The Fall of the Aftons

031: Michael Song

Three months had officially passed since Michael had been adopted. So far, everything was going great. William and Michael had been getting along great. William let him help with working at Fredbear's, and if there was nothing to do, he would play some of the arcade games or watch the stage performance. Once the school day for the older kids was over, he and William would leave to pick Terrance up from middle school, then go back to Fredbear's. Terrance would work on homework in one of the empty rooms that were originally going to be a party room but were never needed, and Michael would help clean up the restaurant when it closed at five. What happened after typically depended on the day. Some days, they would go to Henry's house for dinner and for William and him to figure out things about the restaurant and its paperwork. Some days, they would go home. And some days, they would go out for dinner or do something as a family. On the weekends, Noah would typically come over to hang out with Michael for a while as William and Terrance worked on something private.

But today, that private thing wasn't happening until later this night. So Michael, Noah, and Terrance were all outside as they played tag per Noah's suggestion. They'd been playing for around thirty minutes. Currently, Terrance was the tagger.

Michael felt a semi-large hand brush against his back as Terrance shouted, "You're it, Michael!"

Laughing ever so slightly, Michael chased after Noah, who stood a few yards away. But just before he could tag his friend, Noah spun and dodged his attemptive strike. So instead of continuing his chase after Noah, he darted towards Terrance. He ran as fast as he could toward William's nephew. The two of them ran and ran for many minutes, both of them laughing joyfully. But neither of them noticed that they had run into the road, nor did they notice Noah's shouts to get out of the way of traffic.

All of a sudden, a blaring car horn filled the air. A familiar-sounding thud rang through the air. Trembling, Michael heard Noah scream in terror. His friend came out from behind him, seeming like he appeared out of nowhere, and dropped next to Terrance. He screamed for somebody, anybody to call 9-1-1.

Stunned by the sight and the horrifying memories flashing behind his eyes, Michael fell to the rough, asphalt ground of the street. "No," he muttered to no one, his quiet voice filled with hysteria and dread. He grabbed onto the cold rocks from the three-stoned necklace he still wore around his neck every day. "No. No, no, no. Not again." Tears spilled from his eyes. His stomach churned from the large dose of unease and fear pumping through his veins. "Not again!"

~ ~ ~

Michael paced. And paced. And paced. And paced. And paced. And paced. And paced even more. Just in a small circle as he stared at his moving feet. He clutched his family necklace with so much fear-induced strength that his knuckles had gone from pure white to blood red. There was so much noise, which only heightened his anxiety and worry. He could hear his pounding footsteps as he paced. He could hear the beeping from machines in patients' rooms just down the hall. He could hear a young lady crying as she sat on one of the chairs in the OR waiting room. But the noise that made him the most apprehensive was the sound of Noah discussing what had happened to William.

It had been an accident. Neither Michael nor Terrance had noticed that they had run into the street. They didn't hear Noah's shouts to come back. Surely, they dodged a few cars without perception. They were so caught up in the game that neither one of them could focus on anything but. But the cars they missed, that all happened out of pure luck. And, unfortunately, Terrance's luck ran out.

Terrance was run over.

Michael could feel the stares of Noah, William, and Henry on his back.

William surely wouldn't love him after this. He couldn't. It wasn't possible. He just got his nephew ran over by a car!