Luckily, the restroom had running water, so I quickly washed the vomit off and headed to the basement through the employees-only room. If Cassidy was right, this should be where my father and I had interacted before.
I slowly opened the door of the employees-only room and flipped the light switch, expecting to see the exoskeleton sitting on the metal table this time.
It was gone.
A chill crawled up my spine, and my stomach twisted. This could be another nightmarish night. I couldn't ignore the missing exoskeleton, but I pushed on to the basement. The entrance, taped off with caution tape as before, didn't stop me. I tore it away and walked down the creaky stairs.
Images flashed through my mind of animatronic suits containing the various human parts—A memory forever engraved deep into my consciousness. As I took each step down the wooden stairs, a song of despair sang out, warning me of the tragic horrors that lay in the basement. The air became cold and unbearable to sit in any longer. My hands and teeth both shivered and trembled out of dread. Everything around me begged me to leave.
But I stayed.
As my foot finally reached the bottom, I felt around for the light switch. I squinted my eyes as I flipped the switch, preparing myself to see the uncanny animatronics. However, when I opened my eyes, they weren't there. In fact, the place was clean. Well, at least cleaner than the night before.
The walls still had blood-streaked hands covering them. Next to the hands were white paper labelled numbers—most likely for investigative purposes. It's best not to touch them. I don't want to be marked as a suspect. With that in mind, I looked around the main area of the basement until I found the door.
The door from which the Phone Guy's message played, featuring the Golden Freddy suit. Without question, I opened the door, expecting the suit to be exactly where it was. Instead, there wasn't a suit.
There wasn't anything at all. The suit was missing.
Well, except for a table that had an old-looking computer on top of it. Next to the computer was a device that resembled a DVD player, but for VHS tapes, as it had a cassette tape protruding from it. The screen of the computer had green symbols scattered across it—similar to the one Afton's computer had in my dream a few nights ago. Was it a coincidence? I think not.
I reached for the tape, pulling it from the player. At first, it felt snug in their tight grip, but with a bit of force, I was triumphant. I inspected the tape, searching to see if the tape contained a word like the other tapes had. Recognizing the familiar white tape, the white tape had the word "Consequences" written on it.
So far, the five tapes I've gathered all had a word written in red with white tape strapped to it. Was it a message? I mean, if I put the tapes in order of location. "Snooper has being a consequences" doesn't really make sense. If we used logic, the only suitable answer would be
"Being a snooper has consequences."
That message in itself sent a chill down my spine. I guess someone is watching me after all, aren't they? Or am I going paranoid? It could also be a scare tactic of Afton's...
I took a deep breath and dismissed my thoughts for the time being. It was almost time for my overtime shift. I turned back up the stairs of the basement, reaching the employees-only room, then the dining room, and finally the office. Weirdly enough, the walk back to the office was calmer—I wasn't sure why. It was like the dread was sucked out of me, helping me better prepare for the upcoming night.
Upon entering the office, I turned on the security tablet, assuring everything was operating as it should. After checking, I embraced the sounds of the office—sniffing that familiar suffocating, dusty smell of the fan, the annoying electrical hum of the office, and couldn't forget the most important part—Pressing the nose of Freddy in the "celebrate" poster, making a high-pitched squeak noise.
I wonder if Freddy's nose really is squeaky.
Night 6—12 AM...
Ring! Ring!
Ring! Ring!
As the night began, the phone rang like always. I didn't expect the phone guy to pick up, so I was ready for even more gibberish to play. I pressed the button and waited for something. But nothing happened.
"It's amazing you're willing to stay here. I thought you were better than this, Michael." I spun around in response to the voice that spoke behind me. It was the imposter Golden Freddy.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"Watching you die a pointless death. I thought you would leave for good last night. Seems I was mistaken," the imposter said with gleaming, white eyes.
"Well, things change." The imposter stared at me for a few seconds before breaking into a high-pitched laugh.
"Humans really are just stupid sometimes. I can't believe they're willing to go this far. But I guess you're motive is to see who your family really is, am I correct?" The imposter said, leaning in close.
"You could say that," I replied.
"Then you should know that perhaps some things are best left forgotten, for now."
"What are you implying exactly?"
"You'll see." The imposter said, slowly walking out of the left door. "Another thing, don't trust the purple bear." With that, the imposter disappeared without a trace.
It was quite unsettling how calm the imposter Golden Freddy was. Something about this night didn't seem right either. The atmosphere... it was...
de de dum dum do do!
I didn't have time to think as the animatronics were getting active one by one. I reached for the security tablet and began the night.
Immediately, I focused on Foxy first, finding him peeking out of his cove. I quickly flipped through the cameras, finding Bonnie in the employees-only room and Chica rummaging in the kitchen. I wonder if she's pretending to cook or something, cause I never understood why she went to the kitchen to make a racket. Unless it was to throw off sound, but still, I don't understand.
Ha ha...ha ha...
Hearing Freddy quickly alerted me that he was moving. I checked the dining room, bathrooms, and employees-only room, but I couldn't find him. That's when I flipped the camera to the right hallway, where Freddy stood at the end, staring blankly into the void. Perhaps I was right about Chica after all.
I switched the camera back to Foxy, finding him in the same state as a couple of seconds ago. All I had to do was wait for Freddy to laugh again, and I would close the door before he could think of getting into the office. However, I heard shuffling to the left of me, where Bonnie typically goes. Without a doubt, I closed the left door before turning the lights on. As I predicted, Bonnie stood in the office window.
Ha ha... ha ha...
Down goes the right door at the same time as Freddy laughing. After confirming both doors were shut, I took a peek at what Foxy was doing. He was still peaking out of his cove. I took this time to relocate the animatronics to their new positions. Chica was in the right hallway, Bonnie was in the dining room, and Freddy was still behind the door, waiting for me to open it.
Wait a minute...Wasn't Bonnie at the left door a minute ago?
I checked the door, finding two white glowing eyes staring down at me from the office window. Immediately, I forced myself to blink, now finding Bonnie nowhere near the office window. I opened the left door and checked the security tablet.
Bonnie was indeed in the dining room.
I can't let hallucinations like that slip by, costing me a lot of power. Speaking of power, I checked my power gauge, realizing I had 89% remaining, and the time was barely 2 AM. If I can spare about 50% within 4-5 AM, I should be fine to survive the night.
De de dum dum do do!
Right, I still have a night shift to focus on. Hearing Foxy prompted me to check on him again, noting that he was ready to run. With haste, I checked the locations of the other animatronics before returning to Foxy again. Bonnie was now in the left hallway, and Chica reverted back to the dining room—Probably because Freddy was still occupying the right hallway corner. Speaking of Freddy, it's been two hours and he hasn't left that corner. Hopefully, he'll leave soon.
***
Henry circled around his office, thinking about where he could go to keep Cassie safe that Afton didn't know. Most of the people he knew were close to Afton and had a risk of being untrustworthy. Occasionally, Henry would take a glance at Cassie, who would draw. This calmed Henry for a time, but deep down, he knew the clock was ticking.
Henry finally sat down and wiped his hands on his face, making sure his glasses weren't caught in the crossfire and breaking. He picked up his phone and scrolled through his contact list. Name after name went by, and Henry realized more how many friends he really had—at least friends with power. Then, a name popped into Henry's mind.
Edwin Murray
Edwin was a very old friend of Henry's. He and Henry never really talked anymore when Afton decided to cut ties with him. Well, there really wasn't anything for Edwin and Henry to talk about. The only reason Henry thought about Edwin was that he was fond of Cassie when Henry brought her around.
If anyone was willing to take care of Cassie, it would be him.
Henry tapped on Edwin's contact and pressed the call button. The phone rang three times before a familiar voice picked up.
"Hello, Henry," Edwin said. At first, Henry was surprised that Edwin knew who he was after all these years.
"H-hey um, Edwin. How are you today?" Henry replied, jumbling his words in the process.
"I'm doing fine, just um... keeping myself busy, I guess," Edwin replied. "Must be pretty important if you're calling me today."
"Uh, yeah... Afton and I are uh..." Henry said.
"No need to explain. I know how that goes," Edwin said, stopping Henry from continuing. "I'm guessing you need help with Cassie, right?"
"Just until I can solve things on my end."
"Bring Cassie to Afton's old house, that's where I'm living," Edwin said. "Make sure you're not followed."
"Right. See you then, old friend," Henry said, with a slight smile. Edwin laughed slightly at the other end before hanging up. Henry placed his phone on the table in his workshop and looked toward Cassie.
"Hey, Cassie!" Henry called. Cassie put down her colored pencil and turned to face Henry.
"Yeah?" Cassie asked.
"Want to go with Uncle Edwin?"
***
It's barely 4 AM, and things couldn't have gone any worse. My power depleted to 30% due to constant attacks from Bonnie and Foxy. Freddy stood in the corner of the right hallway for practically the entire night, so the power has been slowly draining.
Just two more hours until this night is over.
Ha ha... ha ha...
Finally, Freddy left the corner of the right hallway. Before opening the door, I checked the right corner hallway to see if Freddy was still there.
He wasn't.
After 4 hours of being closed, I opened the right door. Hopefully, it stays that way. I quickly switched back to the pirate's cove to prevent Foxy from coming to my door again. Luckily, he was still behind his curtain. I took this time to recheck the locations of the animatronics, finding Bonnie in the employees-only room, Chica and Freddy in the bathrooms. It seems like the animatronics are calming down after going for an all-out attack, which almost worked, but they don't know that.
De dum dum do do!
I switched the camera to Foxy as he sang in his pirate tone. Foxy was peeking out of his curtain, threatening to run soon. At the same time, footsteps could be heard from the right door, prompting me to turn the light on. It was Chica. I quickly blinked, remembering Chica being in the dining room earlier. As expected, it was just another hallucination.
Ha ha... ah ha ha...
Freddy was moving again. I checked the cameras, detecting him in the right hallway. Freddy was ready to attack soon. Footsteps from the left door came through a few seconds later, alerting me. I flashed the light to find Bonnie standing in the doorway, ready to pounce. Before he could think of doing so, I closed the door. I was sure that was Bonnie because he wasn't in the employees-only room when I found Freddy.
De de dum dum do do!
I was too late to flip to Foxy's camera in time—Now Foxy was ready to run. In fear of losing even more power, I kept the camera focused on Foxy. If I remember correctly, this was the 3rd time Foxy came out. That meant he would take a huge chunk out of the remaining power I had. I glanced at the power meter and found I had 20% power left. If I played my cards right, it should be enough to last for the last hour since it is 5 AM.
ha ha... ha ha...
On instinct, I closed the right door, knowing that Freddy had moved close to the door. I flashed the light of the left door, finding no trace of Bonnie. I opened it.
15% of power remained.
I resisted the urge to check the cameras, knowing that if I did, it would be the end of me. A distinct knock could be heard from the right door. It sounded like the window. I flashed the right door, finding Chica with her jaw hung open and her white, piercing eyes. I could hear Chica moan as she lightly tapped on the office window with her whole hand—almost like she was fiending for me.
10% of power remained.
Suddenly, recognizable footsteps came from the left again. I flashed the left door once more, finding Bonnie staring at me with those same white eyes as Chica. Without a thought, I blinked quickly.
It wasn't a hallucination—So I briskly closed the door in defense. I sat in the office chair, praying that it would just turn 6 AM already—It felt like it had been decades.
5% of power remained.
I was running dangerously short on power, but I was prepared for this. I searched around in my security vest, locating the flashlight I had brought previously. I ran out of the office last time, so surely it'd work again.
Right?
3% of power remained.
I turned off the security tablet and any extra items that weren't needed to conserve what I had left, but I knew that Foxy would run.
Wait a minute...Can I outrun Foxy?
Pssshhhhh!
I turned on my flashlight as everything powered down and dashed out the right door. However, my plan was quickly averted when Chica stood in front of me. In fact, her sudden appearance almost caused me to drop my flashlight. I circled back to the other door, but there stood Bonnie, with Foxy behind him.
I cursed under my breath as I backed away from the animatronics that surrounded me like prey. Those gleaming white eyes were much more terrifying up close than ever before. I began to hyperventilate as the animatronics strode closer. My heart pounded roughly as the breath of death drew closer, whispering itself into my ear.
I couldn't help but smile.
"Fine!" I shouted. "You guys won, are you happy now?" The animatronics stopped their walk and now stared at me.
"You finally got what you want, you bloodlust demons!" Freddy crept up behind the animatronics and began playing his musical performance.
"But for your information, you fought for the wrong guy, you fucking idiots!"
Screeeeeeeeeee!
"The Golden Freddy imposter was probably right about us foolish humans..."