Chapter Text
Monday 31st October, 1983
Fredbear’s Family Diner
New Harmony, Utah
5:04PM
It was already dark and the evening air was bitter and cold, the wind hitting those who stood in it for too long like a thousand tiny knives. The rain was hammering down, threatening to smash through the diner’s roof and windows as it pounded against them, and in the distance the roaring thunder could be heard beginning its journey closer to the humble little shack lovely known as Fredbear’s Family Diner.
Inside a man clad in coveralls, that were covered in mechanical oils and small burnt out holes, stood on a milk maid’s stool as he struggled in his fight to put up bat garlands and hold a few drawing pins in between his lips. His glasses rested on top of his greasy curls, the frame held together with a giraffe patterned plaster. He pulled a pin from his mouth and pushed it through the ribbon, pinning it to the top of the wall. He spat the remaining pin into his hand as he stepped down from the stool and took a look at his work. It was wonky causing him to let out a defeated sigh but he did not bother trying to fix it, he had other things to do and little time to do it. If he didn't stamp back down the loose floor boards, a kid could trip and that was a lawsuit waiting to happen. If he didn't get changed into his costume soon, a lot of kids would be disappointed including his own. He slipped the extra pin into his pocket and made his way over to the small table by the main entrance door. On the table was a large glass bowl, a few cracks and chips ruining its previously pristine look, filled with various kinds of candy. Chocolate, gummies and lollipops. All for any potential trick or treaters, or kids dragged away from their plans of trick or treating by their parents in order to attend the diner's party that night. He picked up the remaining large bag of assorted candy from the floor next to the table, and poured in as much as the bowl could handle before taking the remainder to the kitchen. He tucked it away, somewhere even the biggest sugar addict wouldn’t be able to find it- under the sink- and made his way back out. He swung open the kitchen door to be greeted by a large, yellow, bunny rabbit.
The large yellow rabbit wasn’t too much taller than him, but tall enough to cast a shadow that plunged the man into a greater darkness than the evening had already provided. The flickering lights of the diner’s lights provided no relief. Its large frame appeared domineering, fists clenched as if on instinct. A small clunking sound was emitting from within the rabbit, and its stance appeared as if ready to lunge at him in a moment’s notice. The concave holes in the head of the rabbit guided audiences to a set of piercing grey eyes, bloodshot and surrounded by dark circles. They appeared stern, almost threatening. Stained teeth showed through the rabbit’s menacing grin.
“William!” He greeted, “you scared me for the moment there!” he laughed. A small chuckle came back to him through the stained smile. Grey eyes softening.
“Sorry, Henry, but is scaring people not the point of Halloween?” William responded, slowly removing the rabbit’s head from his own revealing dark hair and bushy eyebrows. Sweat dripped down his forehead. “I guess you’re right, however Fredbear’s is supposed to be for kids, so don’t go scaring too much. Especially dressed as Spring Bonnie, the kids love that bunny,” Henry protested as he made his way back into the middle of the room, slowly walking around each table to make sure everything was ready for the party. Table decorations were all in their right places and yet Henry still found himself adjusting the table cloths. “How come you’re not in Fredbear yet?” William asked his colleague, watching as he tucked at the ends of the fabric squares. Henry looked back over to William, he was holding Spring Bonnie’s head under his arm as if it was a basketball. “Oh, I’ve just been busy setting up, I'll get to it soon though,” Henry chuckled. William nodded, satisfied. Dark locks of hair fell into his face, sticking to the sweat. “I’m shocked you got into Spring Bonnie so early, that suits kind of a hazard. Both of them are,” Henry warned, lowering his eyebrows at the other man.
“I know, Henry, I was there when you built them. I helped with the design after all,” William defended, voice slightly raised.
“I know, sorry, just please be careful,” Henry pleaded. William sighed. “I always am,” he responded with a light splatter of laughter.
“When is your family getting here by the way?” Henry asked, not wishing to speak on the death traps he had invented any longer. The creations had spurred from a drunken night in college, designing dumb little animals and feeling like he was slowly going insane as he did so. Fredbear just appeared to be some strange Winnie the Pooh rip off when Henry stopped and stared at the suit, and he had no idea why he chose a rabbit of all things to accompany it. Predator and prey, an unlikely pair that should have never realistically mixed. He went through with it regardless, dragging William along with him in an attempt for them both to feel like they had their lives together. For them to feel as if they were going somewhere.
Granted, it was never part of the plan for the springlock suits to be quite as hazardous as they were, but it worked for them and desperate times called for desperate measures. “Hmm,” William glanced up to the clock hung above the kitchen door, “they should be here any minute now actually, I’m pretty sure Clara said that Kristen and your kids are coming with them. No idea how they’re all fitting in the car, it only seats five”.
“Oh, that’s awfully nice of Clara to offer to bring them,” Henry smiled, glad of the gesture. There was only one car between him and his wife, and that had always been more than enough, but for situations like this where Henry had to be at the diner and didn’t have time to pick her up, he wished they had two. “You do realise that Clara only offered so that her and your wife can both drink tonight knowing we’ll have to stay sober and we’ll have to drive them home, right?” William said, shaking his head.
“Oh well, at least they can have fun, right?” Henry commented, receiving an eye roll from William in response. “Do you think many people will show up tonight?” Henry asked, “I mean it is Halloween, people like to take their kids trick or treating- I would be if we didn’t have to be here. Plus, people have work tomorrow, they aren’t going to want to be out too late”.
“People will come, when is Fredbear’s ever without customers? And we can always skip out on the party next year, take your kids out for their first trick or treating experience,” William stated, wondering where the doubt that his business partner had had came from.
The diner’s door swung open, letting in rain and wind. The garlands became tangled as they struggled against mother nature. The teen made no attempt to wipe his feet on the door mat as he entered causing small puddles to form along the hard wood of the room, and small specks of mud to mould with the floor. The rain dripped off of his shoulders and the ends of his hair, shooting shivers up and down his spine. He kept his head down as he walked, not looking up to the men in front of him and then throwing himself into one of the chairs. The table cloth dragged and rested unevenly on the table, Henry cringed. “Hello to you too, Michael,” William greeted his son, not an ounce of joy or sincerity in his voice. Michael grunted. “Are you not going to greet Henry?” William pushed.
Michael glanced up at the two men, “hello, Uncle Henry”.
“Hi, Michael! How come you’re here before the rest of your family?” Henry questioned, crouching down to look Michael in the eye.
“I was wondering the same thing,” William added, displeased.
“Mum told me I had to come and help you guys set up or whatever,” Michael huffed. William impatiently tapped his foot, Michael took this as a sign to continue. “Chris was being a cry baby again, I hardly did anything this time,” Michael explained, receiving sceptical looks from his dad and Henry. “Can’t even make one comment about how dumb the kid looks anymore without him overreacting,” Michael mumbled. William crossed his arms as best he could considering the suit.
“Why the fuck do you find it so hard to not be a twat?” William almost yelled. Michael didn’t respond. “Both of your siblings are less of a pain in my arse than you are, that shouldn’t be how it is, Michael! They’re children, they’re supposed to be annoying! God! I’ll be discussing this with your mother when she gets here. I can’t deal with you right now… I’m going to check on the staff, make sure they’re all ready,” William stormed off, Henry and Michael watched him leave.
“It’s so hard to take him seriously when he’s in that dumb bunny suit,” Michael said, faking a smile afterwards. Henry offered a sympathetic smile to his ‘nephew’.
“You gotta stop messing with Christopher, Michael, I know you find him annoying at times but I bet you’d get along if you tried,” Henry offered, Michael just grunted again.
“Please don’t say that shit, Uncle Henry, you sound like him when you do,” Michael nodded in the direction that his dad had just walked in, Henry frowned.
“Don’t worry too much about your dad, soon enough he’ll forget why he was even mad at you,” Henry said. Michael shrugged, he had heard it a million times and it was never true. Henry stood up, “come on, let's go find you a towel and some dry clothes, you’ll catch a cold otherwise,” Henry started walking towards the supply closet to dig through lost property boxes, “oo, we can find you a costume. You can’t be the only one not dressed up!”
“I won’t be, you’re not in a costume,” Michael protested.
“But I will be,” Henry cheered.
“Whatever,” Michael kicked at the floor, scuffing the front of his shoes. Henry dramatically pulled a few articles of clothing out of a cardboard box, shoving them towards Michael. He then dug back into the box, quickly pulling out a small black item, an eye patch. “Here, you’re a pirate,” Henry stated as he grabbed a towel that was scrumped up on the floor and threw it over Micahel’s head. “Go to the staff room or bathrooms and get changed, you’ll look great,” Henry yelled back at Michael as he headed into the main dining area again. Michael wanted to protest, not wanting to look as dumb as his younger siblings or any of the adults who still dressed up, but it was his Uncle Henry encouraging him to do it and he didn’t want to let the man down. So, he dashed off to the men’s bathroom and started getting changed.
“Hen,” Jen called across the diner to her brother as she entered, attempting to close her umbrella.
“Jeez, busy day,” Henry thought to himself as he spotted her. “Jenny, hi,” Henry responded as he made his way over to his sister, pulling her into a hug.
“I was just on my way back from work and thought I better stop by and see if you needed help, lord knows that William certainly isn’t the most helpful of men. He wouldn’t know hard work if it hit him in the face,” Jen complained, sliding out of the hug and going back to battling the umbrella. Henry took it from her and finished closing it, passing it back while they conversed.
“William’s done all that I needed him to do, he’s all ready for the party now,” Henry defended his colleague. “I just finished setting everything up actually so thanks for the offer, Jenny, but no help is necessary. I should probably change soon too before people arrive,” Henry said.
“I should probably leave, I gotta go get changed too otherwise your little devil children will never let me live it down,” Jen joked, reaching into pocket for something. She pulled out a box of cigarettes and pulled two out, before returning them to where she had got them. “But first, care to join me?” She handed one to Henry, he smirked.
“Of course. We’ll have to go out back though, it’s a bad look if we smoke outside the diner,” Henry said, rushing to the back door.
“You mean you don’t want Kristen to catch you smoking,” Jen laughed, amused by the memory of her brother’s promise to his wife to stop smoking that had been quickly broken. Jen had no idea how the woman hadn’t caught her husband yet. Henry loudly shushed Jen as they got to the back door, he swung it open quickly skipped into the rain, holding out his Jen to receive Jen’s lighter.
With lit cigarettes, it was easy for them to ignore the frost that was slowly turning their fingers blue. They focused on nothing but the clouds of smoke, slowly travelling into the atmosphere until Jen spoke again, “I’m sorry, but I can’t believe that she still hasn’t caught you”. She looked almost in awe of her brother's persistence as she said it, before returning her gaze to the empty land ahead of them. The stench of the trash in the dumpster next to them was slowly becoming unbearable, but nothing caused will power quite like a secret cigarette break. “How do you do it?” she asked.
“Well, you can’t keep your own cigarettes, they’ll get found that way. You have to rely on other people to provide them, lucky for me William smokes so I just steal his while we’re here and give him half the cost of the carton,” Henry was oddly proud of himself, “also, you gotta get rid of the scent afterwards, you need to keep deodorant or body spray somewhere you can get to it easily but other people wouldn’t think to look,” he finished, taking another puff. Jen was slightly stunned.
“You’ve put a lot of thought into this I see,” Jen commented, not sure whether she should be impressed or disappointed, “got nothing else to do all day than think about your smoking habits?”
“It’s not that. Me and William have a lot to do in a day, but there’s something oddly fun about having this secret. Plus, with William helping out with it it feels rebellious, like we’re young again,” Henry smiled off into this distance, rain drenching him completely.
“Young again? Damn, if you two are supposed to be old then what does that make me?” Jen faked offence as she lightly jabbed Henry in the rib. Henry rubbed his rib slightly afterwards, not willing to admit to his sister that it hurt more than she had anticipated. “I would say prehistoric but I dread to think what the consequence of that comment would be… I know I’m not old but I feel it. Maybe it’s the responsibility of the diner or maybe the kids are growing up too fast, I don’t know. I just fear it’ll be no time at all before I’m on my last breath and praying for five more minutes so I can see them and their children doing all the things I didn’t get time to do with them,” Henry’s ears perked up as he heard a car pull up at the front of the diner.
“Then do those things now. You’re young. They’re young. You have time, plenty of it,” Jen was firm in her words, but from years of experience with her brother she knew she had to be for the message to go in. Henry threw his cigarette to the floor, stomping it out with the sole of his shoe. “Thanks, Jenny,” he spoke softly as he walked by his sister and headed back inside.
Henry tried to dash down the main corridor, to the staff room where his stash of deodorant was but his plan was foiled. “Henry,” Kristen called to him as she, Clara and the kids shrugged off their raincoats and hung them on the rack by the door. They all sported their Halloween costumes of various character varieties, a colourful array of festivity. Kristen strutted over to her husband, running her hand through his soaked hair in a small attempt to dry it. “Did William lock you out in the rain again?” Kristen tutted, avoiding laughing at the image. Henry shook his head, small beads of water flying off the ends of his hair. “Nope, I just wanted some fresh air, was out there talking to Jen,” Henry lied. Kristen stared at him with a raised eyebrow.
“I doubt that it was particularly fresh air considering the smell emitting from you. I can hardly tell if it was the smoke or the bins,” she scolded as she took a step back and crossed her arms over her chest. Henry scratched the back of his neck. “Sorry about that,” he laughed. Kristen opened her mouth to speak but was disrupted by the loud giggles of their children running up to them.
“Daddy!” Charlie yelled as she ran up to Henry. As soon as she was close enough he lifted her up, spinning her around in the air. She giggled uncontrollably as he did so, pretending she could fly. Henry stopped the spinning, holding her tightly to ensure she wouldn’t fall from her potential dizziness. Sammy stands by his mother, clutching on to the fabric of her dress as he watched with a cheesy grin. She wiped a speck of chocolate from the side of her son’s mouth as she lifted him to the same level as his father had lifted his sister. “Daddy, I’m a witch!” Charlie exclaimed, pointing to the orange hat perched on her head.
“I can see that, very scary!” Henry praised, adjusting it slightly.
“Daddy!” Sammy called for his dad’s attention, earning Henry and Charlie’s attention being directed towards him in the process, “what about mine?” the toddler smiled. Henry examined the costume, not entirely sure what it was. He made eye contact with his wife in an attempt to get some kind of answer, she mouthed, “a fraggle” back at him and Henry nodded.
“I love it! You’re a super cool looking fraggle,” he praised his son also as he and his wife set their kids down.
“What’s a fraggle?” Henry whispered to Kristen.
“The weird little animals from that puppet TV show,” she explained, fed up with seeing them and hearing their silly little songs. Henry nodded.
Elizabeth ran over to Henry after her mother helped her remove her coat, her younger brother, Christopher, following closely behind. Henry knelt down to their level, “and of course how could I forget the fabulous fairy,” he cheered for Elizabeth, she giggled and ran off to join Sammy and Charlie in whatever they were chit chatting about. Henry watched her run off, making sure she was happily settled with the other two before turning back to Christopher. He teared up as he caught a glimpse of the kid. He was clutching onto the Fredbear teddy that his mom had sewn him weeks before, she had sewn one for all five of the Fredbear’s Family Diner kids and they cherished them, even Michael; although he had hidden his under his bed, never to see the light of day. Christopher was dressed almost entirely in yellow, with two large black buttons on his shirt and a purple bow tie above the higher button. He had a small purple top hat made of a cardboard toilet paper tube that he had patchily painted to match the bow and glued to one of Elizabeth’s old hair bands. To finish the look, his mom had drawn three little dots on each of his cheeks in eyeliner. “Oh wow! You look just like Fredbear!” Henry expressed, trying to stop himself clapping his hands. Christopher’s eyes lit up, grinning wide. “Really? Do you think Fredbear will like it?” Chris muttered, hoping only Henry could hear him.
“Fredbear will love it!” Henry smiled at the boy, offering him a high five which he gladly accepted as he high fived the man.
“Where is Fredbear?” Chris looked around, not spotting Fredbear or Spring Bonnie.
“He’ll be here soon, I’ll make sure I tell him to come see your costume,” Henry promised as he stood back up, sending Chris over to the other kids. They all ran off to the bowl of candy at the entrance, thinking they were sneaky as they stuffed their mouths and pockets.
“And of course I can’t forget the ladies of the hour,” Henry announced, holding out his arms to hug both of the women at once. Afterwards, he added, “you both look lovely. My darling Kristen, my gorgeous princess, so fitting for you! And Clara, how sweet of you to match Elizabeth, very mystical,” Henry said, the women pretended to act humble while really they were revelling in the compliments.
“Do you happen to know where William is?” Clara asked after the moment had passed. Henry nodded and threw a finger gun in the direction of the kitchen. “Great, thanks,” she briefly waved to the Emily couple as she departed.
“So, back to that smoking thing,” Kristen insisted, staring her husband dead in the eyes.
“Can we please drop it, today is for the kids, plus I have to go get ready-” Henry tried to defend himself. “No, no we cannot, Mr-” Kristen was cut off in the same way she had cut off her husband as Jen rushed through the back doors, drenched also.
“God, it’s so clear to see you two are related,” Kristen scoffed, “Jen, it’s so good to see you. Little disappointed you aren’t in a costume though…”. Henry slipped away slowly as the women chatted, running to the staffroom to change finally.
The kitchen already stank of the burning scent of various finger foods. It wasn’t the usual diner menu, but given the nature of the night William and Henry thought it would be more hassle than it was worth if they actually made much of an effort regarding food. Plus, with children running all around the diner, it just made more sense for them to focus on more ‘portable’ foods for one night. The staff were dashing around like headless chickens, making sure that they had all they could need and more for the night, sweat pouring off of them as the ovens and stoves generated unnecessary heat. The floors were slippery from spilled cooking oils, and smoke poured out of the door as Clara opened it and let herself in. The staff’s mad dash and nerves was quickly explained as she spotted the large yellow rabbit standing across the room watching them all. She made her way over, gently grabbing ahold of his arm.
“You shouldn’t be stood in here whilst wearing that suit,” Clara stated to her husband, observing the kitchen along with him. William nodded but didn’t move out of the room.
“Michael said you sent him here early. Been playing up his siblings or some shit like that,” William spoke as if it was a question despite the fact he already knew it to be true. Her face scrunched up. “Yeah,” she said through a sigh, “he kept making fun of Chris’ costume, he was so proud of it and I really didn’t want him upset. Plus between getting the kids and myself dressed up, I didn’t have the time or patience to appropriately deal with him”.
William glanced down at his wife, she tried not to laugh at the rabbit head as he did so.
“We need to send him somewhere… I’ve been thinking about it a lot,” William confessed, flat and without much indication as to whether or not he was sad about the thought of sending his eldest son away. “I was told about an army camp not too far away from here, but far enough that he’ll finally have to get his act together. There won’t be anyone around who is willing to put up with him,” William made his way to the kitchen door, allowing more smoke to escape as he held it open for his wife and himself to go through. Clara shook her head. “That’s a little extreme, he’s a teenager, they all go through some rebellious phase. I bet you did,” she said, relieved by the diner’s cold air as she escaped the stuffy kitchen.
“Alright, but if his behaviour continues then something has to be done,” William argued, but knew that it wouldn’t go any further. Clara was far too stubborn for that.
“Your costume is certainly interesting,” William changed the subject, stifling a laugh.
“Says the man dressed as a giant rabbit,” Clara jokingly snapped. She pointed over to the kids, William’s eyes followed her hand. “Plus, Lizzy wanted to match so it’s her you have to thank for this,” Clara smiled, watching them all happily play before her expression turned sour again, “I couldn’t convince Mikey to wear a costume though unfortunately”.
“If it’s any consolation, I’m pretty sure he’s wearing one now. I spotted him a few minutes ago wandering around in what appeared to be a pirate costume,” William added, “I’m assuming Henry made him wear it”.
“At least there is one adult he listens to,” Clara tried to sound pleased with the result but it was futile and her speech slowed down.
“If we can’t do anything else with him, at least we know we can drop him off at the Emily house and he’ll probably behave,” William sounded almost angry, Clara was unsure as to whether it was at his son or Henry.
“How do you think he does it? Keeping two young children perfect and behaved all the time, managing a marriage and a business all at once. He doesn’t worry about what shit Sammy will pull within the next few hours, what makes his kids so different from ours?” William complained. Clara rubbed the back of the springlock suit as if it could offer any kind of comfort to the man inside of it.
“Sammy and Charlie are younger than our kids, there is time for them to grow into their own skin and misbehave as a result. They’re the same age and only have each other and their parents as an influence, meanwhile Mikey is surrounded by equally misbehaved kids at school so I’m sure they’re just rubbing off on him a bit. Give him time, he’ll improve,” Clara said with pride, determined to convince both herself and William that it was true.
The small bell above the diner’s door rang and Clara gave the suit’s back a final pat. “Go greet your public,” she instructed, watching William walk off before sneaking back into the kitchen. She returned back into the dining area with a bottle of red wine and two glasses, practically skipping over to Kristen. “Let’s start this off right,” she laughs, handing the other a glass and pouring some wine into it. They quickly made their way over to a table, already laughing about some gossip that they had overheard in the grocery store.
Families flooded into the diner, adorning their chosen Halloween costumes. William did his best to act enthusiastic about the atmosphere, although he had always hated Halloween. He hated all holidays in general. William glanced to the side of him as he saw an overwhelming amount of yellow appear next to him. The bear waved at him, causing a small smile to form under the rabbit’s large grin. “Do you ever consider how utterly ridiculous we look?” He complained to his peer. The bear turned to him.
“Not until you just mentioned it,” he heard Henry’s muffled voice from within the bear. “However, the kids enjoy the funny little animals so it’s worth it I guess,” Henry could hardly breathe in the stuffy suit.
“Little?” William raised an eyebrow, “I really don’t think our dignity is worth this”. The diner kids ran up to them, demanding jokes and stories. They begrudgingly cooperated.
In a far corner Michael stood slumped against the wall, allowing it to hold up his entire weight. Around him stood a girl and two other boys, holding their ribs from the immense pain caused by their laughter. Michael rolled his eyes, not enjoying the time he was having. Between wheezes the girl, Anya, spoke, “seriously, dude, why would you wear that dumb costume?” before almost falling over. The others shared the lack of balance as they tumbled about, clutching on to each other’s shirts to keep themselves up. “Mr Emily made me wear it,” it was only a slight fib. One of the boys, Jerry, wiped a tear from his eye, turning around and facing the mascots at the entrance who were handing out various coloured glow sticks to the kids. Michael watched too as Spring Bonnie handed a blue glow stick to his younger brother, scoffing at the sight. “You take orders from Fredbear now?” Jerry said seriously. Michael gulped. “No, but it doesn’t hurt to get in the spirit every once in a while,” Michael cringed at his own statement, hating that it had to be him to say it. “What is it even meant to be?” the remaining boy, Gavin, asked. He spoke quietly, almost muffled and Michael couldn’t tell if it was because he didn’t want to offend him or if he was genuinely curious. Michael smiled at him, “it’s a pirate”. Michael pretended not to see the bear wandering over to them, his rabbit counterpart seemed to be looking around as well.
“Have you guys seen Charlie and Sammy?” Henry asked, barely audible. Michael shook his head. “Sorry, Mr Emily, not seen them,” he offered. Fredbear’s head tilted, and Michael knew why but seemingly so did Henry as the bear nodded and walked away.
“This place is so lame,” Anya concluded. Mumbles of agreement emitted from the rest of the group before they returned to their regularly scheduled conversations.
The twins hid within the supply closet, their closet, chattering to each other in their incoherent toddler dribble. Small giggles escaping them for no reason at all. They kept themselves entertained with wooden scraps and small pieces of metal. However they knew not to touch certain pieces, they had been well warned, and although they tried their best to hide mechanical parts away some always slipped through the cracks, ending up in the toddlers’ hands. The various fabrics of the costumes hung around them and thrown to the floor, in boxes or loose, kept them warm, providing them comfort and making them oddly tired. Small yawns making themselves known. The plastic eyes of the costumes caught the very little light that was coming through the crack of the slightly open door, and at the slightest touch caused them to sway as if impacted by the heavy winds.
Sammy’s eyes darted towards the door as it creaked open, the closet suddenly illuminating and filling with the mixed sounds of loud music and various conversations. Charlie’s eyes followed, looking from the structure of wooden blocks they had created to the figure stood in the door. It stood there for a while, staring back at them as if challenged, trying to calculate each other’s next movement. They had seen the figure hundreds of times before having spent their whole lives at the diner, it was Spring Bonnie.
However, the rabbit didn’t come with the same relief that it usually did. It didn’t sing or dance. Only stared back at them. Charlie reached for the wooden scraps again, trying to find anything to distract her from the rabbit. Sammy grabbed her hand, squeezing it tight and causing her to drop the scrap she was clutching. She looked over to his brother, his eyes filled with tears but she knew that they could not make any sound, so squeezed his hand equally as tight in hopes it would deter him. The rabbit glanced between the pair of them before a small chuckle was heard and he began to step forward. As he grew closer he reached forward, taking a hold of Sammy and lifting him up. Holding him tight.
The kids held onto each other’s hands as long as possible, not wanting to let go for as soon as they did the safety of company would disappear. Their hands eventually separated and Charlie within the costumed, scared and soon to be alone.
The rabbit turned around, and finally it spoke, “come on Charlie, people are looking for you two”. She recognised the voice and stood up, following behind the figure but keeping her distance. Once back in the light of the main diner, she still felt uneasy and did not want to turn back around and face into the darkness. She had never been afraid of the dark before, but now the nauseous feeling at the thought of it was overwhelming.
“Hen- I mean, Fredbear! I found the twins!” Spring Bonnie cheered, placing Sammy down as Charlie ran to stand next to Sammy, taking his hand again. Fredbear turned around, skipping over to the pair and crouching down. “I’ve been looking for you two!” the bear announced, “I have a gift for you both”. The bear opened his paw, revealing two green glow sticks, they had been fashioned into bracelets and shone brightly in the flickering light. The children grabbed them from Fredbear’s hands, immediately putting them on and showing them off to one another. Henry smiled under the bear mask. William lightly kicked his business partner in the foot and Henry stood up, allowing Charlie and Sammy to run off and find Elizabeth and Chris.
“Thanks, honestly in the panic I didn’t even think to check the closet,” Henry confessed, “should have been the first place I looked”. William grunted.
“Well, keep a better eye on them next time,” William spat. Henry hung his head, kicking at the floor. He had completely lost track of them amongst the group of children he and William had been swarmed with, only noticing they were gone once the swarm had dispersed. Henry opened his mouth to speak but couldn’t find the words, mainly because he didn’t know what to say. Whether he needed to apologise to William for inconveniencing him or not. Henry looked over to the entrance table, glass bowl now only holding the healthier treats that he had tried to sneak into the bowl like boxes of raisins. He tried to remember where he had hidden the remainder of the candy bag, but it wouldn’t spring to mind.
“William…” he dragged out the name, William could have swore that through the bear’s eyes he could see Henry’s; wide and glossy. William waited to find out what his business partner wanted. “Could you maybe possibly go get more candy, we’re out but the kids seem to be loving it,” Henry begged. William shrugged.
“Fine. Only because it gives me an excuse to get out of this suit early, I’ll be back soon,” William toddled off back to the staff room to disrobe from the costume.
Elizabeth had established herself a leader of the Fredbear’s founders’ children early on, it felt right to her as she felt as the oldest, other than Michael who wouldn’t dare be caught associating with them, the role was owed to her. Regardless, she enjoyed hanging out with the group too. There was a smooth incline in the group’s ages that made it easy for her to socialise with all of them, despite the variation in language ability at the time. The four stood in a weird mix of a circle and a square, unsure on how exactly they would describe the shape. With Charlie and Sammy now back in tow, it would be easier to actually partake in games of any kind as opposed to just standing around listening to the music. “I’m bored…” Chris complained, dragging out the adjective. Sammy nodded in agreement, although he wasn’t entirely sure what it meant. Elizabeth thought for a moment, anything to pass the time would suffice. Fredbear’s Family Diner kids had always made their own fun, after seeing the bear and rabbit everyday part of the novelty wore off and they failed to entertain. “Let’s play hide and seek,” Elizabeth almost demanded, only because she was sure that it was agreeable though. In times of immense boredom she had always personally found that hide and seek was a great cure. Smiles lit up on the boys’ faces as Chris asked, “will Mikey play?”. Elizabeth glanced over at her older brother as he chatted away with his friends. She nodded. “Maybe,” she said as she made her way over to them, the boys followed. Sammy stopped briefly, spinning around to meet eyes with his sister. He tilted his head as she stared off into the distance, appearing as if she were in some kind of trance. She shook slightly, as if cold. “Charlie,” Sammy called, snapping her back into reality. He smiled at her, she smiled back as she caught up with the rest of the group.
The teens looked down at the four children rapidly approaching them, they could have laughed at the sight if not hit with such a disgusted feeling. It was hard to ignore their costumes in the same way it had been impossible not to laugh at Michael’s prior. Elizabeth tugged on Michael’s shirt after pushing through his friends, they gave various sounds of offence as she did so, not wanting to admit they were a little curious as to what she had to say. “What, Lizzy?” Michael tugged the shirt out of her grip.
“Pretty please, will you and your friends play hide and seek with us?” Elizabeth begged, putting on her very best puppy dog eyes.
“No, Lizzy, that’s fucking stu-” Michael began to protest.
“Ah ah ah, not so fast, Michael… Alright, kiddos, we’ll play. You guys go hide and in a short moment, we’ll come find you,” Jerry promised, the kids squealed and ran off to hide. Michael glared at Jerry as the others watched on confused. Jerry turned to Michael, “look, if we go along with their little game then it gives us a better chance to mess with them, and if we get yelled at for it we can just defend it as part of their silly game,” he explained. Michael smirked. “Alright, sounds good to me,” he stated, pulling himself off the wall.
The kids sprinted away in various directions, finding their perfect hiding spots. Elizabeth had always opted to hide in the curtains of the stage, wrapping herself in them like a safety blanket. It was probably years of them enduring kids tugging on them whilst using them as a hiding spot that had broken the curtain rail and left them barely hanging on. Christopher headed into the crowd of people, weaving his way through the tables until he found his mother, he hid behind her chair. She patted him on the head in acknowledgement, not ending her conversation with Kristen. Sammy headed to the old wooden bar that served as a front desk for people to wait at before being taken to their seats, one of the waiters smiled at him, allowing him to hide behind it and promised to throw the teens off of Sammy’s course if asked. Charlie made her way down the corridor, suddenly feeling a strong, cold breeze against her face. She looked around, hunting the source and noticed the back door slightly open. It opened a tad bit more as the wind pushed against it, the perfect size for Charlie to slip through and hide just outside the door. If someone went looking, they’d see her easily, and she was not too far from the dining area that she felt alone. The rain landed on her hair framing it oddly against her face, irritating her as she tried her hardest to push it out of her face. Her clothes hung on her strangely, only adding to her irritation. She pushed herself fully up against the wall in an attempt to evade it, but it was to no avail.
Anya watched Charlie dash down the corridor, disappearing into the outside world. She smirked as she followed the girl, waiting a moment and then slamming the door to a close. She listened for a moment to the faint cries of the child and the pounding of her fists against the door. There was little power behind the blows but Charlie tried her hardest to make herself known. “If she’s smart she’ll just walk around to the front door,” Anya muttered, still smirking.
“Hey,” Henry started, grabbing Anya’s attention, she turned to face the man, shocked to see him as a man as opposed to a bear. “Come away from that door,” he demanded, “it’s heavy and I don’t want a kid to trap their fingers in it or anything. You shouldn’t be trying to open it anyways, we keep it closed for a reason”. Anya stepped away from the door, chuckling.
“Sorry, Mr Emily,” she said as she walked by him, returning to her friends. Henry glanced back at the door briefly before making his way over to the table Kristen and Clara sat at, he sat down, burying his head in his hands in an attempt to relieve the headache brought on from being in the costume for so long. Kristen rubbed his back.
Outside, Charlie wailed and sobbed as the rain attacked her.
In the dark, Charlie was relieved to see the approaching blinding car lights. The car responsible for the light pulled up next to the car she knew as her dad’s, the engine stopped and a tall shadow exited the vehicle. As it drew closer, she began to recognise the face of the man who it belonged to. “Charlie,” he greeted, “what on earth are you doing out here in the cold?”. Charlie’s face lit up, it was her Uncle Will, she would soon be let back in. William passes her and grasps the door handle, pulling it gently downwards before letting go, watching it bounce back up and listening to the small click of the door as it closes fully again. Charlie stared up at him in confusion, hit with the same nauseous feeling she had been when she left the closet. “The door,” Charlie squeaked. William could see it all in that moment, everything Henry had that he didn’t. One glimpse into the girl’s eyes and every happy memory that she had shared with her family hit William like a rock to the side of the head. What Henry had that William didn’t was unconditional love, it never faltered and so if William had opened that door he knew he’d have to watch as she ran straight to her father, seeking comfort. Both Charlie and Sammy alike worshipped the ground he walked on, the man who could physically provide very little but in terms of love gave everything. Henry’s wife the same as she spent every moment of every day dedicated to her children and husband. Henry had his children’s love, William’s daren’t even look in his direction in favour of their mother’s affections. It sickened him how much respect the man had from those around him, filled him with a rage he could not possibly describe.
Before William knew it, his hands were around the child’s neck, squeezing as tight as he could. He couldn’t feel his hands anymore and he wasn’t sure if that was the fault of the cold air or not. He looked to the door again, squeezing tighter as he anticipated it opening at any moment. Charlie clawed at his hands, trying desperately to free herself. William listened to the sound of her wheezes as the air left her. It was like a drug to him, the adrenaline energised him in a way he had never been before. He did not wish for it to depart.
Charlie’s eyes slammed to a close and after a few seconds William released his grip. He walked back to his car, getting into the driver’s seat and driving to the front of the diner. He parked near the tracks, grabbed the candy bag out of the passenger seat and strolled back into the building. “Henry,” William called out, holding up the bag of candy triumphantly. Henry took the bag, refilling the bowl as children flocked to take more candy for themselves. “Safe to say that their dentists are going to hate us,” William stated, walking away. Henry rolled his eyes, ignoring the comment.
After a few minutes, Michael and co. stood around, now with two small children in tow. He glanced between the set with disdain. “Which two are we missing?” Gavin questioned, Anya’s smirk remained.
“Well, these two are unfortunately my siblings which means we’re missing Mr Emily’s kids,” Michael explained. Elizabeth glared at him in confusion, as did Chris. “What?” Their older brother spat. They shrugged and shook their heads.
“Where would you two guess that your friends are?” Gavin asked them, Elizabeth’s eyes twinkled as she stood to her tip toes and pointed in the direction of the old bar. The attendant smiled as they noticed. “Sammy ran that way,” Elizabeth announced, Gavin nodded and headed on over, soon returning with Sammy on his back, giggling away. He lowered Sammy down, grouping him back up with the others. “That’s odd,” Michael began, earning the glances of the others, “I thought Charlie would be with him… It’s only a small diner, we’ve checked basically everywhere. Where is she?”. Anya’s smirk returned.
“Worry not my swashbuckling friend, I know where she is,” Anya announced as she began guiding the group over to the back door, William watched them head towards it, anticipating the moment he knew was yet to come.
Michael grasped the door handle, pushing it slightly while waiting to swing it open, “ready, folks?” he scanned his group with his eyes, anxious for a reason he could not explain. “3… 2…” he gulped then swung open the door.
A green bracelet lit up the girl as she lay motionless on the floor. Michael sprinted towards her, “Charlie?” he gently called, “Charlie?”. He knelt down, grabbing her by the arm and shaking her lightly. Then aggressively, trying his hardest to get any sort of response from the child. “Charlie, you need to get up,” he begged. Jerry and Gavin lead Elizabeth, Christopher and Sammy away as they relentlessly questioned why Charlie was on the floor, what was happening and why they couldn’t see her. Sammy was already bawling, the older boys attempting to calm him down. Kristen came over and crouched beside him, asking the boys why he was upset and trying her hardest to console him, although she did not know why. The boys couldn’t find the words to explain. Anya stood frozen, watching from within the corridor as Michael tried his hardest to wake Charlie. “Uncle Henry!” Michael screamed through sobs, “Uncle Henry! Please come quick!”. He was choking on air, he couldn’t breathe. Henry started pushing through the building crowds, Clara following closely behind as she heard her son’s shrieks. Worry bubbling up in them both. Henry rushed through the door, eyes first landing on the glow stick, then on the hair, hue the same as his own, that lay against the dirt. His heart dropped, knees buckling beneath him and vision blurred as his eyes flooded. He fell to his knees beside Michael, Michael let go of Charlie as Henry took over. Michael stood up backing away from the scenes slightly. He couldn’t peel his eyes away. “Kristen!” Henry called, his wife quickly ran to him, kneeling next to him as she too began to sob. “Michael, please take Sammy away somewhere,” she pleaded, Michael nodded, mouth agape, and made his way inside. He took Sammy by the hand and grabbed the boy's coat. Once he had Sammy wrapped up they left through the front entrance and sat on the steps, “look at the stars, Sammy,” Michael managed to stagger out, “they’re cool right?”. The small crunching sound of slow footsteps in the dirt grew closer to the Emily couple before Henry felt a slight weight on his shoulder, he glanced at it, recognising it as a hand, and identifying its owner by the wedding ring they wore. “It’ll be fine,” William reassured, placing his other hand on Kristen’s own shoulder. He tightened his grasp on the couple before letting go, returning to his wife who stood gawking in the doorway. “Clara, call an ambulance,” he ordered, making his way back through the diner.
"Samuel," Jen said as she approached the front door, "what're you doing out her? Shouldn't you be stuffing your face with candy right now?" she tickled him lightly, but he couldn't bring himself to laugh. She turned her attention to Michael, dread washing over her as she caught his expression. She walked into the building, bumping into William before anyone else “What’s going on?” she demanded.
“Now is not the time to be hostile towards me, Miss Emily, I believe your brother needs you,” William used his whole arm in order to direct the woman to the back door, she quickly went, dread overwhelming her.
She pushed through the crowds, having to almost fight them as everyone had turned stiff. She rushed over to her brother and his wife, standing next to her younger sibling as he cried. She would have consoled him if she had known how. “Jenny,” he looked up to her, “please tell me that you closed the back door when you came back in after smoking”. She couldn’t look him in the eye, she couldn’t remember if she had to even answer. “Jennifer, please,” Henry begged, words hardly escaping him.
“It’ll all be okay, I promise you, Henry. I’ll take Samuel for the night, or as long as you need,” Jen declared, Henry turned away from her looking back at his daughter. He took the girl by the hand and squeezed it tight, holding onto his wife with the other. Jen left, picking up her nephew and taking her spare car seat out of the trunk. She buckled him in before driving away, the journey spent in silence.
The ground shook beneath Henry’s legs and the horrible screeching sound of metal on metal deafened him as the night’s final train drew to a stop at the station.