Another day passed, but this one was slightly different. Was it quieter? Or was he just losing his hearing? He opened his eyes and looked around. All of the others seemed to be in their normal positions. They obviously didn't notice what was going on. If anything was. But Dave just decided to shrug the silence off, he was too angry to think or talk right now. He needed to focus on his approach.
Night came and everybody awoke, exiting the room and going into the main room. They all joined up on the stage to talk again.
"I can't believe this is the last night," Toy Freddy said, a little sad.
"I know, I can't believe it's been four nights already. I'm going to miss Jeremy." Toy Bonnie agreed.
"I'm going to miss trying to kill him. He was fun to scare." Freddy said darkly.
"I'll agree with you there," Bonnie said with a grin.
"Do you think he is going to come back?" Chica asked.
"Doubt it. Nobody with a brain would return here." Freddy replied.
"I don't know, if he had any smarts he would've quit day one." Bonnie said.
"He could have a good work ethic." Mangle threw in.
"Even a good work ethic shouldn't keep a person going here." Freddy said.
"You're really questioning why he's staying? I'm glad he was dumb enough to stay, because that gave us a greater chance of getting him." Foxy said.
"So, Freddy," Dave said, interrupting their conversation. "Aren't you supposed to be doing something?"
Freddy looked at Dave in terror, "Right," he said, looking at everybody else, "Wish me luck." and he walked away, towards the Prize Corner.
Everybody turned to watch Freddy. Taking the best positions for their viewing pleasure. Freddy walked up to the box in the Prize Corner and turned to the music box. They all knew that the box kept the Puppet asleep, and if you shut it off, it'd awake in a very bad mood.
That was why nobody dared speak to it. But now, Freddy was doing the most dangerous thing, stopping the music box. Once the music box stopped, Freddy slowly walked up to the box that the Puppet stayed in and tapped on it.
Slowly, the lid lifted up and out came the Puppet, staring at Freddy with angry eyes. The bear backed away slightly and started to speak. Sadly, everybody was too far away to hear what they were saying.
A few minutes passed and the conversation seemed to be over. Freddy rewound the music box and the Puppet went back into hiding. He walked back to the group with an unreadable expression on his face.
"So, what did it say?" Bonnie asked him.
"That it already knew about the sixth child. Turned out I risked my life for nothing. It told me that the reason the child in there hadn't been given life was that it had a plan for him. And you," Freddy pointed to Dave, "disrupted that plan by entering the hidden room."
Dave backed up at the accusatory glare from Freddy and soon from the others. "I had no idea!" he defended, "I was curious."
"Well you know what they say about curiosity. It killed the cat." Foxy chimed in.
Dave hissed and turned sharply to the fox, "So are you on the Puppet's side?"
"We all are," Freddy said.
"It gave us the life we have now." Bonnie added, "If it weren't for it, we wouldn't be able to get revenge."
"Right, revenge." Dave said with a sneer, turning to the rabbit, "You know, I hear that word thrown around a lot, but I've never seen it in action. Are you even sure what revenge means?"
"It means to take vengeance on somebody who's wronged you. We all know that." Freddy replied.
He turned to the bear with a sharp hiss, "I didn't ask you! Mister 'I have all the answers'."
"Are you alright, Davey?" Mangle asked him quietly.
He slowly turned to her, a dark smile on his face and a crazy look in his eyes. "No, I'm not alright. I am sick of this place! I'm sick of this 'game'." he replied, looking at everybody now. "You say you hate the guard, you say that you want to kill him, then why don't you? You have the ability to. It gave you the ability to. Why aren't you idiots using it?"
"You've seen how he works, Jeremy always seems to outsmart us." Foxy said.
"Then attack in the daytime! You Toys are around the adults all the time but you don't take any action."
"We don't want to traumatize the children." Toy Freddy said and all the Toys nodded.
Dave laughed wickedly, "Right, always for the children's benefit. But what if the killer strikes again? The children won't stop from being traumatized then, will they?"
"But we keep a close eye on all the adults. They've done nothing to arise suspicion." Toy Freddy said.
"But you don't know who is who. How is that 'keeping a close eye'?"
"Dave, stop this. You are creating tension." Freddy told him sternly and stepped forward.
"Good! Maybe you'll be able to kill with all this tension in the air!" he yelled back, moving in to the bear, stretching his neck higher to try and look bigger than him.
"Don't you dare hurt Freddy," Bonnie said and walked beside his friend.
"How are you going to stop me? Bite me? Or how about hold me down?" Dave threatened and glared at him.
Bonnie looked hurt and raised a fist. Behind him Toy Bonnie and Toy Freddy readied to stop Dave too. Foxy and Mangle were glaring at him and both the chickens looked slightly frightened and worried.
Knowing he was outnumbered, Dave backed down, walking off the stage. "Fine, you win. But don't expect me to join you in your fruitless venture tonight." he said and turned to walk away. "By the way, you all better stay away from me. Unless you don't care about your worthless lives." he added without even looking back.
He didn't stop walking until he got into the Parts and Service room, taking his position and waiting for the shift to start. He let out with a deep growl when everybody else walked in awhile later. Foxy gave him a taunting glare as he went into his corner. Dave returned the same glare, not minding if he got into a fight with the stupid fox.
When the shift started, Dave didn't move. He just watched with dead eyes as everybody left one-by-one. He was now alone in the Parts and Service room, and he didn't mind that at all. He continued to stay in the room for who knows how long.
Every now and then Foxy entered and stood where the three usually laid. After the fourth time of Foxy visiting and leaving soon after, Dave decided that he may as well give it one last shot. He had nothing to lose, and this would be the last time of seeing Jeremy. With a shudder and a growl the beast stood and left the room.
He walked to the hallway and stared at the guard's office, not taking his eyes off the guard as he slowly made his approach. When he got flashed, he didn't duck into the other rooms, he just stayed there until his vision returned. One time, Jeremy flashed him and he actually shut his eyes before the light blinded him.
He was pleased to see that his vision was still normal and continued his way. Every now and then the others passed by him, looking at him with caution every time they walked by. This made him smile. They were afraid of him. For good reason, too. Looked like they valued their lives after all.
Dave continued down the hallway, never leaving his spot and never taking his eyes off of Jeremy. He could see him growing worried at this slowly approaching monster. Flashing him right after he looked up from the camera, even before throwing on the mask. That could spell his death. He had incredible reflexes though, he moved so fast. If Dave wasn't so angry and frustrated he'd actually be amazed. But he couldn't think about anything other than the guard's blood on the floor.
Soon he made it into the office, and Jeremy instantly flipped on the mask. But instead of leaving, Dave stayed. He had watched Jeremy enough to know that he couldn't flash the light or check the cams with that mask on. But if he took it off, he'd get attacked by Dave.
The Drake laughed viciously. I have him at a stalemate. Anything he does will get him killed. He patiently waited for Jeremy to remove that blasted mask. Suddenly, he heard a scream from behind him and turned around fast enough to see Foxy leap for the guard.
"Oh no you don't!" Dave yelled and leapt up, stopping the fox in midair, slamming him to the floor. He stood on top of him and stared him right in the eyes, "Jeremy is my prey. You don't get to touch him."
"B-but, I-I want him dead too. You made it possible for me to end his life." Foxy said.
"You don't get to end his life. You lost that chance the moment you agreed to play this little game. I decided not to, and look at me, I'm so close to biting his tiny little head off."
"We're supposed to be working together, Dave."
"Oh no we're not! I do not work with idiots like you!"
"Dave! Stop this right now!" Freddy yelled.
He sharply flipped his head up to stare at the bear. He sneered when he saw that Freddy had Bonnie right beside him. "I'm not going to kill Foxy, if that's what you're wondering." he said and glanced back down at the fox, "I'm just teaching him a lesson." he whispered as he leaned in and glared at Foxy in the eyes.
He heard Freddy walk up beside him, but he didn't expect the swift kick he'd receive. He was flung off of Foxy and slammed into the wall with a loud clatter. He fell to the floor and looked up at Freddy, watching him help his friend up.
"You could've broken me!" he yelled.
"And you could've killed Foxy!" Freddy yelled back. "What has gotten into you Dave? Do I really have to remind you of what you said? About how we're all supposed to get along. How an animatronic's job is to keep children happy and that Foxy and the rest of us are children?"
He was about to snap a retort when he heard a clock chime. "Nooo!" he screamed and stood, turning to look at the guard.
Jeremy was cowering in the corner, the tablet that he used to watch the cams in his lap. Every now and then he looked at it but instantly looked back up to watch the animatronics who were fighting in his office with terror.
Dave slowly walked up to him until he was three feet away, "You are lucky, you stupid guard. You survived the night and the week. And you survived me." he growled, knowing that he probably wouldn't be understood. But that didn't matter, he had to get that out.
He turned away from Jeremy and noticed that nobody else was in the office. He snorted, knowing that they all went home. Giving one last glare at Jeremy, taking a mental picture of his face if they ever met again, and heading home as well. His squeaky joints echoing down the empty hallway.
He quietly entered the Parts and Service room, taking his spot. Feeling Foxy staring at him he looked back at the fox.
"I hate you." Foxy whispered to him.
"The feeling's mutual." Dave replied with a snarl and shut his eyes, going into his standby mode to wait out another boring day. Angry that his mission had failed once again.
The daytime was very strange once again. Silent, as if nobody was there. Dave was too angry to comment on it, but the others weren't.
"Where are the children?" Bonnie asked, listening in to whatever activity there might've been outside the door.
"Is it truly silent?" Freddy asked him.
He nodded. "Completely. I wonder if the Toys are about."
"They most likely would be, since of their day-mode and all." Chica said.
"Why don't we go out and see them?" Bonnie suggested.
"I wouldn't do it. What if there are still employees out? It's too much of a risk." Freddy said.
To that, Chica and Bonnie nodded. Shrugging off the silence they went back to their neutral positions. Tonight they'd have the full night to themselves. Or so they thought.
Night came and it was time for them to awake once more. One-by-one the Withereds left the room, even Foxy did. But Dave stayed. None of them even asked him why, they avoided him now. Ignored him. For fear he'd snap.
Dave was happy to be left alone and ignored. He didn't like them anyway. He sat up and looked around the empty room with a grin. All to myself. He thought. Turned out he wasn't alone for too long, because soon he heard some familiar static approach. He looked up and saw Mangle open the door and swing down from the ceiling.
"I knew you'd come. You're so predictable." Dave snarled at her, "So, did you come to lecture me about how bad I was last night? Or maybe you came to see what was wrong. Even though I've already told you all what is wrong."
"Dave, I haven't come for either of those things." she replied.
"Then what? Maybe you've come to kill me, or remind me of what I said about you fighting with Foxy. Or perhaps you're angry I went against the game."
She screamed and slapped him with an arm, "Shut up and let me talk!" she yelled at him.
Dave snapped out of his pity-party and stared at her in shock.
"Now, I haven't come to do anything of those things. I agree with them that what you did was out of line. But that's not why I'm here." she began, moving closer to him. "How did you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Get to Jeremy so fast. It was amazing."
"I just stayed in the hallway, even when he blinded me. I gave up dashing into rooms or attacking from the vents. No, I stayed in the hallway and hunted him down. I almost had him."
"That's it?"
"Yes."
"Wow, that's surprising." she said, "I've also been thinking on what you were saying."
He cocked his head, "About what?"
"About how we should stop the charade and just attack an employee if he gets near."
He blinked in surprise, "You agree with me?"
"Not at first. But the more I thought about it, yes. I would've done it today but they seemed to be closed. I'm going to see if it's like that again tomorrow. Something tells me it won't be, though. I overheard someone talk about a 'last birthday party' or something like that."
"You're going to even risk traumatizing so many children?"
"Yes. It's better than having another lost soul haunt this restaurant."
He smiled and looked at her, "Finally, someone who agrees with me!" he exclaimed. "I'm thinking of doing the same tomorrow."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I'm hoping that one guard, the one from my restaurant comes in, and if he does, off with his head." he said with a dark chuckle.
She chuckled with him, "That's a good idea."
Suddenly the door opened and they both turned to look. Foxy stood at the door looking panicked.
"What is it?" Mangle asked him.
"Bon spotted Jeremy's car. He's come back! We're all rushing to get back to our positions. I came here first because I'm the fastest, and to take you back to the Cove." Foxy explained.
"My goodness! Why would he return?" she asked as he climbed up on him.
"I have no idea. But he's definitely an idiot to do so." he replied with a smile.
Without even a goodbye to Dave, Foxy was off. A few minutes later the other three came in and took their spots.
"I can't believe he's dumb enough to return!" Bonnie exclaimed.
"I know! Maybe they offered him a raise." Freddy agreed.
Foxy came charging in after they all took their places and he took his own place. None of them even glanced at Dave. He truly was being ignored. With a sigh Dave curled back up into a ball to wait for Jeremy's shift to start.
The moment it started, everybody left at once. They seemed excited, anxious and curious. A long while after they left, Dave decided to join them in their hunt. This may be the last ever time Jeremy would work. And he deserved a farewell party.
This time, Dave decided to play the game. To which he could see Jeremy look relieved. He found this game boring, so naturally the Drake shut off half his mechanical brain and just moved on instinct.
A few hours later he was approaching Jeremy from the hallway and for no apparent reason the guard freaked out and flipped on the mask, quickly taking it off and checking the cams.
Why did he do that? Dave thought to himself. His entire body shuddered when he heard the same laugh that came from the hidden room. This was what the Puppet said it was waiting for! It must've known, by some paranormal ability, that Jeremy would return tonight.
Dave guessed he didn't mess it up that bad, since the ghost was out and about. But it must've only been visible to Jeremy. The night continued through the same pattern. Until there were only a few hours left. This was when he decided it was time to switch things up.
He started to do exactly what he did yesterday. Only approach from the hall, only stopping every time he got blinded. Once his vision recovered, he continued on his way. He could see Jeremy getting panicked once again, which pleased the Drake greatly.
In no time he made it into the office. Just like last night, Jeremy flipped on the mask and stared at Dave.
"Who dare disturb my slumber?" Dave growled out his line with a grin. He stood in the office patiently.
This time, he didn't hear Foxy charge. The thing had actually learned it's lesson. Good. A minute later Jeremy did the unthinkable. He took off the mask and looked in the cams. Before he could even look up from the tablet, Dave leapt at him.
He sprung over the desk, and right towards Jeremy. He pinned him down and stared in his frightened eyes.
"P-please! I have done nothing to you!" he pleaded.
Dave laughed, "I don't care. You are still guilty. You are still responsible."
Jeremy covered his eyes with his hands and Dave could see tears come from his eyes.
He had invoked terror in this man's heart. Just then, the clock chimed. Dave smiled, actually not too upset about his time being up. "You never should've returned." he whispered and walked off of him.
He walked out of the office and down the hall, taking a glance behind him to see Jeremy shivering from the terror, his eyes wide. Seeing that man's terror somehow felt better than actually ending his pathetic life. He laughed and turned back, heading towards his little room.
The moment he entered, all of the Withereds looked at him with curiosity.
"Did you kill him?" Bonnie asked.
"No. I could've, but I didn't." he replied as he took his spot.
"Why?" Freddy asked.
"Because I put so much terror in his heart. Just seeing his tears, the terror in his eyes and the shock that I actually let him live was good enough. Now he'll definitely never return. No matter how high a raise they offer him."
At that, everybody looked away from him. They didn't question him further and went into their neutral modes. Dave followed after them, closing his eyes and curling back up into a comfortable ball. If what Mangle said was true about tomorrow being "one last birthday party", Dave was sure to make it a memorable one.