The morning sun shines over the town, lighting areas not covered by grey, almost black clouds. One of those clouds, was putting a huge shroud over Charlie, one against she did not knew very well what to do against it. She dials the phone while looking at her hand, rubbing her eyes as she still tries to deal with the slightly hilarious fact that she directly ran out to the telephone in the lobby right after waking up. Yeah, not so hilarious once she thinks about it twice. The phone keeps ringing on her ear, as she taps her fingers against it at a fast pace, until… “Hello, Good morning?” The voice coming from the phone muttered. “Uh, good morning, is this Mr. uh, Dave Miler?” Asked Charlie, using her finger to fidget with the phone’s wire. “Why yes, it is, do you need any help?” Answered the voice through the phone. Charlie scoffs, letting some small seconds pass before talking, as if she was speaking some forbidden thing.
“Yeah, a friend of mine that works at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza told me there is a position available for security?” “Oh, you mean the nightguard. Yes, there is.” Charlie swallowed, taking a deep breath before answering. “Yeah, nightguard…” Charlie began to feel upset with her stomach, realizing how deep she was getting into all of this now. As much as she wanted to do something about it, she couldn’t. At least, she couldn’t bring herself to. “Well, if you are interested then come by my office tomorrow so we can have a small talk about everything, okay?” The voice through the phone asked quite neutrally. “Okay, thank you very much.”
Dave Miller at the other side cut the phone line off. As soon as he did, Charlie began to walk up to her room in the apartment, gripping tightly onto her other arm, her breathing quickening while sweat drops ran down her forehead. She never thought something like this could happen, yet here she is, where destiny brought her, and who knows what could happen to her later. Her aunt always thought some kind of curse was put upon their family with all that happened to them related to the Fazbear company. But was her memory really that clear? Of course, the small details are not something one could recall, one should recall. Especially a 3-year-old girl like her during those times. But even then, as incomplete as it were, not a single thing, not even broken memories, can not be put back together.
“Here you go, my princess, do you like it?” Charlie takes a blue rabbit plush into her arms, holding onto it as if it was the dearest treasure on Earth, which it was at least for her. “I love it! I love it so much!” With the plush still in her arms, she goes up to her father with her arms wide open and closing them down on her father’s torso as soon as he lifted her up with his arms, caressing her long brown hair for a moment. “Thank you so much, daddy.” Said the little girl, softly swaying with the rabbit in her arms. “Well, only the best for you. What do you want to name him?” Asked the caring father, Henry Emily. The little Charlie Emily takes a finger to her chin, thinking about the name for some seconds but not really complicating herself too much with it. “Hmm, I think his name should be… Bonnie!”
Henry smiles like a happy father would smile when seeing their children win a soccer game, win the science fair etc. But Henry’s smile was for none of those reasons, he smiled because he knew this was one of those moments with Charlie, that were going to be worth everything for both. Then, a knock is heard on door’s office. “Uh, come in!” Said the man. Charlie’s eyes light up, complementing Henry’s smile as they see Sammy come through the door along with Charlie’s mom, Ada. “Mommy, Sammy! Look what daddy gave me!” “Oh wow, that is such a beautiful present from him. Did you say thank you to him?” Asked the mother of the two small boys. “Yes, I did! Sammy, look at him! His name is Bonnie the bunny!” “Oh wow, Bonnie is so cute! What is his favorite color?” “Oh dummie, it’s blue of course, it’s the color of his fur!” Sammy then giggles, rising then to a laugh of a child that just received a Christmas present, then infecting Charlie with that same laugh. Both parents look fondly at the two children, admiring the moment as much as they can, trying to capture it as if it was a photo of some sorts. “How are you feeling?” “Well, I had to make the effort to bring Sammy but, I can handle myself…”
Ada attempts to hold a smile to Henry, who answers back with a smile as well, standing up slowly and giving her a short kiss, wrapping his arm around her as in a hug type of way. Even though struggling, families will always find a way to remain happy throughout hardships.
Charlie lets her whole body fall on the bed, taking her time to breathe in and then breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Her head became clearer as the seconds passed, letting her hands feel the nice cold of her bed. Now that she is calm, she thinks to herself, what can she do? She cannot remain with her arms crossed, there must be something catchy about that new pizza place, or maybe its just the company trying to get back into the business, which is a possibility. But what if there is in fact something else going on? Something nobody else except her can sense. Now that sounds like she is the crazy one. Maybe she is letting her emotions get too much in the way… At least she could go and check the place from the outside, just to get a small peek at what she can.
…
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
Charlie walks up to the exit, her every step trembling ever so slightly as the situation got more and more stuck in her mind, like some kind of knife sinking deeper and deeper. But as her brown car appeared in her eye range, she saw the same wind waving onto her brown hair, trying to blow off the windshield some kind of flyer. It was Freddy’s. The flyer was just a colorful announcement with the logo of the place on it while inviting people to come over. The image of the cartoon brown bear made her hand tremble subtly. She squished the paper with her both hands and she saved it on the pocket of her dark green jacket. As soon as she starts up the car, Marla’s direction of the place roams her head.
That old tunnel has always given her the creeps somehow, even if she was being hugged or comforted, she felt some kind of heavy ambiance down there. Although, the thought of visiting it once again gave her some kind of comfort, just as everything else she has reminisced about the town. All those streets in which she remembers spending time with Marla hanging out while Aunt Jenn scolded one or the other for either saying some out of place comment or almost getting run by a car. She is not entirely sure how they always got into some trouble but, things can always get to happen quickly, and in more than one way. All those tender times she spent with Marla, the only friend she had at that time. The only friend she has in fact.
The tunnel remained there, some dim lights could be seen inside, and as she went through it, a sudden shiver ran down Charlie’s body. What were she even afraid of back then? That some monster jumps out of the darkness to attack the car? That the darkness blinded everyone in the car causing them to crash? Was it the darkness itself? Whatever it was, that fear was still there, but somehow worse. The dim lights were, seconds after, replaced by the sunlight at the end of the tunnel, becoming increasingly brighter and brighter as Charlie got closer.
Once she got out of the tunnel, the car began to slow down as she finally saw the building in front of her. As the car entered the parking lot and Charlie had an even closer view of the place, she remained in some kind of frozen state, maybe she still didn’t want to believe what she was seeing, but yet again, her feelings where blinding her, or were they? She stood down from the car, taking a very good look at the place. Its yellow walls filled with pizza decorations, being limited by a bottom part with a checkered patter bordered by red lines and a purple section under it. But the part that was the most pretentiously noticeable, the big brown bear in a top hat and a black bow tie, waving down to her. Its eyes were almost following her, even though its position remained still.
Charlie sighed, taking a small glance back at her car only to see another flyer being brushed off by the wind. Charlie walked quickly up to it, taking it firmly into her hands as she looked back up at the big brown bear, staring down, now its wave almost looking like it is sending her off, to which Charlie decided to comply. She drove off back to the darkness of the tunnel, taking glances at the flyer ever so slightly. She was blinded by her emotions, right? Later that same night, Charlie arrives at her room, the flyer on her hand as her breath hitches slightly at the thought of going to work tomorrow, if she gets accepted of course, something she wasn’t sure if it would comfort her or wouldn’t. She leaves the flyer on the small table next to the couch, taking in all her room as her mind clears from some of the previous stress, but still doubtful.
Her bed, sitting at the end of the room, remained a little messy, as well as the table next to it with many pictures inside frames were resting on top of it as well as a small night lamp. She then considers a strange smear in the chair next to the sofa, in front of her dining table. She touched it with the tip of her fingers, and judging by how mellowed the texture felt, it probably was some of the ketchup from her lunch. She wrinkled her face as she shakes her hand. “Time to finally… get some rest.” She heads up to the small closet next to her bed, taking some comfortable clothes to sleep in.
She takes a quite large plain grey shirt and some pajama squared pants. She turns off all the lights and heads up to her bed, letting all her body lay on top of it, finally getting some stillness after quite a day. Her mind remains on the idea of working at a place that brings so much dread to her, but what other choice did she had? She did not know when the next time would be a job offer appears. It could be weeks or even months. She moves to now be sitting on her bed, she turns on the lamp next to her on the small table and one of the pictures there catches her attention.
Both Henry and Ada were holding each one of them in their arms. Henry was holding Charlie, and Ada was holding Sammy. She remembers the day it was took, dad had forgotten his camera and they asked a friend to take the picture. Charlie was barely 2 years old in that picture, while Sammy was halfway his 2. A smile comes upon her face as she takes the picture in her hands, letting her head rest on top of her pillow as she caresses the picture as some beloved treasure of hers, or maybe that is what it was after all. The very strong wind of the night hitting the window in front of her, and the warm light of her lamp made her feel calm, as if for only one second, she felt back home. But she wasn’t, not anymore.
A burst of wind shoots the windows open, making Charlie jump as she sees something flying towards her through the wind, which ends up landing right at her lap. It was Freddy’s. The flyer was ripped from different parts, wet, and one would say it was reaching its breaking point. Charlie took the paper delicately even though her hands were shaking as she took glances everywhere on her room, but especially towards the outside where the flyer came flying from. She stared at the flyer, reading the scratched words, “Come visit us at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, were fantasy and fun, come to life! Enjoy our delicious meals, our everlasting fun with games, and most importantly, the life our beloved mascots bring to children, Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy!” She lets out a shaky sigh, turning the page around ready to let it fly off on the wind of the night, only to find black smeared words saying, “Find Us”. A shiver ran along Charlie’s whole back while she turned to look at every side of her room but seeing no one… nothing.
