Chapter Text
The stars sparkle in the sky like a glitter. The silence is deathly. Only the occasional passing car breaks it.
I'm standing near the pizzeria. Standing with my back to the wall and smoking. I've never tried smoking before, but there's always time to start, right?
It's getting close to midnight. What if no one comes? Will I have to survive in this hell again?
My fingers, holding the cigarette, began to tremble slightly as I remembered the last night I spent here. Then, when my generator died for the second time and I barely made it back to the office after recharging it, and there were only a few moments left before Freddy and his friends would tear me apart. Then, by some miracle, I managed to close both doors. Then, when I fell to the floor, unable to get up and curled up, praying for it to stop, I understood. I realized that they wouldn't get any easier with time. If I went back there again, I'd be finished.
And now, I'm standing there smoking, thinking about moving to another city if no one shows up. To hell with Henry! To hell with the police! I don't want to end up like Phone-Guy.
My thoughts were interrupted by footsteps.
I glanced in their direction out of the corner of my eye. There was a girl standing next to the doors of the pizzeria.
A young, slender blonde. She looked about eighteen. Probably just graduated from school. Looking for a job. Okay. I'll give it to her.
She went to the doors and tried to open them, but they were locked. She sadly let go of the door handle and put her hands in the pockets of her black sweatshirt.
After standing there for a while, she was about to leave.
At that time, I was thinking, is it worth it?
It is.
- You came to get a job, right? The girl shuddered, obviously frightened by my sharp voice from the darkness.
The only lantern illuminates the entrance to the pizzeria.
The blonde turned around.
I immediately adjusted my purple cap, then leisurely turned to the girl and put out my cigarette on the wall of the building. Slowly, I came out of the shadows, finally showing myself to her.
The blonde abruptly retreated, and in her eyes there was genuine horror. I made a puzzled face and slightly turned my head to the side. Yes. It's funny to see fear in people's eyes whenever I appear in their field of vision.
- What are you staring at? - I began in a more daring tone. - Have you never seen people with purple skin?
The girl seemed to come to her senses, she quickly straightened up and guiltily looked to the side.
- That's right. - I whispered more quietly.
In fact, I didn't care at all how people would react to my skin color. But I had to play a normal person so that no one would guess about the possible catch.
- Let's do it this way, - I glanced at her opening the doors of the pizzeria - I won't ask you for documents, work experience and all that other crap, and you won't ask where I got this skin color from and other questions related to me or this place, okay? - I unlocked the doors.
- Yes. - she answered briefly in her quiet voice.
- Nice. - I opened the doors and we entered the pizzeria.
- So, - I began - now I will tell you all your duties as a security guard of this place. Your job is to sit in the office, watch the cameras and not leave the building. The shift starts from twelve to six in the morning. Then you can go the hell away. We'll pay you at the end of the week. Is everything clear? - I looked at the girl.
She walked next to me, looking around with curious eyes. What a naive, sweet, innocent girl....
I can't believe I did this.
We went into the storage room for the guards. The uniform and equipment were stored there. While she was collecting the flashlight and keys, I was looking for her uniform. But suddenly my gaze fell on the purple fabric. I still don't understand why they removed the old guard uniform? It was much more comfortable and functional, and what can I say, much more easy on the eyes.
After hesitating a bit, I asked the blonde:
-Listen, do you like purple?
I turned around and looked at her.
She looked at me warily, and her hand hung in the air when she wanted to take the bunch of keys.
-Oh, no, no, don't think anything like that, I'm just asking. - Realizing that I had said it wrong, I chuckled guiltily and, smiling, put one hand behind my head in a harmless gesture. Well, it's time to use all my charm.
The girl also giggled slightly and said:
-Oh, nothing like that. To be honest, yes, I just adore purple! - she straightened up again, putting her hands behind her back.
-Wonderful, - I smiled and, approaching the girl, handed her a bag with a uniform - then you'll definitely like this. - I slightly narrowed my eyes and headed towards the exit of the pizzeria, pointing in the direction of the office. It was approaching midnight and I didn't intend to stay in this building for a minute.
-Wait! - a girl's voice called out to me near the door - What's your name?
-Why do you need to know? - I stopped and looked at her. This time, excitement was visible in her eyes. - It's just... - she began - you haven't told me almost anything, you haven't taken my documents, can you at least tell me your name? I just want to know who's hiring me... - the blonde tried to seem confident, but she was clearly nothing like that. People like her are easy to control, easy to convince. Manipulate.
-You can call me Vincent. - I smiled at her with my signature sly smile.
-Francesca. - the girl smiled sweetly in response.
-Nice to meet you, Francesca. - with these words I left the pizzeria.
I walked to my car, parked at the other end of the road. I got in and looked at the time on my wristwatch. Exactly midnight. I made it. Everything worked out. Now I can relax. I take out the chips and soda I bought in advance, turn on some quiet music on the radio and lean back in the seat. Yeah. It's going to be a long night. During my midnight lifestyle, I had long ago developed the habit of not sleeping at night, so I didn't feel tired. Which means it won't be too hard for me to look at the dim light in the pizzeria windows until six in the morning. I'm watching them now.
Crunching chips and washing them down with soda, I thought that this was my best idea in a long time. Of course, it was hard to post an ad for a security guard without the boss knowing, but it was worth it. It was worth it.
And now it's 5:30.
I turn off the music and wait quietly. Will she make it? Will she stay? No, no, no, I can't let her leave. The first night shouldn't be this hard. Unless this foolish girl got scared and locked the doors.
I feel like I'm sitting on pins and needles, as I stare at the windows of the building I hate.
5:45.
I think I heard screams. It's strange, because even if I wanted to, I couldn't hear them - the building is very well soundproofed. They tried their best, damn them.
5:55.
Five minutes. Five minutes left. I was torn by curiosity, what would happen to her? And then...
The light goes out. Fuck. She couldn't handle it. Or is there time? I looked at my wristwatch, then at the windows. A dim white light was burning in one of them. Freddy. Now I can only guess when he will finish playing his damn music box. I knew the whole melody by heart. Toreador's March. Mentally, I played it in my head, waiting and hoping that it would at least reach the end. But it didn't. It broke off halfway.
I glanced at wristwatch.
5:57.
Didn't make it. Couldn't. Couldn't handle it.
I sighed resignedly, hitting my head on the steering wheel. Will I really have to look for a new guard to replace me again?
And now it's six in the morning. Henry should arrive by seven.
It would be strange if he noticed the body of a torn girl stuffed into an animatronic suit.
I have an hour to clean up the evidence. I've prepared. There's a mop, a rag, a bucket, and plenty of cleaning supplies in the car. Also, trash bags. I get out of the car, take out everything I need, and head to the pizzeria.
I go inside, not afraid of harming myself, because the animatronics are not active since six in the morning. Six in the morning is a saving number. The main thing is to survive until six in the morning. At any cost. And I did it.
I was pretty exhausted while I was packing the body parts into bags and cleaning the suit from blood. And now I'm standing in the office, tired, trying my best to scrub the floor from blood until it shines. Everything else is already clean. Tearing myself away from my fascinating occupation, I looked at the clock in the office. It's already seven in the morning. More precisely, 7:10.
Henry should arrive at any minute. The animatronics have been in their places for a long time. Every time six AM, they seem to evaporate and always end up on the stage, wherever they were before. At first, I wondered if I had gone crazy and maybe I was just hallucinating. But the scar on my torso, received from Foxy's hook, will say otherwise. This is all real. And I know it for sure.
- Hey, Will! - Henry's exclamation distracted me from my thoughts. A man with glasses and light brown, even slightly red, curly hair appeared in the office window. He was dressed in a light brown suit, a white shirt and an orange tie. - Decided to clean up again? - He entered the office and I immediately began to collect all the cleaning equipment.
- Well, yeah. Been suffering from cleaning disease lately. - I chuckled. Blue-eyed laughed with me. Always so naive and kind. Only he can laugh like that.
- In any case, - he looked at all my cleaning supplies - I think you're taking on too much. Not only do you stay here all night, not sleeping, but you also scrub the entire pizzeria in the morning.
- Oh, come on. - I waved it off. - It's not such a problem for me. I'm fine. - I finished putting all my things away and threw my bag over my shoulder, I took the mop in my right hand and was about to leave the pizzeria.
- William, I know you've been through a lot lately. You've been through a lot, but you can always tell me what's bothering you. Despite the quarrels, we're still friends, right?
After these words, I froze. I froze in the exit passage of the pizzeria, not wanting to turn around. I couldn't. I couldn't look him in the eye after those words. Henry, oh Henry...there's so much you don't know. Too much.
-I'm sorry Henry, but I'm too tired today. I promise I'll find a free day soon to talk to you and discuss everything. But not now, Henry, I'm sorry. - I said the last bit more quietly.
-Okay, bye Will. - Henry grabbed the door, clearly about to go to his office, as usual, to work on papers.
- Bye Henry. - I said and went to the car, hearing the pizzeria doors close behind me.
Half an hour later I was already home.
I entered the hallway and put all the cleaning supplies away in the pantry. This house is much smaller than the previous one, but frankly speaking I don’t care about that. It’s okay for living, so it’s good enough. I’m planning to move anyway. I’m not worried about Michael. Henry will take care of him, I know that. So all that’s left for me is to live a quiet life for my own pleasure. And then go on a long run across America. And maybe even go abroad. I wonder if Paris is really as beautiful as they say?
I went to the bathroom, filled the bathtub with water and climbed into it, taking off all my clothes. Nothing soothes like a hot bath after a stormy night of work. And now it's already nine in the morning, and I'm just going to bed. I need to get enough sleep to work hard at night, without sleeping in the car, and to gather strength for a thorough cleaning.
Already in bed, all sorts of thoughts come to me. For example, what should I do in my free time before going to "work", when to find a day to ask Henry for a day off. Somewhere on the periphery of my consciousness, a thought flashes about the escaped Michael. How is he? Where is he now? What is he doing and is he okay? Does he want me to find him? But I quickly push these thoughts away. They are replaced by others, no less exciting: who should I hire instead of me the next night? This thought makes me shudder and I even open my eyes, wide. Indeed, there is a chance that no one will respond to the job ad. But I still consoled myself with the thought that many people from our city want to earn some easy money, without attention. These are exactly the kind of people I need. And there are many more of them than it seems at first glance. Much more...
With these thoughts I fell asleep.