(Unedited, Not Proofread, 3976 words)
Trigger Warnings: Descriptions of blood, mentions of (not descriptions of) corpses
When I get inside, I don't stop for my flashlight or Charlie or Jeremy or the stage or anything. I take one glance at the floor to make sure I won't trip, and then I run straight from the access door all the way to the Kid's Cove door. I almost yank the old knob out of its wooden resting place as I twist it and shove my way in.
"Jonah!" I panic, my eyes racing straight to the source of the beam of his flashlight. He's holding it, his eyes on mine as he stands almost in the center of the room. The small cut near his eyebrow now has a few twins, most of them scattered across his face. His lip is busted, but other than that, he seems to be in alright shape. His clothes aren't ripped, his flashlight is still on and in his possession, and Mangle is behind him, also looking at me.
The beam of his flashlight flicks over to me and everything falls silent for a moment.
He's okay, I try to convince myself. Look. He's right there and he's okay.
"Josie," he whispers, taking a few steps forward. I practically crumble as I scurry towards him, my legs giving out more and more every step until I can grab onto and hold and hug him. He hugs me back, his flashlight pressing into my back as he squeezes. "Are you okay? Is everything okay?"
"Yeah," I cry, trying to discreetly wipe my tears away as I bury my face into his shoulder.
He's okay.
He's okay.
He's okay.
"You did it," he says after a moment, turning a bit so I can see Mangle fully. He doesn't let go or try to end the hug, he just allows me more space to see the animatronic, which watches us from near the piles of bones, its head tilted. A second passes before he adds, "Josie, this is Sam... and company."
"Hi," I whisper, using my right hand to wave to the animatronic. The mess of metal lifts a hand and waves back, an oddly human response.
"What happened out there?" Jonah asks, and I loosen my grip on him. We step apart and he adds, "It took a minute for you to get through to her, didn't it?"
"It did," I confirm, looking back over at the cracked door. "I got sucked into a memory... a death. She pulled me out of it to brag and I took that chance to run. Jeremy helped me."
"How did you get her to let go of Sam?" he questions, and I remember the feeling of the sticky wet paper in between my fingers, the sensation of memories peeling apart like putty in my hands as Charlie slips away.
"She made her forget me," a new voice whispers, and I glance over to see a female spirit standing between the Mangle and I.
I recognize her immediately by her uncanny similarity to Jonah. The brown hair, the freckles, the blue eyes, the snarky angsty-teen sparkle in her irises. I expected her to appear as a kid, but I guess breaking Charlie's hold over her let that part of Sam's past pass her by.
She was able to move on.
Somewhat.
"Sam," I say, nodding my head politely, "it's... lovely to see you."
She says nothing for a moment, then she lowers her head as if she's bowing to something and her soft voice calmly states, "Thank you, Josie."
"Of... of course," I reply, glancing over at Jonah for support. He smiles at me, his blue eyes shining with tears.
I wish he could see her.
Can he hear her?
"It's been years since I've been free from her," Sam whispers, crossing her arms over her chest and looking up at the room around her. "It feels good to be out."
"Does she feel different?" I ask hopefully.
"I can't feel her," Sam replies, turning to look at me, "can you?"
"No," I respond, shaking my head. She nods in response, and as she does, her eyes catch sight of my arm.
"Oh, jeez," she whispers, unfolding her eyes, "did I do that?" I look down at my arm and hold it up like I'm resting it on something. It definitely doesn't look great, and it will need stitches, and it does hurt, but it's not nearly as bad as I expected it to be. Just from looking at the Mangle, I can tell it could've been so much worse and I should be thankful I wasn't caught by something else.
The teeth are the first thing that come to my mind.
"I'm okay," I tell her, waving her concerns away. "I'll go get stitches once this over."
I won't.
"What else do you have to do?" Sam asks, looking from me to Jonah as if she could be getting an answer from either direction. Jonah surprises me by confirming an earlier concern of mine.
"We have to meet the others, who are talking to JJ and Balloon Boy right now," Jonah replies, nodding a bit with his arms crossed over his chest. I feel an overwhelming sense of sibling-like affection every time he turns to Sam, but it is chased by a powerful stab of guilt and sadness and regret every time he looks away.
"The Toys," I say, remembering how they weren't on the stage. "When I went out there, the Toys weren't on the stage. Do you think they could be with the others?"
"JJ and Balloon Boy are supposed to distract the Toys, aren't they?" Jonah asks, turning to look at me. I glance back at the door, trying to listen for anything happening outside. "Josie?"
"Yes," I say, nodding, "but I don't know if that's where they are."
"I can distract them," Sam offers, drawing our attention to her. As soon as I look at her again, I have the same situation I had earlier with Jeremy.
She feels like she's older than me, but her face is Jonah's age.
I feel like I have to respect her like she's older than me.
"We need to get into whatever private room Mike and the others are in," I tell her, and she raises her eyebrows.
"Well, if that's all you need to do—" her eyes shift upwards to the ceiling and her right hand points up to the panels— "the ceiling is all suspended, and you can get to every room— except the office and parts and service— through it without being seen. It might not hold both of you, but if it can hold Mangle, it can at least hold one of you."
Jonah looks over at me and immediately shakes his head, "No, you aren't going through the ceiling alone."
"Give me your flashlight," I say, holding my hand out towards him.
"No!" he exclaims.
"Mine's in the game room, I need yours," I say calmly, and he holds the flashlight above his head as if that'll stop me.
"No, Josie! You are not going through the ceiling," Jonah snaps, and a spurt of anger shoots through me.
"Do you want to stop the Puppet or not?" I ask plainly. "Because if you want more kids to die— and be put nowhere since we broke the Puppet and Mangle's connection— then by all means, keep going." His eyes fill with tears, and I feel my heart shredding itself to pieces inside of me, but everyone in the room knows I'm right.
"Fine," he mumbles, tossing the flashlight to me. I snag it out of the air and walk over to the warped table, grabbing my backpack off the ground.
"I'll go meet with the others. Sam, I need you to keep Jonah safe. Once we're ready, we'll send JJ and Balloon Boy out to distract the Toys—" I say all of this as Jonah and I work together to get the amethyst pieces back into my bag— "and then we'll head over to parts and service. I need you to keep the Toys in the game room until we're done."
"I can do that," Sam confirms, and I zip the bag back up before making sure it won't come off.
"Here," Jonah says, shedding one of his jackets. Out of nowhere, he produces the stereotypical teenage boy pocketknife. I watch in admiration as he cuts a piece of the jacket off and walks to me, ready to tie it on.
I let him, knowing the less blood I lose, the better. I haven't lost too much, but the sleeve of my hoodie leaves his hands red and I know that's probably not a good thing.
"Try to keep that arm still," he says, pulling the tie as tight as he can get it. I nod, wincing as the weird, new pain floods my arm. "And... you know... be careful."
"I will," I reply, nodding. My eyes find their way to Sam as he finishes. "Can Mangle get me up there."
"Of course we can," Sam chimes, nodding. She waves her hand at the animatronic and I watch as several spirits guide it into place beneath a large hold in the ceiling. Jonah leads me over to the two figures. "Stay on the metal pieces. The tiles are soft and will break beneath you. Move slowly and test before making any big movements. You won't have room to stand fully, but you'll have about half or a little more of your body height above your head. Just be careful and you should be alright."
"How will I know where I am?" I ask, pulling my hoodie sleeves up.
"I'll guide you to the edge of the Kid's Cove, then you just stick to the leftmost wall. It'll lead you around into the hallway and then to the private rooms. You should be able to hear voices from the private rooms, that'll tell you which one your friends are in," Sam explains, and I nod in understanding. "You can hop up, we're ready."
"Jonah," I request, just before I grab the flashlight with my teeth. He gives me a hand as I carefully climb onto Mangle's locked joints. His gentle hands support my arms, then my back, then my legs as I climb.
"Grab onto the bar and we'll push you," Sam instructs, and through the dust and dirt falling from the ceiling, I follow her orders. Once I've secured my hands to the bar, Jonah and Mangle begin to lift.
And then, all of a sudden, I'm in the ceiling.
It's dark and cobwebs are reflecting the flashlight's beam back to me, but the worst thing is the sounds and the smell. Everything creaks no matter how little or slowly I move, and it smells like rancid and rotting... something.
I try to convince myself it's probably an animal that go tin and couldn't get out, but when Sam joins be above the suspended ceiling and her eyes refuse to look away from the path worn by Mangle's body, I get the sickening feeling that's not the case.
I try not to look around or look up as we move, because I feel like one wrong step or scoot could send me falling through the ceiling. Sam, who is weightless, makes no noise as she moves and whispers quietly as we make our way through, guiding me around obstacles my flashlight isn't directly pointed at and letting me know which bars I can and can't put my weight on.
We turn left once, and I try to imagine the pizzeria below me. We'd be passing by the front door and the bathrooms right now. Parts and service would be straight ahead. The game room would be behind us, we've already crossed over it.
"Josie?" A soft voice asks, and I glance back to see Jeremy following behind us. He can almost stand up straight, and his eyes shine in the light of my flashlight as I point it at him. "How did you get up here?"
I nod to Sam, trying to stay quiet. Sam waves at Jeremy and he waves back, surprised. "Mangle?" he asks after a moment.
"Sam, please," she replies, nodding her head at me. "Now, if you'll excuse us, I have to get Josie to her friends."
"I'll be at parts and service when you go to unlock the door," Jeremy says, and a cold shock runs through my blood.
The key.
"Sam, did—"
"It's in your bag," Sam says quickly, holding her hands up to tell me to be quiet. "Jonah got it. He planned ahead."
"Thank god," I whisper, almost silently.
"Good luck, Josie," Jeremy says, and I wave at him.
Sam and I make it the rest of the way to the hallway, and then we sit in silence for a few seconds, trying to find the room with our friends in it.
Unfortunately for us, they're being very quiet.
"Let me poke my head in," Sam offers, and I sit in dead silence as she checks each room individually.
While I wait, I hear the shuffling of animatronics beneath me. Three distinct sets of footsteps, the Toys. They move slowly up and down the hallways, but from what I can hear, they have no way of communicating. They just... walk.
"Josie, this one," Sam says, guiding me to the room across from Abby and my's meeting room. "Just pull a panel aside and hop down. They're all hiding, being very quiet."
"Thank you," I whisper, and she nods, smiling at me.
"Thank you," she replies, but before I can assume she's talking about me freeing her, she adds, "thank you for taking care of my little brother for me."
"I—"
"You've done more than you think," she assures me before I can argue that I've only known him for a little while. "I only ask you keep taking care of him. Be nice to him. He's been through a lot."
"I know," I whisper, and she smiles sadly.
"Flash your flashlight in the window when you're ready for me to distract the Toys. JJ and Balloon Boy are in the room with them, which is why the Toys are patrolling. Tell them to send the little ones out when I make a crash. Tell the two to lead the Toys into the game room. I'll hold them all there," Sam explains, and I nod. "Be safe."
The resemblance to Jonah is sickeningly strong in this moment. I see him in her eyes, notice him in the way she pronounces things, and feel him in the emotions she's feeling.
"I will," I whisper, and she nods before leaving me behind.
I take a moment to breathe and recollect myself, and then I pick a ceiling tile. Once I have one, I put the flashlight back between my teeth and start to pry the tile out of its place.
Immediately I hear, "What the fuck was that?"
Makaylen.
She has to be pretty scared to drop that in front of a kid.
Just before I get the tile out, I turn the flashlight off. I put it in my hoodie pocket and use my feet to slide the ceiling tile out of my way.
"Mike, the ceiling," Makaylen whispers, terrified.
"Abby, get behind me," Mike snaps, and I hear a lot of chaotic scooting.
Trying to hurry to minimize fear, I move over and put my legs through the opening. I hear their panic whispers but can't make out what they're saying because all my willpower is going into convincing myself that a fall from this height won't injure me.
I'm not the biggest fan of heights.
Eventually, I just have to go for it.
"Holy shit!" Makaylen whisper-yells as I fall from the ceiling.
I make an oddly satisfying thump when I hit the ground, and the gentle pain that floods through my legs is comforting in a way. It reminds me I'm alive. It reminds me I'm not a spirit of this building.
"Josie?" Abby asks, and I turn to their group, trying to make out any figures in the darkness.
"I'm here," I whisper, refusing to stand from my crouches stance as I see dark figures moving in through the glass. "I'm here."
"Is Jonah with you?" Mike asks, his voice a little more panicked than I expected it to be.
"He's okay," I assure him, starting to scoot closer, "we got through to Sam. He's with h—"
My foot hits something quite hard as I lose my balance, and a thousand curses rise in my mouth as a splitting pain rushes up through my foot and leg.
"I'm sorry," a child-like voice says, and I scramble backwards.
"Josie! Josie! It's okay!" Mike whispers quickly, but I'm already on my ass and further from them than I was when I first dropped in. "Josie!"
"What the fuck was that?" I ask, my voice shaking.
"Abs, turn on your flashlight for a second," Mike commands, and a short flicker follows. In front of me, standing on top of a bit of trash and staring directly at me, are the little kid animatronics.
My blood runs cold as their piercing eyes stare into mine, the shadows of the flashlight illuminating their edges like some eerie angels. Then we're all plunged back into darkness.
"She handled it better than you," Kaylen comments.
"Shut up," Mike snaps. Abby's laugh gives him away. "Josie?"
"I'm okay," I whisper, but my voice shakes in fear and pain and exhaustion, so I try to repeat it. "I'm.... I'm okay."
"It's okay, Josie," Makaylen says gently. Tears rise in my eyes and cries rise in my throat.
I really want to go home.
I want to lay on my old couch under my old blanket wrapped in Jonah's jacket watching prehistoric memories walk across my unilluminated living room.
"Sorry," I mumble, clearing my throat. "Are... um... are you guys okay?"
"Mike almost shit his pants, but we're good other than that," Kaylen says, and I start to make my way back over to them.
"We got JJ and Balloon Boy to help us, but the Toys tried to attack so we hid," Mike explains, and I nod even though nobody can see me.
My hand lands on something that moves when I touch it, and just as I'm about to freak out again, Mike quickly says, "That was my foot. My foot."
"Jesus," I whisper, trying to feel around as I crawl on my hands and knees. "Can I... like... someone give me a hand to hold. I'm about to pass out."
"Not a fan of the dark?" Kaylen asks. A hand finds its way to my shoulder, tapping it and pulling away slightly as if it hadn't expected to hit me yet. I reach up to grab it and am comforted when I realize it's Abby's tiny hand.
"No," I snap, "obviously not."
"Me neither," Abby mumbles, and I squeeze her hand.
"It's almost over," I reason with them, and another hand taps me. It pulls away faster than Abby did, which makes me laugh. "Who was that?"
"Me, sorry," Mike says, and Kaylen makes a pfft noise.
"I mean, if you want to hold my hand—" I try to lighten the mood, and it works. Everyone giggles softly, and Abby's little form shifts until it settles down next to me, holding my hand and hugging my arm.
"So," Mike segways, "what's the plan?"
"When we're ready—" A hand presses down against my shoe and I pause for just a moment— "we... um... I'll shine my flashlight in the window. That's Mangle's cue. It'll distract the Toys so JJ and Balloon Boy can escape and lead them away. Guys, I need you two to get the Toys into the Game Room. Mangle's going to keep them there while we get to parts and service. The key is in my bag."
"Easy enough," Makaylen mumbles. "Turn your back to me, I'll get the key out."
"I need to breathe for a second before we signal," I say, shifting to turn my back to them. The hand on my shoe leaves and Abby shifts to sit between my legs, still holding my hand.
"You got it," Kaylen assures me, and I feel her tapping my shoulders, then my back. "Sorry, kid. I can't see shit."
"You're good," I say, laughing a bit.
"Abs, flashlight me," she chimes, and Abby leans back against my leg and reaches around me, handing Kaylen her flashlight.
"Is anyone in the window?" Kaylen asks.
"I think we're good," Abby replies, and a harsh light pierces my eyes. I blink it away while Kaylen unzips my bag and then stuffs the flashlight into it.
Her speed couldn't hide the wandering eyes of the two Schmidts' around me.
"What happened to your arm?" Mike asks, the light still illuminating enough for him to see the rolled-up sleeve and Jonah's jacket sleeve wrapped around it. My skin is red with dried blood, and the tie is starting to have tiny red spots on the thinnest parts of it.
"Mangle cut me," I reply, glancing up at the man expecting my wound. He slowly reaches over and lifts my arm, inspecting the cut.
I watch him look at the cut, my eyes flicking over his face. His emotions are a bit of a mix, but the main ones I can feel are shreds of concern woven into an ocean of protectiveness. His worried eyes and tight-pressed lips confirm what I feel.
"You'll need stitches," he says, looking up to find my eyes. The concern is gone immediately, replaced by a blank expression. The emotions inside, however, remain the same.
"Yeah," I reply, wondering why— and more importantly how— he's able to mask that well.
"Got it," Kaylen says, clicking the flashlight off. She taps my right shoulder, the one further from Mike, with the key. I snake my arm out of Abby's hold and grab onto the key. She embraces my arm again as soon as I set it down, and I'm quick to realize she's not the only one who doesn't want to let go.
Mike's still holding my arm.
I'd be pretty concerned if he or Jonah got cut too, so I guess I can't blame him.
We sit in silence for a few seconds, then I turn to my right and ask, "JJ? Balloon Boy?"
"BB is fine," a voice replies.
"BB," I correct. "Are you two ready?"
"What do we do, again?" JJ asks.
"I'm going to signal Mangle, and when the Toys aren't looking, you two run through and lead them to the game room. Then just hang out until we're done, okay?" I ask, and the two hum their okay's. "Is everyone else ready?"
"Hopefully," Kaylen says.
"Alright Abs," I whisper, "let me go." She slowly sinks away, and Mike's hands follow.
Once I'm free, I grip the key tightly in my left hand and turn so I'm facing the window.
"JJ, BB, get to the door," I command, "Mike, follow them. Open the door as soon as the coast is clear." We all stand and get into position. Abby stays close to me, and Kaylen keeps one of her hands on my shoulder.
A moment of silence passes as I get the flashlight out and hold it up, my hand ready to turn it on.
Three...
Two...
(A/N: Well, I got the chapter out on time. Yay. I deleted this whole thing after I finished it once so enjoy the fruits of my angered labor. ((I wrote this all in the last two hours)). The next chapter will be pretty short because I know the chapter after that one will be long. I might get the short chapter out tomorrow if we're lucky.)
Please leave a like if you enjoyed and again, feel free to correct my spelling/grammar in the comments :)