Chapter Text
You decided to wait in your car until ten o’clock rolled around. As much as you would’ve loved to go home and cry into a cup of coffee, you didn’t think you were in the proper state to drive. And that was fine. You needed time to process anyway.
Calming yourself down, while still difficult, was much easier when you were no longer in the environment that the panic began in. You blasted the radio as soon as you got in the car, countering the silence and grinding machinery with Britney Spears. After a while, you learned that the cold fought the claustrophobia that choked you, so you blasted the AC too.
The front windows of the pizzeria displayed the majority of the dining room, and with that came the view of the animatronic stage. Your car was originally parked pretty close to the building, so you took the time to move it to the furthest recess of the parking lot.
From there, the details of the room were harder to make out and over the course of the next couple of hours, you slowly worked yourself up to the point that you could stare back at the motionless stage. It wasn’t much, but you had to collect the crumbs that were left of your dignity. You didn’t think you got much back.
On the bright side, you had more than enough time to stew and rethink your life decisions. You had in no way been prepared for the events that had taken place in the last few hours. When you woke up that morning, your biggest problem was keeping your dog out of your bed. By the end of the day, your struggle was keeping your life. How could things shift so easily?
So much had changed and you had a feeling that trend would continue. If Trey and Alex were right--which, unfortunately, was likely the case--you would be stuck here. You'd walk in this building every day, waiting for the day you wouldn't walk out..
But you refused to entertain that idea. You were short and you were a coward, but you were determined. You didn’t want to accept this timebomb that you’d been gifted with.
All you wanted was safety for you and your family. The thought of losing your dad, or your sister, or even that little brat of a cousin made your stomach churn. Knowing that you were the one that put their lives at risk in the first place made that feeling so much worse.
You couldn’t help but feel responsible for the whole ordeal. You’d fallen in their trap and generally, you can’t blame the fly for getting caught in a spiders web, but in this case, the fly probably could’ve tried a little harder.
You knew the situation was suspicious when you’d walked in. You deep dived into a scenario that you could’ve avoided had you not been so blinded by greed. You were so driven by the thought of a paycheck, that you didn’t stop to realize what you’d have to do to get it.
Sure, you had a reason behind your desperation, but that’s not an excuse. Bank robbers go to jail no matter what. It doesn’t matter if they were stealing for charity. Thievery is still a crime. Sometimes, the ends don’t justify the means.
It was too late to change the past, but the future is always in the air. You lived by that. You’d already gotten yourself here, but it probably wouldn’t stay this way. Everything was capable of change.
This hope was what got you through to 10 o’clock without falling into a spiral of self-loathing. You could fix this. One way or another, you’d get past this.
As the clock ticked closer to the magic number, more and more cars pulled in and settled in the pizzeria’s parking lot. It was only just past nine and the lot was filling far faster than you expected. People were already filing into the restaurant and it took you a minute to realize why.
Tomorrow was July 4th and the restaurant would be closed for Independence Day. They had opened early today to try and rake in a few extra bucks before they shut down this Saturday. You’d completely forgotten about this weekend’s holiday.
The day didn’t mean much for you aside from that your dad always went to a buddy’s house. He invited you to join him, but barbecues weren’t exactly your thing. You might consider going to a movie or something with a friend, but parties and stuff of that order held little interest to you.
Regardless of the holiday’s significance, you were happy that it had come up. The less time you spent here, the better.
You waited until around 10:30 before you went inside the pizzeria, counting on the manager already being there. You just wanted to get this over with. Again, the less time you spent here, the better.
You stalled as long as you could before you entered; stopping to tie your hair back, pick fuzz off your shirt, retie your shoes; anything to push it off a little longer. When you couldn’t think of anything else to do, you reluctantly stepped inside the building.
The pizzeria was filling up fast as was usual for a Friday, more so now with the altered schedule. Little bundles of energy were running between tables, stressed parents were chasing said energy bundles and disgruntled teens were camping at the end of dining tables, clearly been forced to be here. A regular crowd for a family entertainment center.
You didn’t recognize the dark-haired woman managing the entrance till, but she saw your security uniform and let you past without a word, focused on the family she was working with at the moment.
Your heart was in your throat the moment you stepped into the dining room. The animatronics were active now, running through scripted dialogue and music. There was a mob of kids at the base of the stage, apparently having the time of their lives. You hoped that they were safe.
The robots’ movement made you anxious. You hadn’t seen one move since this whole nightmare unfolded and knowing what they looked like in motion made you nauseous. Their jerky motions on stage contrasted the comparatively smooth movement of the one in the office, where only that awful grinding and clicking gave up its mechanical nature.
You forced that thought out of your mind, not bothering to question why there was a difference. Instead, you focused on the chaos of the restaurant around you to block out the echo of that whirring machinery that was starting to build. You took a deep breath if only to prove to yourself that you could.
Next problem. You would have to cross the dining room again and you were determined for it not to be as panicked as it was before. You were still on the hunt for your dignity crumbs so you forced yourself to stare boldly at the staged robots as you crossed the room, putting on an air of confidence that everyone knew you didn’t have. You were still solidly labeled as A Wuss. Now it was A Wuss In Denial.
You were looking for any signs of the monstrosities they’d revealed themselves to be before, almost waiting for them to snap into action and come at you. You were particularly focused on Chica, unable to forget her piercing stare. You shuddered at the memory of it and failed your efforts to keep from walking faster.
You weren’t exactly as confident and carefree as you would’ve liked to be, unable to hide the way your hands shook as you turtled into your shirt, clearly anxious and scared. Regardless, you were proud of yourself for still being able to look at them as close as you were. You knew you wouldn’t have managed that feat had the room not been crowded as it was, but it was a start. Baby steps.
Nothing about their actions changed as they continued their programmed performance, seemingly absent of their malicious tendencies. You made it across the dining room just fine aside from tripping over a few kids. The little gremlins were everywhere.
Now that you were in the halls, it was time to deal with the next problem: You didn’t know where the Manager’s office was. In fact, you didn’t know where anything was aside from the Parts and Storage room, the Security Office and the “Break Room.”
There was no other staff in sight, so you had to hunt this maze on your own. You’d seen the layout of the pizzeria through the security cameras, but you’d been too busy panicking to actually process and retain much of that information. Though you did know that the hallway you’d been down to the office didn’t hold much aside from Parts and Service and a storage closet. You headed in the opposite direction.
You wandered around a bit, peeking into a couple of party rooms, and eventually found yourself near an “Arcade.” Much like the Break Room, it was poorly strung together. It housed three beaten machines--one of them looking to be broken--but that didn’t seem to dampen the excitement of the few kids bouncing around in there. They ran the room like it was Dave and Busters.
Just down from that was a door marked “Manager.” Jackpot.
You knocked on the door and a feminine voice welcomed you in. You stepped in to meet a nicely dressed woman seated behind a desk, setting down the pen she was writing with. She had short blond hair, glasses and fine features that shifted into a smile as she stood to shake your hand.
“Mx Graves. It’s good to see you here. I don’t think we’ve officially met. I’m Avery, the manager of this location.”
“Hello, ma’am. It’s nice to meet you,” you said nervously, trying to keep from fidgeting. You weren’t normally this anxious. “I was, um, wanting to talk to you about my position as a night guard.”
Avery shifted, taking off her glasses. “Yes, I figured that’s why you were here.” She gestured to the two chairs on the side of the desk facing you. “Please,” she offered. “Take a seat.”
When you sat down, she spoke again, dark eyes pinning you in place. “Now, Mx Graves, I’m sure you’ve already talked to a few of my other employees. I’m sure they’ve had plenty to say regarding your job position, haven’t they?”
You nodded cautiously, nerves on edge. Something was about to happen.
Her tone was still pleasant. “That’s good. Then you are aware of the policies we have here. We love our teammates and we’d hate to see anyone leave our family.”
There was a glint in her eyes when she spoke again. “I’m sure you know a lot about family, Yin. Imagine what it would feel like to lose one of them. A parent, a sibling; to see them go would be awful.” Her eyes sharpen to points, a pleasant smile still in place.
“We don’t want our family here to split like that. Everyone here is a valued member of our team, and we couldn’t even imagine one of them leaving.” She laughed lightly as if even the thought was a joke.
“You wouldn’t leave us, Yin. I know it; you’re too kind. So would you promise to stay with us? To keep everyone’s families whole? We can’t have that kind of loss.”
Your heart was caught in your throat, barring any words that may have tried to pass. This didn’t go as planned. Her sharp smile didn’t leave any room for argument. You didn’t know how to fight this. Why do you keep putting yourself in hopeless situations?
You looked at your hands in your lap and had to fight valiantly not to cry. You couldn't handle anymore fear, anymore panic. Last night--or morning you supposed--was easily the worst thing you'd ever experienced. Waiting helplessly for death to reach your door, staring into the cameras and watching your murderers stare back.
You didn't fall for the “faulty programming” bullshit. The robots knew what they were doing. They were taunting you, toying with your life like it was a game.
And then you lost. You could never forget the sound of the building shutting down, could never forget the whirring of robotic parts, or the scraping of your chair on the floor. You would never forget staring into the dark as you’re held a foot off the ground, choking on your own shirt..
It was haunting you. You never saw the one that grabbed you, so your brain helpfully created a terrifying meld of all three of the animatronics. It followed you. It had made a home behind your eyes and it didn’t seem too keen to leave.
You couldn’t stay like this. Coming to this place every day would literally drive you crazy. You were starting to feel like you were already halfway there. You couldn’t stay like this, but you weren’t left with much else of a choice.
You’d come to this room to fight for yourself, but you had brought a feather to a gunfight and thus were in no way prepared for this situation. Honestly, what did you think you could do in the first place? Whatever it was, it wasn’t this.
You couldn’t give up though. It was too late to back out now. All you had was a feather, but you never know who’s secretly ticklish.
You looked up to Avery’s razor eyes. “Ma’am, um,” you hesitated as she raised an eyebrow, her smile shifting into something dangerous.
“What can I do for you, Mx Yin?”
Her eyes flickered with an unspoken challenge. “I’ll help you in any way that I can,” she said. “I’m on your side.”
You were staring into the eyes of a shark. If you looked away now, you would lose this fight. Anything you managed to say after that would be useless. Your feather couldn’t handle this. It appeared that your new boss was not secretly ticklish.
Avery tapped her fingers against the desk. “Well, Yin?”
Your drive fizzled out like a light bulb, your feather crumbling to dust. You looked down, defeat burning in your cheeks. “I won’t leave.” You said softly.
“That’s good to hear,” she said. You heard the shuffling of papers and you looked back up. She’d picked up a small pile of papers on her desk and was flipping through them.
“Since you’re here, Yin,” she said, focused on the stack of papers. “I was needing someone to come in tomorrow morning to help out with some simple maintenance. You wouldn’t mind filling in, would you?”
It wasn’t a question. She was fully aware that tomorrow was a holiday and the pizzeria was closed. This was a power move, a test of your obedience. She looked up at your hesitancy with a smile of knives.
“Would you be willing to help us, Mx Graves?”
Her eyes were just as sharp as her smile. You had no idea what you were doing. You desperately wanted to fight for your case, plead for a release or at least a compromise. Now it seemed that you were just digging further into your grave. You’d never been in this situation before and you were not prepared to get out.
Good lord, you were absolutely hopeless. Once again, your Wuss title came back to bite you in the ass.
“Yes, Ma’am.” You said quietly.
She held your gaze firmly, now seeming satisfied.
“It was good talking to you today, Mx Graves. I’ll see you bright and early at 8 o’clock tomorrow morning. Have a good day.”
You left without another word, making the world’s Most Pathetic Rebellion in not giving a respectful goodbye.
Your mind was spinning as you walked the halls. You failed. You didn’t even have a fighting chance. It was settled then; you were stuck here.
God-fucking-damnit.