Owen could sense the tension as Adam simply stood there, glaring at them. He had to get his guard down a little, just a bit, so he at least trusts them. "...You have a sweet Mario hat!" Owen pointed out. Adam was surprised. "Oh? You really like it? Uh, thanks, I guess." Abby quickly picked up on what Owen was doing and joined in. "Yeah, we LOVE the Mario games! What's your favorite?" Abby asked. "Oh, mine is Super Mario Odyssey. What about yours?" Adam asked. Abby and Owen looked at each other. Neither of them has really played a Mario game. "...Super Mario Bros 3," Owen said. "Which one? There's more than one." Adam inquired. "...Allstars!" Abby chimed. Adam gave a thumbs-up. "Oh, ok! That's a good one." Adam replied. He was still a bit suspicious, but his guard was down a bit, but still, he didn't exactly trust them. "...Hey, I know we got off on the wrong foot but… What do you say about us being friends?" Abby asked. "Yeah, we have a good bit in common," Owen remarked. Adam stared for a bit, thinking, before he sighed. "Alright, alright fine. But no more being weird, ok?" Adam asked. Abby gave a salute. "Alright, captain!" Adam shuttered. "...Please don't call me that." Owen smiled. "Noted." Adam still felt a little off, almost as if he unknowingly gave these children what they wanted. And in a way, he did. If they couldn't get him now, then they'd just have to play the long game. Something they are very familiar with.

But before anything could happen, someone called Adam's name. "Hey, Adam!" He turned to see two people coming his way. A girl and a boy. When they got closer, he felt relieved. It was his friend Rynn and her boyfriend, Mario. "Hi, guys!" Adam waved. Abby and Owen groaned. Great. Just what they needed. "Hi, Bud, who are these chumps?" Mario asked. Owen growled. "That's Abby and Owen. Abby, Owen, this is Rynn and Mario." Adam said. Rynn and Mario waved at them, a bit slowly, like a malfunctioning animatronic. "...Your friends are weird," Owen commented. Abby elbowed him. "We can say the same about you," Rynn whispered. "What was that?" Abby asked. "Nothing. Nothing at all." Rynn lied. Mario's ears perked up. "Hey Adam, I think we should get going, we'll take you home," Mario explained. Adam gave a thumbs-up. "Alright, well, I'll see you guys another day," Adam said to Abby and Owen. The duo nodded. "Great, we'll see you again soon, friend!" Abby remarked. The trio shuttered. "Have a good night," Owen said. "Thanks, we will!" Rynn shouted as the trio walked off.

"...So, how did we do?" Mario asked. "...You guys moved a little too mechanically, but overall, fine," Adam remarked. Rynn chuckled, her laugh sounding like Freddy's. "Well, that's what happens when you're trapped in creepy kids' mascots for… what, almost 40 years?" "...Actually, it was 38 years technically." Mario correctly. "...We'll just round it up," Rynn remarked. "What was their deal anyway? They were weird." Mario asked. "I don't even know, they are clearly up to something, but I can't tell what. They acted like… Predators. Try to lure their prey in a false sense of security. They tried to do that with you, but you didn't fall for it." Rynn whispered. "Yeah, I figured. You two seem to know a lot about that, don't you?" Adam joked. "Unfortunately, yes, let's just go home. I'm feeling tired already." Mario said. "...Ghosts feel tired?" Adam asked. "Not really, we don't really need to sleep, but It makes us feel more…Human if that makes any sense." Rynn explained. Adam shrugged. "It makes, some sort of sense, I guess? But Mario's right, let's get us home. Hop in." Rynn and Mario disappeared as Adam looked around, mentally scanning the area. No one was around. He stepped into an Alleyway. "X-LR8!" Adam said. As he said that, he began to shift and transform, turning into a Kineceleran from the show Ben 10. In a flash, he disappeared from the Scene.

Abby sat on the roof of a building nearby, with Owen following close behind. They were following Adam and his friends from afar; however, they lost sight of them when Adam got out of view. "...I don't understand." Owen began to say. "Understand what?" Abby asked. "I don't understand why him. Why are we doing all of this? Why can't we just eat someone else and move on?" Owen asked. Abby began to chuckle. "Oh, Owen…my silly lover…my handsome Husband… Do you want to know why we're targeting him? Sure, we'll eat other people but… He is different. Do you remember what happened with Susie?" Abby asked. Owen turned pale. It was only a decade ago when that whole thing went down. It was a weird thing with them. Whenever they had a new "Friend", that poor soul was their primary target. Whenever for eating, or keeping them alive somehow, as in Abby's twisted way of "Companionship." Abby and Owen would mostly torment them. But Susie was different. When they were going to kill Susie, Abby decided to kidnap her instead. It worked for a while, as Abby treated Susie like normally, but kept her locked in a room. One day, while Abby and Owen were out, she tried to escape. She didn't get far as the vampire duo found her and… well, let's just say Susie isn't in the picture anymore.

"So, he's like her then? I still don't understand, sorry." Owen revealed. Abby hugged Owen. "It's ok, it's his blood. Did you smell it?" Owen tilted his head, remembering the smell. It smelled... Different. It wasn't like animal blood, it smelled a bit like Human blood, but… different, almost enticing, like Thanksgiving dinner, just…more like blood. "Yeah, it smelled…different, unlike normal human blood," Owen replied. "EXACTLY! That's why. Sure, there are other people, but… he's the desert. You understand now?" Abby asked. Owen nodded, making Abby smile. "Good, I'm glad you do. Come on, let's go get some dinner, I'm starving." And with that, the two took to the skies.

TURNING BACK THE CLOCK. CHAPTER 4, CHAPTER 3, CHAPTER 2, CHAPTER 1…LET THE RIGHT ONE IN ROOTS. ONE HOUR AFTER MARK AND ELEANOR ESCAPED.

Claire dropped to her knees as she saw the car speed off into the night. It was over. And it was all Mark's fault. If he had only listened to her and killed Naomi, none of this would have happened. Everything would be fine, and they would be making good progress. But no. Life had to give undeserving pats on the back. "C-C-Claire?" Peter asked. Claire didn't reply. "It's over," Claire whispered. "W-What?" But Peter was quickly cut off. "IT'S OVER, PETER. WE LOST. MARK IS GONE." Claire shouted. Peter backed away as Claire stormed past him, slamming the door.

Peter went down to the lab to see Claire throwing things, breaking the equipment, and screaming in rage. "Claire, please-" "CALM DOWN?! I'M NOT GOING TO CALM DOWN, PETER! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND IT'S OVER?! THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT!" Claire shouted. However, her shouting attracted something. Loud, deep laughter could be heard as the front door creaked open. Before Peter says anything, Claire shushes him. The creature creaks and walks upstairs, poking and prodding through objects, clearly searching for something. But soon the noises stopped. Before Claire and Peter could move, the beast's head peeked out from the ceiling. They just stood completely still. They could barely see its face. It was wearing a hat, which looked like a Mario one. It seemed to lack eyes, and it had a large grin. It looked around, before giving up and retreating to the ceiling. It stomped around the house for a while before eventually retreating to the darkness.

Claire went upstairs with Peter to inspect the damage. Stuff was knocked over, the fridge was torn open, but oddly enough, there sat a note on the table. It read:

"There was never just two of them."

RESETTING BACK TIME: LET THE RIGHT ONE IN ROOTS, CHAPTER 1, CHAPTER 2, CHAPTER 3, CHAPTER 4.

The following evening, Adam went out to Jungle Jims, a grocery store that happens to hold animatronics as well, like the King, a retrofit of Pasqually, and an unfortunately deactivated Warblettes, to name a few. It had never been to Long Island before, but recently, it happened to open nearby. As Adam walked around the store, he quickly located the King, who was performing on his stage. It looked a lot like the old Cabaret stage from the original Pizza Time theatre. As he watched, he sensed someone watching him. He turned and saw a girl looking at him. She had short black hair and big eyes, almost like a doe. "...Uh, can I help you?" Adam asked. The girl blinked before tilting her head. "Oh! Sorry, I just noticed your hat. It's cool!" she said. Adam tipped his Mario hat. "Thank you-a so much! Thank you, thank you!" Adam replied, doing an almost spot-on Mario impression. The girl chuckled. "My name is Eli, what's yours?" Eli asked. "Adam, but everyone calls me Mario," Adam replied. Eli giggled, but something felt a bit off. "Cool, you like animatronics too?" Eli asked. Adam gave a thumbs up. "Yeah, they're cool, Five Nights at Freddy's and Freddy Fazbear's as a whole got me into them, how about you?" Adam asked. Eli didn't reply for a second, as if processing the question. "Oh, I really like stuff like Chuck E. Cheese and Showbiz Pizza," Eli replied. Adam smiled. "Me too! If you don't mind, do you want to be friends?" Adam asked. Eli didn't reply, she seemed a bit nervous, as if.. A bit nervous, before she shook it off. "Sure, I should introduce you to my boyfriend, Oskar!" Eli remarked.

Adam's ears perked up, hearing someone approach them. It was Oskar. He had blonde hair, and his eyes were olive. "Hi Oskar, this is my new friend Adam!" Eli introduced. Oskar looked up at Adam, slightly jealous, but he shook it off. "Hi, I'm Oskar," Oskar said, sticking out his hand for Adam to shake. And so he did. "I know, I'm Adam. You wanna be friends too?" Oskar thought about it before nodding. "Sure, why not? It'll be a nice change."