No Nights at Team Crafted's

Chapter 2:

Waking Up

-...-

A loud ringing woke Tyler up that morning. Groaning, half asleep, he reached around for his phone, which was making the noise. He found it on the floor, knocked off the night stand for some reason. Picking it up, he struggled to answer the call.

“Hello?” He said, then yawning.

“Tyler?”

Tyler took a moment to register that. Again, he was hardly awake yet. “Aviator?”

“Listen here, okay?” Aviator sighed. “Disregard last night. You're going back to work in the morning. Mike too.”

Tyler cleared his throat, sitting on the end of his bed.

“Now hold on. I want a reason this time. What's the deal?” Tyler demanded.

“I was told to forget the orders given last night by the very guy who gave them. The theme park is opening late today because of that, but it's not closed yet.” Aviator explained. “But I think Team Crafted Co is pulling their strings. I don't know what they are doing, but it seems like they want the park to stay open.”

Tyler shifted a bit. What was Team Crafted Co's deal with the park anyway? They get hardly any profit from it. It's not a gold mine at all. But Tyler was glad the park was okay right now. He died over that park, so it made all the sense to feel that way.

“So TC changed the Law's mind again?” Tyler asked.

“I think they're running out of ideas, Tyler.” Aviator sighed. “Wish I knew, honestly. Anyway, you and Mike will be returning tonight, so I hope you didn't make any plans.”

“I'm thankful, actually.” Tyler, referring to his Aunt.

“You miss playing with your friends already?” Aviator referred to the animatronics with a chuckle.

“Yeah, whatever.” Tyler said. “See ya' at 12.”

Tyler hung up the phone and placed it in his pocket. He got up, stretching and yawning again. Tyler changed into clean clothes and planned out something for him to do for the day. It was 2 PM, and he could hear his siblings running around the house and Janet's loud voice talking. He decided that maybe he'd go out to get himself something to eat. A late lunch. He was starving anyway. And, finding Bashur's papers on the desk, thought this could be a good time to read them. Putting them in his bag, he found his keys and got the courage to walk out of the door.

“Oh look, it's Tyler!” Aunt Janet was the first to point him out.

Tyler stopped walking, standing in the living room, where his parents and his aunt sat, talking. Tyler frowned, going over to the front door. They stopped him again.

“Where are you going?” His mom asked.

“I'm going to subway. I'm hungry.” Tyler said. “I'll be back sooner or later.”

“Oh come on, Tyler.” Janet said. “Running away from ya aunt. You're such a little pussy!”

Tyler rolled his eyes and was out the door. He got into his car and drove off, making it to a Subway in only five minutes. He walked in, ordered and got his sandwich, drink, and chips, and sat down at a booth seat to the side of the restaurant. Tyler chowed down the sandwich, then slowed down, sipping at his coke and hardly touching his chips.

Tyler pulled out the letters, glancing up at the building. It was quiet, and there were only four other people In the room. One was a worker cleaning around, one was a lady sitting in the back with her 9 year old girl, and a man sitting at the table next to the door, eating. Tyler looked down at the papers and head them in his head.

“I've worked here for three months, not because I wanted to. Nobody wants to work at a place that pretty much kills them to even think about. It was more or less something I had to do in order to live, ironically. I had to pay bills, feed myself, take care of myself. This job was given to be after years of searching for a job. I'd get jobs for a week or two but something would happen and they would have to lay people off due to, you guessed it, money. I nearly went insane believing I wouldn't find the ability to earn money properly. Clara didn't have enough to do the both of us, and non of my closer friends lived in my area.

So Aviator gave me this job, assuring me that I could keep it as long as possible. That was something I was so happy to hear, and the pay was pretty good for just myself. So I got there, my first night, and I was ready. Aviator left me to my office, and for the first three hours, nothing was off. But then when the clock struck 3:30 AM, things started acting off. Cameras glitched and the power flickered. And then, out of nowhere, one of theme showed up at the office door. It was speaking words, and in surprise, and remembered the button on the door that closed the door, and so I closed it.

I left the door closed for a long time. In fact, I didn't open it until it was an hour later. By then I had actually noticed the power thing. See, nobody told me anything. I had to figure that out myself. And it wasn't fun. I felt betrayed by Aviator by the end of the shift, and I walked by him on my way out without saying a word. I returned the next night because I really needed that money, and my car needed parts and everything was just falling apart. I became depressed later in the week, and nobody could really make me happy.

The days went on and Aviator began to open up more to me. I decided to trust him again and we became very close friends. He helped me with my depression and helped him with his. He began to try to talk me out of the job, knowing I could end up dying, but I refused. Besides, after awhile, the animatronics interested me. I became interested in robots of all kinds, and I studied the way they acted. It became an obsession I still have. I wondered how they were able to move around and think for themselves. I tried asking the people who made the metal beasts, but I never got a reply.”

Tyler was startled by a loud noise, and he looked over to see that the little girl had dropped her drink on the floor. Her mother got up and quickly tried to clean it up, the subway worker rushing over to help. Tyler took another sip of his drink, and was about to continue reading, when his vision noticed something off. He turned to look at the man, and their eyes met. But then the man looked away. Tyler took more notice of this person. He was wearing all black. A black hoodie with black pants and yetlight brown shoes.

Tyler found it odd how the man had actually been staring at him. This was creepy. Suspicious, even. The man had his hands in his pockets, everyone in a while eating some of his food. The hood of his jacket hid a lot of his face, and the lighting made it hard to tell the man's features. He was white, but that was all Tyler got out of it.

Tyler tried to go back to reading the letters, but knowing he was being stared at now ruined his concentration. After sitting there, trying to figure something out, Tyler couldn't take it anymore, and got up. He placed his papers in his bag and threw his trash away. Then he walked over to the table where the man sat.

“What's the deal, dude?” Tyler asked.

The man didn't reply. The man balled up the last of his food into it's paper wrapper and stood up, pushing Tyler out of the way. The man threw away his trash and walked out of the door. Tyler's hands clenched. It was too late to do anything. The worker walked over to him.

“Is everything okay, sir?” They asked.

Tyler sighed and nodded his head. “Yeah, it's all fine.”

Tyler walked out of Subway, only to have his phone in his pocket go off. He answered it, standing in the somewhat cold air. It was getting colder and colder at nights as the end of the year drew closer. But he lived up in the north all his life so it was something he was used too.

“Hello?”

“TYLER!” Kyle's voice rang on the other side. There was a ton of noise in the background.

“Kyle?” Tyler asked, confused as it sounded like Kyle was dying.

“TYLER WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?” Kyle yelled in agony.

“Tell you what!?” Tyler asked.

“I come to your house and you aren’t here and Janet is!?” Kyle sniffled. “You better get your butt down here and get me out of this mess. Your aunt is not letting me leave.”

“Oh Kyle, shut your mouth! It's been forever since i've seen you! Get off the phone!” Tyler could hear Janet's voice in the background, as well as his siblings laughing.

Tyler laughed. “Okay okay. Hang in there.”

“THANK YOU!” Kyle shouted. “AND GIVE ME A WARNING NEXT TIME!”

“Goodbye, dude!”

Tyler hung up on Kyle, and smiled as he walked to the car. Maybe he'd take the long way home today.

-...-

Four voices. Lonely voices. Scared voices. Confused. Only recently have they been waking up to realize their sins.

“He's gone.”

“He left.”

“Fired.”

“Now what?”

“Nobody to watch. Nobody to scare.”

“Will they trap another poor soul?”

“We must work harder.”

“Guys....?”

“Yes?”

“Who are we?”

“Monsters”

“Beasts.”

“Animals.”

“That's what they call us.”

“I don't want to be called that anymore.”

“I feel....feelings.”

“Things we should not feel.”

“The blind fold is falling.”

“We are mad.”

“We are upset.”

There was a zap. The bug was suddenly fixed. There was a long silence, and then their voices started up again.

“L-l-let's e-eat, kids!”

The blind fold had been put back on, but the tape used to hold it in place slowly grows less attachable each time done so. They were starting to become more and more conscious. Justice was what they wanted, and they were not alone.

-...-