A Nightmare Within a Dream: Chapter 3 - Video Games and Monsters
#3 of A Nightmare Within a Dream
Another night, and another hell to live through. Just as Zee is starting to get used to the first three animatronics, it turns out there's another player in the game that he wasn't aware of before. Is he going to survive the night this time? Is he going to keep working this dead end job? What about Eric and his cronies? What's going on with Zee's head? Why is everyone accusing him of being a murderer?
A/N: Not sure why you're reading this the story is down below. G** o enjoy Chapter 3! Go on! Shoo! Go read it! ...Why are you still reading this?! The story is down below you dunderheads!**
Chapter 3
Video Games and Monsters
As I opened my apartment door I was greeted by a single folded piece of paper on the floor below the mail slot, and an almost barren room devoid of any type of modern comforts. I took a deep breath, letting my nostrils become filled with the stagnant air of poverty. Exhaling, letting out a long sigh, I picked up the letter and unfolded it. Where I had expected it to be a list of things I could help fix or clean around the building from Mr. Robinson, it was, in fact, an invitation to his apartment. I just stared at the letter blankly, my tired mind trying to keep up with my eyes. Once my brain had finally processed what the letter said I turned and shut my door, not even taking a step into my apartment before I was called off to somewhere else.
As I made my way down the hall to the stairwell I noticed several other tenants with their doors open to the hall and any passers-by. Inside one room, a man and a woman, most likely husband and wife, were packing their belongings into several cardboard boxes. Further down the hall, the passage was nearly blocked due to the number of cardboard boxes other people had piled up outside their apartment. How I hadn't noticed this when I was coming back from my night shift at Freddy's, I had no idea. The sound of a baby crying and complaining children were echoing off the walls as their parents tried to get them under control. As I passed the last door before the stairwell I heard a child screaming inside the apartment to my right.
"I don't wanna go! I don't wanna!" cried what sounded like a young boy, most likely a toddler.
"Sweetie, please. We have no other choice, we got to move. You'll understand when you're older," said the child's mother, in a calming tone. The mother said a few more calming words to her little boy, and soon the crying and screaming turned into gentle sniffling.
I shook my head and pushed open the door to the stairwell, "Don't worry kid... Wherever you're going is better than here, be thankful," I mumbled to myself as I made my way down the stairs, making sure I didn't touch the rusty old handholds or trip over the several passed out drug addicts that were in the way.
I knocked on the door of room 32, waiting for my kind old landlord Mr. Robinson to open the door. A few seconds ticked before I heard the click of a lock and the jingling of a chain. Then the door opened revealing Mr. Robinson's kind smile.
"Mr. Phillips! I'm glad you came, I have some things I must discuss with you," said Mr. Robinson, moving out of the doorway and into his living room, expecting me to follow.
I walked into the old man's apartment and shut the door behind me. If I didn't know any better I would have thought Mr. Robinson was rich! He had a sofa in the middle of the living room facing a large tv and coffee table, along with a few armchairs surrounding the table as well. The kitchen looked to be fully stocked, and the sweet smell of honeysuckle filled the air, the smell coming from a few scented candles on the kitchen counter.
Mr. Robinson led me over to the living room where he took a seat in one of his green armchairs, gesturing for me to take a seat as well. I sat down on the plush couch and sank into the soft leather, sighing as my sore body relaxed into something comforting.
"You wanted to see me for some reason, Mr. Robinson?" I asked, giving the elder my full attention.
"Yes, yes. I have some good news and some bad news. First the good news. I hereby declare all your payments paid in full," started Mr. Robinson.
But before he could continue, I interrupted, "Wait what!? What do you mean "paid in full"? I haven't paid you yet," I asked, feeling lost.
Mr. Robinson just chuckled and said, "If you will let me finish, Zee, then I'll be getting to that. Now, the second bit, the bad news. I have sold the apartment building to a rather wealthy businessman who plans on tearing it down to build gods know what. That is why I have decided your payments will be canceled and you don't have to pay me. Over the time you have stayed here you have single-handedly kept this place in somewhat running order, fixing broken lights and plumbing, cleaning the stairs and elevators, so on, and so forth. I find that payment enough, Mr. Phillips."
"I didn't do those things to get out of paying rent! I did them because I wanted to help," I argued, feeling bad that I couldn't pay the old man who had shown me such kindness and patience.
"That, Mr. Phillips, is exactly why I'm dropping all your payments. You did all those things out of the kindness of your heart, not expecting or wanting a single thing in return. Now, as you may have noticed, many of my tenants, or used to be tenants, are moving out. I recommend you do the same soon Mr. Phillips, because if the new owner has to send a letter warning you then you'll be fined for having overstayed, and I know you most likely don't have the money to pay for that kind of fine," he explained, finishing up the news he had to tell.
"I... Thank you, Mr. Robinson, thank you so much." I said, being truly thankful for this old man's kind heart.
"I'm sorry this is so sudden, but I had my reasons for selling the place. I'm sure you'll find a new place to stay in no time," smiled Mr. Robinson, once he finished he stood up out of the chair, and I followed suit, raising myself up off the couch. He hobbled over to the door and held it open for me.
"Don't worry about me Mr. Robinson, I'm sure I'll find a place to stay, and if I don't I can always stay at the dorms on campus at my school," I said, giving him a smile and leaving the apartment.
"That's good to hear mah boy," he said, as he closed the door behind me, "That's good to hear."
By the time I got back to my apartment it was already 8:00 am. I didn't bother sticking around, I just grabbed the library books I had that were due and took off towards the university.
After returning the books to the library I now find myself sprinting across the campus of WaterField University, trying to make it to class on time. I didn't care how sore my body was, nor how much my legs hurt from running, I just kept running hoping to make it to class on time. I was running so fast I actually ran past Eric and his friends who were once again waiting at the stairs to my class building for me. By the time they knew what just happened I was already halfway down the hall and I could hear Eric's faint yell of "Hey!"
I burst into my classroom panting hard, doubling over and resting my hands on my knees as I panted out, "Sorry... I'm... Late... Prof. William..."
"My god, Zee! You look dreadful! What happened to you?" asked Prof. William as he rushed over to me.
"I'm sorry... I had to return... some books to the library, and I lost track of time," I explained, hoping he wouldn't write me up for lateness.
"No, no! Not that! What happened to your neck?" he said, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and supporting my body weight.
I reached up and touched my neck, wincing in pain. My scarf had come off somehow and I had no idea where it was. "I... This is... I-It's nothing! Nothing at all!" I lied, pushing myself to stand up straight and give Prof. William a smile. "Really, I'm fine, don't worry about it, Professor." I rushed off to my seat, climbing the stairs up a few rows before sliding onto an unoccupied bench.
Prof. William just looked at me, then nodded and went back to his desk. "Okay, now that everyone is here let us begin. First off I got some good news and some bad news," he started. _Seems like I'm getting a lot of news today. _I think as Prof. William continues, " Which would my students like to hear first?" he asked, addressing the entire class. Everyone shouted for good news, of course, and caused Prof. William to laugh, "Of course you would have chosen that. Well, the good news is that you have the next month off!" Students whooped and hollered in glee, and once they settled down Prof. William continued, "However, the bad news is. You are expected to work on your test project throughout the entire month! No slacking off! You all know what the test is, build a functioning robotic machine," explained Prof. William.
There was a groan from everyone in the class but me, I looked forward to this, it got me excited and I felt really pumped to get to work on my project. Also, with the month break we get to work on it, that means a month I can avoid Eric and his goons, maybe I could sneak a little RnR and hang out with Lily.
After Prof. William made his announcement he taught the last class that would take place until a month later. It was rather short, just going review and making sure we knew everything we needed. The class was released around lunch, so instead of sticking around to eat the filth they called food I decided I would go over to the pizzeria and say hi to Lily before I head back to my apartment to get some rest.
As soon as I stepped across the threshold of the pizzeria, that electric like buzzing, which has now morphed into a static-filled scream, flooded my head. Groaning I rubbed my temples till the strange sensation and sounds drifted to the back of my head.
Entering the main party room I made my way over to a booth and sat down, waiting for someone to come take my order. Ever since I entered the building I was consciously trying not to look at the animatronics, but against my better judgment, my eyes found themselves drifting over to the stage and the performing robots, who, like usual, seemed to be ignored by everyone but me. I felt a pang of sympathy for the animatronics, being forced to perform stupid shows day after day, singing the same songs over and over to try and appease the non-listening patrons.
I was dragged out of my thoughts when I felt a sharp tap on my forehead. I looked up to see Lily standing there with a smirk on her face. "Oh. Hey," I greeted, giving her my attention.
"Hey, Zee, everything alright? You seemed to have been lost in your own little world there. I've spent the last 5 minutes trying to get your attention," she said, her smirk being replaced with a concerned frown and a raised eyebrow.
"I'm fine, just tired I suppose," I said shrugging.
"Yeah, the first day on the job will really take it out of some people. Just make sure you rest alright? Oh, and get your neck checked out soon, kay?" she said, scribbling something down on her notepad.
I reached up and felt the raw skin of my neck, having forgotten to look for my scarf. "Oh... Right, sorry bout' that," I said, pulling the scruff of my hoodie up to try and cover my neck. "You're not going to ask what happened?"
"Why do I need to ask when I already know?" she asked, giving me the you-think-your-best-friend-doesn't-know look.
"W-What?!" I exclaimed, "You saw what happened? How?"
"Zee, I've known you for years, and I know that ninety-percent of the time you're hurt in some way. I didn't actually see what happened to you, I've just known you and Eric for so long to know that he did this," she stated.
"Erh... Right... Sorry..." I mumbled, looking down at the table.
"It's fine, Agent Z, just make sure you get yourself checked out, okay? Anyways I'll go get your food put in so you can eat," she chuckled, walking off towards the kitchens.
"Wait, but I didn't order anything," I called after her.
She didn't even turn back around to respond, only held up her yellow notepad and called back, "Medium Pepperoni, and a large Fanta. I know all your favorite things, Zee."
"Damn, she does know me well," I laughed, leaning back in the booth.
I turned my attention back to the animatronics to find all 3 of them looking in my direction. I gulped, feeling a cold chill run down my spine. They didn't remove their gaze from me, and I started to feel extremely freaked out. I had no idea what to do, so I just sat there my breathing starting to quicken, my eyes roaming to find something to look at asides the animatronics. I started cracking my knuckles again, trying anything to calm my nerves. The anxiety I was feeling was unreal, and the buzzing in my head wasn't helping either.
A few minutes later, after I calmed down when the animatronics stopped staring at me, Lily came back with my pizza and drink, and since I was here she decided to take her break now and hang out with me for a little while. She also insisted on paying for the food since she ate some of it. I tried to decline but she put her foot down, and when Lily wants to do something that thing is gonna get done whether anyone likes it or not.
We chatted for a little bit, talking about what's been going on with ourselves. I finally came out and told her the truth about what happened between me and Eric the other day, and how he tried to strangle me to death. And as usual, her big sister switch got flipped and she tried to talk me into calling the police or letting her deal with him. I refused, however, knowing full well there wasn't any evidence to support my claim, and I didn't want Lily to come and save me... again. 10 minutes later we had finished the pizza, and I sucked the last bit of Fanta out of my cup before Lily had to get back to work.
I got up and walked around the pizzeria to check out the rest of the place, really the only place to go was the main room, but I needed to stretch my legs. So I just walked around the edge of the room coming close to the west hallway when I saw something I hadn't noticed before. There was a doorway covered by purple curtains with white hollow stars patterned across the purple fabric. There was a sign in front of the curtain covered doorway reading "-Sorry!- OUT OF ORDER". I was about to push the curtains aside to have a peek in when I heard a muffled "dammit" coming from behind one of the arcade machines to my right. One of them was pulled out away from the wall so there was space for someone to fit behind it.
I walked over and looked behind the machine to find Mr. Charles on his knees fiddling with some wiring inside the back of the game cabinet. "Mr. Charles, is everything alright?" I asked, startling the middle-aged man.
"Oh! Dear god, Mr. Phillips! You startled me," he exclaimed, standing up and brushing off his brown suit pants. "And to answer your question, no everything is not alright, another of the arcade machines has broken down and I was trying to fix it, to no avail of course. I'm afraid it will have to be scrapped, we don't have enough funds to replace it."
"Oh... That's too bad. Shame too, it's one of my favorites," I said, looking at the large yellow circle with a pizza slice gap cut out of it, that was on the side of the machine.
"Yes, Ol' Pacman was one of the kids' favorites. Now they won't be able to see him again," sighed Mr. Charles.
"Well, I'm not sure about that," I said, an idea coming to my mind.
"What do you mean?" asked Mr. Charles.
"I'm an engineering student at WaterField University, I could try to fix it for you," I said, patting the side of the machine.
"Really? That would be wonderful! Except" said Mr. Charles, his signature creepy smile spreading across his face.
"Great! Uh... Do you have a toolbox I could use by chance?" I asked.
"Yes of course it's in the parts and service room backstage, I'll go get it for you," he said, starting to head off in that direction.
"No, don't worry about it, I'll get it. I'm sure you've got lots of work to do," I said.
"Oh, well okay. Thanks, Mr. Phillips, this will really help a lot," he responded, giving me his signature big creepy smile before he left for his office.
"Alright then, I'll go get the toolbox and anything else I might need and -hopefully- fix this thing up!" I said to myself, walking over to the stage.
Reaching the stage I climbed up a couple of steps that were hidden behind the large red curtains and entered the backstage area. There wasn't much back here besides some boxes, lighting equipment that looked to be several decades old, and a few broken amps. However, against the back wall was a single metal door with a black plaque on it saying "Employees Only" in white letters. It looked really out of place with the rest of the building, but who was I to judge? I sat in an office with 8 inches of metal for doors and bulletproof glass.
As I made my way up to the door a strange sense of deja vu hit me. I looked at the door cautiously before shaking the feeling off and grabbing the handle. Slowly I turned the handle downwards, hearing the click of the mechanism, the door popped open just a crack. Opening the door all the way I gazed into the dark abyss in front of me. Reaching into the room I placed my hand on the wall next to the door and felt around for a light switch.
After searching for a few seconds my hand landed on the familiar feel of blunt poky plastic, and I flipped the small switch, illuminating the room with an eerie white light from a single lightbulb in the middle of the ceiling. I stepped into the room and looked around. However, where I expected to find a room full of boxes and spare parts for the animatronics, I found both that and more. Several metal shelves were pressed against the walls holding boxes of what I guessed were spare parts, along with the head masks for the animatronics, which creeped me out. In the middle of the room was a metal table with a classic red toolbox resting atop it.
I made a beeline for the toolbox trying to ignore the spare masks that seemed to follow my every move. As I grabbed the toolbox's handle, I heard the gentle laughter of a child. I turned around scanning the room, thinking that some kid had followed me into the back.
"Hello, is someone there?" I called out, yet as I looked around the room it seemed devoid of life, except for a single spider in the upper left corner of the room. I shook my head and lifted the toolbox off the table before walking back towards the door. Exiting the room and closing the door behind me, I made my way to leave the backstage when I heard it again.
"Hehe," giggled a girlish voice from behind me.
"Who's there?" I asked, turning around hoping to catch the kid that was poking fun at me. "You're not supposed to be back here."
"It's me!" whispered a voice as soft and smooth as the breeze on a cool summer's eve.
"It's me who? Listen, you're not supposed to be back here, I need you to come out of hiding and leave the backstage!" I said, trying to be commanding, of course, the words I said were correct but the way it came out made me sound like a scared little girl.
When no answer came, and no more sounds graced my ears asides those of the kids in the front room and the cheesy music, I left the backstage, feeling like someone was watching me.
Arriving back at the broken down Pacman machine, I got to work, trying my best to fix the decades' old arcade machine. I hardly noticed as the hours flew by, getting wrapped up in my own little world of machines and technology. I had finished fixing the Pacman machine hours ago, and if I was really paying attention or thinking correctly I should have gone back to my apartment to get some rest, but me being me, I ended up working on some other arcade machines like Galaga, Donkey Kong, Ms. Pacman, and even an incredibly old version of Mortal Kombat!
As I was finishing up fixing Asteroids; which had nothing wrong with it asides the controller being stuck and unusable, I felt a tap on my shoulder and I looked up to see Mr. Charles standing behind me with a raised eyebrow and a slight smile.
"Mr. Charles! I fixed Pacman and a few other of the arcade machines as you can see," I said, gesturing to the line of repaired machines that were up against the wall, with a screwdriver.
"Yes! Thank you very much, Mr. Phillips! This will help greatly. However I'm afraid that you may have gotten caught up in your work, it's almost midnight! Better get ready for your shift Mr. Phillips."
I looked up at the clock rubbing my eyes under my glasses, and as the numbers came into focus I realized it was 11:25 at night, I had 35 minutes till my shift started!
"Oh... I was here that long?" I asked more to myself than anything.
"Yes, you were. Now, today has been rather busy for me, and I'm going to lock up and head home," he warned, irritation in his voice.
"Uhh, right. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then, sir." I said, awkwardly.
"Yes, yes. Very good. Goodnight Mr. Phillips," he replied, sounding distracted.
Mr. Charles ended the conversation there and left. I stood there watching him retreat till I heard the crackly jingle of the door opening, and then the click of the deadbolt lock that kept the two, very breakable, glass doors from opening. I yawned and rubbed my eyes again. I wasn't tired just because I had been working all day, but rather because for some reason the dream that I've been having since I was 7 seemed to be getting more and more realistic, causing me to wake up in the middle of the night and earlier in the morning.
With the information that I had only probably 30 minutes till my shift started, and those 3 animatronics started wandering about trying to kill me, I packed up the toolbox, and instead of returning it to the backstage parts and service room, I just took it with me to my office.
Entering the small cramped room that was my office I placed the toolbox under the desk and sat down in the somewhat comfortable office chair. I sighed as my body sank into the soft yet cracked leather of the chair. I was so tired I felt like I could just fall asleep right there and then. As my eyes shut and I leaned my head back, thinking I could just rest my eyes for a few minutes, I heard the lights crackle and hum. My eyes shot open as the click of lights going off one by one echoed through the building, till the entire building was drenched in darkness asides for the singular lightbulb above my head.
I picked up the tablet that was laying on top of the desk and opened up the cameras. I checked the stage first, finding all three animatronics standing there creepily. I checked the time and saw it read 12:05. My shift had started 5 minutes ago, and yet it felt like it was only just 11:30 a few seconds ago. I sighed, figuring my lack of sleep had something to do with my mind messing with me today.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flashing red light, looking up I noticed the phone had another message on it. Perhaps this one would actually be helpful this time. I pressed the play button and the recorded message began to play.
"Umm... Hello? Hello, hello? Uhh, well if you're hearing this then you made it to your second night! Congrats" said the still annoying male voice. "Umm... R-Right, I won't take as long this time, Freddy and her friends tend to become more active each night... So you might want to check the camera while I talk"
I opened up the tablet again, doing as he suggested and taking a peek at the cameras. Bonnie and Chica were already gone from the stage, but Freddy remained where she was. As I flipped through each camera, I found Bonnie squeezed into a janitor's closet that was located somewhere in the west hallway. And Chica was in the main party room creepily staring at the camera with her mouth agape, her white pinprick eyes staring into my very soul.
"B-But you don't need to worry! I'm sure you'll be fine! A-Anyways, Be careful tonight... I-It seems whenever Freddy and the others start moving around, Foxy ends up waking up... Somehow... I-I-I'm not sure how that works, but I'm no engineer. J-Just keep an eye on pirates cove alright?"
"WAIT WHAT?!" I shouted at the phone, staring at it in disbelief. "There is another one of these animatronic abominations! ?Are you kidding me!" But before I could finish yelling at the phone, the phone guy continued.
"S-So y-yeah... Umm, I think that's about it. Don't forget to use your door lights, there are blind spots in your camera's view that won't pick up the animatronics if they are hiding in it. Uhh, keep an eye on Foxy, and shut the doors only _when _absolutely necessary... Uhh... Y-Yeah t-that's it. WAIT! I almost forgot! And under _no circumstances _leave the office! A-Alright, n-now that's it. H-Hope to see you tomorrow night." And with that, the phone clicked off leaving me once again in the eerie silence of the pizzeria. The only noise provided being the hum of the dying lightbulb above me, and the slight rattle of the old rusty desk fan that wafted a cool breeze into my face.
I sat there stunned, trying to process the information that was just dumped on me, when I remembered I had killer robots to stop from... well... killing me. Instantly I checked the door lights, thankfully none of the animatronics had managed to get that far. Going back to the cameras, I found Bonnie just standing in the west hall, looking all creepy with the 2 white dots for eyes staring at the camera, and the sputtering light that hung near her, just keeping her face in the shadows. As I flipped through the cameras, I got to the one that was broken and only transmitted audio. From the tablet came the sound of crashing pots and other noises you would find in the kitchen. _That must be Chica, _I thought.
Flipping over to the main stage, I found Freddy had moved, except not from her position. Now she was staring directly at the camera, her eyes also consisting of 2 marble sized dots, that like all the others seemed to stare into my soul. Remembering that I had to check pirates cove, I switched over to Cam 1C (Pirates Cove), and what I found caused me to drop the tablet on the ground as I lept in my chair, my heart racing, and sweat dripping down my forehead. There had been a yellow colored ball of light staring at the camera when I had switched over, but now that I picked the tablet back up and looked again, there was nothing but a slight part in the purple curtains.
"That must be Foxy then," I said aloud, trying to fill the void of silence. Shaking myself out, trying to regain control of my racing mind, which still had that insistent static scream in the back of my head which I was trying to ignore, I took a deep breath and steadied myself. Leaning over to the left door and pressing the light button, I shot back as the purple face of Bonnie appeared, illuminated by the light. Then as if something had possessed my body, my hand shot out faster then I thought I could move it, and punched the large red button, resulting in 8 inches of steel to slam down between me and a one-way trip to heaven.
After taking a breath to calm my nerves, I heard a slight tip tap coming from the east hall. Flying across the room I slammed my hand on the door button, causing another industrial steel door to slide down and protect me. Slowly, with shaking hands, I pressed the light button to illuminate the east hall, and standing right outside the window looking in was Chica. Her bib seemed stained with something red, which I hoped was just tomato sauce.
Checking the right door, and making sure Bonnie was gone I re-opened the door. I checked the left door's light once more to find Chica still there looking inside. I sighed and left the door closed. I picked up the tablet once more from the floor and checked the time. It was only 1:30 AM and I was on less than 80% power. Checking the cameras again, I found Bonnie back in the main party room. Switching over to pirates cove I once again found something staring back at me. This time, however, it was another animatronic, instead of the floating yellow light that I had seen before, which I'm guessing was this animatronic's eyes, or eye more like it. This animatronic was much different from the others. Unlike the others, this one was fully clothed, wearing a full pirate getup, all except the hat that is. The figure was clearly a fox, it had red fur that was so dirty it looked like a dark burgundy color. She wore ripped and tattered brown trousers that came down to just past her knees, and a white blouse with a black corset cinched around her midsection, causing her breasts to be pushed slightly upwards. On her face, she had an eyepatch that covered her right eye, which was probably the same yellow color as her left, and finally, she had 2 golden ring-shaped earrings pierced on her left ear. Her right hand was in fact not a hand at all, rather a classic pirate hook that looked sharp enough to pierce through metal.
But, even though she may have been fully clothed unlike the others, she was just in as bad a shape as the others, if not worse. Her jaw hung off its hinges, revealing sharp teeth, a few of which were golden in color. Her left hand was nothing but the metal skeletal hand of her endoskeleton, her fur was ripped and had holes in places. Her corset and blouse also were ripped and riddled with holes, giving me sight into her internal workings. I could see her endoskeleton through the holes in the outfit, it was dented and scratched, with wires hanging out here and there. Wires hung from her joints in several places, and all in all, she looked like she was about to fall apart. Literally.
Like before when I saw the state the other animatronics were in, I felt a pang of sadness and pity run through me as I took in the view of the once glorious pirate fox, now reduced to nothing more than a pile of scrap hidden away in an unused room.
I switched the camera view back to the main stage to find Freddy no longer staring at the camera. I checked the right door, and seeing Chica had left, opened it to conserve power. Flipping through the camera views, I found Chica in the bathroom hallway standing in a dark corner, Bonnie was in the main room just standing there. Sighing, I checked the time, 2:49 AM.
Just a couple of more hours and I'll be out of here, I thought, leaning back in the chair. Grabbing the toolbox I had brought with me I rummaged through it trying to find anything I might be able to use. Screwdriver? Unless I can get close enough, and have them hold still long enough to unscrew their bolts this is a no. Wrench? Nope. Hammer? Maybe. Wires? Not sure what I would do with that. A bouncy ball? Well, it's not going to save my life but it may save me from being bored the rest of the night.
Reaching in and grabbing the small sphere of blue rubber I bounced it off my desk and caught it. "Not much but it's something," I said to myself as I continued to idly bounce the ball and check the cameras. Not being able to find bonnie anywhere I shut the left door and pressed the light button. I could see Bonnie's shadow being cast on the wall through the window, showing me that she is right outside the door. "That's a good thing to note," I said, pulling out a little scrap of paper and a broken pencil from the toolbox. I scribbled the note down on the paper so it read: "Bonnie cast's shadow through the window when the door is shut - shut door and then check if there."
Clicking the light once more the shadow of the big purple bunny was gone, so I opened the door and checked again just to make sure, and as I suspected she was gone. I switched over to the kitchen camera, and the clanging sound of pots and pans came pouring out of the tablet's small speakers.
"Alright, Chica's in the kitchen, now what about you ol' Foxy?" I said, switching over to pirates cove. My jaw dropped when I saw the curtains to pirates cove wide open with no fox insight.
"Where'd she go? Where did she go?!" I panicked, flipping through cameras. Just as I switched to the west hall camera I saw a blur rush past the camera, then I heard the clanging of metal, like heavy machinery. I poked my head outside the west door and to my utter horror what I saw running down the hall at me made me lose control of my bladder. I was frozen, it felt like time had slowed down. Running down the hall at me was Foxy, hook, and arm raised as if she was chasing something... Or someone. Her jaw hung loosely as it rattled about, her sharp teeth glistening in the dim flickering light of the hall. I watched as she grew closer and closer, and just as I thought I was about to die, something took hold of me! I jerked back into the office slamming the door shut just as Foxy came into view of the doorframe. The next thing I hear is the banging and scraping of metal against metal as an ungodly screech came from the other side of the door.
"That... was too close..." I panted, my heart pounding in my chest. As the banging and scraping died down and eventually stopped I checked the cameras again. Freddy was on stage, Chica was in the main room, Bonnie was in the janitor's closet, she seems to like it there. And Foxy was back in her cove, peaking out from curtains looking at the camera with a grimace, or at least as close to a grimace as someone can achieve with half their mouth hanging off their jaw.
I checked the time on the tablet to see when my shift ended when suddenly the sound of the grandfather clock located in the front of the pizzeria started dinging. I sighed and sunk down into the chair, and then from the chair onto the floor. _That is it. My shift is over. Now I can go home and relax for a little bit. _I thought to myself. I picked myself up off the ground and headed out the right door to try and stay as far away from that damn fox as possible!
"So... tired..." I mumbled, rubbing my eyes, "Time to go home and get some much-needed sleep."