Sunday, May 21, 1995
William couldn't have been prouder of Evan when he and Mangle returned home after winning the grand prize of the International Science and Engineering Fair. His victory was of course a given, but the prestige and attention it garnered was the kind of thing William had always dreamed of receiving himself—and he would've, had Henry not stolen his animatronic endoskeleton design!
However, unlike his father, Evan did not seem to enjoy being in the limelight whatsoever. Mangle, on the other hand, seemed to absolutely love it… whenever she wasn't being treated like a soulless machine, that is. While it was a shame that the sixteen-year-old wasn't able to actually enjoy his fame, William was happy for the vixen, and he couldn't help but to feel proud of her too for being able to take advantage of the media attention they were getting as well as she did. Watching the two, he couldn't help but to be reminded of Henry and himself before their falling out.
Of course, now that Evan was done with science fairs, the time had come for William to request his assistance with his work. After all, they boy owed him, so it was only right that he'd help him before heading off to college.
—
The Afton family had enjoyed a pizza dinner together, and while they were putting away their dirty dishes, William approached Evan.
"Hey sport, there's a… project I could use your help with," he began. "Would you mind lending me a hand?"
Evan initially seemed a bit annoyed, probably because he already had plans, but he nevertheless replied, "Of course."
William brought him down to the basement, and once they had closed the door behind them, he began to speak with a gravely serious tone.
"What I'm about to tell you will have to stay between us, understood?"
Evan eyed his father with uncertainty. "I'm not going to keep secrets from Mangle, Father."
"Evan, I set aside the time to teach you every single day during your childhood—I made you what you are today. You owe me this," William replied with a very stern tone.
The sixteen-year-old let out a defeated sigh as he put his hands in his pockets. "Fine."
"I know the true nature of Mangle's invisible component," William began.
Just as William had anticipated, this very much piqued Evan's interest. "You… do?"
"I call it 'Remnant'," William continued, earning him a confused look from his son. "It's the stuff of the soul."
Evan looked as if he had just been told the most absurd thing in the whole world. "What?"
While William wasn't particularly happy with the sixteen-year-old's unwillingness to give him the benefit of the doubt, it was certainly understandable. "I know how that sounds, but I can assure you that my assertion is well-founded."
Evan regarded him with a look of skepticism. "How so?"
William put his hands behind his back and began to pace around his lab. "Back when I worked as a security guard for Fazbear Entertainment, I noticed many strange things that led me to discover Remnant. When Charlie died, the Security Puppet wrapped itself around her body, which allowed it to become infused with her soul."
Hearing that, the sixteen-year-old's expression went from one of confusion and skepticism to one of pity, which deeply irked William.
"And how did you come to that conclusion, Father?" Evan asked.
"Because during the night shift, the Puppet was floating in the air completely unaided—"
"You probably just didn't see the strings holding it aloft," the sixteen-year-old suggested.
"I know what I saw," William replied, his voice stern. "Besides, she reacted to objects that had held meaning to Charlie back when she was alive. She reacted to me, Evan."
"Of course it would react in some manner. That doesn't mean it was… possessed by Charlie's ghost," Evan pointed out. "Isn't it conceivable that your grief made you… misinterpret the things you saw?"
"No. It isn't," William replied, the tone in his voice betraying his growing frustration. "And I didn't just rely on observational anecdotes alone—I also applied the scientific method."
"You know as well as I that the scientific method isn't foolproof, especially when the person employing it isn't in the right state of mind—"
"Stop questioning my sanity!" William shouted in response, startling the teenager.
"I'm sorry, Father, but I would be remiss if I didn't point out the significant leaps in logic you're making," Evan replied.
William let out a frustrated sigh as he ran his fingers through his hair. He reminded himself of how fantastical his discoveries would sound to someone who hadn't seen them for themself.
"The Puppet is not the only example of Remnant affecting machines," he continued. "The animatronics that had the bodies of those kids stuffed inside of them all behaved erratically at night, for example."
"Yes, decomposing biological matter tends to have that effect when it comes into contact with electronic circuits," the sixteen-year-old replied matter-of-factly.
Once more, William ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. He had not expected his otherwise brilliant son to be so close-minded. If it had been any other subject, he would've just shown Evan his research notes, but he couldn't do that without revealing that he was a serial child killer. A monster.
In desperation, William decided to bring up the one case that hit a lot closer to home. "Then there's Circus Baby…"
"Father, stop."
"... After killing Elizabeth, she was infused with her soul as well," he continued.
"Father, stop it!" Evan shouted. With eyes full of pity and horror, he looked at William and then around at the lab. "My god, is this what you've been working on all these years?"
"Precisely," William replied, relieved that he was finally getting somewhere with the boy. "I've been working tirelessly for a way to bring her back. To bring all of them back. However, I need your help to—"
"That's not what I'm talking about!" Evan interrupted him. "You're insane!"
"I'm not insane, Evan!" William yelled back. "If you would just listen to me—"
"Charlie and Elizabeth are gone!"
Without thinking, William sprang forward, grabbed the sixteen-year-old by the collar and shoved him against the wall hard.
"No they're not!" William roared. "I can bring them back! I can!"
"Get off of me!"
"And you're going to help me one way or another, because you owe me!" William continued as Evan struggled against his grip. "All those hours I spent teaching you, all those parts I got for your precious Mangle! You owe me for all of it!"
"Get. Off. Of. Me!" Evan shouted as he finally mustered up the strength to push away William, who fell to the floor.
"Get out!" William roared as he slowly got up. "Get out!"
The sixteen-year-old gave him a brief look of pity and disgust before he left the basement, leaving William by himself.
Running his fingers through his hair, William let out a scream. He got up and flipped over one of his worktables, smashed several pieces of equipment with a wrench while shouting expletives, before throwing the tool to the other side of the room.
Finally, William leaned against the wall and slumped down to the ground.
As mad as he was with his son, the truth was that he was more angry with himself. In the span of a couple of minutes, he had completely destroyed any good will the boy had for him and potentially ruined their relationship forever.
William scratched at his scalp as it finally sunk in that Evan would never see him as anything other than a madman from this point forward. Of course, that was far more preferable than the truth…
—
Sunday, October 16, 1983
Just as William had hoped, his silent partnership with Phil Williams and Philliamco had provided him with an excellent revenue stream, allowing him to set up Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental as a front to collect specimens for his research into Remnant. Of course, it would take some time to actually construct a suitable facility where he could both run the business and conduct his research, so in the meantime he was forced to work out of a warehouse. Nevertheless, William devoted himself entirely to his research into Remnant. After all, the more he worked, the sooner he would be able to bring back those he had lost.
Despite only being ten years old, Michael was fortunately mature enough to look after both himself and Evan, allowing William to focus on his work. And in order to keep any distractions to a minimum, he kept the fridge and freezer stocked with microwavable meals so that the boys could keep themselves fed without having to rely on him making them food. In fact, William barely saw them on a day-to-day basis. He would mostly just speak to them while he happened to cross paths with them or when Evan spoke to him through his Fredbear plush. It was from those brief conversations that William learned that Michael had picked up on his little brother's fear of animatronics and frequently teased him about it. While perhaps a bit cruel, William made sure to encourage this behavior and Evan's fear in order to ensure that the boy would never meet the same fate as Elizabeth. He would of course also comfort the four-year-old every now and then, and whenever the boy got too overwhelmed, he would assure him that "Tomorrow is another day."
—
Today had begun like any other day. William had gotten up at the crack of dawn, gotten dressed, grabbed a cup of coffee and a granola bar before heading off to the warehouse. While working there was far from ideal, it did provide him with some much-needed peace and quiet due to the fact that his boys couldn't bother him.
It was 7:00 AM when William heard Evan speak through the radio transceiver hidden in his Fredbear plush.
"Fredbear…?"
William picked up the radio transceiver on his desk and replied with his Fredbear voice, "What's the matter?"
"Where's Father?" Evan asked with a quiet sob. William could only surmise that he had had another nightmare.
"I think he's busy working as usual," William replied. "Best to leave him alone, I think."
"But…" Evan sniffled. "But it's my birthday…"
William's eyes went wide at the realization. He had completely forgotten!
Letting out a groan, William ran his fingers through his hair as he figured out what to do. The simple truth was that he was going to be far too busy today to do anything for the boy's birthday.
Finally, he spoke into the radio again and responded with, "Oh, that's right! Happy birthday, Evan!"
"Thanks, Fredbear," the now five-year-old boy replied with a sniffle. "I just wish Father was here…"
"Well, it's your birthday, so I'm sure he'll come at some point," William replied, but he immediately regretted his words. He simply did not have the time today. Of course, he couldn't exactly tell the boy that. "Now try to cheer up, okay?"
"Mmm… M'kay," Evan said back. "Um… Fredbear?"
"What's on your mind, Evan?" William replied.
"Thank you for being my only friend in the whole world," the boy sniffled.
Hearing that almost broke William's heart. He felt so sorry for the five-year-old, but he reminded himself of why he was doing this. He reassured himself that once Elizabeth and Clara had been brought back, they could all return to being a happy family again.
"Don't mention it," William finally responded with a slight tremble in his voice.
He then set aside the radio and called Fredbear's Diner to book a slot for Evan. While he wouldn't have time to actually be there for him, the least he could do was to make arrangements to ensure that the poor boy got a proper birthday party. Then, once he knew Michael was up and about, he called their house and informed the ten-year-old about the party and instructed him to bring Evan to Fredbear's, along with some friends.
With that done, William returned all of his attention to his work.
—
Tuesday, May 23, 1995
Things had been strained between William and Evan ever since their altercation.
As much as he regretted the way he had handled the situation, William simply couldn't bring himself to apologize, especially given the way Evan kept looking at him—as if he was just a sad, broken man. Those eyes, filled with pity and judgement, made William so angry.
He was fully willing to admit that his son had surpassed him. After all, that had been the whole reason why he had requested his help in the first place. But what William absolutely couldn't stand was the fact that Evan now looked down at him.
Thankfully, it didn't seem like the sixteen-year-old had told Mangle about what had happened, or at least not all of the details. And while she could certainly sense the tension that now existed between the two, she didn't treat William any differently, and it surprised him how much that relieved him. He quite enjoyed having her around, and he always looked forward to the brief yet stimulating conversations they would have whenever he came home late at night.
Had it not been for the fact that she and Evan were going off to college at the end of this summer, William likely would've considered giving Mangle Elizabeth's room. She was very much a part of the family now, after all… to the point where William couldn't help but to think of her as his daughter. He greatly admired her ambition and the keen intellect it had fostered, and he was so proud of the person she was becoming.
—
William was busying himself with cooking dinner—beef stroganoff, to be specific—when Michael approached him.
"Father, do you have a minute?"
"Naturally," William replied as he stirred the pot with the beef stroganoff.
"Well, Mangle's birthday is coming up, and I was just wondering if you wanted to celebrate it or not," Michael said.
"Of course I do!" William replied as if that should've been a given. "She's family, after all."
"Okay, so I was thinking that maybe we should try to do something big for her," Michael suggested. "After all, we've never celebrated her during all of the years she's lived here, and this might be our only chance before she and Evan go off to college."
"I agree, that would be quite appropriate. Good thinking, Michael," William said with a smile.
As much as he wanted to do something nice for Mangle for her own sake, William knew that this could be an opportunity to make amends with Evan without having to apologize.
"Do you have any idea what you want to give her?" Michael asked.
William gave it some thought and then recalled the various historical figures Mangle was so fond of and her deep desire to be not just respected, but admired. He smiled to himself as he began to concoct the perfect gift in his head. He knew that having it made on such a short notice would cost a fortune, but it would be worth it!
—
Sunday, October 16, 1983
William had been hard at work all day running tests and analyzing samples. Although it was incredibly tedious, this part of his research was invaluable in order for him to gain a better understanding of Remnant.
Unfortunately, running a detailed analysis on Remnant samples in his modified, high precision, electromagnetic spectrometer took anything from five to twenty-five minutes, and although William had plenty of work to keep him busy while running the first batch of samples, there wasn't as much to do later on. As such, his focus, which was typically laser-focused on the task at hand, drifted.
As he waited for another sample to be analyzed, William's gaze wandered to the family photos he had set up to remind himself of his goal, and he was reminded of happier days when the Aftons and Emilies were whole and like one big extended family. Back then, they did almost everything together—backyard barbecues, game nights, sleepovers, birthday parties…
William felt a pang of guilt as he was reminded of Evan, whose birthday party was about to begin, judging by the time.
He frowned as the spectrometer finished analyzing yet another sample. Was he really going to sit here and work on the birthday of his youngest son?
William gritted his teeth in frustration. He then looked over at the photographs, reminding himself of the importance of his work. Nothing was more important.
However, no matter how much he tried to steel himself, the guilt kept eating at him.
Then, after placing another sample into the spectrometer and seeing that the analysis would take roughly twenty-two minutes, William finally decided to assuage his guilt by swinging by Fredbear's while the machine analyzed the sample. He wouldn't have a lot of time, of course, but it would be enough. It had to be enough.
And so, William started the analysis, grabbed his coat, and then left the warehouse.
The drive to Fredbear's Diner only took six minutes. Of course, accounting for the drive back, that only left him with ten minutes, but William was determined to make the best out of what little time he had. Unfortunately, unless another sample ended up taking this long to be analyzed, that meant that he'd only be able to help set up everything for the party and wish Evan a happy birthday, but if so, that would have to be enough.
After parking his purple 1973 Chrysler New Yorker, William entered the restaurant, and upon stepping into the lobby, he immediately heard a commotion coming from the dining hall. Not only had the kids arrived early, but they were clearly messing about.
William felt anger and frustration swell within him. The last thing he needed was for Henry to get on his ass because Michael and his friends broke something. Why couldn't those kids just fucking behave?
"What the hell are you kids doing?!" William yelled as he burst through the doors. "The party doesn't start until—"
His eyes went wide in horror upon seeing that they were about to shove Evan's head into Fredbear's mouth.
With a mix of anger and panic, William shouted, "Michael! Put him down now!"
"Oh crap," One of Michael's friends said as he helped lower Evan back down to the floor.
As the kids let Evan go, the five year old ran and hid somewhere.
"We're busted," said another one of Michael's friends.
"Damn, Michael! Your dad looks pissed," said a third. "Oh, uh… I think I hear my mom calling for me, so uh… bye." He added before hurriedly taking his leave.
"Yeah, my mom's calling me too," the first one said before leaving as well.
"Mine too," said the second and left along with the others.
William balled his hands up into fists, feeling as if he was about to explode as he approached Michael. "Do you have any idea what you could've done?! What would've happened?!"
"What's the big deal, Father? It was just a prank," Michael replied defiantly.
William struck Michael with the back of his hand with enough force to send the Foxy mask flying and for the boy to fall to the floor with a broken lip.
Michael looked up at him, absolutely stunned.
"Just a prank?! Just a prank?!" William grabbed Michael by the collar and then pointed at Fredbear. "These animatronics clamp down when exposed to moisture! If I hadn't walked in when I did, Evan's head would've been crushed! He would've died!"
Michael's mouth was agape as he finally understood the gravity of what had almost happened. "F-Father, I-I-I didn't think—"
"That's right, boy! You didn't think! You never do!" William shouted before dropping Michael onto the floor with a thud.
William turned around to look for Evan, and upon spotting the five year old lying under a table and crying, he walked over to him. He then knelt down, reached out, and pulled the boy into a hug. Evan leaned into his father, burying his face in his shoulder as he continued to sob.
"Shh, shh. It's okay now," he said softly as he stroked Evan's hair.
As the initial shock of almost losing another child passed, it finally hit William that this, all of this, had been his fault. That in his attempts to keep Evan away from animatronics by stoking his fears and encouraging Michael to bully him about it, he had almost caused the boy's death. Tears began to trickle down his cheeks as he thought about what would've happened had he not arrived when he did.
That, in turn, made William realize how much he had been neglecting the boy, pushing him away whenever he had sought comfort from him.
"Evan, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for not being there for you when you needed me. God… If I hadn't come when I did…" William sobbed as he hugged him tighter. "I couldn't bear to lose you too."
William lost all track of time as he laid there on the floor, crying and comforting Evan. Finally, he checked his wrist watch and realized that he needed to retrieve the sample from the spectrometer.
Finally letting go of Evan, William got up, and as he looked at the animatronic bear and bunny on the stage, he realized how absolutely idiotic he had been to book Evan's party here.
His eyes then landed on Michael, who was rubbing his bloodied lip and eyeballing him.
William approached him and said, "Michael, I have to return to work, and I'm going to need you to take Evan back home. Now."
"Fine, whatever," the ten-year-old replied as if he couldn't care less.
William grabbed him by the collar and snarled. "Listen here, boy! You will do as I say, understood?!" He then pulled the ten-year-old in closer. "And if you do anything else to him today—anything else—I'll kick you out of the house and disown you! Do you understand!?"
What defiance remained in Michael quickly melted away and gave way to fear. He understood that William was serious. "Y-y-yes, Father!"
"Good."
Before William left the diner, he glanced at Evan, who was still sobbing under the table. He felt absolutely horrible for having let this happen.
As he made his way back to the warehouse, William's thoughts raced. He thought about how he had pushed his family away after Henry had screwed him over, how he had killed Charlotte to get back at him, how he had killed all of those innocent children for his research in the hopes that he could one day set things right. He had been so caught up in his anger and desperation that he hadn't even realized what it had done to him. That it had turned him into a monster.
Then, upon entering the warehouse and seeing the light flashing in the electromagnetic spectrometer, indicating that the analysis was done, a part of him urged him to continue his work, to resume the sample analysis. Before, this urge had been like an old friend pushing him ever onward, but now it felt more like the call of some wicked demon trying to possess him.
Tears stung in William's eyes and his breath hastened as he looked around at his laboratory, and he finally realized that this research, this stupid fucking research, had caused him to lose more and more of his family as he pursued it, and that it had almost cost him his youngest son.
William grabbed a wrench and roared in pain and fury as he smashed the spectrometer to bits, followed by the computer and much of the other hardware lying around. Next, he fired up the Bunsen burner and gathered up all of his research notes. This research had already done enough damage, and he wasn't going to let it hurt his family any further!
However, just as he was about to burn the documents, a tiny voice in the back of his mind, irresistible as a siren's call, said one thing that made him stop.
You can still bring them back.
William dropped the stack of papers and collapsed onto the ground. He wept and clutched his head as he realized that he couldn't stop. He just couldn't. He had to continue because if he didn't, then all of it would've been for nothing.
Although he couldn't let his research go, William finally recognized what he had previously failed to see—that no matter how close he seemed to be to making a breakthrough, he truly had no idea how long it would take him to accomplish his ultimate goal. It could take months, or it could take decades—there was simply no way of knowing.
But what he did know was that his sons needed him and that he couldn't keep turning his back to them anymore. And as much as he couldn't resist the dark call of his research, William knew that he had to dedicate a decent chunk of time for his surviving children everyday, because if he didn't, he would eventually lose them too, one way or the other.
—
Monday, June 12, 1995
As the days passed, William realized that things were never going to return to normal between himself and Evan. That brief glimpse the sixteen-year-old had caught of who he really was underneath this human façade had permanently changed how he saw him, and there was nothing William could do about it.
Despite the difficulties William and Evan had with each other, the sixteen-year-old was still willing to work with him in planning Mangle's birthday party. While it was a long shot, a part of William held on to the hope that going all out in giving the vixen a proper birthday party would end up helping mend the rift that had formed between him and Evan.
Unfortunately, that's not what happened.
As with Evan and Michael's birthdays, William stayed home from work so that he could devote all of his time to celebrate Mangle. They began the day with a chocolate chip pancake breakfast, then Michael's friends came over to celebrate the vixen while Evan retreated to the barn, they then all enjoyed an intricately decorated cake together, and later watched Disney's Aladdin and The Lion King.
However, despite all of the time and effort William had put into Mangle's birthday, Evan's attitude towards him remained the same, thus confirming what William had feared—that things were never going to be the same between them.
Although William was not able to get Mangle's gift ready in time—in fact, it wouldn't be ready until just before she and Evan were going to leave for college—he had been given the design sketches for it, which he gave to the vixen for her birthday. The sketches were of an entirely custom-made suit with a stylish and fanciful design, with some militaristic elements, that was fit for a modern aristocrat. While the outfit itself wasn't done yet, Mangle absolutely loved the design.
As she embraced William and thanked him for the incredibly generous and thoughtful gift, he couldn't help but to be reminded of what she had told him just a few months ago.
Thank you for being a better father to me than Henry ever was
William returned the hug and stroked her hair. While it hurt that neither of his sons really cared for him anymore, it was nice to know that he at least had a daughter of sorts who still loved him.
—
Sunday, October 16, 1983
The door to Evan's bedroom creaked softly as William opened it to check if the boy was asleep.
The five-year-old was very much still awake, quietly sobbing to himself as he lay curled up in bed with his Fredbear clutched in his arms.
"Are you alright, Sport?" William asked softly as he approached him.
Evan just let out a trembling whimper in response.
William sat down on the side of the bed. "I am so sorry about today," he began as tears trickled down his cheeks. "I'm sorry about everything. I'm sorry for not being there when you needed me, and I'm sorry for being such an awful father."
The boy looked up at him with eyes full of hurt and fear,
William gently stroked Evan's hair. "I've been selfish. So incredibly selfish. And that has to change," he sobbed. "I have to change."
The five-year-old continued to stare up at him, as if he was unsure that he really meant it.
"Now," William continued with a sob. "I know what a horrible birthday you've had, but if you want we can have a real, proper birthday for you tomorrow. I'll stay home from work and we'll spend the day doing whatever you want."
There was a glimmer of hope in Evan's eyes. "R-really…?"
"Yeah," William sniffled. "And if you want, we can have pizza from Paolo's, and I can take you to the toy store and you can pick out anything you'd like."
"Anything?" The five-year-old replied in disbelief.
"Yes, of course," William assured him as tears continued to trickle down his cheeks.
"Can we, maybe…" Evan trailed off and fidgeted as if he was afraid to ask.
"Yes, sport?"
"Can we watch Pinocchio…?"
William huffed a laugh. "Of course we can, sport." He hugged the boy. "We'll do anything you like."
A few seconds passed in silence, before the five-year-old spoke up again. "Can… Can we…"
"Yes?" William replied as he broke the hug.
"Can we bring back Mother…?" The boy finally asked.
William felt a surge of guilt and shame. With a pained smile, he simply replied, "Maybe someday."
"I miss her…" Evan sniffled.
"So do I, Sport. So do I," William sniffled as well. He looked over at the books inside of the compartment of Evan's bedside table. "I know your mother used to read you bedtime stories, but if you want, I can read to you. Would you like that?"
The five-year-old nodded. "Mm-hm."
William smiled. "Alright, sport."
He grabbed a book and laid down next to the boy and put his arm around him. Then, as he opened the book, the five-year-old rested his head in the crook of William's neck.
"Once upon a time, a long time ago…"