Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
The alarm blared, marking the end of my sixth night at Freddy's. Instantly, the lights flickered on, exposing the animatronics looming over me. Some mouths hung open, others looked poised to strike.
This was an unusual circumstance, as the animatronics typically returned to the stage by 6 AM.
However, this time they weren't.
Now I stood trapped between five animatronics seething with murderous intent—clueless about escaping their enclosure without setting off something deadly. I might slip past them, but they could instantly seize me—and that would be the end.
It's the same ordeal on Night 2. The animatronics still managed to stuff me into one of those death trap suits--then again, the alarm was the last thing I heard before I eventually blacked out, so I guess they technically reached me before the alarm could ring.
I racked my brain for options until the animatronics moved abruptly—exiting the office in an orderly fashion. I observed from a distance, careful not to be caught in the crossfire as they slowly made their way back to the stage like the robots they are.
Eventually, the animatronics stood on the stage and deactivated, plastering their creepy signature blank stare. I waited in the dining room, examining the animatronics for any other movement or actions they might perform.
Nothing.
I breathed a sigh of relief. It was safe to say I survived yet another night of Freddy's despite it being a close call. Before deciding to take my leave, I searched my pockets, feeling the tape snug in my pants. I turned to the exit gladly as this night was finally over.
However, a familiar static sound from behind me stopped me in my tracks. I turned around, locating the source of the disturbance.
It was the imposter Golden Freddy.
"Why... Why?" The imposter whispered. The imposter Golden Freddy twitched violently, similar to Cassidy. Only this version was far more violent—Almost like it had bottled up anger.
"Why what?" I asked.
The imposter's white eyes locked onto mine, sending an unsettling chill through me. There was something way different about these eyes. I had a feeling these eyes were ones of indignation.
"Why aren't you dead yet? I accounted for everything, made sure you wouldn't survive this night, but here you are. Walking. Breathing. Talking..."
The imposter twitched more and more as it whispered its words, making it barely audible. I couldn't help but give a smug look.
"Maybe it was luck. Either that or it's just a skill issue on your part," I replied. The imposter stopped twitching and stared me down. Taking in the sudden silence, I believe the imposter didn't like my answer or the look on my face.
In fact, it felt like the imposter was glaring at me, but it was hard to tell since his face was nearly shadowed. The imposter stood up without warning and approached me slowly, almost predator-like.
"It seems that maybe you're right. Maybe I just don't have the means to kill. To destroy the likes of you. Perhaps luck is raining down on you from above." The imposter stopped and stood right in front of me.
"You know what bothers me the most? It's not the fact that you survived yet another night, or your compliance to come back for yet another night. It's the fact that you think you're special in a way."
"What do you mean?"
"You think that collecting these tapes like a lapdog for Cassidy makes you special, but I'm sorry to say you've been misinformed. You're just another puppet. Like the others."
"Others?"
"You didn't see those rotten corpses in the bathroom? Should we go back and get a thorough check?" Images of the dead officers flashed through my mind. The thought of it twisted my stomach.
"Shall I remind you of the tragedy of this place? Perhaps the stench of the dead children that roam these halls?" I could feel my throat turn dry as the words of the imposter came out—the smug look replaced with a face of discomfort.
"No, you're wrong. Cassidy wouldn't use me like that! Not after what we've been through..." Even if she never gives you the answer you want?
A chuckle came out of the imposter.
"Oh, please, you act like you've known her for years, but you've only really known her for a few nights. Nothing but a stranger to you."
"But you're still wrong! I would rather trust Cassidy than the likes of you!" The imposter didn't respond. Instead, its eye sockets darkened like his face, adding a new level of terror. Alarms sounded inside my head, shouting at my body to move. However, my body stood frozen in dread. The imposter Golden Freddy extended his arm to my shoulders, holding a tight, firm grip on me.
"But one thing is clear. YOU. WON'T. SURVIVE. THE. NEXT. TIME!" The imposter screeched, his head violently shaking in front of me.
The loud screech pierced my ears, causing a painful ring to echo in my head continuously for a good minute. I clenched my forehead as it felt like it would explode, and I felt a liquid stream down from my ears. I tapped the foreign substance only to find it was blood.
My own blood.
The room swayed around in circles, making it unbearable to focus on anything. I knelt to the floor as it felt like the room was going to collapse in on itself. To make matters worse, tears streamed down my face, transforming everything into a colorful, watery mess. A deep laughter played from somewhere, but I couldn't be bothered under the immense pain I endured.
"Maybe this time, you won't be so foolish as to challenge me," a faint voice spoke. I didn't care who spoke anymore—I wanted the pain to stop. My ears vibrated, and I didn't know where I was anymore. The lights flickered around me, adding more confusion.
The only senses that could guide me were my touch, and I felt myself pulling forward until I eventually gave up, lying on that cold tile floor. I can feel the gazes of the animatronics look down at the feeble, futile security guard beneath their feet, crying for mercy.
***
I couldn't exactly tell where I was—I did know I was lying on something soft now. I finally opened my eyes, adjusting to the light beaming into my eyes. A gentle, warm breeze tickled my face as tall trees stood high in the sky—so high they seemed like they were touching the clouds. For once, it felt peaceful. Was I in heaven?
"You're finally awake," A voice spoke. Startled, I looked down to find a boy standing above me, looking down with an innocent face. In fact, the boy felt familiar—Like I've seen him somewhere before.
"Um... Hi? Who are you?" I asked. I sat up and stood, brushing the soft dirt from my pants. But as I looked away for a second, four more children stood before.
"Whoa... Even more of you?"
"They are my friends. No need to fret, they won't bite," The boy's tone seemed friendly, but I believe he still left room for suspicion. It's a start, though.
"I don't doubt that—The more the merrier, I'd say. However, that still doesn't answer my question of who you are."
"Our names are none of your concern," the boy said. And I blew it.
"Well, I only asked because you seem familiar—Like I've known you guys from somewhere, but I can't quite pinpoint it right now." The children quickly exchanged confused glances before the boy turned back to me.
"I'm sorry, but we don't know who you are. You're just a stranger to us." The boy said skittishly. That is true, I am but a stranger to them.
"Would it be better if I told you my name instead?" The boy looked at his friends for approval, and they all nodded in agreement.
"Yes, please."
"Okay, well, my name is..." Should I say Mike or Michael? I don't think it would really matter, right? I think telling the truth will help me take the right step.
"Michael. My name is Michael." I said. I watched for changes, hostile expressions, or anything for that matter. Instead, the children remained calm. They stayed completely the same. This was a good sign because they probably don't know who I am. Either that or they'll be more wary of me. It's kind of why I left out my last name.
"Michael..." the boy said. The boy turned to his friends, and they whispered among themselves—Like a group meeting. After a bit, the boy and his friends finally approached me to talk. The boy held his hand out and opened his mouth to speak.
"My name is Gabriel, the one in the blue shirt is Jeremy, the one with the hook is Fritz, and the one holding the cupcake is R̶̞̂͜Ẁ̶̘̔Q̶͈̎F̴̺̥͌̈S̸̹̃͠F̴͈̄̚Ặ̷Š̵̫̃X̸̡̉̐Č̷̦͘."
What the fuck? What was that sound?
"Um, I'm sorry, but can you say the one with the cupcake's name again?"
"T̷̙̣̀̑Ǒ̵͚̈́Y̶̞͆ͅŞ̶̌Ǹ̷̢̟H̸̯̓K̴̠͇̾̃?" the boy said again. The odd and funky sound played again—almost like a corrupt video game or a short-circuited arcade game. The sound wasn't pleasant to the ear.
"I see... So now that we sorta know each other, do you know where we are?" I asked. It's probably best if I don't talk about the sound to them.
"We were kind of hoping you'd know. You did come here somehow, right?" Jeremy replied. His reasoning wasn't wrong.
"I'm sorry, but even I don't know how I got here. I just remember collapsing on the floor of the pizzeria and boom, here I am." The children looked at each other, as if I had said something crazy.
"The pizzeria? You came from there?" Fritz said with a confused look.
"Yeah..." I don't think they'll understand or believe me if I tell them what's been happening in the pizzeria.
"That's crazy because we were there before we came here, too!" Gabriel said with a smile. Probably because it was something we could all relate to.
"Oh yeah? What were you guys doing before?" I asked curiously.
"I was exploring the pizzeria, singing my favorite musical tune and uh.... that's all I really remember. Oh wait! I was at a party!" Gabriel replied.
"I was at a party too, but I remember playing an arcade game, and oh, and I got a high score! And I did that until the pizzeria closed. After that, I really don't remember." Jeremy continued. The two boys looked at Fritz, who had a smirk plastered on his face.
"I was playing with Foxy," Fritz said, puffing his chest out like it was his most crowned achievement.
"Nuh uh! You liar!" Jeremy yelled playfully.
"Liar, liar pants on fire!" Gabriel shouted in protest. "You have to be lying!"
"Hehe...Looks like two people are jelly donut jealous!" Fritz played back. The boys bickered with each other before they eventually put a stop to it.
"Wait, guys, we should ask T̷̙̣̀̑Ǒ̵͚̈́Y̶̞͆ͅŞ̶̌Ǹ̷̢̟H̸̯̓K̴̠͇̾̃ what she did!" Gabriel interrupted, turning to the girl with the cupcake. The girl didn't say anything for a good minute until she opened her mouth to speak.
"P̵̨̧̼͓̝̊̾L̷̠̘͖͍̔͋̅̍͝W̸̜̼̖̭̐͋̇̈́̕C̷͚̪̮͋ͅͅȞ̵͎͖͍A̶͇͓͂́S̵̱͖͆͂́K̵̼̰͔̹̫͋̑͌̊͋F̶͍͙͗̍͝L̶͕̀W̶̡͎͎̼͌̓̂̓̋ ̸̗͓̹͒̈́̔R̴̦͙̗͓̮̈́͛̇M̶̮̀̔͘̚?̵͉̞͙͍̹̋͛̐?̸̹̮̻̻̍̅̈B̴̮̌̍͗͝D̶͉̏̏Ȃ̶̢̈̽Y̷͉͕̿͊" T̷̙̣̀̑Ǒ̵͚̈́Y̶̞͆ͅŞ̶̌Ǹ̷̢̟H̸̯̓K̴̠͇̾̃ said. This time, as the girl spoke, it wasn't the same noise that played when her name was said. Instead, the noise was much different and much calmer.
Honestly, the noise kind of slipped out of my mind as memories and thoughts began to overflow my mind. Everything that happened in the past few days suddenly hit me like a train. The children's voices became muffled as their previous words were overshadowed.
Freddy, Bonnie, Foxy, parties... Did they really not know?
"Michael!" Gabriel shouted, snapping me out of my trance. "Are you okay? You look like you're gonna cry."
Their poor innocent faces...
Immediately, I gagged and threw up on the grass. Tears built up in my eyelids, ready to burst as more throw-up came up until I could only gag. My breath became a short, raspy mess. The grassblades spun around. The VHS tapes...
They were the children's lost memories.