Chapter 9: 0 Days Until the Party
The next day William woke up. While he was not a good cook, he wanted to make something special for breakfast. It was CC's birthday, and William knew that CC liked his breakfast food. After making some pancakes, eggs, and sausage William knocked on CC's door and, after there was no answer, he opened it to see his son asleep.
"CC, happy birthday!" William said as he woke CC up. CC opened his eyes, saw his dad, closed them, and then opened them wider.
"Dad! You're here," CC exclaimed, "We haven't seen you in a long time."
"I have been very busy working on something very important," William replied, "But it's your birthday today and we are going to celebrate. Come on, get up. I made some breakfast." When CC heard that he excitedly got out of the bed.
When CC sat down at the table, William put a plate of food in front of him. A few minutes later, Michael came out of his bedroom.
"Michael, it's my birthday today," CC said, trying to act like Michael had not been mistreating him the past few days. CC did not want William to worry about Michael. For CC, it was easier to talk about that situation with Henry than with William. He could not tell why but CC felt like William would not actually care. Little did CC know; William knew everything that had happened.
"Oh, boy," Michael said mockingly, "I can't hold me excitement."
"Michael, come on. This is a day to be excited. CC is 6 now," William said.
"And I am more than double that," Michael argued. William shook his head.
"Well, I need to go to the diner soon. Michael, make sure that CC and you are there by 11 today. The party will start at 11:30 but I want you two at the diner early," William said.
"Whatever," Michael said as he sat down to eat. With that William got up and walked out the front door without saying another word.
After eating Michael and CC began to walk towards the diner. Along the way, some of Michael's friends joined them. All the friends were wearing masks of the Fazbear band that William and Henry were working on for their expanded restaurant- a new project called "Freddy Fazbear Pizza." This new restaurant was going to have 4 main animatronic performers- Freddy Fazbear (a brown version of Fredbear), Bonnie (a blue version of Spring Bonnie), Chica the Chicken, and Foxy the Pirate Fox.
When the party started everything was going okay. CC was a little scared of the animatronics, but he just avoided looking at them and he felt safer. All of the kids from around the Hurricane, Utah area had come to celebrate with CC. (Not that they actually came to celebrate CC's birthday. William decided to give discounts on game tokens and food that one day only so that was probably why a lot of the kids were there.) Yes, everything was going great. That was until it happened.
William had been putting on his Spring Bonnie springlock suit. The suits had not been used a lot so he decided this would be a great opportunity to show off Henry's invention and, he hoped, make more people interested in the entertainment Fredbear's Family Diner had to offer.
When William came out of his office he walked up to CC while wearing the suit. CC saw the Spring Bonnie suit and began to cry out in fear.
"Hey, it's okay, CC. It's only me," William got down to whisper in his son's ear. CC tried to calm down but one of Michael's friends had already seen him.
"Hey, Michael, look at your brother. He's kind of a baby, isn't he," the friend, the one in a bonnie the bunny mask, commented.
"It's hilarious," the friend who was wearing the Freddy Fazbear mask agreed.
Michael, who was wearing the same Foxy the Pirate mask that he had been wearing the past few days, looked up from the game that he was playing. He saw the Spring Bonnie suit walking away from CC and then saw CC sitting on the floor wiping tears from his eyes. Michael had to admit that this felt like the last straw. CC had been annoying before but now he had embarrassed Michael in front of his friends. CC had to pay for it this time.
"He really does like Fredbear. He told me that Fredbear is his favorite, but he hasn't seen him all day. Why don't we help him get a closer look? He will love it!" Michael said. He knew that would make CC act even more like a baby. That would teach CC not to be afraid anymore. If CC got closer to Fredbear, he might learn that the two animatronics on the stage are not actually scary. If he did not learn that, at least, Michael would feel better about being the reason that his brother was facing his fears. Michael and one of his friends walked up next to CC and picked him up. CC quickly realized what was going on.
"No, I do not want to go," CC cried out, "I do not want to go there." Michael put one of his hands over CC's mouth.
"Shut up," Michael whispered in CC's ear, "It's happening." Then Michael turned to his three friends.
"You heard the little guy. He wants to get closer. Let's bring him to the stage," Michael suggested, and his friends all agreed. CC started to kick to try to get out and another set of arms grabbed onto his legs.
"Hey guys, I think the little man said he wants to give Fredbear a big kiss," Michael said with special emphasis on the words 'little man'. If CC was going to brag about being 6 years old, Michael wanted to remind him that he was the little brother and Michael was the older.
When Michael and his three friends got to the show stage, CC was crying harder than he had in the past days. He could hardly breathe as the tears ran down his face and onto the ground. Suddenly, both Henry and William came out of the office to see what was going on.
"What is happening," William barked out. He had the bottom part of the springlock suit still on.
"Michael, what are you doing," Henry asked. Michael pretended not to hear the two men.
"On three," Michael said. William began to run towards the show stage, but he tripped on the floor. Fortunately, the bottom of the springlock suits lacked the actual springlocks.
"One," Michael began to count. CC kicked even harder, and the fourth friend helped hold his legs.
"Two," Michael continued. Henry ran up to help William get back on his feet. Henry was the first of the two to realize what Michael and his friends were planning.
"No, Michael, don't do that," Henry panicked.
"Three," Michael said as his friends, and he hoisted CC's body into the Fredbear animatronic.
"Michael, get your brother out of there," William shouted loud enough for his voice to be heard in Las Vegas. Suddenly, the show started and Fredbear's mouth opened even wider. A few seconds later the mouth collapsed as if Fredbear was singing. However, CC's head was still inside of the animatronic.
Blood splattered over Michael. For the next few seconds Michael did not move. He was not able to process what had happened. Henry ran back to his office and got on the phone. He quickly dialed 9-1-1. William was also running but he was running the opposite direction of Henry- towards the show stage. He fell on his knees, and he realized how bad the situation was. Michael started to back up and shook his head, his eyes growing larger by the second as tears started to swell in his own eyes. He was so embarrassed by CC's constant crying and now he was the one who couldn't control the tears.
"Ambulance is on the way, William," Henry said as he exited his office.
After a few minutes paramedics arrived at the diner. They slowly moved CC onto a stretcher.
"Is he… is he…," Michael asked one of the paramedics.
"No, but we have to work quickly," was the reply.
William ran into the ambulance as soon as the doors were opened. The ambulance sped out of the parking lot of the diner.
"Come on, Michael. Let's go. We can take my car. I just need to stop at my house to drop Charlotte off," Henry said as he firmly held Michael's shoulder.
After dropping Charlie off at his house, Henry drove to the hospital. On the way Michael's thoughts were racing.
"It was only supposed to be a prank. I never meant to hurt anyone," he said out loud. He was talking to himself, but he did not care if Henry heard him.
"Look, it was a big mistake, Michael. You made a big mistake. Now we'll see what happens next," Henry said somberly.
"I am so scared, Mr. Emily," Michael confessed.
"You can't change what happened. Let's just hope what comes next is what is best." With those words the rest of the car ride was silent, besides some sobbing from Michael.
Michael slowly walked up to the front desk in the hospital.
"Where is my brother," he asked.
"What is your name," one of the receptionists, whose nameplate said Ackerman, asked.
"Afton. My name is Michael Afton," Michael said as he felt breath leave his lungs. The two receptionists looked at one another.
"Oh, Afton. Uh, yeah, room 1280," Ackerman said. Michael and Henry began to walk towards the stairs.
"Sir, it's family only," Ackerman told Henry. Henry gave Michael a concerned look.
"That's usually not a good sign, Michael," Henry said, "I will wait for you here in the lobby."
Michael walked up to room 1280. He was not prepared for what he was going to see as he opened the door. William was sitting in the corner with red eyes. His mother was in the other corner holding her head in her hands. The fact that the two of them were in the same room without fighting was shocking enough but then Michael looked at the hospital bed and saw the broken body of his brother. The doctors cleaned CC's head as much as they could and wrapped it. However, the entire side of his head was crushed.
"We can not do anything more, Mr. Afton," a man in a white robe told William, "I am so very sorry."
Michael walked up to the bed and kneeled.
"CC, I never meant for this to happen," he said, "Doctor, can he hear me? There is something that I have to tell him."
"We do not know if he can hear or not. The left ear is completely destroyed so he is deaf in it. We do not know about the right," the doctor said rather callously. Michael looked at his brother's body and could not control his tears.
"Can you hear me? I… I don't know if you can hear me. I," he started and had to stop to wipe snot away from his nose, "I'm so sorry. I am so so sorry, CC."
What Michael did not know is that CC could, in fact, hear the apology. With his last dying energy CC thought about how he refused to accept it. Then CC had a dream, or a vision, or something like that. He could see his birthday gift- the Fredbear plush that his father had given him. It had talked to him before but he had never been able to fully identify the voice. Now it was clear whose voice it was.
"You're broken. We are still your friends. Do you still believe that? I'm still here for you," the plush said.
As CC started to fade he heard one final sentence- a promise: "I will put you back together". After hearing those words CC died.