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Evan shifts in front of Michael’s door, clutching tightly onto his fredbear plush and trying to work up the guts to knock. He can’t hear his brother’s music anymore, but he can’t hear him moving around either… He knocks. No answer. His stomach feels tight, and he’s not sure if it’s because he’s hungry or because he’s nervous.
“Mike..?” He calls out, giving a moment for his brother to respond. Still, he gets no answer. He was going to have to go in. Michael was going to be so mad. Evan wasn’t allowed in his room except for emergencies. But this was an emergency, right? Elizabeth had left and she wasn’t supposed to, and Michael was in charge. He had to go get her. He reaches for the doorknob. Elizabeth had said not to tell Michael, but he knew that was a bad idea…
Evan takes a shaky breath in, and pushes the door open to see Michael in his bed, face squished against the pillow and eyes closed. Oh, he was asleep. That made sense. He steps over to the bed, nudging his brother’s shoulder. “Mikey, wake up.” No response. He nudges again, shaking a bit.
Then Michael shoves him, and he lands on the ground. It doesn’t hurt, not really, but he cries out anyway, mostly from surprise. Michael sits up, and looks down at Evan, who looks back up at his brother with wide eyes, feeling tears start to pool. Michael would probably be mad at him for that , too…
“What do you want? Why are you in my room?” Michael asks. Before Evan can say anything, he continues. “...Why didn’t Liz wake me up? Why did you wait so long?” Wait so long..? Evan realizes Michael is probably talking about dinner. He doesn’t want to admit he was scared to upset Michael by asking, and especially not now when there’s Elizabeth to worry about.
Evan stands up and scrubs the tears off of his face before answering Michael. “... She’s not here… she told me not to tell you, b-but she just left...” He braces himself for Michael to yell at him, but all he gets is a groan, and then he’s shoved out of the way as Michael runs past him. Evan steadies himself before running out of the room after his brother, stopping behind him in Elizabeth’s doorway. "...I-is Lizzie gonna be in trouble..?" he asks. He really hopes not.
"Not if we hurry up and go get her before he finds her." Michael looked really mad, and Evan’s stomach felt tight again. Elizabeth was going to be mad at him, too for telling on her… Especially if Michael was so angry… But the way that Michael said ‘he’ reminded Evan that even if Michael was mad, it was better than their father being mad, right..? Evan had never really seen him mad at anyone but Michael, but… that could be scary. “C’mon, let’s go.” Michael’s voice interrupts his thinking, and he’s pulled out of the room by his hand. He gets ready to go with Michael’s help. Instead of making him try to tie his own shoes like he usually does, Michael just does it for him, and when he’s done, he heads out the door.
Evan grabs his hand, and Michael looks down in surprise.For a second, Evan is worried Michael is going to push him away, but he doesn’t, thankfully, and squeezes instead. Evan has to jog to keep up, but it’s okay. He’s close to crying again, but he manages to mostly hold it in, sniffling and scrubbing at his eyes with the hand not linked to Michael’s. He still has no idea where they’re going. How does Michael know where Elizabeth is? Is this about the yelling they were doing earlier..?
When he sees Circus Baby’s Pizza World up ahead, his guess is confirmed. There’s a bunch of people inside, but Evan spots his sister’s red hair through the crowd. “Lizzie!” he slips out of Michael’s grip, and chases after her. He finds himself in a hallway. He doesn’t like the circus theme, it’s creepy. Not Like Freddy’s with all the animals… “Lizzie?” He calls again. There’s an open door down the hall, and he walks towards it. She must be in there. He hears a loud metallic sound, and his sister’s laugh. That was good! She was happy! Evan smiles. Maybe this place wasn’t so creepy. He stops walking. He didn’t want to bother her if she was happy, she might get mad at him for bringing Michael… He hears another loud clank of metal, and the laughter stops, replaced with a sharp cry. His smile falls, and he hurries forward.
Beyond the doorway, there’s his sister, held in the air by… a giant metal claw…? Past her is Circus Baby, but she looks wrong. Her chest is open. And… That’s where the claw is coming from. He makes eye contact with his sister, and she looks terrified. Evan shakes, unable to take another step. Elizabeth opens her mouth as if she’s going to say something, but she’s snatched back, and then the only thing in front of him is Circus Baby again, closed around Elizabeth and smiling as if she hasn’t done anything wrong. She ate Elizabeth. Evan screams.
Moments later, Michael is in front of him. Michael could help. Michael could get her out. "Really, crybaby? I thought something bad happened!" No, something did happen. He needs to explain it to Michael, but he can’t seem to get a full word out.
"N-no, Mike, she- Liz- it-" He can feel how angry Michael is. It isn’t fair , he’s trying his best!
"Spit it out!" Michael kicks Evan, and he cries, but he’s jostled enough to move again, and he points at Circus Baby.
"It ate her!" He manages to say, and it looks like Michael is taking him seriously now. He looks over at Circus baby, and steps into the room. Evan’s stomach is tight again. What if Circus Baby ate Michael, too? He should follow him… He wills himself to move, but his feet don’t listen to him… All he can do is stand there and watch.
“ Evan? ” Oh, no… He recognizes his father’s voice, and if he wasn’t already frozen in place, he definitely would be now… He doesn’t look away from Michael, but he hears his father stomping towards him. “What the hell are you- Fuck, your brother, too?!” He sounds angry… Evan starts crying again. His father grabs his hand, and drags him into the room after Michael, grabbing the older Afton by the shirt.
His brain feels fuzzy as he listens to Michael and their father talking. They go back and forth for a moment, and Evan can’t really focus on what’s happening until he hears his father say, in a creepy-calm voice, "Your brother is wrong.Your sister never even made it here. Those streets are dangerous at night, you know. Lots of children have gone missing…" …What? No! That wasn’t true. Evan saw it! He wasn’t lying!
"I saw her, Daddy." He argues, and he feels his father’s hand tighten painfully on him. He winces.
"No, you're mistaken, Evan. You didn't see anything. Now, I have to finish up here. Michael will take you home. Right, Michael? You don't want Evan lost, too, do you?" Evan is so confused. His father was lying and he was being unfair. It wasn’t Michael’s fault! Why was he being blamed..? Evan watches Michael nod. "Good." Their father replies, his voice still very creepy.
The grip on Evan’s wrist is released, and he runs to Michael immediately, grabbing onto him, heavy tears falling down his face. He doesn’t understand. He just wants his sister back.