In Medias Res- (Eyes of Purple Book Two)

Chapter Fifteen

You're not the first to die here, Afton.

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        The last night is always the worst- anything can happen. You don't want to say anything, in case you miss something, and you don't want to do anything either, in case you do something.

        Michael knew this was going to be a bad night for him the moment he'd walked into the office. The walls looked so much bigger than yesterday, the room smaller. He was chewing nervously at a stick of gum- had the job not been imperative on the use of his hands, he'd be smoking. The recorded message left for him tonight had been... disturbing, to say the least. Mechanical, distorted noises, probably having much to do with the animatronics.

        His nerves were already on edge, and it wasn't even five minutes into his shift... this did not bode well. It also didn't help that he was convinced the cupcake- Michael was starting to call him Carl- was starting at him.

        "Freddy, get out of the little girl's room. Creep."

        Ever since '83, Michael's sanity levels weren't as high as they used to be. It certainly hadn't helped that every few years or so, he'd been subjected to a new form of Hell on Earth... but even then, it had been a considerably long time since Michael's had hallucinations while he was in the middle of working.

        It's me...

        Michael was beginning to see that everywhere tonight. Pirate's Cove kept flickering to wide open curtains, with the out of service sign switching to those two words. Freddy began to show up, right in his face, growling the words. Slowed-down laughter creaked through the building (although now that he thought about it, that was considerably normal)...

        He wasn't doing so hot when it came to power tonight, either.

        "Where... Okay. Ah- who could you be...?" The poster in the West Hallway had somehow changed to an animatronic that looked somewhat familiar... but whoever it was, he couldn't place it. "Hmm. Odd."

        There was a groan behind him, and Michael froze, slowly looking over his shoulder.

        "... Goodness, you really let yourself go in the bathroom, didn't you, Fred?" The animatronic's fur had certainly lightened in shading terms, but had gotten considerably dirtier in response. His head and jaws were crooked, and small, beady white pupils stared at Michael. "Ah, Fred? You there, bud?"

        The yellow bear didn't answer. Michael blinked up at him for a moment, sighing.

        "Look, it's been a long week, man. If you're going to kill me, fine, I don't care. If you're not, please quit breathing over my shoulder." He turned back to his tablet, pretending not to care, but in reality his heart was pounding.

        No matter what he said... Michael wasn't ready to go. Not yet.

        He looked up, and the bear had gone.

        "... Brilliant. Now let's see here-"

        And then the power went out.

        Laughter and darkness was Michael's entire world. His eyes widened, and his breathing became more sporadic, heavy. Michael began to shake so hard he fell off of the chair, glancing at his watch on the way down.

        5:06...

        If he had luck, he might survive. But Michael wasn't all that lucky, and he could vaguely register the notes of The Toreador March to his left, and the laughter was growing louder-

        He squeezed his eyes shut, but now his world was shiny and buttons and an automatic voice rambling about eggs benedict. Raspy giggles, and small blue rabbits that hid behind shoulders, and the betrayal of someone he'd trusted. 

        Pain, and red, and a pair of purple eyes glowing behind a pane of glass, wires and metal limbs tangled together, held behind a mask of four that Michael couldn't bring himself to blame.

        Laughter in both.

        Hold still...

        "Shh... Michael..." Yellow paws clamped around his shoulders, but he was too frightened to scream. "It's me..."

        The Scooper only hurts for a moment.