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"Hello, everybody!" announces the fuzzy brown bear standing proudly on the stage by himself. "It's about an hour until Freddy Fazbear's Pizza closes for the day. Our friends Chica and Bonnie have gone to sleep after all that fantasy and fun, and I think I might be tuckered out next! But don't worry; pizza and drinks are being served right until closing time, the games are all active, and Foxy still has one more show in store for you over at Pirate's Cove! And of course, me and my friends will all be back tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that! But before I go behind the curtain for the night, I'd like to wish one final happy birthday to our favourite kid...Gabriel!"
You give a bright smile before taking another sip of your Freddy Fountain Drink. Of course, Freddy hands out birthday wishes to every person who pre-books or otherwise for that sort of thing, but this moment feels special. Freddy has always been your favourite member of the band, an unpopular opinion amongst the other children who prefer the radical rabbit or the ferocious fox. So to hear him refer to you directly gives you a real rush, even though he's already said it 5 other times today. The only way this day could be better is if anyone you invited to your party had actually arrived.
Not wanting to get yourself upset, you lift yourself from the dining table and peruse the area. Your mom is probably still in the restrooms. Unable to talk to her, you decide to head to the arcade area, just to try and beat your high score on skee-ball or something. When you're there, it appears that most of the games are occupied, including the one you set out for. The lines are also far too long for you to wait in now, so you sigh and decide to just wander around, but that's when you spot a patch of trouble.
In a far corner of the room, a boy around your age is cowering in the presence of two older kids, probably in their early teens. The little kid has a head of orange hair and tears streaming down his face as he hugs four plastic masks to his chest, one for each character of the gang. The bully with a slight tan and jet black hair yanks the fake faces away from the poor crying child, then kicks him to the ground.
"Oh, hell yeah!" exclaims the second teen with darker skin and lighter hair as he slots the Chica mask out of the stack. "This is a sweet-ass find, Jake. These could make a great name for ourselves."
"What do you think we are, a cult?" the other responds. "Get over yourself, all we do is pick on people."
"Hey, I'm just saying we should consider it. What's the point in takin' these from the brat if we ain't gonna use 'em?"
The two snicker and dash off, leaving the child to sit in the corner and sob, going unnoticed by all the other occupied customers. You look back at where your mom would be. Still not there. Feeling strong pangs in your heart, you approach the boy, and kneel to face him.
"Are you okay?" you ask the very obviously distressed kid, then feel immediately dumb for it. He shakes his head and buries his head in his legs, whimpering. "...Are your parents around?" His head tilts up, and he once again answers no. You run over the situation in your head before asking anything else. "...What were those masks for?" After a bit of silence, the boy sniffles and opens his mouth to speak.
"Th-they were for me and my friends. But one of them w-went home early, and I can't f-find the other two anywhere."
"Do you want to try and find your friends with me?" you offer. You really feel bad for this kid, neglected in the shadows of the room. "What do they look like?"
"O-one of them is wearing a yellow sport jersey, with brown hair, and the other is wearing a r-red bow, and she's blonde." You turn to scan the area, but he pulls you back by the wrist. "B-but you don't have to go trying to find them." The boy stands and blinks the tears out of his eyes. "I feel like I can find them myself. Thank you anyway, though."
He begins to stride out, but you stop him before he leaves. "What's your name?" you ask.
"...Fritz." he tells you, before turning and moving off to find his friends. You're a little displeased by him not asking the same to you, but at least he's happier now. As soon as he's out of sight in the crowd, you feel a heavy tap on your shoulder.
You turn around and see an animal you've never come across in the building before. It looks a little bit like Bonnie, but its head is much rounder and smaller, and its whole body is a bright yellow. It wavers from side to side as it towers over you, staring straight down into your eyes. Just as you're turning around to leave, it latches its hand around your shoulder, which you notice has five fingers, just like you.
"Hey, kid, don't leave just now! You're the birthday boy, right? Gabriel?" His voice is pretty welcoming, but it's muffled, and his mouth doesn't move when he speaks. You nervously look from side to side and then nod. "Well then, kiddo! I've got a special event planned for you! A whole party, with pizza and cake! If you'll just come-"
"I've a-already had a party, Mr. Bonnie." you admit, breaking free of his grip. "I'm pretty full, and…"
"Nonsense!" he interrupts, going down on one knee and whipping his arm around your back. "The girl I have back there said she was full, but I fixed that, and we've still been having a blast!" What does he mean by 'fixed that'? you wonder. "Also, you've seemed a little lonely, champ! You got no one at your party, so why not come to ours?"
You squirm a bit, but he doesn't let you leave. "My mom doesn't know...I should go tell her."
"Nah, she knows, bud. I've been talking to her, and she says it's all fine. C'mon now, follow me!" He begins to lead you by the hand, not offering much of a choice in the matter.
"So, Gabriel." the rabbit begins as he takes you through the clusters of patrons gathering around activities and screens. "I overheard you and someone else saying stuff about trying to find some other kids. What was he saying they looked like?"
You think back to the conversation you had with poor Fritz. "One of them was wearing a yellow jersey, and had brown hair, and the other had blonde hair with a red bow."
"Oh, haha! What a coincidence! Those are the two kids I already have over at the party! You guys can get to know each other for a while. Who was the boy telling you this, by the way? What did he look like?"
"His name was Fritz. He had orange hair, and...maybe black shorts, I can't remember."
"Well that's okay, I'm sure I can get him!" Mr. Bonnie approaches the restrooms, then seems to see something and suddenly pushes you around a corner, still firmly grabbing your hand. He holds you tightly there, for about ten seconds. Then he appears to sense your growing worry and pulls you back out, maintaining his speed.
"Wh-what was that, Mr. Bonnie?" you question shakily.
"Uuhhh...oh, that? That was just Freddy. I've been, uh, hiding from him, ever since he broke my guitar!" As he begins to go on about this story, you think you see your mother wandering off into the sea of other patrons. She doesn't see you as the bunny pulls you off into a hallway that you don't usually go down. The lights are dim, and there's barely anyone here. There's a stale scent of metal wafting through the air.
"Almost there, Gabriel!" he anticipates, jostling you a little. "Did I m-mention that you're all going to meet the animatronics, up close and p-personal?" He sounds a little too excited, like the party is more for him than it is for you. "And once you're there, I can go get Fritz, a-and, we'll all be a big happy family!" Mr. Bonnie begins to chuckle hysterically, having to take breaks while walking just to laugh. There's no one else around. You don't feel safe at all anymore. At this point he isn't leading you, he's just dragging you along the tiles towards a blank grey door. With his free hand, he reaches under his own skin, and retrieves a set of keys. When he reaches the door, he fumbles for the right key, fits it into the silver lock, and turns it.
Once you're inside, he lets you go, shutting the door behind him. The room is very barren, with only a few arcade machines and stains, except for at the far end of the room, where you meet some of your favourite characters. In the left corner, you can see Bonnie, the purple one you always knew, and Chica, leaning against each other. A dark liquid spills from Chica's torso into a puddle on the floor. In the right corner, Freddy's head lays disembodied on the floor next to his slouched body. The sight of your favourite character mutilated like this causes you to sob and squeal. What even is this place? What is the golden Bonnie going to do? You look over to him, and you go into more panic as you notice the sharp knife he's brandishing. He's not saying anything anymore, he's just trembling as he steps closer and closer to you. You sprint around him, back to the door, but he's locked it tight. You cower to the ground, and shuffle away from the steadily approaching bunny. He has you trapped between him and a wall. The rabbit gets down to your level and puts his finger to his mouth, silencing you, and touching the point of the blade to your chest with his other hand.
"Gabriel, please...be still. I need...to cut...the cake."
You turn your face away from Mr. Bonnie as you cry, not wanting to look at his frozen face hovering so close to yours. In your last remaining moments, you look into the eyes of Bonnie and Chica, still slumped over lifelessly in the corner.
As you feel the sharp object plunging into your rib cage and your vision fades, you can't help but think you saw them look back.
You wake up unable to move, speak, or breathe. Your entire body feels incredibly heavy, and cold as ice. It's almost pitch black, but you can barely make out the shadows of a bird and a rabbit. She's standing over you, and he's inching towards you on all fours. Their limbs twitch, hardly noticeable, and one of them is making quiet, jagged gasps for air. The dark liquid now spills all over the floor underneath you and the others. Even though you just woke up, you already feel so tired. You can't maintain any control of your body, let alone keep your head up. You slump over further and your heavy skull falls to your legs with the clunking of soft plastic and the clicking of metal. A dull pain washes over your body, leaving you with the need to weep, but you can't. This isn't your home. These aren't your legs.This can't be your life.
You choke on your inability to cry until you fall asleep for the first night of many, many to follow.
And you're all alone.