Chapter Text
It was strange.
One would think after what had just happened at the daycare a day prior, there would be more security monitoring the fenced-off premises. There was none. Not a single soul to be found.
Well, except for them of course.
At least it made breaking in a lot easier, “Hopefully there wouldn’t be any surprises waiting inside,” Nova thought to themselves, as they slipped through a large hole in the chain-link fence.
Approaching the building, the first thing they noticed was the front entrance was completely barred shut. It was then, by chance they spotted a cracked window off to the side. Nova took a quick glance around and began inspecting the possible entrance. “This should work.”
Reaching for the messenger bag at their side, Nova slipped out a wooden baseball bat. They gripped the bat in both their hands, holding it at a horizontal angle with the base facing the window. Nova took a breath, steadying themselves, before rearing back the bat and slamming the base at full force into the crack. The glass shattered with a satisfying crash, leaving a large enough hole for Nova to reach in, unlock the window and push it open.
Thankfully, the window was just wide enough for them to slip through. After grounding themselves, they began to observe their surroundings. They found themselves in what appeared to be the drop-off room, albeit more dimly lit than normal, Nova recognized the mural of Jumbo Josh on the wall to the right of the reception desk. Everything seemed to look… normal, not at all what they had been expecting. Nova’s brother did say it was only a specific room that had collapsed, but still. An uncomfortable shiver ran up his spine, something wasn’t right.
Tip-toeing around, they observed the other murals on the wall, the other had all the mascots present who all stood in a row big smiles on their faces, “Creepy…” they murmured. Scouting around the front-desk computers, their curiosity was awarded with a blue keycard. Nova recalled Adam telling them these were used to access rooms in the kindergarten, so they pocketed the item quickly, and headed to the next room.
The cafeteria had nothing special in it, only tables and vending machines. However, The door next to Josh seemed to be locked tight. The card reader didn’t even appear to be on, Nova grimaced. There was something else the staff used to open doors, if they could just remember. Sighing, they looked up. Their eyes widened.
“A big red button. How the hell did I miss that?” Nova remembered the drone one of the handlers used to access doors. Apparently they kept the door buttons high up so kids couldn’t reach them; the card reader was just an added security measure. It was a weird system, but whatever, there was no time to ponder that.
Glancing around, they spotted another door. This time the card reader was lit up and ready for use. Nova tapped the blue keycard against the reader and the door slid open, revealing a small drone, it was a fortunate find.
Unfortunately, the drone’s remote was out of batteries. Nova cursed, “Maybe there’s some extras lying around here.”
Searching around the computer desk proved to be futile, only a few miscellaneous scattered office items were found inside the cabinet drawers, but no batteries. Sighing, they headed back to the cafeteria area hoping they missed something. As if some higher power was listening, two batteries were laid out on the tables out in the open for them to find.
“Did I miss those too?” Nova thought to themselves. It was possible, they weren’t looking for batteries before, so it would make sense they didn’t notice them. Shrugging off the thought, Nova snatched up the batteries and popped them into the remote, then headed back to the storage room.
The drone was already hovering in the air with a low hum, Nova smiled, “Alright little buddy, let’s keep moving.”
If they remembered correctly, all they had to do was point the remote’s antenna to the direction they needed the drone to go and press the remote’s button. Sounded easy enough. Using the remote, Nova guided the drone to the large red button above the locked door. The drone chirped a small tune, before bumping against the target and the card reader lit up.
Nova wasted no time holding the keycard up to the reader, opening the double yellow doors, “Alright let’s try to get to that office room Adam mentioned and then-” they froze.
Down the hall, poking out from behind a room, a pair of large, red, deadpan eyes stared back at them. Nova could feel his breath hitch in his throat.
What… the fuck… is that ?
The two beings stared silently at one another; Nova realized the eyes belonged to a giant pink bird, who looked strangely familiar, but where had they seen it before? They took a small and cautious step forward and just like that, the bird disappeared back into the darkness.
Nova’s heart drummed in their chest and they could feel their hands shaking, It was just an animatronic, right? Maybe it was malfunctioning or something. There was no way they were alive like Adam theorized, right? Pausing, they took a deep breath to regain some control of their nerves once again. Whatever it was, it didn’t matter. Nova promised themselves they wouldn’t let anything stand in their way. They were getting Sophia out of here, even if it killed them.
A boost of confidence urged Nova forward as they made their way to the room where the bird disappeared into. This was short lived as they realized how dark the room was; it was as if looking into a black void. Panicked, they fumbled with the keycard and hastily turned on the lights with the reader. As the lights clicked on, row by row, they were met with the sight of the bird once again, which sat frozen near the back of the room.
Cautiously, Nova backed up slowly into the other room behind them, eyes never leaving the creature. Feeling safer in the lit room, they finally turned to view their surroundings.
It appeared to be one of the classrooms the children would learn in. The walls were white, with only a few murals of the mascots on the wall. The one that caught Nova’s eyes was of the main mascot, a tall red humanoid with two party hats on its head. A white speech bubble with text was painted next to him:
Sharing is caring!
Your pancreas is mine!
Nova furrowed his brow, “ What kind of fucking daycare is this? ” They muttered under their breath. Was this really appropriate to have around kids? Would they even know what a pancreas is ? They shook their head, “Gotta keep moving.” The only other thing of interest in the room was the ‘Naughty Corner’, another huge button hung on the wall. Unfortunately, the drone refused to break through the glass to push it. Maybe the button had to be on as well. Since nothing could be found in the classroom, they would have to bite the bullet and brave the room with the bird.
The room was a play area, complete with a jungle gym and swings. Warily, they began tip-toeing towards the unmoving creature, it was in the same position as when they last saw it. Maybe they were just seeing things before? It was possible the darkness was playing tricks on their eyes. Yet they couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. Behind the bird was a yellow sign on the wall:
Opila Bird mission!
Opila Bird is unbelievably hungry!
Feed it 6 eggs to get your prize!
Glancing over to the left was a boarded up room - a wooden sign stood in front reading, ‘Ball Pit Closed!’.
“So that’s where the collapse happened…” Nova would most likely find their answers in there. It was too bad their wooden bat wouldn’t be enough to break off the boards, they would need something a lot stronger. Not knowing what else to do, they decided to play Opila’s cannibalistic little game and find her eggs.
Oddly enough, it was easy finding all 6 blue-colored eggs, they were all hidden around the playroom in noticeable spots. Well, minus one that somehow managed to get stuck inside a jungle-gym slide. Nova returned back to the pink bird, and cautiously began placing the eggs into her mouth one-by-one. Afterwards, a yellow keycard was slowly regurgitated from Opila’s mouth.
Nova wrinkled their nose in disgust, “Nice fuckin’ prize,” they grumbled, before quickly snatching the card from the bird’s beak,afraid it would snap shut on their hand.
The yellow card reader in the other room responded to the new keycard, Nova smiled as the button on the wall, behind the glass, lit up with a red glow. Maybe now the drone could hit the button, although with the glass in the way it would be pretty messy. Taking precautions, they took a few steps back, before guiding the drone towards its goal. The glass crashed and clattered to the ground near Nova’s feet; the drone successfully hit the button opening a door behind them.
“A hammer…?” Weird, why was that in the classroom closet? Didn’t matter now, this would do the trick on those boards.
Nova kept their eyes on Opila when re-entering the playroom and taking down the boards. With every nail removed from the planks, they found themselves turning their head to check behind them and make sure the bird was still motionless. They had seen enough horror movies to know the killer always struck when the protagonist wasn’t looking. Though, a giant magenta stork wasn’t exactly your typical movie villain.
The last plank fell to the ground and Nova quickly stashed the hammer in their bag just in case it was needed again later. As they entered the ball pit room, they suddenly felt their heart sink into the pit of their stomach. There was a lit-up walkway in front of them, however the middle of the room was completely gone. Only a pitch black void remained in its place.
Is that where the kids were? Did they fall into THAT? How far down did it go? Nova tried looking down, but could feel the acrophobia creeping up their spine, causing them to shake and stumble back. This isn’t good. This wasn’t good. Looking up, they saw another walkway on the opposite side of the room with what looked to be a door, maybe that would lead somewhere else.
Looking around, they found another card reader above their head and shakily activated it with the card. At the opposite end of the walkway, a chair lift ominously lowered from the ceiling; Nova stared at it, anxiety replaced by confusion. Their body shuddered as they forced themself to their feet and cautiously approached it. There was a button on the wall adjacent to the chair and it became quickly apparent to Nova– They were going to have to ride the lift across the bottomless pit.
They swallowed hard before inching their way slowly towards the lift, “Don’t look down, don’t look down,” the mantra repeated in his head. Eventually they found themselves, eyes squeezed shut and back pressed against the chair, gripping onto the edges for support as the lift shifted and moved. A nauseating dread quickly swelled in their stomach.
“Think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts–” Nova began recalling memories of Sophia from the blackness of their mind, and slowly the dread bloomed into lighthearted thoughts. Nova recalled babysitting Sophia and how the young girl loved to draw and color, and how the two of them would create pictures and doodle together. Sophia loved to read, her favorite books being of the Dr. Seuss series and anything with cute animals on the covers; Nova had donated all their favorite books from when he was still a little girl. This made them smile- despite Sophia not being blood-related to him, she was still so much like them in so many ways.
Ker- CHUNK!
The lift came to a stop at its destination, jarring Nova out of their thoughts. Carefully he got up from their seat, planting their feet firmly on the solid ground of the walkway.
“That wasn’t so bad.” they mumbled, feeling less anxious now.
Reaching the other door, it was clear to him now that it wasn't an exit after all, but another utility closet. However, unlike the other ones, this one didn’t open with a keycard, but some sort of matching game or puzzle of sorts, “Who the fuck made this building?!” Did they hire the Riddler to design this goddamn security system? Fine, whatever. It was just matching the Garten’s mascots to their designated colors, Nova had seen them enough to know that much at least.
“Banban is red, Banbaleena is…white? Demonic-hell-bird is pink–” The puzzle was eventually solved, the door squeaking satisfactorily squeaking open on its hinges, revealing yet another keycard. Nova snatched it up and stuffed it into his pockets. Now they just had to make it back to the other side and–
Ker- CHUNK!
The lifts began to move again, jolting Nova’s attention back to it. Why were they moving again, they never pressed any buttons. A sinking feeling churned their insides as they looked over the railing. Their skin turned pale white at the sight before them.
That fucking bird was riding the lift, over to Nova, an intense gaze fixed upon them.
So, it was alive after all.
Nova panicked, twisting around to find an exit, there was no way they were gonna let some amalgamation of clay be their downfall. A button above them came into view and he acted quickly. Fumbling with the remote, he commanded the drone to slam into the button, hoping it would lead somewhere. However, all that occurred was a winding, wooden path slid out over the blackened void, leading back to the other side.
“Are you fucking kidding me?!–” Kerchunk! The hell-bird had reached its destination, its feet tapping over to Nova’s position; They snapped their attention over to Opila, who had suddenly stopped upon being looked at. Her reddened eyes boring into Nova’s, like a predator waiting to make its move.
Was she waiting for them to run? There was no time to think about that, Nova had to get out of there, and they would much rather cross the void on rickety planks, then be torn apart by some fuchsia flamingo; and so they began to run.
Opila screeched, immediately picking up the pace behind Nova, while the human did their best to move faster. They could feel a sharp pain rise in their chest and Nova began to wheeze. No not now. Don’t have an asthma attack now! Mustering up all they could, they had to ignore the piercing feeling in their lungs, as their breathing grew more shallow and panicked. A small wave of relief washed over momentarily as they finally reached the end. The cardreader was lit up once again, so Nova reached into their pocket and whipped it out, before gathering all their energy to jump across the small cavity of space between wood and walkway, and slammed the card against the reader.
The wooden walkway began to disappear underneath Opila’s feet. The oversized bird made an attempt to jump across, but failed, slamming its body against the edge of the walkway and falling into the pit below with a terrified scream.
Nova’s body collapses against the wall, their lungs burning and heart racing. Of course the one time they decide to leave their inhaler at home is the night he has to run for his life.
Breathe in… breathe out. Breathe in… breathe out.
Slowly they stood back up, his breathing and heartbeat gradually returning back to their normal rhythms. There was no time for rest however, more danger could be right around the corner waiting to try and cause more harm.
Cautiously Nova retraced their steps back to the classroom area, remembering something Adam had told them back at the hospital. They quickly beelined down a hall, past the mural of Banbaleena, before reaching the red-office door.
Anxiety swelled in their chest, as they used the newly obtained key-card to open the door to the back office. The doors slid open revealing a simple office with a computer desk and a few chairs strewn about on the floor. Nova’s eyes glanced around the room, it appeared to be fairly empty, where would they even fit an elevator in here? However, if he had learned anything about this place, it was that nothing was as it seemed.
On the wall, to the left of the computer desk, there looked to be an unlit drone-button, meaning there was something else hidden inside the office that could theoretically activate it.
“Adam did say there was a button under the desk.” Nova recalled murmuring to themself. On the way to the desk, they suddenly stopped as he spotted a ticket of sorts, sitting on the edge of the table. Nova picked it up and found it to be a boarding pass for a plane.
Nova read the name on the ticket aloud, “ Uthman Adam …” It was kinda funny in a way, whoever this Mr. Adam almost had the same name as their brother, except just switched around. Nova shook his head. Now was not the time for distractions, they needed to find that button.
Nova placed the ticket back onto the desk and continued their investigation. His eyes scanned across the desk while his hand searched along its edges. In a matter of seconds, their hand came across a smooth, cylindrical bump– the button. Bingo.
As predicted, when the desk button was pressed, the larger button on the wall immediately lit up ready to be hit.
Nova took a deep breath, according to Adam they already knew what to expect, but there was also the sinking feeling of something going wrong. Perhaps he was just overthinking though.
With some hesitation, Nova aimed the drone at the large button, it was either now or never. The button blipped when hit, and for a second nothing happened. Then the ground beneath them began to shake.
Nova gasped, nearly falling backward as the ground shook. As they steadied themself, they watched as part of the floor shifted and then disappeared under itself. Soon after, rising from the depths, was an old industrial lift. Nova’s eyes widened. As always Adam was right.
Warily, they inched closer and looked down into the darkness. Much like the ball pit room, the void appeared bottomless. However, the fact that there even was a lift meant there had to be solid ground somewhere down there.
There was now a difficult decision to make. Nova could go further down into the facility and hopefully find some answers to all of this, or they could give up, go home and forget any of this ever happened.
No, they thought. If they turned back now he would never forgive himself for not trying to help Sophia. They would never be able to live with themself nor the guilt.
Reaching into their back pocket, they began to send a text to Adam. He was probably still resting up at the hospital, but at least maybe now his brother wouldn’t worry about them too much should anything happen. Taking a deep breath, they began to type:
“Adam, you were right. Something weird is going on here, I found that elevator in the back office.
I know this is stupid, forgive me, but I’m going to take it down. I don’t know if there’s any reception down there, but I’ll try to update when I can.
Please don’t worry about me. We will both return safe and sound. I love you, see you later.”
They shoved their phone back into their pocket, took a breath to gather up courage, and then stepped onto the lift. They activated the button to take them down, down into the darkness towards god only knows where. It was silent except for the hum of the lift shifting downward, Nova took this quiet moment to recollect himself and consider the events that had transpired. It felt as though they had only scratched the surface of what was happening here in this seemingly innocent daycare center.
“OOUGH… EURGH…”
Nova flinched. Was that the elevator making noise? It sounded almost like a large animal.
It was then sirens all around them began to blare while red lights flashed manically. Before Nova could even assess the situation, an even more thunderous noise bellowed from behind them, making them twist around.
Nova froze, as their breath hitched in their throat.
His eyes transfixed at the sight of a massive green hand rising from the darkness. It clenched tightly onto the edge of the lift which caused the small platform to rumble. Nova lost their balance once again, catching himself onto the railing. His body trembled as they stared at the sight of the oddly familiar, green, grinning beast staring back at them.
Wait, hold on a second.
“Is that fucking Jumbo Josh–?!”
Before Nova could utter another scream, the lift collapsed under the excess weight from Josh, causing the two beings to tumble into the void below.