Hello?
You groaned, laughter ensued, your mind was muddled. Hazy with sleep as you stretched out on the desk. You slowly opened your eyes, adjusting to the faint light that was still on.
Your body felt heavy, unwilling to move as you came to your senses. Where are you? Finally finding the strength to move you pushed yourself up. Eyes adjusting to the darkness just beyond the light.
This place looked unfamiliar. It was an open office, there was a fan buzzing faintly in the background of your desk. Papers surrounded not only you but the checkered black and white floor.
You peered down the hallway just before you, unable to see past a certain point. It's too dark to see exactly what was down there. Hastily you stood up alarmed. Have you been kidnapped?
This place looked like the pizzaplex, except instead of seeing posters of the glamrocks hanging along the walls there were pictures of older models. There was a Freddy, with chubby cheeks painted red for blush. He looked plastic.
Bonnie was blue instead of the classic purple remembered him the most by, Chica was yellow instead of white with an unsual body shape. There was something that looked like foxy, but you weren't sure what it was.
You sat back down putting your head in your hands. Where are you? The fan was starting to cause a headache as you sat trying to wrap your mind around where you were.
The darkness that extended just beyond the desk was threatening. Like it could claim you at any second, the only thing keeping it at bay were the blades of light that fought it off. You have to think. What's the last thing you remember?
I got out of the shower, dried my hair, then got into bed.
You hummed at the recap in your mind. But that answered nothing. This place felt like it was out of time. Like you had been tossed back into the 80's. (The real 80's with its browns and neutral colors. Not the bright 80's everyone remembers.)
You moved your hands from your face, looking down at the papers that littered the desk. Maybe they had clues to where you were. Slowly picking one up you realized they would shed no light. They were your notes. Things you had written about your missing person case.
There was a report you had found about one of the devs that had lost his life. (His fellow coworkers had shared that story hesitantly. Horrified at the accident as the police called it.)
Your eyes skimmed the page, it was a police report you managed to nab. It's bullet points were highlighted
•Victim found slumped over in the beta test room, seemed to slice off his face with a paper cutter.
•VR headset still on his head. Peeled face had been put intentionally to the ground. Seems on purpose. Suicide?
•Finger prints on the weapon match the victim's.
It wasn't a lot to go on. You remember thinking that when you had gotten it at the time too. It was vague and shed no light on the true horrors happening during beta testing.
You remember what your clients said about their friend. He had been acting strangely a few days prior. Muttering, easily spooked, he looked like he had seen something. They said the company wanted to get rid of him, fire him. Like they knew he saw something.
They mentioned how just before Jeremy's decent into madness that the company had brought in old circuit boards to use for the games code. What ever was on them was long gone. (They were worried about that but it wasn't that important to remember.)
Still this didn't shed any light to what you were doing here. Why did this desk have all your paperwork on it? All your notes from the case to the job you were working at the moment. Things to remember, things to look for.
You gathered the papers on the desk, neatly putting them together. Then stopped. You felt like someone or something was watching you.
Your hairs stood on end and goosebumps littered up and down your arms at the thought something was watching you. You looked up trying to scan the room. Nothing was there that you could see. Hesitantly you stood up again. There was a flashlight on the desk.
You decided to grab it holding it up clicking it on.
Clink.
Your eyes widened in horror as white pupils stared at you from the corner of the room. Teeth white enough the flow with them. Your hands shook and the flashlight fell from your grasp to roll against the desk.
It was some sort of rabbit. It's figure was tall, looming over you even from a normal distance away. It's ears twitched on top of its head. It looked like a distorted version of Bonnie. His mouth was painted in a permanent slacked smile.
You took a step back at the sight. It's head tilted, open jaw moving with it swinging at the movement.
You.
It's voice box was broken. It glitched and scratched causing you to flinch in fear backing further away.
You see me?
It's eyes showed how it was feeling. They crinkled almost like he was happy.
Hello!
You looked around anxiously. Was there anything to use as a weapon?!
Don't...be afraid.
You glanced back towards the Bonnie like creature. It seemed sad at how frightened you were. You felt like a little kid face to face with the monster in the closet. You wanted to scream. But even though you opened your mouth to nothing came out.
It's...okay.
The Bonnie tried to reassure you from it's dark corner afraid of the light, even though the flashlight was right on him. His arm raised, the gears inside it creaked and clanked as he moved pointing a finger at you.
Help.
He said at first voice looping over.
Help us?
It was a question. Help? Help them? Who are you helping? You slowly came back to your senses still shaking in fear.
"What?" You gasped finally. You felt a tear run down your chin. Why are you crying?
Help us.
He said it as if stating a fact. Like you would help them. Who ever them was.
I will show.
The Bonnie nodded lowering his arm. It was like he got a read off of you as a person. Peered right into your soul and came to a certain conclusion.
Will help us. I will show.
His grammar was slightly off. You wanted to scream again. But another part of you wanted to ask what he meant. Who was he? What was this place?! Why did he want your help?!
BEEP.
BEEP.
BEEP.
You screamed sitting up in bed. Your heart raced in your chest, blankets tangled and thrown askew. You were tossing and turning last night. You leaned forward hiding your face in your hands as you tried to calm your beating heart.
The nightmare left you shaking. Who was that shadow like Bonnie? Your phone continued to chime in the background almost as annoying as that fan in the dream.
What a dream that was.
You sighed at the thought running your hands down your face. It's over now and just another nightmare to brush off. You aren't a stranger to nightmares but this one was the most unusual.
You reached for your phone now, stopping the alarm looking at the time. 5:30 am. You have to get ready for work.
You opened your phone just to cancel some notifications but hesitated seeing a text message. Who was that from?
Your fingers pressed against the icon seeing a message from Vanessa.
Hey (Y/N), I forgot to mention this yesterday because we were so busy. I have a therapy appointment tomorrow before my shift, I don't think I'll be able to work afterwards. Do you like filling in for the nightshift for me? I'd really appreciate it. Sorry for messaging so late. Thanks. -V
Your eyes glanced over each word carefully considering her request. Therapy appointment? Well you guessed she must feel comfortable enough with you to specify than just saying doctor appointment. Still what kind of therapist has a session that late at night?
Maybe that's all she could book. Night shift starts at 8 pm after close and last till 6 am. Or maybe it's earlier in the day and she just could be out of whack the rest of the day afterwards. That makes more sense.
You hesitated before typing a reply. Did you want to work that shift? Why are you thinking so much about it? You're acting like this is your serious job. Using the guise of being the night guard tomorrow may prove useful!
You could poke around the pizzaplex and find some clues. See what the pizzaplex was hiding. You're certain that it had answers to your missing person even if it was only enough to point you in the right direction. You decided to message back with a made up mind.
Sure! I don't mind doing that for you, I hope your appointment goes well
You hit send about to stand only to see she messaged back immediately.
Thanks. -V
You don't understand why she sends her messages like that, but that was just her you guessed. You still were frightened from your nightmare. Heart fluttering anxiously in your chest. Stretching you got out of bed ignoring it to go about your day. Brushing your hair after making your way to the bathroom.
The feeling wouldn't leave you alone. It consumed you shaking your body in everything you did. You stared at your reflection seeing your heavy eyes.
I look awful.
You cringed turning on the faucet. Maybe some cold water would help. Leaving over gathering some water in your hands you splashed some against your face. You hummed at the cold sensation. Unknowing to the eyes that watched you from the mirror. White pupils watching curiously then disappearing when you stood straighter opening your eyes.
There that's better.
You hummed looking over your self drying your hands and face off. Heaving a sigh you got dressed tucking in the shirt of your uniform before leaving the bathroom.
Hair and teeth brushed, clothes on, deodorant applied. You're just about ready to go into work for another day of no leads and running around.
But you don't mind. It was nice to be busy and not running for your life. You've had bad cases you've taken. Some that have threatened your life while others were just a typical marital problem, like he/she is cheating I need prof type.
You hummed grabbing your bag slinging it over your shoulder. Gripping the handle you put your phone back into your back pocket patting it to ensure it was there before making your way towards the front door.
You wondered how much different the nightshift is. You've heard rumors about it. But none of them were absolute fact. They were from fellow employees just making assumptions.
Vanessa was the only night guard and only employee at the mega pizzaplex after dark. Only she would know how it was really like.
You don't understand why it's just her, but you guessed it was because of how short staffed the place was. Which made sense.
You wondered, would the glamrocks be different at night? Shaking your head you left your apartment. You wouldn't know till you actually worked the night shift.
You just hoped it would prove to be useful. You had to find something. Missing person cases had to be finished in a certain amount of time. You never know what a person is going through in this time frame. It's always better to act fast than linger about. You're playing things too safe.
Walking towards your car you huffed. Tomorrow was the perfect opportunity. The perfect set up. You're not going to waste it. You promise.