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Working at Freddy’s was certainly not your first choice, but it’s not like any other business will hire you in Hurricane. All the family run business here like to keep it exactly that; in the family. So, you were surprised when the pizzeria gave you a job after the interview process. Since the Afton’s own the place, along with working there, you assumed they’d be like the rest. You almost wish they were, so you didn’t have to work the night shift.
If you had to say one word about the night shift, it would be creepy. Seeing the place so void of life when you know of the mysterious past it holds straight up freaks you out. Not to mention the animatronics. You swear on your life that they move ever so slightly every night. Watching the monitors, you would always notice small glitches or head turns. While it’s not enough to make you run screaming, you always pay close attention, watching and waiting for something more, something worse.
When you brought it up to your boss, Mr. Afton, he shrugged it off. “You’re speaking nonsense. There’s nothing to be afraid of,” he told you. Maybe the lack of sleep was getting to you, but you’re certain you saw brief movements from the animatronics. At your persistence, Mr. Afton caved and volunteered his son to accompany you on the night shift. This news did not help calm your nerves at all.
You went to school with Michael, you two used to be friends before he shoved you away, so you know all about him. He takes after his father, from the creepy antics to the apathetic nature he seemed to carry. He’s been straying away from people since sophomore year; he’s been described as a loner, rightfully so. So, you can’t imagine him being too happy to have to spend the night shift with you, but who knows. Maybe it’ll be nice to see him after all these years?
You unlock the building, making sure to lock it behind you before shoving your keys in your coat pocket. With your flashlight, you scan the dining room for any unusual mess before continuing down the hallways to the security office. You walk in, flicking on the lights. You jump as a small scream escapes you. Michael’s already here, feet up on the desk as he lounges back, eyes closed like he’s sleeping. You assume he was waiting for you. He looks up at you, a wide (dare I say, unnerving) smile across his face. “You just taking a nap, or are you trying to scare me?”
He swings his feet off the desk, watching your every move as you set your bag in the lockers. “Well, it worked, didn’t it?” You glance over your shoulder with a slight glare, already tired of this. Pulling out your water bottle, you step over to the desk, switching on the monitors. You rolled the second office chair over beside him, close enough to view the cameras effectively. The two of you glance at the quiet cameras, waiting for something to happen. He groans, spinning the chair in your direction. “Why am I here again? Did you get too scared?” He asks, a teasing tone to his words, acting as though you're a child. Irritation was bubbling in your throat as you glanced at him. You kept your cool, remembering he’s your boss's son.
“There’s something going on here at night- I'm not sure what, yet. I’m hoping if someone else sees it too, then I can prove to myself I’m not going crazy.” You lock eyes with Michael as he stares back at you with skepticism. His middle-parted hair softly fell and framed his sharp face, you noticed. He wore a standard plaid button up with the top two buttons undone, and a black hoodie over it.
Michael scoffed, bringing his hands to the back of his head and intertwining them. “Sounds like you’re already there,” He refers to you calling yourself crazy. “But hey, given that I’m getting paid, I can stay with you as long as you’d like.” You catch him giving you a quick wink. With that, a grimace appeared on your face, but your cheeks betrayed you, turning rosy.
“Noted.” You stated, watching the screens ahead of you. Paying closer attention to camera 1A, you lean in. Just as you do, you notice unusual static in the frame as it shows the iconic animatronics on stage. Rolling the chair to your right, you push Michael’s chair to the side as you observe a camera glitch. You point to the screen for Michael to catch as Bonnie’s head glitches back from its broken position. “Did you see that? What the hell is that?” You asked, genuinely hoping he has an answer.
Michael leans in, eyes squinting, only looking after the glitch occurred. He scans the screen, obviously seeing nothing, before he turns to you. His expression shows what you feared: he believes you're losing it. “Right...”
“You missed it! You saw the static, don’t even lie.” Defending your claims, you crossed your arms, leaning against the back of the chair.
“Pfft, we have a bad connection here. You’re jumping to conclusions.” He declares, a chuckle on his lips as he shakes his head. A deep sigh of defeat draws for the bottom of your lungs. Now you have to wait for the next incident to prove yourself sane, if you can manage to do so.
You continue to glance at the cameras, keeping your eyes on each of the views. You occasionally steal a look over at Michael, who looks bored out of his mind. He leans his elbow on the table, head in hand. But he watches, and that's all that matters. As you take a sip of your water bottle, your eyes flicker off the cameras. Of course, that’s when you hear him call out to you. “Hey, did you hear that?” He exclaims, diverging from his bored position. As you finish your drink, you glance at him, eyebrows raised.
“I didn’t hear anything?” You answer, wary of what he could’ve heard.
Michael lowers his voice; a concerned look appears on his features. “It sounded like a slamming door. We got to go check.”
Your heartbeat quickens slightly at his confession. You didn’t think you’d actually have to play the role of security, dealing with intruders. Things like that usually don’t happen in Hurricane. “Do we?”
Michael glares down at you as he stands from his chair. “You’re a security guard.” He reprimands, stepping to the office door. “Besides, my dad would kill me,” He muttered. Swallowing your fear, you stand and join him at the door. You whip out your flashlight, illuminating the hallway. You take steps, making sure Michael stays beside you; you were not trekking this journey alone.
“What door slammed? Could you hear where it came from?” You asked, trying to figure out where the intruder would be now.
He hung behind you with his hands stuffed in his pockets, on the lookout for anything strange. “It sounded like the entrance.” He informs you, making your jaw clench. Fuck, you were not prepared for this. Animatronics are one thing, but a real person breaking in? You can’t handle that.
You peak at the entrance, seeing it closed and exactly how you left it. Scouting that the coast was clear, you walked into the dining area. The lights of the stage lit up the animatronics you feared, making them the only source of light besides your trusty flashlight. They looked huge from here; you couldn’t begin to imagine them up close. “I don’t see anything, Michael-” Glancing behind you, you saw nothing but the faint glow of the office lights down the hall. Your eyes widened, scanning the room for him. “Michael? Where’d you go?”
As you call out to him, the silence is broken by a hum, followed by the flick of a switch. Your eyes are drawn to the bright lights of Pirate's Cove. Your jaw drops when you see Foxy peeking out from the curtain, displaying his hook. Screaming for Michael again, and frankly, your life, you run back down the west hall. You weren’t sticking around to see what tricks Foxy could do with that hook.
The supply closet door swings open as you pass by, and something pulls you inside. Thankfully, it was Michael. Your momentum moves you to stumble forwards into him, before he sets you back upright and quickly removes his hands from your shoulders. A hesitant smile spreads across his face as he watches you freak out. “Chill out, it was just a prank. No one’s here-
“Foxy moved out of his curtains, he stared right at me!” You panicked, hoping to God that he’ll believe you. Catching him off-guard, he searches for a hint of deception but sees no trace.
Suddenly, the fox animatronics' haunting hum can be heard ringing throughout the pizzeria. “What the hell?” Michael mumbles. He stayed beside you as you tried to control your shaking, listening observantly for more sounds the animatronics produce. The silence lingers in the air; you dare not make a peep. It’s interrupted by the sound of heavy metal scraping against the dining room floor.
Michael curses under his breath, quickly running up and locking the door. You can’t help but wonder how that’s going to stop 6 feet tall, 300-pound animatronics. You keep your worries to yourself, deciding to stay silent as to not to attract the wandering animatronics. Michael backs up, standing protectively in front of you as he faces the door, preparing himself for a metal intruder.
“What do we do?” You whisper, fear getting the best of you. The supply closet isn’t the safest area to be now, and you know that.
He glances at you behind him, his face a reassuring calm. How can he be so docile in a situation like this? A genuine life or death situation, and he’s treating it like its hide and seek. “We’ll wait it out; they’ll retreat soon enough. Then, we’ll get the fuck out of here, yeah?” He assures you, making you feel a bit safer. You agree with his plan quickly, besides, what options do you really have?
After an excruciating four minutes, permanent silence envelops the restaurant. The two of you, figuring it was safe to run back to the office, creep forward to the door. Michael quickly unlocks the door, opens it, and surveys the hallway with your flashlight. You peeked out and spotted nothing; the hallway was empty. Pushing Michael out the supply closet door quicker, you make your way to the office. Once in the confines of safety, you let your guard down. “Holy shit, I thought we were goners!”
At your exclamation, Michael chuckles breathily. “And you can thank yours truly...”
He speaks, his ego tainting his words. You rolled your eyes. “Right, like I’m going to thank you for leaving me alone with killer animatronics.” You picked your bag off the hook of the locker, slinging it over your shoulder.
Michael scoffs, stepping closer to the lockers. To you. “My bad, I didn’t know they were so “evil”.” He replies sarcastically, an obnoxious smirk on his lips. He crosses his arms, leaning against the lockers as he stares down at you.
You return his gaze, biting the inside of your cheek to hold yourself back. “Your father never mentioned they had a kill mode or what?” You joke, grabbing your water bottle. Picking up Michael’s jacket from the back of his chair, you throw it at him. Unsurprisingly, you just want to hurry and get the fuck out of here.
“I guess not,” He chuckles, slipping on the jacket at you shut down the office’s monitors. Having gathered all your stuff, you motion to the door, ready to leave. “Jeez, someone's eager to get away from me.”
“Mhm, I sure am.” You reply; your voice feigns excitement. It was quite the opposite, actually. You were kind of disappointed that you had to leave Michael so soon. Whether that’s because of the shared history, or because he, admittedly, did sort of save your ass out there, that was for you to figure out.
The two of you went down the east hallway, guided by the dim light the flashlight provided. Beig cautious of the animatronics, you limit verbal contact until you make it out the door. When you make it out without further incident, you breathe a sigh of relief.
Scanning the parking lot, you don’t spot another car. “Have you got a ride?” You ask Michael.
“I parked in the back.” He motions to the continuation of the front parking lot. You mutter a quick ‘I see’, before the silence continues. You glance up at him as he clears his throat, a fondness to his eyes you’ve never seen before. “It was nice seeing you again.” Michael mumbles, almost as if forcing it out. Although he avoids eye contact, you’re able to recognize the blush on his pale cheeks. “But next time, don’t call me to join you on night shift duty. If you want to see me so bad, getting a coffee together will do.”
His teasing words make you roll your eyes, but you weren’t opposed to what he said. “I’ll keep that in mind.” You grinned softly, your hands gripping the strap of your backpack tighter. Since when were you this nervous around him? “I should get going... but I'm glad we crossed paths again. Let’s keep in contact, okay?”
The vulnerability in your tone was painfully obvious, but thankfully he didn’t comment upon it. He nervously shoved his hands in his pockets, but offered a genuine smile, contrasting the freaky grin he introduced himself with. “Alright, yeah. I’ll catch you later.”
“Bye, Michael,” You call out, waving to him as he walks to the back parking lot. He looks back, returning your gesture. Exhaling the last of your nerves, you make your way to your car. As you get in, you glance into the rearview mirror, seeing Michael disappearing into the shadows. Your suspicion was confirmed; it was nice seeing him after all these years.