THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2017, 12:27 AM
"You have no new messages."
___________________________________________________________
Jack laid in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He'd gotten home late, having almost forgotten the groceries that his wife had asked for. Now, he was trying to get whatever shut-eye he could before another day of work brought more countless hours of intense investigation. He glanced at the clock. It was only about 12:30; he'd already been in bed for about an hour, listening to the peaceful snoring of his wife beside him, each breath of hers reminding him of the sleep he was missing out on. But his body wouldn't let him. It just wasn't tired enough. With a heavy sigh, he got out of bed, careful not to wake his wife, and headed downstairs.
He plopped down on the couch and flicked on the TV, making sure to immediately mute the sound in order to adjust the volume without making too much noise. The anchor of the midnight news on BBC was in the middle of a report.
"...and in other news, Peter Jackson, co-owner of Jackson Air Services, has fallen ill. The 64-year-old multi-millionaire suffered what authorities believed to be a heatstroke after a three-hour tour over Crystal Lake in northern Illinois. His wife Martha provided no comment; however, their son Kyle has assured that his father is alright and recovering at Mount Sinai Hospital, and will hopefully be back on his feet in no time. Regular clients from around the Midwest have poured in their support and are delighted to hear of his optimistic recovery."
Jack's eyes flickered. He recognized the name; he'd heard Jason mention it once or twice before, but it didn't hold a candle to his current situation. He waited through a few more minutes of minor stories before they came to the topic of interest.
"Over to you, Francene."
"Thank you, Jerry. Well, police are still investigating the events of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza World in St. Louis, where only a few days ago a child disappeared and a manager was brutally killed on-site. The police say that despite any progress on finding the young boy, they have a suspect whom they are currently pursuing."
A mugshot appeared next to the beaming woman's face with the label CHRIS EVERETT.
"From most recent reports," the reporter continued, "there is no sign of Everett anywhere in St. Louis or the surrounding area. If you see him, you are highly encouraged to notify your local law enforcement immediately as he is incredibly dangerous. More updates later. Back to you, Jerry."
Jack flipped the TV off. Somehow, he was hoping for something more than that, something insightful that just might trigger a connection in his mind and give him a lead to work with, but as of right now, he was still stuck. He had absolutely nothing to go off except the unique reports he had received from the Phillips children concerning a cloaked figure supposedly running around somewhere, but he needed more than that.
Sitting in the dark silence, he shifted his mind back to Chris Everett, whom everyone suspected. Josh Phillips and Susan Gregory had both mentioned him by name, as did Rebecca Swift and numerous other people. In typical fashion, it seemed like a slam dunk: Chris Everett is guilty.
But something wasn't right.
Jack got up and walked over to his briefcase containing all of his notes, which he had only closed and put away until morning only hours ago. He pulled out his report from the Phillips' testimonies. Being a trained detective with an eye for fine details, he reviewed the dialogue of the incident. According to Josh, Chris had said "What is that?" when spotting the black figure. Obviously, he and this figure were not working together since he didn't recognize it, so what did it mean?
This is the Freddy Fazbear franchise we're talking about here. According to Jason, there's always been more to the story than just what appears on the surface.
Speaking of Jason, Jack wondered if he'd gotten back yet. During their discussion, Jason had told him about some research he'd done about Freddy Fazbear's history while preparing his rejected game idea. He'd taken a look into everything he could, including the histories of both of the co-owners: Henry Emily and William Afton. He said he'd send over everything he had and asked about the sudden interest in the subject. Jack had simply replied that he was curious.
Booting up his laptop, he opened his emails. Immediately, he was greeted by the welcoming notification of a new message in his inbox and felt another surge of hope when he saw that it was from Jason.
"Here you are, old buddy. Happy reading."
There were several attachments to the email, each with its own short name. He opened up the first one which was labeled HENRY EMILY. It was an old newspaper from the 80s that had been posted on an online source.
"Henry Emily, 34, is the owner of the Freddy Fazbear business. A graduate of Stanford's School of Engineering, he is the founder of the newly-opened Freddy Fazbear's Pizza in Hurricane, UT as well as the creator of the establishment's friendly animatronic characters. He is also the former owner and manager of Fredbear's Family Diner in New Harmony. When asked about his inspiration for the animatronic characters, he simply replied that they were designed after gifts for his daughter..."
Jack stopped reading there. He remembered hearing Jason and his sister discussing Freddy's every once in a while during his visits to their house. It wasn't very often, but there would be the occasional mention between them. He remembered there was one instance he'd asked them about their friend Charlie, what happened to her. After giving each other nervous looks, Marla just told him that she was gone. It's like there was something deep between the two of them that he wasn't privy to, and while he didn't think much more of it at the time, his curiosity was really starting to grow now that he was officially investigating it.
There's something very odd about Henry. What was he hiding?
Unfortunately, the remainder of the article didn't give much more on the subject. In fact, it actually ended rather quickly, even acknowledging that Henry's reluctance to give them any more information. With a sigh, he turned to the next article. This one was an obituary for someone named Laura Afton, who passed away through premature childbirth in 1973. After a moment of sympathy for her, he turned to the one concerning her husband, William. It appeared to be very similar to the one he had just read about Henry.
"William Afton, 38, is the co-founder and co-owner of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. An alumnus of Stanford, he has operated numerous small businesses prior to the opening of Fredbear's Family Diner in New Harmony, which he opened in 1979 with his new partner Henry Emily.
Although all animatronics of Freddy Fazbear's were created by Emily, Afton has insisted during interviews that he has created his own set of animatronics which he hopes to unveil to the world one day. He has not given any specific details but showed enthusiasm. He has however mentioned that he has become obsessed with creating lifelike animatronics ever since his days at Stanford..."
Jack paused trying to rack his brains around this new information. Now that he was digging deeper into the lore, he found that his memories of his discussions about this with Jason, few as they were, were becoming clearer. From what he'd gathered from Jason, Afton was the actual mastermind behind the entire series of incidents of the Freddy Fazbear's dark ending back in the day. According to Jason, children had gone missing by Afton's hand to fuel his experiments. Jack shook his head in disbelief. This was certainly a mysterious character, one who seemed genuinely nice to the public eye but was apparently a "psychotic killer" and "mad scientist," as Marla had described.
The similarities between the past and present began to fall into place, with the odd sense of deja vu growing stronger. Still, there was one major flaw to the story: Afton was dead. That had been confirmed by Jason and Marla. According to Marla, a friend of theirs had witnessed Afton burn alive in a fireplace, and that was all the information that they had. However, despite both of them skimming uncomfortably over the finer details, Jason did also mention that they thought Afton had died once before when they watched him be crushed inside of an animatronic suit that could be worn.
How did he survive that? Could he have possibly survived again? Is he really the secret mastermind behind this whole ordeal?
Switching his web browser, Jack began searching for more information on Afton. Even with his narrowed search, there were countless irrelevant articles on various people named Afton, one of whom was apparently a prince from a foreign country he didn't even know existed. Finally, he came across a headline that caught his eye.
ACCIDENT AT STANFORD ENGINEERING LAB; ONE DEAD AND THREE SEVERELY INJURED.
With curiosity peaked, he clicked on the link. Like the others, it was an old news article that had been archived online. It was dated January 21, 1968, and it showed a grainy image of a pile of rubble surrounded by police cars Jack began reading:
"Disaster struck the school of engineering at Stanford late last night when one of the isolated testing labs mysteriously exploded and collapsed. According to local eyewitnesses, it happened around 11:14 PM. One witness, college student Stacey Gillman, was leaving work at the local coffee shop when the shock threw her to the ground.
'It was like an apocalyptic event,' she said. 'One moment everything was fine, and then all of a sudden, it felt and sounded like I was in the middle of a thundercloud. I felt I was going to die.'
Four people were later confirmed to have been inside the building at the time of the explosion. They were later confirmed to be Dr. Phineas Taggart, an engineering and philosophy professor, and three of his students: William Afton, 21, Rebecca Swift, 20, and Derek Brody, 21. The students were pulled from the wreckage and taken to the local hospital, where they managed to survive the night, but Dr. Taggart was pronounced dead at the scene.
Despite extensive investigation, local authorities still have no explanation as to the cause of the accident. When asked about the events that had occurred, the recovering students gave little explanation as a likely result of trauma. The only clear answer given was from Afton, who claimed that it was a breakthrough experiment that had gone horribly wrong.
Police are still investigating the cause of the accident but have so far been able to determine nothing. However, the coroner has reported no obvious signs as to the cause of death in Dr. Taggart, reporting that the deceased scientist appeared 'otherwise healthy' save from an unidentified black liquid leaking from the man's eyes.
Local authorities have closed down the area in a half-mile radius and have stated that it shall remain locked down until further notice..."
Jack couldn't believe what he was seeing. Afton's involvement wasn't too surprising given what he already knew, but Rebecca Swift and Derek Brody? He thought back to his discussion with Rebecca. Despite her overall shaken state of mind over the tragic loss of her partner, she seemed like a completely normal, friendly person who was dedicated to being a good manager. There was absolutely no inkling whatsoever that either she or her deceased partner were involved with Afton in an accident several decades earlier...prior to now.
Maybe I should consult with her again. She might know more about what's happening than I thought.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden, startling noise of his cell phone vibrating on the kitchen countertop. He picked it up and saw that it was Captain Holmes of the police.
"Detective?" came his rather concerned voice. "Did I wake you?"
"Not really. What's going on?"
"Get down here to the morgue. We have a serious problem."
___________________________________________________________
The front door of the restaurant was completely covered by police tape, a sharp contrast to its usual friendly, welcoming appearance. Ducking underneath, Josh grabbed the door handle and gave it a hard pull. As expected, the door didn't budge.
"Well, that didn't work," said Kendall. "What's next?"
Josh checked around the frame of the door, pressing against the metal, looking carefully for anything along the beam that looked odd.
"How does it get in and out?" he said. "We've got state-of-the-art security that's supposed to detect metal and lock the building down so nothing gets in or out. How does that thing get in and out?"
Kendall shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."
"Buh-ayck," said Olivia. "Buh-ack. Doo..are."
"What?" Josh turned to his sister. She was standing near the bushes beside the door, looking down at something. "What are you doing, 'Liv?"
"I'm trying to read what this says!"
"Read what?" Stepping up beside her, he saw that she was looking at something on the ground. He bent over and picked it up. It was a sticky note that read: "We often get in quicker by the back door than by the front."
"That's Napoleon," said Kendall, reading beside his brother.
"How do you know that?" asked Josh.
Kendall scoffed. "You really never did any reading in fifth grade, did you?"
Josh groaned. "Come on, I'm already cleaning your room for you. Stop adding insult to injury and just tell me what it means."
"It means exactly what it says. Sometimes, it's more beneficial to go where no one else is looking because you'll be able to fly under the radar and throw off your enemy. Napoleon was a warrior. In 1795, rather than attacking Britain directly, he went to Egypt to cut off their supply route from India."
"We're going to Egypt?" said Olivia.
Kendall sighed. "No, 'Liv. It just means that there must be another way in, somewhere most people don't think to look. Whoever left this note must've been expecting someone to try to get in."
"Like us?" she asked.
Kendall turned to Josh, who shook his head.
"I have no idea, but it's worth checking out."
They began to move around the side of the building. As they rounded the corner, the environment immediately changed. Without the light from the moon and nearby streetlights, the shadows were much more encompassing, giving the atmosphere a much more eerie, chilling vibe, complemented by the wind sending a cool breeze down upon them.
As they continued their journey to the back of the building, they heard something coming from ahead. It sounded like metal clanging against something in a consistent pattern. The noise caused them to stop, scanning the darkness for any movement, but there was none. After a minute, the noise stopped. Olivia tugged nervously at Kendall's shirt, but he gave her a reassuring look. With caution, they continued.
Kendall still couldn't believe that he'd been talked into this. His only goal was leverage against his brother, yet in a bizarre twist of fate, his polar-opposite siblings teamed up against him, and now they were breaking and entering into a building under lockdown, where a friend of theirs was killed and a mysterious figure was lurking about. Now they were all putting themselves at risk of who knew what.
His mind once again shifted to the face that had been haunting them for the past few days. The more he thought about it, the more peculiar it seemed.
Where did this mysterious creature come from and why is it here now? What's its purpose? How is it able to move and do things in such a creepy, human-like way?
He now wished he'd read up on animatronics more to have a better understanding of them. If only he had known that he'd one day be going up against something like this, he could've been better prepared, but instead, his knowledge only went as far as scratching the surface, and he, like the others, was forced to rely heavily on speculation...and hope.
Hope in what? What are we even doing? This isn't some science fiction story with some kind of deeper message about humanity, not like in the movies or books.
He recalled shortly after moving in: while he was looking for a fluorescent light bulb to borrow for a test in his room, there was a book on his mother's nightstand that briefly caught his eye. It was a science fiction novel called The Man & the Machine by John Mitchell. According to the synopsis on the back, the premise was about a man falling in love with a woman as they went off on an adventure together evading some monsters while trying to find a scientist who can help them. Apparently, there was supposed to be a controversial twist about the woman's true identity that changed their relationship forever.
Maybe she's actually a robot or something, he thought. That would have to suck, finding out someone you love is really some kind of intelligent machine. I wonder how bad of a breakup you'd have to have to write such a messed up, tragic story like that.
Finally, after what seemed like an hour, they reached the back of the building and rounded the corner. Everything was much darker back here than up in the front, with only a single nearby light faintly illuminating the gray brick wall which numerous spiders had already called home. The wall was completely bare, save for a few trees alongside it. There was a thick metal door that looked like that of a freezer. Josh turned the handle, but it wouldn't budge.
"So much for that idea," he said.
"Oh, another one!" said Olivia, pointing. On the wall, nearly obscured by darkness several feet from the door, was another note. Kendall picked it up.
"The end of one path often means the beginning of another. Don't look so down, but remember to keep your chin up."
"That's it?" said Josh, turning over the note with a flabbergasted look on his face. "That's all we get? How does that help us?"
"Where do we go now?" said Olivia.
"I don't know," said Josh. "What do you think, Einstein?"
Kendall gave his brother another annoyed look. "Well, this isn't a quote I remember ever hearing, so I'm not sure."
Josh groaned, throwing up his arms and looking around the back wall, eyes raking for anything that could be useful in lieu of a door or window. Perhaps there was a ladder somewhere that led to the roof, but he didn't see any.
"What do we do?" said Olivia.
"I don't know!" said Josh in a louder voice than he meant, causing Olivia to jump. "I'm not a poetry expert. Ask him!"
He jabbed a finger at Kendall, who was now holding the note inches from his face, his eyes transfixed on the words.
"Kendall," said Olivia, "what does-"
Kendall held up a finger and looked up at a random spot on the wall, lost in thought. After a few moments, he turned to Josh.
"What if it's not a metaphor?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, it sounds kinda like it's talking about life, staying hopeful and all that, but what if it's speaking literally?"
Josh said nothing. Kendall held up the note and pointed.
"Don't look so down, but remember to keep your chin up," he read, his finger following along and pausing on the emphasized words.
"Keep your chin...up," said Josh.
At that point, a chilly burst of air blew down on them, which caused the clanging sound from before to return, this time even louder. It was coming from above them. Looking up and scanning the wall, Josh noticed that one of the air vent panels was loose and swinging against the building in the wind. He pointed.
"There."
"Where?" asked Olivia.
"The vent up there."
"How are we going to get up there?" said Kendall.
Josh looked around and noticed a small ledge beneath the vent, roughly a foot wide, from the looks of it. There was also a small pine tree only a few feet away.
"I guess it's worth a shot," said Josh as he walked over to the tree. He motioned for his siblings to follow.
"But I don't know how to climb trees!" Olivia protested.
"You don't have to," said Josh. "Pine trees are easy to climb because of their low branches."
Olivia whimpered. She was afraid of heights.
"I'll go first," said Kendall. "You can follow me and Josh will be behind you, okay 'Liv?"
She hesitated, still looking as tense as ever, but eventually nodded.
Kendall placed his foot on the first branch, followed by his other foot on the second branch. As he moved his way up, Olivia stepped up to the base of the tree and turned her gaze upward along the path that her brother had taken. She lifted up a foot but froze. Kendall reached the sixth branch and stopped to look back.
"Come on!" he said. "It's not that high up!"
"I'm scared," she said in a small whimper. "I don't like heights."
"I got you," said Josh. "I'll catch you if you fall, okay?"
She turned and looked at him, studying his face closely. "You promise?"
He nodded. She held out her hand, her tiny finger raised.
"Pinkie-promise?"
Josh looked down at his sister's hand in amazement. He couldn't even remember the last time she'd insisted on a pinkie promise. Ever since they'd both gotten a little older, she hadn't bothered looking to him for anything at all. He chuckled and wrapped her finger in his own.
"Yep."
She smiled and turned back to the tree. She slowly put her foot on the branch and let her weight fall onto it. When it held her, she took the next step and slowly began to climb after Kendall, who likewise continued up the tree. When she was five branches up, Josh began to follow.
The wind continued to blow, giving the air a certain uncomfortable chill. It was getting stronger every time it was felt. Olivia shivered and placed her foot on the next branch. With a loud crack, it snapped and gave way, causing her foot to fall. She screeched loudly, but Josh held out his arm and prevented her from falling more than a few inches.
"Olivia!" he shouted over her frantic whimpering. "I've got you!"
She locked eyes with him, and he nodded reassuringly. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Kendall's hand from above. He had reached the ledge. She grabbed his hand and he pulled her up onto the ledge.
"This way," he told her, helping her shimmy over to the swaying vent. He grabbed the cold metal and lifted it up.
"Well," said Josh, who had caught up to them, "here goes nothing."
One by one, they entered the crawlspace into the darkness beyond.
___________________________________________________________
Chris's eyes fluttered open. There was a bright light above him, blinding him. He turned his head away from it and tried to shield his face, but his arms wouldn't move. Glancing down, he saw the strapped tightly to his sides. He saw that his entire body was covered by several straps which were pinning him down to a table. Looking around the room, he saw that he was in one of the back rooms, though it wasn't any that he'd seen before. The rest of the room was dark, but he was able to make out a few things. The walls were blanched white and there were lab tables all around him with various equipment on them that looked like it was used to either test or torture lab animals...or something else. In any case, he didn't want to stick around to find out.
He squirmed around against his bonds in an attempt to gain whatever wiggle room he could get. Unfortunately, the bonds held tight. While he was never a bodybuilder, he considered himself relatively strong, based on his experiences and what his mother had always told him, but these straps were simply too strong for him.
"Comfortable?" came a voice from somewhere in the room.
Chris's blood ran cold. His eyes began darting around the room. That voice. There's no way...
"Looking for me?" the voice said again, this time closer and clearly distinguishable as coming from nearby, only a few feet away. He turned his head in the direction and could make out a silhouette of someone standing there. The figure laughed. "Allow me to shed some light on the predicament."
The room immediately lit up and the blinding light that was shining down on Chris was turned off, allowing him to see more clearly. Standing nearby, clad in an unfamiliar white lab coat with a giant smile plastered on his face, was none other than Derek, alive and looking healthier than ever.
"You!" said Chris. "And here I thought you were actually dead."
"To the world, I am," said Derek, taking a step closer, "and I have you to thank for that. No more distractions, no more business. Nothing but time on my hands now. Tell me, Chris. How does it feel being a fugitive from the law?"
Chris began thrashing against his restraints once again, his anger boiling. He wanted to lunge at his boss and give him a reason to wish he really was dead, especially with what had happened on the fourth. He tried his best to bust through the straps, but they would not move at all. He wasn't even loosening them at all. Looking down at them again, he noticed the familiar logo printed in white: BINDR-PRO.
"Why yes, Chris," said Derek in a taunting voice. "Those are the new safety straps we just recently received. You didn't really think I'd ordered extras for no reason, did you?"
Chris locked eyes with his former boss, doing his best to look intimidating. Derek's face didn't change.
"How did you do it?"
Derek smiled and gave an oh-you-know look with corresponding hand movements. "The latest concoction from the lab, thanks to a little help from a good friend's ingenious discovery, not to mention his generous son sharing where to find it."
Chris narrowed his eyes in anger, knowing exactly who and what he was referring to.
"And what about your missing body? You know everyone's causing a fuss about that, too."
"Oh, you mean the body that the culprit...you...just stole from the morgue in a vain attempt to cover up evidence? From what I hear, you even killed a guard on your way out." Derek shook his head in the way of an upset parent about to discipline their child. "I'd say you're really racking up your prison time now, Chris."
Chris wanted to retaliate, to scream at the man whom he never trusted, to release all of his anger, but he held his tongue. He knew that Derek had the upper hand right now, so it was likely for the best that he acted defeated until he figured out a way to get the upper hand.
Derek walked over to a small counter near the door and grabbed something on top of it. When he held it up, Chris recognized that it was his phone.
"This is a nice phone you have," said Derek, examining the device in his hand. He flipped his finger across the pad and it lit up. Chris's heart sank when he realized that he forgot to re-lock it after he took the picture on Rebecca's computer.
"Let's see," said Derek as he scrolled through the phone. "I'm seeing a lot of interesting messages and calls here, Chris." He looked up. "What's the matter? You didn't trust us?"
Chris shook his head. "Nope. Never did."
Derek made a small pouting face. "Well, that's okay. The feeling was mutual from the beginning." He looked down at the phone again. "Hmm, well I don't think we should keep your friend waiting for a response much longer, do you?"
Chris pulled against his arm restraints, wanting nothing more than to snatch that phone out of his hand any way he could.
Derek began tapping the phone screen. After a few seconds, it became clear that he was texting. He would occasionally pause and look up, clearly thinking of something else to say, before resuming. Other times, he would scowl and repeatedly tap a certain point on the screen, backspacing. Finally, he nodded and walked over to Chris, showing him the newest sent message.
"Don't worry. I'm on track. I'll be done soon. Things are going smooth as butter."
"I apologize for how long it took me," said Derek. "I've never really gotten into this whole texting thing. You think he'll believe it? I do. In fact, I don't see anyone coming looking for you now."
Chris made a low, guttural growl that he didn't even know he was capable of. Derek scoffed and placed the phone on a small table next to Chris's head.
"So what's the master plan, then?" Chris asked.
"You'll see soon enough," said Derek as he walked over to another nearby lab table and began rummaging a black bag. "So, Chris, how's your mother doing?"
"Don't even talk about her," Chris said with a growl as he renewed his struggling once more. "She has nothing to do with this."
"On the contrary," said Derek, pulling a large syringe out of the bag, "she has as much to do with this as your father did."
Chris stopped moving, watching his boss carefully. "What do you know about my father?"
Derek approached the table and bent over, his long nose inches from Chris's, dark eyes firmly fixated on his victim.
"Everything you've ever wanted to know," he said in a soft voice before pulling back and walking over to a metal box on the other side of the room while donning a pair of gloves. "Tell me, Chris. What do you know about William Afton?"
"He was a brilliant man with an incredible gift for mechanical engineering..." said Chris.
"Indeed he was," said Derek as he opened the box carefully.
"...until his first wife and child died and sent him on a downward spiral of murder and insanity."
"Why, my dear Christopher...I think you'll soon come to realize that what some people call murder, other people call progress."
"You really believe that?" said Chris.
Derek turned his head and locked eyes with his captive over his shoulder. "You don't?"
Chris shook his head. "Not at that expense."
"Sometimes sacrifices are necessary," said Derek as he applied some gloves and grabbed a pair of giant pliers. "Your father knew that better than anybody. You know our motto."
"Which I never agreed with anyway," said Chris as he began trying once more to find a weak spot in his bonds.
"That's a shame. You're a smart, capable young man, Chris. I would've hoped that you of all people should be able to look past all these ethical boundaries toward a larger goal."
"Ethical boundaries?" said Chris. He felt his nerves rising as the realization hit that the true extent of this plot may be much deeper than he ever anticipated.
Derek pulled out a vial of the mysterious glowing substance that Chris had seen during one of his brief investigations back here.
"Yes, Chris. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the sake of scientific progress, and sometimes, the world may call you crazy and demented, but you can't let that stop you. They just don't understand."
"Understand what?"
Derek turned back to face Chris, his eyes shining in wild excitement. "That we're trying to make the world a better place. And thanks to this..." He nodded to the vial still being gripped carefully by the pliers. "...we finally can."
He walked over to the lab table that was nearest to Chris and placed the vial in a metal holder. He carefully opened the vial and inserted the syringe inside, extracting some of it. He held up the syringe with a wide smile on his face.
"This is how we're going to change the world, Chris," he said proudly. "You've seen this before?"
"Briefly," said Chris.
"Well, you'll be seeing it used a lot in your final moments," said Derek. "This baby is responsible for my survival of our little 'incident' that day, and I must tell you that I haven't felt this strong or energetic in nearly fifty years."
"Good. Maybe you'll be brave enough to take on a bullet train," said Chris.
"Your sarcasm is noted and rather unappreciated," said Derek as he finished his inspection and released the substance back into the vial, "but fortunately, I'm in too good of a mood for you to ruin it. In fact, if anything, I feel I owe you my thanks for the successful test run. Now that our new product has shown fruitful results, we can finally move forward. This will be remembered as a day of great scientific breakthrough. You'll see."
"What are you talking about?" asked Chris.
Derek's watch beeped and he strode over to the door, giving his victim one last gleeful look before departing.
"You'll see soon enough."
___________________________________________________________
"Where's the light switch in here?"
"For the fourth time, 'Liv, it's an air vent. There is no light switch in here!"
"But how can people see when they come in here?"
"No one ever comes in here!"
"Then how come this tunnel is here?"
"'Cause people need it to breathe while they're inside! No hush!"
Olivia pouted as she followed her annoyed brother through the pitch-black abyss surrounding them, with Josh bringing up the rear.
"So when does this brilliant idea start showing us some results?" Kendall asked from the front.
"Just keep moving. We'll figure out what to do next once we get out."
The cold metal beneath compressed and clanked beneath their hands. Olivia let out a small gasp every time it did. It reminded her of the noise their own air conditioning unit made in the basement two floors below her bedroom in the late hours of the night. Josh had always made fun of her for it, acting out a monster with his hands and a low voice, but their mother always comforted her, telling her that it's just the pipes that aren't used to having so many people to keep cool. This helped at first...until the night she saw that face in the window.
They were startled when Kendall's head made contact with metal. They had encountered a turn. "This way," he announced, leading them onward as best he could. The vent was larger than he anticipated. He thought back to the movies where a spy would infiltrate through a vent. Typically, the vent would be smaller and yet they always made it look so easy and natural, which this was anything but. Between his pajama-clad knees rubbing against the vent floor and sweaty hands interfering with his grip, he wasn't having the best time.
It's not like in the movies, he thought miserably. It's weird how the vent is so big, though. You could probably fit a shipping container in here.
The silence was broken by a sudden click, followed by a loud humming. The vent beneath them began rumbling.
"What's going on?" asked Olivia in a panic.
"I think someone turned the air conditioner on!" came Kendall's voice from the front.
"Shh!" said Josh. "I think I can hear something!"
Beneath the rumbling of the vent was a voice. At first, it was too muffled to hear clearly, but then a few words became distinguishable.
"...any more interruptions..."
"I think..." came a second voice. "...ready for the..."
Josh leaned down, his ear nearly touching the metal, straining himself to make out the full conversation. Both voices sounded familiar.
"Is everything ready?" asked the first.
"Yes. Fans are on. We're almost..." That was all that was heard before the pair of voices began to fade away.
"Who was that?" said Olivia.
"I don't know," said Josh.
"Are there other people here?" she asked.
"There might be. Just keep moving, 'Liv!" He tried to act calm, but his voice gave away the concern he was feeling. Who else is in here?
"I think I see something!" Kendall announced from the front.
It was a light coming from a grate in the floor of the vent. Kendall turned and waited for his siblings to catch up as they surrounded the grate. Josh attempted to pull the grate up, but it moved only a fraction of an inch before stopping.
"Hold on," said Kendall, turning the screws in the corner, which were surprisingly very loosely fit, as though they had been tightened and loosened many times by someone who didn't care about how well they were put back in. Within seconds, all four screws were out and the grating was lifted up effortlessly.
The floor below them was dimly lit by a light somewhere out of view. It looked familiar, but it was hard to tell.
"Hold on," said Josh, reaching into his pocket. "I'll use the flashlight on my phone."
He pulled the phone out of his pocket but immediately dropped it after his elbow made unexpected contact with the side of the vent.
"I think you dropped it," said Olivia.
"Yes, I know!" said Josh in a louder voice than he intended. "Just let me find it."
His hands raked across the vent. Despite the dim light below, it was still nearly pitch-black in the vent. He couldn't see his own hand in front of his face, so finding something on the vent floor was a greater challenge.
Suddenly, as if in answer to his wish, a small light came on behind him, allowing him to finally see his phone lying inches away from his hand. With a sigh of relief, he picked it up and turned to his siblings.
"Found it."
But their faces were distorted in a visible panic.
"J-Josh," said Kendall, pointing.
Josh whipped himself around as best as he could to find himself face-to-face with the source of the new light: a glowing eye that illuminated the outline of a dark hood.
Olivia screamed as the figure lunged at Josh, its cold metallic hand pinning him down to the ground. He gasped but could not take in a breath. His windpipe was being crushed.
"Let him go!" shouted Kendall.
The figure looked up and froze, its luminous eye locked on Kendall. For a second, there was nothing but Josh's faint gasping for air that could be heard. Then, the eye fell on Olivia. It stared at her long and hard, making her shift nervously in its interested gaze. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore.
"L-let him go!" she said in a shaky voice.
The fingers slackened, giving Josh enough leverage to throw the beast off of him. The head hit the top of the vent, and with a loud crash, Josh felt himself falling and landing on a cold floor, causing his back to cry out in pain.
"Josh!" he heard Olivia shout.
Looking up, he saw her face looking down at him from the edge of the vent. He heard a clambering from nearby and forced himself onto his feet as quickly as he could.
The vent had collapsed; one of the joint sections had come apart from the commotion, sending him and the creature down to the ground, leaving his siblings up in the vent, peering down at him from where the vent used to be.
He heard more movement from within the collapsed section of the vent and saw faint movement in the metal.
"Just go!" he shouted up at the others.
"But what about you?" said Kendall.
"I'll be fine. I'll keep this thing distracted. Just go! Find some other way out. We'll meet up at the car!"
"But, Josh-!" Olivia protested.
"Just go!" he shouted as he began to sprint down the hallway at the sight of a shiny hand below.
"What do we do?" Olivia said.
"We can't get back out that way," said Kendall. "We have to find some other way out. Come on."
"What about Josh?"
"You heard him, 'Liv. He'll be fine. We have to go."
Reluctantly, Olivia began to follow her brother forward into the darkness ahead of them, unknowingly being watched by the figure below as it continued gazing after them with keen interest.
___________________________________________________________
Josh didn't realize where he was until he burst through the nearest door into the main showroom. Looking back, he saw that he'd been in the back hallway area where he and his siblings had witnessed Cameron's demise. But he didn't have time to dwell on that; the loud thumping he heard coming down the hall told him that he had to move. Taking a quick look around, he saw the stage where the lifeless animatronics stood, resting from their long day. Thinking quickly, he dove under the stage, which was thankfully curtained off to shield the understructure from curious children (not that it did that good of a job, he remembered).
The door burst open and the loud clanking footsteps of the creature burst into the room. Josh moved as far back as he could beneath the structure. When his leg hit one of the supports, he knew he couldn't go any further.
The heavy footsteps quickly approached the stage, and Josh winced as he anticipated being immediately discovered, but nothing happened. The footsteps stopped at the edge of the curtain separating them. Silence fell, causing Josh's nerves to rise. In the movies, this was always when some kind of jumpscare was imminent. He held his breath, his heart pounding in his chest, sending vibrations up to his head. He wondered where Kendall and Olivia had gone. Had they discovered another way out? He prayed that they would, though it seemed unlikely. An awful feeling formed in his gut as the reality sunk in of what he had done. He'd brought his younger siblings into a closed-down restaurant under investigation and possibly endangered their lives as a result. He thought back to his mother and all of her concerns and worries. He could only imagine how she would react if she found out that her two youngest children had perished thanks to him, and the worst part was that it really would be his fault, no doubt about it.
After what felt like a few minutes, but could've been any amount of time, curiosity overcame him and he slowly moved forward toward the curtain. Lifting it up lightly, he saw nothing. He reluctantly peeked his head out and saw that the creature was nowhere near.
What?! How does that thing go from moving so loudly to being able to slip away unnoticed?
He carefully checked his surroundings one last time and emerged from beneath the stage. Everything seemed so...wrong. He was used to seeing this place full of lights and full of life. Even if the place wasn't open, there would still be the other employees walking around doing things. But now, everything was dark and silent, giving the place a much more haunting, abandoned feeling. He glanced over to the snack bar, completely doused in darkness and nowhere near as inviting as he'd always seen it. It was as though all of the wonders had gone and he was now an intruder.
I wonder what Susan would say if she saw the place like this, he thought. Then again, she'd probably think I was crazy for doing something like this.
A faint noise came from up near the front of the restaurant. He turned his gaze over to the doorway. Part of him wanted to go the other way, but as long as he was inside, he felt he might as well continue his mission. If Cameron was alive, he had to try and find him. He slowly approached the door to the front lobby, his feet making very light yet noticeable footsteps on the carpeted floor.
The noise was getting louder. It sounded like someone was fiddling with something. After a few moments, it stopped and there was silence. He paused, considering what his next move would be, when suddenly, with no warning, a figure came from around the corner and nearly bumped into him, causing him to let out a surprised yelp. He almost turned and ran until he managed to distinguish his boss's face in the darkness.
"Rebecca!" he exclaimed.
"Josh?" she said.
"W-what are you doing here?"
"I needed to grab something for the investigation. What are you doing here?"
"Well, we came to find Cameron-"
"Cameron?" she asked with a frown.
"Yeah. The boy who disappeared a couple of days ago."
"Why are you looking for him?"
"Well, it sounds crazy, but I think he might actually be alive somehow," said Josh, hearing the unconvincing patheticness in his own voice as he spoke.
Rebecca's eyes lit up and her eyebrows raised. She looked downright flabbergasted.
"What makes you say that?"
"Well, we-"
"We?"
"Yeah, my brother and sister came along."
"Why did you do that?"
"I didn't know. They followed me!" said Josh, battling down his frustration. After all, Rebecca wasn't his parents. "Anyway, we think that Cameron may not actually be dead because..."
"Hold on a second," said Rebecca, holding up her hand. "You and your brother and sister came here in the middle of the night to look for that poor boy because you have a hunch that he's not dead?"
Josh felt his embarrassment rise. He knew that as soon as an adult caught wind of the plan, it would sound stupid, and Rebecca certainly didn't disappoint.
"Yeah," he mumbled, wanting to stare down at the floor, but he held her gaze.
She huffed and shook her head, though the look in her eyes wasn't really one of anger. Instead, it looked more like amazement and sadness.
"Go on."
"Well...and this might sound really crazy...we've been seeing this black thing running around the restaurant lately..."
She froze, looking like she'd witnessed a murder. Her eyes remained firmly locked onto Josh's as she allowed him to continue.
"...and we saw this...thing...holding Cameron's body, but it was kind of weird. He didn't look like he was dead, but just sleeping or something. So we
Josh hoped that she believed him. Maybe she could help. However, her frown returned.
"Oh, Josh," she said in a soothing voice that sounded a lot like his mother's. "You are probably one of the most observant and bravest young men I've met in a long, long time..."
In his bewilderment, he managed to crack a smile at the compliment.
"...but I'm afraid you made a big mistake in coming here tonight," she said.
Josh had only a fraction of a second to register her words when a large, cold hand clamped itself over his mouth. Despite his vast efforts to pry the hand off, the metal fingers would not slacken. He looked up to see a glowing eye peering down at him, inches from his face. He turned back to Rebecca to see her smiling at him.
"Sorry, Josh," she said with a sad tone in her voice. "It's nothing personal, just business."
And then everything went black.