Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“And in what may end up being a sigh of relief for the residents of a small town, a potential threat has been finally taken off the streets. Michael Schmidt is currently facing charges for the murder of Jane Schmidt after her body was found in a shallow creek, about a month ago, not far from where Mr. Schmidt last worked. The woman had been missing for weeks before her lawyer reported it after several attempts to reach her, and stated to law enforcement that her last known location was at Mr. Schmidt’s house. It was well known in the town that the two were engaged in a brutal custody battle that appears to have ended in the bloodshed of an innocent well-respected life. 

But, in recent developments it appears that Mr. Schmidt may have actually been involved in a lot more than anyone realized. His employment at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria was very short lived and ended around the same time as his career counselor Steve Raglan was also reported missing. In addition, when police went to investigate the old pizzeria after finding the woman’s body they found the restaurant in a severe state of disrepair almost like, quote from one of the local investigators “a tornado went through it.” Apparently a lot of questionable activity went down that weekend that investigators are just now able to piece together. I actually have Officer Weathersdew here with me. Sir, I know you can’t say a lot because this is still an active investigation but is there any truth to the rumors that all these occurrences could be connected?” She holds the mic out to the burly-looking officer with a thick black mustache and he nods slowly.

“As you stated, unfortunately there isn’t much we can say. However, we have started to really look at the evidence of all the events that transpired over the course of just a few days and it really would be too much of a coincidence for these not to be related. It has been a lot of non-stop hard work but we have been able to finally gather and confirm enough evidence and facts from each scene to confidently state that yes, we do believe we have apprehended the subject responsible for all these crimes. It is our help that by taking him into custody, all the residents can finally sleep peacefully knowing a major threat has now been taken off the streets and placed rightfully where he belongs. We are going to continue by pulling up cold cases and seeing if they might be connected and going back further than that. We will keep the public updated as we receive and confirm information. But for tonight, everyone can finally breathe again.” He nods curtly at the mousy-faced short reporter as he walks back over to the house in the background blocked by flashing lights, officers, and caution tape. 

She looks back at the dark scene behind her, “Unfortunately we know that we have all had our share of tragic memories but maybe now we can finally get some answers. In the span of less than a week, we had a woman related to Mr. Schmidt disappear, who later was found deceased, a local police officer that he dropped off at the hospital with little to no information, a missing career counselor, possibly more missing people and a destroyed building close by where both the body and vehicle of two of the victims were last seen. We have also gotten reports that he may be involved in the disappearances of at least one, possibly four people who were last stated to have been seen making plans to also go to the same building. We’ll keep you updated as we hear more, but for now it seems that Michael Schmidt may be facing charges for at least the murder of Jane Schmidt, possible assault on Vanessa Shelly, and disappearance of Steve Raglan. As of now, there have been no signs indicating Mr. Raglan’s fate but it was confirmed by several witnesses that Mr. Schmidt was a client of his and his vehicle was found behind the back of Mr. Schmidt’s place of employment. Investigators stated the inside of the building was something out of a horror movie with blood and terrible smells that suggest foul play may have been going on for a while undetected.”

The camera pans over to the side to show in the distance a young dark haired man being led away by two cops towards an open vehicle. His head hangs down and his face can’t be seen. A crowd of onlookers look on in shock and horror mumbling things to each other.

The camera turns back to the woman who shakes her head slowly, “As you can see neighbors are still in shock. However, since Mr. Schmidt was involved in an assault at his last job shortly before all these events occurred, they all just have to wonder just what kind of monster they were in close proximity with.”

 The woman continues on, but the man sitting across the tv drowns it out as he sighs and shakes his head, “Oh, William ... .what have you done?” He holds the remote towards the screen and turns it off. He turns away and gets up walking out the room slowly. He stops and looks at a framed photo on the fireplace. It shows a happy family: a man in a blue business suit so in love with his arm wrapped around a beautiful woman with short bobbed blonde hair in a matching blue dress and. In her arms is a very young girl with light brown hair in a green and black dress. He stares at it for a few more seconds and then walks away.

 “That’s it then?” The shorter man looks at his partner as he pulls the door shut.

“Yep. They just wanted us to at least look like we were looking for evidence. But let’s face it. It’s pretty open and shut. The kid snapped or whatever and decided to attack all these people. It’s only a matter of time before more bodies are found. Ya know, he was working at Freddy’s. Maybe he snapped and went crazy. You’ve seen what happens to people at that place. Instead of running away, he just became violent. No reason to waste time and resources on something so obvious.” He nods as the two cops walk off ducking under the crime scene tape and getting back in their car leaving the ominous looming house behind them.

If only they had actually taken the time to really do their jobs they would have seen something much much different. They would have come across deeper nightmares and horrors than they can ever imagine.

But they didn’t. And once again, as always, the darkest of secrets stay buried, until someone finally takes the time and energy to fully unearth them and dig deep below the surface almost all the way down to the core. Things that only one man has ever been fully aware of.

Deep in the basement, the scraps of burnt paper left on the scorched walls blow softly in the breeze. Inside the closet where the suit had been kept one of the remaining walls finally collapses leaving a glimpse into another room behind it. A secret room, also known only by one. 

The room is dimly lit but a vast wide space. There are shelves filled and stuffed with a multitude of things, and in the far corner a desk covered with stacks of clutter. The computer screen stays off but it’s hardly the focus. There are various news clippings, photos, and pictures all along the walls and shelves. There’s an article titled “Tragedy strikes yet again at Freddys!” and features photos of missing people. Five children listed on another wall. Blueprints, building maps, scientific journals, notes, recipes and procedures. On one of the shelves on the wall are vials and bottles of strange colored liquids with a large syringe laying as though dropped haphazardly on the floor. In front of them. There’s various pictures of different groups of people, young and old. One of the framed images shows a group of people with two men in the forefront smiling. Another image of the same men with two blonde children: a boy and a girl. Another image of a young blonde woman smiling with her face scratched out with a dripping red x. Another photo of the same woman and a young man with scribbles all over it. And another photo of her again, this time with a young brunette girl next to her. A photo of just the young girl with strange looking marks all around it.

A table against another wall is littered with files, books, and papers. More articles labeled, “Tragedy strikes during Family’s Vacation”, “Residents mourn loss of wife and daughter of local beloved community member”, and “Local Businessmen seal deal to create state of the art attraction”. First aid guides with different pages bookmarked; notes about different strong scents, sights, and sounds, and list of strongest human emotions with the word AGONY written in large letters at the bottom and circled. 

Finally in the middle of the desk is a drawing of Balloon Boy with notes scribbled next to it but impossible to make out, more blueprints of different animatronics, and in the middle of it all another child’s drawing of the Yellow Rabbit smiling sickly as though staring into the soul of anyone looking at it. 

As I usually tend to do, here’s some teasers/scenes from the upcoming work. No spoilers so no names attached. Just A/B/C/etc

A: Seriously MORE secrets still!!! I thought we were past that!
B: I promise I WILL tell you but first we've got to get out of here

A: Abby?
B: Freddy! Um not Freddy!
A: Look we have to go.
B: No. Look I'm sorry but I can't. I have to stay here. This is my home now.
A: No! You don't understand! We HAVE to GO!
C: Cool! Is that a ghost?
B: You can see him?
C: Um yeah. Can it see me? Or am I invisible to it? Wait, can it hear me? Does it know I'm here?
A: Yes HE can. 
C: Oh that's great! Wait, are you a good spirit or a bad spirit? Cuz if you're a bad spirit then I guess we need to call Ghostbusters or something.
A: How about a vengeful spirit?
C: Works for me.

A: Mike?
B: Whose Mike?
A: My brother. What do you mean....wait, Vanessa? Vanessa's awake? 
B: Uh, whose Vanessa?
A: My brother's friend-

A: What what do you mean in danger? Where are they?!
B: At Freddys!
A: They went BACK to Freddys?! Why?
B: I don't know but they are in serious trouble right now.
C: Um, what's Freddys?

A: You’re not asking and I’m not asking. If you really have to be so insane to go do this in the middle of the night with no good reason then like hell I’m going to let you go in there yourself. 
B:  Okay.
A: Wait, seriously? That’s it? 

A: I made and did a lot of weird things that week that I still don’t fully understand

A: My friend said they can’t find her right now and are worried.

Child A: You shouldn’t be here. But then again you don’t ever listen.
Child B: No, you shouldn’t….
Child C: No he doesn’t.

A: What do you mean?
B: I don’t know! Weird things are suddenly going on. My car is acting weird and my work computer literally exploded in front of me. And then I fall asleep and this keeps happening.
C: No outsiders, Gar! We all agreed. 
D:  Maybe he can help.
C: There is no help.

A: Um being haunted-
ALL: Possessed.
A: Possessed is cool and all, but um kinda of creepy. Are they just stuck up here from now on? With all these voices? Creepy freaky ghost kid trying to talk to me.
B: Jeremy.
A: What? 
B: His name is Jeremy. Fritz. Gabriel. And Susie. 

A: Is there anything we can do to help them?
B: I don’t know, Abs. If the animatronics were destroyed what choice do we have? We sure as hell aren’t going back there and it’s not like we have any lying around here…. He didn’t actually keep any here did he?
C: No…. But I know someone who would.

A: Do you realize how many laws have just been broken in the last 24 hours?
B: 48.
A: Huh?
B: You guys were actually in there for 48 hours.
A: Whatever. Point still stands.
C: Seriously, that’s your concern?
A: Well, that’s kind of important.
D: I mean…..in the grand scheme of things…
A: Like what?
D: Ya know…murder, lying, assault…
B: Sneaking out.
C: And hacking. Wait, murder?
D: See? Not so significant is it?
A: ….I’m surrounded by a bunch of criminals. I knew this was all a bad idea. Fine. I’m driving

A: “State-of-the-art robotic engineering to interact with guest in lifelike fashion?”
B:  Well, someone watched the training video.
A: Not exactly like there wasn’t anything else to do at the time before I knew I would be fighting for our lives. 

A: So it’s a miracle drug made of emotions like love and sadness that heals you.
B: That’s how you survived? Because it healed your wounds?
C: No and No. It actually gets much deeper than that. The strongest human emotions aren’t…..positive.

A: Oh, Mike? You might want to leave now. You know Daddy reaalllly doesn’t like you.

A: You should probably worry more about your own family and stay away from mine. 

A: You stabbed me.
B: Really, this? So dramatic. You really think if I wanted you dead you’d be here right now? You were just getting to be a handful and getting in the way. So I had to…… take you out for the moment. You know how that goes. How are you still not used to it by now?
C: Man, Vanessa’s dad is a dick.
D: Well he’s a psycho insane child murderer that has dozens and dozens of bodies down here. What do you expect?

A: You’re welcome by the way. All the doctors called it such a miracle. Can’t explain it. But we can, can’t we?

A: Apparently there were a few factors missing. Did you know that one of the most intense powerful emotions is severe agony from prolonged suffering? Funny how you were so busy trying to create all these positive scenarios: giving kids presents and having parties and all that. It’s so minimal compared to what you really need. 

A: No, I don’t think so. So, you see, this is where we part our ways. It’s been a fun ride but let’s just say I’ve “outgrown” you at this stage. No hard feelings, right?

A: ….don’t….she’s just a child. Don’t…don’t involve her in all that.
B: Don’t be so naive…. She’s my daughter…. She already is. 

A: This is all your fault! Again.
B: What the hell are you talking about?!
A: You brought her back here!
B: Okay first of all, I didn’t bring-.....okay yes I guess I technically did. But she was still going to come here either way! At least she wasn’t alone!
A: Then why didn’t you stop her!
B: Believe me, I tried ! 
C: Dude! What the hell’s your problem?
A: Stay out of this! You shouldn’t even be here either.
C: Well, guess what, I am. So deal with it. Why are you worked up anyways?

A: What even is your deal? And why are you still here? All you have done is make things worse. 
B: We gave you what you wanted.
A: Until I changed my mind.
B: No, before that. We did…in our ways…. You were too stupid to see the answer when I literally drew it out for you.
A: What- And why exactly?
B: Cuz…..she’s…..my sister…
A: WHAT?!
B: But…..she doesn’t know that anymore.

Chapter Text

{{He sighed as he looked back down at his notes. This was becoming a non-stop cycle. Something strange would happen, he’d have his suspicions, he’d find some evidence, he’d build a strong case, he’d start questioning and getting nowhere, that evidence would disappear, it wouldn’t be enough to even issue a warrant, and he’d be back to where he started: yet another blank sheet. Of course the facts he wanted to give got him nowhere either. His superiors would tell him to just drop it. Eventually he’d have no other choice but to let another one go. Adding another under the list he kept track of, there was just too much that didn’t add up. Didn’t anyone else see it?

Well, one other did. He glanced over at his partner in the corner. Miller was still at it in yet another all too familiar scene. All the smiles, his friendly welcoming demeanor; again nothing that changed the course or outcome. The pretty little blonde girl would still look him in the eyes with her own blue eyes sparkling pure innocence, “We were out at the park again. He wanted to show me this really pretty flower that he had found earlier. Here, I’ll show you. And everyone knows my daddy would never do anything like that.” No amount of anything would ever change that conviction. Most would eventually get frustrated and try to come up with ways to break the cycle, to get anything changed. Break through the wall.

Yet, as he continued watching his partner at work, all Everett Larson actually ever wanted to do was grab that child up and run far away with her out of this place.}}

Ryan took another deep breath as he looked at his reflection. His dirty blond hair and blue eyes were almost an exact copy of his dad, including the early graying that was starting to slowly appear. The only thing he hadn’t inherited from him was the freckles that the older man would claim had lured his wife to him. And it wasn’t just the physical stuff. 

He adjusted his uniform again, staring down at his name badge. For decades the name ‘Larson’ was always stated with pride and celebration. In the last couple decades his father’s obsessions and behavior had led it to more of a laughingstock, but little by little he was rebuilding that tower. He was still fairly young and new, but having a seasoned respected partner had been a big help in that. 

Speak of the devil, his phone was ringing. He answered as he turned away from the mirror, “Larson.”

“Man, we got it! Took a few years but Elizabeth Burke is finally back behind bars where she belongs!” Dave was always such an excited kid when they hooked the big ones. 

“Hey, if you hadn’t caught that one second of footage we never would have gotten that warrant.” the younger man responded.

“Yeah, yeah, but you were the one to suggest checking across the street. You should enjoy it. Your old man would be proud to see his brain’s legacy at work.” Both men were silent for a few moments before the older partner added, “And anyways, there’s a better reason for this call. Guess we just finally got….”

If he was right, that would be the greatest news the young cop could get now. His big fish so to speak. That one that had left him with all the sleepless nights. “You mean…”

“Hell yeah, man. Hell yeah. We did it.”

“Wait, wait. There’s gonna be how many girls again?” He stared up at the reflection of the young girl in the mirror in disbelief, “You know we don’t have that much room.”

She scowled back at him and he knew he was about to get the look , “Miiiikkkke, you promised!”

Okay maybe he had. But to be fair, he had just been so excited that she had any friends that she actually wanted to invite to a birthday party (that weren’t dead or imaginary) that maybe he had bothered to listen to the names as she listed them off. In the last few months, she had come so far that he would have almost sworn he dragged another kid back out that night (although technically she was probably that one that did most of the dragging, plus he would forever block out the fact that he had let a ten year old drive to the hospital because she was the only who could actually sit up. Miracle they survived that.) instead of the same shy small girl who kept to herself she had become such a social butterfly.

And not just at school, even his buddies (Man, did that word feel so foreign to him) absolutely adored his sister. After weeks of reminding everyone that no, she wasn’t his daughter, they’d ask daily how she was doing and he was constantly bringing in more and more requested pieces of art for the ‘world-renowned artist’ who resided in the house he paid for.

“Well, yeah, but that was before I knew there were going to be TEN little girls running around my living room.”

“C’mon, it’s just for a few hours…..” she tilted her head looking up at him. He sighed, shaking his head as he looked back down. She rolled her eyes, “Besides I already gave them all the invitations anyways. So it’s too late.”

He jerked his head back to look at her smug face and let out a frustrated groan before turning back to the road again, “You’re lucky it’s for your birthday. You do know that means you have a lot of cleaning and organizing to do in the next few days.”

She nodded eagerly, “Yep, I’m already on it.” She reached down pulling her backpack up and unzipped it loudly as she started digging through it and tore crumpled pieces of paper out of it, “Awe, I left my book at school.” 

Her older brother looked back up at her in the rearview mirror, “Do we need to turn around and go back for it? We’re not that far.”

She sighed, “No, it’s okay, I was almost done with it anyways. I can just finish tomorrow.” 

As she stuffed all the stuff back in, the flash of orange caught his attention in a way he couldn’t understand, “Hey, what’s that?”

Abby looked at him in surprise before fishing it back out and holding it up so he could see it in the mirror, “This?” It was a small piece of orange plastic. It struck him oddly and he felt shivers running down his spine but he couldn’t stop looking at its reflection staring back at him almost like it was shining or glowing. She just shrugged and shoved it back in the bag, “I dunno. I just found it one day and thought it was cool. I might put it on something later.” She looked back up at him sincerely, “Is that…okay?”

Mike gave a slight nod and immediately looked back at the road as though freed from a trance, “Yeah. Of course. Just make sure you let me see it when you’re done, okay?” She nodded eagerly and he hit the blinker as he made his turn. Once she looked away she finally pulled her hand back out ignoring the pieces of yellowish fibers she had glued on the back of it that stuck to her fingers.

It was eerily silent and dark. Light shown in from the front as rays stretched across the floor illuminating part of the room. It was almost as though it was blocked and disappeared into darkness in the archway. Like it was cut and blocked away by a wall. 

The stage sat empty, curtains wide open, the water having eventually evaporated leaving damaged boards behind. The smell of mildew, blood, and destruction having worsened. There was a splursh sound from the kitchen as the figure was pulled down the floor. The corpse was yanked along jerkily leaving behind blood and entrails as the eyes were still wide open in terror. After a few minutes it was completely out of sight and a loud clang down the hall as a door was slammed.

A brown-haired boy walked out from the darkness and frowned as he looked around at the occasional from the lights outside, “I don’t like this. It's all wrong. It’s getting worse.”

Next to him, blond hair shimmered into form with a pensive look on his face, “I know. But we just have to wait.”

“But why can’t we do something now ?!” the younger one argued. He had waited too long. Nothing was changing, he couldn’t fight the feeling that they were just biding their time. Waiting in silence as the evil came alive at their feet. This was never what was supposed to happen. This wasn’t the plan.

He turned and gave him a sharp glare, “Because we can’t. We can’t do anything. Not yet. We just wait.”

Ryan took one more moment to look at the photo on his wall. Everett Larson was once the top detective in the area for hours. Other areas would call for his expertise. His name graced almost every headline for decades. For years, it was great. 

Until he came across the one he couldn’t win. It wasn’t that he couldn’t put the pieces together. From what Ryan had heard about his dad, before his mother took him away, he had figured out the puzzle. He just couldn’t ever prove it. For years, only one name ever came out of his mouth: WIlliam Afton . He was almost sure the man was the devil or evil incarnate himself. Anything that happened in the area was always tied to him. Evidence after evidence. …Well supposed evidence. Evidence that disappeared and could never be accounted for. Many started to claim he had never actually gathered any and was simply so lost in his obsession.

After one too many encounters with the very accused man himself in the streets, the unit had no option but to strip him of everything he had ever earned. Even without his badge, Everett still kept on, swearing to one day find the one piece that would prove and tie him to everything. He threw around accusations of law enforcement being in the man’s pocket. He knew that someone was covering for him, but he could never figure out who or what. Or, at least now when it mattered. 

Ryan and his mom hadn’t heard from the man for years until one drunken night when he called begging, “Ryan, please you’re the only who I can trust. I figured it out. I figured out how he did it. I figured out who.” But he never found out who as he hung up on the crazy old man, over all his conspiracies. The Aftons had long since died, even as Everett kept insisting it was wrong.  It wasn’t until about a year later when his son decided to reconsider. 

But it was too late. His father’s crazy accusations had eventually caught up and been the end of him. And in a selfish move, Ryan decided to follow in his footsteps without ending the same. Not in an act of honor and respect, but to clean the negative jokes surrounding his own name.  So far, he had. In fact at his young age he still had the highest number of closed and convicted cases. 

This latest one would be no different. There was another great evil plaguing the area. Another demon that had successfully managed or tried to steal away more lives terrorizing the community once more. Several claimed it was the same from before. A killer come to restart or finish the job. Others claimed a mere copycat that would get bored and pass on. But Ryan kept at it focusing on nothing but evidence. He knew he had the case, he knew he had the answers. He wouldn’t ever let it distract or control him as it did his father. 

But he was going to do his job. And his was pretty damn good at it so far.

The stark white room did nothing but make him sick. Everytime he stepped in he flashed back to another time, as he laid there in the chair next to his mother’s bed. Begging and pleading to anything for her to come back to them. To wake up, smile, hug him, and go back home and wait for him to fix dinner. Followed by a nice night spent on the couch watching whatever lame movie was featured that night. ( Keep fighting, Mom. You can do this. We’re waiting for you. Please come back to us. Please. We can’t do this without you. I can’t do this without you. ) The same words playing back every night. 

The light filtering across the walls should have installed a warm feeling. Happiness and hope. All things that Mike lost the moment he walked in the door. He couldn’t ever explain it, but no matter how exciting and good news he shared, he still could never shake that sense of foreboding once he crossed the threshold. Of course since he wasn’t family, no one would ever give him any actual details but he had caught up on enough from overhearing and interpreting some of the jargon he’d found written in medical notes, after hours of translating online. 

Obviously he was no doctor but still didn’t make sense at all. Everything was coming back fine. All vitals normal. More than stable. She just wouldn’t wake up. (“It’s almost like she’s just refusing,” one doctor had said when he thought no one was listening down the hall.) No amount of begging, pleading, asking, praying, commanding (and maybe at least one instance of threatening) had changed anything. 

He was always told the same thing: once a family member came forward and gave permission then he could be given information. Of course he knew that wasn’t likely to happen. Considering the only relative he was aware of was hopefully rotting somewhere behind decaying walls paying for his crimes. And although they hadn’t really had any deep conversations or even mentions of her personal life (besides, hey dad is the serial killer), something told him she wouldn’t have been in the situation if there was anyone else.

And hours and hours of research pulled up nothing on Vanessa Shelley or Steve Raglan. Nothing outside of news involving their occupations. A highly respected professional and renowned local cop. Other than that, neither existed. No, there was no finding family that way. Which meant on top of everything else he’d been fed, he still didn’t have anything helpful to find. Even the history of Freddy’s was hard to find. Besides news reports and rumors, nothing else on any inner information. 

He had found one name: William Afton. Renowned founder, highly respected and honored.  But supposedly William Afton had died years ago and there was plenty of evidence including a death certificate. And he had fallen asleep and never finished looking deeper into it. (Something told him he wouldn’t like what he’d find.)

He looked back down at the still woman laid out in front of him. So far removed from the high spirited excited (yet terrified) girl that had been such a whirlwind for him over the course of just a few days. The opposite end of his leash that kept him tethered to the darkness. Two different people tied together in the same nightmare. It had just taken him that long to figure it out. Had he been probably almost anyone else, he would have seen it. He’d have caught it that much sooner. The signs were so painfully obvious laid out for him and he missed them all until it was too late. 

Truthfully he still didn’t have the entire picture. Abby refused to elaborate on anything that day. He remembered waking up, hearing yelling and threatening, being in severe pain, Abby helping him up and then finding Vanessa laying in so much blood he didn’t even know how she was even alive. 

{{ “What happened? Why was she bleeding?”

“She saved me. That’s all.” }}

He’s also not entirely stupid and he can put some puzzle pieces together. So he knows a few things. None of which are anything good. Her dad (Steve?) tried to kill her, Abby drew a photo of what really happened so the ghosts would remember or something. The animatronics dragged off their killer/Steve Raglan/Vanessa’s dad/Garrett’s kidnapper and probably killer/his career counselor/technically his boss (who didn’t pay him by the way!). They barely managed to make it out the doors and he remembers waking up in the backseat with her, as his little sister was frantically trying to drive them to the hospital. (And if that concept wasn’t enough to make him lucid enough to manage the right of the drive himself.)

He took a deep breath as he studied her face, “Vanessa,” he looked around to make sure no one was around before looking back at her, “Does the name William Afton mean anything to you?” He didn’t see any obvious reaction. She didn’t jump up or scream or even open her eyes or clench her fists. He thought he did notice some kind of pause in the monitors. It was for such a brief half-second he wasn’t sure if he imagined it though. 

Finally he got up and looked back at her. Her blonde hair sprawled around her like a bright angelic halo mocking him. Reminding him that life was never easy. The pieces could never just fall in perfectly and be done.

His nightmares had gone away, Abby had friends, and Vanessa wouldn’t wake up. None of it was fair. Did something always have to be sacrificed? He had a good job, Abby still had a house to live in, and Vanessa had almost lost her life.

These doctors said Vanessa refused to wake up, the other doctors said his mother had given up. 

This couldn’t happen again. He couldn’t go through it again. Please…just wake up.

As he walked out, he noticed two uniformed figures walking up to him. He’d seen them before. Several times actually. Especially the younger one. He’d actually passed them a few times. Something about their stance told him this was different though.

The older man walked up to him and Mike felt a tension form in the air as he spoke, “Mr. Schmidt?”

He nodded nervously feeling the need to run, “Yeah that’s me.”

The officer nodded to himself and his younger partner, “David Miller and Ryan Larson. Michael Schmidt, you’re under arrest for the murder of Jane Schmidt, the disappearances of Maxine and Jeff Smith, and Steve Raglan, the vandalism of Freddys and assault and attempted murder of Vanessa Shelley.”

Gotcha , Ryan thought as he controlled his anger and his partner quickly apprehended the evil bastard who just froze in shock.

Chapter Text

{{"LET GO OF ME!!" the twelve year old screamed as the man gripped her upper arm tightly, continuing to drag her. She struggled, tried to punch, even kicked out at him. But they were used to it by this time and it didn't phase them. Were they even human?

They definitely didn't have hearts of one with what they did. She could still feel the glass shards and blood splatter of the man she had been talking to. That had just been executed for merely existing . How dare she talk to anyone.  "I said NO! I won't go back!! STOP!!"

"Vanessa!" The sharp tone stopped her struggling for just a few seconds as she swung her head back to glare at the woman who had spoken. "That's enough of that. Stop acting like such a child."

The blonde girl's eyes narrowed. She was just like all the others. People who didn't seem to care about anyone else. ESPECIALLY HER. She spit out as much venom and hate as she could at the red-headed woman in the fancy dress and fur coat who acted like she owned the world.

"You're just like HIM . I HATE HIM AND I HATE YOU, TOO!" She stopped before gritting her teeth as her tone dropped, "You may be just as evil as him, but you'll still never be anyone important like you think you are.... He'll just keep using you like he does everyone else. And one day, he'll leave you hanging out to dry like everyone else. If he leaves you in one piece at all."

The older woman snarled as she lunged at the girl, stopping her own guard in surprise and leaning down to her level. "Listen here, you brat!" She snatched the girl's chin squeezing her roughly but the blonde just glared back, "You don't have any idea what you're talking about! You're just a simple CHILD who thinks you're ready to take on the world and beat it. Well I have news for you, Princess . It's not what you think it is out there. And no amount of your attitude or tone is going to prepare you for it. So you would just do best, and save all of us some major trouble, if you'd just sit down and stay back behind those crystal palace walls and be Daddy's good little girl LIKE YOUR SUPPOSED TO!" 

The girl flinched trying to pull away, but the woman and guard both just gripped her tighter holding her in place. The venom in her steely blue eyes burned brighter as she met the older woman’s emerald orbs reflecting the same emotion. She tried to kick out but the woman easily moved out of the way tightly squeezing her chin in anger.

She was careful to keep her long nails from marring the girl’s face even as she shook in rage. Inside the woman was seething at the girl's behavior. How dare she act like that. She knew exactly who she was talking to. How dare that brat think she was anything better than her. Just because of her name and stature. "You'll grow up to be just like me someday and then you'll understand. You're no one better than me. You’ll learn." she hissed her thoughts out, glaring at the girl. "Just like me."

A deep voice cleared its throat, and a firm hand settling on her shoulder froze Vanessa in place and her eyes widened. The woman sighed, releasing her and stepped back, standing back up, smoothing her dress out and gave the man standing next to the girl a slight nod ignoring the child between them. "She almost made it to the state line. The taxi driver tried to ignore his order to stop, but.... we took care of it." She tilted her head towards the guard who remained still keeping his hold on the girl’s arm.

He looked down and assessed the crimson splatter on the girl's face and shirt as she immediately looked down at the ground. Anyone else would have probably had a panic attack. But not Vanessa Afton. She was quite used to wearing blood (whether her own or from others). Nodding thoughtfully he kept his piercing gaze on his daughter and she strongly resisted the urge to flinch, "I see."

He gripped her shoulder tighter causing her to barely let out a whimper as she continued looking down at the ground and the guard let go of her arm obediently at the man’s nod. But she didn't dare move. They’d been through this same song and dance for years. She didn’t survive this long by being stupid. She knew when it was game over. (She knew what came next.)

He sighed, "Well, I suppose I should go deal with this." He shook his head before stepping in front of his daughter and crouching down to her level addressing her in that sickening concerned tone. Who was he putting a show on for? No one there was fooled by his act. She obediently looked back up at him as trained. "Honey, we've been through this. The world out there isn't safe for a little baby bunny like you. You aren't quite ready for it. Not yet."She didn't say anything and just trembled lightly. (Funny he should say that.) He gave a small smile, hiding all the venom and maliciousness from the world, and gently patted the top of her head as he stood up and pulled her closer to him, holding her in place with that same hand. (That hand that was capable and brought about so much pain and suffering. That held everyone’s fate in it.)  Despite everything in her screaming to run she stayed pressed against his side. (Like a trained puppy accepting its punishment.)

He gave a nod to the guard that had dragged her over, who returned it out of respect, and turned back to the woman, "Thank you again, Liz. I'm sorry this keeps happening." His wide grateful smile just made his daughter even more sick inside. (They both just needed to burn and rid the world of their nightmare.)

The redhead nodded back with a matching smile, "Of course, William. No trouble at all. Do you need any more assistance? We could-"

He held his hand up, stopping her, still wearing that soft smile, "No thank you. That won't be necessary." His eyes narrowed and tone darkened as he looked back down at his daughter, intensifying his grip on her shoulder and she held back a whimper. "I don't think there will be any more issues for now."

The green-eyed woman nodded at her guard and both turned to leave as William started to lead his daughter back to his car. Suddenly the blonde stopped and turned to glare back at the woman, "You're wrong."

The woman turned back to her with a skeptical look on her face, "Excuse me?"

She straightened up as her father and everything else around her slowly dissipated into nothing, continuing to glare at the woman, "You're wrong . I WON’T grow up to be like you. I won't be ANYTHING at all like you."

The redhead merely laughed with a malicious smirk as her emerald eyes darkened, "We'll see, Vanessa.... we'll see." As the woman also started to disappear, a deep dark voice she couldn't quite recognize boomed from all around her.}}

AND JUST HOW WELL DID THAT TURN OUT FOR YOU?

"Her heart rate just spiked dangerously." The nurse said as she pulled away from the monitor to address the doctor with concern shining in her deep hazel eyes. "And her brain activity has been erratic." It had months and they were still no closer to finding any answers or solutions. Lines of expert after expert had all passed through with their own advice that never led anywhere. 

The older man standing behind her nodded with a soft hum. 'Dr Adderall' his name tag read. Yet another outside expert brought in to take a gander at the most mysterious case anyone had come across in years. "I see. And has any medication been administered?"

The sandy-colored bob-haired woman shook her head, "No, there's been no need to. It drops back within a few minutes. Watch." Sure enough, everything on the screen flashed back to normal and the alarms shut off. "Every single day. Sometimes several times a day. By time everything gets prepped, it's like it never even happened."

He ran his hand through his salt and pepper hair. This was quite curious indeed. He'd truly figured it was a false alarm or a case of faulty equipment, but after checking with his own that he brought, the results were still the same.

"And how long has this been happening?"

"Since her recovery from the surgery. Which was a miracle to have survived by the way. But once it was finished and she was left recovering....well this happened."

He looked back down, reading across the file on the desk. Nothing had made sense about it so far. In fact it should have been pretty routine. Patient gets brought in (under suspicious circumstances), patient undergoes surgery, patient recovers and eventually goes home. But everything had stalled after the recovery.

The woman in the bed in front of him had recovered almost completely by now. Everything was normal and routine. Blood work came back regular and vitals were, for the most part, all within normal ranges. It was like everything was fine for the woman, except that she wouldn’t wake up. And nothing they had done to trigger it had been successful.

There was the possibility of outside stimuli. He'd had a case once of a young boy that was easily triggered by loud noises. And since his parents were in a heated divorce there was plenty of that to go around. Once the room had banned visitors for a few days, he'd finally woken up and was sent home three days later once cleared. Amazing how being in a peaceful silent environment made such a difference. Could this be another similar incident?

"What about when the boy was arrested? Patients can sometimes have negative effects from things going on around them. That in itself would have likely been intense enough to cause a reaction." From what the staff had told them, although the boy had been shocked and gone quietly, his companion had made quite a scene refusing to let them take him away.

The nurse shook her head, "We've looked into that. During the incident and for the rest of the day her vitals all stayed at normal levels. There was a crash in the hall right outside her door the other day. Sent several patients into a frenzy. But for her? Nothing."

Well, damn. "Alright, Margaret, I'll admit it. This one's got me stumped. But you've been working on this for a while so what's your theory?"

"Officially? There might be some undiagnosed neural issue we haven't been able to pinpoint yet."

"And unofficially?"

The woman paused before looking back over at the unconscious woman in concern. "...it's like she refuses to wake up...."

He rolled his eyes ignoring the unending taunts. He was used to them by now. Mike Schmidt, the man couldn't control his temper (and at least that one was partially true). Mike Schmidt, the monster hiding in plain sight. (Okay, if you say so....) Michael Schmidt, the man behind the slaughter of beloved well-respected innocent Steve Raglan. (Which no one seemed to notice didn't even exist ????) And finally, Michael, the attempted killer of his cop girlfriend. (And where did that one ever come from?) Honestly, there probably wasn't anything any of them could say right now that would make him bat an eye anymore. He’d heard the headline, read the tabloids. Lost track of all the new nicknames they came up with him. (And how would his old boss feel to hear that his lowly employee was now labeled as the “Man Behind the Slaughter”? Mike taking all the credit after he put in all the work .)

He'd done his time. By some miracle he survived being locked behind bars. And after everything? Well he hadn't been convicted yet technically, just still in question. (At least they were pretty decent in covering their tracks and hiding evidence if nothing else.) And without enough evidence to prove or contradict his involvement, it was turned in his favor. And since, the prison was already pretty full as is with actual convicted criminals, they'd figured he was the less likely risk to send home and make space for the next disgrace to mankind (although the man who really deserved to be there probably never would.)

There were still a lot of things that did really concern him. Biggest probably being the lack of evidence. Where were Max and her brother? The police had combed Freddy's top to bottom and again found nothing. (And there wasn't enough room in the animatronics to hide a body without it being seen with how damaged and worn they were.) All they found was severe building damage, (it looked like an earthquake aftermath. Did they seriously think he actually somehow did that by himself?) and lots of blood. Which of course came back to him and Vanessa. (And they weren't buying the pack of rabid dogs story even when Abby insisted on it).

Jane's body must have been a fluke, a haphazard dunk in an overall busy night. (That most likely neither of the humans had a hand in.) Since animatronics didn't leave biological evidence they found nothing except golden colored pieces of fur and the fibers from his own carpet. And seeing as how none of the Schmidts owned any golden retrievers or similar it didn't lead anywhere. (Another thing he couldn't figure out. What animatronic was gold ? Abby didn't seem to know or at least say she did and that was a whole nother issue he wasn't ready to dive in).

He walked outside and froze in front of the vehicle sitting at the gate, staring at the very man who had brought him here. Ryan Larson was leaning back on his car staring him down as he slowly slid into the open door behind the passenger seat. The thing is, he didn't really harbor any anger at the man. He really had just been doing his job and working with the shitty evidence left behind. (Seriously, Vanessa?) . Honestly he'd been glad that someone had taken an active role in actually trying to solve the crimes and end a murderer (just not him!) And if what she had said was true, this was likely the first time someone had actually really pushed into solving the mystery and piecing the pieces together. And since he couldn’t really tell anyone that killer robots were possessed by ghost children murdered in the 80s and controlled by their killer, and the real killer was trapped in a costume suit somewhere, unfortunately there was no one else to point to. As bad as it sounds, there was only one person that was connected to all of them. 

Even if they were actually trying to kill him after having killed so many others, playing dirty tricks to take his only remaining family away for money, concealing and protecting a killer (whether by choice or not), or breaking in to sabotage him. How funny that while being the hero, he was actually the villain in this story with the others being the poor innocent victims. 

"You got lucky this time," Larson said as Mike slipped into the back of his patrol car. (Just how many times was he going to be in one of these?) "Just know that we'll be watching you. And the first time you try to run, you'll be right back here where you belong."

Mike scoffed as the detective slipped back into the front seat and started up the car. And where exactly was he going to go? His home was gone. Abby was in some half-way home foster house for kids at risk that kept a close eye on her so it's not like he could even get close. Hell, he was living in a trailer for god's sake (and thank God to Jeremiah for that). Loaned by the only person who had ever been in to genuinely see him. Course, that was probably due a lot to the fact that anyone else who would have come to see him were either dead or.....

It was quiet for a moment before Larson spoke again. This time so quiet, Mike almost didn't hear him. "She uhhh....still hasn't woken up. No one knows why or doctors won't say."

He looked up at the detective's reflection in the rearview mirror as he stared back at him. His eyes were full of sadness and evidence of worry and anxiety written clear across his face. He shouldn't be surprised though. Amongst the hours of questioning and accusations the pair had thrown at him, the younger of the two had also spent a lot of time berating him about Vanessa. She'd been more than just a uniformed officer on the force and he had a sneaking suspicion that was what really drove the manhunt. (Not that he would blame her for it. He'd never blame her for that.)

Which is why the next words out of the detective's mouth caught him off guard. "....do you want to go see her?"

He blinked in surprise sitting up. Had he heard that correctly? "What?"

Larson nodded, "Look I'm not saying you're not guilty in any fashion, and I still don't know what actually went down....but, for whatever reason, instead of leaving her to die you brought her in to get medical treatment. And....likely are the only reason she's still alive."

Mike kept quiet as the man continued, holding back a scoff. Because her dad tried to kill her, dumbass and I couldn't leave her like that. Not after everything. Maybe she was a direct cause of him being led to slaughter and keeping everything from him. But he still harbored that guilt that she had actually showed up. Despite the intense fear he saw in her eyes the last time he spoke to her, she had somehow ended up bleeding out on the floor at the twisted hands of the man who had caused all their suffering. When she wasn’t even supposed to be there .

Sure, he had been a little more than upset when she refused to come back with him (and even briefly wondered exactly what side she was on) but he had seen it all reflected in her eyes. And after the scene he woke up to, he understood. 

"And, I dunno. Dave tells me I'm crazy for even doing this but I could tell you were close as much as you were there. Or maybe it was just out of guilt, but still." He looked away, focusing on the road again, "Besides, Nessa never really had any friends. Not people she'd actually really engage with and from the way you talked to her, it seemed like....maybe she had actually talked to you too, before. Maybe you actually did know her."

I never did actually know the real her and neither do you. We may never actually. Mike started to zone out at his words. He really thought she'd have recovered fully by now. In fact he'd really hoped and prayed she'd have fled the state and never came back finally enjoying her newly found freedom. (He didn't know if he could ever truly forgive her, but he now knew she was likely just as much a victim as the others. She deserved that much.) But something about her not waking up really tore at him. Just like his time walking into Freddy's. Or into Steve Raglan’s office. Or when Vanessa pushed past him in the rain like she owned the place. (Something wasn't right with it all...)

Larson sighed, "I'm not saying some miracle will happen with you being there or anything. It's just not that far out of the way to make a quick stop if you'd like. Anyway I just- I mean obviously I'll still be there and you'll be watched carefully but before you went home and back to your life, I thought you might... Anyways, do you want to?"

Mike nodded, "Yeah. I'd...I'd actually like that. Thank you." The other man nodded and turned the steering wheel as he sat back quietly.

He glanced back at the open door leading to the hall and a pair of eyes he knew was waiting for him. Surprising him even more, the detective had warned him he would be watching on security cameras but still giving him privacy. What a strange guy. He was definitely a bit nicer than his older partner.

He sighed as he turned back to the woman on the bed in front of him. There had been no miracle recovery. She hadn't opened her eyes or even twitched. Her body was still warm like she was just sleeping but it was the same exact scene as last time he was there. Stumped doctors and no changes. Months later no answers.

"Look, I.... I have no idea what's going on. But then again, when is that anything new?" He chuckled bitterly before continuing. "Obviously if Abby was here, she'd probably be a lot more helpful but she's not. It's just....me.” He leaned back in the chair. Still as uncomfortable as ever.

“I'm sure, or at least really hope, you've noticed it's been a while since I've been here. It's not my fault though. Not entirely. I mean we really know who's to blame, don't we? And I don't mean you. Not at all. I still have a lot of answers and we need to talk, but....I just want you to know that. If for some reason that's why you're hiding, please don't."

He sighed again as he looked back towards the door then back to her. Still nothing. "Can you believe they actually truly believe that I personally took down and killed all these people? Me? The idiot who couldn't even stay awake on the job. Pretty sure your dad proved that night I was definitely not the one to stand a chance. Heck I wasn't even strong enough to be present for any of it. What, did I sleep attack?"

He laughed, shaking his head at the ridiculousness of it before leaning down closer to her. "New skill unlocked I guess.  So yeah, I can now officially say I've joined the ranks of those who did time in the slammer...and came out fairly normal at least. What would my parents say about that, huh? But it goes without saying that yeah I've been gone for a while. Although....something tells me you haven't been alone this entire time, have you? What is up with detective Larson anyways? First he seems like he wants to hang me out to rot, and then he seems, I dunno, almost more human? I can tell he really cares for you. Which, I'm glad, Vanessa. I'm glad you got a good guy out there who cares about you. You're not alone. And whatever you're scared to face, if that's why you won't wake up, you don't have to do it on your own. Not anymore."

He leaned back deep in thought. Maybe he was saying too much. Maybe he should have just sat back quietly. But it had been so long since he’d been able to really talk to anyone. At least anyone that wasn’t yelling at or making accusations about him. "You know, Abby's been waiting for you to wake up for a while. I think she has a lot of questions about....your friends and knows you can answer them. Unfortunately I won't be able to bring her around. Not for a while at least. Me going to jail, and Jane's death left her with nowhere to go. So they sent her to some specialized foster program house for 'kids at risk'. Basically somewhere they can keep an eye on kids whose parents or guardians are incarcerated and provide special programming to prevent them from following the same path. Can you imagine that? Abby the world class criminal?" He laughed again. Would they be having this conversation if she was engaging back?

"Anyways, now that I'm out I can work on getting her back. It won't be for a while because you know I've got a lot to do still. Getting arrested led to me losing the house and uhh basically I've got to start back over again. Don't worry about me though. Because I do have a place for now. Jeremiah....you remember me telling you about Jeremiah, right? He's the one at the mall that stopped me when I....well you know. Hopefully you were aware when I told you. But if not, I'll just have to tell you again when you wake up. Cuz....he's a really good guy. He got a job with me and helped convince my boss to keep me on. And wouldn't you know it? Boss man did let me have my job. He's one of the only people who has told me he still believes I'm innocent. So at least I still got that handled. Anyways, Jeremiah, being the great guy that he is, came and visited me a few times and he told me he's got this old camper I can use until I can find an actual place. And get this... My boss told me I can just park it on site and double as free security! So yeah things are slowly coming together i guess. I just wish Abby was here to see it. I bet she's scared and upset. Maybe even mad at me. But I really hope she's made new friends and is at least somewhat happy where she is."

He stopped and looked back down at her closed eyes and gently held one of her hands. "But you know what would make her really happy, Vanessa? If you would wake up." His voice hitched as he tried to hold back his emotions. "If you would just.... Please, come on, Vanessa. Please wake up. Please. You're the only one who can understand. I can't go through this again. Not with you. Please, we need you. I need you. I can't do this by myself. I never could. Please WAKE UP. "

Ryan glanced over at the open door. True to his word he had given the boy privacy. Why? He still didn't know. Just something about it. Maybe it was just acting out of guilt or trying to cover his tracks but something about Mike Schmidt just didn't sit right with him. Not about this anyways.

And not in the way he had originally thought. Sure he'd been all gung-ho and set on proving the boy's involvement in everything. He'd spent hours pouring over and connecting evidence until he had just enough to get the proof he needed to bring him down.

Now, he wasn't set on thinking the boy was innocent at all. At least not of the actual murder and disappearances. But something about this was different. He had willingly brought Vanessa Shelley to the hospital. If he had truly been the one to attack her, why save the one who could bring you down? There was always a chance she could wake up. She would always be a risk.

And as part of his investigation, he'd spoken with the hospital staff and reviewed the security footage himself. Sure, the boy was on edge and nervous. But then again, that had been his own reaction to the first almost deceased call he'd been on. A ten year old boy shot by his best friend. Ryan had been so terrified the boy would die, he had gone to visit almost daily until the kid finally got to go back home. He’d been so worked up and worried every time he went in there. 

Dave kept trying to tell him it was a ploy, just an attempt to make himself appear innocent. Bringing his victim to the hospital was nothing more than a weak attempt at an alibi. Visiting her was just playing deeper into the game. He was just mirroring William Afton. (Then again Dave had a building theory that Michael Schmidt was actually Afton's own missing son, and that it had all been nothing more than a trick. More than once he had found ‘Michael Afton’ written on evidence notes claiming he merely changed his name.)

But, Ryan just couldn't buy it. There was something in his eyes. Sincere concern, hurt, and worry. Maybe he had done the other crimes. In fact he was definitely involved somehow with all of them. But he just couldn't see this one. When he'd mentioned the security cameras in the hospital room to him, Schmidt had seemed genuinely shocked to find out about them. If he didn't know they were in there, why put on such an elaborate act?

He looked up right as the boy in question walked out of the room. His face was red and eyes puffy. He sniffed, wiping his nose before turning to the detective. "Hey, uh. Thanks."

Larson nodded quietly. Maybe Dave was right and he was just playing all of them. But a small part of him firmly believed Michael Schmidt was not the one who attacked Vanessa Shelley.

(If not him, then who and why?)

Abby hummed softly to herself as she continued sketching. This was going to be her best one yet so she was putting a lot of work into it. She picked up the purple pencil and moved back over the paper. She was laying on her stomach in the empty room. Or at least it had been empty.

"Hey, what's that?"

She turned to the boy standing next to her with his mouth full of the apple he just bit into. He pointed down with his free hand at the paper in front of her.

"It's a picture I'm making for my brother. He's getting released soon so I thought I would make him a welcome home present that they could send to him." Even if he couldn't come get her yet, they still would send her letters and cards to him. At least she could give him that.

The brown-haired boy shrugged, "That's nice. Hopefully my mom stays in there for a long long time." He took another bite then pointed again talking with his mouth full, "So who's that?"

"Oh, that's my brother and his friend, Vanessa. And those are.. my friends."She frowned slightly. It felt weird to say that to someone who didn't know about the animatronics. He hadn't been mean or anything to her, but what if he made fun of her for that?

He raised an eyebrow leaning down to stare closer at it then back at her, "Your friends are robots?" She nods slowly, swallowing nervously. He stood back up, "Huh.That's cool."

She was genuinely surprised. She’d learned that mentioning invisible friends or anything besides actual people tended to make her a target. She’d never mentioned any of it to her new friends she had made for fear they would also reject her. After all, the only ones who would actually believe her were those who knew the truth. Mike would of course understand. 

It was the one and only time she’d seen him so happy and having fun. Hopefully he still remembered that. Hopefully he still remembered everything. He wouldn’t have changed after this, would he? "Yeah. It's been so long though. I hope he hasn't forgotten about me...."

He shrugged, "I wish my mom would just forget about me." She didn't know much about his situation except that his mom had been arrested around the same time as Mike. He'd been here for about a week before her. And the kid did not miss being around her. He avoided every time he was told she was trying to call him. Unlike Mike, she was apparently actually a bad person. She didn’t know why but he always said he was happier without her around.

He gave her a genuine smile" Look, from what you've told me about him, he really cares about you. I highly doubt he'd have just forgotten and stopped caring for you. And if he does, he's probably some undead zombie about to start the apocalypse and you and I will be the sole survivors." Once she smiled back, he gave her a big grin, winked, then walked out before taking another bite.

Gregory was weird.

She shrugged herself and turned back down to her work and stared at the colored pencil hovering in the air over the paper. She rolled her eyes and signed as she set the other pencil that was in her hand down and took that one instead. "Fine. I'll make it blue instead of purple." Ugh he could be so childish sometimes. "Happy now?" 

Chapter Text

Abby smiles as she stacks all her papers together. The day was finally here. She looks over at the doorway where Gregory leans against it staring curiously at her.

“You sure about this?” His eyes glitter with concern and she has to remind herself that not everyone has been as lucky as her to have someone who cares.

She nods her head in determination, “Yeah. Mike’s not a bad person. I know they tried to say it was him, but it wasn’t! He didn’t hurt anyone! He was a hero!” She murmurs softly, “But I can’t tell anyone that.”

The brunette boy scrunches up his face in curiosity. “Huh. I mean if you say so. He seems alright enough from what you tell me. I mean, I doubt too many people can be as bad as my mom after all.”

“What did she do?” She blurts out without thinking and he looks at her in surprise and shrugs.

“Well, for one thing, she just recently decided to care about being a mom. Once she was locked up.” He sighs and shifts looking up and then staring in the distance. “For most of my life, she was just there. Or not. If that makes sense. Like she was there and acted like she cared but it was probably just a front. So she could keep up what she really liked doing.” He shrugs again then looks back at her, “It’s okay though. All those nights that I was left alone while she was out doing her thing, I was bored and….picked up new skills.” He flashes her a large grin with a wink. “That may or may not be how she was finally found. Anyways, I guess there aren’t that many bad parents out there. Not like her anyways.”

He stopped and looked away again muttering softly, “What’s worse than a mom who could care less if you existed or not?”

Abby looked back down at her drawings quietly as she felt the unseen eyes on her from across the room. How about a dad that tries to kill his daughter?

She continues running as fast as she could, the only thing shining in the dark are the bright dangerous orbs that follow her or peer around every corner. Tears stream down her face as she screams sobbing, “I’m SORRY! I’m so sorry! I couldn’t do anything! Please it’s not my fault!!!!”

She keeps flickering between forms, as her feet touch the ground to white and red paws, claws giving her better traction. White bob tail, red bushy tail, no tail just long blonde hair flowing behind her. She’s the bunny, she’s the fox, she’s the helpless little girl running for her life. And no one is there for her. They all have one goal: her. Long arms and claws reach out to grab her as that insistent deep dark laughter echoes all around her in the darkness. Shadows dance taunting her.

“YOU CAN’T RUN FOREVER, VANNY.”

She finds a wall and darts around behind it curling up as her heart beats frantically. She throws her hands up covering her eyes and squeezing her eyes shut, “No. Please. Stop. LEAVE ME ALONE! I NEVER WANTED ANY OF THIS!”

“YOU’VE NEVER HAD A CHOICE. WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU DO NOW?”

She’s a terrified child crying frantically yet again hiding from the monsters in the dark that haunt her. They’ve clawed her, ripped her fur, yanked her whiskers, tore her ears. She’s covered in her own blood.

“NO ONE’S COMING TO SAVE YOU. NO ONE CARES. HAVEN’T YOU LEARNED THAT YET?

She covers her mouth trying not to scream as she feels them get closer. A chorus of growls and snarls grow louder as the laughter starts again. She leaps out as red fur covers her, landing on her front paws and a clawed hand slams into her tearing through her side. She yelps out landing hard on the ground and feels more hands and shadows grabbing and wrapping around her pulling her down. She struggles trying to bite at anything she can reach but something wraps around her muzzle and neck forcing her down as more wrap around her and hold her in place. Her ears grow as her tail shrinks and she’s still held in place. The little bunny trembles as blood-curdling screams echo around her almost drawing out everything else.

“LEAVE ME ALONE!!!”

The dark voice laughs as it reaches her. “SILLY LITTLE GIRL. YOU NEVER LEARN, DO YOU? YOU WILL NEVER-“

She feels an unusual feeling, a soft warmth and looks down at her now human hand. As it spreads through her she’s the child again no longer restrained. Everything fades away as another quieter distorted voice breaks through it. “-if you just please wake up…”

Suddenly a sharp pain strikes through her entire body as she’s ripped away from everything yet again....

“Well I see that same handsome man has returned to your pictures again.” He gives his sister a teasing grin as she rolls her eyes trying not to smile. “Seriously, Abs. These are amazing. Your art has gotten great. It won’t be too long before we’ll be living off the money you make from selling your work to fancy stuck up rich people.”

“My friend and I like to draw together sometimes. He makes actual stories with his though.”

He looks back up and gives her a strange look raising an eyebrow, “Your friend?”

She rolls her eyes and gives him an annoyed look. He’s one to talk. “An actual friend, yes. And he’s actually pretty good at it. I’ll have to see if he’ll let me show you some of his.”

Mike shrugs as he continues flipping through her drawings, “Yeah. Maybe next time. I bet they don’t come any close to your’s. After all, you've got the best starring character.” He holds up one of the images next to his face matching the expression on the figure. “Right?” God, he is still so weird and embarrassing. Thankfully no one is around to see her getting embarrassed by him.

Or see how secretly excited she is. After all, this is Mike. Not only is he her only family but no one has ever been a better big brother. Part of her will probably always feel guilty that he had to do everything because of her. But she would never hate him. Maybe she’s gotten mad at him before, but the truth is all she wants is to go back home. And she doesn’t care where home is. As long as it’s with Mike they could live in a box in an alley for all she cared. She just wants to be back home with him.

He sees the look in her eyes and question she refuses to ask and sighs as he sets the paper back down. “I….I’m working on it I promise. I know it’s been a rough last few years, but that’s gonna change. This time….this time we’re gonna make it work. Whatever it takes. You and me together. We’ll get through this.”

She bites her lip and shakes her head trying to keep her front, “Don’t be such a sap, Mike.” But she can’t keep it straight for too long and lowers her voice quietly as she leans closer to him, “Do you promise?” Don’t get her wrong, this place isn’t that horrible and they take really good care of her but all she really wants is to go back home. She isn’t like Gregory, she wants to be with her family. With Mike.

He leans in, pressing his forehead against her’s with a determined look, “I promise more than anything, Abby. No matter what. We’ll be okay. You’re the most important anything in my life and I won’t ever make that mistake again. It’s all behind us and we’re gonna start over completely. Maybe we’ll even move away where no one knows us and we can be anyone we want. You can even make up a crazy name if you want.” He lets out a soft grin pressing more into her. “Get a dog but YOU have to clean up after it.”

She pushes him away but smiles back. “Maybe you should get a cat so it can sleep all day like you.”

He gives her a teasing glare then turns back down to the last drawing. He’d recognize the inspiration for it from anywhere. He picks it up looking at it slowly.

Abby looks away as he continues staring quietly at it, “I um…wanted to redo it since….” Since the original one was still on the fridge and is long gone like everything. Of course this one is better and the seven smiling faces (yes she even made Mike’s character show how happy they all were once) more detailed. Drawn out and colored with care and determination. A reminder of their happiest day. Well, night. Night before everything got crazy and it all ended.

“Can I-” He swallows nervously without looking at her.

“That one’s for you.” She blurts out quickly and he looks up at her. “I, uhhh, made that one for you to take back. I thought you might like it. And I’m sure your new house is all boring and plain since you don’t have anyone to decorate it for you right now.”

A sincere smile slowly forms across his face, “Yeah. I…thanks. I don’t really have a fridge right now but I know exactly where to put it. Plus the guys will love to see it. They always ask how you’re doing.” He gathers up the other drawings and hands them back to her tucking the current one next to him. “Maybe you could draw something for them that I can take back to them next time. Make sure you sign it like a fancy artist so they can tell everyone who made their masterpiece.”

“So you’ll come back again?”

“Of course, Abs. It might not be for a few weeks but as soon as I can I’ll be back. And then I’ll be here every week until finally we can go home.” She jumps up running over and grabs him into a tight hug clinging and he hugs her back. “Hey, don’t worry. We’ll make it work, I promise. We’re gonna get our life back. You and me, Abs. You and me always. Don’t cry.”

She pulls away from him quickly wiping her tears, “I’m not crying you weirdo. You’re seeing things. Maybe you shouldn’t sleep so much.”

“Abigail,” a soft voice calls from outside the room, “You only have a few more minutes, sweetie.”

“Yes, ma’am.” She responds to the caretaker then turns back to Mike. “Oh! I have something else for you.” She digs in her pocket and pulls out the small piece she’s been debating about giving him before finally handing it over.

He reaches out as she opens her hands and he picks up the strange orange piece of plastic. Something about it pulls at him but he can’t explain what as he holds it up to his face staring closely at it. “What is it?”

“Just something I wanted to make for you. Out of some things I found. It’s like a good luck charm. Make sure you keep it with you, okay?” She has an expression on her face that he can’t quite figure out but that’s not his primary focus at the moment.

Mike slowly turns his hand, staring intently. It has a strange shape and weird fabric attached on one side. The other side is a haunting orange shade that….feels familiar to him. Abby clears her throat and he blinks quickly pocketing it. “Yeah, of course. Thanks. I can definitely use all the luck I can get.” He hugs her again as he gets up, “I’ll see you soon. I promise.”

She nods against him, “I know. You better go so you can get to work before you get fired again.”

He scoffs as he picks the drawing up, “Yeah, yeah, I know. I know.”

As he makes his way back towards the door she quietly whispers what she couldn’t say to him, “My friend said they can’t find her right now and are worried….”

“Can’t find who?” Abby spins around to see Gregory watching her from across the hall. She should really be used to him just randomly popping in by now.

“Just…a character in a game we used to play.” She feels bad lying to him but she’s not dumb.

Not even he would ever really believe her and if he did, well he wouldn’t be her friend for long.

Not if he really knew that she was the weird kid that most would have laughed at.

He hums thoughtfully, “So that was Mike, huh? Seems okay I guess. Maybe not all adults are so bad after all. Or at least like her.”

No, not all of them are. Some are absolute monsters.

Chapter Text

Setting the drawing in the seat next to him, Mike sighs as he pulls his door closed and lays his head on the steering wheel. His eyes flick back to the paper staring back at him and all he wants to do is bang his head and scream. Once again he’s reminded of how his life goes. A little bit of happiness and bliss. Normalness. Ripped away like the slamming of his door leaving him sitting in the dark alone yet again. Once upon a time he had four loving people around him, living life as the perfect family. And, for a short blissful moment there were possibly six that helped bring back his happiness and childlike enjoyment. Then two. And now, once again, he’s the only one. 

At least Abby is taken care of. And he knows she’s much happier here than she would have ever been with Jane. (Not that she deserved to die or anything.) He just…has to make it work. Focus on his determination to bring her home. He’s already got the hours and support of his coworkers and boss. He just has to prove to the court that he's ready and can do it again (and make sure he isn’t found guilty of any crimes of course). Be patient and he can pull it off. He’s so close. 

So close… And yet so far. 

With a frustrated growl he sits up and starts the engine. It sputters for a few minutes before finally starting up. Reluctantly he takes one more look at the house before pulling out of the driveway. 

At least Abby is okay. Even if nothing else is. She’s safe and happy and that’s all that matters. 

The radio glitches before finally settling on a station. He doesn’t pay much attention to it. Just background noise to distract him. 

At first.

“After months of tracking and investigations, Elizabeth Burke has once again been apprehended by authorities. She will be held-” Static cuts out the news report and he just rolls his eyes. Great, more proof of everything in his life falling apart. Then there’s a loud screech that causes him to flinch followed by more static.

And suddenly the radio dial starts moving erratically skipping and clipping in and out filled with static and more strange sounds. Clips of random newscasts, ads, and songs.

” Follow follow the yellow -” 

“ And if you go chasing rabbits

And you know you're going to fall-”

“Tired of feeling like you’re nothing more than a follower? Wanting more. Then this is for y-”

“ Oh, but he's back

He's the man behind the mask.

And he's out of control he's ba-”

“Call Alice

When she was just small”

“-will definitely help with your nightmares. Scientists state that these can either be symbolic of-”

“- an behind the mask

And he crawled out of his hole.”

Yeah that’s enough of that. He quickly switches the radio off and takes the rest of the drive in silence. 

The room is bathed in soft light reflecting off the machinery with faint steady beeping. Her eyelids flutter softly. At first she’s only hit with the unfamiliarity of it all. It’s too quiet, too calm, to pristine be anywhere she was familiar with. And then, she remembers, all the last moments. 

Which means, by some sheer miracle, she somehow didn’t die. (Or at least that’s what she thinks.) So what did happen? How did she get here? Somehow had to have brought her. But who? Did….they somehow survive and escape? Find a way to make it out and bring her along? Not leave her behind? That’s the only thing that makes sense right?

It HAS to be. 

She slowly opens her eyes ready to face reality. Or at least she thinks she is.

“Welcome back, dear .”

No.

No. It can’t… It can’t be.  She freezes as she hears the voice she’s been dreading for days. Weeks. (Her whole life.)

He sits hunched forward on a chair against the wall at the foot of the bed, hand on his chin with his legs crossed and his body language gives nothing. Nothing but that look. That look. 

She wants to wail. To cry, scream, anything. But as usual she merely finds herself frozen. Unable to do anything except sit up and stare at him.

He laughs that deep grating laughter, “What's wrong, honey? Not what you were expecting?” 

She immediately turns away trying not to cry, whispering to herself barely audible, “No….” She flinches as walks over and sets a hand on her shoulder. Gentle but firm. Reminding her of how trapped she’s always been, shrouded by a layer of false affection. (How she’ll always be.)

“Yes. I mean, who else would it be? Expecting someone else?” He gently grabs her chin turning her to face him and she allows him. (Not that she has a choice.) He lets go of her chin and reaches behind him slowly pulling out a knife. Her eyes flick towards it but she doesn’t move even as he raises it. 

“How did you get that in here?”

He scoffs, continuing to raise it towards her,”If you really have to ask, I guess you are that far gone.” His signature malicious grin forms as he stares down at her, “I'm William fucking Afton, sweetie, in case you forgot. I control everything. Especially you.” He grins lightly, setting the blade against the side of her face barely touching her skin.

She freezes desperately wanting to pull away but instead stares obediently up into his eyes as she knows he wants.

He chuckles, “That's right. Good girl.” He gives her a chaste kiss on her forehead pulling the knife away but she doesn’t move. “Nice to see you haven't forgotten everything.”

“ Why are you here”

He scoffs like she had asked the most ridiculous question he’d ever heard as he runs his fingers through her hair tenderly. “Why wouldn't I be? I'm your father, Vanessa. You'd think I'd leave your side? Or let you? Even when you go and do dumb stuff like this.” Pausing, he shakes his head and lets out a soft laugh of amusement, lightly balling her hair up in his fist,  “Although, I have to say, this one really does take the cake.”

She merely whimpers, trembling but doesn’t dare move. He shakes his head with a sigh loosening his grip. “I just really have to know...what exactly WERE you thinking? Hmm? I mean,” He scoffs again with that disappointing tone, “let's be honest here, your outbursts may be few and far between these days, but they aren't nonexistent. This is just....on a whole northern level. And quite frankly pathetic. I tried to make it easy for you. I literally only gave you one job. ONE. And I swear to God, Vanessa, if you even THINK about some smart ass response, I will make you regret it. Understood?” 

She nods quickly and he releases her, taking a step back and crossing his arms. Once again embodying that disappointed fatherly vibe as he stares down at her. “Good. Anyways, that's it. That's all you had to do. But of course, you just don't listen, do you, Vanny? Of course not.” He pulls the knife back up jabbing towards her as gestures wildly, “You just HAD to throw all caution to the wind and do the literal exact OPPOSITE of what I told you!  And all for what? A stubborn idiot who can't move on from the fact that I ruined his family? How pathetic. I mean, the kid can't even hold down a job. I'd say you should see his record but we both know you already did. And probably retained all of it. Come on now! Insubordination, violent outbursts, and sheer laziness. How much was he even awake when he was on the clock?  When he was on his own, that is and not....'distracted'....”

She balls up her hands bunching the sheets up under them trying to block out his words. Each one cutting deeper than any blade he’d ever cut into her skin; any bruise or mark he’d ever left on her. And he just keeps landing blow after blow tearing her apart more and more.

“I mean, seriously? Sweetie, you know if you wanted a friend I could have found you a much better one, more fitting for you.”  He smirks. “Or better yet, BUILD you one.”

Her breath hitches, desperately clinging to the sheet like a lifeline. She doesn’t move but keeps glancing out the door to see if anyone will come help. Someone has to be out there. Someone has to be aware that something’s not right. They have to be.

Her father shakes his head, “ I've gotta say, I hope you know how disappointed I am in you. Hope this is a learning experience we won't have to repeat. Anytime soon or ever.” The blade taps thoughtfully against her cheek. “Luckily for you, as always, Daddy was able to save the day. And I made sure to end that useless stain just like when I killed his baby brother.”

Her eyes widen in surprise at how open he is with his words. “Dad, you can't-”

He scoffs, rolling his eyes, pulling away looking at the door and then back at her, “You think I really care what a bunch of doctors and nurses hear?  Besides, it's not like they can do anything about it. It's not like they can stop me. No one can do anything to me. Haven't you learned that yet? No one. But….not just me, is it?”

She pulls away looking off, squeezing her eyes shut trying not to cry. Her guilt and shame tearing at her like pieces of her soul being ripped apart. (Does she even still have one?) As much as she wants to deny it, she knows his words ring true. No matter how much she pretends, tries to imagine a fresh start, she’s just as guilty as him.

“And who exactly were you trying to fool, Vanessa? Did you happen to forget youre a KILLER?

What, were you waiting for your new friends to save you? Well, why don't I take you to them? Since you want to see and be with them so bad?"

Before she can argue or resist, he grabs her arm yanking her up and out of the bed. Ignoring her protests he drags her out of the room and down the hall. All the nurses, doctors, no one, does anything. The receptionist even lifts her head to smile and wave lightly as he leads her through the door. 

But instead of finding the cool night air, it’s unnaturally warm. Hot and dark. And not outside. She looks at the walls around them and immediately recognizes the shelves lining them (and the blood stains she’s never been able to get out of her mind. She sees the large figure on the ground and knows what’s in there without even looking. And yet she finds herself willingly walking to it. On her own. She doesn’t even know if he’s even in the room with her anymore, as she doesn’t feel him, but it doesn’t matter. 

Her bare feet carry her over to the hulking shape and it slowly opens as she gets closer. Soft clicks and whirls getting louder revealing the inside. Carefully placed inside was the mangled small torn body that haunted her dreams. She lets out a horrified gasp hand flying to her mouth muffling a sob and she backs up quickly, unable to tear her eyes away from the girl’s body inside the giant doll.

Instead of the doorway her back bumps into something that she knows from memory wasn’t there. Her skin brushes against it as she slowly turns to look down behind her and lets out a horrified cry staring down at the other body sprawled out in front of her on the table. The very people she had tried so hard and threw everything away to protect. Laying there set out for her like a twisted display. A mockery of everything she had attempted. She crumbles to the ground, tears pricking her eyes as his heavy footsteps echo around her.

“See what you did, sweetie? You just had to keep encouraging him and he thought he could really actually try to ruin everything. You changed nothing . He's still dead, as promised, and she's one of our's, as planned. In fact, because of YOUR interference, I had no choice but to start over. You tried to incite the kids to react, didn't you? Well guess what, kiddo? It didn't exactly go as planned.” 

He lunges out grabbing her arm and drags her up and out and shoves her through the doors causing her fall forward and land hard on a pile of softness and she realizes she’s in the showroom. As she gets up she notices that she’s in her police uniform, covered in red. She looks down at the softness underneath her and finds a large blue arm. Ones she’s very familiar with. She sits up looking around and sees them. Scattered pieces of the things she had called her friends; her family. Parts of each of the animatronics laid all around her on the stage, dismembered and tossed heartlessly to the side.  

She looks around her in horror. “What? No! What did you do?!”

He just laughs as her eyes dart wildly around recognizing all the parts. “No, sweetie. What did YOU do? I told you, it didn't go as planned. In fact, it didn't really work out so well for anyone now did it?”

She sits on her knees staring in horror and sees the orange plane. Sitting on the edge of the stage covered in blood. “No….”

“Not exactly what you were expecting, was it? Not surprising. For someone who's so smart and quick-witted, you sure can be so foolish sometimes.” He lets out a soft chuckle. “See, your little friends tried to turn them against me. So I had to resort to drastic measures. Because of YOUR actions. You just HAD to go on and act out like a disobedient brat, didn't you? After all this time. What? Think you found kindred spirits that you could trust and run off with? Is that why you came back? To be the HERO?”

His words sink deep and her eyes widen. She thought she had been able to keep at least most of it hidden. To keep something from him. 

He smirks, eyes glinting dangerously. The same expression he gives her every time she’s been caught. “That's right, Vanessa. I know EXACTLY what YOU did. It doesn't really take a genius though, does it? I mean, how else could it have happened, huh? How could he have known anything? You didn't keep him in the dark.” Suddenly the yellow thick hand is around her throat yanking her up and it’s Spring Bonnie holding her, but still her father’s face as the head lays discarded behind them, “You led him right to it. And what? You didn't think I would know? Well look at what you did. Take a good look, Vanessa. And just remember that this is YOUR fault.”

She struggles trying to pull his hand off kicking wildly. Her eyes squeeze shut as more tears slip out. 

He gives a sneering laugh lifting her higher, “And what, you thought it would be over? That they could manage to do what no one else ever could? Leave them to deal with it all while you run away like a coward? Did you really think you could just escape me? Do you think I didn't know what I was doing? Your life is your own hell, honey. Your own inescapable nightmare. Death isn't a conclusion. I just had to get you out of the way so Daddy could work. And lemme tell you, it was LOADS easier after that. You wanna hear details? About how I made Mike watch as those spring locks,” he digs a clawed finger into her side as she cries out as it cuts deep, “ripped into his sister's flesh, impaling another victim? Right before I slit his own throat? Well, that part did eventually happen after a while anyways. God, he was so mouthy. What is with you kids and your blatant disrespect? Or at least you didn't used to be. Not until recently.”

He sighs letting her go and she drops to her knees leaning against him in exhaustion as he continues, “ I really should have kept you away this time. How was I to know he'd be such a bad influence?” Without looking up she can feel him glaring down at her, “Or that you would be so easily swayed like a weak little bitch in heat. You only brought this on yourself you know? Even after everything... God, I warned you. I warned you and warned you over and over again! Are you really that dense to not get it? And then you acting out of course started to influence THEM and I.... 

She cries softly as he chuckles again looking around the stage with a twisted smirk, “Well, we can't really have that now, can we? So, thanks to your actions, they're gone. GONE, Vanessa. As in not coming back. And now, now we have to start all over. Rebuild back from scratch. With our NEW family.”

He runs his hand through her hair, almost affectionately as she just steps in place leaning against the yellow robotic leg, even as she hears it. The clunky whirling noise. The noise she tries to block out, even as she reluctantly looks over towards the source. The lights on the archway flicker and beneath it, two large glowing eyes form from the shadows, slowly moving closer until the large doll steps through making jerky unnatural movements, blood still dripping from its torso. She falls back against him limply and just wails as he continues his movements.

“Funny, seeing as how she was originally meant for you. But, I thought you would turn out better. And honestly I suppose I was right. Until now anyways. It's okay though. She'll handle things here for now until you're ready again. Until I've finished working on you again and make sure we NEVER get a repeat of this.  Hopefully not too long. We still have work to do. And, thanks to you, I have a lot to make up for....”

“Hello?” 

Her eyes snap open at the new voice echoing from the hall. 

“Is anyone there? Hello?”

Her father laughs, “And look at that. Right on time. Looks like we’ve got another security guard already. But you know how fast the turnover is. Better get to it, hmm?”

She looks down and finds a bloody knife in her hand as a blood curdling scream echoes and the Ella doll steps closer. Children’s laughter and screams ring out through the speakers and in her head and she snaps. “NO!” Turning to him she jumps up lunging at him with the knife. He simply laughs, grabbing her arm and yanks it away, driving the blade deep into her side. She pulls away, backing away from him and looks down at the blood running down her side. She tries to let out a cry before he backhands her roughly and she falls back into the bloody fur and everything fades.

She wakes up again, this time on something much softer. She runs her hands down her side and finds a regular shirt instead of her uniform and that her side is bandaged up. Snapping her eyes open she looks around anxiously, trying to sit up and freezes. She feels the warmth from the fireplace and already knows what she’ll find above it. Years of fake covers and screens hiding the truth behind a loving family home. The familiar walls mock her and all she can do is whimper in the silence. 

Loud heavy thumps sound from above her and she reluctantly turns toward the staircase looking up as he slowly descends. The Devil himself. 

William Afton. 

No suit, no masks, or costumes. No fake identities or faces. Just the monster in flesh. The worst of them all. 

He holds eye contact with her, stopping on one of the steps gripping the bannister and she finds herself frozen in terror, ice racing through her veins.

 He stands quietly staring through her but she can’t take her eyes away from his imposing figure. The man behind all the brutality. With the hands that hold the power of so many lives within them. Including her own. That has spilled so much blood. And will continue to. Over and over again. 

It’s then that she gets it. This nightmare is her life. She didn’t do anything. She didn’t change anything. She just made it worse. He still killed Abby and Mike. He destroyed the animatronics; the kids she had sworn her life to protect. And when it was all over, where did that leave her? As soon as she truly woke back up she would just be right in his clutches again. This time with no escape. No allies. No help. No freedom. No heroes.

“This is what awaits you, kiddo. Once you finally wake up and get out of this little fantasy you've built up.” He continues descending, reaching the floor moving towards her.

“No!”

He laughs, “There's that word again. Such a useless pathetic concept. Just like the idea of freedom. I'm all you have left, sweetie. You really think you can just keep running? How has that ever worked out for you before?” He grabs her hair harshly, yanking her up to his face. “You really think this is any different? That you found somewhere to hide?” He shoves her back down onto the couch. “Think again, girl.”

She just wails helplessly, because what else can she do? She knows he’s right. There’s no escape. There will just be more bodies. More blood that he makes her spill. (And cleanup). More lies and secrets she’ll have to keep, forever knowing what the consequences are. Building her guilt and trauma. More ghosts and memories following her. 

And at the end of every night, it will be this that she comes back to every time. The beast so few have ever known. The monster that only she’s been spared by, left to bear the scars from. 

He strides over to sit back in the chair from before, and she’s back on the stage surrounded by the bloodied animatronic parts. He leans forward with a dangerous violent promise glittering in his eyes as he watches her. His prized attraction. Chained and collared as she’ll always be under his guide and command. And now muzzled. Until he takes it off her and reminds her how easily he can slip it back on next time she tries to turn on him. (Which will never happen again.) 

“Take all the time you want, but realize this. It changes nothing, Vanessa. Your little outburst escapade got you nowhere and only cost you more. And the longer you make me wait just means the longer I can work without your interference. You can only hide so long. You have to wake up at some point. And when you do,” he runs his fingers along the bloody blade, “I'll be right here waiting..... Just like always.”

The monitors in the room start flashing as the room lights up brightly from the lighting outside the window.

A loud boom of thunder claps outside and another flash of lightning reveals the large trucks parked out the dark building. Crates are wheeled out and loaded and the last truck door slams shut. Men in raincoats shout and yell as they run from cover checking their loads and secured doors.

One looks down at his clipboard as the rain continues dripping from his hood, “This looks like everything. Let’s hurry up and get out of here before the weather gets worse.” The men all scatter and the vehicles pull out, headlights lighting the rain through the heavy rain. Another flash of lighting lights up the smiling Freddy Fazbear head as it’s abandoned once more to the elements. 

He snaps straight up in bed as another boom shakes the trailer. “Jeezus man, it’s just a storm. Get a hold of yourself. This is nothing new.” With a groan he turns to roll back over until he hears a loud squeal, “What the-”

The computer on the other side starts flashing erratically and there’s a loud screeching sound that has him covering his ears and rushing over. “Oh, come on! If a surge knocks this out, it’s on me. I can’t afford it.” He yanks on the cord pulling it out. Instead of a blank screen however it always gets louder, flashing and glitching ever more. He starts hitting it in frustration until it goes silent. 

The same exact time the entire place plunges into complete darkness.

“Great, there goes the electricity. I better let them know.” He picks up the phone but before he can do anything it shocks him and he drops it in surprise as it flashes and goes dark. “Shit.”

He grabs the radio to call for assistance but before he can press the bottom it starts emitting a strange sound and he throws it onto the couch. 

“What the hell?” In the foggy window he can make out some letters and moves closer to read them. 

IT’S ME.

Mike Schmidt can only stare at it in shock and disbelief. 

Chapter Text

“So, yeah. I tried to catch it but I think in the dark while fumbling for the flashlight I accidentally ran into the table and knocked it over. “ Mike glances a look over at his boss trying to gauge his reaction.

Okay, so maybe claiming the radio was knocked over and broke during the power outage was just a tad bit of a lie. But hey it was probably loads better than trying to explain there was a slim possibility it was caused by a returning ghost presence or haunting. 

The older man gives a slight nod as he scratches his chin, “And this happened the same time that the computer went out?”

He nods cautiously. This was likely the moment he was going to be left scrambling again last minute for another job. With just more challenges and costs added on. In one single night he had watched the destruction of an expensive system and radio; both that were under his watch and care. If they want him to pay the expenses….well that’s something else he literally can’t afford. Not with the only thing left to sell being his car, which was barely making it as it was. 

He had called and reported it immediately the next morning, but just his luck that the higher ups were out of town in an important business meeting. (And he really hopes they didn’t think he was exaggerating about the storm’s effect.) So he’d had to worry and think up the worse scenario for days until they finally got back to investigate it themselves. Now, here was the moment Michael Schmidt hit an even bigger low. (Which was saying a lot considering….yeah.)

“I see.” He finally drops his hand and shrugs. “I’ve been telling them that it was time to update that archaic piece of shit. Now they have no option but to comply. Act of God or Mother Nature made that clear.”

Mike looks at him in complete confusion. What was even going on? “Wha…”

His boss stretches out his neck almost in boredom, “I’ll get an order in and once it gets here we’ll find a way to prevent another surge. Knowing them it will probably take a few weeks….or months. Guess we’ll be going back to primitive routes until then.”

“So, I’m not….fired?”

The older man turns to face him in surprise and bursts out in laughter. “Of course not! Did you really think you were?”

“Well yeah, I mean, I-”

He laughs even harder and deeper, “Unless you purposely did something stupid like throw the radio at the computer you can hardly be to blame.” He straightens up staring at him in seriousness. “You didn’t do anything like that, did you?” When Mike quickly shakes his head he laughs again, setting a hand on his shoulder. “Then relax, kid. You didn’t do anything to be blamed for. And you’ve yet to do anything to make me regret bringing ya on. You’re all good.”

And aren’t those words he’s never heard uttered to him before? All his previous employers had never had anything but the opposite to say to him. Well, plus the one that tried to kill him and all that. Unfortunately, Mike can’t exactly thank the guy for not treating him like the lazy angry out of control piece of shit he is (or how he really appreciates and sincerely hopes he doesn’t have plans or thoughts to kill him) so he hopes the gratitude comes across well enough. 

His phone cuts through the tense silence and he raises it as he answers, not recognizing the number. “Hello?”

His eyes widen and he almost drops the phone.

“She was right here earlier. We had all had breakfast and then settled off for naps. When we woke up….no one could find her.” The mother of the house (Donna, he thinks her name is?) paces nervously in the kitchen. He’s never questioned them caring about and for his sister like he does, but it’s all too obvious and evident now as he watches him. The moment they’d noticed Abby missing with no one having seen her they called him first. Before any law enforcement. 

Her husband (Tom maybe? Or at least that’s how he’s going to think of them as: Tom and Donna. He’ll be fine as long as he never says it out loud.) wraps his arms around her trying to comfort her and Mike feels a pang, being dragged back to watching his own father with his mother. 

“We didn't know what to do. And we didn’t want to create a fuss unless absolutely necessary.”

Mike nods in understanding. “I understand. And, uh, thank you. For…for calling me first. “ For involving me. Something that he knows Jane never would have done. And honestly they aren’t even obligated to do. The only requirements of this foster house arrangement is to keep their charges fed and taken care of. Technically they only have to report emergencies to case managers, who then reach out to the family members. 

Donna gives a sad but genuine smile. “Oh, Mike. Of course we’d call you first. You’re her brother. Her family. If there’s anything involving Abby, especially something serious like this we’re not gonna keep it from you. Besides, you know Abby better than anyone. Do you know anywhere she’d go? Home, school, friends?”

Well their old house is out of the question. And she never really cared about her old school. Friends maybe, but he’s pretty sure someone would have been alerted if she showed up at anyone’s house. 

Tom clears his throat, “Or anyone that would have…..any reason to hurt her?”

Well yeah. Duh. You talking about the crazy ghosts freakily obsessed with her? Or the killer robots they controlled that almost eternally trapped her with them? What about the insane psycho child murderer that had almost killed his own kid in an attempt to kill her sister? Yeah, there were definitely plenty of potential threats to consider. Not to mention every possible member of the bloodthirsty mob calling for his throat in response to the accusations of having killed respected members of the community and attacking a cop.

Retaliation against him using his sister wasn’t exactly out of the question either.

He shakes his head slowly. “No. She, uh…. She gets along with everyone or they ignore her. And, I don’t know where she’d go.” Well there was one very very slim possibility….

But, no. Unlike him, Abby was smart. Super smart. She wouldn’t go there. Not anymore. She knows how dangerous it is now. At least not without letting him know. 

“What’s going on?” 

A voice from outside the hall causes the three adults to look over and see a young brown-haired boy staring curiously at them. Donna and Tom immediately straighten up and she starts to walk towards him. 

“Oh, Gregory. It’s nothing important.” She tries to move and block him from the sight but the boy just darts around her. “Just a nice little chat with a friend.”

Gregory tilts his head and stops just a few feet from the kitchen table, “You’re Abby’s brother, aren’t you?”

Mike nods slowly, “Yeah. Do you know where she went?”

He shakes his head, “No.” Tom steps over to try and redirect him back out of the kitchen. “ But she left this on the back door this morning.”

All three adults look at him in surprise, “Left what?”

Gregory points to the yellow sheet taped on the back of the door. “Don’t know how you all missed that. Literally been here this entire time.”

Tom looks back at him, “Why didn’t you say anything?”

The boy shrugs as Mike slowly reaches over and pulls the paper off to read it. “You didn’t ask.”

Donna frowns studying him, “Any idea what this is referring to?”

He shakes his head and shrugs casually, “No idea. She never talked about any friends or anything.”

Gone to fix my friends. 

Yeah, like that wasn’t obvious enough. Mike drowns out all the noise around him as he keeps staring at it.

No….

No, she wouldn’t, would she?

Inwardly he growls so deeply a bear would probably run. Finally he balls the note and turns back down the hallway. “I've got to make a call.”

She slowly walks towards the door. She freezes instinctively, hand hovering above the door knob. It was over, right? Everything was done. He was gone. Gone. Gone for good. 

Right? 

But, how does she know that? 

No, he was. She knows that for sure. Somehow. Did Mike tell her? Did she see it? 

She quickly pulls out her phone. And there it is. Official announcement. William Afton is dead.

Dead.

D-E-A-D.

He’s gone. He’s finally gone and can’t hurt anyone ever again. She’s safe and so is everyone else. Mike and Abby survived. There’s a recent photo of them as she stares at the screen. She keeps it on there as a constant reminder. A reminder that yes even the darkest of evil and nightmares has to come to an end at some point. An outside source brought down the legacy that’s always haunted her. 

Her own guilt has driven her away from them, but it’s fine. She packed up and left town, fleeing as fast as she could to the first obscure apartment she could find in a far away state. A few random texts here and there from the ever changing phone numbers she uses (too scared to even keep one; too easy to track) just enough to let them know she’s still alive. And they both respect it. Or at least she thinks they do. She always gets a new number twenty hours after she sends a text so who knows how they respond. She does know that Abby is excelling amazingly at school and Mike has his dream job as lead in a big construction firm. At least they can be happy, even if she refuses to let herself be. 

With a sigh she finally grabs the handle and turns it, walking inside and quickly closing the door. Latching up each lock. Maybe it’s a bit overkill to have half a dozen latches on the inside but she’ll never question her survival instincts and decisions. Some things never change. She chose a small single bedroom apartment layout for a reason. Walk into the kitchen and living room with a bathroom and bedroom attached. No long dark hallways to walk down or fear. No secret rooms or locked basements. No workshops or offices. 

She doesn’t even use the bedroom, choosing instead to keep it boarded up and sleep on the couch. Eventually she’ll probably have to get a job but for now she’ll just continue living off the empire built by blood. Walking into the bathroom she makes the mistake of looking in the mirror; nothing but her own reflection staring back. Then the room darkens and she sees glowing red eyes in the reflection behind her. With a gasp she spins around but nothing there and the light is still on. She drops her head quickly walking out and leaving the light on. She just needs to sleep.

She walks towards the couch in the darkness not bothering to turn the light on. But instead of running into it she feels nothing. Still looking down she feels around grabbing only empty air. Reluctantly she finally looks up and turns around to the lit up bathroom, but only more darkness greets her and a wall that wasn’t there before. She takes a step back in confusion as she hears a clatter and hits something; a side table. She reaches down and picks up a gun off of it. Checking that it was loaded she keeps it at her side but hears nothing. She feels around and finds the couch, turning her back to the wall. 

And hears a faint crash. Spinning around she grips the gun tightly, trembling and scared to say anything. Where the wall and bathroom once were is now a long vast hall lined with doors. No…no this can’t be happening. She’s not home. She left there. She’s states away. Just seeing things. She just needs to sleep.

The doors all start rattling in sync. She takes a step back watching in horror but unable to move. At the end of the hall is a single door that doesn’t move or rattle like the others, yet appears even more ominous. The rattling increases and suddenly the doors all fly open at once and start opening and slamming shut. They all suddenly slam all the way open; resounding thuds of the doors hitting the walls echoing around her. 

And then the hall darkens only to light up from the door at the end of the hall that is now wide open.

And HE stands in that open doorway wordlessly. Her hand flies to her mouth in horror and she stays frozen unable to even turn away. He doesn’t move, doesn’t flinch, just stands there illuminated by the light from the room behind it. Not the Yellow Rabbit, not the business or the showman. But HIM. The Devil himself. 

The strong copper scent overrides her senses wafting out from the open room. Why can’t she move? Shoot him, dammit! 

“It’s not real. It’s not real! It’s not REAL!” She cries out trying to cover her ears before he can speak. Before he can make it real. He doesn’t move; just stands as the imposing figure in her life. “NO!” With one final scream she yanks the gun out and shoots blindly, over and over again with her eyes squeezed shut. When she opens them, nothing’s there. No hallway, no doors. Nothing. Just emptiness. Vast emptiness. But the smell is still there. It may be coming from her, unable to ever rid herself of it. 

"You know the first time you tried to shoot me you weren't shaking nearly this bad. But maybe it's because everyone was all watching you. You remember that? The entire room quiet, meeting interrupted at your call. But that worked for you, didn't it? You do like the attention, don't you?"

She shakes but refuses to drop the gun trying to drown him out. "Just like your dear old dad. Isn't that right, sweetums? Chip off the old block. In most ways. You draw and command attention just as much as I do. You thrive in it. Try to deny it all you want but you're just like me, baby girl. And you always will be."

He easily pries the gun out of her hands (where he came from and how he got there she has no idea but can’t think about it) and presses it to her temple and she can't even will herself to close her eyes, knowing he doesn't like when attention isn't solely on him. She meets his eyes as he pulls the trigger.

"Bang." He has a wide cheesy grin like this is a normal interaction for anyone and not just them. 

"Oh, Bunny," He says in an almost soothing tone, finally moving the gun away and using it to caress her cheek, "When will you finally accept reality? This is what's real, sweetie, not some fantasy bullshit you've concocted in your head."

She darts away from him before he can grab her, running behind the couch not even trying to hide her fear. He simply laughs.

"Go ahead, run like you always do. It doesn't change anything. Never will."

"You're dead!" She finally calls out trying to regain her resolve.

"Do I look dead to you? Does that even make sense? Look at me, Vanessa. Look at you. "

She looks down at her stomach and sees blood pooling across her shirt, before looking back at him in horror.

"I think you've got your realities mixed up, darling. You need to take another look." Images flash across her mind of the siblings. Broken and mangled. Eyes open, staring at nothing. More corpses left in the wake of his trail. 

"This isn't real! This isn't real."

"Who you tryna to fool, kiddo? Yourself?" He chuckles. "Where did you even come up with that notion? 

"You're alone, Vanessa. As you always were and was meant to be. You'll remain that way. After all, everyone who gets close to you just dies."

She desperately tries to block him out, ignore him. Fool herself into believing it’s not real. Like he’ll just fade into oblivion. 

"You can try to hide yourself in this fantasy but it's pointless. It has to end sometime. Why not now and make it easy?"

She shakes her head frantically, "No!"

He snarls and raises his voice as mirrors and windows appear all around them and shatter raining down on her as she ducks down trying to shield herself. 

" WAKE UP !" It's the distorted voice of Spring Bonnie echoing in the room. The yellow rabbit. She can’t tell if it’s in her head or just everywhere else.

She screams as the shards cut into her skin but still refuses to listen, trying to run out the room and into the dark hall of the pizzeria. She doesn’t trust to think about how she even got there. A muffled thud catches her attention and she turns in time to see one glowing yellow eye come around the corner behind her.

Her eyes widen in terror as she breaks out into a run, racing for the door even as she knows it's blocked. Even though she used it to help Mike, she knows it won't save her. Not this time.

His normal  voice comes out of Foxy's mouth as the animatronic takes off after her, "Stop resisting, Vanessa."

She screams, beating on the locked door as she hears the animatronic slow down, deliberately stalking towards her. Her father continues speaking to her through him, "You can easily end this, Vanessa. None of this has to happen. Just wake up."

She ignores him, desperately beating on the door as he gets closer. She feels the movement as he reaches an arm out towards her.

Only for the door to finally give and she falls forward, landing on top of it on the ground. But it's not the outside air and weeds. It's warm and humid and she instantly knows where she is. She slowly looks up and sees a large figure hunched in the corner unmoving, head slumped to the side leaning against a shelf. Blood covers most of it, dried by now leaving a crimson trail to the puddle beneath it. Death and decay clings to the inside of her mouth.

"After all," his voice echoes in distortion and the yellow rabbit's eyes slowly flicker and light up as it lifts and turns its head to stare at her. "You know I always come back." 

He slowly stands up, fresh blood dripping from the movement and takes a resounding step towards her.

She scrambles back up and races out the door. His booming laugh echoes from every surface and in her own head. 

"Keep at it. You know you can only run so long. And I'll be waiting, as I always am."

Donna swings the door open revealing a dark-skinned man she’s never seen before, standing next to an annoyed dark-haired girl with a deep scowl on her face. She lets out a cry dropping her hands down to quickly check her over, “Oh my god…. Thank god. Abby! Where have you been?!”

The girl stays silent even as she leads the pair into the kitchen. Mike immediately jumps up from the table running over to them. “Where?’

The stranger nods softly, “Right where you said.”

The dark-haired man curses under his breath careful to make sure no one that lives in the house can actually hear it. Of course. Of course.

Of freaking course. He’s gonna have to have a long talk with her. Somehow with no one else around. 

The woman seems to catch onto it though. She quickly strides over to them sporting a large welcoming smile.”Thank you so much Mr…?”

He smiles back with a polite bow. “Fitzgerald. Jeremiah. But you can call me Jeremy.”

“Thank you, Mr Jeremy. Let’s go get you a nice place to sit and relax for a bit. Care for some tea?” 

Mike briefly wonders if it’s only that obvious to him what she’s doing as she tries to lead the other two men away.

His friend nods and follows willingly, “Yeah that would be great. Thank you.”

Once it’s just the two of them in the kitchen, Mike sighs and groans dropping back into the chair at the table. “Look, I-”

“You sold me out.”

He drops his hands and turns to her in surprise. She’s glaring down at the ground so hard he also expects it to crumble under him. “What?”

“You told him where I was to drag me back here so I couldn't help!”

Help? Oh boy….

“No, that's not-”

She stomps her foot in anger, “Yes it is! You didn't want me to help!”

Thankfully no one comes rushing in and he gives silent thanks for it. “No, I was just worried about you! And why did you run off anyways? You know it's not safe.”

“You know why. You read my note. And you stopped me so I couldn't help them. Because you don't care about them!”

Where is this coming from?! Just last week she was all happy and content and ready to come back home. Now she’s over here on the verge of a major tantrum acting like someone who isn’t Abigail Schmidt. What the hell was he missing?

He jumps up defensively but stays in place.“That's not true! I just haven't had a chance to-”

“Yes it is! You don't care about them and you're miserable and you want everyone else to be just like you! It's not fair!”

He’s shocked into silence, staring at her in disbelief. “Abs....”

“All you care about is yourself. And no one else. If you did, I wouldn't have to stay here by myself!”

Look, Mike might feel like he lives in a complicated unending state of confusion, (especially around the females he’s encountered in his life), but he can usually at least catch a hint of what’s going on. Right now he just feels like he’s lost the entire plot of everything.

“Where is this even coming from?”

Instead of answering, she simply ignores him. Of course. She tilts her head lightly, almost as though she’s listening to something. After a few moments of silence she straightens up and lowers her voice, barely audible. “Do you even go visit Vanessa?”

He almost stumbles backwards into the chair making an even bigger scene. Why would she ask that? She knows the answer. He’s told her every time. She even knows that he takes her pictures with him. Does she really not believe him? “What? Of course I do.”

She tilts her head again with a faint nod then stands up narrowing her eyes at him, “You're lying.”

He stares at her in shock, praying to anything that is actually his sister he’s talking to and not somehow possessed or whatever else. “What? No, I'm not. Look, why does this even matter? Why did you run off?”

“To help my friends! They were damaged and now alone and scared and you just left them there without a second thought.”

“What could they be scared of?”

She narrows her eyes and steps closer, just feed away from him lowering her voice, “You know what ”

No… How could she even think that? She was there with them. She saw what happened. No one could survive that. “He's dead. Gone. He can't hurt them anymore.”

She gives him a strange look, “Are you sure about that?”

He sits back down quietly maintaining eye contact with her. “You saw the same thing I did. I doubt anyone's coming back after that. ”

Her eyes drop to the floor and she stands motionless as though unsure whether to believe him.

He sighs, looking away, “It's a good thing Jeremiah found you before something happened. Or the cops were called. Who knows what could have happened?”

Still looking at the ground, she finally speaks quietly, barely audible, “They're gone.”

“What?”

“Gone. Almost everything. The place was basically wiped out. Tables, games, my friends...all gone.”

He can only stare at her in disbelief. That can’t be right. How would that even happen? Does Vanessa have any bloodthirsty relatives to be worried about that she failed to mention?

“How? That's....that should probably be impossible.”

She raises her head again to glare at him, “Well, they were. So now,” with a dramatic spin she starts for the door again, “we have to go find them.”

“Whoa!” He jumps up grabbing her arm with a hiss, “What? We can't do that.”

“We have to! Before something happens to them. They're all scared and alone. They NEED us, Mike. We have to go back.”

Has she lost her entire mind? “Go back. There?” She nods in all seriousness and he grits his teeth to stop his pending outburst. “Are you crazy? We can't do that! We can't go anywhere near that place or anywhere they might be. It's too dangerous.”

She stomps her foot like an angry racehorse, refusing to listen to any bit of actual sense, “But they need us!”

“Abby, we can't-”

She yanks away quickly, “Ugh, I thought you changed and got better but no you're still the same. You're selfish and lazy and don't care about anyone else. That's why you just left me here, abandoning me just like Mom and Dad! I should have known you'd be the same.” She storms out of the room stomping her feet dramatically towards what he assumes is her room.

Where did he go wrong? How did he manage to fuck everything up this time? “Abby, wait!” He winces as he hears her door slam. A soft hand settles on his shoulder and he spends around.

Donna gives him a sad but warm smile as she gently squeezes in reassurance. “It's okay she's just worked up and needs some space right now. She knows you mean well.”

Jeremiah chuckles with a nod in agreement. “That's kids for ya. My daughter can drum up some of the worst tantrums over any and everything I do for her. She knows you're doing everything you can.”

If any of them knew, truly knew, anything they never would have said that. They all had no idea of the horrors that actually laid out there, in waiting. Prepared for the first lost miserable soul that stumbles across it. 

“Yeah…”

Chapter Text

Mike hears soft giggling in the distance but ignores it. He's got to be up in a few hours and doesn't have time for this. 

It gets louder and closer but he doesn't care. Suddenly the voice is right by his ear and he wakes up startled. But there's nothing there. Nothing but looming darkness. He's not in his bed, not even his trailer anymore.

He jumps up in fear and spins around. There's trees he can make out in the distance but nothing else. 

"Hello?" He calls out and it doesn't sound quite right. He tries again and no, it's not his imagination, his voice is off. It sounds like him, but younger. Much younger.

"What the-" He pulls out his phone from his back pocket (that he KNOWS has been charging all night) but it's completely dead. Still, he catches a glimpse of his reflection and it's not just his voice that is off, he's younger, much much younger. 

He drops the phone and spins around again. Did those trees get larger? Or maybe closer?

He sighs, shaking his head. Great, it's one of those. It's been so long but it was only a matter of time. When everything first went down, he and Abby were plagued with nightmares. But they both knew they weren't true and pushed them back. It's the proper form of healing from trauma as he's always been told. Anything from Abby disappearing, Vanessa dying enroute to the hospital, the ghost kids attacking him at work, Vanessa betraying both of them, even burning to a death in a fire that never happened. 

Not to mention all the variations when Garrett disappeared (from Mike being the one taken, their dad having been the murderer, and even a zombified version of his brother attacking his face), all which he dealt with alone for months. Until it was determined he needed to see a shrink before he ended up more messed up. 

So yeah, Michael Schmidt was quite familiar with nightmares. 

But....something about this was different. Almost like BEFORE.

He sighs, shuffling his feet as he murmurs, "Here we go again." He waits to see what would pop out of the dark forest. Or who. Prepared for familiar faces, or screams. 

Instead, only silence greets him. "Seriously? That's it? After everything?"

He rolls his eyes and turns away. Only to freeze as a very soft, unrecognizable but somehow familiar voice speaks within the nothingness surrounding him.

"Whatever you do, DON'T  follow the Yellow Rabbit..."

Mike sits up quickly out of bed as the storm rages on outside. He's in a cold sweat as he looks around.

The radio is playing static and screens have flashing lights. The sky lights up from another flash of lightning. He jumps out of bed and grabs his rain coat, running to the door. The small TV flashes before it also starts making strange noises. 

He runs outside, racing to the car and jumps in, slamming the door shut. As soon as he slips the key in the ignition the radio starts flipping through different stations quickly again. He quickly yanks the key back out and the vehicle falls silent. 

With an irritated groan, he leans back in his seat, then moves forward, banging his head on the steering wheel in frustration. 

"And when you get to this screen you just type in this command. Okay, watch."

Abby obediently stares at the corner of the screen where he sees one of Gregory's fancy robotic cars move across in the screen in front of one the many cameras.

"You see that, right? So does anyone watching the cameras or recordings. Buuuuuttt," he quickly presses a button. "When you do this.... Now look."

"There's nothing there." She stares at the camera feed. It still shows the living room and furniture as normal, but nothing else.

He snickers, "Oh yes there is. Look again."

She rolls her eyes but humors him, leaning closer to the screen dramatically, "Still nothing."

"Not there. There . Look." He points towards the living room and she turns to stare into the room and sees the car right where it was earlier, rolling back and forth in front of the camera, as though taunting it. "See?"

Her eyes widen in disbelief. Sure enough, true to his word, he's managed to hide it from the camera despite it being right there. 

"How...."

He crosses his arms smugly, "And no one's the wiser. All I did was basically copy what should be seen and replay it on the screen. To anyone else, it just looks like nothing happened."

"That's amazing! So no one's figured it out? How did you learn that? I highly doubt it was school."

He drops his grin and his arms, and she regrets her words. "No. Definitely not at school. I...learned from my dad actually. He was a total computer genius. The things he could do would just boggle your mind." 

He gives a small smile, "He taught me a lot of things. Almost everything I know. Plus all this stuff also. Probably the smartest man who ever lived."

"Sounds like it. You guys were close?"

"Oh yeah. Practically inseparable. Everyone said I was his little genius twin." He frowns then shakes his head. "What about you? Were you and your dad close?"

Abby bites her lip and shakes her head. She hates talking about her family (except Mike of course!), but it feels wrong to ignore it after what Gregory just said.

"No, well at least I don't think so. He left, I guess, when I was still really young. So I really didn't know him. Or at least remember him. I only know what he looks like because of the photo Mike kept. And my mom, our mom, died when I was still really little so I really don't remember her either." 

It feels wrong to talk about Garrett. A stranger who existed and died before she was even born. Like he's part of a previous family Mike had, before her.

The brunette boy nods in understanding. "At least you've got Mike. And he seems pretty cool."

"Yeah, he is. Mostly. Sometimes. Except when," her fists balled up as she groaned in frustration, "except when he's being so annoying. And in the way! He says he cares, and that he wants to help but then he....he just does the opposite!"

"I'm sure he's doing everything he can to bring you back home."

"No, it's not that. It's not about that. It's more important and and...." She sighs, tears threatening to spill. "I know. I know he's trying. It's just so frustrating!"

He gives a soft laugh. "No, I get it. Kinda. At least you have someone left who cares about you. And sounds like he"s really trying to get you out of here."

She nods softly, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "Yeah, I guess."

Mike tries unsuccessfully to hide his yawn, but his coworkers seem to be too engrossed to pay him any heed.

One of them, Rich, he thinks his name is, is scanning over a piece of paper on a clipboard. "Yep. Seems like it's legit. Not a rumor this time."

"Holy shit," Glen, the balding short man standing next to him says. "Never thought I'd ever actually see the day."

Another scoffs, "Couldn't come any sooner, could it? After everything. Wondered if they were leaving it up as a shrine or something."

"That's dark, Darryl. Lotta people were affected by that."

"Either way, good riddance. Tell you what, I'll be the first to volunteer to get first swing at it. No machinery necessary."

"You won't be the only one. Tear that eyesore down and burn it into the ditch where it belongs."

Mike yawns again as he reaches the group gathered and notices the strange look Jeremiah gives him. What, did he forget to change his clothes or something? He wasn't late. 

Glen grins, "Hey look, it's Mikey. Looks like you lost a battle with...something."

"Try my sanity." He laughs then stretches, "Sorry rough night. I didn't get much sleep. Especially with the storm. That our new project?" 

Rich shakes his head, "Nah. Bossman's still waiting on that. This, however, is top news in the area." Jeremiah's eyes widen as the news release is handed to Mike, but he ignores it, scanning over the paper. "They're finally tearing that old Freddy's down. For good."

His blood runs cold and he hopes no one notices the way he grips the paper. He strangles out, "What?"

"You know, Freddys. As in Freddy Fazbear's? That creepy pizzeria where those kids all disappeared?"

"Disappeared my ass. They were murdered. I'm telling you. Those kids never left the building. Their bodies still gotta be in there somewhere."

"Aw, there you go again Darryl, with those whacked out ghost stories."

At least no one seems to be focused on Mike. He tries to calm himself as he stares at the paper blankly. Is this true? Are they really tearing it down? Who authorized it? Far as he knows Vanessa is still in a coma. And how would she feel about this? It can't be real can it? Then again, Abby had said the place was wiped out.

Who took the animatronics? And why? Does Vanessa have more family members involved? 

"Ah chill out, Mike. Darryl's just talking shit again."

"No I'm not! It really happened!"

"Well no one's arguing that. That's like saying the sky is blue. It's your ghost stories that are questionable. Listen, cops searched that place top to bottom. Ain't a lick of evidence that any of them kids were even killed there. Coulda been an employee involved; most likely was. Probably someone leaving for the night and took 'em. There ain't no way those bodies are still there though. That's straight bullshit. Where even would they have been this entire time?"

Vanessa's words echo in his head and he tries to drown everything out. 

"Then explain all the ghosts, man!"

Now that gets his attention. Mike turns to face the darker-skinned man a few years older than him, finally lowering the paper. "Ghosts?"

Darryl blinks, "Yeah, man. You remember when those kids went missing in the 80s, right?"

"I wasn't here then. Not from here."

"Oh, well you see, back in the 80s there were a group of kids at an event in-"

"Doesn't mean I haven't heard about it." Mentally he apologizes for his snapping short tone but the last thing he wants to get into now is the secrets of his last employment. 

Glenn snorts, "Wussy lil Darryl here still believes in ghost stories, that's all."

"Naw, come on. I'm serious. How else do you explain it?"

"Explain what?" He hopes his tone at least sounds softer but if anyone is offended by it they don't react. 

"All the weird shit that happened afterwards. My brother Luigi used to work out there for a few years. Sometimes I'd help out as a summer job. Usually over at the prize counter counting tickets and all. Sometimes odd jobs. Stuff they could pay me cheap under the table and not have to actually hire anyone, you know? Anyways I say I USED to work out there. After a while I wouldn't even step foot near there. Still won't. Not after what I saw."

Despite the other men taunting and teasing the storyteller, Mike ignores it. He leans in curiously. "What happened?"

"More like what didn’t happen. Not long after the police gave up looking for those kids-"

"Gave up way too easily if you ask me. Had to be an inside job I'm telling you."

"Anyways! After that, things just got weird. Especially electricity. It was just constantly on the fritz. A few employees and guests got shocked from doing nothing out of the ordinary. Or at least everyone tried to say it was just the electricity. Rewiring did nothing. People said they'd get strange calls. The phones would ring but nothing there. Doors would randomly slam shut and weird noises, especially if you were in the back areas by yourself. After I quit, my brother stayed until the place officially closed down for good. And he told me it only got worse. There were horrible smells they couldn't get rid of. The animatronics even seemed to be acting 'off', needing repairs more than normal. One of them spent more time off stage than on. And I swear to god sometimes it felt like they were watching you..."

Mike's skin crawls but he steels himself as he listens. Had things really been going on that long? Part of him so badly wants to tell the other guy that he's not crazy, but of course he can't so he stays quiet. 

"Haunted animatronics? Seriously?"

"It was more than I thought. Things would be moved, sometimes one of the cameras would go out. Lights and attractions would randomly turn on. It was so bad, they had to cut the security system after hours so it would stop getting triggered. Some of the workers swore they felt someone or something touching them. Several would get locked in behind doors that weren't even supposed to be shut. Kids started screaming and crying that something was talking to them or not wanting to leave and stay there with their friends, with no one there. Even the owner's own kid started acting off."

"Off?"

Darryl turned to regard him seriously, "Not like a kid."

It was only slightly drizzling when Mike made it back to the hospital. He gave a gentle nod at the receptionist who gave a small smile. 

Vanessa was still as ever with the darkened room casting an eerie glow on her. 

Darryl's words from earlier had gotten him thinking. How much did other people really know about and view the incident? He hadn't known about it originally but he'd since discovered it was one of the most infamous urban legend generators. For people who had lived here their whole lives, this was something that had been involved in their daily lives. Especially those directly tied to the victims. 

How did Vanessa possibly go out in the world on a daily basis and interact with these people? Those who had sought so long for answers while she could only face them with a smile and keep the front. He'd long since come to terms that while he was hopefully the last, he was far from the first who had been hunted in those halls late at night.

The area had a high influx of missing people. But very little was ever fully reported. It had started from a throwaway comment on a random newscast. But then he started listening. For such a small low crime area, there was a startlingly high number of people who had vanished. 

Did she smile and lie to every one of them, turning her back as the animatronics tore them apart? Did she drop those hints that just went ignored? How exactly had Freddy's functioned for so long under the radar?

(And who would have been next after him?)

He sits down in the car next to her bed. No movement as usual. It's what he's come to expect; thankful he doesn't have to bring Abby into this desolation. Last time he’d gone through this, he was only kidding himself, he already knew their mother was too far gone. No matter how much he begged and pleaded. 

But she wasn't fully gone yet. It was slim but it was still there. Doctors had yet to find out what caused her random spikes but they were still trying. He couldn't give up yet either. He owes her that much.

"So, uh, Freddy's is apparently getting torn down. There was an official announcement and everything." He stops to glance at her but even that wasn't enough to trigger her. "Yeah, so that's kind of the big news now. Thankfully that happened after Abby went there. Oh, right, Abby had a breakdown or something and snuck out to go there. Turns out my house isn't the only place she sneaks out of. Can you believe that?" He lets out a soft chuckle then leans forward with a frown.

"But don't worry, she said everything was already gone. So they won't be destroyed. Someone had already moved them. Not sure who. Probably someone you know though. You got a brother or something?"

The lights in the room immediately shut off, along with all the equipment. Before he can jump and run to go find someone, everything comes back on. "Okay, that was-"

Suddenly a high-pitched squeal comes from one of the machines and the lights start flashing on and off again, rapidly. A nurse pops her head in and he sighs in relief. 

"Hey, these lights just started going on and off. And these machines are making some weird noise. "

She shrugs, "It happens sometimes. Power surges and all. Especially after these storms we've had. Don't worry though. We're a hospital. We have plenty of back up generators. Besides, those machines aren't keeping her alive."

He blinks in surprise. Machines were all that were keeping his mother alive so he'd assumed the same. "They're not?"

She laughed good-naturedly. "No, your friend is fine. Almost perfectly healed. She could wake up anytime. No one can figure out why she won't. These machines are simply monitoring her, checking her vitals and for any abnormalities." 

"Would a high pitch squeal indicate anything?"

She frowned and shook her head. "No, that's not something those particular machines do. It's really just a series of rapid beats. Perhaps it was something else you heard."

It was definitely something. "Maybe."

No one else seemed that concerned about the power issues in the building (which should probably be concerning) so he tries to convince himself the same. Vanessa still hadn't budged and none of her readings changed by the time he had walked out. 

Leaving once again with more confusion than anything. He sighs as he leaves her room. 

He steps at the desk and the receptionist gives him another sad smile. Something she's probably all too familiar with.

"I'm sure your friend will recover soon."

"Yeah, um. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure. That's what I'm here for. How can I help?"

"Can you....can you... tell me who else has been here to visit her?"

The girl frowns again, "I'm sorry. That's all confidential. I'm afraid I can't release that information."

"I don't need any names. Just has there been anyone else? Anyone besides me?"

Maybe he looks rough and she takes pity on him. Maybe she just wants him out. After a few minutes of silence, she leans over to whisper. "There hasn't been any one besides you and some affiliated with law enforcement."

As she leaned back, he nodded, "Thank you."

There goes that idea.

She smiles warmly as she sits up. "So, how did that last project go?"

Abby grins widely, "I got first place. They were so impressed."

"See? I knew you'd do it."

The girl nods quickly. "Yep. I'm gonna go get more water." She grabs her cup off the table and skips into the kitchen.

Her heart soars as she watches. Even though she knows it's not real. She's come to terms with it and learned to enjoy it while it lasts. Before HE finds her again and ruins everything.

It always ends the same, either one of them dies. Or her. Once she was even torn apart by the animatronics as he watched and laughed. (Sometimes she’s the one holding the bloody blade.)

But no matter what happens, she takes in little moments like this in her fake fantasy trying to hide in her nightmare. No matter what he does, she refuses to wake up. She'll run and hide as long as she can in other dark memories or light-hearted fantasies.

She turns back to Mike and shakes her head. She doesn't know about real Mike (and probably never will) but this Mike can definitely cook. "Spaghetti?"

He shrugs and smiles back, "Figured it was fancy enough. That, and the last time I had steak it didn't turn out so great."

"He burned it!" Abby yells from the kitchen unseen and she laughs lightly as Mike sighs.

"Okay, yeah I burned it. Charred if you must know."

"I'll handle the steak next time then." 

Both laugh and she sighs in content, oblivious to the large hulking shadow approaching from behind her. 

There's a blood curdling scream and Mike turns behind him as both adults panic, "Abby?!" 

Mike jumps up and she tries to, but finds herself frozen in place. Suddenly a blade bursts through his stomach from behind as he stares at her in shock. HIS laughter rings out and she tries to run to him but can't move. 

"MI-"

Slowly long spindly black and white striped tendrils wrap around her from behind. One moving across her mouth, cutting her off and keeping her head pressed back against the chair as another wraps around the front of her body. She stays held in place watching the scene in front of her in horror with muffled screams as the looming shadow behind her steps even closer.