Five Nights at Freddy's: The Lost Souls [Reboot Book 1]

Chapter 7: Lost Memories

“So William has them?” Charlie asked me over the phone.

“Yeah,” I answered. “I don't think I'll be able to get them without raising some suspicion.”

“It was a small lead anyway,” Charlie explained. “Don't beat yourself up over it.”

It wasn't a small lead though. I knew that the photo meant more than it appeared. Someone saw what happened. Someone saw what happened to Cassidy.

“Have you asked your dad about any of this?” I asked. “He owned the place, he has to know more.”

Charlie sighed. “He was the original owner, yes, but he gave it to William and hasn't had much hand in it for a long time. He said something happened that made him want to distance himself from the place.”

“So he doesn't know about the missing children incident,” I replied.

“That's right,” she stated. “He heard about it, and William told him about it later, but apparently William didn't know anything either.”

“So it really is up to us,” I said with a huff.

“I actually had a question, Mike,” Charlie suddenly stated.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I want to come to Freddy's tonight, will you take me?” She asked.

I was taken aback. It never occurred to me that she'd ask me something like this. I wasn't sure what to say. How would I explain the animatronics to her? Could they hide? Would they be hostile to her? However, her knowing would help her understand more. Then again, I also wondered why she cared so much about this.

“I'll take you, but you need to know something,” I explained. “Well, the animatronics are…”

I trailed off. I promised not to tell anyone. Charlie could be trusted though, right?

“Just don't freak out when you get there, ok?” I said.

“Um, sure, no problem,” She replied. “I guess I'll see you tonight.”

“Wait,” I interrupted. “I need to know, why are you so invested in this? Your dad hasn't owned Freddy's for years and you weren't connected to these murders.”

Charlie was silent. She was silent for several minutes. She then finally spoke up.

“I can't explain it, but I feel like solving this will lead me closer to an answer about Sammy,” she explained.

“Sammy?” I asked.

“My brother,” Charlie answered. “He disappeared when I was young, but my dad never knew what happened. It apparently left mom in tatters and she left. I haven't seen her in a long time. Something deep inside my heart tells me that solving this will lead me to Sammy.”

“I see,” I said quietly. “Then I'll definitely take you tonight.”

“Thanks Mike,” Charlie said in a somber tone. “You're a hell of a guy, helping someone you haven't talked to in over a decade.”

“Hey, I'm as invested as you are in this mystery,” I explained. “We're in this together.”

After finishing the call with Charlie, I walked down the hallway of my house. I looked at the wall where an old photo hung. It was a picture of my dad, mom and I. A family photo of us on Christmas. I always liked the photo, but something always felt like it was missing. There was a spot as if someone else was supposed to be standing in the photo. I always figured it was a feeling of deja vu or something similar.

I moved past it, but out of the corner of my eye something flickered. I looked at the photo again. No, it was normal. I'd always felt strange in this hallway, but I never knew why.

Unfortunately I didn't have the time to investigate this further. I sat in my room, at my desk. I ran my hand over my sketchbook, feeling the leather cover. I opened it and looked at my monster sketches.

Looking at these, I made a horrifying discovery. The first drawing I noticed a pattern in was a nightmarish bear I'd drawn. It was robotic and had sharp teeth. However, the part that horrified me was the striking resemblance to Freddy. How could I have subconsciously known what Freddy looked like and get so many details correct about his design? I'd drawn this specific monster since I was six years old.

The next drawing was the same, but it bore a striking resemblance to Bonnie. Then there was a Chica and a Foxy. All my monsters that I'd drawn were Freddy's characters.

I turned the page. In a faded ink, or more accurately, an impression on the page, was a sentence.

Do you remember me?

I stared at the impression on the page. This wasn't something I'd written. I was acutely aware of that. I looked around my room frantically. Was it Golden Freddy? Was Cassidy trying to communicate with me?

I looked at the page again. A new message was there.

The old toy box.

I wasn't sure what it meant. A toy box? The only one I knew of was in my closet. I quickly opened my closet door and looked inside the toy box. Lots of old toys. I'd never managed to get around to selling them. Or maybe I couldn't bring myself to get rid of something that was a reminder of my childhood. A childhood I already had very fuzzy memories of.

I dug through the box until I found something. An old plush. It was dirty and had some ripped stitches. A yellow bear with a top hat and a tie.

My blood ran cold. “Fredbear?”

Why did I have this plush? Who gave it to me? Was I ever at Freddy's as a child? I couldn't recall. What was indisputable was that this was definitely a plush that I owned. There was familiarity in it. Its white pinprick pupils felt like they stared into my soul.

“What are you trying to tell me, Cassidy?” I whispered to the doll.

There was no new message in the sketchbook. Cassidy had stopped trying to contact me. I'd obviously found what she wanted me to find. However, this prompted me to look at the photo Charlie showed me before. The one with what appeared to be Cassidy.

As I looked at it, more details became clear. The mascot definitely wasn't leading her into a back room. She was being dragged. It was difficult to tell, but the way in which it was holding her arm indicated that she was fighting back. And the kid watching, they may be facing her, but it appeared they may have been slumped over now. Maybe even knocked out. It was too grainy, too fuzzy.

I examined the Fredbear doll one last time. I was going to take it to Freddy's and see if I could learn more about Cassidy.