!! TW !!
-Lesbophobic D slur
-Transphobia
-Blood
-Description of child murder

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A pair of combat boots stepped out of William's car.

"Don't get in trouble at school this time, or I swear to god-"

"Yeah, I know".

Michael slammed the car door and murmured to himself while walking to school.

"Motherfucker".

He was already in a bad mood cause his father refused to let him walk to school with Seth like every morning, as if they're not gonna meet there anyway. It was literally the only reason he looked forward to waking up in the morning and go to school.

As William drove away to work, irritated by Michael's attitude, the boy hurried to his friend's meeting place: the back of the school. Yes, they realized the girl's school bathroom was a weird and uncomfortable meeting place, especially since lots of students went there before school started.

"Heyy, you made it! We thought you weren't coming to school today" Rubén said as he saw Michael approaching them.

"Give me a fucking cigarette before I kill someone" Michael replied, clearly moody.

"So... What was the deal with whatever happend this morning?" Seth asked, passing his cigarette to the sulky boy. "Why couldn't I walk with you to school? You gave me like, no explanation whatsoever".

"My father's stupid ass. That's the explanation". He took the cigarette and bringed it to his lips, then continued to talk after a puff of smoke got released from his mouth. "I'm lucky he still lets me hang out with you" he said while looking at Seth, but then added as he looked at Rubén and Chrissy: "Or any of you guys for that matter, since he doesn't like any of you".

"Yeah my dad doesn't like you guys aswell, I get you. He doesn't want me to hang out with you guys since he claims you get me into trouble, but hey, it's our choice in the end", Rubén replied as he looked at Michael.

"Yes, exactly! He thinks I'm being peer pressured and shit", Michael stated while laughing and smoking back again, when all the sudden he heard a crackling sound and turned around to see what the source was: there he saw a tall blonde student who suddenly stopped walking when he saw the group. Next to him was a girl wearing a jacket that was too big for her, probably being his.

"Yo freaks", the blondie suddenly spoke. "Get the fuck out of here, will you?"

They immediately felt annoyed by the guy's attitude and Chrissy replied, glaring at him and crossing her arms.

"So you can make out with your little girlfriend? No way. This has always been our spot, go search another one, jock".

The boy started walking dangerously close to the group, clenching his fists in anger. The girlfriend was only annoyed by the situation instead and sighed.

"Come on Kyle leave it, don't start trouble. Let's just go somewhere else".

The guy however ignored his girlfriend's suggetion and replied to the other girl: "What, are you jealous I'm making out with a girl, you disgusting dyke?" he said, getting closer to Chrissy and looking straight into her eyes.

"Hey fucker" Michael said, immediately standing up in front of his friend "Don't you fucking dare call her like that".

Rubén and Seth were also angered by the guy's insults and stood closer behind Michael to intimidate the boy. Even if Kyle was quite tall Seth still managed to look down at him. The blondie looked at them, debating if he would've won a four versus one fight. Hey, even if he was a jock he still figured out he was probably never gonna win this fight so he eased-up, stopped clenching his fists and was ready to leave.

"Whatever" he said, looking back at Michael. "It wouldn't be fair to fight against a little girl who thinks she's a guy anyways".

He looked at Michael up and down, judging him one last time as he was about to turn around to leave the situation, but Michael couldn't let that statement and the disrespect to his friend Chrissy go unnoticed. Before Kyle fully turned around Michael put the cigarette back in his mouth and punched the guy on the nose as hard as he could. Everyone was shocked, even Seth, Chrissy and Rubén. The guy's girlfriend covered her mouth with her hands as she saw his boyfriend lose balance and fall on the hard rocky ground because of the unexpected impact.

After the rocks on the ground scratched his skin the boy suddenly felt something running from his nose and touched it, still confused about what has happened and why he was suddenly in pain: that's when he saw his fingers tinted in a red substence: blood.

That's when he realized: that 'freak' punched him and broke his nose. The fact that Michael always additionally used to wear lots of rings probably didn't help to make it less hurt. He didn't have the time to get them off, so he also got his own hands hurt, but it was satisfying and worth it nonetheless.

That wasn't the end of it though. Michael was finally somewhat justified to let out all his anger out and immediately took the opportunity: he decided to let the wrath get the best of him and got on top of the confused blonde guy all of the sudden, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt.

The boy was frozen in response, his body not reacting because of how quickly the situation escalated. "What the fuck are you doing?!" He shouted confused as he looked at Michael, somewhat scared as he saw that boy fuming with anger take the cigarette out of his lips with his other hand.

"Make out with your girlfriend now, fucker", the furious boy stated as he aggressively put out the cigarette on the guy's lips, burning them.

That's when Kyle felt a sudden, horrible rush of pain. It hurt so much that his paralysed body instinctively woke up and pushed Michael away from him, starting to scream in pain.

Michael figured that was enough to teach him a lesson and got up, finally leaving him alone. He still, however, looked down at the Kyle while he was touching his lips in pain.

He didn't feel bad. He felt proud of what he did, in fact a smirk appeared on his lips after knowing he will remember this moment for the rest of his life.

The blondie immediately crawled back in fear and got up as quickly as he could while his girlfriend ran up to him, helping him to stand up.

"I won't forget this". He said, his panicked breathing sounding unstable. "I'll make you pay for what you fucking did, you will regret this".

Then the couple finally walked away, finally leaving the friend group alone.

There was a moment of silence between that friend group, all of that took place so quickly that they needed a moment to process what just happened. That's when Rubén shouted out of the blue:"Holy shit! That was fucking badass!"

Chrissy laughed, surprised after realizing what Michael just did.

"Fuck yeah! You showed him who's boss!" She proudly yelled as she gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder.

Seth stared at Michael, astonished and his mouth fully open. If he was unsure if he had a crush on that punk before, this moment cleared all the doubts he had.

Michael turned towards them and laughed, stating sarcastically: "God fucking damnit, I wasn't even close to finish that cigarette... And my hands hurt like hell". He then looked at Seth who still seemed shocked because of the situation. "Sorry, I wasted it".

"No it's..." he felt his cheeks getting hotter and came back to his senses as he looked at Micheal "fine". He then shook his head to shake off his feelings: "Here, take another one, you deserve it".

"Thank you". He smiled and accepted the cigarette Seth lended him, lightning it up with his lighter.

"He's probably about to tell someone about what happened, like the bitch he is". He stated annoyed as he started smoking again, finally in peace knowing he wouldn't get interrupted by anyone again.

"Who cares?!" Chrissy proudly shouted. "That was fucking worth all the trouble we're gonna get in to!"

"Was that fucking worth all the trouble you got into?!" The man furiously shouted as he was driving back home.

"Dad, can we do this later? Focus on the road for now, you're gonna get us in a car accident-"

"I fucking hope we get in one at this point! What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

"I don't know, I don't think I did anything extremely bad".

William sighed in disbelief. "I cannot fucking deal with you anymore. You really did it this time, big time. Are you proud of yourself? What, you feel strong after you hurt that kid?"

"Well... Yeah, kind of".

"Oh my fucking god..."

"He deserved it dad, ok?! He was such a huge dick! That motherfucker insulted my friend!"

"LANGUAGE". William yelled as he looked back at Michael who was sitting in the backseat of the car, trying to be patient and not lash out on him. He lowered his voice to speak, but he still sounded like he was about to explode at any moment. "Listen. You're gonna stay at home today and think about what you did. I want to avoid making scenes at the pizzeria, since apparently you like punching people now".

"Ah, double win. I punched that bitch and also don't have to go that shitty place today", Michael thought as he tried to not smirk at the situation in front of his furious dad.

"Don't take this as a vacation though, ok?!" William added while glaring at him, fed up with his behaviour. "You don't get to hang out with any of your delinquent friends today, obviously. I'm gonna think about how to deal with the situation, for now just stay home and don't make any trouble. You won't fucking get away with this though, that's for sure".

"Alright", Michael replied as he crossed his arms and looked out of the car window, not caring about his dad's threats. "It's not like I get to hang out with my friends most of the time anyways", he thought.

William looked at the road back again since the traffic stopped. "Of course that means you still have to look after your siblings. Don't you dare leave the job to your mother again, she works hard aswell, she cannot look after them all day today".

"Ok" Michael replied, still looking out the window.

"And actually look after them this time, don't make them cry, pull stupid pranks on them or anything".

"OK! I said I'll do it, gosh!"

"Jesus christ, where did I go wrong".

That's what William thought as he left Michael home and went back to work. Focusing on his job functioned as some kind of escapism: he didn't have the time to think about his family issues there anymore since he had to concentrate and do his job. Even though it was way more fun before when he didn't grow resentment towards Henry yet.

It was a pretty rainy day. Even if it was dark and moody outside due to the bad weather and the cloudy atmosphere, the inside of the pizzeria was constrastingly colorful, cheery and lively as always, especially since there was a kid's birthday party that day. Even if the rain poured loudly on the windows and lightning randomly struck, the loud sound of the cheerful music within the building managed to cover it up. The parents even allowed Charlotte to have fun with them, while William and Henry did their job. Everything was same as usual.

Even if Henry found the atmosphere quite pleasant he couldn't manage to stop worrying about William. His friend was oddly quiet that day, and he couldn't tell if he purposely ignored him or was just lost in thought, but he was sure that he was acting unusually weird that day. It didn't matter much, cause he still did his job, but he felt concerned about losing the connection with his friend. He wanted to confront him, but he figured that his buddy maybe just wanted to be left alone for now, so he stopped talking to him even if he really wanted to discuss the situation, figure what the problem is and help him in case he was having a tough time.

Even when he left early, since they always scheduled their work days as co-workers to fit their family-man needs, he didn't say anything to Henry, not even a single goodbye.

William finally left the pizzeria, sitting on the front seat of his car while lighting up a cigarette and putting the window down to let the smoke go outside. He then opened the compartment of his car, grabbing a bottle of whisky. He usually left one there, trying to keep it hidden from the rest of his family. He liked to relax a bit in his vehicle before going back home or work, it helped him calm down. Especially right now, since he was feeling absolutely like shit, he really needed it, so he drank more than he usually would and just sat there on the front seat of the car for a minute, looking at the stars in silence.

As he started driving with his headlights turned on since it was late in the evening he saw a little girl punching one of the doors of the pizzeria in distress. William squinted his eyes as he drove and slowed down to take a better look at the kid since she looked familiar. That's when he realized it was Charlotte, who looked like she was crying.

He sighed, annoyed about having to deal with another child since he had to deal with them all day, but still parked the car to see what was going on.

The little girl quickly turned around, spooked by the sound of the car. However, her face relaxed when she saw William leaving the vehicle and putting out the cigarette on the concrete of the road.

The man crossed the street, even if a little wobbly, irritated by how careless Henry was to not look after his child, at least that's what he thought during that moment since he was mad at him.

"Uncle William!" Charlotte's voice sounded relieved yet hurried. "They locked me out of the pizzeria, help me!" She cried to the man in panic.

William sighed, finding her overreaction silly. "You just had to go around here and enter from the front door. Come on, let's get you back in" he said, holding out his hand.

She accepted his offer, grabbing his bigger hand while sniffling. "I know I could've done that, but it's very scary and dark here, I was afraid a bad man could've kidnapped me! Daddy always says to never wander in the streets alone".

William kept being patient with her while walking around the pizzeria, entering an alley. "Well, luckily you're not alone anymore".

"Yes! Thank you, uncle William". She smiled and stopped crying, her fears finally disappearing as a safe adult figure she trusted was next to her now. "I can't wait to go back to dad, I was so scared of worrying him".

Those words caused a sudden fit of envy swirl inside William, but he clenched his teeth and continued to walk, ignoring her comment.

"Ew! It smells so bad here", Charlotte lamented as she pinched her nose to avoid the stench.

"Of course it smells bad here Charlotte, it's where we keep the trash".

That's when he suddenly stopped, looking at the black trash bags.

"Uncle William?" The little girl looked back up at the taller man figure while pinching her nose still, wondering why he stopped walking all of the sudden. "Is everything ok? It's raining a lot, we're gonna get the flu if we don't hurry up".

William looked back at Charlie for a second. The envy that was swirling inside him grew and grew, becoming rage. "Why does Henry deserve all of this while I don't? I worked so hard, I've tried so hard to show how much I cared about everyone and yet this is what I only get back? He doesn't even need to work as hard as I do, and yet he has so much in life that I don't possess. I don't deserve this treatment, it's unfair. I want to make him pay, but how?" That's what William has been thinking and trying to figure out all day, but now the answer appeared clear, even if it was an extreme one.

A part of him knew how wrong this was and wanted to turn back, but it was like the voice of reason in the back of his head could've only be heard far and far away, echoing and overshadowed by the nearer and clearer answers to appease the horrible feelings that kept devouring his insides for so long. It's like he has tried to fight back the anger that wanted to take control on his body for ever. He always fought to be a good person, but now he was losing. He couldn't keep his composure any longer. Trying to play the good man part didn't give him any advantages in life anymore, it seemed to him as it only slowly ruined it instead. That's when he decided to throw it all away, show his true colors for the first time.

He was about to officially change the path of his life. Take a path that seemed way easier.

He was in the backstage of life now, a dark alley where no one could ever see him being who he truly is deep down: a horrible, twisted person. But William believed this gruesome act would be justified. He felt his needs were valid and needed to satiate them. This seemed only rational to him. It was useless to still play as a good man when no one could see and applaud him for his good performance, praising and rewarding him.

Charlie began to look somewhat scared and worried as she watched the man in front of her who had an indescribable look on his face not reply to a single word.

"Uncle William? Are you... feeling sick?" She asked again, trying to figure out what was going on. The man, however, ignored her. He was reflecting on the probability of what he was about to do turning out successful. He felt the Swiss Army Knife in his pocket, then remembered from when they builded the place back then how there weren't any security cameras in this street either. Everything was working out in his favor, and that's when he finally made the decision. The decision to commit murder.

"I don't think your father will be able to see you again, Charlotte".

The girl looked creeped out by his weird behaviour and response, she wanted to back off but couldn't since William was still holding her hand.

"What...?" She asked, confused.

That's when he attacked, violently covering up her mouth to avoid the possibility of anyone hearing her screams. He backed away close to the wall of the pizzeria while holding her still to avoid any drivers being able to look at the scene while passing by with their car. He quickly took the Swiss Army Knife from his pocket while Charlotte cried in fear and tried get away from him by squirming and screaming, but her faint sounds couldn't be heard by the children laughing and having fun at the party over the loud music playing in the background, and she sadly couldn't ever win against an adult man's strenght.

"I'm so sorry Charlotte, this could've been avoided".

He finally let the terrified girl out of her misery by slicing her throat. Thankfully the knife was long and sharp enough for the damage resulting fatal and the little girl stopped trying to fight back since her body was now motioneless, dead.

However, a huge amount of blood started to pour out of the cut now.

"Shit, shit, FUCK" .

William wanted the crime to be as clean as possible since he still felt scared shitless about people finding out what he did and ending up in prison, but obviously he was inexperienced with murder, so he was a bit messy in the process. He quickly covered the cut with his hand to minimize the amount of blood spilling out on the ground. He didn't know how to handle a dead body, but he didn't have time to think about it. It would be really bad if Henry noticed her daughter's absence and found out what his friend just did, so he just quickly stuffed her body inside a big black trash bag, filling it with other garbage so it seemed less obvious a cadaver was inside it, while also hoping the stench of the trash would've mixed with the possible rotten corpse. He then threw it inside the garbage container and closed it.

After he took care of the body he looked down at his clothes while trying to stabilize his panicked breathing: thankfully, he wasn't covered in blood. Since Charlotte was a short kid the red substance only managed to get on his black pants and shoes, so it wasn't as obvious that he was stained. He quickly walked to his car while cleaning his hands with a tissue and slammed the door shut, immediately driving away.

He couldn't believe what he just did. His brain couldn't process the fact that he just commited murder. It felt like a fever dream where everything is crazy, nonsensical, so you immediately do not question it. He was so caught up by the fear of being found out that his stiff body immediately calmed down as he was driving home, feeling somewhat relieved.

When he got home he immediately hurried to the bathroom, carefully cleaning the blood off his clothes by hand and changing back into clean ones. He sighed and looked at himself in the bathroom mirror, and that's when reality kicked in. Everything was real, he was real, what he did was real. He really murdered his best friend's daughter, but he couldn't manage to feel anything: remorse, fear, happiness, relief.

Nothing.

He decided to enter the bedroom where he saw his wife peacefully sleeping, obviously unaware of anything that has happened, and the man finally got into bed, immediately falling asleep.

His slumber, however, didn't last long since an hour later the phone in the living room loudly rang. Clara slowly woke up, disturbed and moaning.

"Who could it be at this hour...?"

"Don't worry, I'll pick it up" William replied while getting up from the bed and entering the living room, taking the handset and bringing it to his ear.

"Hello? Who is it?" He asked.

"William! It's Henry" the man sounded panicked, as if something bad just happened.

William knew what he was about to say.

"Henry? What is it?"

"It's Charlie. I can't... I can't find her anywhere! Did you see her while going back home? Please tell me you did".

"No, I didn't. Wasn't she partying with all the other kids?"

"Yes, but when I went back there again she was gone! The kids told me they haven't seen her for a while" a sobbing sound could be heard from the phone, "I don't know what to do William, I should've been more careful, I don't know where she is I've looked everywhere, even outside the pizzeria, outside my house, the parents even helped me before-"

"Henry, calm down. Breathe".

"I can't William, I'm so scared of losing her. I can't do this, I cannot live without her, what am I gonna tell Donna?"

"We're going to find her, ok? There's nothing we can do for now. We'll see what we can do later, we can keep the place closed down tomorrow and figure out what to do together, alright?"

Henry loudly sobbed but tried to calm down and be rational for the sake of finding Charlotte. "Alright, thank you Will. I'll try to get some sleep, talk to you tomorrow".

"Good. Don't worry, I'm sure she's fine".

"I hope so... Goodnight", Henry lastly stated before hanging up.

William slowly put the handset back on the cradle of the rotary dial phone, feeling the sudden heavy weight of his body and plopping on the couch.

He couldn't tell how he felt. Other than being relieved by the fact that they didn't find her body, his friend's panicked reaction hasn't been able to make him feel better. He hoped to feel pleased by viewing Henry's life falling apart and hearing his pained voice, but that wasn't the case.

"This was a mistake", he thought. He was already regretting the path he chose, he knew how horrible this was, he started to feel guilty. He was giving up his humanity, his friendship, his family, his future on this.

He put his hands on his face, feeling stressed about a new realization all of the sudden. He realized that the parents that helped Henry search Charlie probably won't step in the place anymore either. This was a false step on his part, he ruined his company's reputation. Now he had to make sure to manage the situation well to avoid any other damage, he still wanted to make characters, to make animatronics, he wanted to keep this dream. Keeping the place closed tomorrow was a good idea at least, he could've properly disposed the body, taking down the risk of it being found.

He then suddenly heard some light footsteps getting closer and turned around, gazing at a big woman in a gown with long ginger hair and a worried face expression: Clara.

"What's wrong? Who was it?" She asked.

William sighed. "It was Henry. He cannot find Charlie".

"What?!" The woman was appaled by William's statement and got closer, sitting next to him on the couch to listen. After all, she is friends with Henry aswell, it was painful to hear this.

"I decided that we're not gonna work tomorrow, obviously. I gotta help him".

"William... You're a wonderful friend" Clara kindly stated, hugging him to bring him comfort. "I hope you guys find that little girl soon, but don't put too much pressure on yourself ok? It's a stressful situation".

William hugged his wife back, accepting her comfort, even if he knew he didn't really deserve it. "... Yes, I'll try not to".