Chapter Text
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William stepped out of the car, spinning something in his left hand. Elizabeth squinted to see it more clearly, and saw some sort of glass vial. The liquid was a strange, glowing purple.
"Fuck." Michael spat. Elizabeth spun her head to look at his expression, concerned. He was gritting his teeth, eyes narrowed. His fists were clenched, getting tighter every time William stepped closer to them. He tried to avoid eye contact with his father.
"Oh, Mike, Liz." He greeted when he reached their location. He smiled at Elizabeth, before turning to Michael. He shook the vial in front of Michael's face with a taunting smile, and Elizabeth bit her lip, cautious and confused.
"You see this, Michael?" Their father taunted, swishing the liquid inside. Michael glared at the man, finally looking up.
"Yes," he answered bluntly. "I'm not blind, unlike you, old man." He leaned further against the porch. William rolled his eyes before entering the house.
"Do you know what the liquid is?" Elizabeth broke the silence.
"Remnant," Michael answered instantly. There was annoyance in his tone. "He's been obsessed with the stuff since I was your age."
Elizabeth arched her eyebrow. "How do you know that?"
"I read about it in one of his files. I couldn't read all of it, though," Michael was still glaring in the direction William went. "I wish he'd get rid of it."
Elizabeth frowned. "It didn't look that bad. I dunno what you're on about."
"It stings like a bitch," Michael grit his teeth again, looking back to Elizabeth.
"You drank it?!" Elizabeth blurted, leaning back.
"Injected," Michael retorted. "It's a different thing."
It hit Elizabeth like a truck.
William was injecting this remnant stuff into Michael.
"And you didn't tell anyone about this?!"
"Who was gonna believe my own father was drugging me?" Michael spat back. "You idolize the ground he steps on, and Evan's been manipulated by that Fredbear plush for years. Mum's always at work, and my friends could care less if I died in an explosion." He would have been shouting if William wasn't able to hear it. "You wouldn't even believe me if I told you this sort of thing happened before."
Elizabeth's eyes widened, and she clutched her Circus Baby plush tighter. "How come?" She asked weakly. Her voice cracked.
"You wouldn't wanna know." Michael waved his hand. "William's never done something like this to you, so why would you care?"
"You don't understand," Elizabeth argued. "I've seen and heard the things he says through that Fredbear plush. I know he's more than he seems, but no matter how much I ask, he never tells me shit." She crossed her arms. "I don't care anymore. This family's already chaotic as it is, and one day dad's gonna start hanging us all on strings anyway. So tell me."
Michael stared at her. For a good while.
"You're good at faking." He said blankly. Elizabeth blinked.
"Thank you." She replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes. She waved a hand for him to tell her the story.
"This is really something Ray should be telling you," he muttered. "But you came to know more about my intentions and thoughts, so fine."
Elizabeth leaned forward, strangely excited.
"I don't remember much about it, but I should remember enough." Michael scrunched his nose uncomfortably.
"Okay, so we were eight." He started. "William-just like now-was nonstop researching and innovating with Henry. Since Mum worked all of the time, we the ones that had to get the groceries."
"Seriously?" Elizabeth's eyes widened. "You were eight and getting groceries?"
"You're seven and you swear more than Mum and Evan combined," Michael pointed out. "Just because you're children, doesn't mean you can't mature slowly or be innocent forever. A lot of people don't realize that, especially one of the ladies at the supermarket." Michael sounded annoyed. "She always asked us to 'bring your parents, or I'm not putting this through'."
"Rude," Elizabeth helpfully commented.
"Yeah," Michael agreed with a sigh. "We always had to avoid her. Back to what I was saying," he tried to get back on track, "This trip was about our... eleventh... I'd like to say. I don't remember much about those things. Anyway, Mum always told us not to interact with anyone on the way, so it's not like anything happened before."
"What happened that time?" Elizabeth frowned. The wording made it seem off.
"Well, we didn't know about it, but at the time, there was this group of people, who kidn-uh... stole-kids from under some people's noses, and they went missing for the longest times." Michael glared at nothing as he looked at the sky. "Mum tried to get William to stop working so he could shop instead because she was worried the same thing would happen to us. But because he is the way he is,"-he didn't elaborate, but Elizabeth knew what he meant-"He said he would stop, but didn't anyway. Mum went to work everyday thinking William had cut back, but he never had."
"This group you're talking about," Elizabeth swallowed. "They're involved with this, aren't they?"
"Ha," Michael laughed humourlessly. "Me and Ray had no idea that they were stalking us the whole walk down-"
"What's stalking?" Elizabeth blurted, then winced. "Never mind."
"They followed us the whole way down," Michael changed his wording so it made more sense to the 7-year-old. "When we passed an alleyway..." he paused with a wince. "They covered our eyes, and I think they knocked us out."
"What the-?" Elizabeth reared back, surprised. "You were-uh-what's the word again?"
"Kidnapped," Michael answered immediately, annoyance in his tone. "We were knocked out the whole way to their little facility."
"Facility," Elizabeth recognized, before her eyes widened. "They didn't-"
"They did." Michael growled under his breath. "They separated Ray and I, and sent us to different sections. Now don't ask me what those sections were, I don't know." His eyes narrowed. "The only thing I remember is a small, white room, and this... scientist." He hissed the word scientist out like it was venom to his thoughts.
"Scientist." Elizabeth repeated nervously.
"Scientist." Michael repeated. "He was one of the worst humans alive, way under William."
Elizabeth swallowed again. Michael was starting to get riled up now.
"I don't know why he did it," He seethed. "But i remember every detail."
"Michael..." Elizabeth started, "Calm down a little."
"Right..." he took a deep breath in and out. "You shouldn't be seeing me like this."
Elizabeth just gave him a sad smile.
"Anyway," Michael cleared his throat, "He would come in every two days-I think-with a new syringe, still filled with the same thing."
"What was it?" Elizabeth inquired curiously.
"I don't know." Michael frowned. "Either way, I could tell it was the same. And whatever it was, he always wanted to inject it through my neck."
Elizabeth shuddered on the spot.
"Pretty much," Michael agreed. "It was cold, and it stung my throat. It-" he paused for a moment to take another deep breath, "It made me completely mute for so long, because it stung my throat every time I tried to talk. And better yet, it made my heartbeat faster than light, through panic or otherwise, sometimes skipping a beat, I would start shaking rapidly for no reason, would randomly fall unconscious, stuff like that." Michael closed his eyes. Elizabeth reached out to grab his hand and squeeze it tight. He opened his eyes at that, and even gave her a sad smile.
"One time, when I fell unconscious, I woke up to a completely dark void." He looked to the sky again, and Elizabeth followed his lead, scootching closer to him so she could half-hug him for comfort. "I didn't understand what was happening. Voices would fade in and out, but I could never decipher what they said."
"Do you know if Ray had the same thing?" Elizabeth asked quietly. Michael looked down.
"It may have something to do with why she's still missing, but that's the most I know." he replied carefully with a sigh.
"You don't think... she died?" Elizabeth asked, looking into his eyes, which then stared into hers.
"She probably did," he sighed again. "Do you know how I escaped that awful place?"
"How?" Elizabeth asked, playing along.
"That dark void... do you know the tales I told you before about how some humans believed the afterlife worked?" Michael asked slowly.
"Heaven, Hell, and Limbo." Elizabeth nodded as she counted the three dimensions.
"Mmhhmm." Michael confirmed. "Whatever that substance was... it kept putting me under until my body couldn't take it anymore."
Elizabeth froze completely, looking into his eyes again. "Wait... but... then..."
"You figured it out." Michael sighed as he looked to the side. "Honestly? I don't know either. In that dark void, there was a voice, that told me to wake up, I'm here. And... that's what happened."
"You came back to life." Elizabeth's eyes widened. "H-how?!"
"I have no idea." Michael looked at her again. "But while I still feel cold inside, I can still breathe, talk, and do normal things as if I was alive."
"Are you sure you died, then?" Elizabeth frowned in thought. "Maybe you didn't."
"Thinking about it... I don't know." Michael shook his head. "I don't remember much from that, and I was extremely drugged, so maybe it was some form of hallucination."
"A what?" Elizabeth raised her eyebrow.
"My imagination," Michael explained. "Something that isn't real, but feels real."
"Hallucination." Elizabeth repeated. "You think you imagined the whole dark void thing?"
"Well, when I woke up, I was standing on the streets where me and Ray were kidnapped." Michael informed. "I thought it was a dream, but I couldn't find her, and soon after I had started walking, someone ran to the police, and I was taken home."
"Huh?" Elizabeth tilted her head in confusion. "Why?"
"When people or pets go missing for long periods of time, their friends, family, or owners go to the police and explain the situation. Police promise to be on standby as they-or the friend/family member, I don't really know-put up posters saying to contact either them or the police immediately if that person is found." He explained, before taking a breath. "That's called issuing a 'Missing Person's Report'."
"Oh... and they did that for you?" Elizabeth tried to understand.
"Yeah." Michael nodded. "I don't know who issued it, but they found me, and quickly returned me home. Mum was crying and holding onto me for a couple of hours, I'd like to say." Michael closed his eyes as he took another breath. "But they still haven't found Ray."
Elizabeth looked up, unsure how to respond.
"Do you... want to do something later on?" She asked, earning a confused look from Michael. "Like a family activity, or something. Just me, you, and Evan." She smiled. "I get that you're probably really focused on finding Ray, but I think you're overstressing yourself, like dad."
Michael looked at her, contemplating.
"Wouldn't you regret it if we disappeared too?" Elizabeth asked slowly. "I'm just asking to spend time with you while we still have the chance."
"Well, if that's the case, then sure, I'm down." Michael smiled at her as he took off his mask and laid it on the deck beside them.
"What are you doing?" Elizabeth asked.
"Getting ready, of course." Michael grinned as he stood up, and offered her a hand to do the same. "Have you heard the saying, 'There's no time like the present?'"
Elizabeth looked at him, like really looked at him. He was traumatized, and here he was, dealing with it alone for... she counted in her head. 9 years. 9 years he had been dealing with everything by himself, and no one but, and here he'd just told her everything, only because she asked. While he bullied Evan on a daily basis, it wasn't anything too major, and Elizabeth realized that he had to let go of some stress.
There's no time like the present. Michael's voice echoed in her head, a couple of times.
She smiled widely and laughed, "Yeah, let's go!" as she grabbed Michael's hand, allowing him to pull her up and into a new side of her life.