Freddy placed you down at the top of the stairwell and promptly ejected Gregory from his chest. The lights behind his eyes were starting to fade and his speech became slurred as he shuffled forward into the room.
"I am terribly sorry...but I must enter the recharge station," he said, sounding nothing less than remorseful as he eyed the massive red cylinder in the corner of the room. They were scattered all over the Plex so the animatronics could recharge whenever their batteries began to empty.
"Woah, hang on a sec," you pleaded, skating to a stop in front of him and putting your hands against his chest to make him halt in his path. "How am I supposed to get him out of here without you?"
"You said you'd protect us!" Gregory cried, joining you in blinking up at Freddy with wide tearful eyes.
"I need to finish my recharge cycle before I can go on any further," Freddy said, sounding guilty. You knew it wasn't his fault in the slightest. "But I will guide you through your headset."
A little mechanical beep sounded through your earpiece and a wave of reassurance washed over you. "O-Okay," you nodded shakily. This was no different from what you did all day. You were fine. Everything was fine.
Gregory was not nearly as convinced.
"I can't do this alone!" He said stubbornly. You knew the telltale signs of a tantrum when you saw them.
Freddy put one large hand on his shoulder and kneeled so that they were at eye level with each other. "You're not alone, Gregory. You'll have my little helper with you. She can do anything that I can do."
The door of the recharge station opened and Freddy slipped inside, offering you one last supportive wave before the revolving door clicked shut, sealing him inside. The cylinder began to hum as new energy was pumped into his battery. It would take upwards of an hour before he'd be able to leave. Hopefully, if everything went according to plan, you would both be long gone by then.
With Freddy gone, Gregory looked up at you expectantly and you frowned. "You are not climbing inside of my chest cavity."
He rolled his eyes and walked toward the service doors that led into the main entrance hall. "Let's go."
You used your security pass to unlock the door and held it open for him. It was just as dark on the other side as it had been in the tunnels. The main hall was only illuminated by a series of blacklights that ran across the ceiling.
"Do you have to wear those or are you just weird?" Gregory asked, eyeing your roller skates with slight disinterest.
For a caught stowaway, he sure was acting like a prick.
"Both," you said, matching his nonchalant-ness before checking your watch. Six minutes. You could definitely make it. "My real shoes are in my locker. I can grab them after I see you out."
"You're not coming with me?"
"Don't worry about it. My job is getting you out of here. Your only job is letting me do my job. Okay?"
Gregory seemed a little put off by that — now dragging his feet along the neon carpet instead of walking eagerly beside you. You loved kids; otherwise, you wouldn't even have this job. But you never truly understood them as well as the band did.
There was a loud sound–like a record scratch–as a voice came over the intercom of the main lobby.
"Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizza Plex will be closing in less than five minutes! Thank you for choosing to spend your evenings with Fazbear Entertainment!"
"Are we going to make it?" Gregory asked. You looked from him to the double doors all the way across the room. He would definitely get there in time. But would you?
"Yeah, for sure," you nodded, wheeling behind him and hooking your hands under his arms. "Just don't move."
"What–"
But you were already darting across the floor at top speed with the little boy tucked under your arm.
You dodged the wet floor sign bots that watched curiously as you passed, nearly toppling one over in the process. It was like you had tunnel vision. All you saw was the entrance. Everything else was just an obstacle in your path.
When you eventually came to an abrupt stop in front of the doors, you were almost out of breath but otherwise just in time. There were three minutes left for you to grab all of your things and get the hell out of dodge.
"Is there someone waiting for you out there?" you gestured to the dark parking lot outside. "Your mom or dad?"
Gregory nodded enthusiastically. "Uh-huh."
"Awesome. Well, I'll see you later?"
He beamed. You didn't expect him to lunge at you with a hug around the legs and it nearly sent both of you to the floor.
"Thank you," he mumbled before pulling away and pushing open one of the closest doors. "Will you tell Freddy I said thanks too?"
"Of course! Bye Gregory."
You continued to wave until he disappeared around the side of the building. Once you were sure he was gone, you pressed down onto your earpiece and began making your way to the break room. "Mission accomplished, Freddy. Greg has left the building."
"Way to go, Little Helper! I knew you could do it."
You spun in tight circles on the floor, taking your sweet time moving toward the service door wedged between the ticket counter and the wall. In two minutes, you'd be out in the parking lot with this whole thing behind you. You could send Vanessa an email later to find out what she wanted from you.
You scanned your ID at the door and waited a moment before tugging on the handle.
It didn't budge.
"No no no," you whispered, scanning it again. It was an exact repeat of what happened in the dressing room. Your pass was null and void. "Shit."
A quiet bleep sounded behind you and you let out a short, surprised scream, instinctively kicking out at the foreign object that you couldn't see. The misfortunately placed wet floor bot began beeping frantically, its wheels rolling uselessly in the air as it tried in vain to flee.
"Shhh," you hissed, bending down to set it right-side up. "I'm so sorry."
It didn't pay your apologies any mind before scurrying off to join its friends in the corner. You watched it sputter away, suddenly felt silly for thinking it could have been something else sneaking up behind you. Vanessa's little speech in the tunnels was starting to go to your head.
You were about to radio Freddy for help when you heard the faint clunk of metal against carpet behind you.
"(YY/NNN)."
You spun around to see Chica emerging from the shadows. Her feet were dragging slowly across the floor and she had a noticeable limp. Freddy obviously wasn't the only one overdue for a visit to Parts and Service.
Sighing in relief, you began making your way over. "Chica, thank god. Do you think you can escort me to the security office? I need a new clearance card ASAP."
"Daytime employees are prohibited after hours."
Her speech was robotic — even more so than usual. Her eye twitched as she grew closer, reaching an arm out to grab you by the shoulder.
"Daytime employees are prohibited after hours."
"Whoa, what's–hey, stop that!" you jumped backward so that you were just out of reach. "Chica, what's going on with you?"
"Daytime employees are prohibited after hours," she repeated again, making a dive in your direction. You yelped and moved out of the way, narrowly avoiding her grasp. "Yeah, I got that!" you exclaimed, making a wide circle around the fountain.
The same loud intercom voice blasted through the speakers mounted in the corners of the room. "Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizza Plex is now closed. Initiating nighttime protocols."
A low rumble shook the ground beneath your feet as metal blinds folded over the double-door entrance. Your heart stopped beating in your chest as you watched the last inch of freedom seal shut in front of you. Even if you wanted to slip through last second, you had no way of going home. Your car keys were in your bag which was inside the break room that you couldn't even get into.
"(YY/NN)..." Chica drawled, reaching out for you once more. It felt like your wheels were cemented to the floor as you shakily raised a finger to your earpiece.
"Freddy?"
"I know. I am watching you on the security cameras."
You didn't even know he could do that.
"Okay. Awesome."
You couldn't just run back to Rockstar Row and hole yourself up in a room somewhere until Freddy was done recharging. Your limited clearance would only get you half as far before you ran into a nighttime security barrier.
"It seems that Chica's security protocol has been put in place," Freddy hummed contemplatively.
"Perfect. What should I do?"
"Run."
Run. You can run. You prefer running, actually. Especially away from sentient animatronics who considered you both a trespasser and a threat.
You vaulted over the turnstiles with ease and skated like lightning into the main lobby. It was much brighter in there, but the light meant exposure, and you were too afraid to turn around but you were pretty sure Chica was still right behind you.
"Well done, Little Helper! Now take your clearance badge to the upgrade machine in the customer service kiosk. You can use your employee number to replace your original pass."
"On it!"
You paused for a split second to analyze your surroundings. You were on ground floor zero. Customer service was upstairs. Wait, no. It was downstairs. You looked around at all of the flashy neon signs. None of them clued you in on where to go. "Uh—AGH!"
Before you could pick a direction and bolt, Chica was on top of you. She had you pinned against the carpet in seconds and locked her cold metal fingers around your throat. "Chica!" you wheezed, kicking upward against her torso plate. "Please!"
"This area is off-limits to the daytime staff!"
"I literally helped you find your scrunchie four hours ago!"
Meanwhile, Freddy was having his own little crisis in your ear. You didn't register a word he was saying, but he sure was talking. Your breath came out in shallow pants and you lost the energy to fight her off. "Chica..." you rasped, her fingers expertly putting pressure on your windpipe. It was like she was programmed specifically to target and kill. Which, while alarming, did not exactly surprise you.
Just when you had accepted the fact that the last thing you would ever see was the plastic unblinking eyes of an animatronic chicken, her weight disappeared off of you and you immediately sucked in the deepest breath possible.
The sounds of a struggle reached your ears and you turned to see Monty wrestling Chica to the floor. It was as if she didn't even recognize him, still reaching out to grab you while mumbling some prerecorded nonsense about how you needed to leave.
Message received loud and clear.
"I gotcha, baby," Monty snarled, shooting you a wink over his shoulder. He was struggling to keep her pinned even though he was by far the strongest of the band members. "You gotta get outta here," he panted. "Can't...I can't hold it back..."
At first, you thought he was talking about Chica, but then you noticed that his own head was twitching sporadically. You realized all at once that he wasn't just warning you about her. He was simultaneously fighting off his own code in order to save you.
"I owe you!" You yelled, scrambling to your feet and taking off in the direction of the stairs.
"Yeah, yeah," you heard his strained chuckle further behind you. "You can find some way to thank me later."
It didn't take very long after that to find the customer service desk. You practically sailed over the counter in a hurry to insert your security pass, followed by your employee number which you furiously typed into the keypad.
After a few seconds—nothing.
You groaned and used the sturdy toe of your skate to kick the machine back into action. It worked (thankfully) and spit out a colorful plastic card that was definitely not the one you had been counting on.
"Well?" Freddy chimed expectantly in your ear. You held the card up to the light to make sure you weren't mistaken. It was a daycare pass alright. You used to see a million of these every day. You could probably draw one from memory in your sleep.
"It's...a daycare pass," you said defeatedly.
"Terrific! I can meet you in the daycare after my recharge cycle has completed."
Yeah...how terrific.
(A/N: Somebody's about to face their fears! This feels insanely long, especially since like nothing happens. Sun and Moon next chapter though! Stay tuned. If this is way too wordy or if you feel like it reads too rushed, please let me know. I only proofread this once. While this book is just for fun, I want it to be enjoyable. DM or comment with any questions. Bye for now! Goodnight!)