Saturday, July 18, 1987
Although even William Afton himself would admit to not being the best father, especially given how busy his work and personal projects kept him, he always made it a point to cook dinner for his boys every day.
Due to working as a night guard at the new Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, William spent most of the day sleeping. But after finishing his morning routine, he would typically start making dinner.
After making sure that both of his sons were home—Evan was in his room playing with his toys, while Michael was playing games on the Atari 7800 in the living room—William went to the kitchen and began cooking.
Once the food was ready, William called out to his eldest son. "Michael! Go fetch Evan, would you? Dinner's ready!"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm on it," Michael replied as he paused his game. He then put the controller away and switched off the television before going upstairs. Upon reaching Evan's room, he opened the door and said, "Hey brat, dinner's ready."
Evan cringed, but then hummed in reply.
After putting down his toys, he followed his older brother down to the dining room, where William had set the table and was in the process of serving dinner. Today he had made pasta with beef stroganoff.
The family of three sat down at the table, and William then put pasta on his plate before passing the pasta to Evan. William did the same with the beef stroganoff, and once Evan had put the food on his own plate, he passed the pasta and beef stroganoff to Michael.
As they started to dig in, William spoke up. "So, what have you boys been up to today?"
After shoveling some food into his mouth, Michael grinned at his father. "We checked out the new Freddy Fazbear's today. It was awesome!"
William raised his brow. "Really, now?" He turned to Evan and pointed his fork at him. "What about you, sport? Were you able to have fun despite all of the animatronics?"
Evan smiled at his father with a mouth full of food. After swallowing, he said. "Yeah! It was scary at first, but then I played with Mangle, and she was really nice!"
William raised an eyebrow and put down his fork. "Since when did you start playing with animatronics? You've been terrified of them for years."
Evan ate some more food before he replied, "They're really scary, especially those old ones, but Mangle promised to protect me, so…"
"The old ones? You mean the animatronics from the old pizzeria?" William asked, sounding increasingly suspicious. "They're locked up in Parts and Service, so what the hell were you doing in there?"
"Um…" Evan trailed off as he realized that there was no answer he could give that wouldn't get him into trouble. He looked at Michael, who glared at him threateningly, before he looked back at his father and cringed. "I dunno…"
Noticing the way Evan was looking at Michael, William glared at his eldest son before he returned his attention to his youngest. "Evan, it's okay. You can tell me."
"Um…" Evan began to fidget. "Michael locked me in there…"
William glared at Michael again. "Did he, now?"
Michael stared at his father with fearful eyes.
William pointed his fork at the fourteen year old. "Finish your dinner, boy! After that, you're grounded for the rest of the night. You'll receive the rest of your punishment later."
"Y-yes, sir…" Michael replied and then went back to eating his food in silence. As he did, he briefly glared angrily at Evan, who cringed under his gaze.
William shook his head in disappointment as he regarded Michael, before he resumed eating his dinner.
Evan was playing in his room when he suddenly heard the muffled sounds of his father berating his older brother coming from the other side of his bedroom wall. Michael then started to repeatedly cry out in pain as William continued to berate him.
The eight year old covered his ears and shut his eyes. As much as he thought Michael deserved to be punished for being so mean to him, it was always so scary to overhear him getting beaten by their father.
Sunday, July 19, 1987
"Ow! Michael, please stop! It hurts!" Evan pleaded as Michael tightened his grip around his little brother's wrist, pulling him along to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza.
"Nah, this is way too much fun," Michael replied with a cruel smile as he dug his nails into his little brother's skin, causing Evan to cry out in pain once more.
Once they reached the entrance, Michael finally let go of Evan, who was on the verge of tears as he carefully rubbed his now tender wrist.
The two entered the restaurant and went up to the reception desk, Michael then paid the entrance fee, after which they were each given a bracelet which they put on.
With a sneer, Michael turned to his little brother and said, "Alright, have fun at Baby's Cove. I'm going to the arcade."
Evan just frowned as he watched his older brother walk off. He let out a sigh and then started to make his way to Kids' Cove, occasionally looking over his shoulder at the main three animatronics on stage. They still scared him, but it was nowhere near as bad as it had been the day before.
As the eight year old entered Kids' Cove, he couldn't help but cringe a little, as all of the other kids there were either preschoolers or toddlers.
Evan smiled when he spotted Mangle in the corner of the Cove, surrounded by overly excited children. But his smile quickly turned into a frown as he watched a preschooler pull off one of Mangle's legs, causing the animatronic to fall over. Another toddler then started jumping on her torso, which prompted several of the other kids to join in.
"Hey, stop that! You're breaking her!" Evan shouted as he rushed over to the animatronic.
Mangle lifted her head and looked excitedly at Evan. "Oh, hi-hi-hi-hi there! Do you want to pla-la-la-la-lay too?" She asked as if nothing was wrong, her dual voices now glitching out.
"But they said we could take her apart," one of the preschoolers said.
"Yeah!" Another one agreed.
"Huh?" Evan stared at them in disbelief and then spotted a sign above Mangle that described her as a 'take apart, put back together' attraction. Mustering up what little courage he had, Evan pointed at the sign and said, "You're allowed to take her apart, not break her!"
This distinction sailed completely over the younger kids' heads and they just stared confusedly at Evan.
The eight year old then added, "If you break her, your parents will have to pay for her, and then they're going to get really angry at you."
The other kids exchanged glances of fear and worry before they all stepped off of the animatronic.
Evan knelt down and picked up Mangle's head, regarding her with concern.
"Do you-ou-ou-ou want to play?" The animatronic asked in her typical cheerful demeanor, seemingly unperturbed by her current state.
"No, I'm going to fix you," Evan replied. He then took the leg that had been pulled off and put it back in place.
"Oh thanks, swe-we-we-we-tie! I was wondering where that one had go-go-go-gone," Mangle said with a glitched giggle.
Evan spent the next couple of hours trying his best to put Mangle back together, with mixed success. The animatronic seemed to enjoy the attention, however, even though she was unaware of how bad her condition was.
But eventually, the other kids wanted to join in on the fun as well. Much to Evan's dismay, they would undo what little he had accomplished by pulling parts off Mangle and putting them wherever they fancied. By the time Michael came to pick him up, Evan's hard work had barely made a difference.
"Evan, come on! It's time to go home," Michael called out.
With a look of regret, Evan picked up Mangle's head and looked her in the eyes. "Mangle, I am so sorry for not being able to fix you more, but I have to go home now."
"Aww, alre-re-re-re-ready? We were having so much fun-un-un-un-un-un," Mangle said and lowered her ears slightly. She then tilted her head to the side and said, "I hope you co-co-co-come back soon!"
Evan nodded and smiled at the animatronic. "I'll come back tomorrow, I promise."
"Evan!" Michael yelled impatiently. "Hurry up, you dweeb!"
"Coming!" Evan replied before he got up and left the restaurant with his brother.
That evening, William made steak with fried potatoes.
As he and his sons sat around the dining table and enjoyed their dinner, William casually asked, "So, what have you boys been up to today?"
"We hung out at Freddy's again," Michael replied as he cut a piece off his steak.
William looked at Evan, who was staring down at his plate, seemingly lost in thought. "Evan?"
"Hmm?" Evan looked up at his father.
"Michael didn't lock you away again, did he?" William asked with some concern.
Evan shook his head. "No, I spent all day trying to fix Mangle." With a saddened look on his face, the eight year old frowned and added, "But all of the other kids just kept tearing her apart again..."
William gave his youngest son a rueful smile. "I'm afraid that one is a lost cause, sport. Why don't you try befriending one of the other animatronics?"
"But I like Mangle! She's nice!" Evan said a little louder than he had meant to. "Besides, the other animatronics are scary…"
Michael let out a snort and pointed a thumb at his little brother. "Get a load of this guy! He thinks the other animatronics are too scary, but he's perfectly comfortable hanging out with that freakshow!"
"Mangle's not a freak. She just looks a bit weird is all," Evan replied defensively.
"Uh yeah, that's what makes her a freak, you ditz!" The fourteen year old laughed.
William slammed his hand down on the table. "Michael, that's enough!"
The older brother immediately went quiet. "S-sorry, sir."
Letting out a sigh, William turned to his youngest son. "Evan, I'm happy that you're finally overcoming your fear and have made a new friend, I really am. But please try not to get too attached, okay? Toy Fo—" William paused to correct himself. "Mangle is only getting a minimal amount of maintenance now, so it's only a matter of time before she breaks down completely."
Evan frowned and his saddened gaze drifted down to his plate. With pleading eyes, he then looked at his father and asked, "Can't you fix her?"
William gave his youngest son a rueful smile. "That's not my job, sport. I'm just a security guard. And even if I did repair her, the kids would just tear her apart the next day."
Evan stared down at his plate again, looking as if he was almost on the verge of tears.
"As I said, don't get too attached," William repeated. He then cleared his throat and said, "Anyway, speaking of my job, I'm actually moving to the day shift starting tomorrow."
"How come?" Michael asked as he ate a piece of steak.
"It just gets a little too boring at night, is all," William replied with a shrug. "But Michael, that means that you're going to have to make dinner from now on."
"Oh, come on!" Michael groaned in protest. "I don't even know how to cook!"
"Then it's about time you learn!" William yelled back. "You're fourteen, for crying out loud! Or what, do you expect others to cook for you for the rest of your life?"
"N-no…" Michael replied, looking quite embarrassed. "But I don't even know where to start…"
William pointed his thumb at the kitchen behind him. "There's plenty of cook books in the kitchen. I suggest you start reading."
Michael let out a defeated sigh. "Fine, whatever."
Later that night, William went down to the basement to prepare everything he needed for the next day—he got his trusty butcher knife, plenty of bleach, a bunch of large plastic bags, and his experimental Remnant extractor.
William smiled to himself. He was going to get so much done this week.