Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Heaven knows I'm miserable now.
It had been a few months since Jack started working in what could possibly be the worst job in the universe. His brother insisted it was the only thing they could do if they wanted to give their sister a happy life, and it wasn't that bad after all. Of course, he only said that because he didn't have to fight deadly animatronics every night. "I'll be fine," He insisted. "You should take the day shift and be with Dee." Those words rumbled in his head. Why did he have to be so stupid?
But who could blame him anyway? he couldn't have known that the furries were possessed.
Of course, he loved his sister; he loved her more than anything in the world, he always saw her as the smartest little girl in the world, but was it worth it risking his life? Maybe he should change to the dayshift, but, then again, would serving pizza to feral toddlers be any different? Maybe he should just quit, go to college, live an actual life, get married, maybe...
No, not those thoughts again, he couldn't just leave like that.
It was a foggy morning of 1973; Jack leaned his back against the wall behind the pizzeria, lighting up a cigarette. It must have been about 6:30 at that point; he wasn't really sure. He was still shaking a bit from his multiple near-death experiences that night. He ran as far as he could from the restaurant on his first shift, but slowly discovered running away was no use; the animatronics couldn't even go out the door after all. He was tired, but not enough to sleep; he didn't want to go home just yet to lie down in his miserable couch and watch TV until he inevitably fell asleep and the nightmare would start all over the next night.
Although he should probably leave before 7, the customers would arrive soon, and he didn't want to deal with the annoying little children asking annoying questions.
He laid his head back and let the smoke out of his mouth while closing his eyes, hoping the world would just disappear.
A loud noise got him out of his thoughts; the door slammed right next to him, almost hitting him in the head.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck...” Someone muttered under heavy breaths as they leaned on the door, closing it with another loud bang.
Jack looked at the stranger and was completely startled at the sight of who or what was at his side. He rubbed his eyes to prove he wasn't hallucinating again. That place was really making him crazy; there was no way that man was actually purple. He had seen far worse things in that place, but this was on another level.
That man looked completely sleepless and emaciated; his bones could almost be seen through the skin, his rolled up sleaves exposed, and his neck was unnaturally skinny. He seemed to have stitches all over his body and a rather odd sense of style.
The stranger’s breathing slowed down as Jack exanimated him, unaware of his presence. After a few seconds, he turned his head around to face him. They both stared at each other in an awkward silence, Jack’s mind still wondering if he was going insane.
“Yes, I was born like that, no, it's not contagious.” The purple man stated after what felt like an eternity
The other stayed silent.
“Does that ease any of your questions?”
Jack thought twice before responding.
“I mean... some of them.”
The stranger’s gaze switched to look at his security hat.
“Oh! I know who you are, you must be the new night guard, I can't quite recall your name though...”
He hesitated. Was giving this man his name really a good idea?
“C’mon, don’t be shy.” He insisted.
“My name is Jack.” He finally answered.
“Jack, Jack, I'm sorry we got off with a bad start. Anyways, how is this job treating ya’?”
The change in his manners was abrupt and a bit unexpected. Did it really matter that much that he worked there? Honestly, he expected the man to go away after he realised he wasn't interested in small talk, but he didn't seem to take a hint.
“It's... good.” He lied shamelessly.
“Well, I'm glad, old sport, must be really fun nd’ calm just resting in the security room all night, and the pay isn't bad at all, isn't it?”
Old sport, that was a... rather strange way to call someone, but, with the looks that guy had, he was probably just saying it once for the bit.
“Yeah, sure. So, what are you exactly, some kind of clown?”
He seemed oddly flattered by this comment, like it was some sort of compliment.
“Aw, you! Well, not exactly, I do wear the spring bonnie suit sometimes, though, so you could say I'm some kind of performer.”
Jack lit up another cigarette. The guy kept staring at him with a smile that might have given him nightmares.
“So, what ya’ think about those robots, they are real impressive, aren't they? The man who made them is a real genius, his work IS revolutionary, isn't it?”
Jack let out the smoke.
“Yeah, well, I guess you could say that.”
“Great, great, yes. Well, I work on the day shift, pretty fun if you ask me, dropkicking toddlers all day and such.”
He hoped the crazed man was joking, but still let out a small laugh to be nice.
“Jus’ everyday stuff in this restaurant. What brings you here anyway?”
“Oh, you know, just earning some money so I can keep up with drinking cheap alcohol.” He lied once again.
“I guess we gotta make some sacrifices for the ones we love.” He joked.
The man kept talking about the non-existent wonders of Freddy’s “magical” machinery for a few minutes, and all Jack could do was listen and nod occasionally.
After what felt like hours, the door was opened by someone, and the crowds of feral children running around could (sadly) already be heard.
“Dave, what are you doing there? What's taking so long? Come back here, we have business to attend to!” A faceless deep voice called from the inside.
The purple man seemed slightly distressed but responded to the man in a cheerful voice.
“I'm coming!”
He turned around to face Jack another time.
“I gotta leave nd entertain the demons, have a nice day, old sport, it was nice meeting ya’! Hope we see each other again.”
“Same thing.”
He said entirely sure that wasn't true.
The door closed, leaving Jack staring at nothing and trying to process whatever just happened. Had he just met the only Freddy's enthusiast in the world? Jack threw his last cigarette on the floor and stepped on it, then started heading home tiredly, the light of the early morning sun hurting his eyes.
Thank God he never had to see that man again.