ɢʟᴀᴍᴏʀᴏᴜꜱ ᴇʏᴇꜱ

43 : The Outlier

There was already a group of children surrounding it, she narrowed her eyes to observe it more. Then, she realized in slight horror, that it was the golden bunny, he was off of the stage somehow. Knowing the danger to be around such animatronics, she was weary that he would strike the children somehow. But he was stiff as a board. They cheered around him and circled him like rabid vultures, desperate for an ounce of his attention. But she felt chills up her spine when she realized he was not just looking ahead blankly, he was staring at her. The laughter started to sound more like screams.

The animatronics' eye sockets were empty, they were faced exactly in her direction, she felt his heavy stare on her that would make any person cower in place. It's permanent smile was pulled up into a massive grin that made sweat roll down the side of her head. The shadows seemed to surround him, but kids still laughed and squealed, pulling on his fur and arms. Begging for the yellow bunny to play with them. She was stuck watching in a dream-like trance, beneath those gaping sockets, she swore she saw the glittering of eyes in the hollow darkness. His irises were a glacial blue, almost as cold as his heart of steel and ice. So malevolent and hostile they were. So different, yet not entirely, from the golden ones that haunted her every step. The golden eyes that she knew watched her at all times from many places...

(Do you recognize who the villain is now?)

A voice asked from behind her. The girl turned around in mute surprise to hear another child speaking to her. But instead of facing another direction of the building, instead she was in that mysterious room in the back of the daycare. The one where Moon put her to sleep. The room was dark and dreary, the drawings of the Daycare attendant hung up on the walls looked eerie and morbid. There was a cold presence in the room, one that made goosebumps rise on her skin like little water droplets. She squinted into the thick darkness to discern any shape or figure, and suddenly, an arcade machine lit up brightly in the middle of the room. On its front were the words Princess Quest, a golden figure with a shiny sword was plastered onto its grimy side. The little girl took a step back in surprise at the sudden arrival of the machine.

(In time, you will learn who to trust. Even if it seems to be the most impossible of people.)

The girl blinked repeatedly in confusion when she realized the arcade was speaking to her in some disembodied voice of a little girl. She'd almost believed she was hallucinating, but another half was convinced that it was an outside force that was attempting to speak with her. Perhaps a spirit, maybe even a guardian angel. When she voiced these thoughts to the machine, bell-like laughter escaped from it as the entity giggled. It was strange because it felt like the presence was in the arcade, but the voice was in her head, reverberating with her own thoughts.

(You can consider me something like that.)

The voice sounded like it was smiling. The girl suddenly felt a strange and rare sense of comfort, like she was in some sort of safe haven with this presence. Like she was protected and cared for, but not in an overbearing way that made her feel trapped and vulnerable. The warmth of that feeling made the fear wash away slowly. The light gently returned in her eyes as a timid smile grew on the little girl's face. She felt like she hadn't smiled or laughed in forever. It felt refreshing and wonderful, like she was a kid again. 

(My name is Cassidy. I have been keeping watch on you (Y/n), ever since you first entered those doors. I knew you were the chosen one. I cannot protect you much, but I'm been here for you.)

Cassidy spoke gently. The screen of the arcade flickered and glitched, and it suddenly showed a pixelated gold figure, the same one on the side of the arcade.

(Me and you are both unfortunate children who have been chosen as lambs for the slaughter. Sadly, my fate had already been sealed a long time  ago.)

In front of the pixel princess, a shadowy, dark purple creature with rabbit ears appeared before it. The girl felt that familiar sense of dread grow in her at the sight of it. She watched as more strange shadows grew out of the dark like weeds and approached the princess who stood like a beacon in the middle of the chaos. Like a swimmer in bloody waters, shrouded by sharks.

(There are monsters everywhere. Some look human, others... less so. But just as there are monsters everywhere, there are allies.)

The girl hesitantly nodded. But a sense of shameful doubt grew in her. She knew not even the pixel princess Cassidy could protect her. Freddy was severely damaged. Gregory was not what she ever imagined him to be. Moon was insane and losing more of his sense of self by the minute. Chica lost her voice. The other two animatronics, especially Roxanne, proved to be hostile in nature. If anything, she felt alone most of all. Alone and afraid, alone in a world behind neon lights and laughing children. The dark side of the moon. The other side of the shiny coin. What was once a giant megaplex meant for fun and pizza was turned into the play board of some grand scheme, because this place was built as their final design. Gregory was made to tear it down, to be a hero, but his means of doing so were malicious and born from hatred.

(Remember my words... you are not alone. Do not give up on what you value most.)

But what does she value most?

Family? They will probably never return, they probably even want her gone. They left her here because she was a sorry child. (You're wrong about them.) Friends? All the friends she had happened to make were either torn apart or were the very attackers themselves. (There are people who care for you.) Her life? If anything, it was survival and fear that drove her on and on, that was not what's considered being alive. (You are so much more than this.) Her life was that of a normal child before it all, but after tonight, she knew she would never quite be the same. She was weak and helpless, useless and childish. (These are just the lies he wants to feed you.)

(The...lies he's feeding me?)

She opened her eyes. It was a dream, she realized in a hazy trance. She was still in the daycare backroom with the beanbags and drawings. But the arcade was still knocked on its side with spiderweb fizzers trailing its black screen. There was no pixel princess, shadowy figures, or disembodied voices. There was no yellow rabbit or children singing birthday songs. But she didn't feel any sort of relief that it was over. Moon was gone, she heard him frantic mumblings from outside the daycare. She couldn't understand what he was saying, she didn't really want to know what he was rambling about, anyways. It sounded like he was distracted with something, she heard the tinkering of metal pieces. Perhaps he was building something? She felt drowsy and heavy from the dosage he gave her, but she still got up on her two feet and sluggishly stepped out of the doorway in hopes of finding an exit.

She walked down a particular long hallway. There were dusty toys and plushies scattered on the floor as she took cautious steps to a long, metal door. She pushed it open, and was surprised to see she was in an unrecognizable place. It was a theater of sorts. There was a stage with some strange bots on it. They stood stiffly on it, their eyes were glowing golden as they stood in place. It felt as if they were staring at her as soon as she arrived from the secret passage, despite the fact that they faced blankly forward like statues, only twitching slightly. The girl shuddered slightly before taking a detour and making her way up the steps to the exit of the Daycare Theater, her footsteps echoing loudly on the tiled stairs.

Unbeknownst to her, there was a figure already on the upper floor. He was faced away from her. She stopped in surprise as soon as she saw his green and yellow shell. A pointy tail connected to him by multiple metal joints smoothly clicked to the side. His head slightly turned and she saw the soft synthetic red hair of his spiky mohawk and his long snout lined with sharp teeth. It was pulled down into a snarl that would make any child cower, it showed each of his individual teeth. He had flashy star-shaped glasses on, but she caught a glance of his gleaming, crimson orange eyes behind them. His smoldering gaze lined with hers, malicious and greedy like a dragon's they were. his previously resting sneer pulled up into a wide smirk at the sight of her. His fingers released from a tight fist and she saw long black claws shine in the light along with his spiked braces.

It was Monty Gator, the bassist.

(Y/n) took a fearful step back. He fully turned towards her, his frame completely blocked the exit like a barrier. He flexed his arms as he adjusted his neon glasses with one hand, a wide grin pulled on his face as he chuckled darkly to himself, his deep voice practically making the ground vibrant.

"Hey there, kid. I've been looking for ya!"

Sorry for not posting last week, I was super busy! But hey, Monty has been finally introduced to the squad, yayyyyy