Chapter Text
When the company guy interviewing you said your office would be "authentically rundown" he funnily neglected to mention the fact that it would have a faint smell of rotten eggs and sawdust that had a way of clinging to your lungs just enough you couldn't completely ignore it.
The office chair provided for you was fake leather and worn with some visible cracks and tears, it was definitely broken in but it had wheels which let you spin around so that was a perk.
You came into work around 7pm after grabbing a snack from a local fastfood joint, it was greasy and undoubtedly unhealthy as hell but it was the perfect midnight fuel to your second night shift.
You were halfway through with your food when the phone on the desk rang, it chimed a few times as you struggled and nearly choked, you patted your chest hard and sputtered "Fucking hell-" you panted as an automated message played before you could answer.
"Hey hey! Glad you came in for the night! I promise, it'll be SUPER interesting. We found some greeeaat new relics over the weekend, and were out tracking down a new lead RIGHT NOW! So, uhh- let me just update you real quick, then you can get to work. Like, the attraction opens in like a week, so we have to make sure EVERYTHING works, and nothing catches on fire!" You noted that as a bit odd for such a specific safety concern but shrugged it off, they really weren't paying you to worry about that.
"Uhm, when the place opens, people will come in at the opposite end of the building, and work way their towards you, and PASS you, and out the exit. Uh, yeah you've officially become part of the attraction. Uh, you'll be starring as... The Security Guard! So not only will you be monitoring the people on the camera as they pass through, you know, to make sure no one STEALS anything or hehe makes out at the corner," You rolled your eyes, 'A horror maze that smells like mold? Definitely can't think of a better place to sneak off and snog in the corner.` you thought silently
"but you'll also be a part of the show! It'll make it feel, really authentic I think. Uh, now let me tell you about what's new. We found another set of drawings, always nice, AND A FOXY HEAD! Which we think could be authentic! Then again, it might just be another crappy cosplay." The thing did look pretty authentic, when you passed it on your way in, even if it wasn't the teeth alone were hazardous enough to play the part.
"And we found a Desk fan, very old school, metal though, so watch the fingers! Uh, heh! Uhh, right now the place is basically just, you know, spooky props. I honestly thought we'd have more by now, uh so if we don't have anything really cool by next week, we may have to suit you up in a Furry suit, and make you walk around saying "BOO!" Hehe." You frowned "Being stuck inside a stuffy fursuit for hours on end for $10 an hour? Hard pass." The man on the phone talked on despite your comment, definitely not unexpected for a prerecorded message
"Uh, but you know like I said, were trying to track down, a good lead right now. Uh, some guy who helped design one of the buildings, said there was like, an extra room that got boarded up..? Or something like that. So! Were gonna take a peak, and see what we can find." A boarded up room? That's definitely odd to say the least, but from what you could guess they would probably just end up finding something like musty party supplies or some fossilized pizza.
The phone guy droned on "Uh, for now just get comfortable with the new setup. You can check the security cameras over on your right, with a click of that blue button. Uh, you can toggle between the Hall cams and the Vent cams. Uh, then over on your far left, you can flip up your maintenance panel. You know, use this to reboot any systems that may go offline. Uh, in trying to make the place feel more vintage we have overdone it a bit! Heh heh. Some of this equipment is BARELY functional! Uh, I wasn't joking about the fire, that- that's a real risk." You blinked repeatedly, all of this new information was making your head spin and mouth turn dry
"Uhm, but the MOST IMPORTANT THING, you have to watch for, is the Ventilation. Look, this place will give you the spooks man, and if you let that ventilation go offline, then you'll start seeing some craaazy stuff man, keep that air blowing! Ok, keep an eye on things, and we'll try to have something new for ya' tomorrow night."
The recording clicked off as you processed this "Crazy stuff? Barely functional? Shit there's probably a gas leak in here somewhere isn't there." You frowned and tried to calm your uneasiness.
"Deep breaths- deep breaths, wait would deep breaths be bad here if there is a gas leak? I don't feel dizzy I don't think.." you hummed and scooted your chair closer to the desk in front of you, a clunky monitor sat on top with a large panel that had several rectangular white buttons with labels and an outline of what looked like the building's shape.
You tossed your trash in the bin under the desk and experimentally pressed a button labeled Cam 10 which showed you grainy footage of a small hall in front of the exit door. "Hmm, that's pretty neat actually." You looked at the various cameras, the worn horror aesthetic did little to impress you but the effort is respectable. You examined the panel to your right, it was similar to the one on the desk with it's own monitor except it had a vent layout..... And a large gaping vent below it.
"Hmm I'll hand it to them, that's pretty creepy." The yawning darkness caused a feeling of discomfort in the pit of your stomach but you pushed it away and focused on memorizing each of the button functions.
After going through the buttons a few times you scooted your chair back and checked your phone, the time read 5:40 am so not much longer and your shift will be over. You spun around in your chair a few times, this place was decrepit sure but it seemed simple enough, the colors from the old animatronic parts blurred together with shadows as you spun, you could still make out details like the empty sockets, plastic sheen and arms bent at unnatural angles.
You stopped spinning in your chair and scooted it to the box, you picked up one of the empty heads and looked it over. It was missing it's jaw and had the shape of a... Wolf? Fox? It was mostly white with pink and red accents. "Huh, that's pretty cool. Did they make you or find you somewhere?" You asked the mask "They really went all out, I wonder what you looked like.." you trailed off in thought, What did these look like? You'd heard the Fazbear name tossed around a few times but hadn't seen much of it yourself, from the look of these decorations though it seemed like a Chucky cheese offshoot.
The sound of the office 6am alarm jarred you from your thoughts and you quickly placed the mask back onto the pile in the box. You stood up and popped your back in a few places and patted down your pockets to make sure you had all of your things. You picked up your half empty soda cup and waved goodbye to the empty brown bear head on a coat rack outside of the office door, "Sayonara bear head, tell the wife and kids I send my regards." You chuckled and headed down the halls to the exit, the place was creepy yeah but it was so easy to for you to shatter the illusion, why sit in the corner on the edge of your seat all night when you could laugh at the silly spooky decorations?
You locked the exit and sent a text to your boss that you'd completed your shift before heading to your car, "New job, new beginnings." You said to your reflection in the rearview mirror, "But first it's time to get some shut eye." You cast a final look at the building and drive back to your home for the day, carrying the stale smell of rotten eggs with you into your home and to your bed.