Charlie strides towards the glass door, opening it almost without hesitation. She takes in the cheer-filled environment as harshly as she takes a deep breath. “Well, hey there, look who’s back.” Exclaimed the jolly girl, with a grin on her face as she remains behind the counter. “Hey Jessica…”

  Jessica leans into her hand, watching Charlie walk closer to her with an air of urgency in her, one that could not be seen but could be felt if you put enough effort, as she maintains it very well to herself. “First of all, how was your first night?” Asked Jessica. “…Well, nothing out of the usual, you know…?” Jessica raises an eyebrow, the usual friendly demeanor remaining but now with a slight pinch of curiosity.

  “You know, something funny is, out of all the security guards I’ve seen in my time working here, you and John have been the ones that have remained the calmest. Others just left after their first night actually…” Charlie remains standing in front of the counter. Her feet pat ever so often against the small space of purple rug before the path of checkered tiles right behind her. “Anyway, what brings you here so early?” “Yeah, it is about that guy, John. He is on his shift right now, right?” “Oh, yeah, he is, but right now Mr. Miller is kind of covering for him since he is shopping some emergency supplies. Not sure for what but, yeah, sorry.” Charlie tilts her head downwards, letting out a sigh as she tries to swallow the disappointment back to herself. “Why do you ask though? Do you need any help with something?” Jessica tilts her head as she hears Charlie tapping her finger against the counter rapidly. She takes a glance backwards to the employees’ door, then at the archway, and then back at Jessica, lowering the tone of her voice in an almost timid manner.

  “I kind of need to know about some… history of the restaurant.” Jessica seems confused at first. But she widens her eyes, a slight incredulous smile yet quite innocent forms up on her lips. “Oh, Alright then, let’s sit down over there…” She points to the red and white striped couches besides the counter. The two girls walk up to them and sit beside each other. “So… I have a question first.” “Shoot.” Exclaimed Jessica, still as jolly as usual. “Alright then… How much time have you been working here?” Jessica takes a finger to her chin, leaning back against the couch while she remains thoughtful. “Since… the beginning of last year, If I recall correctly.” Charlie’s slight shock is noticeable, but she contains it a little as she then tries to talk again but is interrupted by Jessica letting out a soft chuckle. “I know, I should be in another job by now. But well, Hurricane has had a lot of newcomers lately. People like you staying in town. So, these days it is quite difficult to find a better job than the one you may already have, so it is better to play it safe.”

  “Yeah, I know what you mean...” said Charlie, a faint smile on her lips that slowly fades. “Yeah… sorry, what were you going to say?” The two shift in their position, Charlie faces Jessica, making some strange gesture with her hands as she still tries to process a way to begin telling her about everything. “…I suppose then, you have heard stories of this place having weird stuff happen… at night?” Jessica rises an eyebrow. “Are you really sure nothing weird happened last night to you?” She asked with a straight face. “No no, it’s just some things were a little… off.”

  Charlie tries to hide her frown as she clears her throat and keeps facing Jessica, but just slightly drifting her look away. “Yeah… I’ve heard that as well…” For a moment, Jessica softens her expression, taking a deep breath as she does. “Look, weird things do happen every so often. The animatronics do malfunction from time to time, things disappear and appear out of nowhere, but just your normal restaurant stuff.” Charlie shifts to face the front, remaining thoughtful for a while. “Just, don’t let this place get to you. I’m not entirely sure how this place looks at night but, well, this place is safe. Especially because it has you and John, right?”

  A light chuckle comes out from the two, a smile forming up on Charlie’s lips for some seconds, but she remains upset to her insides. “Yeah… Well, thanks Jessica.” “No problem, Charlie.” Before she can exchange another word, a family comes through the door, which causes Jessica to wave goodbye at Charlie and head back to the counter, ready to attend and serve, like usual… What a mess, if she couldn’t see John anytime soon, she’d probably have to hold up tonight once again. Maybe she could hang around for a while and see if John arrives anytime soon.

  She begins walking up towards the archway, the words “Welcome” hanging over her as they fit her entrance into the quite busy party room, like usual. Such a contrast in fact, to the almost liminal space that remains very still during the night, like an ancient statue. She feels the smell of pizza and frying invade her nose, making her go back into her own nostalgia world for some seconds. Now was not the time.

  If there was someone she could ask as well, it is Marla. The speakers’ music slowly fades away as a voice suddenly replaces it. “Ladies and Gentlemen, boys, and girls, welcome back to everyone. We ask you to put your hands together now, for the Fazbear band!” The whole area erupts into children cheers, as the bright green spotlights roam around the whole area, along with a more upbeat guitar music.

  The red stage curtains open, the inside of the stage remaining dark until, a purple spotlight shines upon Freddy, who between clicking and whirring sounds, waves to his public, proceeding to move his mouth and simulate dance like movements as the vocals of the song begin. While this happens, other two spotlights shine upon the next two figures; Bonnie and Chica, who accompany Freddy with their dance like twists and turns of their motors.

  Bonnie moves his hand across his red electric guitar, in sync with the song. She then felt an uncanny resemblance to her beloved old plush, with the same name. Suddenly, Chica follows Freddy as another vocalist, holding on top of her hand a plate with a cupcake, with wide open eyes and a candle on top of it and two small teeth sticking out of the glaze very slightly. Charlie remained standing, watching the show from afar as the kids remain jumping and cheering in front of the stage. What kind of charm, do those bow ties, that bib with the words let’s eat written on it, and that cupcake with jumpy eyes have on these people, that has made them ignore years of tragedy all the way back then?

  Or maybe they were looking to reminisce that same joy they felt before those tragic times. A happier age, where animals were able to sing songs to the children and where pizza never stopped coming to their plates. Just maybe, a simpler time. She got closer to the carpeted area, watching even the adults admire the ongoing spectacle with certain awe, perhaps more nostalgia, or a memory they just unlocked from the past?

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Charlie darted her eyes from the stage to the colorful prize corner, only to find Carlton, leaning his head onto his hand as he watches the party in front of him blankly. Charlie took a small step forward, but as soon as she did, she wanted to take it back. Well, she wanted to ask people about rumors. She remains for a second, only to then stride towards the prize corner, looking around for anyone as she does it. “Hey, Carlton…” The boy realizes the presence of Charlie approaching him. “Oh, Charlie, hey there!”

  He waves to her as he speaks, smiling at her as he takes both of his hand together and leans into the counter. “You uh… you are quite early in here. Is something wrong?” The boy asked, trying to seem as friendly as he could. “No uhm… not really, but just wanted to look around the place but… do you have time right now?” Carlton looked around for a little, and just shrugged off, sitting down on the stool behind the decorated and color-filled counters of the prize corner he was resting his hands over. “I’m all ears.”

  At the back, different plushies, toys, and even shirts could be found. No matter how big or small, they always had a plush of the 4 main characters in there. “All righty… have you heard any… stories of the animatronics moving at night?” Carlton rises an eyebrow, darting his eyes from Charlie to the dancing animatronics on stage. “Those guys? I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised if they did.” He takes a deep breath as he then looks around once more, taking in all the people in the dining area, enjoying both their meal and the show.

  “Well, I’m not entirely sure but, I think I heard from the technicians that, the animatronics had some kind of roaming system during the night, so their servos don’t lock up or something like that.” Charlie tilts her head as she rests her hands on the counters as well. “Hm, and why would they lock up if, they are moving during the day though?” “Meh, I don’t know Charlie. The technicians know more about it.” Charlie sighs, looking at her surroundings once more, trying to see if she can catch any glimpse of John. “I mean, you could go and ask them if…”

  As Carlton kept talking, Charlie found herself looking at the main stage. The animatronics were singing, some kids were seated in front of them as music continued, and the green spotlights flashed here and there. A quite nice ambiance if it wasn’t for a strange feeling, a sensation Charlie just began to feel. She looked around, but as her eyes darted back to stage, she recognized where the sensation was coming from, the feeling of being watched.

  The purple blue spotlight that once shone down on the yellow chicken was off for a few seconds, but in those seconds, the mechanical creature remained with its lower beak off, almost unhinged. She still held the cupcake on her hand, but her yellow torso was now leaning forward, and her eyes were pointing forward as well, right towards Charlie.

  A shiver ran down her spine, as the two glassy eyes stabbed their stare onto her, as no movement was present. The blue spotlight shone back onto the chicken, right as she composed herself, waving to the people as her orange beak, now fully straight, syncing with the lyrics of the music. “Charlie?” Charlie snapped back. Turning to look at Carlton, still seating in front of her. “Did you ask John already?”

  “John?” Charlie asked, a certain disbelief present on her expression, as she still felt a slight quiver on her legs. “Yeah, the day guard. He was the previous nightguard so, he must be a good example for you to follow, you know.” Charie scratched the back of her neck, fixing a little of her hair afterwards. “Yeah, that is actually why…” “Oh, in fact, there he is.”

  Carlton points towards a tall boy with brown hair and in purple, heading towards the bathroom hall. “I think you should go get going.” Charlie’s eyes widen. She slowly begins to step forward, her speed gradually increasing with every step as she sees the boy disappearing inside the archway to the hall. “Yeah yeah, uh thanks again Carlton. See you around.” She hurriedly starts her race towards the archway, looking at both ends of it.

  She then continues to go towards the right end of the hallway, with a door that once she opened it up, led to a dark grey hallway with the same red lined-checkered pattern. She found an archway with warning signs above it as she walked through it, finding herself in a garage area. She could see the boxes all around the room, trying not to step on anything as she tips toes between everything.

  “Wait up! John!” She could hear a door closing at the right side of the corner. She passed by the garage door, taking a turn to the right and going through another archway, only to reach hurriedly for the double door at the end of the hallway. She got through it and entered the same employee’s hallway from before. Right in front of her was the security office, but no one was inside.

  “Hello?” Charlie peeked inside the office and found only the same empty space she was in last night. Charlie sighed and raised an eyebrow. She got back into the employee’s hallway, realizing this one is emptier than the other one at the other side. She took a stroll towards the end of the hallway, noticing the absence of an emergency exit in this one as well, but between the empty walls that barely had some papers on them, she found a door at the right wall of the hall. The door had no label, but it looked like the others that were around. Charlie got close to it, her hand itched, and she began to take it towards the handle.

  “Oh, hey there, Miss Emily.” Dave appeared right besides Charlie. She got exalted, taking a deep breath afterwards. “Hello, Mr. Miller.” “What are you doing here so early? Was there any problem last night? You know, if you have any problem, you can be sure you can talk it out with me.” Charlie looks to the door, then back at Dave’s slightly blurred glasses. She could see a slight gleam in them, but also inside his eyes somehow, almost like if they were going through the glasses. She wanted to open her mouth, talk, but she stopped herself from doing so.

  “Well, not really, I was just, looking around the place, you know? Since, I was just passing by and all…” Dave nods, his demeanor remains patient, and quite calm. Too calm. “I see… Well, this door over here isn’t really one that can be opened. Believe me, we have tried most things, but we haven’t managed to open it yet.” Charlie hums, taking a finger to her chin as she looks back at the door. “And why haven’t you tried calling a locksmith?” Dave scratches the back of his neck, then taking both of his hands and pressing them against his hip in fists.

  “Well, I’ve tried but, the owner doesn’t really want that.” “The owner?” “Yeah, he just says that room was supposed to be an old party room, but the room remained unfinished, so it’s basically very unsafe to be in there.” Charlie’s gaze remained locked on the door for another while, as she took her hands to her hips as well. “Well, anyway, there you have one little secret from me, heh.” Dave then starts walking towards the door leading to the dining room and reaches it quite fast.

  Charlie then snaps back to herself. “Wait, Mr. Miller! Have you seen…” Dave closes the door behind him as he goes through it. “John… ugh.” Charlie sighs, looking down. “John… hm.” A very slight smug smile comes across Charlie’s face, remembering what Marla told her about that boy. But she shakes it away, as she begins heading towards the door to the dining room. Charlie can feel a tingle at the back of her head as she steps forward. She can remember her father, talking to her, almost as if it was some kind of echoing voice around her. “Some secrets are best left forgotten…”

  For some reason, she remembers him saying it often. But now that she knew what it meant, she knew very well there were many secrets that will not be forgotten, but instead uncovered by her. Once and for all.