Where did the day go? You felt like you just woke up and rushed out of the apartment to what was supposed to be a job interview and then returned with the news of getting the job on the spot.
(F/N)'s reaction still stuck in your mind, the shock and excitement that quickly dwindled down to suspicion and confusion.
"Wait you're telling me you signed a contract with out even reading it?"
"Always read the fine print! We aren't that desperate! It would of been okay to wait until the right job found you!"
"Are you sure you still want to go to your shift tonight? You don't have to..."
Those were just some of the things they had said to you before you left the house. Emphasis on the word some.
Sitting here now, in the vacant parking lot, you wondered just what you've signed yourself up for. Or just how long you've been sitting here. (Even if it had only been 5 minutes at the most, it felt like eternity trying to get your confidence up.)
You pressed your lips together while gripping the steering wheel in both hands, gradually resting your head on it closing your eyes. Deep breaths.
Maybe (F/N) was right this is kinda stupid. You didn't even bother to read the words to the contract but you were afraid if you did you wouldn't take the job. And despite their kind words of waiting for the right job to find you, you knew that you were that desperate. And besides, it seemed okay so far.
Mr. Cawthon seems nice too, I mean he runs a business. A business for kids. He didn't strike me as the type to purposely put someone in harms way. I mean, he kinda seemed like a people pleaser to me. Or maybe I'm thinking too much about this. How would I know how he is based off one conversation?
Your eyes had opened during your inner monologue, looking off to the side to the passenger seat. You didn't want to move. Every cell in your body begged you to stay and just drive away. Remain here inside your car where it was safe.
But you knew you couldn't just abandon this now. Sucking in a breath you sat up straighter relaxing you're grip on the wheel.
I don't want to be late.
Your thoughts tried to persuade you. Slowly your eyes glanced up to the rear view mirror, peering into the backseat. You're not sure what you expected to see but you were thankful nothing was back there. (You felt the eyes again. Those red eyes that haunt you in your nightmares.)
Your eyes traveled outside now, looking at the large building before you. It's much scarier at night even if some of the lights are still on inside. It was like the dust was settling and what remained was the pizzeria's true form. Something scary and sinister. But it still urged you inside. (Come on. Come on. You know you want to go in.)
Deep breaths, okay.
Sucking in a breath, and releasing it shakily, you pressed your lips together.
I can do this.
You nodded to yourself at your own encouragement, exiting the car listening to the beeps it made as it locked. Your eyes gazed at the barely legible reflection of yourself against the window. The moon was to dim to catch you in the light. But seeing yourself now I'm uniform you tried to convince yourself this was a good thing. (Even if the uniform is loose, but overall fits as it should. You guessed. It was clearly made for a large man, not you.)
Your gaze turned to stare at the entrance, almost hearing the clocks from within turn from 11:27 to 11:28 the longer you waited out here. Another chill ran down your spine. Fear crawling up the bone and sticking to your skin like a tick burying its head inside you, to leech off of you. (Except there wasn't anything that could do that with fear. Or so you rationalized.)
Maybe it was just nerves. Maybe it was anxiety after what (F/N) had said. Maybe you're just not sure how to really feel being back here again after so long. But regardless of what it was, you still felt fearful. Like you were staring the grim reaper in the face, scythe extended out before you ready to slice your head off.
You swallowed the lump in your throat at the thought. You certainly didn't like that idea. Staring death in the eyes like that.
Oh god what if this is where I die?
The nervous thought entered your mind while you gazed up at the still illuminated logo of the pizzeria. You're being ridiculous. Why would you even entertain the thought of that? Dying here? As if. You're trying to hard to convince yourself you're safe. Take a deep breath. It'll be okay. After all, this was an important place in your childhood.
The animatronics were your friends! Well little (Y/N)'s friends. You're an adult now, you realize they're just machines. But that child like thought was still inside your mind.
I'm going to be fine.
You shook your head, as if that would shake off any bad things around you. A final consolation before you began your march towards the glass doors you had entered merely a few hours before now. It's silent again, like it was last night. Like it was when the eyes looked at you.
But luckily the increasing silence was washed away easily by the sound of your shoes clicking against the sidewalk during your march to the glass doors.
This is it, finally you're here with a job. All you have to do is go inside and run through the training before starting your first shift. It pays well, so there's nothing to worry about right? Just focus on the fact that everything's going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay.
Regardless of just how much of a pep talk you were trying to give yourself, you felt fear slowly creeping in on you again when you looked inside through the glass doors. The shadows that danced across the room inside. Blocked off to you but easy enough to see.
It was darker than it was when you were here earlier, obviously, it seems only a few lights were still on inside to preserve power. So you assumed for you. But despite the logic, it was still enough to give you that eerie feeling. Like someone was watching you. (Though maybe it was weird to say, it wasn't those eyes you feared the most. Something different.)
Shakily you reached for the handle, now just wanting to get this over with. Just go in, you can do that. Just open the door and walk inside.
Gripping the handle, you pulled at it, attempting to open the door, until you felt some sort of breath against the back of your neck as if someone was right behind you. Looming over you. Your hairs all stood on end, and quickly you jerked your head behind you, hand instinctively reaching inside your pocket to grab for your (multitool/knife/pepper spray) that you always kept with you.
But upon turning around there was no one there. Not a soul insight. Just the empty parking lot. Now you're freaking out a bit. You thought you heard someone almost half scoffing and half laughing at you. But that's impossible.
It's just a trick, just my imagination playing games with me.
You turned your head around to look back at the door, you can feel your self shaking still.
Right?
Ignoring your doubts, you pulled open the door with more force this time. Quickly taking hasty steps inside the entrance of the restaurant, as if being inside now was safer than being outside. The door slowly shut behind you, not making a sound until it closed but even then that was gentle.
Okay step one done. You did it, you made it. Though now that you're here you're not sure if you preferred being outside or inside now. It's almost like it's scarier in here than out there now that you're here.
There's a thickness to the air, as if humidity lurked within it. But the air conditioning was on, and it was cold enough you were shivering from it. (Or are you shivering from fear?)
Just when you thought you were fine, through your internal pep talk again, you noticed a figure moving off to the side within the shadows. Oblivious to your presence, but who ever it was, busy doing something amidst the shadows.
Now you had something real to be afraid of, it was almost as scary as the eyes watching you from the closet. (This was scarier because this was real. And no longer within your mind.)
Your heart jumped to your throat and refused to move, beating wildly. You're frozen, even standing here on the soft but old carpet, you found yourself unwilling to move.
But you have to move! You can run out the door now and turn back and get in your car and never come back! You've got to run! You've got to get away!
Forcing yourself, you moved to turn around but that's when the figure caught sight of you.
Shit.
You couldn't help but cuss inside your own head, but it's not as if someone's listening to you so what did it matter to justify why you said it. Regardless the figure had seen you and was moving away from what ever it was they were doing, it seemed like they were placing a box down, to turn towards you.
You're paralyzed for sure now, even if your position isn't comfortable with how you've turned your self you certainly couldn't move. You felt your blood run cold and if you could see yourself your bet any color in your face drained away as the figure was shifting around in the shadows to finish what ever it was they were doing before approaching you.
This is it isn't it! (F/N) was right I shouldn't of signed the paper with out reading it! This is fantastic! This is all my own fault! I'm gonna show up in the papers with the headline 'Mysterious Nobody Dead at Local Pizzeria'. I can't wait for that on my grave! (Y/N) died like a moron.
You couldn't help the rush of thoughts as multiple scenarios ran through your mind about what was about to happen. You were being severely sarcastic to yourself over your own stupidity but if these were your last thoughts they might as well be a little truthful.
"So it really is you (Y/N)....you haven't changed..."
Wait what was that? Was that the voice to the person who was about to attack you? Or was that a voice inside your own mind? How stupid! You didn't hear anything! The person didn't speak to you yet and there's no way you'd be hearing a man's voice inside your mind! Even if his voice was, strangely, familiar....
"Ah (Y/N)! Good to see you! Right on time too! Sorry if i scared you, I just was going over some inventory while I waited for you to show!" Cawthon's cheery voice called out to you from the shadows and you realized you were overreacting.
Kind of silly I forgot he was here too.
You laughed at yourself from inside your mind. Your heart was still beating wildly against your chest, banging against the rib cage as if wishing for freedom, but you felt a little more relaxed. Only a little bit though.
"I-I-" your words were caught in your throat now instead of your heart and you weren't sure how you should go about speaking. But you tried to rationalize you just got really scared and we're calming down hence the stutter.
"I," you cleared your throat, "It's okay, I just didn't expect you to be in the dark like that."
You laughed a bit nervously brushing your hair from your face as you saw cawthon walking into the light so you could see him better. Seems like he finished up what he had been doing. He wiped his hands on one another as if shaking off some dust before meeting your gaze.
"Sorry 'bout that, didn't mean to give you a scare." He offered you a smile, then looked down at the watch on his wrist as he moved it for a better look.
"Right then, time to get moving." Cawthon lowered his arm after motioning it for you to follow him as he started to walk down the hallway. You hesitated at first, feet stuck to the carpet as if kept there by the old grease of the pizza that may of gotten on it, but at last you moved.
It's much scarier at night, almost haunting, the drawings you admired earlier today that lined this hallway seemed creepier in the night. Even seeing the animatronics vaguely silhouetted on the stage was creepy. You had stopped walking just as cawthon had, noticing he had only stopped to flick on the lights to the main stage room.
You could hear the lights buzzing to life as they turned on at first flickering from age until at last just shining as they should. You continued walking after that further into the room. It felt almost lonely in here now.
"You're not gonna need to know too much of the layout since you'll mostly be working in the security office, but it wouldn't hurt for you to learn some basics! This is the main show room, mostly this is where a lot of our parties are held. There's some extra party rooms just down the hallway back there, and through there is pirate cove, it's currently out of order but make sure to keep an eye on it." As cawthon spoke he was pointing to different directions showing you where everything was with out moving from where he stood close to the show stage.
You just listened as he went through some of the layout of the establishment, pointing you towards where the bathrooms were as well as the kitchen and staff rooms. All with out moving an inch.
"That's about it, I'm sure you'll be able to figure out what to do from here. Just trying to keep things short. Um...oh! I'm sure you know the crew but just Incase you don't." Cawthon snapped his fingers when he seemed to remember something and spoke about the animatronics. You jumped startled a bit by the sudden outburst but quickly calmed down as your attention turned towards the animatronics on stage.
"This ones Bonnie, you've got Chica there, and taking center stage is the main man himself Freddy Fazbear." Cawthon had pointed to each animatronic separately as he listed them off by name. Your eyes followed along already well aquatinted with their names and their roles. Was it just you or, did it look like they were all really looking at you?
"It's been a long time since I've seen them all together, it's nice to see them again." You smiled as you spoke even if you were slightly afraid. They were all rather intimating. Cawthon smiled a bit to your words and nodded to them acknowledging that he was listening to you. But you did notice he seemed a bit afraid of Bonnie. He kept inching away from where he had been standing which was around bonnie's area on stage.
"W-well it's getting kinda late so let me show you where you'll be working." He seemed nervous especially so after looking at his watch again anxiously. He took off with out you leaving you there in the main stage area. Your eyes looked between the three animatronics, but feeling as if they were watching you back you didn't stare long.
Quickly you followed after cawthon towards the direction he had been walking noticing these hallways were shorter but wider. There were more pictures drawn by children for the crew and just like the ones in the entry hall these ones were just as creepy. Making it to a doorway you peered inside the office seeing cawthon was already inside it.
"This is where you'll be spending most of your time. Um, obviously the buttons work for the doors and the tablet is for the security cameras so....any questions?" Cawthon had clasped his hands together nervously. But you were too busy walking into the small office now looking around. It's sort of messy with papers on stacks on the desk and on the floor. Posters on the wall with a loud fan buzzing.
You looked towards the doors seeing the bold lettering underneath the buttons reading Door and Light. It's kinda small and a bit odd but you guess there's not much you can do about this now. You finally looked towards cawthon who seemed increasingly more nervous the more time ticked by.
"I don't think I have any, well actually just one. Do I leave as soon as it hits 6 am or do I hang around until who ever is on opening shift comes in?" You gazed at cawthon curiously but you couldn't help but be suspicious. He looks so anxious.
"Y-you can leave as soon as it hits 6 am there's nothing to worry about once the sun comes up. N-no-now uh, here are your keys welcome to the crew!" Cawthon nearly three the keys at you in his haste, and you noticed he was already inching towards the door.
This really isn't looking good.
You frowned to yourself at the thought.
"Well! If that's it I better get going! Goodnight and good luck! Hope to see you in the morning." Cawthon seemed so concerned as he finished his words but he didn't even let you respond nearly running out the door in his haste.
You just clutched the keys watching him leave not bothering to sit in the swivel chair yet as you just gazed out to the hallway he had basically run down.
Everything's gonna be fine, maybe he's just in a rush cause he doesn't want to stay out too late. This shouldn't be too hard right? Just watch the cameras till the morning?
You looked down at the floor thinking to yourself a moment longer, failing to see the clock that was positioned in the office reading in red bold font 12:00 AM. Everything's going to be just fine.
RING.
RING.
RING.
The sudden ringing of a phone startled you almost making you scream out in fear after being left alone. Your head jerked towards the sound with a racing heart before you quickly scrambled to the desk after a hell of surprise had left you. Who could be calling this late at night?! It nearly gave you a heart attack!
The phone clicked upon being picked up, there was a moment of just static noise then the speaking started.
"H-hello? Hello?" The man who was on the other line seemed as if he was afraid. His voice was shaky and his tone was nervous.
"Um...hello?" You responded cautiously, who is this guy? There was a moment of pause and then the guy continued to speak.
"Uh I wanted to record a message for you to help you get settled in on your first night." The moment the word recording had been said your face fell and you felt a bit silly for responding to the guy.
"Oh it's just a recording. And here I am talking to myself." You sighed hesitantly taking a seat at the swivel chair feeling it shifting under the weight of your body.
"Um, I actually worked in that office before you. I'm just finishing up my last week now. As a matter of fact...." there was a pause in the talking, and at this point you were already holding the tablet in your hand looking over the security cameras curiously and getting a feel for what camera looked at what.
"So, I know it can be a bit overwhelming. But I'm here to tell you there's nothing to worry about. Uh....you'll do fine. So, let's just focus on getting you through your first week okay?" Hearing the hesitation in the recording you lowered the tablet from your eye like a bit to stare at the phone.
Is there something I need to be worried about? Shouldn't this be fine? They're just animatronics.
You sighed a bit at the thought. Yeah just animatronics. There's nothing to be afraid of. Right?
"Uh, let's see, first there's an introductory greeting from the company that I'm supposed to read. Uh, it's kind of a legal thing, you know?" As the recording continued you returned back to staring at the tablet. Should you keep looking at it? It seems like it's starting to loose some battery.
"Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. A magical place for kids and grown-ups alike, where fantasy and fun come to life. Fazbear Entertainment is not responsible for damage to property or person." As the recording continued your eyes widened hearing some key words.
I'm sorry what?!
Your eyes gazed at the phone as if it would give you reassurance that wasn't what had just been said.
"Upon discovering that damage or death has occurred, a missing person report will be filed within 90 days, or as soon property and premises have been thoroughly cleaned and bleached, and the carpets have been replaced. Blah blah blah, now that might sound bad, I know, but there's really nothing to worry about." As the man continued talking you couldn't stop yourself from shaking again.
So is this why cawthon had said he hoped he'd see you in the morning? Why he wished you good luck? Everything was making so much sense the papers and everything. Your heart felt like it was about to explode.
I really am gonna die here!
The thought was irrational considering nothings happened yet but the fear was still welding up inside you. Quickly looking. Back towards the cameras you pressed the one that showed the main stage, hoping to see all three members standing as they should. Unfortunately you were only met with two.
"Uh, the animatronic characters here do get a bit quirky at night, but do I blame them? No! If I were forced to sing those same stupid songs for twenty years and I never got a bath? I'd probably be a bit irritable at night too. So, remember, these characters hold a special place in the hearts of children and we need to show them a little respect, right? Okay..." just as the recording continued you barely listened frantically looking for the missing animatronic, you jumped seeing bonnie was standing amongst the tables of the main stage room, he seemed to be looking at the camera but didn't bother moving.
Now you had something to be afraid of, and tuning back into the recording you truly were beginning to regret your impulsive decision on just taking this job with out looking too much into it.
"So, just be aware, the characters do tend to wander a bit. Uh, they're left in some kind of free roaming mode at night. Uh...Something about their servos locking up if they get turned off for too long. Uh, they used to be allowed to walk around during the day too. But then there was The Bite of '87. Yeah....I-It's amazing that the human body can live without the frontal lobe, you know?" Somehow hearing that last part you felt as though you could cry.
You don't remember hearing about the bite but why does it hurt so much to think about? You felt like you were getting a headache even pondering what could of happened. It didn't matter you didn't want to think about it too much. Your breathing was already labored and now you had something that would really give you nightmares.
"Uh, now concerning your safety, the only real risk to you as a night watchman here, if any, is the fact that these characters, uh, if they happen to see you after hours probably won't recognize you as a person. They'll m-most likely see you as a metal endoskeleton without its costume on. Now since that's against the rules here at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, they'll probably try to...forcefully stuff you inside a Freddy Fazbear suit....Um, now, that wouldn't be so bad if the suits themselves weren't filled with crossbeams, wires, and animatronic devices, especially around the facial area. So, you could imagine how having your head forcefully pressed inside one of those could cause a bit of discomfort...and death." The longer you listened to the recording the worse this was getting.
Forcibly stuff you inside a suit? This was a horrible horrible nightmare. Maybe you'll just wake up, and it's nothing but a dream and you don't have to worry about any of this. But this is reality and unfortunately reality was a cruel thing.
You let out a heavy breath looking up from the tablet to look between the doors that were on either side of you. You hated how everything was just making sense. Why everything was the way it was. You wish you hadn't taken this job already and this was only the first night. No wonder cawthon wanted you to start as soon as possible. The pieces were falling into place.
Sucking in a deep breath, yet again, you returned to look at the tablet trying to check on Bonnie. But he wasn't where you had last seen him.
"No, no, no, no! Where did you go?!" You gasped aloud frantically flicking between cameras in an attempt to find him.
""Y-Yeah, they don't tell you these things when you sign up....But hey! First day should be a breeze. I'll chat with you tomorrow. Uh, check those cameras, and remember to close the doors only if absolutely necessary. Gotta conserve power. Alright, goodnight..." during your frantic search for Bonnie you had to stop and look up at the phone hearing the only comforting thing leaving you.
"Wait! Don't leave!-" you didn't mean to say it aloud but the words had just tumbled out of your mouth in a hysteric way. The line beeped signaling the recording had come to an end leaving you alone in the office.
Your eyes gazed down at the tablet curious about the power situation, only to see you had 45% left. All you've done is look at the cameras how has it gone so quickly?! You didn't get the ponder the thought, but if you had looked at the clock you'd of seen you only had an hour left of your shift. The night had basically come and gone.
You could hear heavy footsteps down the hallway to your left, almost like they belonged to some gigantic robot. Your heart stopped as you remembered you couldn't find Bonnie. You knew you should conserve power but in fear you slammed your hand down on the Door button watching the metal door fall from the ceiling down to the ground to slam shut.
I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay.
You tried to relax your nerves as you repeated the same sentence inside your head. But curiosity was getting the better of you. You just had to see if it was a trick of the ear or if Bonnie really was out there. Hesitantly you pressed the light button jumping holding a hand to your mouth to keep the scream that wanted to escape you.
Staring at you were a pair of red eyes, their gaze was intense and they clearly belonged to the bunny animatronic. Your heart was pounding, like it's been doing this entire time. But you just couldn't help but be so afraid. You were staring death in the face. And the only thing separating it from you was a door.
Though, the longer you gazed into the blood red eyes, you felt as though you were staring at an old friend. But you didn't ponder the thought longer. Just brushing it over as fear and the familiarity of seeing an animatronic that you saw as a kid as an adult again.
You released the light button no longer wanting to stare at the frightening face in the window and turned your attention towards the tablet. You flicked through the cameras hoping that no other animatronic was out and about when you looked at the main show stage.
You furrowed you're brows curiosity seeing what looked to be Freddy and Chica talking to each other. Well that's what it looked like but you're not so sure they're talking to each other.
Can they even do that? I'm probably just seeing things.
Again you tried to rationalize inside your head. You were about to check and see if bonnie was still at the door when the clock rang out suddenly. You couldn't help but jump shaking in your seat as you gazed at the red font of numbers. 6:00 AM you made it. With only 15% of battery left.
Your breathing was labored and you pressed the door button seeing nothing was there waiting for you. (That was of course after you carefully made sure bonnie wasn't at the window anymore.)
6am. You made it. You're alive and you didn't get killed tonight. That's a good thing right? Part of you wanted to run away now and say screw this and never return. But you're not even sure what you've signed entirely yesterday prior to taking the job. For all you know you're obligated to at the very least stay here for a week to even a year until you're stuffed into a suit.
Gripping your things you shakily walked out of the office cautiously making your way towards the main show stage. Your knees were shaking like crazy as if they might give out from underneath you.
"(Y/N)!" The sudden shout of the voice was the last straw for you. You screamed jumping back what felt like 20 feet away from the sound of the voice only to see it was cawthon greeting you. He seemed relieved to see you but looked slightly guilty about your fear.
"O-oh m-mr. Cawthon." You gasped out in response.
"Sorry for scaring you." Cawthon smiled apologetically but you could still see he looked guilty.
"Glad to see you made it through the night! N-not that I didn't think you would that's uh not what I'm saying. I just mean it's good to see you alive and well." Cawthon seemed to be having a hard time with his words but you knew what he meant. You wondered if you should tell him about how you don't think it's gonna work out. But, you're here now. You survived one night right? So what's stopping you from surviving the rest of the week? That is if they'll will be like tonight.
"It's good to see you too." You muttered trying to get a grip on your own fear.
"How'd the night go for you? Well I hope." Cawthon couldn't help but quiz you wondering if it was a smooth night. Normally the first night always is.
"Uh-yeah! Yeah it was...it was fine." You couldn't help your self but repeat over your words. You just wanted to leave and get back home as soon as you could.
"That's good to hear! I'm glad to see you're alright! You will be coming back tonight right?" The way he looked at you was as if he was taking pity on you. But you decided to push that way. Because what choice did you have? You had to work here right now.
"Yeah, I'll be here again tonight." You swallowed the lump in your throat as you attempted to speak. But you still felt so shaky.
"Great! Just letting you know I won't be here to greet you like I was able to last night so you'll be here alone until the morning. Glad to see you're ready for your next shift!" Cawthon seemed as chipper as he was yesterday again and you just nodded meekly. Unable to get another word out you just smiled nervously and moved to leave. You wanted to run away so badly.
You muttered a goodbye as you passed cawthon on the way out and just focused on making it to your car. You didn't even bother to pay much attention to where you were going. You can't believe you're going to come back after all this but at least for now you can go home. But what awaited you tonight would be worse than what had happened last night.