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“NO!” she screamed, running to the doorway. She felt her foot catch on her leg, and she fell to the ground, skidding across the catwalk. She felt her eyes slowly close, and the red tinted world seemed to spin. The constant migraine she had been suffering from seemed to wane. The last thing she saw was that grubby hand before blacking out.
“Vanny!” someone yelled. ‘Vanny… who’s Vanny?’ she thought, slowly opening her eyes. Lights were bright and flashing. They were green, blue, purple, pink. What they belonged to, she didn’t know. She tried to sit up, but her body felt heavy. Weak. Tired, no, exhausted. Her eyelids wanted to close again, and she felt the primal urge to curl up into a ball and rest.
Her legs felt like they hadn’t stopped moving in years. They looked lean, thin, thinner than they had been in years. She placed her hand on her stomach. It was… bony. She could feel her ribs under her clothes. And it hurt like hell. She couldn’t help but wonder… When had she last eaten?
“Freddy, there!” the voice yelled. The same voice. Maybe a girl? Perhaps a child. She wasn’t sure. She let her hand fall back to her side, and let her head lower back to rest on the catwalk.
“Vanny… I can see you now. You are…” this ‘Freddy’ did not continue. “Is there someone I should contact?” he asked, placing a heavy hand on her ribs, perhaps checking her vitals. She wasn’t sure. It felt more like he was about to crush her flimsy bones.
“Call… Call Luis. He’ll be there,” she mumbled. It was the only name she could think of. She didn’t know if she had some sort of connection with this ‘Luis’, but she sure as hell hoped he would take her to a hospital.
“Luis? I have a Luis Cabrera in the Fazbear employee database. Is he-” “Just get him!” she yelled, using all her energy.
The world seemed to spin, and get almost blindingly bright. “I need an EMR,” she muttered, and then she was out.
“Nessie, stay with me, we’ll get you help,” a soothing voice said. “Gosh, when you said you were moving positions, I didn’t realize this is what you meant,” he half laughed, running his hand once over her head. “Freddy, go get her to the front. And you, kid, stay with me. Tell me what you know,” Luis said, crouching down to his level.
“I… I don’t know, I’m just a kid! I don’t think she knows either… She was like, possessed or something, I think. That’s her… hideout,” the boy said, pointing over his shoulder. “Oh gosh… It definitely looks lived in. I haven’t seen her in months, I guess she’s just been here the whole time,” Luis muttered.
“Is Nessie… Is it short for Vanessa?” the boy asked. “No, I’m afraid not,” Luis replied, standing back up to his full height. “I need to go make sure she’s doing okay. You should come with,” he said, waving the boy forward.
The moment she opened her eyes, she knew she was in the hospital. The rectangular lights, the bland walls, the lack of an office cubicle… The only place this could be was a hospital. Just barely tilting her head to the left, she saw machines that confirmed her speculations. She noticed how slow her heart monitor was going. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. On her other side, she saw some sort of IV. Several of them, all holding different things.
And then she noticed the man. Tall, dark hair. Almost familiar. Next to him was a boy. Also almost familiar. But she couldn’t name the pair. The boy was asleep on his shoulder, and as for the man, he was blankly staring ahead.
“Um… Hello,” she whispered. “Nessie! Oh god, you’re awake!” Luis said, carelessly pushing himself off the couch, letting the boy fall on to the couch instead of leaning on his arm. “Who, who, who are you?” she managed to say, almost panicked. She wasn’t sure if she was allowed to have this high of a heart rate at this point.
“Nessie… Do you really not remember me?” he asked, pulling up a chair to her bedside. “I… I don’t know. What happened, why am I here? What are all these tubes for?” she asked, her breath accelerating. “I know a few of them are for giving you nutrients. You practically had nothing left on you… makes me wonder how you’re still alive, or really, how you did this to yourself. Do you remember anything?” he asked.
‘So much information,’ she thought. She had to slightly clear her throat before speaking again. “The last thing I remember was being a beta tester, and finding these files, and-” “Files?” “Files. They were like, tapes, and there was this girl and this rabbit and… That’s it,” she sighed.
Luis looked down at his lap. “So that whole time… was I even getting to know the real Nessie?” he breathed. “Stop… stop calling me that. Just call me Agnes,” she blurted.
“You always said you hated that name.” “Well not anymore,” she snapped, turning her head away from him.
“Well, I’m Luis, for the record. Sorry. Get some rest,” he said, stepping up from the chair.
How could she get rest? When she closed her eyes, she saw things. These memories didn’t belong to her. She was sure they didn’t. She couldn’t wield a knife. She couldn’t dance around like that. Even if she liked childish things like notebooks with kittens on them, she hadn’t skipped around like that in years.
She wanted to open her eyes, but she took a deep breath and continued digging. A rabbit. It was veiled in a green light. It was waving at her. “I will set you free.” It sounded like her voice. But was it? She sounded sinister. She had never heard herself speak like that.
She couldn’t take it anymore. She had no proof this wasn’t all just a dream. She had no proof that these people weren’t just lying to her.
“Luis… Why doesn’t that kid go home? He doesn’t owe me anything, his parents are probably worried about him,” she said sharply. “He… said he doesn’t have a place to go to. I figured it would be best to keep him with me,” Luis replied. “Well then, my clothes! What happened to them? What were they?” she demanded.
“Ness… You were dressed up like some sort of bunny. Complete with the feet and everything,” Luis answered, his voice sullen.
“But, but, but why?” she stammered. “I’m not sure, you never told me.” “What did I tell you?” she asked.
He spent a long time recounting every time they spoke. “You told me about everything you learned about the game, and about how crazy the story was, and all about how much you loved to write and play. You… Once, you told me that you loved me. You were laughing and laughing at one of my stupid jokes, and suddenly you just stopped, lean forward, and smiled. And then you said it.”
She looked at Luis, then looked slightly down at her body. “Huh. I guess… I guess we were close,” she said, placing a hand on her head to hold back her hair. “Yeah… We were. Anyway, get rest, for real. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Luis said, and with a squeeze to her hand and a flash of a smile, he took his place back on the couch.
When she was finally discharged from the hospital, she made sure to keep up with Luis. It wasn’t that hard. Supposedly, she had moved in with him for about a week before she left. The kid, or really, Gregory, was staying with them too.
Sometimes, she would sit silently on the couch, watching Luis happily beat Gregory at every race; though he sometimes slowed down to make him feel a little better. It was almost charming to watch. Of course, it wasn’t the same as it probably was before. Maybe better. Maybe worse.
“Nessie, if you ever want to talk about what you remember… I’m always here,” Luis said, pushing himself on to the sofa next to her. She stared down at the floor, Gregory still racing away.
“I just want to live a normal life. Maybe one with you too,” she smiled, glancing over at him. She wanted to be normal. She could be normal.