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“But ma! I told Lucas I’d go to his house! I can’t take this little dweeb with me!”
“Andrew, it's his eighth birthday, and you have to watch him. Maybe Lucas would join you two?”
“Ugh no, why would either of us ever be caught in a place like that?”
“Well, we’ve already promised him it so-”
“So you go!”
“I have work Andrew, you know this. Look if my boss wasn’t a jerk I’d go but he pulled this sh- you know what on me so, I can’t.”
“And I have plans and you know that!”
“Andrew, you can ‘hang out’ with your friend any day, you can’t reschedule a birthday. Just take him, and have a fun day. You can sulk or whine or whatever as long as you’re there watching him.” She handed him a small baggie of cash. “I’ll let you bring home pizza from somewhere you like?”
Andrew pouted but eventually sighed and grabbed his little brother's hand.
“Ugh, fine! Come on Gabe…”
~
Andrew stood outside, the cold night wind blowing hard against his hair. He gazed up at the building that had caused so much for him.
The tears. The yelling and swearing. The flashing lights, clipboards and cameras. Seeing scum bags trying to make a buck selling anything that may have been used by him . He had seen eBay listings for a god damn fork left behind reaching well over 1000 bucks in price.
Not to mention what it had done to his family. On a good day his mother couldn’t drive by the place without avoiding him for a whole week.
Andrew was lucky. In this shitstorm of a housing crisis, he had found a place far from it. But his mom. Man.
They were unfortunate to be in walking distance.
The place was in a weird spot now. It was far from ever being reopened, but no one had approved any plans for demolition. Or no one had bothered.
Andrew took another look at the sign. People had already taken to vandalising the sign. Making Freddy swear, changing it to ‘Freddy Fuckbears’, one guy had even drawn a kid in his mouth.
But Fazbear Entertainment for some reason kept that sign clean. Not as in, in healthy condition but they’d come and scrub the graffiti off the sign every week.
For some reason after everything that happened, despite refusing to help this place, they didn’t want to let it go.
~
“Gabe come the fu- frick on!”
The teen rolled his eyes as the small boy dragged his feet. Ugh, today it wasn’t right to be mean, it was the little squirts birthday afterall. Still, he could hurry the fuck up.
Gabriel stumbled slowly behind before he ground to a halt.
Andrew jerked his arm forward but the kid stayed firmly in place.
“What’s the hold up?”
“My shoelace is untied.”
Andrew facepalmed hard.
“So?! Tie them back up again!”
“But Mom does it for me.”
“Oh my g- look. We are halfway there. You really wanna spend your birthday going all the way back so mommy can tie your shoes up? Just, walk with them loose or whatever.”
“But mom says it’s dangerous. Can you tie them for me?”
“Oh for- fine! Come here!” Andrew bent down and hastily tied the colourful laces together. Dumb kid, wearing cartoony shoes.
“There, now can we go already?”
Gabriel nodded and the two set off.
Soon enough, They rounded a corner and there it was: Freddy Fazbear's Pizza
~
The door gave way easily. It had already been broken into thousands of times. Andrew stepped aside, holstering the crowbar. He took a few steps and immediately recoiled. This place reeked, mould and rot amounting everywhere.
The once warm reds and yellows and purple were replaced with ancients greens and something he could only describe as piss.
Andrew dumped his bag on a chair and walked towards what he knew was the stage. He had heard enough sap from reporters and YouTubers about how “a place that had once brought joy now only brought sorrow,” like they knew what sorrow was. But looking at the cracked and worn stage, he kinda had to admit it.
Andrew admired the rest of the damage. Bathrooms were boarded up, the floor was cracked in several spots, some of the walls had holes with moonlight shining through. A reminder of the outside. Tables were all broken beyond repair. Andrew noticed through the cracks on the ground, small plants were starting to grow.
It was unfortunate for them what Andrew had planned.
The man returned to his backpack and pulled out what he needed.
~
Andrew winced as he opened the door, as children shrieking pierced his ears, as they ran around chasing each other. Obnoxious music from like, the 70s blasted out.
“Oh god” he groaned. He looked down and saw Gabriel already getting excited. He rolled his eyes. “All right, come on squirt.”
Andrew led Gabriel to the entry booth.
“One birthday kid and one teenager, please.” Andrew muttered, sliding over the cash needed.
The booth guy typed something into a computer and grabbed a stamp.
“Hands please.”
He stamped both of them with a little ink star. Andrew saw the guy didn’t look totally dead inside, but might be getting there soon.
“Happy birthday little man. Have a nice day here.” He said with a faint smile.
“Yeah you too buddy.” The teen grumbled. Andrew and Gabe entered the dining hall. Gabe nearly burst when he saw the animals singing on stage. He started tugging his brothers sleeve.
“Andrew Andrew Andrew, can I go see the robots pleeeeeease.”
Andrew looked around and saw a guy slightly older than himself wearing a uniform. “Hey uh, can he go see, y'know, them?”
“Yeah lil dude, if you don’t get too close!” The guard said.
“Knock yourself out then.” Andrew muttered, before watching the kid shoot off. Andrew rolled his eyes and started to head for a table. Maybe he could fall asleep, that way he wouldn’t have to listen to the annoying music.
“Well, ain’t that cute.” Said a voice from behind.
Andrew turned around and stared. “Lucas? The hell are you doing here?”
Lucas stepped forward. “Saw you two walking by my house. Thought I’d tag along. Question is, what are you doing here?”
Andrew pouted and looked down. “Lil runts birthday.”
“Oh!” Said Lucas, slicking back his hair and grinning. “So is your mom here?”
Andrew hit him in the shoulder. “Yo shut the fuck up-”
“Hey, language!” Called the guard.
“Yeah whatever. Anyway she had some work thing pop up so I had to take the lil guy here.”
“Ah. That’s rough. Still, at least we could make the best of it here?”
Andrew's eyes lit up. He made sure the guard wasn’t watching and let Lucas away into the back corner “Or. We could make the best of it somewhere else?”
Lucas raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“We could call up Greg, Jenny, Marty, and just hang out somewhere close. Let the little guy tire himself out with those tin cans, we finish up, I swoop back, take Gabe home and boom. Easy.”
Lucas scratched his head. “I dunno, it’s his birthday, man. I feel like you should, y’know, do what your ma says?”
“Relax, he’ll be fine. There's tons of kids and adults here. Look at him, he’s having a blast. Come on, let's go.”
The ticket guy watched as the two teens walked by. “Hey, where are you kids going? What about your little brother?”
“Oh, my mom’s in there already, I was just bringing him.” Andrew lied. “We have to head home and help our dad with the surprise party and all.”
Ticket man shook his head. “You should’ve told me you guys were just dropping him off.”
He pondered for a moment, before reaching for the register.
“I shouldn’t be doing this, you know, but… here”
He handed both teens their money back. “Hope the party goes well.”
“Thanks, man.”
Andrew pocketed the cash and headed for the exit but Lucas grabbed his shoulder.
“Dude this isn’t right, we should stay.”
“What, don’t you wanna have fun? He’s not your brother, why should you care? Now come on, let’s blow this place.”
Lucas watched Gabriel admiring the animatronics, before turning and walking away.
~
Wow, it was still here. Andrew examined the star studded purple curtains, or more accurately, the mouldy grey curtains that had the slightest hint of purple to them.
The cove was a local mystery to all the kids, and discussion had even sparked up online. It was a story that had been going for well over 20 years. Even just after the internet started, people in chat rooms and servers talked endlessly about the elusive fox, sharing videos and photos various parents had captured during his glory days. Some wanted to find where he was now, some wanted to know what he looked like, some wanted to know why he had disappeared.
Andrew remembered when he was little and the place was new, watching Foxy, a pirate fox who performed there, hook hand and all.
Most creative name ever.
Andrew recalled one kid's birthday. Freddy would finish the show and tell kids to head over to the cove, where the curtains swung open and Foxy would entertain the crowd. He always seemed the coolest to Andrew.
But one day the fox was just gone. Decommissioned. Posters of him were taken down, group photos were reshot, and all mentions of Foxy were erased from the animatronic dialogue.
And yet, despite being closed, there was still the attraction, firmly in place for all to see. A sign was placed in front; “Sorry! Out of order.”
It seemed to all that despite what the lack of advertising was trying to say, Foxy remained.
Yet the curtains never opened. He evolved into a legend overtime, older kids telling the younger ones about the pirate fox who hid behind the curtains. But then came the mystery of why he’d gone missing.
Teens who’d been there on day one of the restaurant spread stories of Foxy committing horrible acts.
“It malfunctioned and killed a kid with its hook! They scrapped it soon after…”
“A technician died trying to fix him! The others refused to move him because he’d kill them too!”
“He’s haunted by a real pirate ghost!”
All were bullshit. Andrew knew the real reason, he’d seen him.
Some kid snuck onto the stage and pulled his curtain back, revealing Foxy standing slumped over, holes all over his body. Kids screamed at the sight before the curtain was swiftly closed by an employee.
That kid had been Marty, after Jenny had dared him. Andrew still could remember the group being lead out and banned for a month. Hey, it was worth it.
The group committed to the bit though, and helped to spread stories about “The Mangled Fox”.
Andrew smiled, remembering. Good times.
But then he opened his eyes. Now he could see what was behind the curtains. An empty, dusty and lonely stage. The remnants of a maintenance schedule stuck on the wall next to a rotten poster of the Captain himself.
Like the rest of this place, nothing left but cobwebs and memories.
~
Gabriel cheered as Freddy and company finished their routine.
“We’ll be r-right back after this, kids!” Freddy announced.
“Make sure you fi-fi-fill up on pizza!” chirped Chica.
“And we’ll see you in a few minutes!” finished Bonnie.
The curtains closed on the animatronics, leaving the audience to talk amongst themselves.
“No way! He’s not there!”
“Is too!”
Gabriel looked over to a boy and girl slightly older than him arguing.
“What are you talking about?” he asked.
“This idiot,” the girl said, pointing to the boy. “Thinks there's another robot, but there isn’t!”
“There is! My big brother has a toy of him! He’s a pirate fox!”
“That’s stupid!”
“You’re stupid!”
“Hey, hey! Break it up!” called the security guard, running over. “Rule 2 and 3 guys, no yelling and no screaming.”
The man then turned to Gabriel and noticed the boy was all alone.
“Hey, birthday buddy!” he said, crouching down to the boy’s level. “Where are your parents?”
“They’re not here.”
The guard scratched his head. “What about your brother? You came in here with him, where’d he go?”
Gabriel looked around. He hadn’t noticed until now that Andrew wasn’t anywhere t be seen.
“I… dont know”
“Did he leave you alone?”
Gabe looked down at his feet. The guard frowned.
“If I see that little…” he muttered. “Hey, kid, since it's your birthday why don’t you just hang by me. I’ll look after you.” He offered a hand to the boy, who reluctantly took it.
“Okay then. Hey, I don’t think I ever got your name bud.”
“Gabriel.”
“Nice to meet you Gabriel, I’m Glenn. Alright, I gotta get back to my post, you just hang here, okay?”
Gabe nodded. “Awesome.” said Glenn. “Oh and Gabe? Happy Birthday.”
Gabriel sat back down at his table, feeling upset. Andrew had just… left him? On his birthday?
“It’s your birthday?” asked the girl from before.
Gabe looked over. “Uh-huh?”
“Well, happy birthday! I’m Susie. It’s my birthday too!”
“My name’s Gabriel.” said the younger boy.
“Fritz” introduced the other kid. “So, how old are you?”
“I’m eight now”
“I’m ten, she’s nine.” Fritz looked around. “If it’s your birthday, what are you doing here alone?”
Gabe’s face fell. “Mom said we couldn’t afford a proper party. She was gonna come with me, but then said work got her stuck.”
“Didn’t that guard say something about your brother?” Susie asked.
“Yeah.” answered Gabe. “He took me and then… left me here.”
“Oh.” the table fell into silence. “Well.” said Susie. “You could hang out with us?”
“We were gonna go play the arcade games if you wanted to come.” offered Fritz.
Gabe smiled. “Yeah that sounds fun. Thanks.”
“No problem, I just gotta check with my mom, come on.”
~
Andrew stepped back and took one last look at the place. There really was a feeling of sadness to it. He could still see handprints left on the stage from kids getting too close.
Everything of value had been stripped. The robots were nowhere to be found, either scrapped, sold or stored. The cash register in the entrance was long gone.
Andrew noticed the long since destroyed door to the kitchen, and peered inside. It was picked clean, ovens ripped out, plates smashed or missing, cupboards graffitied to hell.
Fuckers even stole the fridge.
Well, time to get to work.
The gasoline flowed. All over the tables, the floor, everything. He drenched the tattered curtains of the long closed Pirate Cove, the halls, even the remains of children’s drawings.
He stopped when he got to the stage again. This was the centre of it all. Of the good times and the bad. Andrew could remember the stage from when he was a kid. Now, any kids who saw this stage would only have nightmares. Andrew took a deep breath, and continued pouring.
When he was done, there would be nothing left.
~
“H-h-hey boys and girls! Is everyone here enjoying the sh-show?”
“I know I am, Freddy!”
“Of course you are, you’re p-part of it Bonnie!”
The glitchy animatronic’s voices rang out, as Fritz, Susie and Gabriel made their way to a group of adults talking.
“Mom, mom!” Susie called, interrupting the conversation they were having.
“One sec, yes honey?”
“This is Gabe, It’s his birthday too! Is it ok if he plays the arcade with us?”
Sharon rubbed her chin. “Um, honey, wouldn’t Gabe be happier playing with his own party?”
“But he’s here alone!”
The woman’s eyes went wide.
“Is that true? You’re alone here?”
“Yeah”
“Umm, well.” she said. “If he's okay with it, sure he can play with you.”
“Yay! Come on Gabe!” Susie grabbed his hand and ran to the arcades, Fritz close behind.
“Who’d just leave a child here unattended?” asked one of the other parents.
“No idea.” remarked Sharon.
~
“Dude, I’m telling you, it’s gonna be so cool”
Greg considered. “I dunno man, robots? Doing everything? Wouldn’t that make it hard to get a job?”
“That's the point, we wouldn't need jobs.” Marty retorted. “We can just lie around and let the robots handle it all.”
Jenny scoffed. “Sounds boring as hell.”
“Speaking of robots, know where we were today?” Lucas asked the group.
“Where?” asked Greg
“Freddy Fazbear’s.”
“Really?”
“Duuuuude” laughed Marty. “We ain't been there in like, forever.”
“Well yeah, its a kiddie place. It was like, screamy kid central when we were there.”
“Remember when we used to go there? When we were the screaming kids?” Jen said.
“Hah, yeah…” Andrew chuckled. “We were..”.
“Long time ago huh?” Greg asked, sombrely.
The teens sat for a moment, reminiscing.
“So.” Jen said, breaking the tension. “What were you doing in ‘Screamy Kid Central’ then?”
Andrew scowled and looked away. “It was Gabe’s birthday.” he muttered.
“Aw, you took him to Fweddy Fazbears?” Jen sneered. “What a nice big bwother you are”
“No, he dumped him there.”
“Dude!”
“Well its true!”
“You did what?”
Andrew turned to see Marty, Jen and Greg staring at him, mouths agape.
“You just… left him there?” Greg asked.
“Dude I get siblings are annoying and all, but ditching them on their birthday?” Marty added. “That’s low.”
“Yeah, we could’ve just gone there!” put in Jen. “Andrew, your little brothers cute, I wouldn't have minded hanging out with him.”
“Yeah and what's wrong with going to Freddy’s?”
Andrew rolled his eyes. “So much, man. It’s filthy, the food sucks, the music's crap, the animatronics are falling apart, it just, like, sucks.”
“And?”
“What do you mean ‘and’?” Andrew snapped. “There is no ‘and’.”
“Well.” Greg suggested. “You didn’t mind that when we were little.”
“Yeah, when we were little! We’re not little, we don’t have time to sit around crappy pizza places!”
The group once again fell into silence. Andrew sighed before looking at his watch.
“Ugh, guess I better go pick him up.” He said, standing up and grabbing his jacket. “I guess see ya guys-”
“Uh uh” Jen cut him off, standing up herself. “I’m coming with you.” Andrew stared at her like she was crazy. “Look you already ditched him once, I’m not letting it happen twice.”
Lucas stood up too. “Yeah I think I’ll come too. I didn’t get to wish the lil man happy birthday.”
Andrew groaned. “Fine, come on.” He huffed to the door, before looking back to Marty and Greg. “Later you two.” He muttered.
“Yo tell Gabe happy birthday from us!”
“Sure whatever.”
~
At last, he was done. Gasoline drenched every surface of this damned place. The man took a deep breath. He couldn’t tell if the smell was an improvement or not.
He lit the match and examined the flame closely. The one that would end everything.
It was then he noticed on the other side of the room, the faintest outline of a door on the wall.
No. No. No fucking way. He had not spent ages drenching this place for one room to be left, to tell the story.
Snubbing the flame out, Andrew ran over to the door and examined it. The paint matched the rest of the wall, in its prime of course. The handle was missing, if it ever had one, that was.
This room seemed built to be hidden. Not from Andrew though.
Quickly he rushed to his bag and dug out his crowbar. Darting back, he shoved it firm into the crack of the door. No room could be left of this place. If even a brick remained he’d lose his mind. He had to get in there and burn it too.
The door was tough. Andrew was clearly the first to open it in a while. At least, you know, in this method. The vandals and thieves had missed this place. At last the door gave way, collapsing with a loud thud. Andrew stepped inside, and gasped at what he saw.
~
“There ya go buddy. Compliments of Freddy Fazbear himself.”
Gabriel looked down at the pizza in front of it. Glenn rubbed the back of his head.
“Sorry it’s not, y'know, a lot” He said, nervously. “I’m sure your family would’ve gotten you more- I mean I’m, you deserve- look sorry kid it’s all I could really afford. Hope you like it.”
“I do.” Gabe smiled . “Thanks Glenn.” Glenn breathed a sigh of relief. “Look I’m sure your family will be in by closing time. Hey, maybe they’ll want a slice of that themselves, heh. Alright kid enjoy, I gotta get back to it.”
“Yeah, thanks Glenn.” Gabe said. Truthfully, he was still feeling upset. Glenn was cool and all but, he thought he’d get to hang out with Andrew on his birthday.
As the characters performed, Gabe looked glumly at the pizza in front of him, before picking up a slice and digging in. Not too bad, but nothing amazing.
“Hey buddy!” Said a voice. Gabe looked up to face Glenn, but the guard was over by another table talking to one of the parents. Gabe swung around to see what looked like a giant walking Bonnie, only painted golden yellow.
The rabbit was hunched over, staring right at the boy.
“Um… hi.” Gabe whispered.
“Are you the birthday boy?” The rabbit asked. Gabriel gulped. “Uh yeah.” He stammered.
The rabbits eyes lit up. They unnerved Gabriel. Peering past the eyeholes, he could clearly see this was a man in a costume. The way he spoke, even with the silly cartoon accent, did nothing but chill Gabriel to the bone.
“Do you want to come see something cool?”
Gabriel remembered what he’d been told about strangers. “No.” He said. The rabbit's face fell a little.
“Aw, you don’t want to see Foxy?”
Gabe raised an eyebrow. “Foxy?”
“Yes!” The rabbit man quietly exclaimed. “The pirate fox! Don’t you want to come see him?”
Gabriel was immensely curious, but shook his head. “No thanks.” He said. He swore he could see the man’s eyes briefly glare before snapping back to a wide beam. He tried to continue watching the show, but the rabbit man was persistent.
“Okay buddy, I’ll just go tell your brother you didn’t want his party.”
That got Gabes attention. “Andrews here?”
“Yes! They’re in the back, with presents, cake, and a much better pizza than this! They asked me to take you there.”
Gabriel looked at the rabbit, then back to the still occupied Glenn.
“I should ask Glenn…” he said.
“No!” Snapped the rabbit, grabbing the boys arm, his eyes wide. Gabriel let out a small cry but the rabbit clamped a hand over his mouth before quickly retracting it.
“Why’d you do that!” Gabriel cried, but the rabbit just held a finger to his mouth. “You see, heh, we can’t let the other kids know, cos they're not invited. Glenn already knows. We have to keep this secret, between me and you, okay?”
The rabbit offered his hand to the boy. Gabriel looked back to the performance, Susie, Fritz and Glenn, before turning back to the rabbit and slowly accepting his hand.
“Alright then, follow me lil buddy.”
~
“Wait, Freddy didn’t you hear? We have birthday guests today!”
“Really?! How many?”
“Two of them!”
“Wow that many? Could the lucky birthday kids raise their hands please?”
Susie giggled and raised her hand, leading to applause from the audience. She looked around to see Gabriel doing the same.
But he was nowhere to be found.
Glenn looked to the table where he was sitting. At his seat was a full pizza, with only half a slice eaten.
“Gabriel?”
~
Andrew, Jenny and Lucas approached the pizzeria. They could see groups of people already beginning to depart.
The ticket guy was half asleep when he noticed Andrew and Lucas walking in.
“Oh hey it’s you guys.” He said, sitting up and adjusting his chair. “Party ready for the little guy?”
“Oh uh, yeah.” Andrew mumbled. “We’re just here to you know, pick him up.”
“Yeah sure just go right ahead. Your sister can go too, it’s cool.”
Jen opened her mouth to speak but Andrew cut her off. “Yeah, thanks man, we’ll be real quick.”
“You’re throwing him a party?” Jen asked as they walked in.
“Nope.” Andrew said blankly. “Okay let’s just find him and get out.”
Gabriel was nowhere in the dining room. He wasn’t in the halls, he wasn’t in the foyer, he wasn’t in the bathrooms.
“Where the hell is he?”
“Little guys just hiding probably.” Andrew muttered.
“Huh, if only someone had been here to keep an eye on him, hmm?”
Andrew rolled his eyes, before looking around and seeing the guard from earlier.
“Hey!” He called, walking over. “Hey man have you seen my brother. Little gu-”
“What the heck kinda brother are you?!” The guard yelled. “Abandoning your little brother on his birthday? You should be ashamed.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m the worst brother, I know, these guys told me, but where the fuck is he?”
“First off, watch the language. Second, I have no idea. He just vanished like 10 minutes ago during the show. I took my eyes off him a second and he was just gone.”
Andrews eyes went wide. He reached for a nearby chair and sat down, burying his head in his hands
“Shit.” He muttered. “Shit shit shit SHIT!”
“Hey man, calm down” Jen said.
“Calm down? I’m not gonna calm down, My brother is missing!!! My mom? She's gonna kill me!!!”
“Hey, hey!” The guard said, crouching down. “Just breathe buddy. We’ll find him. He might’ve just left, we’ll go ask Doug at the front what he saw, okay? But for now, just breathe.”
Andrew took a few deep breaths and stood up.
“Okay.”
~
The room was clean, surprising Andrew. It wasn’t ‘clean’ clean, the room was still caked in dust, but at least here there was something to cake. Boxes and parts laid on shelves, none were broken, graffitied, stolen, missing. The only culprit this room had seen was time.
But none of that mattered compared to the bear slumped on the ground.
Andrew inched closer. Despite being coated in dust, there was no doubt in his mind. That was Freddy Fazbear, the exact same robot that had entertained him and countless others for decades.
The bear was sprawled out on the ground, one eye staring up at the ceiling and the other staring to the right. Freddy’s hat had fallen off, laying on the ground nearby.
His fingers were still contorted in a performing position, his right hand still gripping the microphone firmly. Old habits die hard, Andrew thought.
So, this was where Freddy had ended up. Rumours had swirled online about where each animatronic had gone, especially after Chicas left leg was sold at an auction.
The general consensus Andrew and others believed beforehand was that the animatronics were thrown out or stored somewhere immediately after closure. Pieces had been slowly found over the years, Andrew recalled a nearby museum getting hold of Bonnie’s ears, Chica's arm and somehow Foxy’s patch.
But no one had ever found anything of Freddy. The bear had remained hidden from all public view. Andrew considered for a moment what museums or collectors might pay for a piece of the big guy, let alone the whole thing. He stared at the bear's wonky eyes. To be fair, He was in good condition. Perfect even, ignoring the dust.
He stood up, shaking his head. No. He couldn’t let anything survive this, especially not Freddy himself. Exiting the room, Andrew retrieved his gas can, before returning to the collapsed star.
Andrew doused the shelves and walls, and soon all that was left was the bear. Giving him one last look, Andrew sighed. “Sorry Freddy.” And began pouring.
But then Freddy moved.
~
“Are you sure you didn’t see him?”
“I don’t know what to tell you man, he didn’t come through here.”
Andrew pounded his fist down on the counter. “No!” He yelled. “He had to have come through here! Aren’t there, like, any other exits?”
“The only other ones in the kitchen and I’m sorry but, he couldn’t have gone in there. It's locked to all customers.” Glenn said.
Andrew scowled, punching the counter again.
“My brother could not have just… disappeared!” He cried. “We have to find him! Or..or” he stammered, gasping for air. “Or do you know what my mom will do to me?”
Glenn placed a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry. We’ll get the police involved, we’ll look at the security tapes, and we’ll find him.” He said, giving a gentle smile.
Doug spoke up. “Worst case, little guy is a few blocks away. You oughtta just go on home, take it easy and prepare a nice party for when we find him.”
~
Eleanor sat back in her chair and sighed, finally done for the day. Just as she was about to get up and leave, her phone rang.
“Hello?” She answered, grabbing her handbag. This wouldn’t take long.
“ Hello ma’am, this is the police, am I speaking to Eleanor Stanford? ”
Eleanor raised an eyebrow. “Yes you are, Why?” The answer clicked in her mind. Andrew. He’d done something stupid again, hadn’t he.
“ We have something to tell you, ma’am. It’s about your son. ”
Eleanor pinched the top of her nose and groaned. “What’d he do this time?”
The voice sounded puzzled. “ Excuse me ma’am? ”
“Andrew, what’d he do this time?”
“Sorry ma’am but this is about your other son, Gabriel.”
~
“The dining hall footage was wiped, and nothing else shows a trace of him. As far as we can tell, Gabriel never left the building.” The detective finished. Eleanor was already weeping into her hands. Andrew reached over to comfort her, but Jen pulled his hand back, shaking her head.
“But, where did he go then?” Eleanor choked through tears.
“We don’t know ma’am.” The detective said. “We’ll perform a full sweep of the building and conduct a search of the area. We can’t promise anything, but we’ll do our damndest to find your son.”
“Thank you.” Eleanor whimpered. She looked over to Andrew next to her, and a thought struck her.
“Wait, Andrew.” She said. “Where did you see him last? We could start there and-”
“Actually, Miss.” Glenn interrupted. “Your son wasn’t in the building.”
Eleanor stared. “W-what?”
“He… dropped off Gabriel and.. left.”
Eleanor looked back to her son, who’s guilty face said it all.
“Well.” She said, quietly, standing up. “Thank you all for what you’ve done.”
She quickly walked past the guard and out of the restaurant, leaving Andrew to chase after her. Jen and Lucas could only look sadly on.
Eleanor walked briskly to her car, Andrew hurrying behind. She entered the driver's seat, put on her seatbelt, and immediately broke down crying into the steering wheel. Andrew caught up and was about to speak when he saw his mother stare at him with tear filled eyes.
“I asked you to watch him…” she whimpered. Andrew looked down at his feet. Eleanor wiped the tears out of her eyes and inserted the key into the ignition, before driving off, leaving Andrew alone.
~
It wasn’t long before the news of Gabriel’s disappearance had spread. Freddy’s received backlash, but after a month it died down and business returned to normal.
The police search didn’t last nearly as long. After a week, an officer arrived at their door to regretfully announce it was being called off due to lack of progress.
Things were quiet between Andrew and his mother. She barely spoke to him, only telling him dinner was ready, and leaving small notes to say she wouldn’t be home some nights.
Andrew barely slept. Every night, he dreamed of what he remembered of him, especially that day. He kept reliving that moment where he just walked away, leaving Gabriel to whatever his fate was.
And what that fate was, oh how it toyed at his mind. Had he been poisoned? Kidnapped? Killed? Andrews waking moments were filled with visions of all sorts of horrendous acts being committed on his little brother, all while he was hanging out with his friends.
Fazbear Entertainment threw a measly settlement check at them. Some news channels still theorised about what had happened but after that, things went silent in the news. Until that is, two more kids went missing a month after Gabriel’s story died.
The media buzzed around the story like flies. Of course, they tied it back to Gabriel’s disappearance. Same thing had happened, two kids, Fritz and Susie had gone missing during a busy day and the footage was mysteriously wiped.
The cycle repeated once more. People essentially abandoned the place, the media made their stories, police sniffed the place and the company threw money at the parents. And then it stopped.
Andrew walked by one day, to see people back at the restaurant, seemingly oblivious to what had happened there. It disgusted the teen. People were there laughing, eating, enjoying themselves. Did these kids mean nothing to them?
Did Gabriel mean nothing to them?
But the kids meant everything to everyone when it happened again.
Jeremy’s mother reported he’d gone missing while she was in the bathroom. Fazbear Entertainment were of course quick to deny any wrongdoing. They gave the parents their payment and it just faded away again. It all made Andrew sick, the fact a company could just let this happen three times now, and the fact people barely seemed to care.
So of course it happened a fourth time. This time however, the man was caught. Andrew and Eleanor saw it all on TV. A janitor had found the back room covered in blood and called the police. They pulled the security tapes before they could be tampered with, and found a man wearing a costume luring a little girl away from a lonely corner into the hidden views of the back. Naturally, news reporters were on the scene in minutes, trying their best to get anything out of the murderer, the employees, anyone on the scene. But what came after, truly broke Andrew.
Cassidy’s body was found stuffed inside a yellow bear suit, covered in blood. He hadn’t gotten the chance to dispose of it yet. And when people noticed the foul smell the other robots had, the dots just all fell into place.
~
Andrew flung himself back as Freddy’s hand twitched violently. The gas can went sprawling to the side, partially soaking a small cardboard box.
“Jesus!” he cried. “What the fuck???!!!”
Freddy’s hand twitched again. Andrew quickly withdrew himself from his defensive position. The bear remained still. Andrew shuffled forward a little. “What the…” he muttered, prompting another hand shudder.
It was then he noticed the bear was staring right at him from the floor. Well, as much as it could. It’s good eye had very clearly moved, the lazy eye still looking to the side.
Curious, Andrew stepped to the left. Sure enough, the bear’s eye followed him, tracking him perfectly. “Huh?”
It twitched again. Andrew shook his head. “Just the old system malfunctioning” he thought. Reaching for his gas can, he shook it to feel its contents.
About a fifth was left, enough to drench this bear and be done with it.
“Alright.” he sighed, raising the can. “Let’s get it over with.”
N o.
Andrew dropped the can once more and winced, reaching to feel the now throbbing pain in his head.
“What the shit?!!!”
N o t b r o k e n.
The voice echoed from somewhere inside his head. Still feeling his temples, Andrew looked at the bear, its eye still gazing back at him.
A n d r e w.
Every time the voice spoke, the bear’s hand flinched a little.
And then Andrew realised who the voice’s owner was.
“....Gabriel?”
~
Few things in life are worse than someone dying. One of them, Andrew thought, was a parent attending their child’s funeral.
Worse than that, was the child’s older brother being there too.
And even worse was there not even being the child’s body to bury.
As Andrew stood over the grave, he looked around at those who had come. Gabe’s friends had come, his school teacher, even Andrew’s friends. Most common were various family members he hadn’t seen in a while. As the service drew to a close, only four other people stayed at the grave with Eleanor and Andrew. Lucas, Marty, Jen and Greg all stood solemnly bowing their heads, as Eleanor gave their son one last sombre look, before walking away to her car.
Andrew stood in front of Gabriel’s grave, staring at the inscription.
“Gabriel Stanford.
April 6th 1984 - April 6th 1992”
Andrew felt a pang of guilt hit him all over again, the one he had been feeling the past few months now suddenly tripled. His friends stood beside him, Lucas placing a hand on his shoulder.
“I did this.”
“No.” said Jen. “That motherfucker did this, not you.”
“But if I had just been there.” lamented Andrew. “All I had to do was eat some pizza and watch a dumb show. But I was just so… stupid.”
“You couldn’t have known.” comforted Greg. Andrew just continued staring at the date.
The other teens thought it best today no more. One by one, giving Andrew comforting words and hugs, and final words to Gabe, they all left.
“I’ll um… I’ll see you man” Lucas mumbled, before following the others.
~
Cassidy’s death was it for Freddy’s. The place was shut down and lay dormant. A sign was hung up in place of the Open sign.
“Due to unfortunate events, we have had to close down temporarily, but we at Fazbear Entertainment are sure that Freddy Fazbear and his friends will live on in the hearts of children, and plan to reopen bigger and better soon in the coming days!”
It was ripped down mere days later. The place was broken into, looted, vandalised, to the point one couldn’t even recognize it if it weren’t for the giant signs.
The story of Freddy’s became a legend. Kids would ask about the rotting pizzeria, only to be told stories of a place once filled with laughter that shifted into screams, and the murders of five kids that haunted the place. It became a dare to spend the night there.
Andrew’s life carried on. He found a job, moved out, did all the things you’re supposed to do, but he could never leave the town. He couldn’t let Freddy’s go. Specifically, he could never let Gabriel go. Every dream, every thought, they were all about his brother. He’d visited his mom every week, and stayed in touch with his friends. Everyone in town knew his story though, and he couldn’t go anywhere without being known as the guy whose brother died at Freddy’s.
One evening, in his apartment, Andrew was in bed scrolling through his phone absentmindedly. Boring stories of economies collapsing, movies coming out, lame YouTubers foaming over the newest tech, just crap. Until one video in particular caught his eye.
‘SPENDING THE NIGHT IN HAUNTED FREDDY FASBEAR’S PIZZERIA!!!’
They had misspelt Fazbear. The name plastered everywhere, on billboards, news stories, everywhere. And they had misspelt it, to make a few bucks ad revenue.
That one little s drove Andrew over the edge. He shot out of bed and grabbed his bag, before sending a text message to his boss. “Hey, sorry I can’t come in to work today, I have a stomach bug or something, it’s making me all sick. I’ll be there tomorrow, I promise.” As soon as he pressed send, he slung his bag over his shoulder and headed out the door. He had to finish it.
~
Tears welled in Andrew’s eyes.
“Gabriel?” he asked. “Is it… is it really you? Please, give me a sign or something.”
Freddy’s hand slowly shifted up, before twisting the thumb ever so suddenly up, before collapsing again on the ground. Andrew couldn’t resist. He ran to the bear, wrapping it in a hug as best he could. He burst out in tears.
M i s s e d y o u.
Andrew gave a small smile, still sniffling. “I’m sorry, Gabe, I’m so so sorry.” he sobbed.
I t o k.
Andrew wiped his eyes with his sleeve, before averting his gaze. “No, Gabe.” he choked. “It’s not. I shouldn’t have left you. Please. You have no idea how sorry I am.”
I d o.
Y e a r s. W a s L o s t. C o n f u s e d.
A n g r y.
Andrew felt that pang of guilt again. “You should feel that way. I just… abandoned you. I’m so sor-”
N o w F o r g i v e y o u.
Andrew fought back his tears. “R-r- really?”
Y e s.
Andrew looked away shamefully again. Then, had an idea. Placing his arms under the bear’s back, he was able to prop the bear up against the wall, still slumped over, but at least he and Andrew could comfortably talk face to face.
“I hope you know,” he said. “I’d give anything to go back to that day, and just stay.”
S o m e o n e e l s e b e h e r e i n s t e a d.
Andrew had never thought of that. He couldn’t imagine another family broken instead of his own. While he’d get to go on barely tolerating his brother, another brother would be weeping over their lost sibling. Andrew had a thought.
“Why are you here?” he asked. “You know, the robot and all.”
P e o p l e l e f t. P u t F r e d d y h e r e.
Why leave your main star to be picked apart and degraded. It was a miracle he’d stayed this well hidden. Still, by the looks of it, Freddy had just been tossed in here and sealed up. Better than Gabriel being stuck in a museum.
“So, how are you still here then?”
D i e i n b u i l d i n g. S t a y i n b u i l d i n g. C a n m o v e F r e d d y a l i t t l e.
Andrew sat, pondering. It made sense, he supposed. It was the building it all happened in. Ghost business wasn’t his forte but hey, his little brother was speaking beyond the grave. Andrew then remembered, he was only 1 of 5.
“Where are the others?”
R o b o t s g o n e. K i d s h e r e.
Andrew’s eyes widened.
“They’re… here?”
Y e s.
Andrew looked around. Noone else was talking to him but he wondered, could the others see him too? He sat down beside the bear, its eye still fixed on him. One last question plagued him.
“What’s it like?”
C o l d.
S c a r y.
L o n e l y.
The guilt stung his chest harder than ever.
“What should I do?” he asked quietly. Freddy’s hand raised again, and a finger flexed to the object in the corner. The gas can.
Looking back to the bear with tears in his eyes, Andrew nodded. He went to reach for it, but hesitated. “Wait” said Andrew. “Before I do…
Can I please say Goodbye”
Gabriel said nothing. Andrew took a deep breath, and fighting back tears, started.
“I wish I was a better brother. And not just for leaving you. I wish I’d spent more time with you. Dad was gone and I should’ve stepped up to fill that role, but I didn’t. And well, here we are. I just need you to know Gabriel, I am truly so sorry, a-and I love you so much.”
I f o r g i v e y o u.
With tears stinging his eyes, Andrew closed the eyelids of the Freddy animatronic. It only felt right. He gave it one last hug, and poured. “Goodbye, Gabriel.” he said. Andrew collected his things and made his way out of the buildings. Then, he struck a match.
“Goodbye, all of you.” he whispered. He didn’t know if the kids in there could hear him say it. But he hoped that last, he had ended it all.
With that the match dropped, and it all started to fade away.
~
“The long closed Freddy Fazbears Pizzeria has mysteriously burnt to the ground overnight, leaving authorities stunned. Police are on the scene investigating, although hope seems scarce-”
Lucas stared at the TV. Freddy Fazbear’s from his old hometown had caught fire somehow. The thing that had caused his best friend and so many others so much pain. He didn’t know whether to be happy or sad about it.
Lucas reached for his phone to call Andrew, only to receive a call from the man himself.
“Hey.”
“Hey” Lucas said, still focusing on the tv. “I’m assuming you heard?”
“About the fire?”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah, I did.”
“So, what you think of it?”
“I don’t know man. Hey, I uh, wanted to call to say, I was thinking of moving out to where you guys are.”
“Shit, dude really? Don’t you got, y’know, things there? With Gabe and all-”
“Nah…. nah. Not anymore man.”
Lucas scratched the back of his head.
“Well, uh, yeah man! If you feel like moving out here, I say go for it. Heh, gangs gone too long without you.”
“So I hear, hah”
The two friends both fell silent, remembering times.
“Hey, uh, can I tell you something.”
“Sure man what is it?”
“Promise not to laugh?”
“Promise.”
“That was me.”
“....”
“Lucas?”
“Sorry, what?! You started the fire??!! Why???!!!”
“... I found him.”
Lucas halted. “You’re not talking about…”
“Gabriel. Yeah.”
“You mean you found his.…c-”
“Nah, nah. Not like that. But his, y'know, presence was there. I spoke to him.”
Lucas lowered the phone for a minute and considered. The Andrew who’d grown over the years, the one who’d been affected and moulded by that incident? He wouldn’t lie about something like this.
“Lucas?” his friend repeated. “You there?”
“Uh, yeah, hey. I’m still here.”
“Do you… believe me?”
Lucas thought for a minute.
“...Yeah. I just wanna know. Was he… angry?”
“Nah. Not anymore.”
“That's… good I guess. Little guy never really could hold a grudge.”
Andrew chuckled. “Yeah I guess he couldn’t.”
“So where you reckon he is now?”
“I don’t know.” Andrew said, looking up to the sky as he drove away.
“He’s just not here anymore.”