[PAUSED]Through the Screen | Sal Fisher x Reader | Sally Face

Chapter 1: Memories and Dreams

It was almost 4 am, late one night. You decided after spending hours playing a game called Sally Face and watching many, many cosplay TikToks (a majority of them making you simp), you decided it was about time you got some sleep. There WAS school in the morning after all. With a yawn, you got up and changed into pajamas that were much more comfortable than sitting in jeans and a t-shirt for almost 24 hours. After changing and passing by your desk—leaving Sally Face open on accident—you climbed under your blankets and passed out almost instantly. While sound asleep, you began to have pleasant dreams of interacting with the characters from Sally Face...after those dreams, everything stayed dark and suddenly, it felt like one of those nightmares, where it feels like you're falling...

    When you jumped awake in a cold sweat—instead of waking up in your dark room, cozy in your bed, you were restrained by a seatbelt...? In a car...? This was very confusing since you knew your mom would never take you somewhere at 4 am while you're sound asleep. Now also afraid, you looked to see who was in the front seats... "Oh! Y/n, you're awake!" A woman's voice said as she turned around and saw you with a bright smile. "U...uh...yeah!" You replied nervously, hoping to pass it off as if you were tired. You couldn't downright ask who she was, since it seemed like she knew you well... 'This can't be as bad as it seems...right? Maybe it's just a REALLY realistic dream...yeah...' you thought to yourself. "Where are we going again?" You decided to ask, to which a man chuckled. "We're on our way to our new home! The Addison Apartments in Nockfell, so we can be closer to your Grandparents." He answered, looking at you through the rearview mirror. "Oh..." Is all you had to answer with as you thought for a moment... 'Addison Apartments...? Nockfell...?' it took a moment to click... 'AM I IN SALLY FACE?!' You began to panic a bit since you knew how the game went and all the lore (thanks to a story-explained video and your own theories). It wasn't until you went to look for your phone that you realized someone was asleep on your arm, and there was a soft purring coming from your lap. When you looked over to your side, a young boy was using your arm as a pillow...did you now have a younger brother...? Brushing it off for now, you looked down at your lap and saw a small black and white cat curled up in your lap...that happened to resemble your old cat perfectly... "Moomoo...?" You whispered and the cat perked up, looking up at you with her big yellow eyes as her purring grew louder. It was hard to choke back the tears you felt, since your Moomoo from the...real world? Disappeared in the woods after she got outside, and you unfortunately got told she was found on the side of the road after getting hit by a car.

    After admiring your cat and managing to hold back tears, you looked down and saw your bag at your feet. Being careful not to wake your brother and hurt Moomoo, you reached down and picked it up, checking to make sure your phone, charger, laptop, mouse, and laptop charger were inside. They were, as well as the plush toy you've had since...god knows how long. Just as you made sure everything was in your bag, you felt the car turn and stop shortly after. "We're here! Y/n, sweetie—could you wake Paxton up?" Your...dad, asked as he and your...mom, unbuckled. "Oh, yeah–!" You then turned and gently shook the kid who was sound asleep on you, "Paxton..." It took a moment, but once you repeated his name, he woke up. "We're at the new apartment," You told him and watched as his energy was instantly restored as he raced to unbuckle and get out of the car. Carefully you set Moomoo to the side and unbuckled yourself, opening the door and grabbing your bag to sling over your shoulder before carefully scooping Moomoo into your arms, holding her close in fear she may try to escape. With your arms full, you carefully kicked the car door shut and walked over to your parents and brother.

    "So, the moving van got all the big stuff inside the apartment for us, but it's getting late so we'll leave all the stuff we have in the car for tomorrow," Dad said and then began to lead the way up to the front door of the apartment building. "We're in apartment 404," he added, opening the door and waiting for everyone else to go inside before he went in. It wasn't hard to find the elevator, so we took it up to the 4th floor...where Sal and his dad lived, with his cat Gizmo... 'After I drop my bag and Moomoo off, I'll go around and introduce myself to the neighbors...maybe take Paxton with me, too." You thought as you stepped out of the elevator, looking down the hall and catching a glimpse of blue hair disappearing into a door. You knew who it was instantly, but stayed where you were since it would be HELLA awkward, having to think of an excuse on how you knew his name when you just moved in.

    "Well, c'mon everyone! Get inside and we can start unpacking a bit," Mom said, ushering you and Paxton inside the apartment as Dad held the door open. Once inside and the door was shut, you set Moomoo down and let her explore. You began to look around yourself, before hearing one of your parents go, "You two can pick your rooms, we'll take the last one." So, with that, you took the second biggest room—in hopes all your posters and such were with you. After in the room, you saw the mattress leaning on the wall and decided to set it down so you'd be able to sleep on it tonight. There were a few boxes and you decided to snoop through them since they did have your name on them. "Damn...I have a lot of stuff," you mumbled to yourself as you pulled out a few figurines, and found a couple of posters. Instead of being your Five Nights at Freddy's posters, however—they were for horror movies, and one had SF on it in sharp letters...instantly you knew what it meant: Sanity's Fall.

After snooping through the boxes and finding more items from the 'Real World' (this was now what you were going to dub the reality where you were living in your grandmother's basement with your mom because she got kicked out of where you were living and your dad left, and where the other Moomoo went missing) you decided to go out and let your new? parents know that you were going to explore the apartment building.

Stepping out into the living room, Moomoo ran over to greet you instantly, purring loudly as her head nudged your leg. Reaching down to pet her, you looked up at your parents. "Mom...? Dad...?" You said, realizing this was the first time you were calling these people 'Mom and Dad' aloud. "Yes, y/n?" Your mom turned around and looked out from the kitchen, where she was putting things away in the cupboards. "I'm gonna go introduce myself to the neighbors...there might be a few other kids my age," you said and rocked back and forth on your heels before your mom nodded with a grin. "Go ahead, hun! If you want to take Paxton with you, go ahead." With that, you turned and went out the door and into the hall, not bothering to take Paxton along...you wanted to go knock on Sal's door immediately but you also wanted to go explore the 5th floor on your own, too.

1351 Words ~ 12/14/23