what the fortune teller said is
i'm alive for now but good as dead

Lord Huron
Ancient Names (Part I)

•••••

Damn sorry for the massive break between chapters!! Uni rlly kicked my ass these past few weeks (and it's only gonna get worse until the end of November tbh) and I've started finally writing my original novel so time has been quite sparse!

This chapter was quite rushed in writing (and writing through burnout LOL) so I apologise for the lack of quality! <3

Also just an extra request; please don't comment anything about hating children (as in wishing ill-will, genuinely wanting to make children miserable). I'm sick and tired of listening to how people hate children. It doesn't make you cool or quirky to hate kids who literally hold less social power than anyone else in our society. It makes you look like a bully picking on easy targets and it makes me exhausted. Thanks.

(I will block people who comment about hating children. It's absurdly frequent in wattpad comments. Y'all need to check yourselves)

••• nine years ago •••

  "I don't think that's going to work."

  "It's going to work."

  "I really-"

  "It's going to work."

  I held the spirit box close to Foxy's throat, plastic knocking against the exposed chords and wires. Michael stood behind me, keeping watch while we stole away the pirate from his usual stage. My boyfriend was emitting an aura of pure anxiety.

  "Can you please get away from him?" Michael stressed, voice pitching over the shrill, staticky feedback of the spirit box. "You're too close."

  "You said he's paranormally inactive during the day," I pointed out.

  "So?"

  "So he's safe." I held the spirit box higher to his one glassy eye. It was a sunny yellow, the only colour still bright on him. The rest of his coat was a shaggy, dirty apricot. His fangs glinted beneath the cheap lighting, browned from exposure.

  I heard Michael groan beneath his breath, a muted expression of pure agony. But I was determined. This was the way I helped.

  "You're going to put me into an early grave," Michael muttered.

  I shot him a dry glance over my shoulder. "And you're treating me like you're Mother Gothel."

  I didn't need to watch to know that he was rolling his eyes. I tapped the shrieking box against Foxy's chest with a squinted frown. My nose crinkled at the sight of his dirtied endoskeleton.

  "God, don't they ever clean these guys?"

  "They're not exactly prized poodles, babe." Michael stepped up behind me and slid his hand up my arm. His grasp caught the spirit box within my palm and slowly pulled it away from the fox. The static stopped with a click. "It's not going to work. We've tried this equipment before."

  I let my arm drop with a defeated sigh. He was right, I'd lost count the times we attempted contact with the souls within the Fazbear animatronics, but I was stubborn. We needed answers, we needed to know how to release their souls.

  I needed to know so Michael could stop risking his life every other night when he went on shift.

  The muffled sound of 'happy birthday' chorused from the diner room beside ours.

  "Do you think they don't talk because they can't, or because they're petty?" I asked huffily as I switched the spirit box off. Foxy stared dead ahead with his empty, sunny gaze. Michael's arms slid around my waist and enraptured me with his body heat.

  "Can you blame them?" His voice brushed against my ear. I felt my frustration ebb away in slow strokes, with each breath of his that warmed my jawline.

  "No," I grumbled, and then reached up to scratch Foxy's muzzle as though he were an actual fox who actually liked muzzle scratches. A dog is a dog.

  "No," Michael echoed. His lips pressed delicately against the dip between my temple and my ear, a usual token of affection, an instinctive action. My nerves trilled delightedly in response. "Now, can we go before we get caught tampering with their pirate?"

  I stared at Foxy with an annoyed frown. I'd really hoped to have gotten somewhere today, just a single word, a 'hello,' even. Anything to prove that the kids' souls wanted to make contact.

  It was just the same bunch of nothing that we'd been getting for years.

  I released a long exhale. "Fine."

  Michael's shoulders lost their tension in relief and he was quick to pull me away from the animatronic with gentle hands. My disappointment must've been palpable enough to show on my face, because his palms captured each side of my jaw and tilted my head back.

  "We'll figure it out," Michael vowed. His hazel eyes searched mine, wanting to believe his own words. But each passing day felt like another kick in the gut. "I promise."

  My fingers caught in his shirt. "I just want it to be over."

  "I know, baby," he murmured. He pressed his soft lips to the space between my brows, the bridge of my nose, working his way down until he lingers on the edge of my lip. "I know."

  My eyelids fluttered shut as he kissed me, slow and affectionate and rocking like a boat on calm waves. I wondered what it would be like if I stole Michael away from this life - to let someone else pick up the mantle of the weight that rested heavily on his shoulders.

  We could be domestic. We could easily shape our lives to be the spitting image of a nuclear family - he wants three kids, we'll have three kids. He wants a dog, I'll let him pick one out. Anything to keep him away from here. Anything for us to be happy and mundane and focusing on ourselves for once. On the family we've always talked about.

  I know it's selfish. I know he wouldn't want to settle down before these souls were released, but the desire for it gripped at me with such ferocity that it made me unsettled. If I was a weaker person, I would've left him and found my peace myself, with someone else.

  But I wasn't a weaker person. And my only peace was wherever Michael went.

  "Superstar, I-" 

  Michael's whispered words against my lips got caught off by the door to the unused party room opening. Two sets of footsteps walk in. He sighed in disappointment, arms around me twitching just so.

  "Eugh. Gross." Charlie promptly shielded her eyes in dramatic fashion. "Get a room."

  Her father entered beside her, gaze averted but happy. We slowly untangled ourselves - save for our fingers, which Michael tightly threaded together.

  "It didn't work," I said. Henry didn't look surprised, it was a lost attempt at best. He nodded and looked past us at Foxy, expression twisted with remorse and empathy. I followed his gaze and found my own remorse and empathy almost swallowed entirely by frustration.

  "What are we going to do if we can't release the souls?" Charlie asked as she walked right up close to Foxy, as though peering into his sunny yellow eyes would give her the answers. Michael tensed once more.

  "We keep trying," Henry answered. He eased himself down into one of the seats.

  "Forever?" Charlie asked.

  "If that's what it takes."

  I closed my eyes. Forever. If that's what it takes. I can't do forever. We can't do forever. We have to stop at some point. We have to admit defeat, move away somewhere inconspicuous and live a boring, happy life.

  But Michael would do forever. He had that sense of duty, of righting his father's wrongs. And I was so tightly bound to him that I would have to do forever, too.

  It's not that I wished for the souls to be trapped in the robot suits forever; I didn't, I really didn't. I just wished it would be over already.

  Almost everybody our age - the fresh hell of twenty-five - had gotten married, settled down, had kids. They're organising pre-school lunches or picking their wedding flowers or planning a honeymoon. And it was unsettling; I still felt so young, so inexperienced and naive, and seeing all these people I'd grown up with suddenly throwing themselves into being adults was rattling. And yet I found myself craving what they had.

  I never expected myself to want that white-picket fence lifestyle with the three kids and the dog, but maybe it just looked better after the anxious nights when I was alone and Michael was being hunted down by possessed animatronics. Maybe there was beauty in the boring when all I knew is the fear of the unknown. Maybe it's because I knew that Michael was the only person I'd grow old with.

  But I couldn't force him to do anything. It would kill me to make him choose, and the idea of raising kids while he could die any time he stepped foot in a Freddy's tortured me further.

  So, we were stuck. Still at a Freddy's investigating the souls, still talking about marriage and kids and getting a bigger house while knowing that it's only on the back burner. But it was a compromise I could handle. I had to handle it. Because if I couldn't, then I'd lose Michael and Henry and Charlie, and I would, quite frankly, rather cut off my own foot than lose them.

  I had to sometimes remind myself that my woes were incomparable to the hell these kids' souls were going through. That the world didn't revolve around me and that I had to suck it up. But then I'd see a happy family with smiles on their faces and with only worries about grades and what to get from the supermarket that evening, and the hurt crashed around me again.

  I never said anything about it, but I think Michael knew. I wouldn't be surprised if he did, we knew each other so well. There was a guilty sheen to his eyes that happened on an occasion when he looked at me, but he didn't bring it up and I didn't bring it up so we didn't talk about it. We both already knew the answer.

  "What do you think happens to the souls?" Michael asked. "After they're released, I mean. Do they leave? Or do they linger?"

  "Who knows?" Charlie said with a bittersweet smile, a shade of it that was unknown to me. "Maybe we can make them some little robot bodies."

••• present day •••

  I held my head in bewilderment as I took in our current predicament.

  There was a child stuck in Freddy's room. It was past closing. The Pizzaplex was almost on its nightly lockdown. There were no parents searching for him. There was a child stuck in Freddy's room and it was past closing.

  "If it is any consolation," Michael broke the silence, "I had no idea Gregory was in my chest cavity, either."

  My gaze snapped to Gregory. The kid was still cowering behind Freddy while eyeing me with a wariness that hinted at an almost feral edge. He shifted closer to Freddy at my attention.

  "How long were you in there?"

  The kid stared for a few seconds before, finally, after a long pause, gave a timid sort of shrug. I raised my face to the ceiling. I could feel a migraine coming in.

  "Holy-"

  "Language."

  I shot Michael a glare. "Guacamole," I finished through gritted teeth. Michael offered a small smile in response but the kid was still unamused.

  I stepped over the pile of parts and fell onto the couch to file my thoughts and process this new information that bombarded me after an already emotionally taxing day. I was so looking forward to just... falling asleep as soon as I could, too.

  "What do you propose we do?" Michael asked. His hand was atop Gregory's shoulder in an act of reassurance I couldn't even be sure he was aware of. The child looked tense and ready to spring at any loud sound, skittish like a wild animal.

  I dragged my hands down my face. Great. I had to be a responsible adult. 

  "Do you know your mom's phone number?" I asked the kid. "Your dad's? Anyone who can come pick you up?"

  Michael's face twisted before Gregory could even reply.

  "Don't you think they would've been looking for him?"

  My brows furrowed at the clipped edge to his voice before I refocused on Gregory and finally saw him - properly saw him. Grubby skin, unwashed hair, hole-y clothes with ripped and tattered hems. My heart began to sink.

  Oh.

  An overwhelming weight of solemness overtook me. Alright. Responsible adult time. I could do that.

  "Kid..." I began in a voice that I prayed wouldn't make him flinch. It did, anyway, and I felt my guilt skyrocket. I tried to soften my tone further. "Do you have anyone you can go home to?"

  Gregory shifted uncomfortably. His silence was answer enough.

  I swore under my breath.

  "I don't want to-!" Gregory began. He quietened and frowned, looking for words while his eyes darted around the room. "I... I just want to leave this place."

  "And go where?" I gently asked.

  Gregory's frown deepened.

  I glanced up at Michael. He was staring down at Gregory with a frustrated turn to his muzzle - he wanted to help, but he could help only so much while being stuck in the Pizzaplex. This was on me.

  "Alright." I stood from the couch and took a single step towards the child. His brows knotted together and hid a little more behind Freddy's leg. I crouched down to his height. "You can't stay here, kid. You can crash at my place for the night and we can go to the police station in the morning, or we can go there now. Up to you."

  Gregory's face twisted with a myriad of emotions, most of them being varying degrees of confusion. He couldn't meet my eyes. He looked up at Freddy.

  "Do you trust her?" Gregory asked.

  "There's no one I trust more than Y/n," Michael replied sincerely. "They can help you."

  Gregory's expression deepened further as he digested his answer. His almost amber-like eyes drifted up to mine. The colour of them made me blink. I'd never seen that kind of eye colour before.

  "Okay..." he slowly answered. His gaze dropped away again, almost meek. "I'm pretty tired."

  I smiled softly. "Then let's get you to a nice warm bed, yeah? How does that sound?"

  Gregory's face lit up at the idea. He struggled to keep his answer indifferent. "Okay."

  Well, that wasn't how I expected my night to go, but I found myself relieved that Gregory trusted me enough to at least entertain the idea of crashing at my place rather than somewhere else less safe, like the Pizzaplex or the streets or... whatever home situation he came from.

  Michael looked just as relieved. Gregory began to reveal more of himself out from behind Freddy's tall stature.

  "Do you want dinner?" I asked. I pulled out my staff ID and stepped around the boys towards the door. "We can stop by McDonald's if you want."

  Gregory had now begun to look at me as though I were his favourite person. "Can I get chicken nuggets?"

  "As many chicken nuggets as you can eat, buddy."

  Gregory's eyes sparkled with joy. "I'm gonna get so many chicken nuggets."

  I grinned at his enthusiasm and pressed my ID against the scanner.

  Beeeeeeep.

  I pressed it against the scanner again. And then again. My smile faded as the door remained shut despite my override clearance. I heard Freddy's footsteps edge closer.

  "What seems to be the matter?"

  "My ID isn't working," I replied with a frown. I pushed the card against the reader once more and huffed when it gave a declining beep again. "That's weird."

  Gregory's good mood quickly dove back down to the gutters of apprehension. I sidestepped them and pressed my ID to the scanner for the doors to Parts and Service. Nothing.

  I turned back to Michael with a frustrated frown.

  "It's completely not working," I said. I looked between Freddy and Gregory. "I think we're stuck."

  "'Stuck?'" Michael echoed. "Surely not. You have one of the highest clearances in the complex."

  "Well, Einstein, it's not working."

  "She cut you off, too!" Gregory exclaimed. We looked down at him. "It's the security guard! I don't know who she is but she's trying to get me!"

  I felt a sudden chill cascade down my spine. "What do you mean?"

  "The security guard that does the nightshift was chasing me! I had to hide in Freddy because of her," Gregory answered. He gripped at his jersey's hem with clear stress. "She cut Freddy off from the system, and now she's cut you off, too!"

  Fuck. Fuck. My breath was beginning to shorten. If Gregory's cries were what I feared them to be, then we'd just been cornered like prey animals.

  Freddy knelt down before Gregory. He'd controlled his response faster than I could. I was still thrown and silent in shock.

  "This guard - did she say anything to you?"

  Gregory quickly shook his head.

  "Have you seen anything else around here?" Freddy asked. "Something that looks... unusual?"

  Gregory nodded. "It looked like a rabbit with red eyes. It was..." his face greened. "It was dragging a dead kid across the food court. It chased me for a bit, but I lost it."

  I sharply turned away so he wouldn't see the terrified look I'd taken on. No, we weren't being cornered. Gregory was being hunted, and Freddy and I were collateral damage.

  "Y/n." Michael's voice cut through the rushing of my horrified thoughts. A hand shook my shoulder. "Y/n. We have to get him out of here."

  "Yeah," I agreed breathlessly. I scanned the room we were stuck in and tried to find an exit point. Leave it to Fazbear Entertainment to not put fire escapes in the damn green rooms. "Yeah. How do we get out of here?" 

  Michael looked to the door and gave it a once-over. "I can punch it."

  "Won't that make too much noise?" I asked. "It might know we're stuck here. We have to be sneaky."

  Gregory agreed. "I don't want to catch her attention again."

  Michael hummed and turned on his spot, eyes roving the area. He stopped on something, expression troubled. Gregory followed his gaze.

  "I can fit through that," the kid said determinedly. I saw the object of their attention - the vent - and felt my chest seize.

  "No way," I immediately said. "It's too dangerous."

  Michael's expression fell into a look of reluctant acceptance. "It might be the only way."

  "And then what?" I argued. "He's stuck outside on his own."

  "Give me your ID card," Gregory said. He held out his hand with a brave front, and I felt a little bit of respect bloom at the certainty on his face. "I can try it from the outside. At least it's a plan, right?"

  I glanced at Michael. It really didn't seem like there were any other options, and who knew how long our timer was? A sigh slipped from my lips and I pulled the card from around my neck.

  "Ultimate power," Gregory whispered as he held my staff ID out like an ancient relic. If I wasn't so concerned, I'd laugh. He may be pissed-scared and in sore need of a shower, but at least he had a sense of humour. 

  "Before you go-" Michael reached into one of his vanity's drawers and pulled out another Faz-Watch. He placed it into the hands of the confused child before ushering him towards the vent. "It is a staff Faz-Watch. It will keep you connected to Y/n and I and give you access to the security feed, if you need it."

  I held up my own watch. "We're matching."

  "Cringe," Gregory said, before scrambling up the boxes not unlike how a raccoon would. My face dropped into an insulted frown.

  "Lock him out," I told Freddy.

  Gregory's eyes widened. "Not-cringe."

  I snickered. Michael sent me an exasperated look before popping the vent lid off. Gregory peered inside and visibly tensed.

  "It's... pretty dark in there."

  "It will be okay," Michael said. Gregory's eyes turned to his. "The sooner this is over, the sooner you can leave."

  Gregory swallowed and nodded. His gaze jumped to me.

  "I promise I won't abuse your staff privileges and get myself a bunch of food," Gregory pledged, which really only made me expect the opposite.

  "Entirely unconvinced, but thank you," I said dryly. "You better leave room for chicken nuggets."

  Gregory flashed a smile over his shoulder - the first genuine smile of his that I'd seen - and shuffled into the shadows of the vents.

  "Fuck that," I whispered once I was sure Gregory was out of ear sight. Just the thought of the vent's sides pressing against my body had goosebumps rising on my skin. "That kid's got nerves of steel."

  Michael hummed in agreement, though he seemed to be distracted by worry. I nudged his side with my elbow and swallowed back my own terror.

  "He'll be alright. He looks like an intuitive kid." I grabbed his wrist and led him back to his seat. "Now sit down, I've got parts to replace."

  Michael slowly sat while I gathered the parts still available to use with a deep frown. I could feel his upset disposition like a ever-present throb in the back of my skull.

  "How long do you think he has been here?" Michael asked while I began unclicking one of the forearm pieces from his frame. "Has he been squatting here right under our noses?"

  I shook my head. "It's anyone's guess, honey."

  "Dammit," he whispered. "We should be with Gregory. He has no idea what he's getting into."

  "From the sounds of it, I think he has a pretty good rundown on the situation," I countered grimly. I reached down to the pile and retrieved a new thigh casing. "How the hell did he get in your chest, anyway?"

  "I am unaware," he answered. "It must have been while I was... unresponsive." His blue eyes turned to me, chin ducking and ears wiggling from the movement. He looked lost. "What happened?"

  "You don't remember?"

  He shook his head.

  "You collapsed on stage, Mikey," I said. His eyes widened and drifted to the floor, recounting the situation. "It looked pretty horrific. I- I was really scared - you said the virus wouldn't affect you."

  "I assumed it wouldn't," he murmured. "I was wrong."

  "Yeah, you were," I muttered as I yanked his ruined thigh plate from his frame and tossed it aside. "And you scared the shit out of me. Don't do that to me again, my heart's fragile enough as is."

  "My apologies," he said quietly. "I will try my best to monitor it." 

  My eyes snapped to his. "Is it still there?"

  "Remnants of it," Michael replied with a grim set of his muzzle. "It's trying to take hold, but it doesn't know how to react to a soul-infused CPU."

  "Hopefully it stays dumb, then," I grumbled. "Hey - what was Gregory saying about Vanessa?"

  Michael's focus sharpened as he returned to the present. He watched me replace his cosmetic parts with a terse set of his shoulders.

  "I believe he said that Officer Vanessa was trying to chase him," Michael said solemnly. He gave me a concerned look. "You do not think that Vanessa is..?"

  I sucked in a shaky breath. "I'm not sure."

  The intercom burst into life overhead, announcing the locking of the Pizzaplex in half an hour. I bit my lip with agitation - if we missed closing, we'd be stuck until morning. Michael's silence shared my fear.

  I flinched when a knock came from the door. Freddy's hand rested upon my shoulder in reassurance while I calmed my racing heart.

  "Hey!" Gregory's voice came from the other side of the door. "The stupid door won't open."

  "Just as I feared," Michael said. He stepped towards the door, repairs forgotten. "You will have to get a photo pass from the convenience counter."

  Gregory appropriately replied to this set back with a long groan of annoyance.

  "And where's that?"

  "Just to the left of you, at the end of Rockstar Row."

  "I'll be right back," Gregory grumbled before the sound of his footsteps faded away.

  I glanced up at Michael as I reached his side. The uncertainty had begun to take ahold of me. "We're going to get him out, right?"

  "Of course we are," he reassured. "We won't stop until Gregory is safe."

  "If he doesn't make it, it'll be our fault." My voice began to grow shaky. A set of panic erupted within my throat so fast that it gave me whiplash and asphyxiation in one foul swoop. "I can't- I can't do that, Mike, I couldn't live with myself-"

  "Hey! Hey." Michael bent down to cup my cheeks in his large paws. "It's going to be okay, sweetheart. It won't come to that."

  "But what if it does?" I whispered. "We should've gone down there sooner."

  Michael brushed his thumb along my hairline. "It won't come to that. Let's just focus on getting Gregory out and then we can talk about stopping them, okay? He's more important."

  I nodded tinily. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right."

  The door beeped then, and we quickly stepped apart before Gregory could see me in a state with Freddy's reassurance. His lips were pulled into a scowl.

  "You're welcome," he said, before unceremoniously shoving the photo pass into his pocket. Michael pulled a beaming smile - for show, of course, but anything to keep this already rattled child from getting more panicked.

  "Way to go, superstar!' he cheered, which made the sullen edge to Gregory's face lighten and made my jaw pop open in amusement at the use of what was usually my pet name. "I knew you could do it!"

  "Oh." Gregory seemed stunned, as though he wasn't used to getting praised. His eyes darted around his surroundings, unsure on where to land. "Yeah, of course I can."

  "Good job, kiddo," I complimented with a ruffle of his hair. He stiffened a little beneath my palm and offered an awkward smile my way.

  Michael placed a hand on my back and ushered us out of the room and into the Row. His optics scanned the empty hallway with intensity that didn't miss a single corner.

  "There is still time but we must hurry," he said. "The complex is closing soon and if I am spotted I will certainly be taken back to my room. We will escort you to the main exit through the utility tunnels, it is the safest path."

  Gregory nodded. He looked around the row for a brief second and spoke up before we could set foot towards the nearest utility tunnel entrance.

  "Wait, can I-" His stunted request made the both of us stop what we were doing. Gregory looked at freddy with an unsure look. "I don't want to... if the security guard sees me, I..."

  I had no idea what he was asking, so it was a good thing that the question had nothing to do with me. Michael, on the other hand, understood innately. His expression was concerned as his chest hatch unlatched and hissed on its pistons, opening for Gregory to eagerly clamber inside.

  "Whoa, wait-" I snagged the back of Gregory's jersey before he could tuck himself all the way in. He shot me an irritated look in the way only pre-teens could. "Are you kidding me? He isn't some robot from Voltron. This is dangerous!"

  "You know what's more dangerous?" Gregory countered as he shrugged off my hold. "A crazy woman with a knife."

  "I-" I could only watch speechlessly as Gregory slipped his way inside Freddy's hatch and curled up into a ball. It didn't look comfortable, but by god could I tell that he wouldn't be leaving that spot anytime soon. "Fine, okay, yeah. But it's still dangerous."

  "He will be okay," Freddy reassured me. "I am very aware of him."

  Gregory sent me a smug smile as the hatch snapped shut. I stared at the spot where his expression was in shock - Christ, were all children like this? Fuck, man. Maybe it was a good thing that Michael and I never had kids.

  "You better be careful moving around," Gregory called from inside the hatch. "I don't want to be crushed and twisted into a meat pretzel."

  "Charming," I muttered.

  "Would both of you behave?" Freddy requested sternly. The look he sent me was especially emphasised, because I was the adult letting a child get under their skin. I drew a halo around my head with an unamused frown in response, a promise to be good.

  Maybe, after all of this, I'd go to McDonald's and eat chicken nuggets in front of Gregory.

  (Before resigning myself to the fact that no, I could never do that despite my annoyance, because he seriously looked half-starved)

  Maybe if his attitude gets better, I'll buy him a new pair of sneakers before dropping him off at the station tomorrow. Yeah. I smiled smugly to myself at that. Payback.

  "Quickly," Michael murmured, urging me along the wall towards the tunnel doors. "We do not want to make a scene."

  The doors creaked loudly as Freddy opened it for me to duck inside. With one last look out at the Row, he joined.

  I swallowed tightly as we made our way down one of the utility tunnel's flight of stairs. The shadows stretched before me, protuberating in the darkness, and the sound of my shoes and Freddy's feet sounded like thunder in my ears. We were being too loud-

  Something moving down the shadowy wall of the elevator had me biting down on my lip so hard that I saw white. No, that wasn't a trick of the light. Something had moved against that wall - that impossible, very tall wall with nothing to brace oneself upon.

  I came to a sudden stop. I was taut with fear and energy, like a spring ready to snap forward. Michael stopped before me, face turned back in a look concern. I stared at that spot in the darkness and tried to breathe normally.

  "Did you see that?" I whispered.

  "See what?"

"Something moving." I pointed at the spot with a shaky finger. "There was something moving on that wall."

  He followed my finger and scanned the darkness. His head shook.

  "I didn't see anything-"

  "Can you two stop talking and get me out of here, please!" Gregory interrupted. Michael guided me forward and broke the paralysis of apprehension that had cemented my legs.

  "Hurry," Michael murmured. "There is only twenty minutes until closing."

  I focused on the weight of his hand to keep my sanity in check. But we both stopped when a voice called from far away, echoing through the maze of tunnels.

  "Hello? Little boy?" Vanessa's voice carried. "If you're down here, say something!"

  That might be her. She might be the killer. She might be hunting down Gregory to murder, copying the very same actions of her idol. She might be the one who tried to make the endos kill me.

  Fuck. Fuck. I want to go home.

  "She's down here, we have to go back!" Gregory exclaimed.

  "No," Michael said curtly. His hand encouraged me onwards. "We have to push forward. There's no time to fall back."

  Gregory fell silent but his worry was voluminous. Freddy put a hand to his stomach in reassurance.

  "Do not worry, Gregory," he soothed. "Even if we are spotted, you are safe with me. She would never suspect we are traveling together."

  "What about Y/n?" Gregory's small voice asked.

  "If we get caught, I'll play dumb," I murmured unsurely. "I was meant to stay tonight, anyway. Let's just... try not to get caught." 

  Michael nodded stoically and upped the pace a tad. I was doing an awkward half-jog to keep up. "Agreed. She will send me back if we are spotted. If I am sent back to my room, we will never get to the lobby before midnight."

  "She might be connected to the system again, like with the endos," I theorised. "So we should avoid the-"

  As if by a stroke of irony, a security bot appeared from the opposite hallway, cutting right in front of us. We scrambled to a halt. The staff bot stopped. And then it slowly turned towards us with its beady eyes and flashlight.

  "... security bots," I finished in a whisper.

  The security bot aimed its flashlight at my face first, making me wince and shield my eyes, before turning to Freddy. It began to raise its hand, but before the caterwauling cry of its infamous siren could alert the entire complex that Freddy had broken his containment rules, a massive, metal fist dug right into its face.

  "Ow!" cried Gregory, as he was unavoidably jostled within Freddy's chest cavity from the swift movement.

  "Jesus!" I yelped as the bot crashed to the floor. I stared at it in disbelief as it twitched, absolutely decimated by a single, deft robot punch. I whipped around to Michael. "Dude!"

  He sent an innocent look right back at me. "You said to avoid the security bots."

  "Yeah, not to destroy them," I stressed. "These halls echo!"

  "Can we GO?!" Gregory complained. "Ugh. I'm bleeding, now."

  "Good idea," I huffed. "What is it with men and resolving all of their issues through punching?"

  But he wasn't listening. If Freddy's face could pale, it would. "We- we must get you to a first-aid station."

  "What?" I spluttered. "Freddy-"

  "Don't worry about it! I'm fine."

  "There isn't..." but then I stopped myself. The look in Freddy's eyes made my arguments fall silent. This was a type of terror I hadn't seen from him before, one that was more than simple fear. This was him lost in it, drowning beneath it, unable to rationalise or think clearly. His head was clouded.

  It should've clicked sooner - of course he was terrified that Gregory mentioned him being injured. Evan and Lizzy died to animatronics and so did Michael, in a way. Being the one to cause injury must've been his worst nightmare.

  "We must get you to a first-aid station," he repeated.

  "There's no time! I'm fine!"

  "Let's go," I said quickly, leaping over the offlined security bot. "He'll only need a plaster, I bet."

  I turned back and found Freddy walking in a strange, slow amble. Far too slow. Way too slow. I wanted to tear my hair out - this wasn't the time to have a crisis, Michael!

  I grabbed his hand and tugged with all my might to hurry him up. Unfortunately, I was a human who'd skipped arm days for the better half of forever and he was a six-hundred-pound robot. I puffed with effort.

  "We really gotta move, big guy," I grunted. His pace didn't change.

  "I don't need a plaster!" Gregory groaned. "Just help me get out of here!"

  "Michael," I snapped. His blue eyes focused on me. "We need to go."

  He gave a shaky nod before letting me haul him towards where the first-aid station was located, or at least the closest one I knew. His pace increased, face stony. I was once again struggling to keep up.

  "I'm fine, really," Gregory grumbled as Freddy stopped before one of the first-aid stations that occassioanly dotted the utility halls. He clambered down from Freddy's chest without further fuss, though, and dutifully stepped into the station with me behind.

  Gregory fell onto the seat with a transparent look of disdain. I crouched to his height and checked the gash - not too deep, but big enough to have a bit of blood dripping down his cheek. 

  Michael watched from the door, silent and stewing something unimaginable. I tried not to think about what horrors might be going through his head as I rifled for supplies in the small box beside me.

  "It's not too bad," I hummed. I turned Gregory's cheek and gently wiped the wound with an antiseptic-covered cotton ball. He winced. "You're a pretty hardy kid, aren't you?"

  "It doesn't hurt that much," Gregory muttered, before clenching his eyes shut when the cotton pad wiped at his cheek again.

  "Sure."

  "I've had worse," he grumbled.

  I didn't reply to that. The way his young gaze went foggy as he stared over my shoulder had my stomach dropping with sympathy. I wondered what he went through to get such a... far-away look on his face.

  I smoothed a plaster over his cheek and forced a smile. "All done. You want a lollipop?"

  Gregory's eyes widened. "They have some?"

  "No."

  His face dropped into a scowl. "You're cruel."

  I patted his shoulder and stood with a chuckle. "I'm just teasing. When we get your chicken nuggets, you can get an ice cream too, or whatever."

  Gregory tried to keep his frown in place, which only half-worked. "Fine."

  I looked up to Freddy, who was stood in the same spot and watching Gregory's face with a look akin to feeling a little sick. His gaze was locked in on the plaster that now took up most of the kid's right cheek. The station's curtain rail creaked as his grip on it tightened.

  Before I could say something to break him from this weird trance he was in, he quickly turned away and pulled the station's curtain shut. I stared at the barrier with a surprised look and was just about to pull it open again when a new voice made me freeze.

  "Freddy!" Vanessa's irritation was as clear as day. "You're supposed to be on lockdown."

  Gregory sunk down into his chair with wide, frightened eyes. My hand instinctively went to his arm. I was ready to make a break for it with him in tow if we needed to. My head was swimming.

  What if Vanessa really was the killer? What if she had a weapon on her right now? I didn't have anything to fight her off with - aside from a flimsy pair of gauze siscors - and who knew how much influence she had over Freddy at that point. He said that remnants of the virus still lingered, waiting to penetrate his CPU.

  What would happen then? What would happen if he got taken over by the virus? 

  Would he grow crazed, angry, bloodthirsty like the endoskeletons that came a hair's breadth away from slaughtering me all those months ago? Would he destroy me and then destroy Gregory? 

  Would he be like Monty, losing bits and pieces of his memory while being controlled like a puppet? Would he be like Chica, growing erratic, or Roxy, so far drawn into an emotional frenzy that he would be useless if Vanessa turned around with a knife in hand and slaughtered Gregory and I?

  The possibilities were endless, and my frightened mind had no qualms in giving me a taste of the worst of them. Gregory, beside me, had similarly gone still at the sound of the security guard's voice.

  I couldn't imagine what was going through his head - being chased by an adult who was meant to protect him, being hunted by a bunny suit, seeing it drag a dead kid, knowing that if worst comes to worst, he would be the next dead kid.

  Gregory held at my hand, clutching it in a grip that almost made me hiss in pain. But maybe it was good that it hurt, because I think that was the only reason why I could still hear Freddy and Vanessa's conversation instead of being lost to the rushing of my ears.

  "Officer Vanessa." Michael pulled a convincing act of being surprised, as if he didn't hear her coming before Gregory or I could. "I... do not know how I got here."

  From beyond the curtain, I heard Vanessa scoff.

  "Well, you totally blew it tonight, you know," she said. "Your system crashed and you ruined the show. Now Parts and Service have you on reduced power! They said it's a safety precaution. Just one more thing to deal with..."

  "Reduced... power?" Freddy sounded confused.

  "Yeah," Vanessa said. "Just in case. I don't know, it's just what Jenkins told me. It wouldn't have to come to this if you didn't freak out like that in front of everyone."

  "I apologise."

  Vanessa sighed. "Okay... look, we're like fifteen minutes from closing and some kid is sneaking around backstage." Her footsteps began to retreat, the circle of illumination from her torch sweeping the ground. "If you see anything notify me immediately, I already alerted the others. Now go back to your room."

  "Yes, ma'am," Freddy replied.

  Gregory released a sigh as her footsteps faded down the tunnels, and a similar feeling of relief careened through me. That was too tense.

  Gregory pulled back the curtain and stepped out. He crossed his arms as Freddy approached.

  "I told you she was after me," he said.

  "She suspects nothing," Michael promised. "Now, let us go. We have only ten minutes until the complex is locked."

  Gregory nodded and stepped towards Freddy. When his hatch didn't open, the kid sent him an exasperated look.

  "What now?"

  "It might... be safer for you outside," Michael said with an apologetic smile.

  "Are you kidding me?" Gregory exclaimed. "If she sees me, I'm dead! We don't know if she's looking at the security cameras, either! She'll find out that I'm with you and then she'll kill me!" 

  Michael fixed me with a pleading look. I glanced between the boys, weighing the options. I bit my lip and sighed.

  "It... would be safer if Gregory's out of sight," I conceded. Michael's face crumpled a little at my decision. "He'll be okay."

  "Exactly!" Gregory gushed before impatiently patting Freddy's stomach. "I'll be okay! Now let's go!"

  I sent Michael a reassuring smile as he sighed and unlatched his chest hatch. Gregory wasted no time in climbing inside and curling up tight, looking far more satisfied to be tucked up inside Freddy than out in the open. The hatch shut again with a snap.

  Now that we were out of Gregory's view, I grabbed Freddy's hand and squeezed it in support. His response was a wobbly smile.

  "Come on," I said, gripping his large hand in mine and continuing our walk towards the exit. "We've got a kid to throw out of the building."

  "Hey!"