though, none of them had ever been farther from home than the nearest major city, so they had no expectations about where would be good and where wouldn't. Not like Foxy had many ideas, either; this was terra incognita, the part of the map where dragons danced, and unwary travelers risked sailing off the edge of the world.

She relied on assumptions and her gut. Again, Mike, who had more experience with the state, would pitch in. June knew even more, since she went there far more often. With that said, not many locations jumped out at her. Crater Lake wasn't in the path of totality. If it were, she would have loved sailing on it and dueling Auric to his last breath. Same with any major body of water. Well, it's coming over the Pacific before it reaches land…

Needed to be realistic, however. She'd focus on places they could plausibly go which weren't crowded. There needed to be a few people around, though. Not too close, and hopefully ignorant of what happened. But as she knew from her "birth", magic required strong fonts of emotion for it to work. That was why she had been created in an arena of children instead of someplace secure. Surely anyone who saw the eclipse would be filled with awe, so eliciting the emotion wouldn't be required on their end.

Oregon sported vast tracts of wilderness, but getting to the middle of nowhere was worthless if Auric couldn't find them. A major city would be worse, because everyone would see them, and it'd be some kind of stupid superhero battle. Out of the question. The only real option was somewhere at the edge of a populated area which itself was relatively isolated.

Because of these factors, one name came back to her, forcing itself into her mind again and again. At first, she dismissed it. The more she considered it, though, the more she realized it was as good, if not better, than any other locale. It wasn't someplace she saw on any of these maps. Wouldn't have even thought about it were it not for a certain letter she and the rest of her family received a few days prior.

Fazbear's Fright had everything going for it. It was in the correct location, being right outside Salem. She already checked the operating hours, and while it was functioning on August 21 as part of its early extended season, it wouldn't open until several hours after the eclipse ended, which gave them plenty of time to set up and clean up without anyone noticing. If anyone passing by heard, they'd probably think it was a sound effect that hadn't been turned off, or that they were a bunch of employees practicing a performance.

Above all, it had something no other location possessed: nostalgia. Times gone by held a special appeal to humans, and animatronics, too. She wondered if that extended to cosmic beings. Auric must have still seethed over the losses he sustained years prior. He admitted as much the last time he saw them - he wanted to kill them more than anything, it just would have been too inconvenient.

Well, they'd give him that chance. He might wonder about the strange date and time for their ultimatum. That doubt might even convince him it'd be a bad idea. But the thrill of rectifying his biggest regret would be too enticing to pass up. The restaurant wouldn't do as a battlefield. It was just a normal eatery, no matter how much legend and lore had exaggerated it into something greater. This proposed meeting place was an exaggeration of the world he tried to create, full of monsters, horror and (fake) gore. It spoke to all the right parts of him.

How do we contact him? That was something she still worked out. Getting a message to him would be no small task, even though they knew him to be in Forks. Auric could contact people via dreams, but they couldn't. Foxy tentatively tried a few times. Astral projection might have been real and worked for humans and them, but even if it was, it'd probably take years to master. Honestly, Foxy might be interested in trying. No reason not to dip her toes in if her lifespan was as long as June predicted.

The most obvious answer would be to have Mike and June drive out there and stomp around the forest until they ran into him. This presented the obvious conundrum of two strangers stalking nearby an active crime scene. Foxy feared they'd be arrested or shot! If it came to that, though, they'd just need to tough it out.

They had Phil's phone number. Involving him would be another conversation, which made her sigh under her muzzle. Direct democracy became tedious in times of crisis, when every response needed to be talked out. Especially one like this, which she knew would be more contentious than most which came before.

I'll raise the subject later today, she thought. Her mind was made up about where their climactic battle should be fought. She used the word "battle" despite not expecting a single punch to be thrown. Auric wasn't the most physically imposing specimen. However, it accurately described the roiling dread that rarely left her body. What he lacked in strength, he more than made up for in guile and malice.

Looking up, she found a strange quirk to the ritual being practiced. Freddy, Chica and June all did their movements correctly while muttering the eldritch chant under their breaths. Bonnie did the correct thing with one hand - but the other poked over the top of Freddy's hat, giving him, amusingly enough, the bunny ears sign. All work and no play made them all dull boys and girls. Foxy wished she could be so easily amused.

Chica silently snickered at the sight, while June sighed at the immaturity on display. She couldn't lie, though; the woman had almost as fun as Foxy's siblings. Freddy's scowl indicated he knew what happened but figured the quickest way to get Bonnie to stop was ignoring him. To be fair, that was usually correct. In this case, Bonnie couldn't be dissuaded; those bunny ears turned into moose antlers soon enough.

"Would you cut that out?" the bear snapped, cowing Bonnie back slightly and bursting the almost happy atmosphere which built over the past couple minutes.

"Sorry, Fred, I'm just gettin' bored." Bonnie rubbed the back of his head in a show of surrender. Foxy's eye twitched, and she decided to intervene if this went further. Though they were all equals, the predators were more assertive than the passive prey. Freddy glared daggers for a moment before sighing and backing off.

"Me too," he admitted. His muzzle was drawn in an expression of exhaustion which he rarely let slip. "But we need to keep going. It's only for a couple more weeks. After that, I don't think we'll ever need to be afraid again." That was what Foxy expected after they dove into the deep pits of the Earth to secure their future from ENNARD. Now, they prepared for something even more difficult. Almost two decades had slipped through their fingers, yet it felt like yesterday.

"I know, I know," Chica sighed. "There's no point complaining… even if it feels good." That it did. But it also got grating to have somebody whine at you for things you couldn't control. "I'll try to be more serious for the rest of the day."

Freddy nodded before saying, "I love all you guys. If anyone can do this, it's us."

Aww. She loved it when her brother got as heartfelt as he dared to be. This was about his limit. "Damn right we can!" June added, and something about how she said that reminded Foxy of that "We Can Do It!" Rosie the Riveter poster. Though not one of them by oily blood, she belonged to the family almost as much as Mike did.

"I'm excited to do it with you, too." Foxy stood to meet the moment. Nothing historic happened (she hoped), but she wasn't going to let a moment of camaraderie like this pass so quickly. It was what she tried to focus on as the rest of her clan got back to their menial, grinding work.

9:15 PM

A hush fell over the packed room as Mike ponderously punched a phone number into his iPhone's slightly cracked screen. The keys beeped in different tones, and the aura of anticipation grew with each one. The Fazbear family - again, except Mary - was present, and each face, muzzle and beak drawn in consternation. The darkness outside spilled through the glass more than usual.

We're actually doing this, Mike thought. His fingers didn't shake, thankfully. He wanted to seem composed even as his organs sloshed in a slurry through his torso. Maybe this is a bad idea. Even if it was, he vowed to carry on. Phil held no influence over him anymore; that wasn't why he was scared. His terror came from the idea of opening an old wound. He represented a part of their lives which none wanted to confront. Still, they had already admitted that something - everything - was wrong. Phil couldn't fix it, but maybe the place he lived could.

Foxy explained her idea about the location for their last battle: being in the direct path of the eclipse, enticing Auric with nostalgia, and so on. Mike had been skeptical at first, but he came around to seeing it her way. Not like he had many better ideas. He supposed they didn't technically need to get Phil onboard, but it would be awkward if they waltzed in and didn't talk to him. And, much as Mike wanted to ignore the fact, Phil was Auric's victim, too. That wasn't an excuse or absolution, yet Auric ended up ruining the man's life as much as both he and Phil destroyed everyone else's.

Mike had also given Foxy information, but this knowledge, he withheld from everyone else. He gave her a subtle glance, at which she cringed. Nobody else seemed to notice, nervous as they were. He merely made an educated guess. Even so, she agreed with it entirely - Mary hid facts and opposed this so much because she believed at least one of them would die in this attempt. And, by doing the same thing, they were complicit. We'll tell them soon, Mike thought. This was just the wrong time. Tomorrow, or the day after that. Not five minutes before entering battle, like a cynic would. He knew sharing the burden often made the load lighter for everyone.

This time, though, it didn't seem true. He sighed and gently pressed the "call" button before putting the phone to his ear. He decided to initiate the conversation by himself, switching to speakerphone when Phil realized that this was, in fact, happening and not a dream. It was a little late to call someone, but they had no time before this, and Phil did say in his letter that they could call at any hour. I'm going to bed after this.

It only took one ring for Phil to answer. Mike only knew it to have been picked up instead of disconnected because of light breathing on the other end. He could tell from the raspy sound that this was something he'd been waiting for and dreading in equal measure.

"Hi?" the man, or rabbit, eventually said. Mike flinched at the noise. Sounded like a ball of wire being scraped between two pieces of metal. Which was how some of their internal components worked, but the reality was usually masked because they took care of themselves. When was the last time Phil spoke to anyone, or bathed, or even looked at himself in a reflective surface?

"Hello, Phil," Mike said as neutrally as he could manage. "We, uh, got your letter." Before one or the other said anything else, the phone was ripped from Mike's hand by one far stronger. Freddy had it now.

"Phil, go fuck yourself," the bear growled, wanting to reach through the screen and strangle his former "owner". "In fact, go to the graves your parents are buried in and fuck their corpses, you shit-eating, murderous bastard Neanderthal." Bonnie and Chica succeeded in getting the phone back from him, but only after Freddy had delivered the bulk of an insult he'd probably been brewing for years, should an occasion like this come.

Mike felt his cheeks flush as the rectangle landed back in his hand. There was no reason for Freddy to bring up incestuous necrophilic sodomy. Nobody there had ever met Phil's parents, and Mike found it difficult to believe they would have condoned anything their son did. The rest must have had similar thought processes, for they stared at him with various levels of annoyance or confusion. Freddy held his ground, which Mike begrudgingly respected. Nothing to be done about it now except keep talking. There was no way this would ruin their chances, though; Phil was desperate before, and he'd keep being desperate.

"As I was trying, like, to say, w-we got your letter. We read it, and we want to meet, uh, with you at Fazbear's Fright." There. The offer was on the table.

A long pause filled the air, during which unknown thoughts ran through his old boss' head. Or maybe nothing did. "You're joking. This is a trick."

Anger blasted through Mike's body. He and his friends extended the olive branch when Phil wanted them to, and he rejected it? They gave him everything he wanted, yet he dared to say they lied! "It's not," Mike snapped. "And if you say it is again, maybe we'll change our minds about seeing you."

Phil fell silent at once, for he did not wish to be alone. OK. Mike inhaled deeply through his nose and tried to screw his head on tighter. It was out of his system. As long as Phil didn't say anything else stupid. Mike decided it was time for others to be able to speak, so he set his phone in the middle of the table and set it to speaker mode. "Um, if it's all right with you, we'll be over tomorrow. There's a lot we n-need to talk about."

"Uh, yeah. You can come over," Phil slowly enunciated. Now he wanted to make sure not one word was out of place to offend anybody. "There shouldn't be anyone here, especially if you come in the late morning or early afternoon."

"Great, we'll be there." Some of us. He didn't want to make promises about who would go and who wouldn't. It might not be the best idea to take Freddy, given the verbal scourging he'd just inflicted. Others might not want to come for other reasons. Only half of them would be able to attend if June didn't want to drive three hours each way (and Mike didn't expect her to). "I'll call you when we arrive."

"It - it's so good to hear from you again." Phil didn't even acknowledge what Mike said before lapsing into nostalgia. Many people wanted the past. It was only human nature - and inhuman nature, too, as Auric proved. Mike supposed he was lucky his formative years sucked so much. Otherwise, he'd have fallen into the same mentality. "I've imagined this moment for so long!"

"We're not your friends," Foxy demanded, pointing her hook at the screen as if this were FaceTime. Bristled at Phil "wanting" them the way he used to. "You do one little thing out of line, and we're gone forever. We'll tell you what we're even contacting you for tomorrow." That would be an uncomfortable question to sleep on. Which was probably why Foxy brought it up in the first place; it'd keep Phil on pins and needles all night. It was good to crush any hopes the guy had before they blossomed.

Phil would almost certainly stay in exile after this. The hurt ran deep, and despite time healing some of those wounds, much of the damage could never be mended. Still, Mike admitted that there was a chance, however slim, that Freddy, Foxy and the others changed their minds. Didn't expect them to, and he wasn't sure what his own feelings were. But, as always, the choice - and consequences - were theirs.

"I understand," Phil curtly replied. Mike thought Chica and Bonnie would have something to add, but they did not. Not "hello" or "it's been a while". Even the nicest didn't pretend to be friendly with him. Letting others talk turned out to not amount to much. "Um, anything else?"

Freddy opened his mouth, doubtlessly ready to unleash another string of insults. A brave bonk on the head from Chica got the point across that he should shut up for the time being. He sighed and stifled what he was going to say under his breath.

"I don't think so," Bonnie said in his stead.

"Well, I have one more thing," Phil added, risking a little more conversation. "Did you guys hear what Auric did?" Mike felt his face become gaunt as he remembered the graphic details. Some of the photos leaked online. He regretted looking as much as he did, but he foolishly told himself there might be some helpful detail in the grisly carvings.

"Yes," Foxy said. "That's part of what we're going to talk about."

"All right." Phil breathed another heavy breath before hanging up. There was no good way to say goodbye. It wasn't really good, though Mike supposed it could have gone worse. He grabbed the phone and looked at the miffed Freddy.

"What?" the bear asked, though he was self-aware enough to know what they thought.

"I don't think you said anything wrong," June muttered, so at least one person agreed with him. Mike did not. Berating Phil was deserved and cathartic, but if they wanted his help (or at least to use "his" property), they needed to get on his good side. More importantly, they needed to be better than him.

It could have gone worse, I guess. No point reviewing. He would be there tomorrow, as would at least a few others.

"I don't think that went too badly," Chica said, echoing his thoughts.

"Speak for yourself," Freddy spat.

"'Ey, Fred, you can hate Phil all ya' want. I do, too. But ya' don't 'ave to make it your whole personality," Bonnie parried, which earned a small growl.

"Enough, maties." Foxy jumped onto a chair to get everyone's attention. "The important thing is that we have ideas. Let's see how tomorrow goes before ye get even angrier at Phil than ye already are." Hers was the voice of a leader, as it always was when she lapsed into her pirate accent. "Auric is our true foe." June nodded, and Foxy hopped down.

Freddy seemed mollified for the moment, if only because of the clarity her last point provided. Bad as Phil was, he threatened nobody. Auric would ruin countless more lives. Including all of theirs if they failed to work together.

…

Hi, everybody. Thanks for stopping by. While horror isn't the focus of this series anymore, there are still some spooky elements that fit in perfectly with Halloween. Perhaps my favorite holiday, and it's quickly approaching - decorations are going up all over the neighborhood, and I've stocked up on candy. I won't get another update out before it comes, so this is what you end up with going into it. I think it captures another great part about not just Halloween, but all holidays: hanging out with family and friends.

As the last ride for Mike, Foxy and their family, I've tried to provide everyone with a little something. Freddy, Bonnie and Chica have been side characters, but I'm still giving them little, interesting things to do in the background, even if they don't drive the plot. I hope that's an aspect which comes through, so tell me what you think! That's about everything on my end, except to say that I expect this story is roughly half over, perhaps around 40 percent complete.

If so, that'll make it marginally longer than AWaF, which puts it within my previously estimated range of between AWaF and ASaF in terms of length. At the current rate I write, I'd guess that I'll finish in the summer of 2025. These are still just estimates, but I just wanted you to be aware that this major portion of my life, the story that really made me a writer, is about halfway through its concluding entry. To me, that's exciting, because there are so many other stories I want to tell. I won't talk about that more, though, because we still have quite a bit to go.

Thanks to MewTwo-TheLoneShadow, Soviet Fox and IA1203 for reviewing since last time. It's always great to see what you all think. I'll talk to you guys for the next update, whenever that may come!